Review | Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons – Kings Of The Asylum

Nuclear Blast Records

Armed with a new vocalist in the person of Joel Peters who replaced Neil Starr somewhere last year Phil Campbell and his three sons Todd (guitar), Dane (drums) and Tyla (bass) are back with their third full studio-album ‘Kings Of The Asylum’. If you are familiar with their early EP’s and the two albums ‘Age Of Absurdity’ and ’We’re The Bastards’ I suppose this one might not come as a huge surprise style wise

STRAP YOURSELF IN

Being surrounded by all these young dudes, veteran Phil Campbell surely must feel young and super energised. Strap yourself for quite a wild ride as this band does not let up at all. Starting out with ,,Walking In Circles’’, ,,Too Much Is Never Enough’’ and ,,Hammer And Dance’’, the band kicks into gear straight away with a rough and tough hard rocking attitude bringing us fast paced and gritty rock and roll with a slice of punk and some ingredients that sound very familiar like for instance the riff on which ,,The Hunt’’ is based. Pretty sure that Lemmy and Phil Taylor up there are very happy that a part of the Motörhead legacy lives on in Phil Campbell And The Bastards Sons.

GRITTIER CHARACTER

In a way this release is a sort of a continuation of earlier stuff, but the vocals of Joel Peters give the group even a grittier character. He is for sure an asset with his aggressive but at times also melodic mannerism and style. Add to that scorching guitarwork by Phil and Todd and a total sound that kicks and punches you in the face and nuts at the same time and you have an album that might sound not too complicated, but it sure rocks your socks off. Monstrous riffing is key on this record but when you have been part of Motörhead for three decades plus you sure as hell know what a decent riff sounds like. You like it rough, tough and want to crash, bang, and wallop? ‘Kings Of The Asylum’ is your poison to do so!

Release date: 1 September 2023