Released by: Massacre Records
ReleaseDate: 13 may 2014
Genre: Hard-Rock, Dirty Rock & Roll
Links: http://www.gunbarrel.de
Line-Up:
Patrick Sühl – Vocals
Rolf Tanzius – Guitar
Tomcat Kintgen – Bass
Toni Pinciroli – Drums
Tracklist:
01.Unleashing The Hounds [Intro]
02. Damage Dancer
03. Bashing Thru
04. Judgement Day
05. Passion Rules
06. Building A Monster
07. Whiteout
08. Back Alley Ruler
09. Ride The Dragon
10. Heading For Disaster
11. Vultures Are Waiting
12. Rise Up To The Storm
Oh dear, a band with such a -pardon me- cliché name clearly indicates what we’ve got to deal with, isn’t it ? And indeed, these guys from Cologne Germany deliver exactly what you would expect just because of that name: classic, old school hard rock with a kick ass mentality.
A little inquiry tells me that this band was formed in 1998, released their debut album‘Power Dive’ back in 2001 and recorded since then 5 studio albums and one live record. During this time the band suffered some major line-up changes as well, leaving Rolf Tanzius currently as the only original member.
So even if the band isn’t on it’s way to re-invent the hard rock music, is it to be labeled dull, bad or whatever just because of these facts ? Hell no !Absolutely not ! Okay, the individual songs are completely exchangeable but they’re catchy, down ‘n dirty and above all uncomplicated. The quality remains quite consistent on the whole record and besides the straight-ahead hard rock you can even find some boogie, rock&roll (Rose Tattoo) and some metal influences as well. I even detected a bit of southern rock on ‘Back Alley Ruler’, similar to Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special. All tracks are build on mainly energetic guitar riffs and a convincing driving rhythm section. On his second album for the band vocalist Patrick also finally delivers the right portion of dirt in his voice.
When you hear a track like ‘Bashing Thru’ you know that this band was born to rock onstage. And they did ! Sharing their energetic live show on the road for many years and touring with notable acts like Molly Hatchet, Slayer, Jon Oliva’sPain etc. and rocking hard on festivals like Wacken as well, they never seem to disappoint their audiences.
So as once the Rolling Stones used to exclaim (and the band also sing it in the track‘Back Alley Ruler’),… ‘It’s only rock n roll’. Indeed, nothing more nothing less. Personally I enjoyed Gun Barrel’s uncomplicated approach on this one and I can recommend them to anybody enjoying 80’s hard rock.
Written by Ruud
Ratings Ruud 7/10
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