Ronny Munroe on this weeks Focus on Metal

Once again Ronny Munroe has put out another excellent solo release. This week we sit down with returning guest Ronny to talk all about "Electric Wake" his best solo effort so far.

Check in with Ronny at: https://www.facebook.com/ronnymunroefb or http://www.ratpakrecordsamerica.com/ronny-munroe and of course Twiter https://twitter.com/ronnymunroe

Our track of the week is from Johnny Touch who just released their debut "Inner City Wolves" on Shadow Kingdom Records http://www.johnnytouch.com/home

Grab it now from the Focus on Metal Site, The Focus on Metal RSS feed, The Cast Iron Ring or on iTunes

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Review - Ronny Munroe "Electric Wake" (Ratpak)

"Time is like a storm. It hits you when you least expect it. Time's like a thorn. It sticks you in the heart". These are the lines that kick off Ronny Munroe's latest solo offering "Electric Wake". For all those bitter words about time, Ronny's voice is clearly unfazed by it. HIs vocals and his lyrics are are sharp as ever. 

This is Ronny's third solo release with Ratpak and is scheduled to be released on June 24th. The preorder link is provided at the bottom of this post,

When I last spoke to Ronny after the release of his last solo disc it was clear that he was excited about his next batch of music and listening to this I can see why. If you are a fan of classic American metal this may be the best release this year for your metal dollar. Let me just add that Ronny's label Ratpak are pros at making your metal dollar go even further so I encourage you to take a look at some of their package deals for this release. You could even get a personal thank you call from Ronny. That's fucking metal!!!

Ok back to the music. Ronny is always known to have a guest or three on his albums and this one is no exception. George Lynch anyone? Yes I know George pops up everywhere and yet we never get tired of hearing him so I guess there's a damn good reason to have him on your album aside from the fact that he can play his ass off. This time George pops up in "Ghosts". Its a great driving track with all the hallmarks of Lynch and a snarling vocal from Ronny. Does it get any better? 

Check out the vid at http://youtu.be/RpZev8UrM1Y to get a taste.

Another track with guests is "The Others". With lyrics like allegiance to metal and music to die for Ronny is channelling Dio on this one and the effect is pure metal. So this one is already top notch but Ronny adds on Pamela Moore for some vocal trade offs and he's not done yet he also has a screaming solo from Tesla's Dave Rude. Nicely done Ronny. This one is also available for preview at: http://youtu.be/XKdr1YCicEo

So besides the guests I probably should mention the core players on the disc. Paul Kleff and Sean Baker on guitars. Sean's an insane player well worth checking out. On bass is David Donigan from the Sean Baker Orchestra and Tony Rossi on the drum throne. Ronny has assembled a great bunch of players that clearly know how classic American metal should sound. Of course producers have a part in that as well and this time Bruce Bouillet is manning the board. I'm actually surprised that Bruce was able to resist laying down some guitar on this too.

So hows the rest of the disc? Freaking awesome, thank you. I was thinking that the title track was going to be a doomy Sabbath knock off but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. When it started with the amp hum and feedback I was thinking my gut was right but it quickly gets down to business. It has a cool Warning era Ryche feel to it.

Another great one on here is "Turn to Stone". It has some nice time changes that always keep you engaged in the song. That seems to be a key element in a lot of Ronny's stuff. He likes to mix up tempos and layer slow vocals over fast riffs and vice versa. It's cool stuff and not a lot of people out there do it. I could methodically go through every song but I don't need to. The whole thing is great. If you are on the fence head to the YouTube links and listen to the three song previews that are up there.

There's also a preview trailer at http://youtu.be/xHMKQIK-vP8

So after spending a few days with this one do I like it? Absolutely. Will I buy it? I already preordered it the day it was announced. Should you buy it? Hell yeah!!

I give this one and 8.5 out of 10. This needed a bit more bass presence and I wish Ronny used his upper range a bit more. However the songs, the riffs and the lyrics are all great.

Top track: "The Others"

Preorder link: www.RatPakRecords.com/RonnyMunroe   

Focus on Metal with Rex Brown and Ronny Munroe is Now Available

Week 2 of Metal Month 2013 is upon us and we briefly hop off the Strange Highway to bring you two metal legends with two great releases that you need to know about now. In round one we have the one and only Ronny Munroe talking to us about the new Metal Church release Generation Nothing and in round two we have legendary bassist Rex Brown chatting up the new Kill Devil Hill release Revolution Rise.

As usual get it on iTunes, The Cast Iron Ring and of course at the Focus on Metal site

And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.

Review - Metal Church- Generation Nothing (Rat Pak Records)

   I think Scott is under the impression that I don't like Metal Church. That's the bands fault because they have had too many bloody line up changes. To clarify: I don't like David Wayne's voice, think The Dark is over-rated, love The Human Factor with Mike Howe but think Blessing In Disguise is ruined by a terrible production job by none other then Terry Date. One of their guitarists is probably better known for filling in for James Hetfield and the main songwriter didn't even tour on some of their albums. Bad luck well yes, self-inflicted career damage most definitely.

   I love A Light In The Dark, just a solid slice of metal. Ronny Munroe's vocals are a bit of an acquired taste though, sometimes he can just sound a little well......off. If that makes any sense. The follow up This Present Wasteland didn't really do it for me and then they were gone. Bad management, bad label the usual same 'ol same 'ol.

   So now they are back after a little hiatus. Time to review, renew and compose. So is this a tired sounding release from a band that should have known better? Fuck no, this is stonking stuff. Kurdt Vanderhoff always had an ear for a good tune and there are belters on this like opener Bulletproof, Suiciety and the title track. He has this crunchy guitar tone that screams old school metal. Ronny Munroe sounds great on this too and a lot has to do with the quality of material presented to him. I'm glad they are back and bothered to release new material when they could have done those 70,000 tons of metal cruises playing all the golden oldies.

   The cover is shit though.

Richie.

http://www.ratpakrecordsamerica.com/metal-church