ANVIL

Juggernaut of Justice

The End

7 / 10

Track listing:

01. Juggernaut Of Justice
02. When Hell Breaks Loose
03. New Orleans Voodoo
04. On Fire
05. Fuckin' Eh
06. Turn It Up
07. The Ride
08. Not Afraid
09. Conspiracy
10. Running
11. Paranormal
12. Swing Thing

Yes, I liked the movie too. I felt for the guys in ANVIL and rooted for them. None of that changes the fact that outside of a few albums, most notably 1983's "Metal on Metal", much of what the Canadian metallers have released over the years has been mediocre at best. That's part of the reason that "Juggernaut of Justice" is so pleasantly surprising in its straight-on ANVIL heavy metal goodness.

Recorded at Dave Grohl's (FOO FIGHTERS, NIRVANA) Studio 606 and given a taut and crisp Bob Marlette (BLACK SABBATH, AIRBOURNE, ALICE COOPER, etc.) production, "Juggernaut of Justice" offers 12 sound cuts of the kind of head banging heavy metal fun for which ANVIL is known. The trio of vocalist/guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow, bassist Glenn 5, and drummer Robb Reiner won't win any songwriting awards for the no-frills directness of tracks like "Not Afraid", "Conspiracy", or "Running", yet all three are at least decent metal movers. The same can be said of a title track that ends up enjoyable once you get past the moderately awkward chorus. Several cuts are quite memorable with strong riffs, lots of blazing leads from Kudlow, and fist-pumping choruses, including a couple of truly raucous tracks in "Fuckin' Eh" and "When Hell Breaks Loose", a behemoth march called "New Orleans Voodoo", and a butt kicker called "On Fire" that features a riff not far removed from DEEP PURPLE's "Burn". A little spice and a few changeups help the effort. The inclusion of organ in "The Ride" works very well and even better on seven-minute creeper "Paranormal", while closer "Swing Thing" does in fact swing as a hard-rockin' instrumental, complete with horns.

After the massive career boost of "Anvil: The Story of Anvil", it is nice to hear ANVIL follow the acclaimed film with an album that does more justice to the classic sound than anything the trio has released in years. A dud would have been an extra big disappointment. In and of itself "Juggernaut of Justice" is no blockbuster, but it is without a doubt a rowdy good time, just as one would hope from an ANVIL album.

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