Adrenaline Mob - Dearly Departed

Adrenaline Mob

Dearly Departed

by YNGWIEVIKING at 11 February 2015, 3:12 PM

Now, it’s set like a required tradition that in between two albums the dangerous gang leaded by Capo Mike Orlando & Don Russell Allen must release an EP full of audio snacks, unexpected musical jewels and a few surprises. ADRENALINE MOB is back again with a bunch of rarities, three Acoustic renditions/unreleased song and a few favorite cover-tracks including the killer cover of QUEEN’s ”Tie Your Mother Down”!

The mythical frontman Russell Allen must be one of the most busy man on earth, with the continuous and consecutive release of such amazing musical works, like the fourth opus of the project ALLEN/LANDE “The Great Divide” in late 2014, his active participation with the Brazilian supergroup NOTURNALL, the great FORCE 10‘s CD with Mat Sinner/His solo album still on work and, of course the much awaited new SYMPHONY X (can't wait) album set for a release later this year! Obviously the SYMPHONY X frontman steals the show and thanks to his strong temper, his genuine feeling and his undeniable focus he transcends each song with his own magic voice.

The other players are hyper skilled too, but particularly the legendary TWISTED SISTER drummer AJ Pero is making an incredible impression here (“Snortin' Whiskey”) filling the big shoes of Mike Portnoy with talent, the smoking hotshot AxeShredder Mike Orlando is also on fire… Each and every track is adorned with a short but intense an mind-blowing virtuosic solo showing his abundant skills.

Century Media’s “Dearly Departed” is a varied collection of tracks at a fan-friendly price and it features, beside some amazing reworked songs in an acoustic mood (“Angel Sky”/”All on the Line”), a new edited version of the self-titled track (a revamped from their latest album) , an unreleased track ”Gets You Through The Night”’ a leftover also from the ”Men Of Honor” sessions, plus some very interesting renditions of classic songs, the MOB is surfing on the success of their previous covers compilation: The sublime and recommended “Coverta” (2013). “Snortin' Whiskey” is performed with a sharp edge and a new found groove like Pat Travers meets VAN HALEN, the shuffle driving tempo and the exceptional instrumental delivery is uplifting; what a great opener!

The stunning ultra Metallized cover of the CHARLIE DANIELS BAND hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” is a total and extreme makeover… Interesting but not my favorite! Without a doubt, one of the album’s highlights is the BLACK SABBATH medley, an eight minutes epic, that mix together brilliantly classics like “Into the Void”, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” and “Killing Yourself to Live”… Of course, once again the mighty Sir Russell Allen (clearly one of the best Metal singer still in action), is overshadowing everybody else, his perfect vocal execution filled with an amazing spirit injected in the most natural manner.

The disc concludes with the aforementioned and amazing fist pumping rendition of “Tie Your Mother Down” that has nothing to envy to the brilliant QUEEN original anthem, the best I've heard since the LYNCH MOB version in 1992. Now I heard some vicious tongues here and elsewhere, whining about the so-called opportunistic release trick and the supposed easy songwriting method… Be realistic guys, those musicians are the cream of the cream, and they proved it once again here…The New Jersey MOB is back with an exciting nine song EP in celebration of their upcoming tour with ICED EARTH and DEATH ANGEL!

The best palliative or at least, the most honorable way in order to wait patiently until their new album.