From Philadephia comes the metal trio known as Workhorse III, who are delivering their brand new album Closer to Relevance. Comprised of Lisa Christ Superstar (guitars ,vocals), Steve McCarthy (Bass, vocals), and Eric Perfect (Drums, backing vocals), the band obviously have a love for early '80s classic metal, NWOBHM, and speed metal, specifically the early work of bands from that era such as Motorhead, Metallica, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, The Runaways, Satan, Saxon, Diamond Head, and Venom. It results in an album that's a hell of a lot of fun and rocks pretty hard, tunes such as "Wasted", "War Torn City", "Soul Crusher", "Find My Mind", and "What's the Point" containing catchy choruses, chugging guitar riffs, and plenty of galloping rhythms. There's also a punk vibe that permeates many of these songs, a frantic, desperate feel that drips from energetic numbers "Life of Crime" and "When I'm Gone", with Lisa's vocals coming across like a young Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. The highlight of the album though is the lethal "Closer to Relevance", a groove laden metal monster with some of Lisa Christ Superstar's (love that name!) hottest playing on the album and a great vocal duel between her and McCarthy. To add another dimension to the album, the trio close things out with the catchy ballad "I Can't Forget", another memorable tune on an album packed with variety.
The production of Closer to Relevance is a bit on the raw side, but that actually adds to the vintage feel that the band were obviously going for. If you want to take a step back in time to when metal was fresh, exciting, and going through many changes, Workhorse III have done an admirable job of capturing some of that magic.
Track Listing
1. War Torn City
2. Soul Crusher
3. Wasted
4. Holy Roller
5. Nothin' From Me
6. What's The Point
7. Want You
8. Find My Mind
9, Life of Crime
10. When I'm Gone
11. Closer to Relevance
12. I Can't Forget