Various Artists: Drum Nation Volume 3

Well, the guitar players of the metal world have gotten the spotlight for a long time now. With all of the guitar player compilations that have been released over the years, it is no surprise that the drummers wanted their time to shine. Enter Drum Nation Volume 3 (Magna Carta), this time featuring Metal and Hard Rock's up and comers instead of the previous 2 volumes that featured drum legends like Terry Bozzio, Steve Smith, Rod Morganstein and Virgil Donati. Drum Nation Volume 3 spotlights the drummers from such bands as Shadows Fall, Candria, As I Lay Dying, Steve Vai, Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage, to name just a few. These drummers are set loose to do what they do best in an all instrumental platform. And there are some very interesting and not exactly what you might expect drummer inside this release.

Kicking things off is Jordan Mancino from As I Lay Dying, with his track "Ahhh..The Fade Out". Recorded by just Jordan and Nick Hipa on guitar, this is a killer way to start off this CD. Very much in the vein for what Jordan is known for with As I Lay Dying with a big kudos to the likes of a Meshuggah. Off time signatures and heavy grooves make this CD opener smokin'. Lamb of God's Chris Adler is next up with "The Near Dominance of 4 Against 5". Adler too brings the heavy with a bombastic track with just himself and Ron Jarzombek on guitar. Obviously, drums are the focus on this CD and Adler delivers the goods. Tight and choppy, Adler pummels you into oblivion. Another odd metered and heavy thumper that just speeds it's way from beginning to end.

Killswitch Engage's, Justin Foley delivers a great Metal meets World Beat flavored performance with his track "Up And Atom", complete with timpani's and even a Xylophone! This was a very unforeseen and pleasant surprise. Another highlight performance is from Terry Bozzio's son Raanen. His song "Impulse" just screams of influence from the band Tool. Imagine a Danny Carey meets Terry Bozzio collaboration and you're on the right path. Very dark and brooding with a ton of cymbal shouts all over the place. A very cool homage to Tool's Danny Carey who is an obvious hero of Raanen Bozzio.

Other highlights are Unearth's Michael "Justice" Justian who gets my Frank Zappa award for the most off the wall song on this CD, "Weak Would" and Dillinger Escape Plan's Chris Pennie, who delivers the Techno fueled "YMCA or TCBY". Both are interesting and odd.

The only criticism that I have is that Magna Carta went from having legendary all star drummers on the first two releases to having basically just rising stars on this one. Don't get me wrong, this is a cool concept but having a couple of more well known Metal genre drummers thrown in here would have sweetened the pot. Having said that, all the performances on Drum Nation Volume 3 were up to snuff. Magna Carta has also included a bonus video feature on all of the drummers involved on this project on this CD. From going to the dentist with Joe Nunez of Soulfly, to hitting golf balls with Candria's Kenneth Schalk. A nice added bonus.

Percussionists out there will enjoy this CD- hell I did and I play guitar. The CD is not a self indulgence fest, but rather a good collection of songs made to feature and highlight the drummer's performances. A nice job done all around.

Track Listing

1. Ahh..The Fade Out-Jordan Manchino (As I Lay Dying)
2. The Near Dominance of 4 Against 5-Chris Adler (Lamb Of God)
3. Fluoxetine-Jeremy Colson (Steve Vai)
4. Up And Atom-Justin Foley (Killswitch Engage)
5. Instr.-Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall)
6. Out Of Nowhere-Kenneth Schalk (Candria)
7. Grounded-Joe Nunez (Soulfly)
8. When The Scales Fell- Tom Taitano (Totalisti)
9. YMCA or TCBY-Chris Pennie (Dillinger Escape Plan)
10. Swirling Patterns- Derek Roddy (Blotted Science)
11. Impulse- Raanen Bozzio (Stasis)
12. Weak Would- Michael Justice (Unearth)

Added: October 4th 2007
Reviewer: Butch Jones
Score:
Related Link: Magna Carta
Hits: 3942
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]