Customer Reviews

Charred Walls of the Damned (W/Dvd)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow, I must say that I am very impressed by this album! This is very refreshing cutting edge stuff that all Nevermore fans like myself should find to their liking. I know Richard Christy is a very highly regarded drummer from his time in Death, Control Denied, and Iced Earth and he proves he is still on top of his game here! However I didn't know he was such a good song writer and in tune with the cutting edge type metal on display here? Especially being better known now for his day job as an on air prankster! Which honestly I have never heard him on air not being a fan of the Stern show personaly.

The music style can best be described as a mix between Nevermore, Communic, Iced Earth, Control Denied, and Death. What I really like about this album is it mixes a lot of extreme cutting edge metal elements with the more melodic and traditional. This is especially great to hear with clean vocals instead of death growls! Of course it takes a certain type of vocalist to pull this off and Ripper Owens was the perfect choice for this as he fits the music extremely well. In fact this just might be the best and most inspired performance I have ever heard from him!

Yet the biggest surprise of the album is the very impressive guitar playing of Jason Suecof! Better known as a producer, Suecof lays down some extremely tight and intricate riffing topped off by tons of absolutely shreding yet tasteful solos! I am talking Jeff Loomis league stuff here and I don't say that lightly. This project was obviously a great way for this guy to get out from behind the mixing board and showcase his talents as one of metals elite guitarists! Who would have known?

Ironically my only minor complaint with the album is the production. Overall it is good yes, but the guitar sound is a bit too high on the treble and mids whist lacking a bit of bottom end. Also the bass guitar is barely even audible? Quite surprising when you consider they have recruited another highly reguarded musician on bass in Steve Digiorgio? Seems like they would want to utilize his skills as an asset as well? Unfortunately his great bass skills can not be heard here.

Overall though this is a great album that will appeal to fans of intelligent cutting edge metal with fresh ideas and top notch musicianship! Hopefully we will here more from these guys in the near future!

I listen to Howard Stern every day and they have been talking about this for awhile. It's Richard..LOL, C'mon. The guy comes off as a complete clown on the show. I was not interested in this because I thought it was going to be Richard being silly. When I heard he wrote all the lyrics I was double not interested. Richard writing lyrics? What, how he likes to make phony phone calls and advocate bad hygiene?...LOL. Then Howard played some of it and Richard insisted on playing it until the hook. The song was "Voices Within the Walls" and I was hooked. There is nothing silly about this album whatsoever. This thing rocks. Owens is great, Richard is great, Jason Suecof is excellent and Steve DiGiorgio is great. Richard, as it turns out, is a very good lyric writer. I was very impressed with him and what he did here. If you don't know it's Thrash/metal with clean vocals. Sorry Richard. I will never doubt you again when it comes to music. This is very good. Richard's drumming will blow you away. Production could be a little better but I'm buying it anyway. Don't let Richard's antics on the show derail you from buying this album like I did. It seems he knows what he is doing. Again, sorry Richard.

I grew up listening to early Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, etc. but I eventually moved into Beatles, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson territory and never developed a taste for "Speed" or "Death Metal". I am, however, a longtime Howard Stern listener and a fan of Richard Christy's antics. His prank call with the triple-tracked voice inquiring about three different items at the same time makes me so happy, I put it on my Ipod.

As a fan, I supported Richard by downloading the first single and today I drove 20 miles to the nearest FYE (the only retailer stocking it) to buy a copy. After listening, I can only say that Richard Christy is not only a comic genius and an amazing drummer, but he is a gifted songwriter as well. I was pleasantly surprised at the melodicism and complexity of these numbers. That he was able to accomplish the writing and recording of such a quality collection of tunes, while also holding down a demanding full-time job, drinking like a fish and fighting gout, is truly amazing. No wonder he doesn't have time to shower or brush his teeth.

