Imagine a band that looks like Warrant and sounds like a bad version of Metallica, standing before an audience made up of thick southern accents, sporadic dog barks and demands to mosh. Do they or do they not get a studio backed record release?
The answer is yes, they do, and it isn't the first time either. The Showdown will release their sophomore album "Temptation Come My Way" on Feb. 20..
As if the title of their album wasn't revealing enough, these boys seemed to have come seething out of the Tennessee backwoods and into a recording studio ready to make pure metal.
Their music is lost somewhere between the mid '80s and the early '90s, kind of like that half floor from "Being John Malcovich."
In the head-banding opener and blatant callout, "Fanatics and Whores," front man David Bunton unleashes some words of wisdom.
"Fanatics and whores / rumors of war / bring us collapse / this breadth, these bones can take no more," Bunton sings.
The album plays like a mixture of Metallica minus the thrash, and Guns N' Roses minus the Slash (and Axl, and Izzy, and Duff, and Steven). It's a solid attempt at reviving a long dead genre. Unfortunately, The Showdown neither revives nor even refreshes the said style.
Using a cowbell, "Head Down" kicks off its fist-pumping attack, sounding eerily similar to Warrant's "Cherry Pie." Luckily the cowbell is eventually set aside for a simple, yet effective melody and anathematic, albeit cheesy lyrics.
"Lay my head down / breathe the dream / the darkness on its way / but I'm not afraid," Bunton said.
"Breath of the Swamp" is worth mentioning only because of its ingenious title, it ascribes to the subculture of metal that can be either charming or revolting.
"It Drinks From Me" is an obligatory power ballad that sounds similar to any Nickelback song, causing ears to bleed and migraines to form across God's green earth. Thankfully, the meaningful lyrics manage to salvage fans from this audio inferno. At least they're not singing about photographs and first kisses.
"Temptation Come My Way" is the most up front track on the album. It would have fit in perfectly as the theme to John Carpenter's "Vampires: Los Muertos." Imagine vampire hunter Bon Jovi thrusting a wooden spike into the creatures of the night to the beat of this killer tune.
The Showdown also includes the one thing that all of today's music lacks: Kansas covers! To solve that problem, they included their version of "Carry On My Wayward Son."
The album comes to an end with the appropriately titled "Death Finds Us Breathing." It sounds similar to a Trapt song, only without the pugnacity.
"As we breathe in and lash out / a juggernaut of days / release us unto death / oh release us this hate," Bunton sings.
Despite checking off every metal clich?(c) in the book, The Showdown has put forth a commendable effort. The question is not whether metal fans should pick up a copy of "Temptation Come My Way" the question is, "are y'all ready to get snake bit?"
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
