Social Disorder – Love 2 Be Hated
Release Date: 18th June 2021
Label: AFM Records
Pre-Order/Pre-Save
Genre: Rock, Hard Rock, Classic Rock.
FFO: Rainbow, Pretty Maids, Badlands, Whitesnake.
Review By: Snidely Whiplash
Alright boys and girls. It’s time for another metalepidemic.com review with your favorite reviewer in these pants, Snidely Whiplash. Let’s crack the mailbox open, dust off the spiders and see what’s lurking inside for today’s review!
Right off the bat I took a look at this and found star studded heaven! TRACII GUNS and RUDY god damned SARZO!? Oh hell yeah!! This one better be good. This is a CD loaded down with a few super stars and a general who’s who of the metal scene from back in the day. Anders “La” Ronnblom from Killer Bee, X-romance, and Wolfpakk wrote the songs and plays guitar, bass, and piano. He brought in vocal powerhouse Thomas Nordin who butters the tracks with a Joe Lynn Turner meets Ray Gilliam voice that is perfect for what they have going on. Those are the two main, core members of the group. Then he adds on a list of all stars: Tracii Guns, Jeff Duncan from Armored Saint and Odin, Johan Niskanen from Dust, and Fredrik Tjerneld from X-romance on lead and rhythm guitars. Rudy fricking Sarzo on bass (YES THAT Rudy Sarzo!) Dave Stone from Rainbow and Max Webster, Leif Ehlin from Perfect Plan and Thomas Widmark from X-romance on keys. Then they keep going by adding in Shawn Duncan from DC4 and Odin, Snowy Shaw from Dream Evil, King Diamond, and Mercyful Fate and last but not least at all, Kenta Karlbom from X-romance and Goatess on the drums from hell! Dude, you hit me with a line-up like this and a five for you is 2 for anyone else. You BETTER be good!
From the creepy intro of Windy Road to the cool dirty groove of Down On My Knees and on to the galloping drive of Wings Of Serenity, I was not at all disappointed. This band definitely has that Badlands feel to it. I expected to see a video with that Dreams In The Dark vibe and Ray Gilliam blasting through my speakers. That made me happy. Thomas hits those vocals like a David Coverdale, smooth and powerful. Guitars all hit those big notes and the bass is huge. I gotta tell you…I was not at all disappointed. This is going to be one to check out over and over again. Anders labelled this as a passion project, and I agree. The music shows he loved every note, and he wasn’t willing to skimp on any of them. I’m not sure who played on what, which I call a victory. I wanted to hear a solid band and that’s where super line-ups really let me down. I can always tell who wrote what, and who played on what. I can’t tell what Anders played, or what Rudy played. I can’t tell which guitar is on what without looking. That’s the good stuff right there. It sounded like the same band and kicked ass all the way through.
Overall, I loved this entire album. For a passion project, Anders and Social Disorder need to get a solid group together and put this out. Good stuff, with some blues, a little flash, some shredding, and some kick ass vocals to boot. You can Love 2 Be Hated, but you’re better to Hate To Stop Rocking, because that’s what’s happening.
(5 / 5)
