Razorback - Deadringer (CD)

Share this on Facebook | Share this on Twitter

This is the third full length release by the German/Scandinavian heavy band RAZORBACK that sees the light of the day with a brand new addition in the already solid line-up; the restless super drummer Mike Terrana who has already left RAGE and has joined MASTERPLAN thought that there was some time to become the next RAZORBACK drummer.
RAZORBACK was formed in 2002 by Rolf Munkes, Chris Heun and Marcus Bielenberg. The search for a full time singer ended when they made contact with Stefan Berggren from Stockholm. Stefan has been with the ex-WHITESNAKE guys and their COMPANY OF SNAKES.
It becomes clear from the very first CD spins that Deadringer comprises some first class melodic Hard Rock that has strong bonds with the American school.  Fortunately, Rolf Munkes stopped fighting the evil forces with his former comrades from the we want to be like MANOWAR German band MAJESTY and started writing some serious guitar leads and hooks. Deadringer is a real classic track that opens the album after the short intro. The groovy rhythm and the catchy guitar fills fit perfectly Stefan's wide ranged voice. His powerful, melodic and harsh vocals really put the icing on the cake; he sometimes sounds like the little guy with the colossal voice Dio, and sometimes like Sammy Hagar during the VAN HALEN era. There are some German Power Metal finishing touches in tracks like the uplifting The Last Man Standing where the Dio influences are something more than vivid. Stefan really shines in the Hard Rocker Take Me To The Other Side where he proves that he was justly chosen to be a part of the COMPANY OF SNAKES. RAZORBACK move with great easy throughout the Hard Rock territory from the classic AOR songs like Line Of Fire or Let Me Give My Lovin' to more metallish tracks like Burden or the ACCEPT-esque Rock 'n' Roll Life In Hellsink. For one more time Terrana adapts his strong and solid as hell performance to the bands sound. Trully, he is one of the best drummer in Metal who can play almost everything from the German Power/Thrash Metal with Rage to the Progressive and difficult paths of ARTENSION and the classic Power Metal of MASTERPLAN. The power ballad Miracle Baby features some really beautiful guitar melodies and a wonderful solo making me asking myself for one more time what the hell was Munkes doing with MAJESTY. The die-hard Hard Rock meets Glam will love the last album track Razor Blues that features some CINDERELLA influences, a bluesy rhythm guitar section and Berggren's powerful vibrato voice.
There is no need to sum things up because if you have read so far then you'll definitely realized that this is a must buy album that will put a smile to all the all timers who love the classic Hard Rock sound. As for the younger metalheads it's really time to add some diversity to your CD collection with some top notch musicianship.