With
the Christmas sprit flying through the air this time of year and songs begin played on the radio to commemorate and get us
into the mood of it as well. Most of the traditional songs aren’t appreciated by the rock and metal community as much
as everyone else; they just don’t fit into our style. so why not take some of the most famous Christmas songs, famous
rock/metal musicians and place them together. With We Wish You A Metal Xmas…
And a Headbanging New Year, they did just that. The twelve track disc places Christmas songs into the hands of some of
the most well known artist in the biz. “We Wish You A Merry Xmas” begins the album with a nice Christmas carol
start until it explodes and unleashes a metal rush. Guitars and drums rush in to over take any “nice” feeling
that you might have had while the vocals instruct you to get into the sprit of Christmas. Next “Run Rudolph Run”
gives you a bluesy feel to the classic. Billy Gibbons, Dave Grohl, and Lemmy Kilmister do a great job spicing the track up
with a little attitude. Spinning off third is an Alice Cooper lead “Santa Claws is Coming to Town.” It’s
a dark and disturbing swing on a track that fills children up with hope and excitement ends with Cooper destroying all of
the toys. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is still a slow track that offers up a dark sadistic vocal set while “Silver
Bells” is an upbeat offering of multilayered vocals. “Little Drummer Boy” ends the first half of this total
assault of beautifully created Christmas carols. Its vocal set would fit perfect in the non-metal version of the track while
they add in backing vocals while the music flows perfectly with those vocals. “Santa Claus is Back in Town” starts
the second half off with a great version of the track. It has a true rock feel to it as the guitars and drums lead the track
with the addition of layered, backing vocals. “Silent Night” is a dark and eerie, true creepy metal sound. The
low scratchy vocal begins are over rushed with a fast drum lead track with an occasional flying guitars and the same low scratchy
vocals throughout. “Deck The Halls” has a nice rock sound added to it while they keep the normal sounding lyrics.
With the addition of raging guitars it spices the track up enough to get the interest of the listener while “Grandma
Got Ran Over By A Reindeer” begins with a sweet guitar and snarling vocals. The vocals give the appearance that it’s
a “told you so” tone as well as a laugh or two. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” does just
that, rock. With soaring guitars, a simple drum set, and clear vocals this track will get you into the Christmas sprit and
should have started or ended the album. The album ends with “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” a track that includes some
acoustic guitar with electric mixed in and steady drum play. It offers up a clear vocal set and a nice end to a very metal
time. Overall I think that this was a great effort and a nice set of tracks. It was a great concept and would go great under
the tree for a rock/metal fan. To bring such a star studded line-up together to make an album like this is amazing and I hope
that they do more of the same next year.
Rating: 8 out of 10
My favorite tracks:
Santa
Claws is Coming to Town, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Track List:
- We Wish
You A Merry Xmas
- Run Rudolph
Run
- Santa
Claws is Coming to Town
- God Rest
Ye Merry Gentlemen
- Silver
Bells
- Little
Drummer Boy
- Santa
Claus Is Back In Town
- Silent
Night
- Deck the
Halls
- Grandma
Got Ran Over By A Reindeer
- Rocking
Round the Xmas Tree
- Happy Xmas (War
Is Over)
Website (s): http://www.myspace.com/metalchristmas
