by Derric Miller
— Managing Editor —
With the orgiastic glut of Hard Rock/Metal projects being force-fed the masses because clearly listeners hate the idea of a band being more than the sum total of its parts, it is becoming a Sisyphean masturbatory practice in puerile futility to keep up with the names of these projects and who is in them. It’s one of those bizarro Ponzi schemes for music fans, where the less you purchase those albums, the more the labels put out, and seemingly no one wins. Therefore, it’s clearly easy to miss one of the projects you damn well should be listening to, like Peacemaker.
Lead by one of Metal’s most kick ass singers/screamers, ex-Metal Church madman Ronnie Munroe, the project also features Scott “Rif” Miller of Tango Down, B.J. Zampa of House of Lords and Yngwie fame, and bassist Rc Ciejek. There’s one stellar slower song and the rest of it will tear the blackheads off an acne-ridden teenager’s rosacea-painted face.
Starting off with “Big Block,” you get to hear a side of Rif you’ve probably never really heard before, at least not in Tango Down. He is a Metal guitarist at heart, and instead of painting inside the lines, he gets to shred, and yeah, the riffs may remind you of Kurdt Vanderhoof but that’s a compliment. Munroe wails, he’s loud as hell and whatever it is, he ain’t taking it. It’s a grimy, dirty Metal anthem with a killer groove.
You know a song titled “Blood Lust” will be heavy duty, and it is on Concrete and Terror. The more you hear Munroe sing the more respect you should have for what he can do with those vocal chords. There’s times he shouts, there’s a near Black Metal shriek, and when he goes for the high notes, castratos get jealous.
“Endless Dream” is that slower track, an acoustic-led composition where Munroe takes the barbed wire off the vocals and delivers a haunting, moody vocal melody. It feels like he is singing this song for someone specifically because it is so heartfelt, and if you follow him on any of the social media sites, that’ll make more sense to you. It’s a welcome breather between the pure Metal poundings on the rest of the album.
“Kill Love Sin” wins the battle of best song titles by far. It’s also one of the best songs here, period. Snarling vocals, insane machine gun drumming and a song delivered with a sense of chaotic fury is all wrapped up into this one track. It makes you uncomfortable just listening to it, it’s that good.
You can’t make peace without “The Bomb,” right? The album closes on this foreboding composition, with layered vocals almost making you think you are hearing voices, before the songs rips into almost Speed Metal land. With varied tempo changes that make sense in the construct of the song, just a vicious outpouring of rage by each musician and again, breakneck drumming, even if you are a bald ass man you’ll be swinging your imaginary mane around as you headbang.
Peacemaker is one of the Top 10 projects released in the last few years. Sure, the bar has been set so low a toddler could step over it and still have room for his rancid feces-dripping diaper not to brush that bar, but that doesn’t take away anything from Concrete and Terror. It really just shows all these other musicians if you are going to do the “project” thing, at least do it right.
Genre: Heavy Metal
Band:
Ronny Munroe: Lead Vocals (Metal Church, Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
Scott Miller: Guitars and Vocals (Tango Down)
B.J.Zampa: Drums (House of Lords, Yngwie Malmsteen, Obsession)
Rc Ciejek: Bass (Belladonna featuring Joey from Anthrax)
Tracklisting:
“Blood Lust”
“Big Block”
“Concrete and Terror”
“Insanity Speaks”
“Kill LOVE Sin”
“Endless Dream”
“Jane Slain”
“ME Enemy”
“Social Suicide”
“The Bomb”
Label: Independent
Online:
https://www.facebook.com/peacemakermetal
Hardrock Haven rating: 
(8.1 / 10)
Excellent!