Dario Mollo

REVIEW: Tony Martin – Thorns (2022)

TONY MARTIN – Thorns (2022 Dark Star Records)

Anticipation has been high for Tony Martin’s new album Thorns.  His last solo record was the excellent Scream from 2005, but it feels like it was back in the 2nd age of Middle Earth!  Fandom seems to have warmed up to Martin in recent years.  His Sabbath albums, once derided as lesser Dio clones, are looked back upon warmly by more and more people, which could be good for Martin.  And with some of those albums getting the reissue treatment in the future, the time is right for Tony’s re-emergence.

Thorns is heavy.  Heavier than expected.  “As the World Burns” is out of the gates with salvos of double bass and a gut-punching downtuned riff.  This is essentially thrash metal – fast, aggressive, varied and complex.  It’s certainly beyond Sabbath.  Martin’s range is fully intact, though it sounds like he’s pushing his voice a bit too much and maybe should have laid back a bit in a couple spots.  Even so, there is no doubting the man’s enduring power.

“Black Widow Angel” is hellbent for heavy.  Then there’s this crazy funk metal breakdown in the middle with some wicked bass stuff, right out of the blue.  Many of Martin’s songs demonstrate surprising diversity within the walls of heavy metal.  Choirs appear on “Book of Shadows”, a modern Maiden-esque track with a pretty incredible lead vocal.  There’s also a solidly Sabbath gothic streak.

One of the most interesting tracks is “Cry Wolf”.  An acoustic metal song is often intriguing (ask Wino) and this is a fine tune with a guitar solo to match.  Cool instrumentation abounds, and Martin fans know that they can expect some wicked violin within a metal song.  The violin emerges on “Damned By You”, slow melodic and heavy.  Moving on to “No Shame At All”, the groove takes the spotlight.  The chorus is pure vintage Tony, but the groove is new.

Metal ballads rule, and “Nowhere to Fly” is a black rose of a ballad.  The music is understated so it’s all about Tony’s singing.  (Nothing like Dio’s, incidentally.)  “Passion Killer” on the other hand rocks, but is also all about the vocals.  Those “woah-oh-woah-ohs!” kick ass.  There isn’t much of a chorus to speak of, but the verses slay.  Tony then goes for speed on “Run Like the Devil”, hook laden and wicked!  But then we get swampy on the surprising “This Is My Damnation”.  It’s the second acoustic song, but completely different from the first.  “Why terrorism?  Why Covid?  Why cancer?  Why AIDS?” asks Tony in the words, speak-singing like in a Robbie Robertson song.

The closing title track is the most epic, featuring an instantly recognizable Pamela Moore (Operation: Mindcrime).  Moore has lost nothing and raises the game by several levels.  At first, I wasn’t sure I liked that “ooh-ah-ah” bit that sounds like David Draiman.  It grows on you.  At least it’s not the main hook of the song like it is with Disturbed.

Acoustic interludes, spoken word, subhuman bass, snakey synth solos, Pamela Moore…Thorns has plenty of delectables on offer.  Get yours.

4.5/5 stars

 

REVIEW: Mollo / Martin – The Cage 2 (2002)

Scan_20160208DARIO MOLLO / TONY MARTIN – The Cage 2 (2002 Frontiers)

Three years out from their debut album The Cage, Tony Martin and Dario Mollo re-teamed up for a sequel, creatively titled The Cage 2!  On their second effort, Mollo and Martin broke out of a cage of sorts and made heavy metal music with a little more identity.  Keyboardist Don Airey did not return for this album, but in his stead is the legendary Tony Franklin on bass.

Heavy modern nu-metal touches highlight “Terra Toria”, a detuned beast with a bit of grunting on the choruses.  Thankfully the verses are piled high with Tony’s melodies, the same kind that he used to contribute to his Black Sabbath albums.  Mollo meanwhile lays down the shred with a Neal Schon vibe and plenty of power chords.  The heavy stuff takes a bit of a back seat on “Overload” which could have worked well as a Dio power ballad.  Underrated as a vocalist, Tony Martin has no issues delivering the hooks and high notes.  One thing I have loved about Tony Martin is that he also plays violin, and sometimes throws that into his songs, as he did on his solo album Scream.  “Overload” has a fast flying violin solo, and it’s a killer.

Distorted lead vocals on “Life Love and Everything” lend it a modern touch on the verses, but the layered vocals of the chorus make it clear that this is not nu-metal.  The guitar riff is a tricky shuffle, but with a groove.  It’s soul metal with the emphasis on the metal rather than the soul!  “Balance of Power” is just speed metal, along the lines of some of the things Sabbath had done on Tyr such as “The Lawmaker” and “Heaven in Black”.  If you miss that era of Sabbath, or the kind of fast metal that Dio was apt to do, then check out “Balance of Power”.  If you’re in  tune with 80’s Sabbath, check out “Amore Silenzioso”.  It is the closest thing to Black Sabbath’s “The Seventh Star” that I have heard, though not quite on that level.  A short keyboard based instrumental (“II”) closes that, and goes into “Wind of Change”, not the Scorpions song, but a ballad nonetheless.  If the songs on Cage 2 have a common weakness, it is that many are on the long side.  “Wind of Change” is too much ballad, though it does house an absolutely stunning guitar solo.

