### Sebastian Bach: Angel down

#### 18/12/07 || Euthanatos

Wow.

Really, there’s no other way to describe it. Truthfully, I had high expectations for “Angel Down” as soon as I knew Roy Z would be producing it. I’ve never cared for Skid Row, but I always admired Bach’s vocal range, he has always been a kick ass singer. But I never expected his hard rock ass to kick butt in such a heavy slab of a metal album. That’s right. Metal.

Another thing that got me really psyched about this album was the line-up that was recording it with Baz. Mike Chlasciak, Steve DiGiorgio and Bobby Jarzombek. Johnny Chromatic is also playing guitars, but I don’t know who the fuck that is. Nor do I care. I’m an ignorant prick.

Well, everything that hyped up the album ended up coming through in the end. “Angel Down” is the heaviest collection of songs Bach has ever recorded, he is singing really, really well, impressively aggressive, and even Axl Rose being on it can’t make it crap. Seriously, “Back in the Saddle” is a great cover which sounds awesome, “(Love is) A Bitchslap” is a ton of fun and “Stuck Inside” is heavy as a really heavy thing. There are some cool “power ballads”, if we can call them that, as well, like “Live & Die”, a nice change of tempo for us to take a breather from all the brutal assault. But the true highlights here are the heaviest tracks, like the title-track and “American Metalhead”. Holy shit, I never knew Bach had the balls in him. Major, major props.

Something I found very cool is that if you sift through the songwriters in this album, you will see a surprisingly democratic arsenal of compositions. Everyone contributes and since the musicians featured here are so damn good, it shows, it truly does. And Roy Z is in one of his inspired moments, instead of (like he does sometimes) removing trademarks and characteristics of the artist he’s working with, he enhances them and still makes it sound modern.

Loss of brownie points for a couple of gay ass songs, like Desmond Child’s “Falling Into You”. We could have done without that.

An excellent surprise, just listen to it without thinking about who it is, put aside all prejudice and dive in with an open mind, you’re guaranteed to have a blast.

The cover: Truly amazing artwork by Bach’s deceased father, renowned painter David Bierk. Coincidently, Bach tattooed it on his arm, which is cool too.

8.5 hard rocking, head banging barbies out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: MRV
- Website: www.sebastianbach.com
- Band
- Sebastian Bach: vocals
- “Metal” Mike Chlasciak: guitars
- Johnny Chromatic: guitars
- Steve DiGiorgio: bass
- Bobby Jarzombek: drums

- Tracklist
- 1. Angel Down
- 2. You Don’t Understand
- 3. Back in the Saddle
- 4. (Love Is) A Bitchslap
- 5. Stuck Inside
- 6. American Metalhead
- 7. Negative Light
- 8. Live and Die
- 9. By Your Side
- 10. Our Love Is a Lie
- 11. Take You Down with Me
- 12. Stabbin’ Daggers3:41
- 13. You Bring Me Down
- 14. Falling into You