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CATEGORY 7 “Category 7”
CATEGORY 7 “Category 7”
By Colonel Angus
There are times when you throw a bunch of talented musicians together and nothing worthwhile comes out. That is not the case for this supergroup of well-seasoned musicians. I have been an ARMORED SAINT fan since the first E.P. and John Bush can do no wrong in my book. His work with SAINT and ANTHRAX has been on constant rotation in my house. And let’s be honest, Phil Demmel has been the unsung guitar hero in the metal community since his days with VIO-LENCE and don’t even get me started on the greatness of MACHINE HEAD’s “The Blackening”. I didn’t know much about Mike Orlando until I got a chance to see ADRENALINE MOB’s first tour and he impressed me so much that I became an instant fan. Add in the ferocious rhythm section of EXODUS’ Jack Gibson and Jason Bittner fresh from OVERKILL’s Scorched the Earth tour. On paper, this sounds like a dream in thrash heaven and luckily, it translates majestically to the grooves on a vinyl record (and just as good on a CD too).
It seems this project was kept under-wraps until there was something to release which is a smart move. It gave us listeners to mull it over a bit without having to wait ages for the final product to hit the shelves. Metal Blade Records gave us a few previews starting with the jackhammering “In Stitches”. Right from the start, the music pummels you until that extra groove of Bush’s vocals kicks in. While the track is heavy, there is a certain nuance and melody that keeps it just this side of chaos. “Exhausted” was the second teaser from the record and it will leave you just that – exhausted. Just like the first tune, it is a thrasher that doesn’t let up until the very end. Bittner starts “Mousetrap” (the third preview from the disk) is the same style of JUDAS PRIEST’s “Painkiller”. While the verses continue the pummeling thrash attack, the chorus has this groovy start/stop tempo that makes it really stand out and memorable.
Elsewhere, we get more of the same sonically but certainly not boring or repetitive. “Apple of Discord” has this great fade-in with the band already in full swing but while Bittner thrashes away, it has more of a NWOBHM feel. The guitar solos remind me of early IRON MAIDEN which is a good style to throw in. Speaking of styles that find their way onto this album, the chorus in “Through Pink Eyes” has a bit of BLACK SABBATH type traditional metal mixed with the guitar work of the NWOBHM. The main parts of the tune are still brutal thrash but the mixture of those influences gives the track (and the whole record for that matter) a fresh sound. Even when the band slow things down a bit for “Land I Used to Love”, they still maintain the heaviness but incorporate enough melody to satisfy both thrash metal and traditional metal fans.
Quite honestly, all ten tracks are great with not a filler tune to be found on “Category 7”. Even the closing instrumental “Etter Stormen” (I first thought this was going to be a play on “Enter Sandman”) is a tour de force of Demmel and Orlando trading riffs and solos. It sticks more in the traditional metal side of things but Bittner (the man is a machine) continues to sneak in a few thrashier beats. Just shy of the five minute mark, Demmel and Orlando give Bittner and Gibson some space to show off a little of their rhythmic groove. I’m not someone who listens to a lot of instrumental music so when I tell you to not skip over “Etter Stormen”, you can guarantee that you are in for a treat.
CATEGORY 7, both band and record, will hopefully be more than just a one-off or pet project. The material here proves that this is a band to be reckoned with and schedules permitting, they will find the time to tour on this album. While all these musicians’ main bands are great, they can proudly add CATEGORY 7 to their resumes.
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