John and Donald Tardy are not only pioneers, they are survivors. It's been over twenty years, (TWENTY YEARS!), since they changed their band name from Xecutioner to Obituary and released their debut album, Slowly We Rot. Obituary went on to be one of the top selling Death Metal bands of all time, as well as a pioneering force in American Death Metal. After all this time John and Donald Tardy decided they wanted to create a new outlet, so they bring us a new project, Bloodline, an album constructed by the aptly titled, Tardy Brothers. Joining the Tardys on Bloodline is current Obituary ax man Ralph Santolla as well as former Xecutioner guitarist Jerry Tidwell. While Bloodline is slightly reminiscent of Obituary, mainly due to John's unmistakable vocals, the album really stands on its own two feet. Yes the album is heavy, but it is by no means a Death Metal record. John actually tones his vocals down a bit, just a bit, and they become a bit more discernable while still remaining ferocious. What stands out with this album is the grooving, almost bluesy feel you get from it at times while it still remains pretty damn heavy. A lot of this comes from Santolla's usually brilliant guitar work. Ralph is a veteran who knows what to do and when to do it and it really shines through on Bloodline. There are also solos from 19 year old John Lee and long time Tardy friend Scott Johnson. This album covers a lot of bases, from a straight ahead rock feel at times to galloping bass and drum beats. There is even some nice acoustic work here on the fantastic "Scream Descendant", as well as an entirely acoustic driven piece "Wired". Bloodline is a really good Heavy Metal album that fans of both Obituary as well as fans of slightly more accessible Metal, ala Megadeth, Metallica, Lamb of God, etc, will find enjoyable.
While not groundbreaking in an overall musical sense, this album does break new ground for John and Donald Tardy as they gear up to make great music for another twenty years. The brothers have already said this is just the first release of what they hope to be many from the Tardy Brothers. Bring it on Brothers, bring it on.
Track Listing
1) Bring You Down
2) Bloodline
3) I'm Alive
4) Deep Down
5) Wired
6) Fate's Call
7) Eternal Lies
8) Scream Descendant
9) Fade Away
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