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SEBASTIAN BACH
Child Within The Man

Reigning Phoenix Music (2024)
Rating: 9/10

Forget about the youths going wild, the glorious return of former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach in his mid-50s causes the same tingle down the spine as his solo monster Angel Down from 2007 as well as signalling another raucous step back into the fold.

It’s been ten years since Bach’s last record Give ’Em Hell, so once again expect to be bashed around the lugholes by a massive wall of sound driven further into the soul by his infallible voice, which, with age, maintains a distinctive richness and fire but never once falling short of scale. Still leaping and chuckling like an enthusiastic heavy metal teenager who has just played his first record backwards, Bach enlists the help of some special guests, the equally exuberant John 5 (Mötley Crüe / ex-Rob Zombie), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol) and Orianthi (ex-Alice Cooper) to trample all underfoot.

“Now I’m kicking ass and taking names,” Bach growls on ‘Freedom’ (featuring John 5); a man possessed by heavy metal yet still able to inject humour too as well as some serious reflection as depicted by the cover art painted by his late father David Bierk. Although there’s no time for regretful thoughts on Child Within The Man. Instead, Bach brings nostalgia lyrically, but musically this record is very much of the present. Slamming riffs, scorching melodies and the simmering steam of subtlety litter this opus as Bach’s voice booms, sneers and shreds. His larynx spouts bruising commands like a general rallying his troops as opening cut ‘Everybody Bleeds’ rings out across the horizon like a call to arms.

Steve Stevens works his magic on ‘F.U.’ and Orianthi on ‘Future Of Youth’, but what I really admire here is the passion of Bach within the layers, because it would be all too easy for him to go through the motions and rest on his laurels. Instead, and like previous releases, he bombards the audience with mostly serious heavy metal, although the self deprecating track ‘What Do I Got To Lose’ (co-written with Miles Kennedy), and especially the video, is downright hilarious with its ‘Monkey Business’ aping. However, the lyrics are hardened and defiant as he rasps “What have I got to lose? What have I got to save? Still, there is no difference to me, it’s all the same”.

‘(Hold On) To The Dream’ starts with a fragility before transforming into a downright tantrum, and then there’s the ballsy ‘Crucify Me’ contrasted by the closing anthemic ballad ‘To Live Again’ (also co-written with Kennedy). It’s all quintessential rock ‘n’ roll that rages, thumps, slaps, scowls, fist pumps, chest pounds and swaggers thanks not only to Bach’s inimitable style but also through the potency of guitarist Devin Bronson, bassist Todd Kerns and drummer Jeremy Colson. The combo drives heavy and hard through the robust terrain of ‘Vendetta’ and also ‘Hard Darkness’, so there’s no shortage of pure molten metal battering rams.

As I’ve said with previous reviews of Bach’s solo outings, forget the Skid Row soap opera and focus on the real sound of heavy metal and let Sebastian be your guide, after all, what ya got to lose when there’s clearly so much to gain.

Neil Arnold

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