The album's called An Eye For An Eye and Tom Angelripper is not - again - included in the permanent lineup. This could be bad news, resulting in some vicious writing from the very beginning of this review, xa xa!!! But, what the hell, it's DEZPERADOZ we're talkin' about. And, if some of you stiff upper lip, I assure you there's nothing bad for An Eye For An Eye in regards to its quality. Nothing explicit, but - I repeat - surely nothing bad. in regards to what someone would expect from these German gunslingers.
DEZPERADOZ - previously known to many under the 'DESPERADOS' moniker - did eventually attract the interest of enough metalheads with their The Dawn Of Dying debut CD in 2000. Wild West Metal? Yes, and a very good one this album was. Being the 'smoking' voice of SODOM's uncle Tom - a true 'rusty' cowboy in Metal music, on second thought - plus the unique use of Western-fitting instruments like banjos and harmonicas, songs like the same-titled cut, My Gun And Me and - of course - the (Ghost) Riders In The Sky take, this 2000 debut did unite Ennio Morricone and 'tranquil' SODOM in a matchless way. Crossover times...
The Legend And The Truth came on six whole years later. Now called as DEZPERADOZ, the band did not feature Tom in its lineup, but Alex Kraft (a compatriot of Tom in the TOM ANGELRIPPER solo project) still rolled on some good 'concept' CD, flirting with Wild West legend Wyatt Earp. In the vain of the 2000 debut, The Legend And The Truth showed the support of Dennis Ward (does this man ever sleep?) on second guitar, with some extra 'guest' appearences by none others than Doro (DORO, ex-WARLOCK), Tobbias Sammett (EDGUY, AVANTASIA), Michael Weikath (HELLOWEEN) and Joacim Cans (HAMMERFALL, CANS, ex-WARLORD). Steel guitars, western melodies, suitable instrumentation and - to cut a long story short - a CD wholly recommended for your western-meets-Metal likes.
2008's An Eye for An Eye preserves the myth. On the new DEZPERADOZ album, An Eye For An Eye, we are telling the story about a man who was condemned to death, because he killed his friend in the name of the religion (due to his acquired moralities). He has killed his friend in the name of God, and then was condemned to death himself in the name of God. We think, that no religion can justify any kind of violence and in our lyrics, this man reports his last days in the Wild Wild West, mainman Alex Kraft states. No doubt, the result is apt. Produced by Dennis Ward, the album will travel - again - your mind to the dusty deserts of the Wild West, bringing on an amalgam of SODOM, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, PRIDE AND GLORY, THE OUTLAWS, MOLLY HATCHETT, CULT and - of course - Ennio Morricone. Here Comes The Pain sees Tom Angelripper's guest appearance, while the whole album - in relation to the previous pair of releases - is at times more 'melodic' and 'heavy metal', but not far away from what someone would expect from DEZPERADOZ. The DOORS 'bluesy' cover is more than OK and the cover cut that wraps the album, 25 Minutes To Go (Mr. Johnny Cash) is thumbs-up (info for this 'cult' song here). For the rest: Days Of Thunder's atmosphere did put a spell on me and May Heaven Strike Me Down still haunts my mind in travelling to a mid-tempo metallic 'dark' Wild West. Alex's vocals are rust-meets-melody (of course, in tracks like Wild Times he does show a lot of 'extreme Metal' temper, xa xa!) and the musician's performance is simple yet ample. And, yes, banjo reigns again over here!
Without bringing something unexpected in the foreground, An Eye For An Eye delivers the goods rather skilfully. Much harder than Ennio Morricone!!! is the quote for DESPERADOZ's style in their MySpace page, and who would argue? The gunslingers are back and something different from the usual Metal stuff lurks in this band, fully recommending to enjoy it. Guns loaded!