Nail - ST

Tracks

		Track Name	Length
	1	No Way Out	04:10
	2	Don't Say It	03:48
	3	Little White Lie	03:30
	4	Right Now
	5	Reaper
	6	Carpe Diem
	7	Spider
	8	Let Me Out
	9	Fishbowl
	10	Bottom Line
	11	Fuck Off and Die

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Information/Write-up

Heavy Metal guitar and jaw dropping vocals are just 2 of the ways that you can describe this disc of pure progressive metal music. The soul and backbone to this project are probably most known throughout the world for their stint with Canadian metallers Helix BUT to some of us they will always be known for KAOS. KAOS was the premier metal band back in the 80’s in NL, Canada most known for their song “March of the Gremlins”. This song was an instrumental on their debut LP TOTAL KAOS which every metal fan should try to locate. It had such a distinct guitar riff that made it easily recognizable. Even to this day fans in NL still remember the riff and want to hear it as was quite evident back in ’04 when Helix last played here with Rainer and Cindy in the band.

The songs are heavier than anticipated which quite a surprise and a relief to hear. If you are thinking that they are a metal band with female vocals then you are correct. If you are expecting to hear Lacuna Coil/Evanessence style music then you are sadly mistaken. This is distinct and quite refreshing. There is a slight bit of a Black Label Society influence on a couple of tracks. On “Don’t Say It” Rainer’s backgrounds are somewhat reminiscent of some of Zakk Wylde’s on a few of the BLS stuff in a couple of spots. The other place he does do a bit of harmonics on guitar but not to the extreme Zakk extent. Rainer is a phenomenal guitar player in his own right and you will easily see that upon first listen to this disc. On “Right Now” there is a really cool and unexpected part where he switches to acoustic for a moment. This song ends with a unique piece of bagpipe playing courtesy of the Campbell Brothers of The Mudmen. It is too bad that the ending chops off way too quick instead of letting the pipe drones just fade on their own.

Cindy has one of the greatest voices you will hear. She has such a strong voice that keeps getting better as the years go on. She hits some amazing notes on “Little White Lie“ that just makes the hair on the back of your neck just stand up, she IS that good. Hearing her gradually build up and then just nail the insanely high note is just phenomenal. The only complaint here is that it is a bit too low in the mix and should be brought to the forefront a bit more. There is no studio fuckery used to create it, she can just belt it out so the whole disc will be recreated live without backing tracks. The song “Fuck Off and Die” is the most surprising song on the album. Hearing Cindy sing the lyrics is just different and indescribable (in a good way). She does let it rip with anger and emotion and really gets into it (as she does on all the songs). This heavy rocker is destined to become a band crowd favorite.

All 11 tracks on this disc are true classic style metal with some killer distorted guitar works and a progressive edge that hit you in the face and vocals that make your hair stand up as your jaw hits the floor. All the disc needs is for another Gremlin to rear its head and march with the band to the top.
-Celtic Bob, metal-rules.com

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