Born Of Fire sets the high water mark standard for power metal in 2020, and it'll be fun to watch the world try to reach its glorious heights.
Ross The Boss is, of course, the metallic brainchild of Metal Hall Of Famer, Ross "The Boss" Friedman, and what can I say about the only bonafide guitar hero I know who may have been in the very least partially responsible for the birth of two rock music genres. Who else can make that claim?
First there was his blistering work with New York punk scene creators the Dictators in the 70s, then he turned on his heels and literally invented classic power metal with Manowar in 1980. He hasn't slowed down since.
If you told me in 1985 that this album would be what Friedman would be doing in 2020, I would not have been disappointed a bit.
Of course, great metal albums are never the work of any one man, and Ross has some incredible firepower alongside him with the leather-lunged Marc Lopes on ferocious and acrobatic vocals, symphonic power metal legend Mike LePond on bass, and Steve Bolognese on thundering drums. Together they make a glorious noise that tips its hat to Friedman's hallowed past, but will quite comfortably sit beside anything from today's metal scene.
This is straight ahead power metal with no chaser, but Lopes owns the genre with his brutal yet always melodic vocal stylings. LePond is world class with his grinding SVT tones and fleet fingers, yet at the end of the day, what really makes Born Of Fire burn is the classic guitar work of Ross "The Boss" Friedman. His razor sharp riffs have never been dulled, and his soloing is amongst the greatest in heavy metal history. It's what has separated his work from so many other contenders.
"Glory To The Slain" is the album opener, and it draws a line in the sand, and sets the rules. A tight riff, Lopes' excellent stylings and Ross brings the signature lines, riffs, and subtle twists that got him inducted into the inaugural class of the Metal Hall of Fame in 2017.
Other high points include the iron clad "Shotgun Evolution" on which the bridge goes completely apocalyptic before Friedman sprays the land with his patented soloing as guitar parts splatter and shatter the sonic landscape, the Celtic, symphonic suggestions of "Maiden of Shadows, and my personal favorite, "Demon Holliday, which suggests a distant, long ago manifest destiny.
Wherever you drop the needle, you ware going to be thrilled. Nobody buys a record by the Ross The Boss Band and wonders what they're getting. Ross Friedman has a track record of well over four decades, and once again, the man has delivered the goods.
Out March 6, 2020 on AFM Records
https://www.facebook.com/rossthebossofficial/
Thanks to Dustin Hardman, AFM Records, and Ross Friedman.
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