Diamond Lane : World Without Heroes
by Mark Allen
Staff Writer
Usually when a band releases their second album, they seek to polish up the rough edges, but Diamond Lane have thumbed their noses—or more accurately, raised their middle fingers—at conventional wisdom and instead opted to rough up their polished edges. The band’s debut was a straight-up serving of throwback hair-metal that perfectly captured the sound of the Sunset Strip circa. 1988, but this full-length follow-up snatches that hair-metal sheen by the throat, doggy-styles it face down in the dirt and grime of the sleaze rock genre, then drags it by the mousse-abused hair into the 21st century.
World Without Heroes wallows in the same wanton, devil-be-damned debauchery that Guns ‘N Roses rode to superstardom, with songs about rebellion, sex, drugs, sex, love, sex, booze, and sex (this is the kind of pattern they don’t teach in preschool). Granted, the band’s lyrical prowess is a step up from the stereotypical ‘80s tropes, but their subject matter is more of the same old thing. But honestly, would you want it any other way? This is the kind of album you throw on when you want to scream about slugging cheap booze and nailing even cheaper chicks. If you want lofty introspection, go listen to Bono.
The opening track, “All Rebels Welcome,” immediately caters to the old-school metal connoisseurs with a serpentine riff that could have slithered straight off Appetite for Destruction and that riff then whiplashes its way right into a catchy chorus overloaded with gang vocals shouting “Hey! Hey! Hey!” Does it get any more ‘80s than that? There are several other bands finding varying degrees of success with this old-meets-new formula, including Buckcherry, Vains of Jenna, and Sister Sin, and Diamond Lane is easily the equal of that trio and, quite frankly, surpasses the latter two.
Guitarist Jarret Reis deserves to be a household name alongside the likes of Slash, Reb Beach, and Doug Aldrich. To call his skill impressive is to do it an injustice; Reis slings an axe like nobody’s business, unloading one scorching lick after another and accompanying them with some sizzling solos. Hardly a one-trick pony, he possesses some serious speed chops as well, as the near-thrash pace of “Needle Down” gives him a chance to prove. He is strongly supported by bassist Ray Zhang and drummer Jonah Nimoy who provide a powerful foundation with beefy bottom end and furious skin-pounding that is in exact keeping with the full-throttle nature of this album, with nary a ballad in sight to ease up on the turbo-charged, pedal-to-the-metal intensity.
The retro ‘80s resurrection is currently dominated by bands like Crashdiet, Crazy Lixx, and Hardcore Superstar, but those bands opt for big, loud choruses where Diamond Lane eschews instant pop-metal accessibility in favor of a rawer, grittier approach. In other words, Diamond Lane is more concerned with being badass than bombastic. That said, while the choruses certainly don’t soar over the top, many of them do manage to muster up a certain amount of catchiness. “Time Bomb” and “Heaven’s Falling” are prime examples of this, featuring chorus hooks that are infectious without being overblown.
This is a tough, dirty, hard-hitting sleaze rock album that will transport you back to 1989 while allowing you to remember that it’s really 2011. It’s a hybrid line that few bands can perfectly traverse, but Diamond Lane do it better than most. This is raucous, raunch-tinged rock done mostly right, full of greasy sexual grooves perfect for a nasty bit of wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am business. Anyone craving some new millennium sleaze drenched in ‘80s excess like a drunken co-ed drenched in cheap beer at a collegiate kegger should definitely crank up this gem.
Genre: Modern Sleaze Rock
Band:
Brandon Baumann (vocals)
Jarret Reis (guitar)
Ray Zhang (bass)
Jonah Nimoy (drums)
Track Listing
1. All Rebels Welcome
2. I Know Who You Did Last Summer
3. City of Sin
4. Sundress City
5. All the Pretty Things
6. Needle Down
7. Time Bomb
8. Heaven’s Falling
9. Never Going Home
10. Endgame
Webpage: www.diamondlanerocks.com / www.myspace.com/diamondlane
Label: Independent
Hardrock Haven rating: 8/10