2006’s Warball and 2011’s Razorback Killers, the last two Vicious Rumors records, were confident and strong efforts. Both showed that this long-running Californian power metal act had finally managed to push through their mid-90s shift to forgettable groove metal and get back to what they do best, to their blend of melodic power and aggressive thrash. This latest of Rumors falls in line with those, stylistically, but despite a few quality ragers, it doesn’t bring quite the same quality of material as those previous efforts.
Traditionally, Vicious Rumors has been hampered by internal instability. Electric Punishment is the first Vicious Rumors album in nearly two decades that shares the same vocalist as the record before it, though in true Rumors fashion, the rest of the line-up is not the same. (This latest change is relatively minor: Guitarist Thaen Rasmussen rejoins, replacing the man who replaced him, Kiyoshi Morgan.) Brian Allen fits nicely behind this mic, his snarling scream at once both harsh and melodic, and perfect for the band’s thrashy take on power metal. Allen may well be the best-fitting Vicious Rumors vocalist since the late Carl Albert in the band’s glory days – he’s certainly the most consistent, just by virtue of being back again.
Punishment comes out swinging: first track and first single “I Am The Gun” is a grand example of the band’s American power metal sound, and from there, for four songs, everything is firing on high. “Black X List” sports a moody melody that could’ve been lifted from a King Diamond tune (and that’s a good thing), whilst the title track overcomes it’s clichéd “possessed by the spirit of rock” theme through sheer power metal glory. After those first four, however, Electric Punishment starts a downward spiral and never recovers – the ballad “Escape (From Hell)” is weak and ultimately forgettable, and though there is some redemption in “Dime Store Prophet,” all is lost entirely from “Together We Unite” onward. That tune marries a straight-ahead late-80s arena-rock opening (think Aerosmith’s “Angel” without keys and done by a power metal band) to a “we are brothers of metal” lyrical theme, and it comes off every bit as silly as you’d imagine. The remaining three tunes top out at acceptable, far from glorious, just a few more toss-off tracks that never really add up to anything like the first four.
As you’d expect from a band with thirty years of experience, the production is sharp and the musicianship is solid. Guest appearances from Night Ranger guitarist Brad Gillis and former Rumors six-stringer Mark McGee are redolent of the past few discs – both appear on the most recent Rumors efforts in similar fashion. Still, the band’s finally-realized line-up and some great borrowed guitarists simply cannot compensate for half an album’s worth of second-rate tunes.
Fans who’ve weathered all the Rumors ‘til now will find this a listenable effort, with some great moments up front, though overall, it’s just a b-level album from a band whose previous two show them in far better form. Anyone just now coming to the party is advised to approach with a grain of salt, to backtrack a bit and dig in elsewhere. Not a terrible one, this Punishment, but these Rumors can be more vicious…
