ANCILLOTTI
“STRIKE BACK”
Album Review By Rick Tilley
6/10
If you’ve not heard of this Italian band before then you might be wondering what an ‘Ancillotti’ is. I certainly did when I picked up their debut album ‘The Chain Goes On’ in 2014. Alas, after a quick read of their Facebook page, I discovered it wasn’t a mythological creature or the name of a rare native root vegetable but the surname of Bud (Vocals) and Bid (Bass) who are brothers and also son/nephew Brian (Drums). Joined by friend Ciano (Guitar) they play classic Heavy Metal in the style of Grave Digger, Saxon, Accept and earlier era Rage with some Judas Priest and melody thrown in for good measure. ‘The Chain Goes On’ was a solid if unspectacular debut and second album ‘Strike Back’ continues in the same vein!
Kicking off with the Intro, which includes an excerpt from a very jolly 1931 song ‘I Thank You Mr Moon’ by the Boswell Sisters we hear radio static followed by two evil voices. This launches into first track proper ‘To Hell With You’. It’s hardly the most original way to start an album but Classic, Power, Progressive and Thrash Metal are my favourite genres and this one works well. ‘To Hell With You’ is certainly a good start to ‘Strike Back’. Fast paced with plenty of double bass drumming, good guitar work, gritty vocals and catchy chorus it shows Ancillotti at their best. ‘Immortal Idol’ sounds like mid-paced Saxon but the slightly cleaner vocal style used doesn’t work quite as well and it’s not until the middle eight and solo that the track grabs you. ‘Fight’ is up next and it’s a much more anthemic, pretty fast song sounding like a mix of Motörhead and Grave Digger. This is also the track that has been released as a lyric video.
‘Strike Back’ carries on in this manner, a mix of faster and mid-paced compositions some working better than others, the only exception being the ballad ‘Lonely Road’ which, I think, is a little plodding with one thing in its favour and that’s the guitar playing of Ciano. He manages to take the songs that don’t work as well and make them that little bit more special. That ability is definitely to his credit and he is a musician to listen out for in the future. As the album continues it does start to wane a little with only closing track ‘The Hunter’ really giving you a veritable kick up the arse sounding like ‘Ram It Down’ era Judas Priest!
Overall ‘Strike Back’ is a perfectly acceptable album. It’s well played, with the guitar work certainly being a stand out and it’s well produced, but Ancillotti don’t quite yet have the songs to make them stand out enough from the crowd. Time will tell to see if they can address that issue but I’m still more than happy to have both their albums in my collection!
TRACKLIST
Intro
To Hell With You
Immortal Idol
Fight
Firestarter
The Beast Is Rising
When Night Calls
Burn, Witch, Burn
Lonely Road
Life Is For Livin’
Never Too Late
The Hunter
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