VICIOUS RUMORS – Sadistic Symphony

Back to the roots, my ass! Okay, the songwriting is quite good, and this and that remind of the good old days, but that is mostly when this once premier American power metal outfit repeats themselves. The brilliant Mark McGee is back as a guest on a few songs, but that doesn’t rescue the overall impression. The new singer Morgan Thorne comes not even close to Brian O’Connor, who did the last album, and is by no means a worthy Vicious Rumors singer. The record sounds like the demo your friends made back in the days of high school. I really don’t get this, as the CD saw some great reviews in Germany, and I am sorry to say so. This is, in my opinion, a huge disappointment from a band that I consider one of the fundamental American power metal acts.