Charred Walls Of The Damned - 'Charred Walls Of The Damned'

A solid, melodic thrash metal album from a supergroup of metal heavyweights.

The names Richard Christy, Tim “Ripper” Owens, Jason Suecof, and Steve DiGiorgio need no introduction to most serious fans of heavy metal, and the imminent release of the debut full-length from Charred Walls of the Damned on Metal Blade Records has generated an enormous amount of interest. Founded by drummer Richard Christy, Christy has had a long career in metal, drumming for noteworthy bands such as Death, Iced Earth, and others over the years.

He has dropped out of metal for the last several years in order to concentrate upon a career in comedy, and his profile as one of Howard Stern’s sidekicks has undoubtedly increased metal’s exposure. Joining Christy in this venture are guitarist/ producer extraordinaire Jason Suecof (Trivium, Capharnaum), legendary bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Death, Testament, and many others), and Tim “Ripper” Owens (Judas Priest, Iced Earth) as vocalist.

The album opens with the first single, “Ghost Town,” a song that immediately establishes the tone of the album as technical, melodic, thrash with a basis heavily grounded in traditional heavy metal. Fast riffing from Suecof overlays Christy’s opening blasts, but the song quickly segues into a slow melody with virtuoso soloing from Suecof.

Suecof and Christy form the dynamical basis throughout, but the vocal performance from Owens really stands out over the course of the album. Owens’ vocal delivery alternates between a certain amount of gruffness and soaring, epic melody, providing a perfect accompaniment to the shifting highlights of the music. Prime examples of Owens’ performance include “Blood On Wood,” “Manifestations” and “The Darkest Eyes.” As would be expected, the musicianship is absolutely stellar, especially from Christy and Suecof, throughout the entire album. Christy and Suecof incorporate a great deal of variation into the songwriting, with plenty of tempo changes, complicated drumming patterns from Christy, and riffs, melodies, and solos galore from Suecof.

Frankly, about the only missing element from this album is Steve DiGiorgio’s bass, which, to these ears, sounds horribly underutilized as the production is guitar and drum driven. DiGiorgio is only given a few, widely spaced, moments in the limelight, mostly at the beginning of a few songs, and the absence is noticeable, particularly for a bassist of his caliber.

Minor complaints about the underutilized bass aside, the debut full-length from Charred Walls of the Damned is a major release early in the year, and will appeal to fans across the spectrum of metal’s genres. Myself, I mostly concentrate upon the harsher genres, but Charred Walls of the Damned are destined to be a major force to be reckoned with. Highly recommended.