YEAR OF THE DRAGON - review added 19th March 2010
Album Review: Blunt Force Karma (2009)
For fans of: Alt Metal... and funky metal
Year of the Dragon is a new(ish) band originally built around two former members of ska/punk/funk-metal band Fishbone.
Fishbone co-founder Dirty Walt Kibby left the band after 25 years and guitarist Tracy “Spacey T” Singleton soon followed. They started what would become the foundation of YOTD. Veteran L.A. vocalist and guitarist Roderick “Rodcore” Palmer joined them, and together they released an EP: A Time To Love Is A Time To Bleed.
With Spacey T only playing a minor part in the band now, Blunt Force Karma is the band's first full-length LP. The album, produced by Darryl Swann (Macy Gray), tells a story about aliens, the denial of female company and the right to be funky. It's all silly stuff, as demonstrated by the amusing yet cool artwork by Henry Rembert and Dave Fletcher. Fortunately the music is actually rather good.
The sound is a mash up of funk, soul, rap and metal...with the emphasis on big guitar sounds, grooving bass and thumping drums. Roderick “Rodcore” Palmer has a positively mad voice, but he sounds great and very charismatic.
First-track-proper 'Ipso Facto' is an aggressive broken-beat track with a sweet melodious chorus. 'Poppin`' is a heavier effort that mixes in elements of gangster rap and more. It's similar to the better stuff Limp Bizkit pedaled, back when they were actually good. 'Destroy Your Fear' teeters more towards funky hard rock. The chorus is almost sing-along, and some of the drums are brutally heavy. 'Jailbreak' is a fine effort with a cool chorus and decent guitar solo. 'No Tomorrow' probably has the album's best vocals and is even more Limp Bizkit than 'Poppin`'. 'Bailout' really sounds like a funky Jeff Scott Soto track...and that's no bad thing.
The one-minute-long 'Interlude 2012' is a fusion of British punk and US funk. The mid-tempo 'High Times' is rather forgettable. The bass-led 'After the Dawn' is a subdued entry that's a lot better than it should be. Blame it's intriguing, atmospheric nature. The title track really reminds me of 'White Lines' by Melle Mel in places. Overall it's not really a worthy title track - there are better entries on the album. 'Who Will Save You Now' almost sounds like a death metal track to start with, but soon settles down into a run-of-the-mill hard rocker. The super speedy 'Walking Tall' melds thrash, rap and more. It's a great track and a real highpoint after the duffers that precede it.
Blunt Force Karma is an interesting album. It isn't brilliant throughout, but it does have some very big moments. Not everyone is going to love it but it is definitely worth an investigation if you like music that spans several genres. Year Of The Dragon are officially my new favourite funk/soul/metal/rap fusion group!
Check out... Those vocals
Track List:
01. Intro
02. Ipso Facto
03. Poppin'
04. Destroy Your Fear
05. Jailbreak
06. No Tomorrow
07. Bailout
08. Interlude 2012
09. High Times
10. After the Dawn
11. Blunt Force Karma
12. Who Will Save You Now
13. Walking Tall
Label: The IBCT
Artist's website(s): Year Of The Dragon , MySpace
