Up From the Underground : Shiver's Addiction

This band from Italy is more of a hard rock band than a metal band. The album is called "Choose Your Prison"  The only really heavy thing about them is the fact they heavily pull from 80s hard rock. Vocally they remind me of Alice Cooper and sonically fall somewhere between Queensryche and Skid Row. When they pull out the acoustic guitars on "Death Has Nothing to Teach" it reminds me of that moment in the early 90's when the hair rockers knowing their days were number began to experiment with different textures. I am not sure it is done as smoothly here as it was on an album by say Saigon Kick. The drummer is pretty solid on this album. His performance would be followed by the guitarist.

I like the bass intro to "Eternal Damnation" but a few songs into this album and I can tell these are going to be to upbeat for me. The guitar tones are often bright. The singer might not making the best choice by singing in English. The chorus intends to be metal, and by metal I mean it in the most Iced Earth manner possible. Once upon a time the riffs that open up 'Freedom" might have been considered metal, but even the most hefty chug they muster, is still just like "Queen of the Reich" era Queensryche. They do want to be a metal band and even try to churn out a more Metallica like riff on "Money Makes the Difference". When I refer to Metallica I'm talking "Black Album" and after, not their metal years.

"Painted Arrow" is yet another song that hovers close to a more metallic sound without committing fully to getting heavy. There is some good guitar playing on this song and the singer actually proves he can sing here. There is another near metal moment on "King and the Guillotine" which serves as a pretty good vehicle to get you to the guitar solo. You might be willing to concede them as power metal if you are really into power metal and feeling generous. The singer has a little more grit on "We Live On a Lie".  When he tries to go up into a falsetto it feels a little strained. Much like the brand of music they are paying tribute to here this album is all about the guitar. I guess if you are going to go for more of a retro metal sound , going the way In Solitude did is probably for the best. These guys are skilled players trying to make all the pieces fit and if you are into 80s metal ...not Celtic Frost,  anything less heavy than Iron Maiden then this might appeal to you.