Skeletoon – The 1.21 Gigawatts Club
Scarlet Records
Release Date: 15/10/21
Running Time: 49:05
Review by Simon Black
6/10
Power Metal does have a habit of going crazy ape bonkers with grand concepts album, but this is the first time I’ve come across one that uses Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Back To The Future’ film as its lyrical source material, which is probably why the band prefer to refer to themselves as Nerd Metal.
Vocalist Tommy Fooler’s project seems to have been fairly consistent in their output rate, with this being their fifth album since 2016. They started life as a Helloween covers band, so sound wise the Italian five piece have retained that Northern Euro Power Metal sound fundamentally, which means you have a clear vocal style and upbeat, major chord structures at play. The trouble is, there’s an awful lot of bands that sound like that, and Skeletoon only differentiate themselves with more geeky subject matter, than the usual sword & sorcery, pseudo-historical, or faux satanic approach of their many, many peers.
It is refreshing though in that, for an Italian act, this sound more like their more Northern cousins that the style adopted by the extended Rhaspody family of acts. Is that enough I have to ask? Perhaps not, as the challenge remains one of originality, in a very crowded market.
Although the execution is pretty faultless musically, the challenge is stylistically there’s a lot of this about. The production is very polished though, and gives a warm rich tapestry to work from, but the problem is the lyrics, and song structures, don’t really grab the attention enough in, and of, themselves.
Despite the competent playing and vocal work throughout, what this is missing is some solid, catchy riffage to hook people in with and ladle the subject matter on to. Ironically this only really comes with the cover version of ‘Johnny B. Goode’ at the end of the record (chosen no doubt as a nod to Michael J. Fox trying to be Eddie Van Halen at the end of the first movie), which unfortunately does a great job of highlighting the key elements that were missing from the rest of the album.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Intro Unveiling Secrets
02. Holding On
03. Outatime
04. The Pinheads
05. 2204
06. Enchant Me
07. We don’t Need Roads (The Great Scott Madness)
08. Pleasure Paradise (Oh La-La)
09. The 4Th Dimensional Legacy
10. Eastwood Ravine
11. Johnny B. Goode
LINE-UP:
Mr. Tomi Fooler – Vocals
Andy “K” Cappellari – Guitar
Fabrizio “Fabbro” Taricco – Guitar
Giacomo “Jack” Stiaccini – Bass
Enrico “HenrySydoz” Sidoti – Drums
LINKS:
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