Does anybody remember 1987 record ‘M.A.R.S.: Project: Driver’? Well, we do. It was - the in melodic circles now quite famous - Rob Rock’s first stance and it immediately cemented the man’s vocal capabilities in our collective memories. Rock went on to record with Joshua, Impellitteri, Axel Rudi Pell, Avantasia and a couple of others with known results. Manning the six strings is Driver-original Roy Z, known to most as the axe slinger of Bruce Dickinson and Halford but at more recent days mostly busy as producer of Sepultura, Wolf, Sebastian Bach, Helloween and so on. Driver actually fabricated a 5-song demo back in the day but it was largely ignored due to the changing musical environment at the time. So in 2008 the couple thought it was time to resurrect their little 80’s project, recruited original drummer ‘Butch’ Carlson and completed the line-up with Aaron Samson (George Lynch) on bass and Ed Roth (Impellitteri, Glenn Hughes) on keys. The result was ‘Sons Of Thunder’ and the album received much praise, also on these pages ( http://www.rockreport.be/review.asp?id=2215 ).
We had to wait a little for the follow-up but ‘Countdown’ was certainly worth the wait, as far as I am concerned. It may lack the impact of their debut (with the original 5-song demo on it) but it turned out to be a well-crafted and highly enjoyable US melodic metal-record. The gentlemen involved in this project know exactly how a song has to be written, produced & performed so it comes as no surprise that the platter is oozing with melody & class with a band firing on all sixes. Listen to Roy Z rip and tear through this album and prove me wrong!
Again, it lacks the surprise of the debut but ‘Countdown’ is a mighty fine collection of melodic metal-songs nevertheless. (KVK)
 

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Jeffwasp (on 9/07/12) OK, but nothing special. The material is just too laid back to grab me. I like my old-school metal in the face, and this just purrs along. A few good tracks, but just not top-notch.   Latka (on 10/06/12) Countdown is Sons of Thunder part II, meaning very enjoyable old school melodic metal. Minor point is the 'too old' sounding production, but the music this album offers makes up for that. Before I bought the album I have been listening quite a lot to Delain's "We Are The Others". The difference in quality of the production between both albums is like night and day. High rating nevertheless.   Metal Mark (on 6/06/12) Rob Rock is a great vocalist. Roy Z, an incredible guitarist and 1st rate producer. But, this doesn't sound like a Roy Z production. A bit thin compared to the mighty Bruce Dickinson and Halford efforts Z has been involved with. Furthermore, the songs don't grab me....something is missing. It's not bad by any means, just not what I was expecting or hoping for.   adolfo (on 31/05/12) A good US Metal band and album. Melodic and power 50/50   YNGWIEVIKING (on 25/05/12) Agree with KVK's review...Very cool album...ROY Z is even more impressive than the huge vocals provided by the mighty ROB ROCK...*****   PS (on 15/05/12) Yep, if you like the debut or just consider yourself a fan of 80s US styled melodic metal you can't go wrong adding this to your collection.

 

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