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Warrior Soul: Last Decade, Dead Century (remaster)

A politician, musician, prophet, genius, and raving madman. All of these being parts that make up the sum of Kory Clarke lead singer of the 90's act Warrior Soul. This 90's band was far different from the "Seattle" era bands and fell far away from the Metal happenings the remaining 80's were tossing our way and yet despite the overall originality, only a choice few paid attention. Warrior Soul was a New York band and they spoke of life, injustice, and angst long before the likes of groups like Korn or Otep decided to mix those messages with their music. Socially relevant and somewhat prophetic, the words of Clarke rang the bell of truth for any who heard him. I think that the shifting in musical styles at the time caused Warrior Soul to be overlooked by people who would have loved them having been given the chance. The band featured Kory Clarke (vocals), Pete McClanahan (bass), Paul Ferguson (drums) and John Ricco (guitars) and lucky for us Escapi Music has chosen to remaster the five releases by the band in remastered and expanded editions. On their debut Last Decade, Dead Century the messages Clarke has for society are lined out from the opener "I See The Ruins" to the politically charged "Superpower Dreamland". Laments to the unpopular come forth in "The Losers", while my personal favorites "We Cry Out" & "Trippin' On Ecstacy" receive new life and in your face effect. "Downtown" speaks of life as Kory lived it while "Lullaby" is one of the most solemn ballads I had ever heard. A moment of soap boxing preaching is delivered during "Four More Years" which in a distorted and eerie voice, a cryptic view of the goings on in society is spoken about. I was proud to have been a fan from the release that this album originally saw and it received regular rotation on a friends college radio show. Now is the time to remember and relive this band, and for the new listener well you can simply pay attention. This is a must have for people who want relevant subject matter and deep lyrical content to their music.

The remastered edition of "LDDC" includes three bonus live tracks which are not professional board recordings and seem more audience bootleg. However, there is some inherent charm in this as you hear them from the direct listeners perspective and while a tad low end you are able to relive the band in the live sense.

Today Clarke is a member of Dirty Rig, whose debut CD will also be available on Escapi Music.


Track Listing
1. I See The Ruins
2. We Cry Out
3. The Losers
4. Downtown
5. Trippin' On Ecstacy
6. Four More Years
7. Superpower Dreamland
8. Charlie's Out Of Prison
9. Blown Away
10. Lullaby
11. In Conclusion
12. Charlie's Out Of Prison (live)
13. The Losers (live)
14. I See The Ruins (live)

Added: May 6th 2006
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: Escapi Music
Hits: 5031
Language: english

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Warrior Soul: Last Decade, Dead Century (remaster)
Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2006-05-06 10:29:48
My Score:

I always found it hard to describe Warrior Soul back in the early 90's when they first hit the scene. On one hand, their music was fairly heavy with some serious bottom end and deep grooves, but on the other hand they had an almost punk-meets-Guns N Roses styled attitude. Mix these musical elements with the snarling lyrical content from singer Kory Clarke, and you have a band that had many of the elements for stardom but were perhaps a little too controversial and radical for their own good. Originally released in 1990 and now reissued and remastered by Escapi Music, Last Decade Dead Century is one fine debut from a band that wouldn't make it in the long run, but delivered a handful of solid metal albums dripping with venemous social and political satire and metal thunder.

Much like Faith No More, another popular band at the time, Warrior Soul's music had elements of metal, hard rock, punk, funk, psychedelic, and pop, which gave them a pretty unique sound, and the vocals of Clarke took them over the top. There's a treasure chest of solid rockers here, like the alluring "Trippin' On Ecstasy", the crankin' "I See the Ruins", and the groove-laden thumper "Superpower Dreamland". The thick power chords from guitarist John Ricco are quite effective throughout, especially on the heavy rocker "Charlie's Out of Prison" and the Janes Addiction styled rage of "Blown Away". One of my favorites on the CD is the textured and emotional "The Losers", complete with angst ridden vocals and lyrics from Clarke, a great example of the turmoil that the singer could conjure up.

Overall, this was a strong debut from a solid band, and the remaster sounds great, with a nice package too boot.



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