VICIOUS RUMORS

Forty years have passed since the release of VICIOUS RUMORS' debut album "Soldiers of the Night", but founding guitarist Geoff Thorpe still approaches the genre with the same levels of excitement and belligerence. This (largely) unsung Bay Area hero has been a consistent force for heavy metal greatness over the decades, and "The Devil's Asylum" is a welcome reminder that this band have never lost their edge. Despite all the lineup changes and label switches, VICIOUS RUMORS have stuck to the script, upgrading their sound when necessary, but never straying from a righteous path of riff, melody and muscle. Thorpe has unwavering belief in metal's unifying power, and even though his band would probably have been more successful if they had hitched a ride with the thrash bandwagon way back when, their purity and persistence remain their greatest selling point. Five years on from the crushing "Celebration Decay", the 14th VICIOUS RUMORS album offers no radical departures, jarring curveballs or trend-chasing updates. This is honest, ball-breaking Bay Area heavy metal, cranked to the max and delivered with style and intensity. That's just how Thorpe (not to mention stalwart drummer Larry Howe) happens to roll.

Creators of an illustrious catalogue that has never truly been given the credit it deserves, VICIOUS RUMORS are a veteran band with a longstanding desire to move with the times, at least in terms of heaviness. "The Devil's Asylum" harks back to previous career peaks like 1990's magnificent self-titled album and its fiery follow-up, "Welcome to the Ball" (1991),but with production values that promise to get the blood boiling in 2025. Without overcomplicating anything, Geoff Thorpe is writing songs that straddle both eras with ease. The arrival of new singer Brian "Chalice" Betterton has clearly given the band a boost, and his performances elevate the likes of introductory single "Bloodbath" and the fast 'n' feverish "Butchers Block" in ways that many of VICIOUS RUMORS' previous vocalists failed to do. Arguably the strongest frontman Thorpe has recruited since the legendary Carl Albert, he stamps his identity on these songs, bringing character and grit to each successive declaration of melodic metal war. Mid-paced bruisers like "Crack The Sky In Half" and "Abusement Park" suit Betterton's in-your-face approach perfectly, marrying his balls-out bellow to some of Thorpe's nastiest riffs and most explosive solos. Meanwhile, the emotional scorching of "Wrong Side Of Love" delights in its debt to the late '80s, but replaces lightweight commercial sheen with the big, ballsy crunch of 21st century melodic metal.

"The Devil's Asylum" never sounds old-fashioned: from the corrosive soulfulness of "Boring Day In Hell", to the barbarous title track which ends the record with a vitriolic thump, VICIOUS RUMORS continue to do what they have always done, but with increasing urgency and verve. Defenders of a very American version of power metal which, in truth, is harder and smarter than its European equivalent, Thorpe and his comrades continue to fly the flag for our genre in its purest, most unpretentious form. "The Devil's Asylum" is hard, heavy and classy as fuck. Still relevant, still vicious, still 100 percent true-to-the-bone.