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ROSS THE BOSS
By Blood Sworn

AFM (2018)
Rating: 8.5/10

He’s back! Mr. Ross Friedman, better known as Ross The Boss, should be a name familiar with many a metalhead, but if you’ve been living on another planet then let me just quickly mention how the guitarist bolstered up the armoury of macho metallers Manowar after appearing for New York punk pioneers The Dictators.

By Blood Sworn is a record that has been a long time coming, Ross last having released an opus under the Ross The Boss moniker back in 2010 with Hailstorm. But now his new metallic and merry band of brothers – Marc Lopes (vocals), Mike LePond (bass) and Lance Barnewold (drums) – have conjured up another molten metal release.

Ten new songs are served up in volcanic fashion as the title track comes hammering and rolling like scorching lava down a hillside. The percussion of Barnewold is a destructive landslide as the outfit chugs its way through blood, sweat and tears and fist-pumping like never before. This is true metal, glinting like steel and ready for battle as Lopes snarls and growls like a leader of men as Ross’ strings smoulder, fizz and burn. But what else did you expect? The catchy, melodic chorus is fuelled by Lopes’ wail before the posse lowers the tempo, orchestrated by the bubbling bass of LePond and a swirling lead from The Boss.

‘Among The Bones’ follows impeccably; another gritty, well-oiled mid-paced rocker of Motörhead design with its dirty riffage and hefty drum stab. An air of the sinister burns from Lopes’ fiery snarl; “Till death do us part” he scowls. “Never walk away… among the bones we lay” the singer beams as that gallop gleams again.

Only two tracks in and we’re bangin’ the head hard and throwing the horns up to caress the sun as ‘This Is Vengeance’ comes scorching in. “Dominate… desecrate… annihilation” wails Lopes, accompanied by that sizzling axe action before the soldiers of war begin their march. For sheer weight and deathly intensity, this is one of the album’s best tunes. Heck, this wouldn’t seem out of place on a later Destruction opus, although the chorus brings extra sheen and harmony.

Thankfully, such expressions of aggression aren’t few and far between. ‘Devil’s Day’ is a steady, oily mid-paced rocker, while the epic seven-minute plus ‘Lilith’ adds a darker, brooding atmosphere with its suspenseful bass roll intro before the almost doom-laden grit suffocates the ears.

Within the metal framework the band supply so much variety, both in mood and tempo. ‘We Are The Night’ is a hasty thrashing roller featuring bony drums and Marc Lopes’ simmering vocal dynamics, while the shortest track, ‘Play Among The Godz’, is a riotous, galloping fury of infectious riffs, burning drums and vocal crescendos.

But sift your way through any of these flame-licked passages and you’ll find yourself smothered by steady builds of almost Eastern menace (‘Fistful Of Hate’) before those red-hot surges of thick, furnace blasts, all delivered without the macho cheesiness of Manowar. Instead, Ross and company conjure up serious metal yet emotive magic (‘Faith Of The Fallen’) and serious thinking man’s galloping grooves, like with the denim ‘n’ leather clad ‘Circle Of Damnation’.

By Blood Sworn is a pure modern metal release boasting enough heat to cause a severe tan.

Neil Arnold

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