In a world where we’ve been subjected to just about every supergroup studio project imaginable, Axe Dragger took even me by surprise. A band featuring past and present members of Fu Manchu, Pentagram, and Dark Funeral, fronted by one-time Pantera vocalist Terry Glaze? Not even in Frontiers svengali Serafino Perugino’s wildest fever dream could this combo have been hatched. Morbid curiosity led me to clicking on the music video for their eponymous debut single, which did very little to get me excited. Against all odds, Glaze sounds fantastic, arguably even stronger than he did in his Glam-tera heyday, but the song itself was a painfully cliche slab of trad metal. Maybe the album would be more promising?
Upon pressing play on Axe Dragger, the band’s debut album, the song “Axe Dragger” itself still does largely nothing for me, plodding along with its cheeseball lyrics and tough-guy vibes reminiscent of similar “old guy metal” supergroups of the ’10s like Adrenaline Mob and Kill Devil Hill. Only whereas AM and KDH wallowed in the tepid waters of alt metal mediocrity, seldom releasing anything of substance, let alone the caliber of their main vehicles, Axe Dragger puts the pedal to the metal, cranking out some quite entertaining ’80s metal worship when you stick around past the predictable opener.
When confronted with retro flavored headbangers like “Give You Rope”, “Iron Rider”, and “El Toro”, one reminisces back to their wasted youth of drawing Priest, Maiden, and Dio logos in their schoolbooks. I know I sure do. Admittedly, the members of Axe Dragger were doing so when these bands were brand spanking new, but that innocent, vibrant spirit screams through the riffs, solos, and choruses of these tunes. Again, Glaze sounds phenomenal, and it makes one wonder why his talent as of late has only been reserved for the sporadic Lord Tracy reunion. This dude could belt it out, and would be a great fit in Metal Church, Vicious Rumors, or any other ’80s traditional act with a revolving door lineup.
Adding a sense of depth are moody, swaggering slabs of doom metal in the vein of ’90s Pentagram. Ironically, the one guy in the fold with a Pentagram connection (drummer Minnesota Pete Campbell) wasn’t even in the band until 2015, but he sure brings the vibe of an album like Be Forewarned (1994) on cuts like “Eat Me From the Inside” and “The Damned Will Cry”, the former boasting a lyric and vocal performance eerily reminiscent of Bobby “The Ghoul” Liebling. Unfortunately, the last two cuts, “Fire in the Madhouse” and “Death is Calling My Name” are a little too Adrenaline Mob/Kill Devil Hill-ish for my liking, even teetering on the edge of BLS territory, but they don’t deter what is, overall, a pleasant listen.
Although Axe Dragger offer nothing new to the grand pantheon of metal, it’d be odd if they did in the first place. These are old dudes playing old timey metal, and having a blast doing so. The songs are, for the most part, solid, the performances are loud and in your face, and Glaze’s Halfordian vocals are the figurative cherry on top. While they aren’t the most super of supergroups to grace this here webzine, they’re certainly more super than most, and I hope they drag this venture onto a sophomore release!
7 out of 10
Label: Ripple Music
Genre: Heavy Metal
For fans of: Judas Priest, Pentagram, Adrenaline Mob
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