Fires Of Babylon is kind of a super group-type project put together by Winter’s Bane guitarist Lou St Paul. Adding Bob Falzano (Annihilator) on drums, bassist Kelly Conlon (Death/Monstrosity) and the well travelled Rob Rock (Impellittiri/Warrior/Axel Rudi Pell) on vocals hardly makes for a stellar cast in the greater scheme of things but the talents of all the musicians can be appreciated. Maybe however I’m the wrong guy to review this as I HATE Rob Rock’s vocals. I think his version of the heavy metal wail is a very acquired taste and one I certainly haven’t acquired. He can be put him alongside the likes of Mark Slaughter and Justin Hawkins in my oh no please stop that noise list of vocalists! So for any Rob Rock fans reading this, I apologize and suggest you seek a second opinion! 

Despite my misgivings I tried hard to be objective and listen to the album leaving aside any thoughts about the vocals but still couldn’t find much to enjoy. It’s certainly well played but it’s an attempt to recreate the shredding guitar metal that came out of America in the 80s and perhaps they’ve been TOO successful in that attempt. It sounds like much of the uninspired metal you could find on such labels as Shrapnel back in the day and they’ve even managed to get the drums to sound flat and not powerful enough in places. Surely with modern recording technology this must have been deliberate?

On a slightly more positive note the sub-Rainbow style of “Lake Of Fire” is enjoyable enough and “Going Through Changes” has a decent chorus where Mr. Rock, thankfully, employs his lower register and there’s some great guitar work but these highlights are soon forgotten when listening to the tuneless mess that is "Generation Of Destruction” or the cringe worthy chorus on “Holy Resurrection”. A prime example of the poor songwriting evident throughout is “Lazarus Rising”, a track with a clumsy, cluttered verse structure coupled with a powerful, heavy chorus section which simply means the song just ends up being annoying as it switches back and forth. 

Maybe Fires Of Babylon just wasn’t going to win with me over as soon as I heard the vocals but even in spite of that there just isn't a huge amount here to shout about. Anyone who’s a fan of Rob Rock’s other work is free to disagree though! 

Let us know your views on Fires Of Babylon

Track Listing

Falling To Pieces
Devilution
When The Kingdom Comes
Lake Of Fire
Holy Resurrection
Going Through Changes
Lazarus Rising
Revolution Coming
Generation Of Destruction
Castles Are Burning

Line Up

Kelly Conlon - Bass
Rob Rock - Vocals
Lou St. Paul - Guitars/Keyboards
Bob Falzano - Drums