It’s been twelve years since Suicide Bombers released their first album Criminal Record and over the course of four albums they’ve released some of the most incendiary sleaze metal to come out of Scandinavia, Though Norway is more known for death metal than sleaze metal which is more the domain of that country’s neighbor: Sweden.
When examining the modern sleaze/hard rock movement what separates it in my view from the 80’s bands who inspired it is a slight punk rock edge and more aggressive playing style, This is very much the case in the music of Suicide Bombers and while there’s some slight comparisons you could make to their Swedish contemporaries these guys really stand apart from anyone else I’ve come across.
A synth and spoken word intro starts the album before these guys kick your teeth in on the albums first single “Dynamite Playboys” a hyper energetic sleaze metal ass kicking, THIS is how you should start an album. Powerful charging riffs and slamming drums just annihilate everything in their wake as singer/guitarist Chris Damien Doll brings the attitude with his distinct gravel throated vocals, you really couldn’t ask for anything better than a song like this if you love adrenaline fueled hard rock. I get a KISS meets early Guns N’ Roses vibe out of this song despite neither of those bands having written anything as viscous as this song.
What follows slows the tempo just a bit with “Take It Off” which features hard hitting riff progressions and an excellent guitar solo by lead guitarist Stevie Teaze, there’s a strong KISS meets Roth era Van Halen vibe to this song but much harder.
A great lead in courtesy of Suicide Bombers rhythm section bassist C. Slim and drummer Lyle Starr kicks off “Tonight Belongs To Us” which reminds me a lot of L.A. Guns, Chris’s vocals are really some of the most unique in the modern movement and they give these songs even more punch, if you have songs this energetic you really need a vocalist who can lay waste to the listener and he does that in spades. This song is yet another thundering, Decadent track that should be played as loud as possible.
“Out Of Love” has elements of Van Halen, Crashdiet, and a dash of Scorpions in the guitar riffs. Stevie does another absolutely fantastic guitar solo here.
“You Better Believe it” falls somewhere between early Motley Crue and Ratt but harder.
I don’t think Chris gets enough credit for how great of a rhythm guitar he is, the energy and melody he brings to his songs are seamless and nothing feels out of place, especially on this album.
“All For The Candy” reminds me a bit of their fellow Norwegian contemporaries The Cruel Intentions in some of the riffs, A down and dirty sleaze track with great riffs and an absolutely killer solo.
“Caligulizer” is some straight up biker bar level rock n roll, Definitely one of the albums best tracks. Incendiary mid tempo riffs carried by a great rhythm section gives way to a great guitar solo, I imagine this will go over really well live and have the audience shouting “Smile for the camera!”
“Videodrome 2049” continues the momentum with another great energetic mid tempo rocker.
“Last Call” is another song where I get a slight L.A. Guns influence in the guitar playing but channeled through Suicide Bombers energetic, rhythm heavy style. The rhythm section really shines on this song and I can’t state enough how great Stevie’s guitar solos are on these songs and this track has one of my favorite solos on the album.
“Where Time Always Goes” ends the album in a more unexpected way: a piano led power ballad. A beautiful piano melody and subtle electric guitar flourishes start things off and as the song progresses acoustic strumming makes its way into the mix, The tempo picks up momentum gradually and distorted riffs come into play before a great guitar solo. Chris’s vocals returning to his more aggressive style as the song progresses, by the end of the song it reaches arena rock heights. This song might be the most progressive thing I’ve ever heard from them and it’s positively an epic way to end the album.
This is a jaw dropping album, perfect from start to finish and not a single note wasted, This album represents everything that makes these guys great but taken to a whole new level. The songs are energetic and captivating, the playing by everyone on it is phenomenal, and Chris is after all these years still as good if not better than he ever was vocally.
This is a record that should be in the collection of everyone who loves great rock n roll, the bar for 2024 is set here and it’s set HIGH.
10/10
