CD Review
This review was originally written by Jose Bernardo for www.theweeklyriff.com between 2008 and 2010.
These were Jose’s first impressions of the songs and were not written after multiple spins.
Artist : U.D.O.
Album : Dominator (2009 AFM Records)
Tracks : 10 + 1 (Limited Edition track)
Artist website : http://www.udo-online.de/
OVERVIEW
This is the twelfth studio album from German heavy metal band U.D.O. The band was founded in 1987 and has steadily released music since then.
This album does Heavy Metal the old school way and makes no apologies about it. The album has a really good energy. The arrangements are quite simple and minimalistic.
I have to confess that I have never heard any previous U.D.O. material and don’t know whether it is a thing for this band that the bassist holds down pedal tones. I felt that in a lot of places the possibility of cool harmonic movement was sacrificed by having the bass player play pedal tones.
Overall an enjoyable album.
HIGHLIGHTS :
The Bogeyman, Dominator, Devil’s Rendezvous, Pleasure in the Darkroom, Speed Demon
PLAY BY PLAY
Track 1 – The Bogeyman
This is a great opening track. It has great energy. However, it does get a bit monotonous as the bass is holding down a pedal note practically through out the song. Good riff though.
Track 2 – Dominator
Cool track.
Track 3 – Black and White
Huge vocal production. Good guitar solo. Even the bass played lines on this one. Yet, I just couldn’t get into the verses. It almost sounded as though they were trying to do a pseudo AC/DC thing on this track vocally.
Track 4 – Infected
Cool track. This one feels more like a power metal track.
Track 5 – Heavy Metal Heaven
This has an almost folky vibe in the chorus. Honestly, I didn’t dig this track. It is such a slow groove and doesn’t really do anything interesting in the song.
Track 6 – Doom Ride
This has some interesting arrangement choices. Like dropping the bass for the first verse. I was wondering what happened when all the frequencies I heard were in the treble side. HAHA.
Track 7 – Stillness of Time
It’s almost a power ballad and almost not. I really could not connect with this track at all.
Track 8 – Devil’s Rendezvous
This one is very poppy and not quite metal. Cute song.
Track 9 – Pleasure in the Darkroom (Limited Edition Bonus Track)
Possibly the strongest track on the album.
Track 10 – Speed Demon
Great energy. Very cool track. Again, a bit on the power metal side.
Track 11 – Whispers in the Dark
This is definitely a ballad. This should have been left off the album all together.