A Trust Betrayed

Untitled Document As the name of the band would indicate, Riff Master General plays riff driven heavy metal, very much reminiscent of 80's metal and NWOBHM (although the band is Irish). The production is also raw (maybe even low budget) similar to NWOBHM and many 80's metal bands in general. A Trust Betrayed is the band's debut album. This album is chalked full of catchy riffs that are very Sabbath like at times with gloomy tracks like Surrender, but are very energetic throughout most of the album in the vein of Diamond Head, Motorhead, or even Judas Priest. The twin guitar work throughout will surely bring back memories of Tipton / Downing guitar leads that metal fans all around the world have grown to love. RMG's guitar work in general is very impressive. The songs themselves are very catchy and are of course filled with roaring twin guitar leads and a more than capable rhythm section to maintain a hard hitting pace throughout. Fans of loud guitars and monster riffs will have a feast with this album. It is taking me quite a while to get used to the vocal style of Andy Baxter. His delivery if very gruffy a la Lemmy. The greater portion of the album features a spoken vocal delivery, but somehow it fits the music and I am slowly warming up to this type of vocal delivery. Imagine the moments when Lemmy or Dave Mustaine use a spoken delivery rather than a full out singing approach and you will get a picture of how Andy Baxter sounds throughout most of this album. I think the band could have enhanced this album with stronger chorus lines and backing vocals. While the guitar work is extremely catchy, catchy chorus lines and harmony vocals would have turned some good songs into excellent metal anthems that refuse to leave you mind anytime soon. Some better chorus lines also would have offered some variety to the spoken vocals which I am getting used to, but still become monotonous by the end of the album. This is a respectable debut album for fans of pure heavy metal with lots of loud guitars. The spoken vocal style is sure to turn off some fans, so keep that in mind depending on your tastes. The production is a bit weak, but that can be expected with a debut album and is sure to improve with subsequent releases. Although the spoken vocal style does fit the music, I think stronger (and not entirely spoken) chorus lines and bigger harmony vocals mixed in with Andy Baxter's mostly spoken delivery will make for a much more enjoyable and interesting listen.