Tim “Ripper” Owens and Rudy Sarzo are bangin’ in A New Revenge. The new album, Enemies and Lovers (Golden Robot Records), serves up some good old-fashioned Rock n’ Roll-cum-Heavy Metal hybrid that is sure to get played on repeat for years to come. The songs are timeless in they have a distinctly “Classics” sound already. The music is infectious and it’s easy to sing along with; so many of the songs sound wickedly familiar – just little snippets here and there of guitar work or the cadence of the lyrics.

‘The Way’ has guitar runs that are parallel to ‘Celebrity Skin’ by Hole, and this familiarity combined with Tim’s vocals and the rest of the composition make this one of the best tracks on the album. ‘Glorious’ showcases lyrics whose rhythm is like ‘The Boys of Summer’ by Don Henley. ‘Only The Pretty Ones’ has a wonderful nod to Alice Cooper – the creepy factor is high before it descends into power ballad territory.

After those songs I started really listening to see if I could discern any other similarities with music I know. It was distracting for a while but then the natural musicality overshadows and takes over. Another stand out track is the title track. Everything about ‘Enemies and Lovers’ is a corker. From the wicked cool lyrics, to the power chords, to the chorus, to the killer guitar work, everything just works.

Rock n’ Roll fans and Heavy Metal fans are going to be very happy with “Ripper”’s newest outing, and Enemies and Lovers is an enjoyable, feel-good and solid album from start to finish and has a lot of positive energy that the listener will appreciate.

7 / 10

VICTORIA ANDERSON