Well you have no doubt discovered the likes of Viking, Pirate, Battle and possibly even Caveman metal and now we have Cowboy metal jumping onto the stagecoach. Well it is debateable about this being a new idea, many have dabbled with the Wild West musically, most notably the ‘Last Of The Western Heroes’ Fields Of The Nephilim who embraced Ennio Morricone’s themes so well on their Dawnrazor album. Dezperadoz (with a name somewhat cringingly making me think of some horrible rap-metal hybrid) actually claim to be “Much harder than Ennio Morricone”. Bearing this in mind and being a huge fan of spaghetti Westerns I pretty much laid claim to this before even really hearing what the music was like.
There were actually some very successful German Westerns in the 1960s un-politically called Sauerkraut Westerns, Treasure of Silver Lake and Apache Gold with Lex Barker being two such examples. In a roundabout way I am saying that Dezperadoz hail from Germany and have some names you may well recognise in their ranks. Alex Kraft used to play with Onkel Tom Angelripper (who guests on one track here) and there are also members of Pink Cream 69 and Dirty Deeds in the line-up. Surprisingly given these facts this is an album that on the whole I have really enjoyed.
Conceptually this deals with a man condemned to hang after the revenge shooting of a friend. We meet him having his final dinner in the intro and with the jaunty end-piece ’25 Minutes To Go’ get to follow him to the gallows for a final swing. In between we get some pretty great songs with just a hint of rolling sagebrush now and again. ‘Hate’ is the killing and to be honest it really reminds of Marilyn Manson as it pounds out its own irrational hate anthem. Vocally though this is in a different league and the clean sweeps are commanding and somewhat familiar at this point. ‘Days Of Thunder’ really does go cinemascope with its trailblazing gung-ho Western riding intro. This is a glorious pounding number and reminds of Stan Ridgway’s classic ‘Camouflage.’ Stan is a good old boy himself having heeded ‘The Call Of The West’ whilst in Wall Of Voodoo, so this is perhaps no huge surprise.
Perhaps I am controversially going to rubbish the whole of the American Western genre and all that John Wayne bullshit by saying that ‘Wild Bunch’ is no doubt a tribute to the only film of its kind coming out the States that I actually enjoy (Deadwood did redress the balance somewhat). It is here that vocally I am really reminded of Ian Astbury and in doing so perhaps lies another coincidence due to the fact that circa the Southern Death Cult the singer had an obsession with all things Red Indian. As I was playing this the first time not having looked at the track listing or anything this comparison was only enforced by a rather good cover of ‘Riders On The Storm’ as of course Astbury ended up singing with The Doors.
A cheeky nod to ‘The Harmonica Man’ introduces the Angelripper accompanied ‘Here Comes The Pain’ it is another example of a song with a melody that you can just about name but not quite, this is not exactly original stuff but still highly enjoyable. The album does tail off with a couple of clunkers. The ballad of ‘Give Up’ is just a bit too Bon Jovi for my tastes and ‘The Circus Comes To Town’ with its faux pas Doors etched ‘Alabama Song’ chorus is frankly annoying. That aside there is plenty of cracking numbers to enjoy and you don’t necessarily have to be a fan of the Western movie to enjoy them. However a shot of moonshine a scruffy beard, poncho, duster, wide brimmed hat and cigarillo aint gonna do no harm.
http://www.myspace.com/dezperadoz
http://www.afm-records.de
