TODD La TORRE (Queensrÿche) – Rejoice In The Suffering [Deluxe Edition +3] (2021)

As global touring came to a sudden and unexpected halt earlier this year, Queensrÿche frontman TODD La TORRE has been using his recent pandemic downtime to put the finishing touches on his debut solo album ”Rejoice In The Suffering”.
Todd teamed up with longtime friend and collaborator Craig Blackwell and alongside producer Chris “Zeuss” Harris created a diverse metal album that draws influence from different styles. These styles will surprise fans who only know La Torre from his previous work with Queensrÿche or Crimson Glory.
Heavy, but still melodic, these songs are full of groove, dynamics, power, and substance. From the album’s opening riffs of “Dogmata” to the vocal acrobatics that drive the album closer “Apology,” it is apparent that Todd La Torre has a true love for classic metal.

Playing all the drums and all the vocals for the album, songs like “Darkened Majesty” and “Critical Cynic” offer an inside look into the musical mind of La Torre. Craig Blackwell’s guitar playing provides the perfect musical accents to La Torre’s vocals.
Todd even finds vocal wails not heard from him before as showcased on the title track and the punishing “Vanguards of the Dawn Wall.”

Drawing from a highly diverse well of influences, it’s tempting to file this sonic venture under the genre tag ‘various,’ but the best way to truly understand the game of notes at play here would be a modernized take on traditional metal with a load of peripheral variations.
The obvious comparisons to present day Judas Priest and Queensryche become almost unavoidable given La Torre’s highly dynamic and raunchy vocal display, which manages to both shatter glass in that prototypical 80s fashion while also delivering a forceful kick to the teeth via a solid mid-range delivery and even dial back the intensity a bit for a crooning fit of balladry.

While this project flies under the name of its front man, the creation of this modern metal masterpiece was also made possible by the work of La Torre’s longtime friend and compatriot Craig Blackwell, whom handled the entirety of the guitar, bass and keyboard work on this opus and also produced it.
A brief perusal of the riff work and lead flashes that adorns these songs reveals an accomplished virtuoso whom could have been one of a number of guitarists to cut heads with Jeff Loomis during the formative days of Nevermore, but opts for a more concise approach that splits the difference between the punch of modern metallic bluster and the vintage melodic flourishes of the ’80s USPM sound.

Whether it be the speed metal bombast of “Dogmata”, the groove power of “Darkened Majesty” and “Rejoice In The Suffering” (the latter featuring a wild solo exchange with Jordan Ziff of Ratt fame), or the full on speed thrashing thrill ride “Vanguards Of The Dawn Wall”, there is much to be said for the high-impact approach that Blackwell brings to the table.

But for all of the pummeling auditory fists to the gut that this album brings to bear, it should not be forgotten that La Torre’s penchant for progressive nuance makes a fair share of contributions to this album’s effectiveness.
The melancholic expressions of “Crossroads To Insanity” and the build up from an acoustic ode to a flashy mid-paced cooker “Vexed” sees a more spacey clean and acoustic guitar display out of Blackwell, while the vocals bring a whole new meaning to the concept of dynamic contrast as La Torre throws just about every vocalization in existence into the mix.
Further up the totem pole of melodramatic progressivism stands the dark semi-balladry of “Apology”.

All that being said, the absolute coup de grace of stylistic surprises is actually found among the bonus tracks in “One By One”, which is essentially an epic power/progressive excursion with a tall order of Gothenburg-inspired melodic death trappings along for the ride, with La Torre managing to fully emulate the chaotic drumming style associated with the latter style.

Without fail, there is always an album that comes raging into the scene within the opening months that has writers such as yours truly fighting the temptation to name it album of the year, and 2021’s version of this phenomenon is pretty clearly La Torre’s and Blackwell’s colossus of a creation here.
If nothing else, it provides a formidable challenge to any other acts on either side of the Atlantic with plans to release their next LP before the end of next December, and it’s among the most aggressive things to come out of the heavy metal umbrella without crossing over into extreme territory completely in recent memory.

Those who have largely experienced La Torre’s voice through the medium of Queensryche’s newer albums and most recent tours will find a familiar, albeit very different experience here that may well have surpassed his work on “The Verdict.”
It’s prime cut for power and progressive metal fans who like their music dark, forbidding, and with a technical edge, but pretty much any red blooded metal head will find something to like here.
Impressive.

01 – Dogmata
02 – Pretenders
03 – Hellbound and Down
04 – Darkened Majesty
05 – Crossroads to Insanity
06 – Critical Cynic
07 – Rejoice in the Suffering
08 – Vexed
09 – Vanguards of the Dawn Wall
10 – Apology
11 – Fractured (Bonus Track)
12 – Set It Off (Bonus Track)
13 – One by One (Bonus Track)

Todd La Torre – Vocals, Drums
Craig Blackwell – Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Jordan Ziff – guitar solo on “Rejoice in the Suffering”
Al Nunn – keyboard on “One by One”
Zeuss – Mixing and Mastering

Pre Order:
www.amazon.com/Rejoice-Suffering-Todd-Torre/dp/B07WJLK81V