### Rob Rock: Garden of chaos

#### 28/09/07 || Euthanatos

Rob Rock has played with everyone and their mother. Impelliteri is probably the most popular, but the man has sang tunes with some serious talent in his career, like Tony MacAlpine, Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, just to name a few.

So I totally forgot about Rob Rock until he released “Holy Hell”, which is probably one of the worst album titles I have ever heard. The reason my attention was drawn to it was obviously Roy Z, which is one of those producers who either fucks you up beyond belief (Judas Priest, Helloween) or totally revamps your career (Bruce Dickinson).

And although Rock was always praising Jesus and stuff on that album, the songs and overall brutal heaviness of its power metal crunch stunned me. The new album, “Garden of Chaos”, goes down (or up) the same path.

Still in love with Jesus, Rock is singing better than ever, which is probably due to Jesus juice and 10 year old boys’ semen. The fucking riff arsenal that Roy Z spews here is astounding, and one has to wonder how he manages to be so incredibly talented with some people and so lackluster with others. Which reminds me that the overall production here is also very close to crystal clear, extremely heavy, top-notch.

“Satan’s Playground” is the perfect example of what I’m talking about here. First, it has a great name, second, the riffs are awesome, as is the guitar sound chosen, and Rob Rock is kicking serious ass singing. Despite not enjoying the theme Rock chooses to sing incessantly about, as I have mentioned before, I am open-minded to these things, and I sure as hell am not going to stop listening to good music just because I disagree with what the singer is saying.

I think it’s awesome how Roy Z has again made a semi-forgotten singer shine once more, taking him back from oblivion and making the guy release some of his best material ever. Oh, and the fact that Rock has surrounded himself with some of the best musicians in the metal world, like Gus G., Anders Johansson and Bobby Jarzombek, doesn’t do any harm at all.

If you’re into power/heavy metal, with a lot of good and heavy riffs and world-class singing, check this out.

The cover: The “Holy Hell” one was much better, with the armies of heaven and hell battling each other. That’s the shit I want to see. This one is Rob Rock’s ugly face photoshopped into a city, an apple and yeah, religious symbolism, hooray. Fuck that.

7,5 Jesus and Mary sitting in a tree out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: Candlelight Records
- Website: www.robrock.com
- Band
- Rob Rock: lead and backing vocals
- Liza Shekhter: backing vocals and keyboards
- Carl Johan Grimmark: guitars
- Andreas Olsson: bass
- Andreas Johansson: drums
- Roy Z: guitars, bass
- Gus G.: guitar solo on “Ride The Wind”
- Bob Rossi: guitar solo on “Metal Breed”
- Peter Hallgren: guitar solos on “Savior’s Call” and “Millennial Reign”
- Bobby Jarzombek: drums on “Ride The Wind” and “This Time Is The Last Time”

- Tracklist
- 01. Garden of Chaos
- 02. Satan’s Playground
- 03. Savior’s Call
- 04. This Time Is the Last Time
- 05. Only a Matter of Time
- 06. Spirit in the Sky
- 07. Metal Breed
- 08. Millenial Reign
- 09. Unconditional
- 10. Ride the Wind
- 11. Ode to Alexander