VICIOUS RUMORS-Concussion protocol

Steamhammer/SPV

Band leader Geoff Thorpe (guitar) and Larry Howe (drums) have kept this American formation alive for more than 35 years now. I still remember their first four albums well. ‘Soldiers Of The Night’ with guitarist Vinnie Moore, ‘Digital Dictator’, the first album with the great singer Carl Albert who died in 1995 after a car accident, ‘Vicious Rumors’ and ‘Welcome To The Ball’… All albums that made Vicious Rumors a household name within the heavy metal music scene. Thorpe and Howe have never given up on their band although there were numerous changes in line up and not every album they made after 1990 was successful and/or consistent. But since finding a new home with Steamhammer some five years ago the band is back on the right course. In 2013 after another change of singer, Geoff Thorpe rang the young Dutch singer Nick Holleman to invite him to tour with the band and they recorded ‘Live To You Death 2’. That live album was well received and that is why is Holleman is also the man who shines behind the microphone on ‘Concussion Protocol’. The CD contains eleven melodic balls to the wall metal tracks that take no prisoners! Together with co-producer Juan Uteaga, Geoff Thorpe has given the album a pretty aggressive and overwhelming sound. One of my favourites is ,,Bastards’’, a very heavy and pounding song where Holleman really goes to town with his screams and power. Also ,,Every Blessing Is A Curse’’ is a no thrill speed freak of a song with killer riffs and an acrobatic solo. I can say that the whole CD is in all aspects convincing and with this metal monster in hand Vicious Rumors will be able to compete against any opposition out there, because this is a band that has stuck to their guns and principles. Heavy metal with no holds barred! That is how it was during ‘Digital Dictator’, that is how it is with ‘Concussion Protocol’!!