### Iron Man: I have returned

#### 24/02/10 || Khlysty

A long time ago, in an age when the only source of information about heavy music were some obscure printed magazines, I read an interview of the Ozzer, where, remembering his olden days with Black Sabbath, related how during one of their first shows in the USA a guy was shouting all the time “HEY, BLACK SABBATH! HEY, GUYS! HEY, BLACK SABBATH!”. After a while, a pissed-off Ozzy stopped the show and said something like “There’s an asshole out there, who’s shouting all the time and is breaking my balls. Whaddya want?”, to which the guy said “HEY, BLACK SABBATH, HOW COME YOU AIN’T BLACK ?”.

Well, if the story is true (and, considering the Ozzer’s general state of mind, this is debatable…) and the heckler lives today and still sports the same question, Iron Man is the answer to his question; that is, if one wants to know what Black Sabbath would be like if the band was comprised up to 50% by black people, this is the band to turn to. So, history time, me laddies. Back in 1988, Alfred Morris III, after doing time with some other bands, founded the institution that’s Iron Man, as a Sabs cover band. In 1993 Iron Man recorded their first L.P., “Black Night” which contained original material, clearly in debt to the Sabs first three-four records.

Fast forward to 2009 and Iron Man is back with “I Have Returned”, their fourth long-player installment, after having been faced with so much tumult and tribulations, that a lesser band might have easily been annihilated. Not so with Al and his buddies-in-doom, though. If anything, Iron Man of today sounds as powerful and as vital as a band with members half the age of these grizzled veterans. The sound, the songwriting, the mood, the vibe, everything here is as good as it gets, when one’s talking about music so much inspired of and in debt to the original sound of the Four Brummies.

Let me be absofuckinglutely clear on this one: Iron Man, while obviously NOT a tribute band, owes everything –and wears everything clearly on its sleeve- to Black Sabbath of yore. Actually the band’s sound seems like a “Master Of Reality”-“Volume 4” combination, which means a lot of downtuned, groovy, turgid riffery and a lot of proto-doom. I have to add, though, that Iron Man’s sound is more stripped-down than that of early ‘70s Sabs. Also, the band adds a healthy user-unfriendly biker-stoner vibe to most of the songs, making them sound like the bastard offspring of a Sabbath-Obsessed-St. Vitus gangbang. In one word, delicious.

The songs sprawl nicely to 4 to 5 minutes lengths, never overstaying their welcome, never seeming half-baked. Al’s SG’s sound is absolutely massive and imposing –shit, even Tony would’ve been proud of it- and his riff mastery is impeccable. The bass is always present and busy, creating a background of bowel-disrupting bottom-end, while, together with the tasteful drumming, giving the songs the groove that help them rise above and beyond any charge of “copying”. The vocals are vintage doom perfection, melodic where they should, vicious where it’s called for. But, all this is the details; the whole picture is much bigger and much more interesting.

See, and I may be putting whatever rep I have on the line here, I think that Iron Man does exactly what the Sabs failed miserably to do for a long time now: update the classic doom sound, while never leaving the roots behind, never forgetting the origins and NEVER PISSING ON THE LEGACY THEY THEMSELVES CREATED. Iron Man sound completely out of time, but never out of place. The songs, whether sloth-like dirges, or more brisk-paced affairs, always have this magic combination of sounding as retro as it gets and as “here and now” as anything that came out during 2009. Helped by the organic production, this is a record that drips stale bongwater, vinegar, poverty and desperation, as much as it calls for great headbanging.

Generally, I’m not so hot for so “classic” a sound, as I prefer my metal more out there. Still, I cannot but admire Iron Man. The template on which they apply their art is known almost to anyone, but the details are so well-conceived and executed, that I cannot gripe in the least about what the band does. The sound is familiar, but it’s being updated in ways that can easily make the original proud of its progeny. Bottom line is, this is a great classic-sounding metal record. Do yourselves the favor and give Iron Man the chance they truly deserve.

- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
- Website: Iron Man MySpace
- Band
- Alfred Morris III: guitars
- Louis Strachan: bass
- Dex Dexter: drums
- Joe Donnelly: vocals.

- Tracklist
- 01. Burn the sky
- 02. Run from the light
- 03. Curse the ages (curse me)
- 04. Sodden with sin
- 05. Blind-sighted forward spiral
- 06. Days of olde
- 07. I have returned
- 08. Gomorrah gold
- 09. Fallen angel
- 10. Among the filth and slime