FOZZY - review added 11th February 2010
Album Review: Chasing The Grail (2010)
For fans of: Metal... and singing wrestlers
The first inklings of Fozzy as we know them today started just before the turn of the century. Stuck Mojo guitarist Rich Ward played in a covers band consisting of a bunch of whoever-was-available musicians. The band went by the amusing name of Fozzy Osbourne. Somewhere along the line, wrestler Chris Jericho was invited to sing with the band - now mostly consisting of Stuck Mojo members. The rest, as they say, is history.
The name was duly changed to Fozzy, and the band started working on album releases. The first, self-titled effort consisted of covers. The second, Happenstance, was mostly covers interspersed with a few originals. By the third, All That Remains, the band had moved on to a full line-up of original tracks. Chasing The Grail, their fourth release, does the same.
Fozzy started out as something of a joke band. There was a big fictional Spinal Tap-esque story about record deals in Japan, and tales of how they influenced the sound of every other band out there. Hell, there was even a mockumentary on MTV. The fact they've moved on from that to where they are today deserves mammoth respect. Be in no doubt, this band - Chris Jericho on vocals, Rich Ward on guitars and vocals, Sean Delson on bass, and Frank Fontsere on drums - is as real as bands ever get.
Fozzy sound better than they have any right to. The songs go from light friendly rock all the way up to heavy and thrash metal. The talent on show should not be underestimated. Chris Jericho has a chilled, miraculously good Ozzy Osbourne style voice. You'd be forgiven for thinking a wrestler fronting a rock band was a gimmick. Not here. Rich Ward is a brilliant guitarist who majors on heavy power riffage but can lend himself to other styles just as easily. Sean Delson's bass work is superb too. The top dog on Chasing The Grail though is Frank Fontsere. How this guy's drum skills are not more widely known I have no idea. He is simply astonishing and makes this record sound like a musical version of artillery.
Track wise, the rattling opening track 'Under Blackened Skies' is an incendiary start to the album. The heavy but melodious 'Martyr No More' plods with absolute style. 'Grail' is the album's big'un. It's so vast, and those drums are so good, this song should be compulsory on every metalhead's MP3 player. 'Broken Soul' is softer and slower, but still works well. The thrash/grunge mash-up 'Let The Madness Begin' is the opposite end of the scale. It's as heavy as a fat mountain and is going to slay live. 'Pray For Blood' is a technical tour de force that should even have metal purists looking on with an expression of pleasant surprise. As already said, 'joke bands' should not sound this good!
'New Day's Dawn' is an odd one, although not in a bad way. It's a mix of nursery rhyme and thunderous metal, and kind of works. 'God Pounds His Nails' is straight ahead alt metal. It's a solid track but nothing exceptional. 'Watch Me Shine' is pleasantly hard hitting and melodic. The elaborately titled speed-fest 'Paraskavedekatriaphobia (Friday The 13th)' is annoyingly catchy. It's one of those tracks you'll be singing for days afterwards. 'Revival' is a fantastic heavy effort with numerous atmospheric sounds and clever key changes. It's like power metal for grown ups. Final track 'Wormwood' is a 14 minute monster that doesn't actually outstay its welcome. Again, the musicianship is off the scale.
We like this album. A lot. My first experience of Fozzy was their cover of Ozzy's 'Over The Mountain'. I thought they sounded good back then. Chasing The Grail puts them in a different league...in fact it puts them amongst the genre's big boys. There might not be any absolute classic tracks, but the overall standard is so high it barely matters. If you fancy a slug of metal, especially if you like albums with super-strong drumming, buy this now.
Check out... All of it.
Track List:
1. Under Blackened Skies
2. Martyr No More
3. Grail
4. Broken Soul
5. Let The Madness Begin
6. Pray For Blood
7. New Day's Dawn
8. God Pounds His Nails
9. Watch Me Shine
10. Paraskavedekatriaphobia (Friday The 13th)
11. Revival
12. Wormwood
Artist's website(s): Fozzy , MySpace