I bought this album because Ripper Owens sings on it, and it does not disappoint. Years ago I saw Ripper sing live with Judas Priest and was impressed with how good he sounded live. A couple of years later some folks tried to get me interested in Iced Earth, and I found that the albums I liked best were the ones Ripper sang on. Ripper has also been involved with some other interesting projects, including singing for Yngwie Malmsteen.
Later I went to a local music store that specializes in heavy metal and asked the owner for recommendations, since I'm an older fan and don't find a lot of the stuff out lately to be up to the standards of the late 80's and early 90's era metal. He mentioned that this album was good and that it was selling well in his store. I recalled that Ripper sang on it, and figured I had to buy it. It is definitely a great album. Very heavy, fast guitars, but no "death growl" vocals, just Ripper's awesome singing. It also comes with a bonus DVD that is pretty entertaining. Most of it is the band members being drunk and silly, which is fine, but I wish they had included more of the interviews and anecdotes about how the band came together, and talked to Ripper a bit more. However it's a free bonus DVD, so you can't complain, and I must admit the dog and the duck were cute. Anyway, highly recommended. Pick it up, and shred like the old days!

Charred Walls of the Damned is the new metal "supergroup" put together by former Iced Earth drummer (and current Howard Stern sidekick) Richard Christy. Alongside bassist Steve DiGiorgio (ex-Death, Control Denied), vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (ex-Judas Priest, ex-Iced Earth) and producer/guitarist Jason Seucof. The band, which released their self-titled debut earlier this year on Metal Blade Records, plays a dark, heavy brand of traditional heavy metal.

I was something of a skeptic going into this album, but Charred Walls of the Damned is just a well put-together project all around. Richard Christy is amazing as always here. I don't usually get excited about drummers, but it's really good to hear Christy behind a drum kit again. It helps that he's got fellow Death and Control Denied veteran Steve DiGiorgio as his counterpart on bass. Owens is great on vocals, which is no surprise, and Seucof turns in a surprisingly good guitar performance. The songs are heavy, thrashy, just melodic enough, and really dark without getting into death metal territory, sort of like the dark power metal of Nevermore, Communic and Iced Earth. Actually, this strikes me as what Iced Earth could have sounded like with a different hand at the wheel.

The only real drawback is the production, which seems to emphasize the drumming over all else. I guess that's understandable, but it makes it harder to hear and appreciate the melodies and guitar work. It's also a really brief album, but I guess that's OK if it means the filler was left out.

I wouldn't call this an essential album, but Charred Walls of the Damned is still an impressive metal offering that should appeal to most metal fans, particularly fans of Iced Earth, Control Denied, Nevermore and some of Judas Priest's darker works.

Edition Notes: Charred Walls of the Damned comes in a digipack (with some less than impressive artwork) and includes a bonus "making of" DVD.

Super groups seldom deliver the best goods. Few achieve a tight band cohesion of personalities that mesh into really good music.
This group is an exception.

Having always been a fan of Christy's technical but not obnoxiously so style, i was intrigued. I don't know the guitarist but Owens and Digiorgio are definitely known to me and are fantastic musicians. The sum of the parts is a very talented power metal band with hints of Devin Townsend. The actual riffs and guitar sound are a bit Swedish Melodeath, rather just Power Metal riffing
The vocals are classic, melodic, clean, and DIO-like. The songs are well written and contain many layers of kickbutt guitaring. Jason Suecof is really shredding nicely and laying down slabs of Rectified goodness, with melodies on top.

And of course, Mr. Christy mixing up blasts and rolls galore.

This is a strong album. Not super earth shaking but very good. It is just right for old Maiden/Dio/Priest/Iced Earth fans.
A solid premier. A good purchase.

Richard Christy proves he's more than a goofy hillbilly prank-caller. He is truly one of the best Metal drummers around. Solid songwriter too! I'm not usually a fan of drum-driven rock, but this album is very good. Ripper also shows why a legendary band like Judas Priest would give him a job. Great vocals.

Great combination of Ripper Owens on vocals and Richard Christy showing his talent pounding the skins. Rock on

I just want to say that this group is great. I didn't know much about this group until my nephew told me about them so I played the cd and watched the dvd and I was surprised about how good they was. So buy this cd / dvd set.

Lois Banks

I heard some samples of this album when the artists did a guest spot on the Jack n' Rod show and I had to buy it. What a great album! I think I'm going to buy a few more and try to sell them on our local swap shop trade-o radio show to get the word out.