Face The Day

Sometimes great things happen. For example you write a CD review and the band that recorded the CD reads it. And then they ask you to leave the past behind and focus on their latest release. Who am I to turn them down? I feel honored.

The band I'm talking about is 24-7 Spyz and the topic of today's review is their 2006 release Face The Day. The band was separated for several years between 1998 and 2003 when they reformed as Jimi Hazel on guitar and vocals, Rick Skatore on bass and Tony Lewis on drums. They released a DVD in 2005 before recording and releasing Face The Day in 2006 with new member Tobias Ralph on drums.

Bare the title in mind when this CD hits you like a brick wall with the high-energy punk-rock opener Unknown Wellknown. While it makes sure you are awake for the rest of the 14 (!) song album it also teaches 24-7 Spyz history.
Heavy Metal Soul 4 Life is the description coined by the band itself for their music and I think it reached a new level of perfection on Face The Day. While some songs are heavier and others more soulful the border between styles disappeared almost completely. There are elements of both in most songs but not changing abruptly rather than smoothly integrated.

If you take Face The Day, Waiting For The Sun, Soul Sucker and Ride To Nowhere for example, they rock your socks off. You get hit by powerful metal riffs to bang your head to ecstatically while your booty moves at the same time. Tobias and Rick are an incredibly tight rhythm section that drives Jimi's vocals and guitar playing on and on.

Once you wipe the sweat off of your brows after this onslaught the pace slows down a little with Faithless, The Saturday Song and Angel. What surprised me most about these soulful songs is their groove and Jimi's vocal melodies and harmonies. The voice has a very distinctive sound and the harmonic arrangements are fantastic.

Now, don't think that this is what HMS4L is all about. It's a way of life and pushing the boundaries. This becomes very clear when you reach Blues for Dimebag. It is a tribute song to the late guitar hero Dimebag Darrell Abbott. It's a bluesy instrumental filled with guitar solos from Jimi and guest Bumblefoot. The blues is followed by Running, a ska song and Anything For You which is a mixture of pop-rock and ska.

Personally, I enjoy Plastique very much including the topic of the outer beauty obsession.
The album finishes off with a cover of Thin Lizzy's Bad Reputation and the inspirational Stand! The feeling I was left with after listening to the album was a longing for more. The arrangements are well thought out, the musicianship is great and everything is executed professionally. The CD is available at cdbaby.com and probably other outlets as well.