The Showdown – Temptation Come My Way

The Showdown – Temptation Come My Way / 2006 Mono Vs Stereo / 12 Tracks / http://www.theshowdownmetal.com / http://www.monovsstereo.com / Reviewed 28 January 2007

The Showdone come with a brand of hard rock that is tremendously tied to both the hair metal genre and the earlier (not the power metal releases) of Pantera. During “Fanatics and Whores”, The Showdown add a little bit of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd band to the mix, allowing for something that is current but is tremendously educated on the forms of hard rock that preceded them. The shredding that one stumbles upon on these tracks are at a level that could go up against Zakk Wylde.

Where there were hints of hair metal during “Fanatics And Whores”, the opening to “Head Down” links The Showdown to both Winger and Def Leppard before the band goes into the hard rock stylings that they started off “Temptation Come My Way”. The band will be on radios all across the United States, just give them a few months; they will wedge themselves between Nickelback and Three Days Grace as soon as more fans find the band. While the band tries to hit a third home run with “Six Feet Under”, the track seems to lack something to bring the band to the stratosphere. The chorus is catchy as all get out, but what leads up to the track is perhaps not the strongest that the band could come up with. This is sad, as the guitar solo that immediate follows the chorus is intricate as all get out.

“We Die Young” is a track where it seems as if The Showdown is getting back on the right tracks. The chorus is solid, the instrumentation is thoughtful, and what results is a current rock track that hearkens back to the days of power metal. Compared to the rest of radio rock that is on the nmarket,; I know that I would rather listen to The Showdown. The band has a smoothed out style that is not paralleled with any other band on the market. The band is able to maintain this smooth sound while still having some of the hardest rock on the market. Even if the band moves into a Velvet Revolver type of sound during songs like “Breath of the Swamp”, this is predicated by influences that are solid, like Danzig and Fu Manchu. The Showdown are the real deal, and I will be ecstatic the day that they crawl their way up the charts and rest there for a few weeks.

Top Tracks: We Die Young, It Drinks From Me

Rating: 7.0/10

[JMcQ]