IRON MAN (Dominance) MCD
It is always great when new Doom Metal from the Maryland/DC area arrives at my home. I can not recall a situation where it was different. And so I was a smiling man during my first listening session of Iron Man's new EP 'Dominance'. With Iron Man, you mostly know what to expect. Al Morris III has his formula of riff and songwriting. He crafted that not within only a few years. He perfected his style for more than two decades. So you pretty much know what to expect from the guitar work. And with the 'Dominance' EP you get what you love about Iron Man. Thick, heavy midtempo riffing that makes you at least nod your head in appreciation of the groove Al delivers so good. These four new songs are no expectation to this. 'Ruler Of Ruin' and 'The Final Straw' are as typical as it can be with Iron Man songs. And there is nothing wrong with that in my book.
But there are two new aspects to Iron Man: a new drummer named Mike Rix and the new singer Screaming Mad Dee Colhoun. When Iron Man declared they parted ways with their singer Joe Donnelly, I was a bit in mixed emotions so to speak. I really like Joe's voice and he wrote some great lyrics but his clearly Ozzy-like vocals that he perfected in a Sabbath cover band, put Iron Man even closer to Black Sabbath (their biggest influence) which I always was a little sceptical about. That does not mean I disliked the last two releases by Iron Man. In no way. The album was great and the Iron Man Shall Rise EP is cool as well. But that is the past. And Screaming Mad Dee is the present and hopefully the future. That man got pipes and a thing on his own. When he sings full power it is like someone yells at you with a sense of melody you would not expect and when he sings a little more mellow his melodic abilities shine through even more.
I really dig the man's voice. I already did when he had this short-lived band called Land Of Doom with Russ Strahan (yes, it's the one who was in Pentagram). And if you have a chance to listen to those Land of Doom songs, do so. The instrumental 'Eternal Sleep' is another track so typical for Iron Man. Al once again shows, that he can handle the acoustic guitar like a master as well. 'Grown' is the last song on this EP. And this one is a little darker but still a monster of groove with a nice slow and super doomy riff in the middle section as well as awesome bass work during Al's solo. Iron Man is still standing strong after the lineup change. So all you Maryland/DC Doom fanatics should waste no more time and get in contact with the band to purchase this EP.
(Thorsten Frahling)