It's pretty lovely how some musicians refuse to be put on retirement.

Some of them, even after the taste of fame is long gone in the past, they can't rest in peace. It seems that the fingers used to shred guitars or conjure thunders on bass guitars, or hands and feet that unleashes hard beats on drums, and throats that are aged due the abuse of singing night after night has some problems that make veterans rise and come to release new albums, and to make some shows.

It seems to be the case of CHRIS HOLMES, the legendary 6-strings slasher from W.A.S.P. and ANIMAL, and that now is back and releases the album called "CHP". But don't be hasty, and read my words until the end.

This album is nothing like his former bands. No, not like them, but is a way that Chris found to express his musical inspirations, so "CHP" is full of a Blues/Country/Southern Rock influence. Of course it' has that nasty and old Hard Rock feeling in many songs, but there are introspective moments where his other musical side appears a lot. But don't get me wrong, because the album is really good. I just recommend you to not be as fast and be confused by his past, because you can be disappointed.

The albums production could be done in a better way, because there are moments where the feeling is that a drum machine was used, turning the sound so mechanized that oiled and spontaneous feeling turns absent. Sorry, but the sound of drums on "Loser", "They All Lie and Cheat", "Way to Be", and "Down in the Hole" is truly disgusting, not making justice for his work on guitars. But on the other songs, it's all fine, with all instruments sounding great.

A good feature is to hear Chris singing with a very good tune, a rocker tune, sharp and nasty. Taking out the four songs I told above (they are good songs, but this drum machine-like sound is truly annoying to me), songs as the hard kick of "Shitting Bricks" (a truly Rock/Hard Rock music, filled with an excellent work on guitars and high adrenaline), the heavy and nasty "Get With It" with its very good work on vocals and on guitar riffs (it's a very hooking song, indeed), the charming and dirty Rock'n'Roll showed on "Let It Roar" (bass and drums are doing a great job here, besides the song is not complex in any way), the heavy load of fun showed on "502", with its excellent guitars once more (the use of slides is very good here), and the bluesy Rock feeling that permeates "TFMF" can be said as this album finest moments. But the sound quality again put the things in a bad way on the live versions of "Shitting Bricks" and "Let It Roar", that show that the band is in a good form, but it's too dirty, to noise.

I truly recommend Chris to find a producer on his next album, because the ideas on "CHP" show that his work is great and deserves a chance, but not working, as our ears can't judge when a sound production is fine and what is not.<