Fozzy are back on a new label having left SPV and with a returning drummer, namely Frank Fontsere. For those who don't know the band, they are focussed around former wrestler turned Ozzy soundalike (seriously some songs on here could be Ozzy at his peak) Chris Jericho and Stuck Mojo's Rich Ward.

Like their last studio album, 'All That Remains' it is a mixed bag again. 'Under Blackended Skies', 'God Pounds His Nails' and 'Martyr No More' are all big metal beasts, full of massive riffs and rapid fire drumming. But then you have 'Grail' and 'New Day's dawn' which just sound like metal by numbers.

What sets the album apart from the last one are two songs. Firstly, 'Broken Soul' an extremely cathcy melodic metal number and something different from the band. The big surprise comes at the end though, the thirteen minute epic 'Wormwood' written solely by Chris Jericho and featuring a choir, strings and keyboards! According to a recent interview with GRTR! Rich Ward hinted we will see more of these epic songs from Fozzy in the future and if they are this good then that's good news indeed.

A step forward from their last album and next time with a couple more epics we could have a real classic on our hands but until then this album will do just fine.

****

Review by Jason Ritchie

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