| Musical Style: Metal/Hard Rock | Produced By: |
| Record Label: Wrenchen Menchen | Country Of Origin: USA |
| Year Released: 2018 | Artist Website: Bill Menchen |
| Tracks: 10 | Rating: 85% |
| Running Time: 34:56 |
Aren’t we full? Do we have the appetite for yet another Bill Menchen re-record project? After all, the acclaimed Las Vegas based guitarist has re-done, re-vamped and re-imagined in some sort or capacity almost every album he has released starting with his first project Redeemer. A classic melodic metal act of which details are obscure, Redeemer folded subsequent to putting out a single demo in the mid-eighties but was revisited by the artist in 2007 in the form of two CD’s, Double Edge Sword and Anno Domini, encompassing eleven re-recorded Redeemer songs each. Later in 2011, he re-recorded 12 of the original 22 Redeemer songs with Robert Sweet (Stryper) on drums and released them under the new title One Way.
First project in which Bill Menchen gained renown is Final Axe, a collaborating with vocalist Keith Miles that in 1989 produced the straightforward heavy metal of its lone custom cassette release Beyond Hell’s Gate. In 2005, Beyond Hell’s Gate was remixed, re-mastered and re-issued on Retroactive Records with altered cover art, while 2010 saw it re-issued a second time (also Retroactive) in a highly upgraded form (re-mixed, re-mastered and partially re-recorded) with different cover art and Robert Sweet on drums.
The Keith Miles partnership continued into the nineties with metal and hard rock act Titanic, which recorded its appropriately entitled debut Maiden Voyage in 1996 and sophomore outing Screaming In Silence from six years later. Each album saw re-issue on Retroactive in 2010 with new cover art and Robert Sweet on drums after having been re-mixed, re-mastered and partially re-recorded.
Bill Menchen also has a history as a vocal artist beginning with his Rev Seven project exclusive to four albums of classic and melodic metal recorded between 1991 and 1999: “The Unveiling”, “Hell And Back”, “Seven Years Of Good Luck” and “747”. True to form, the artist re-recorded each song from the four Rev Seven albums and re-released them in 2007 as part of a two CD package, Heavy Laden Volume 1 and Heavy Laden Volume 2. Fast forward to early 2018 and 12 Rev Seven tracks have been re-recorded with Robert Sweet on drums and released under the title Heaven.
Artist arguably hit his creative peak following the turn of the century with the self-titled debut of his The Seventh Power project, a 90% Angelic Warlord graded work based upon a foundation of traditional metal mixed with aspects of doom, power and symphonic metal. As one might expect, in 2012 he re-mixed, re-mastered and partially re-recorded The Seventh Power and re-issued it under the new title The Power. Commonality between the two versions is Robert Sweet on drums, while difference is manner in which The Power reflects a rawer and more stripped down hard rock feel.
This leads us to the latest re-record project from Bill Menchen entitled The White Metal Album released in February of 2018 under the Menchen moniker. The White Metal Album traces to 2007 and third Titanic album Full Steam Ahead, which received an 85% Angelic Warlord review in also traversing metal and hard rock territory but with new vocalist David St. Andrew and drummer David White. Main change to report is how The White Metal Album is made up of re-recorded versions to each of the ten Full Steam Ahead tracks but with Robert Sweet on drums instead.
How do the two versions compare? Listening to each side-by-side reveals Full Steam Ahead to posses a brighter but thinner sound reflective of louder mastering in comparison. The White Metal Album, on the other hand, gives prominence to the darker vibe in stressing the heavier low-end bass presence and guitars that play the more forwardly positioned role. Lead vocals end up correspondingly lower in the mix, although not to the point of ended up buried.
Of course, do not discount the presence of Robert Sweet, who takes the drum performance to the next level, which is in no way a knock on David White and the fine job he did on the original. That said, going from David White to Robert Sweet is the equivalent of an NFL team going from a very good quarterback (can you say Andy Dalton?) to one that is an all time great (how about Drew Brees?). It translates in terms of the creativity inherent to Robert Sweet in the form of his technical drum rolls and fills, but also the added energy he brings to The White Metal Album recording.
Of note is how The White Metal Album features the different track listing, opening to “Captain Of The Ship” as opposed to “Shovel The Coal” from Full Steam Ahead. The song delivers the mega crunch goods, agile and intense in upholding the same searing veneer and catchy hooks of an immediate capacity. “Dead Men’s Bones” follows on both versions and takes a similar fleet position with its mercurial riff action but also differs from the original from how the artists adds some bluesy slide guitar. The two also serve to highlight the vocal abilities of Martin Andrew (known as David St. Martin on Full Steam Ahead), who brings a powerful and projection filled style that has received comparison to Kevin DuBrow (Quiet Riot).
