FIREBALL MINISTRY Their Rock Is Not Our Rock
Century Media (2006)
London is a city that has many things to offer, and especially as far as live gigs are concerned, there are so many things happening on daily basis, that I fail to see how any music fan could possibly be in a position to complain. One of the negative things about living in such a music-friendly but very expensive city is that most of us have to be quite selective as to the bands that we choose to see, and that, in most cases, mean that we have less chances of getting pleasantly surprised by a 'new' and interesting outfit. One of the few bands that were introduced to me under such circumstances was the L.A-based outfit Fireball Ministry, the previous effort of which (2003's 'The Second Great Awakening') left me with the best of impressions…wait a minute – what happened to this band?
Well, having been released from the contract with Nuclear Blast and with a new bassist in their line up (Johny Chow), the quartet began working on fresh ideas which would be featured in Fireball Ministry's third full-length release. The search for a contract ended when the German label Century Media offered the best terms to the band, and with renewed energy, James A. Rota II and co entered Dave Grohl's Studio 606 to record 'Their Rock is Not Our Rock'.
Listening carefully to the first couple of songs from the band's promo, I quickly came to the conclusion that Fireball Ministry sound slightly different from what I remembered them to be like. I am not referring, of course, so much to their style which is a melting pot of AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Motorhead influences, but more to their sound which is deeper and darker than before.
My real interest in 'Their Rock is Not Our Rock' began with the introduction of 'The Broken' – the cross road where the 'sludgeness'of Kyuss meets up with the melodic greatness from the Ozzy Osbourne/Zak Wylde era!
Things become even better when the catchy melodic and absolute killer tunes of 'In The End' fill the room. My God, if one song deserves to be played loud, that's definitely it - I can see my neighbours getting 'slightly' annoyed with me in the weeks to come.
'Hellspeak' is slightly less fast, but still managed to captured my attention, and just as I was beginning to believe that this would be one of the best albums that I've heard so far this year, Fireball Ministry decided to disappoint me by a group of nice, yet quite average compositions. Honestly, apart from the Metallica-sounding (Reload era) closing solo in 'Under the Thunder', the remaining compositions of the album sound like some of the really boring songs that Motorhead tend to include in their latest releases.
I really don't mean to sound bitter or negative, but I would be lying if I was to say that 'Their Rock is Not Our Rock' is exactly what I was hoping to hear from Fireball Ministry - especially when they are quite capable of creating killer compositions such as 'The Broken' and 'In The End'. Check out this release and see if you agree with me!
***½
Review by John Stefanis
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