by Derric Miller
— Managing Editor —
The Metal world is, thankfully, filled with so much talent it’s hard to keep up. Flip that coin over and you’ll also find an equal amount of mediocrity across the board. How very Zen you are, Metal. When it comes to singers, there’s some that get more than a fair shake based on things other than vocal talent, and then you have under the radar guys like Tim Aymar, a gent with pipes you rarely hear in music anymore–the kind of guy who can sing anything, has an effortless range yet also is sheer Metal in everything he does. You probably first heard of him in the band Pharaoh, and if you don’t know who they are, that’s on you. The musicianship is strong, the songwriting is great, but it’s Aymar’s vocals that made and make Pharaoh a force to be reckoned with.
Aymar got together with some friends and put together a 3-song project called Run for Cover, and called it Aymargeddon. There may be more covers coming as Aymar pays homage to some of the best artists and songs written in the genre, and here, you also have a Plasmatics cover. It rips too.
“Into the Void” is Black Sabbath, and it owns that same dirty, groovy, drug-swaying swerve from the originators of Heavy Metal. Aymar takes the edge off his voice and smooths it out Ozzy style, and the featured players pay the right amount of respect while giving it a sort of modern crispness. What’s odd is that it’s the worst–or maybe “least fun” is a better way of putting it–cover on the release, albeit there’s only three. It’s still killer
“Metal Church” … damn shit hell, there’ll never be another David Wayne. No one sounded like that guy when Metal Church debuted, and although Wayne’s life was cut short, Aymar exhumes his vocal style in an almost eerily similar way. There so much piss and venom in the delivery, while somehow still staying on pitch, and you’ve never really heard anyone do Wayne justice like this. Technically speaking, Aymar is a better singer, but as any Metalhead knows, technical proficiency is only part of the equation, and there’s only one David Wayne. But if the world can’t have him, Aymar shadows those vocals to near perfection … mostly cuz Wayne wouldn’t want it perfect anyway.
Speaking of fun, the outta left field cover has to be Plasmatics with “The Damned.” A Punk and Metal band that featured Wendy O. Williams and was as batshit crazy as any band making music during that time, maybe they weren’t given their due as songwriters. Well, “The Damned” is a well-crafted anthem, smart, Metal sliced with melody, and Aymargeddon brings its Metal roots to the forefront on the cover. A song you didn’t expect to make the EP if you had 100 guesses, it might be the best song here.
Obviously, three songs just leaves you wanting more. Reimagining classic anthems like this is a bit of a novelty, but it also doubtlessly proves the talent Aymar and the rest of the featured players bring to the table.
Genre: Metal
Band:
Tim Aymar-vocals
Tracklisting:
1. Into the Void (feat. Chuck Robinson, Todd Guerrieri & James Babcock)
2. Metal Church (feat. Jim Dofka & Taz Gardner)
3. The Damned (feat. Michael Proctor & David Kendrick)
Label: Broke But Famous Records
Online:
https://www.facebook.com/tim.aymar
https://www.amazon.com/Run-Cover-AYMARGEDDON/dp/B07DMBSYTQ
Hardrock Haven rating: NA
