After
bluegrass
Pink Floyd
,
metal
was the obvious next step, although the dark hues of
Metallica
seem an unlikely choice. But here they are, ten
songs done in
fashion -- or at least as
as it's possible for
songs to be. There are plenty of innate differences in the styles that make a fusion difficult -- the concept of melody being one. This album pinpoints the fact that in their original versions, these songs contain precious little melody, especially in the vocals, and here they have to work hard to extract that and create harmonies behind the tenor lead -- indeed, the piece that seems most open is
"Fuel."
The playing, of course, is superb, with mandolin player
Tony Robertson
turning in some stunning solos on
"Nothing Else Matters"
and
"Wherever I May Roam"
Vance Henry
offering some shimmering guitar on
Part of the problem is that while perhaps three of these songs are generally well-known, coming from that brief period when
was a general big deal, most of the material will be familiar only to those who've heard several
albums. And though
has its share of dark lyrics, they're generally not as nihilistic or apocalyptic as anything in this
field. A lot of thought has gone into the arrangements here, and there's a definite irony in the fact that the disc contains no drums -- the instrument of
's leader. Interesting, with some fabulous playing, but you can't help feeling that the talent could be put to better use on some other project. ~ Chris Nickson