Herman Frank – Two For A Lie
Release Date: 21st May 2021
Label: AFM Records
Pre-Order
Genre: Heavy Metal
FFO: Accept (duh!), Judas Priest, Racer X, Mercyful Fate.
Review By: Snidely Whiplash
Hello everyone, Snidely Whiplash here from the metalepidemic.com review hot seat! As you might notice, I’m new here on the review charts. I can be a giant d**k, but I try to be fair as well. So sit back and enjoy the ride!
Today I’m reviewing HERMAN FRANK and his new release TWO FOR A LIE!
Let’s begin with the obvious. Herman Frank is a shredding guitarist. He’s played with ACCEPT and VICTORY. The dude can tear UP a guitar! There is no doubt about that. Adding to his arsenal of riffs is Mike Peshin to double up that riff power. On bass, Mr. Michael Muller joins together with Kevin Kott on drums to make a heavy and solid rhythm section. This is a tight, rock solid band for certain. Sprinkle on top the dramatic vocals of Rick Altzi and you’ve got one hot band ready to tear it up.
The songs on this album are fast and loud for sure. They’re high energy and definitely carry a Judas Priest vibe. From the pounding double-kick on the main tracks, to the often thudding bass lines on every song. There is no doubt they have aimed for the style that sounds like a freight train running through your music player. Every song is constantly driving forward.
While I like the energy, I do wish they had a little variety in some of the tunes. This is a band with talent, that’s obvious. Some of the songs did get to sound a little bit of the same old thing after a while. The songs still rock, don’t get me wrong. But, as a whole the album could have used a lower tempo song or two to give it a little breath of something new and to show off a little versatility. I think I might have switched up the song order as well. Open Your Mind is a good song, but Stand Up And Fight might have been the one I would have closed the album with. The overall energy of that song is so much higher and left me wanting more. That being said, if you want heavy, driving, head-banging music, this is your group.
The sound quality on the tracks are awesome. Now, on my sound system … and I did play it through more than one player … the vocals were a little buried, so I couldn’t get all of that dramatic, note holding awesomeness that could have been. Rick Altzi actually reminds me a lot of a Joe Lynn Turner. The whole album threw me back to Yngwie Malmsteen’s Trilogy days. I wanted to hear those vibrato notes coming out of that hard, dramatic voice. But again, that could have been my system. So, I’ll give it a little bit of a pass.
The guitars shred. Frank knows how to play. That’s a given. Some of the driving rhythms gave me that Zakk Wylde vibe from Ozzy’s Miracle Man days. They have that dirty, harmonic overtone vibe that just kicks ass. Other songs have that Judas Priest Painkiller vibe where Kevin Kott sounds like he is channeling Scott Travis on the drums and just blasting his way through your eardrums.
Overall I think this album is a great driver. It’s one you could put in and bang your head to as you speed down the highway and head for a concert or something where the volume needs to be up. It’s cuts are deep and heavy and the sound is full tilt from start to finish. The current single Venom hits you right in the face from the start “YOU ARE MY VENOM!” starting the song and taking it into a raunchy, pounding sound that gets you ready to rock right through to the end of the song. The closer, Open Your Mind has that Queensryche type of start that pulls you in. I might have switched them, but they still rock hard overall. You are going to need a breath after this album finishes playing. It’s definitely one to check out!
(4 / 5)
