GUN BARREL – Bombard Your Soul

Don’t be fooled by Bombard Your Soul‘s orchestral overture, “Begging for Awakening.” Surely it is a dignified opening that belongs on some album — but this ain’t it. Following the intro, with its symphonic string section and twinkly triangles, are eleven straight-up tunes that will have you pawning your violin — if you haven’t smashed it to bits — to make that down payment on a Gibson Les Paul, and maybe even a Harley. That said, Gun Barrel gets two horns up for knowing how to rock hard and take no prisoners.

The music feels contemporary, mainly due to excellent production values, but it primarily speaks to old-school Metal. The songs follow a typical structure and keep to a 3-5 minute formula. Any criticism citing a lack of progressiveness, however, is unwarranted, since the band is presumably not trying to be particularly innovative in that regard (the album’s intro notwithstanding). Within that context, the album serves up a good variety of tunage to keep the listener alive all the way through the more serious final cut.

Gun Barrel’s third outing finds the band with a new singer and bassist, who both make an impression as vital contributors to the sound. Singer Xaver Drexler has the capacity to flex his vocal chords according to the demands of the song — a valuable talent indeed, as the music was written and recorded before he landed the job replacing Guido Feldhausen. At times, Xaver’s stylings reflect the raw personality of Lemmy (Motörhead), or the presence and power of Biff Byford (Saxon), with the music similarly reflecting the style of those bands. Also throw in a touch of Krokus, Accept, and Jackyl to get a good taste of the flavors present in Xaver’s singing and in the music.

Tom Kintgen’s bass adds a big, round bottom end to the sound, and it’s refreshingly distinct in the mix, which is thoroughly tight, punchy, and clear as a bell. Proper.

Rolf Tanzius, on guitar, shows his strength in writing the kind of iconic hooks and rhythms that make Metal as provocative as it is, to those who find it so. His solos, on the other hand, tend to be somewhat tame. They are at least melodic, but greater technical ability applied to more intense lead work would add a substantial value to the music.

Toni Pinciroli’s drumming is muscular — check out the heavy toms — and well executed. He smartly employs double-kick drums when the music needs an extra kick, and he knows when to refrain to provide contrast. Plus, he reaps the benefit of great engineering.

So guitar fanatics are forewarned: you aren’t going to find too many notes in the solos or any jaw-dropping “pyrotechnics” on Bombard Your Soul. Nonetheless, Gun Barrel have their own sound, on the whole, and they deserve just kudos for their soul and ability to hit listeners right between the eyes with the mighty spirit of Metal in unflinching form.