“Theater of Dreams” carries over with the 80’s Sabbath sound, and more intricate and cool guitars.  The slow groove combined with the might of Martin and the metal of Mollo make it a winner in these books.   Then they take a drive down Van Halen alley, with “What a Strange Thing Love Is”, not a bad tune at all, but definitely in the summer song style of Sammy Hagar.  It’s pop metal with soulful backing vocals, and it’s cool.

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The only serious mis-step is an ill-advised cover of “Dazed and Confused”.  It’s nearly impossible to do this song without sounding like a jackass.  As great as Martin sings most of it, he ruins it by adding in his own adlibs that just remind you, oh yeah,  it’s a cover of a better version by Led Zeppelin. Thankfully Mollo makes the guitar solo the centerpiece and it does the job without copying Jimmy Page.  Without this cover clogging up the works, the CD is actually more enjoyable.

Moving into the last lap, “Guardian Angel” pounds the ground with double bass and heavy riffing.  It has Iron Maiden elements but kicks ass all around.  Still they saved the best track for last, which is “Poison Roses”.  This melancholy closer is the most memorable in a batch of pretty strong heavy metal songs.

You have to give Tony Martin credit.  He’s a great singer, a good songwriter, but no matter what kind of albums he makes, he remains in the shadows.  Too bad.  Fans would do well to seek his his collaborations with Dario Mollo.  They compete in quality with the albums Tony made in his better known band.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Mollo / Martin – The Cage (1999)

Part one of a two-parter!

Scan_20160109DARIO MOLLO / TONY MARTIN – The Cage (1999 Dreamcatcher)

When Ozzy Osbourne returned to Black Sabbath in 1997, that was undeniably a very exciting moment in heavy metal, and rock in general.  By ’98, original drummer Bill Ward even returned to the band, completing the original lineup.  We were rewarded for our patience with two new Black Sabbath songs called “Psycho Man” and “Selling My Soul” by the original lineup, but otherwise it was the beginning of a long drought.  Though Sabbath toured and played festivals, it was the sparsity of new material that pissed off a few fans, this one included.

Thankfully during this Sabbath ice age, some former members kept the flame alive with new heavy metal music.  Former vocalist Tony Martin, who was ousted for Ozzy’s return, recorded three albums with Italian guitarist Dario Mollo.  1999’s The Cage, featuring Don Airey (Deep Purple) on keyboards, is their first collaboration.  This helped scratch the Sabbath itch during the drought.

A jagged Dio-ish guitar riff commences “Cry Myself to Death”.  The doomy edge is present.  Martin sounds as if in peak voice.  The thirst is quenched.  It’s easy to imagine a song like this could have been on a followup to 1995’s Forbidden.  Dario Mollo is nothing like Iommi, being capable of heavy modern shreddery at maximum velocity.  This is proven on “Time to Kill”.  This time the vibe is like “Lawmaker” from 1990’s Tyr album.  The pace is breakneck, but Don Airey is more than capable of keeping up on the keys.  This is a stunning metal track mixing the spirit of old with the talent of new.  It verges on regal Priest-isms by the solo break, blazing on to the end in a frenzy.

Don Airey plagiarizes his own keyboard part from Judas Priest’s “A Touch of Evil”, for an instrumental intro called “The Cage”.  This serves as the start for a moody Dokken-esque ballad called “If You Believe”.  Don Dokken only wishes he could still write a song this good, a quality dark ballad, perhaps akin to Sabbath’s “Feels Good to Me”.  Then “Relax” also operates on a dark Dokken / Whitesnake vibe.  Mollo’s shredding on this would would make Eddie Van Halen nod in approval.  And speaking of Whitesnake and Cov the Gov, guess what they cover later on in the album?  “Stormbringer”!  Don makes the keyboards a bit too spacey on that one, but it is an otherwise pretty authentic cover, and the guitar solo is virtually note for note.

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“Smoke and Mirrors” is pretty lame.  “Some girls, they look really pretty but they tell you lies,” sings Martin.  Well maybe, but some singers sing real good but struggle on the lyrics.  The weakest track so far, “Smoke and Mirrors” has a sleezy rock vibe, like a latter-day Europe track.  Mollo’s playing is the highlight but the song is pretty skippable.  “Infinity” is more Sabbathy, reminding me of “Headless Cross”.  Onto “Dead Man Dancing”, I think of Gary Cherone and Extreme.  The song boasts a soaring Martin chorus and plenty string mangling by Mollo.  Then it’s onto “This Kind of Love”, a dead ringer for Van Hagar.

The album closes on “Soul Searching”, (kind of similar to Sabbath’s “Nightwing”) which is something I wish Dario and Martin had done more of during the writing of this album.  It would be nice to hear more of the sounds of their own personalities rather than songs that remind us of other bands.  That’s rock and roll; the great struggle.  It is not easy to carve out your identity among the thousands of bands who already have.  The Cage is loaded with great music, and the playing is above reproach.  What it lacks is originality.  Even in the guitar playing, I would say that Dario Mollo owes John Sykes a debt of gratitude, though he is certainly no slouch.  I just crave more originality in the tunes.  Yes, part of the appeal of following ex-Sabbath members like Tony Martin into a solo career is to hear a bit more of that sound you loved.  There are just too many moments on The Cage that sound like songs you already know.

3.25/5 stars