If this was meant to be a celebration of metal, then Axe Dragger absolutely nail it from the first note. This self-titled debut feels like a record made by people who’ve lived this stuff for years. When you’ve got Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch, ex-Pentagram drummer Pete Campbell, ex-Pantera vocalist Terry Glaze and Dark Funeral bassist Fredrik Isaksson involved, you’d expect pedigree. What’s more impressive is that “Axe Dragger” never leans on reputation alone. It earns its stripes the old-fashioned way: with riffs, hooks and conviction.
The title track opens with all the right intent. “Axe Dragger” has that authentic gallop you simply can’t fake, and there’s a sense of sheer fun running through it that makes the whole thing instantly inviting. It’s proper hi-tops-on stuff, the sort of metal that remembers this genre is meant to thrill as much as it is meant to flatten you. “Give You The Rope” and “Fight Another Day” keep things moving with real purpose, and the energy here is obvious enough, but the skill is quite another matter. These are players with serious miles on the clock, and it shows.
“Iron Rider” offers a darker change of pace and is all the better for it. You can imagine Symphony X doing something with this kind of dramatic sweep, but the solo here is sensational and gives the song its own stamp. Elsewhere, Balch’s riffing carries some of that grit and swagger he’s long brought to Fu Manchu, while Campbell hits everything with the kind of authority you’d expect from someone who’s been through Pentagram’s world. Glaze, meanwhile, sounds like a man who knows exactly how to sell classic metal drama, and Isaksson gives it all a low-end menace that stops this ever sounding lightweight.
You don’t need to be an aficionado to spot the Priest thing going on, and Balch’s own nod to “Powerslave”-era Iron Maiden makes perfect sense. “Eat Me From The Inside” and “Shock ’Em Dead” tap directly into that classic metal heart, while “El Toro” has real stride and presence. Then “The Damned Will Cry” seems to stomp through some blasted post-apocalyptic landscape, convinced the end is not only near but already here. It’s vivid stuff, and exactly the sort of scene-setting that old-school metal has always done so well.
“Fire In The Madhouse” is as LA thrash as you could possibly want, the sort of thing that would have Exodus grinning at the sheer feral joy of it, and by the time “Death Is Calling My Name” closes things out, Axe Dragger have made their point in full. This is built on melody, class and skill, not to mention belonging. For all the obvious references and love of the genre’s golden age, this never feels like dress-up. It sounds authentic because it is authentic.
That, really, is the beauty of this record. Yes, it comes with the pull of musicians whose histories stretch through Fu Manchu, Pentagram, Pantera and Dark Funeral, but this is more than a roll call of underground and metal royalty. Mixed by Brian Scheuble and mastered by Dave Collins, “Axe Dragger” lands with real force, but more importantly it has soul. Supergroups can sometimes be all polish and no personality. Axe Dragger avoid that trap completely. This is metal made by lifers, for lifers.
RATING 8.5/10
