SCORPION CHILD – Acid Roulette (2016)
Texas longhairs SCORPION CHILD return with a wicked uppercut of a second album titled “Acid Roulette” to be released tomorrow June 10. Befitting a band so joyfully mired in the golden-god era of hard rock, it’s a concept record about an acid-gobbling, falsely imprisoned nutter slowly unravelling in his cell.
If that sounds heavy, wait until you hear this 13-ton Lizzy-meets-Zeppelin riffage.
In 2013, Scorpion Child blew our minds with the release of their self titled debut album. The record wowed critics and music fans all over the world with their very own modern take on sound that is as timeless as it is classic.
Being overly compared to Led Zeppelin (do the dismay of lead vocalist Aryn Jonathan Black), I feel that Scorpion Child stepped shit up about seven notches with “Acid Roulette”.
When a band loses a guitarist, a drummer and bassist, it can almost usually spell disaster but Scorpion Child rose from the ashes with a lineup that was so much stronger, relentless, and dynamic than the previous.
The songs on “Acid Roulette” are so much more mature sounding and there is a stronger sense of solidarity in this line up. After the few first bars of the opening track, “She Sings, I Kill”, you’ll hear and feel the monstrous attack of this song.
“Reaper’s Danse” is a catchy, dynamic cut, while “My Woman in Black” is the kind of song that had it come out 30 years ago very well could’ve been a huge hit for them.
The dynamics of the playing in Scorpion Child have been taken to a whole new level with the addition of keyboardist AJ Vincent. On the title track, this is where the band really feels locked in and giving AJ the opportunity to do his best Jon Lord, allow guitarist Chris Cowart to weave in and out of the rhythm section creating a foundation for Vincent to build upon.
The real show stopper of this album is “Winter Side Of Deranged” because, in my opinion, this is the way I always picture Scorpion Child sounding in my head. The exercise in changes of melody and musical dynamics put a huge smile upon my face and had me going in for a second listen.
With “Acid Roulette”, Scorpion Child is clearly on their way to establishing themselves as a huge player in the game and breaking away from the pack of bands that they tend to get lumped in with
I also feel that with this album, the Zeppelin comparisons can be put to rest. Hell, if anything, I hear some of that more psychedelic, harder edged Thin Lizzy stuff in their sound and I say that with the utmost respect.
The groove, the monster bass lines (often buried on most recordings, here it’s a blast) the spiraling guitar riffs & solos, that lovely Hammond B3, all these glue to create a terrific sound.
“Acid Roulette” is a modern age Classic Rock little masterpiece, which is not only Scorpion Child’s best work to date but one of the best albums I have laid ears on in 2016. Oh yeah, and blows out of the water the last Rival Sons and Inglorious albums for sure.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
01. She Sings, I Kill
02. Reaper’s Danse
03. My Woman In Black
04. Acid Roulette
05. Winter Side Of Deranged
06. Séance
07. Twilight Coven
08. Survives
09. Blind Man’s Shine
10. Moon Tension
11. Tower Grove
12. I Might Be Your Man
13. Addictions
Aryn Jonathan Black – Vocals
Christopher Jay Cowart – Guitar
Jon “Charn” Rice – Drums
Alec Caballero Padron – Bass
AJ Vincent – Keyboards
BUY IT !
www.amazon.de/Acid-Roulette-Scorpion-Child
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