BABYLON A.D. announces their brand-new studio album “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day” to be released May 17th on Perris Records. It’s been six years since the last studio album "Revelation Highway" came out and the band has grown a lot since then. Original lead singer Derek Davis is really excited about the new record stating "Our fans are really gonna love the new album” and they brought in Grammy award winner David Donnelly of DNA Mastering to master the album to help step back in time and capture the style and influence of their debut self-titled release. Before we dig into this effort, I’ll give us all a brief history of the band: Formed in 1987 from the San Francisco Bay Area, CA., original members, vocalist and songwriter Derek Davis, guitarist's and music writers John Mathews and Ron Freschi, drummer James Pacheco and bassist Rob Reid met in high school before they began playing together as THE PERSUADERS making a name for themselves with their powerful live performances and catchy songwriting skills becoming one of the top drawing original Hard Rock bands in the Northern CA. Changing their name to BABYLON A.D. in 1989 securing a record deal and releasing their debut self-titled album in 1990 followed by two more well received studio albums “Nothing Sacred” and “American Blitzkrieg” before a taking a long hiatus and returning in 2014. Fast forward to 2023 with a new live concert album “Live Lightning” and bringing us to my review of “Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day”.

A strong start to the album with “Wrecking Machine” has a snappy infectious riff immediately grabbing your attention with vocalist Derek Davis letting us know his voice, like a fine wine, hasn’t weathered with a crisp and velvety delivery that that meshes beautifully together with the wonderfully paced melodic hard rocking tempo delivering an invigorating ebullient sound bringing us back to the era of dropping the needle down, cranking the volume and getting lost in getting lost in the music. “Pain” is a slow burn “kick sand in the bully’s face” nasty riff balanced with a threatening vocal delivery leading to the title track “Rome Wasn't Built In A Day” that brings catchy, melodic rocking chops all sewn together with edgy and raw guitar licks. “Looking For A Heartbeat” is a pleasant, easy listening song destined to be an instant concert favorite and a radio hit. “I Will Never Break Again” is a trip back to classic early BABYLON A.D. with the somber, tender start of the passionate vocal delivery that eventually explodes with the slamming dual guitar take-over that finishes like a high-speed car chase. “Face of God” gets right to the point of what this wicked world is missing at this time of unrest with the heartfelt lyrics sung with celestial intensity “Some say broken hearts come easy and life’s a battle for the soul, never make a false God dreaming or you could wind up being sold, put your faith in something that will last forever, the face of God”. Ending the album on an adrenaline high with “Shut Up” and “Super Beast” showcasing the signature hard rocking chops and the big hooks of the dual guitar wizardry of Ron Freschi and John Mattews that are both slick and smooth creating a whipping, whirlwind musical spectrum.

BABYLON A.D. definitely rekindled the romance of their earlier sound with “Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day”, while not resting on their laurels by delivering a modern and vibrant sound incorporating a bit of nastiness, elegance and old school headbanging.

Check out our Podcast interview with BABYLON A.D. members Derek Davis and Ron Freschi at Creativity Talkin episode #540 on YouTube where we talk about the new album, AI, The Rainbow, The Whisky and a shit load more.