Review by Ritchie Birnie for MPM
Bach is back baby. With 11 barnstorming songs of blistering metal so damned hot that every sale should have a fire extinguisher included.
It has taken the legend 10 years to get to this album but I assure you that it is worth the wait. The man with the mouth and an attitude that rocks as hard in 2024 as it did when he first melted our ears when the Skid Row debut came out is not on his own here. The backing band of Devin Bronson, Todd Kerns and Jeremy Colson knock it out of the park but when you add in guests and song co writers like Myles Kennedy, John 5, Steve Stevens and Orianthi this album was just not built to fail, in fact the man himself guarantees that if you like his back catalogue you will love this album and I will add my paltry guarantee to that statement.
This album is built on guitars and insane vocal performances and as soon as opening track “Everybody Bleeds” kicks in your ears will be bleeding. The furious guitars, Slave to the Grind vocals and sheer funk metal tones will throw you on your ass like Seb on a rain drenched stage(I was there).
If you think you can grab a breath you better do it quickly as next up is “Freedom” and this rips like a venomous Judas Priest and has John 5 shredding like a demon. The song has that catchy debut feel and Seb is on fire.
There has to be a ballad and lets face it Seb is an expert at these and “(Hold On) to the Dream” may start like one with Seb trying to convince you he is some sort of angel before ripping off his skin to reveal the devil horns and whippy tail. Holy Crap this song kicks ass, The guitars are brutal, the vocals are so in your face you can feel the spittle run down your cheek. An absolute monster of a number.
We go all Southern on “What do I Got to Lose” and Seb carries the swagger that made you either love or hate him. He spits lyrics that sounds like a demented nursery rhyme. The thunderous drums and bass drive this song into your top two inches like a pickaxe. This is a radio friendly bag of tricks that walks the line between nice and fucking dynamite.
It is just the fifth track and already I am thinking this could very well be the mans best offering to date and he damn well throws a Sabbath infused “Hard Darkness” at us. He pulls of a Dio/ Mustaine mash up that sounds crazy but is incredible. The song has so many hooks it it could be in a meat locker. This is Seb at his absolute best.
The next guest spot is the one and only Orianthi and you can feel her all over the song. It has her insane licks and groove and seb matches her hit for hit, punch for punch and the song soars with a catchiness unlike anything you have heard before and again we have a winner with a solo to die for.
I am bouncing of the ropes like a Tyson sparring partner in his heyday and “Vendetta” is going in for the kill. The guitars are blistering to the point that they are grating your ears like torture on a S & M lover. The song builds layer upon layer to a dystopian melee that will have you gasping Seb, what the fuck was that.
It is time for Billy Idol’s right hand man Steve Stevens to weigh in on the record and you can here it instantly on “F.U.” as it harks back to Atomic Playboys like a blast from the past thrown into the future.
With all the ferocity on this album I was a bit worried about a track named “Crucify Me” and I was right to be shitting myself. There is a touch of Rammstein going on here and throw in a bit of Voltbeat guitars and mix the demonic Sebatian into the equation and we are on fire. Once again the guitars are killing it. The breakdown twists with your mind as it borders on Disco but all to keep you on edge and unhinged.
Absoloutly no let up on the intro to “About to Break” but it filters back and gives you that catchy feel again with the vocals but the guitars take over and powers the song through to keep it up there with the intensity of all that has gone before.
The album closes with “To Live Again” and it was like Seb knew we were brutalised by everything that this album is so he would finish on a power ballad to give us respite but to leave you with an uplifting, soaring number to underscore this recording.
I have been with Seb since the start, I have loved everything he has done, his fuck you attitude, his Rock’n’Roll persona and every track recorded but “Child Within the Man” is a masterpiece. It is as heavy as hell and twice as devious. You can throw around the Skid Row rumour mill all you want but with Seb firing on all cylinders with this album I could not give one little runny shit about Skid Row getting back together again(I don’t really mean that as I would love to see him back there but for punctuation please read on). Just bring this album to the UK live and I can die happy.
Child Within The Man track list:
Everybody Bleeds
Freedom (featuring John 5)
(Hold On) To The Dream
What Do I Got to Lose?
Hard Darkness
Future Of Youth (featuring Orianthi)
Vendetta
F.U. (featuring Steve Stevens)
Crucify Me
About To Break
To Live Again
The album will be available on jewelcase CD, cassette, and double LP in a variety of colour options, including a glow in the dark edition! Pre-order the album HERE.
