So you’re Tommy Henrikssen. You get to play in Alice Cooper’s band. You’re the musical director for the Hollywood Vampires, but that’s not enough; rather, you fancy another project. So you form Crossbone Skully.
Your day job explains Johnny Depp as the voice of “The Evil Sorcerer,” along with Alice Cooper as “The Bringer of Light,” Joe Perry as “The Big Bad Bone Crusher,” and Nikki Sixx as “The Crooked Crow,” with Kane Roberts as “The Alpha Watchman,” among other guests. Oh, and “Mutt” Lange literally came out of retirement to produce your debut record.
None of this matters, of course, if “Evil World Machine” was crap, but if you can imagine a world where AC/DC jammed with Def Leppard, then you’re pretty close.
And that’s kind of it, right from the opening title track. Phil Collen of the aforementioned Def Leppard appears on “Boom Went The Boom,” and he out Angus’s Angus, if you will, while “Money, Sex, Or God” finds a Bon Scott vibe.
As much as this is a concept record, it’s a pretty straightforward rock one, as “Flip The Bird” proves neatly.
Henrikssen can riff with the best of them. These songs are built on that premise. “Everyone’s On Dope” has a cracker, mind you, and is one of the catchiest here. As you might expect from a record Lange is involved in, the beauty is in the simplicity of the chorus. These will lodge with you in minutes.
“The Sin Eater” is more “Hysteria” than “High And Dry,” if you will. Big, brash, and proudly 80s arena rock, and in the MTV Headbangers Ball era, you can imagine this going gold. “I’m A Bone Machine” wishes it were at the Rainbow Bar And Grill right now.
Whatever world this is in, it sounds filthy. But fun. That’s writ large through “Let’s Bust The Trust”—which rather oddly takes us close to Dropkick Murphys’ territory. Indeed, as the album progresses, there’s more light and shade.
Nikki Sixx guests on “High On You,” but the track itself is more Bon Jovi than Mötley Crüe, and there’s a cinematic quality to “I Am The Wolf” which has the scope to match its ambitions.
This is a record that understands one thing. Not surprisingly, given Henrikssen’s songwriting background, to be fair, but it gets that sometimes all you need is to get your fists up in the air. To that end, I give you “I’m Unbreakable,” and you can’t listen to “Last Night On Earth” and not hear all those melodic rock bands from FM downwards.
The story ends the way it began. The narration on “Misfits Of The Universe” welcomes all as, to all intents and purposes, the credits roll.
And you know what? I’ve just spent hundreds of words explaining what was actually pretty simple: “Evil World Machine” is a very good, very ambitious, and great fun record. And if it were a normal band, it’d be hailed as the debut of one to watch.
Rating 8.5/10
REVIEW: CROSSBONE SKULLY – EVIL WORLD MACHINE (2024)
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