Review : Badmouth - Heavy Metal Parking Lot :: New Music Review :: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock

January 2025

Labyrinth: In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye
Bonfire: Higher Ground
The Big Deal: Electrified
Landfall: Wide Open Sky

December 2024

After Lapse: Pathways
Illusion Force: Halfana
Powell-Payne: Voilá

November 2024

Sunstorm: Restless Fight
Storace: Crossfire
Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
Lionville: Supernatural
Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
Lonerider: Down In The Dust
Seventh Crystal: Entity
Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
Impellitteri: War Machine
Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

October 2024

Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
DGM: Endless
Daytona: Garder la Flamme
Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
Frost*: Life In The Wires
Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
Fans Of The Dark: Video
Radioactive: Reset
House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire

September 2024

Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
Eclipse: Megalomanium II
SteelCity: Reverence
Hydra: ReHydrated
Heartwind: III
Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
Find Me: Nightbound
The Nail: The Nail
Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
Stryper: When We Were Kings
Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly

[ More Music Reviews ]

Badmouth: Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Melodic Hard Rock

5.0/5.0

Rambo Music
Website Facebook Twitter
by Craig Hartranft, 06.27.2011

With Badmouth's second effort Heavy Metal Parking Lot, you can judge the book or, in this case, the music by the cover art. The art is a snapshot in cartoon caricature of Eighties arena rock fans tailgating before the big show. The music within channels the great arena melodic hard rock that made those Eighties, with the big hair, torn jeans, button-clad denim jackets, so famous.

Riding comfortably on the coat tails of their satisfying debut, Badmouth packs HMPL with 11 entertaining songs. Once more Badmouth also blurs the lines between melodic hard rock and heavy metal. It's less Iron Maiden and more Dokken. That metal edge is certainly alive on Son of Sam, City Is Burning, and Facing My Demons, all fine tracks with some stunning musicianship. But the underlying current is quite aggressive, quite fun-loving, hard rock, and it's darn catchy too. Radiator, Tired, Bottoms Up are pure party rock with large hooks and huge road trip value. These elements are added into two quick-paced songs, Judas and cliche laden Tired. Yet, the title track may be the real pearl here: part history lesson and part parody, but all arena anthem. HMPL rounds out with a solid, but not painfully sweet, rock ballad in Jake Brakes. Ultimately, these songs are made strong by exceptional composition, musicianship, and production. (However, some may say the overall sound is 'slicker' than the debut's rougher edge.)

Badmouth's Heavy Metal Parking Lot is all good: solid arena ready melodic hard rock. Strongly recommended.

CraigHartranft.net - New fiction, crime fiction by Craig Hartranft

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.