There's something about calling your debut album We'll Rock You To Hell and Back Again that suggests big dumb ass metal of a bygone era and in the case of Outloud, a name that also suggests spandex and head bands, you would be absolutely right. However when big dumb ass eighties inspired RAWK is done as well as this who cares what straining your neck muscles to such metal-tastic songs as "Breathing The Fire", "Out Loud" or "We Run" does for your street cred?
Outloud were formed when Firewind guitarist and keyboard player Bob Katsionis realised that his then guitar pupil Tony Kash was coming up with some fantastic bone crunching riffs. Katsionis quickly added his Firewind colleague Mark Cross to play drums before recruiting Talon vocalist Chandler Mogel and Kash's best friend Jason Mercury completed the line up on bass.
Claiming Riot, Skid Row and classic era T.N.T. as inspiration, it would be fair to suggest that We'll Rock You To Hell and Back Again actually has glimpses of the afore mentioned bands along with everything from a rocked up Europe to Motley Crue or Bonfire. The important thing is that at no time do Outloud come over as a parody or tribute band for any act from the past, what they do manage is to take the vitality and vigour from that era and add elements of more contemporary bands such as (surprise, surprise) Talon or Firewind.
We'll Rock You To Hell and Back Again is an album packed full of biting, catchy riffs and excellent vocals. When you add to that a rhythm section that nails every beat to the floor and an excellent mix by Tommy Hansen (Helloween) what you have is a mightily impressive set of songs that camp in your memory and refuse to leave.
There are plenty of standout moments on the album, Mogel puts in huge vocal performances on the ultra catchy "We Run" and excellent stripped down ballad "Love Sigh", Katsionis and Kash's guitars are a joy throughout, however the roaring insistent riff on "Out Loud" sees the pair at their absolute best and Cross also turns it up a notch for that closing track, but along with Mercury the pair underpin every song with their pin point, yet bombastic rhythms.
If you yearn for the days when Metal was fun and bands were happy to put out albums with Marshall stacks and scantily clad women on the cover, however you also want a high level of musicianship and song writing then it's time to break out the air guitar and play it Outloud!!!!
Track list:
1. What I Need
2. We Run
3. Tonight
4. Search For The Truth
5. The Broken heart
6. Breathing The Fire
7. Wild Life
8. Broken Sleep
9. Out in the Night
10. Love sigh
11. Out Loud
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