Ελληνικά
Genre: Thrash/Power
Country: U.S.A.
Label: Rat Pak Records
Year: 2021
In October 2011, in Crimson Glory’s concert in Thessaloniki, I heard for the first time Todd La Torre. He was standing out, replacing easily one of the best metal singers, mighty Midnight.
Two years later, Todd La Torre gave Queensryche the kiss of life, replacing the best, in my opinion, heavy metal singer, Geoff Tate, at a time when the band had hit rock bottom after several average commercially albums. Given the release of three successful Queensryche albums and a sequence of live appearances, La Torre proved in a flash of a blade his multi-faceted talent. In Queensryche’s latest album- ‘The Verdict’ – Todd was involved as well in drumming and composition. It was about time La Torre unfolds his own ideas by releasing his first solo album ‘Rejoice in the Suffering’.
Featuring Todd (vocals, guitar, drums) and Graig Blackwell (guitar, bass, keyboards), ‘Rejoice in the Suffering’ could be described more as a power and/or thrash metal album, and less as a pure heavy metal one. There’s no doubt that his solo project appears to be very innovative, distinguishing La Torre from Queensryche’s songwriting trademark. Via a unique mixture of ’80s/’90s bands’ sound and today’s music trends, Todd La Torre succeeded to come out with a clearly authentic album that highlights his multi-talented figure. This unique style of his first solo project is about to influence lots of bands in the near future.
Full of power and intensity, his impressive riffs and solos, along with speed full drumming and great vocals (resembling to Halford’s or Warrel Dane’s -first Sanctuary era- ones), the triangle ‘Dogmata’, ‘Preteders’ and ‘Hellbound and down’, introduce us to the album. The melodic refrain ‘Darkened Majesty’ stands out from all three previous tracks. ‘Crossroad to Insanity’ – top notch ballad – alters album’s atmosphere with its heavy and melancholic style. ‘Critical Cynic’ follows the pattern of the rest album. Despite intensity’s diversion in ‘Rejoice in the Suffering’, ‘Vanguard of the dawn wall’ and ‘Vexed’ revive the strength and speed up tempo along with their melodic intros. Melancholic, dark, with an outstanding solo, ‘Apology’ arises as one of the highlights of the album. Next three songs are bonus tracks. Nevertheless, are equally emerging as top of the album. I would hardly stand out one of those. ‘Fractured’, with its rhythmic tempo, and ‘Set it off’, with its catchy refrain, are already into my playlist (with repeat mode on). ‘Over by One’, flooded by a mixture of death vocals and pounding drum set, ends up with a majestic melodic solo.
Todd La Torre is by all means an extremely talented musician going counter to each and every musical trivia.
5,5/6
