Dublin Death Patrol... Ah, Irish metal, then! No no no, this gang actually comes from Dublin of California, USA. Dublin Death Patrol collects many acknowledged thrash and other metal musicians from the nearby area: Chuck Billy (Testament), Steve "Zetro" Souza (ex-Teatament, ex-Exodus) and Willy Lange (Lääz Rockit) at the head, with guest list featuring names like Phil Demmel of Vio-lence and Troy Luccketta of Tesla. Clearly a project band, can DDP thrash it up or is this just a curiosity?

Somewhere in the middle, I'd say. The songs are very simple, groovy and kind of brings Overkill's more mellow moments to my mind. Actually, there's more than thrash metal to be found, because 'Devil in Disguise' sounds very UFO, mixed with Testament style slow songs. The thrashers aren't bad, they are mildly violent and pretty catchy, but totally unoriginal. Slower groovy pieces such as 'Pigs in the Hollow' tend to move on without much fuss, or then work well like 'DDP for Life'. Three (!) covers have been included, and of course everyone of them a good song, and nicely done by DDP. 'Trail of Executioner' includes some nice melodic licks (Iron Maiden, anyone?!). 'Corruption' includes some Indian songs, and I believe the band has a lot to say in their lyrics, which are sadly absent except for one song.

Chuck Billy does cleaner vocals as well as more throaty stuff. And it is powerful, too. "Zetro" sounds like an angry leprechaun, very ugly indeed. For me, Chuck Billy rules here. The band's performance is really fickle. Drums aren't that hot, tough or accurate at all and above that they sound shit, really, sounding a lot like electric drums. Guitar work is competent, as well as bass playing. The way this sounds, it's just too cheap in general, pretty much on demo-level quality, although guitars have bite in them.

This is a very, very mixed bag. The song material could and should be much hotter, and the production is lame, but there's some peculiar spirit in this. Try before you buy.

Rating: 6+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
07/11/2008 23:17