“Deep Down” follows and tempers momentum with its big-low end groove presence, which Sweet further heightens with his emphatic kick drum. “Holy Ground”, another slower cut, begins to several seconds of tempered guitar before taking a doom-ish stance its remaining distance, as found in the full on emotion to its expansive refrain. Perhaps it is the greater guitar emphasis, but when placed alongside “Deep Down” and “Holy Ground” give rise to a meaner if not more forbidding feel than their Full Steam Ahead counterparts.
I always identified with “Shovel The Coal”, now fifth in the track listing, as one of the albums signature tracks. It begins with its stinging fusion of resounding heaviness (artist puts on a clinic with his fervent guitar riffs, not to mention molten lead guitar) and catchy hooks (give it a couple listens and the ‘shovel the coal, sweatin’ drops of blood’ chorus will remain with you for some time). Again, more intensity and full on emotion ends up exuded in relation to the original.
“Sons Of Thunder” occupies sixth position in the track listing on both. For The White Metal Album, it begins to what sounds like several seconds of guitar effects (or perhaps keyboards, although they are not mentioned in the credits), but otherwise remains a thrash influenced monster with plenty of ‘chugga-chugga’ riffs and light bluesy essence to guitars.
Likewise, “Upon The Cross” differs as well, with a quick drum solo at the start but now moving its remaining distance to an underpinning of groove based bass guitar, Tempo slows as well in sustaining the same type of hard charging rhythm guitar penchant. “Wind”, previously known as “The Wind”, also takes a decelerated approach but still maintains its anthem like mentality but with some cool double bass courtesy of Sweet. With its at times spoken word delivery, “Wind” now hints of Alice Cooper.
The musical Book of Proverbs that is “Wisdom” has always remained a Bill Menchen favorite. That said, this is also the only track in which I gravitate to the Full Steam Ahead version, and that is due to losing the honky-tonk piano at the end, which lent a rollicking feel that is now missing. Still, it represents a great song in which you cannot go wrong either way.
“The Sea” now closes Full Steam Ahead but is seventh in the track order on The White Metal Album. This leads to a minor critique in that “The Sea”, due to its leanings towards the progressive, might work better as a closer in that it potentially interrupts the continuity to The White Metal Album track listing. Regardless of position, it is another standout track with a dramatic semblance (almost apocalyptic in feel) and sweeping refrain of an imperial variety (noting the heavy hitting drums in the backdrop). Lone complaint is that I wish it had been carried out further than three and a half minutes (perhaps in the five minute range or greater).
In terms of the change to the Menchen moniker, it might have been a misnomer initially released the album under the Titanic heading due to how the group’s audience better identified with Titanic as a Keith Miles fronted project. So re-releasing it under the Menchen designation makes better sense, particularly when factoring how previous Menchen albums also feature the artist working with a different vocalist, noting the present of front man Ken Redding on 2008 Menchen debut Red Rock and 2011 follow up effort In The Light. The only exception I might make is that perhaps he could have come up with a title more original than The White Metal Album, not that Full Steam Ahead is state of the art.
In answer to the question at the start of the review: Do we have the appetite for yet another Bill Menchen re-record project. I have to answer with a resounding YES! Keep in mind it did take some time to become completely comfortable with the nuances distinct to The White Metal Album, at least when factoring how I have become acquainted with Full Steam Ahead the past ten years. Repeat listen, however, reveals The White Metal Album to be the superior project in light of upgrades in the areas of production and Robert Sweet drum performance. That, however, is beyond the point in that what it comes down to is that regardless if under the title Full Steam Ahead or The White Metal Album, it amounts to an album of high quality songs in which you cannot go wrong either way.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “Captain Of The Ship” (4:29), “Dead Men’s Bones” (3:11), “Deep Down” (3:13), “Holy Ground” (3:02), “Shovel The Coal” (3:59), “Sons Of Thunder” (3:06), “The Sea” (3:29), “Upon The Cross” (3:02), “Wind” (3:59), “Wisdom” (3:28)
Musicians
Martin Andrew - Lead Vocals
Bill Menchen - Stringed Instruments
Robert Sweet - Drums, Percussion & Cowbell
