Valient Thorr LEGEND OF THE WORLD cd review

Valient Thorr
LEGEND OF THE WORLD
Volcom Entertainment

Valient Thorr is back to save rock and roll with a cosmic bliss not seen since the universe was created! That statement is a little out there, but so are Valient Thorr. This band is truly a kick in the ass for rock and roll and the band has the ability to bridge musical genres with their unique style. They have the inner wrappings of punk, metal, garage rock, etc. all wrapped within their musical grab bag of songs. Think the craziness of Charles Manson (with a beard that is soon to rival a ZZ Top beard) preaching politics to the masses delivered through a Motorhead or MC5 soundtrack and you get the picture of how this band sounds. Hailing from the backwoods of North Carolina, Valient Thorr is out to right the wrongs of the universe and judging by their new release LEGEND OF THE WOLRD, they are well on their way to spreading their disease.

Carrying on where their last release TOTAL UNIVERSE MAN left off, Valient Thorr delivers another release packed with enough good songs to keep your attention from beginning to end - no filler material here. The first thing that really stands out is the incredible hooks that are delivered on both a musical and vocal level. There's alot of catchy parts scattered throughout the disc that will sink into your subconcious. Political awareness is a heavy theme throughout alot of the songs. Spewing out lyrics like a drooling pissed off dog on a short chain, lead singer Valient Himself (no -that's not his real name) delivers the policitally driven lyrics like he's addressing an army ready for battle. The guitar work of Eidan and Odinn Thorr (notice a theme here?) is nothing short of spectacular. They lead a dual guitar attack that rips your head off with great guitar solos and rhythms that keep the songs driving full speed ahead. For the guitar solos, they really do some good clean sounding melodic solos - sometimes coming off as sounding like Iron Maiden solos. It sounds like most of the songs were written around the guiars and vocals since those two things stand out the most. That's not to say the rhythm section consisting of Lucian Thorr on drums and Nitewolf on bass are slouches. You feel their contributions to the songs, they are the glue that keeps the songs together. There's no big drum fills or big bass lines - just 100 percent driving rhythms. Without their backbone, I don't think the songs would work.

It's tough to pick out any one song that stands out above the others. I tried to describe the sound of the cd as a whole, rather than breaking down each song. Log onto their website and download an older track or check out a video from them. That will give you a good idea of how the band sounds. If you like explosive slamming music that packs a heavy hitting vocal punch, then definately check out LEGEND OF THE WORLD. I really believe this band is on the cusp of breaking out big time. Get in on the action and become a believer!

For more information log onto www.valientthorr.com and www.volcoment.com/