Album Review: DAVID REECE - Cacophony Of Souls

01. Chasing The Shadows
02. Blood On Our Hands
03. Judgement Day
04. Collective Anaesthesia
05. Cacophony Of Souls
06. Another Life Another Time
07. Metal Voice
08. Over And Over
09. Back In The Days
10. A Perfect World
11. Bleed
12. No Disguise

I know David Reece from when he was briefly the front-man for Accept. The one album he did with them, Eat The Heat, is an unsung classic. In all honesty, I haven't followed David's career. Having done a quick 'Google', he's had a few solo releases and even fronted Bonfire at one point. I noticed that he was putting out Cacophony Of Souls a couple of weeks ago, so I thought I'd give it a listen.

Firstly, David is still in fine voice. In fact, he sounds amazing. Musically, this album is in the same vein as Eat The Heat. The single Metal Voice is a high-quality Hard Rock romp with daft 80's Metal lyrics too. "Raise Your Metal Voice!". I can imagine many Metal fans thinking it's dated, cheesy, and shows a lack of anything to say. Personally, I think it's just a bit of fun. After all, this isn't supposed to be educational. It's just Rock n' Roll.

Considering how little has been spent on the artwork and that shit logo, the production is far better than I expected it to be. 

Musically, think 80's Judas Priest, Saxon, and Skid Row, and you'll be in the right ball-park.

Opener Chasing The Shadows has a riff that reminds me a bit of Skid Row's Slave To the Grind, mixing some heavy grooves with melodic vocal lines.

For me, the stand-out tracks are Judgement Day which is simply huge and a a great 'meat-and-potatoes' Hard Rock/Heavy Metal track. The song Cacophony Of Souls is just fantastic. Starting with vocals in what I call 'the Goth register' before soaring in the chorus, it's an epic track that's interesting and diverse. If Iron Maiden had released this song, it would be a massive hit for them. Seriously, that's how impressive it is. I'm also a fan of the closing track No Disguise, which is a no-bullshit Hard Rock stomper with an infectious chorus.

I don't think this record will change the world or anything, but it certainly does what it says on the tin, and does it well. In addition, it was nice to hear David's voice again, especially on such a solid album.