Obituary have been one of my favourite Death-Metal groups ever since “Cause of Death” come out in 1990, so obviously I was eagerly looking forward to hear the long announced collaboration between the Tardy brothers, vocalist John and drummer Donald.Initial listens proved to be slightly disappointing, mostly because for the most part, “Bloodline” is firmly grounded in Obituary’s trademark sound. Indeed much of what occurs here treads an excessively similar approach to their anchor band, merely a slighter emphasis on melody and Hard-Rock soloing can differentiate the two, so it’s hard to fathom why they have decided to plunge into this side-project in the first place.
Nevertheless and despite “Bloodline” not being exactly what I had imagined beforehand, it still features some great songs, some of them capable of standing head and shoulders above some of the most recent material of Obituary.
The title track with its pummelling rhythm along with a trimmed down, hook-oriented riffing and John’s inhuman voice is one of such songs, it totally reeks of Obituary. “Deep Down”, “Fate's Call” and “Eternal Lies” also belong to that category, coming off sounding like their main band.
As stated before, some moments in “Bloodline” lean over a more melodic edge, much of this comes down to the guitar work of Obituary’s Ralph Santolla and original Executioner guitarist Jerry Tidwell, whose riffs and solos often shift towards a more Hard-Rock, Heavy-Metal approach. See album opener “Bring You Down” for example, where The Tardy Brothers undertake a bouncing and straight out Hard-Rock rhythm with great aplomb. “I’m Alive” follows a likewise mood, exuding an incredibly virtuous guitar solo as if we were listening to a Death-Metal version of Van Halen. “Scream Descendent” is hands down the most surprising and deviating song from “Bloodline, it’s musically equivalent to a band like Iced Earth jamming with flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia with the gruesome vocals of John Tardy on top.
“Bloodline” is good for what it is, but can hardly be seen as an essential purchase and is only worth buying if you just cannot wait for the new Obituary record that is currently in the pipeline. (6.5/10)
Band info: www.tardybrothers.com
Label info: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk
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