Ignitor - The Spider Queen

I was a bit taken aback to hear that Erika Swinnich had been replaced on vocals, and by Jason McMaster no less. Hey, I may always be pleasantly surprised. I did, however, very much like Erika’s vocals, which says something for me because my passion for “regular, straight-forward” heavy metal pretty much halts with Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Again, I’m always up to be surprised.

The only thing I was cautious about was the complete overhaul of vocalists. This isn’t a Di’Anno-to-Dickinson scenario; the dramatic change in female to male vocals drastically changes a band’s entire sound. Arch Enemy did it with Angela Gossow over Johan Liiva (much to most fans’ delight, but to my chagrin) with success, but the formula is lightning in a bottle. How does Ignitor’s newest hold up with such a shock to the metal system, you ask?

In the classic vein of the aforementioned Maiden and Priest, it is indeed heavy metal, albeit a terrible attempt. It sincerely sounds like a very uninspired mess! The opening track is so incredibly clichéd and directionless it’s practically criminal. I can tell you that McMaster doesn’t even sound like he’s trying to sing - everything sounds forced and unemotional. Even the instrumentation is lackluster and boring, which is a shame because I did enjoy Road of Bones. It’s a case of “Wow, what happened here?” because this CD seems to be something along the lines of the Speak of the Devil release by Ozzy back in ’82, in that it was a contractual obligation that has no life or effort. I may be in the minority here but Jason McMaster has the most boring style I’ve heard in some time. The vocals seem to be trying to find the hybrid of a drunken Steve Grimmitt and a bad karaoke singer after one too many bourbon chasers.  

Lyrically, this has to be one of the most rudimentary offerings I’ve ever heard, and for someone who has four decades of metal under his well-worn belt that speaks volumes. Seriously, it reads like some of the texts we would scribble down in the back of science class and proudly show to our metal friends with talk about how they’re the best lyrics since the entire Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow album. The only problem is we were twelve and idealistic (also unemployed and greener than the mold on month-old cheese). There is absolutely nothing even close to memorable or exciting about The Spider Queen. What is such a cool title doing on this  forty-five minute train wreck?

I don’t know what the future holds for Ignitor, but at this point this CD would be best left in the recesses of the same vault that houses Reload, St. Anger and everything by W.A.S.P. after Headless Children. Sorry to say it, but save your money! The only reason I failed to disqualify it completely is the damn cool title…and that’s about all.

Release Date: September 14, 2009
Label: Heavy Cruz Del Sur /
Heavy Artillery Records 

TRACK LISTING

1.  Magnus Opus
2.  Evil Calling
3.  I Never Knew
4.  The Games Begin
5.  Angels Descend
6.  The Spider Queen
7.  Rune of Power
8.  What Love Denies
9.  Construct of Destruction
10.  My Heart Turns to Dust
11.  Dynasty of Darkness

Total playing time:  46:30

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*Comments:

April 2, 2010

Reviewer: Chris