The 2000s were rife with larger than life hard rock bands, many of which were able to permeate the mainstream in an era where rock was considered “dead”. It was as if off the heels of dismal post-grunge and misanthropic nu metal, good ol’ fashioned, hedonistic rock n’ roll had one last hurrah. There was Queens of the Stone Age, The Darkness, Wolfmother, Airbourne, Jet, and so forth. The list goes on and on. One band of this era who stood out in more ways than one was CKY. Unlike their peers, CKY were “edgy” enough to appeal to the Ozzfest and Warped Tour demographics, while musically taking a page from the classic rock, metal, and punk records of yesteryear. They towed the line between old and new school in a way few acts have since.
In the years since their MTV and Tony Hawk Pro Skater glory days, CKY drifted apart. Drummer Jess Margera and guitarist/bassist Chad I Ginsburg went their own way, soldiering on under the CKY moniker. Meanwhile, singer, guitarist, and all around driving force Deron Miller formed his own outfit, appropriately named 96 Bitter Beings. While the band is new, the sound is anything but, and I mean this in the most complimentary way possible. If you were a child when Eminem terrorized “White America”, Paris Hilton was the It Girl, and the housing market completely crashed, then hold onto your seatbelts. The new 96BB album, Synergy Restored, is the early 21st century nostalgia trip you didn’t know you needed.
Like every CKY album before it, Synergy Restored is characterized by the beefy riffs, layered vocals, and abstract lyrics of Miller. How these three facets are utilized from song to song is another story. Many of these cuts can be categorized in the same “arena rock” family as KISS and AC/DC, with their triumphant spirit and mega sized choruses. Look no further than “Vaudeville’s Revenge”, “Bloodrock Mania” (no relation to the early 70s metal band of the same name), and “Conditioned or Unconditional”. However, Miller is a man of many influences, and it shows.
On the flip side of these classic rock throwbacks are earworms on the poppier side of the spectrum. Think Cheap Trick meets Spectres era Blue Öyster Cult on steroids. The melodies within the swaggering “Fire Skyline”, new wave tinged “Bedtime Story”, and dare I say disco driven “Taken by Surprise” (a surprise of a song, indeed), are bound to captivate even the most hardened metal elitists. Add to that splashes of stoner riffing, prog rock mannerisms, and spacey atmospheric passages, and you’ve got one of the most multidimensional rock albums you’ll hear all year.
For how much it has “going on”, Synergy Restored should not work from a technical standpoint. Yet guided by the unpredictable genius of Miller and his gang of dedicated rock n’ roller lifers, it does. There are many songs on here that, if you put them on rock radio and told kids it was Ghost, chances are they’d believe it (If only for both bands’ emphasis on hooks and melody.) I hope for Miller’s sake that happens. His legacy is far more than that of “the Jackass rockstar”. Synergy Restored cements this and then some, loud and proud as it is.
8 out of 10
Label: Nuclear Blast
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: CKY, Queens of the Stone Age, Ghost