Pentagram isn’t the only early 70s metal band to have experienced a mass resurgence in the past 10 to 15 years. So has Bang. The pioneering power trio wallowed in obscurity for the better part of four decades before their cult classic debut album was reissued and subsequently discovered by a whole new generation of headbangers. Much like Pentagram, the reaction was a resounding, “There was more than Sabbath?” Oh yes there was, my naïve legions. Unfortunately for Bang, and every other heavy act signed to Capitol in the early 70s that wasn’t Grand Funk Railroad for that matter, their members didn’t bear the names Mark Farner, Mel Schacher, and Don Brewer, which left them dead in the water.
Alas, while Grand Funk, Capitol’s one-time cash cow, has since splintered off into two factions (Mark Farner’s American Band and *ahem* “Grand Funk Railroad”), Bang remains indestructible, boasting the same lineup today as they did when they first formed in 1971. The two Franks, Glicken and Ferrara, handle guitar and bass respectively, while Tony Diorio holds it down behind the drumkit. Together, these three veterans have convened for their first album of original music in decades, Another Me, which is another leg up they have on Grand Funk, who hasn’t released an album since 1983. Score 2 for the underdogs!
If you long for the heavy, hedonistic ways of yesteryear, there’s no way you won’t at the very least dig this album for what it is: a musical timepiece. There’s no new ground being broken by Bang, no quantum leap forward in the way they write or perform. No, Another Me is a pure and simple heavy 70s album if there ever was one. It’s easy to draw comparisons Sabbath, as Bang too could unleash doom and gloom. Look no further than cuts like lengthy psychedelic freakout “Man of God” and closing sludge rocker “This Night”. However, Bang always had a knack for hooks and melodies in a manner that made them far more radio-accessible than Sabbath, a quality that Capitol was likely initially banking on.
Those hooks, melodies, and all around sense of insouciance lead cuts like the straightforward opening title cut, beefy “Broken Toys”, and galloping “Tin Man”. The aforementioned doomy songs, as well as the unorthodox “Two Angles” and trippy “Drone Pilot”, add a certain sense of variety, but not so much that it deviates the whole purpose of this album, which is to rock out with your…you get the idea. The only thing that holds Another Me back, making it a good album but not great, is its demo-like production. I get it. It’s 2023 and Cleopatra doesn’t have the budget Capitol did circa 1972. That said, would it have been the biggest task the brighten the vocals in the mix? Many times they’re buried under the instrumentation, and on “Clouds” they’re near incomprehensible.
Now if this were some death/thrash throwback or even your run of the mill war metal release, I wouldn’t have these qualms about such production mishaps. That said, this is Bang, and when I think of the era they represent, I think of primal, bonehead crunchers that are loud AND clear. Despite its occasional sonic inconsistences, I promise you that I will be blasting Another Me loud over the next few days, even if every last passage isn’t clear. Do I make myself clear?
6 out of 10
Label: Cleopatra Records
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
For fans of: Black Sabbath, Sir Lord Baltimore, James Gang