### Kill Devil Hill: Kill Devil Hill

#### 02/10/12 || Cobal

I had been eagerly waiting for the chance to listen to this album (project?) since I first heard of it. Although some of you might be under the impression I feel particularly attracted to super bands or whatever you wanna call’em, truth is such gatherings rarelly get any kind of attention from me. The reason? They’re normally over rated, over priced and over expected… One needs only to listen to Satriani’s Chickenfoot for 30 seconds to know exactly what’s about to happen for the next hour, for instance.

Nobody would – or at least should – ever doubt Joe’s proficiency and influence, just the same way no-fucken-body could ever take this seriously. My point here is that projects that encompass more than one too well-known musician in their line-up are normally given hard times when being critiqued, and that’s probably never gonna change. Kill Devil Hill, the album, ain’t gonn’be an exception.

Let’s face it, gathering ex-Pantera and Down bass player plus ex-Sabbies and Dio drummer is not saying little, mainly in the base and rhythm department. I’m totally unfamiliar with the other two guys. So, a super rhythmical groovy motherfucking beast we’ve got, uh? Not… quite. In fact, the album has its moments but it gets to feel sort of weak at some others. I hate to admit this, yet I felt a little disappointed. Again, If only my expectations had not been THAT high!

The record takes off with “War machine” which is frankly deceiving at first; based on what I first listened to, I seemed this was going to be more like a technical kind of metal. Instead what these guys delivered is some form of grunge rock which resembles groovy southern heavy stuff at times. Actually, the more they slow down, the better for me, at least when it comes to this particular work. The problem, I think, is that very frequently they sound as a generic almost preppy modern hard rock band, and nobody needs another of those acts.

Make no mistake; there’s some quality here. For instance, while I was expecting killer bass lines, Rex’ work is rather discreet, and instead one gets to listen to some memorable guitar solos and even a couple remarkable choruses. Sadly, that’s about all there’s to it.

All in all, it’s not a bad record, but of course I was expecting much, much, MUCH more. If I were to recommend some songs here, those would be “Gates of hell”, “Rise from shadows”, “We’re all gonna die”, “Strange” and “Old man”. By the by, even though the idea behind the cover ain’t terrible, I found the result (surprise!) a little too generic. Hopefully, their next work will be better. Much better.

- Information
- Released: What year?
- Label: Steamhammer Records
- Website: www.killdevilhillmusic.com
- Band
- Jason Bragg: vocals
- Mark Zavon: guitars
- Rex Brown: bass
- Vinny Appice: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. War Machine
- 02. Hangman
- 03. Voodoo Doll
- 04. Gates of Hell
- 05. Rise from the Shadows
- 06. We’re All Gonna Die
- 07. Strange
- 08. Time & Time Again
- 09. Old Man
- 10. Mysterious Ways
- 11. Up in Flames
- 12. Revenge