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RONNY MUNROE
Electric Wake
Rat Pak Records - 2014
http://www.ronnymunroe.com

With former RACER X guitarist Bruce Bouillett on production duties, METAL CHURCH singer Ronny Munroe is back with his third solo album Electric Wake.

The album is his follow-up to the superb Lords Of The Edge and on this disc, Munroe leaves nothing to chance blasting out one metallic burst after another.

The album opens with the song "Burning Time" and the up tempo number immediately grabs your ear. The fiery guitar solo amps up the song as well.

The Rat Pak Records roster of artists makes some guest appearances here including George Lynch on "Ghosts" and both Dave Rude (guitar) and Pamela Moore (vocals) on "The Others". I liked both songs, but in the case of "The Others" it took a bit to really dig into the song. I first heard the song via the song's official video clip and for some reason I just didn't take to it. But when listening to just the audio track, I found the main guitar riff quite enjoyable and the song grew on me.

(Note: The songs "United" and "Pray" also have video clips that you can find on Youtube.)

On the song "Pray" things start out a bit slow but the chorus finds a more power driven vibe to the song. The middling paced of "Not You Not Me" also worked out quite nicely.

I was rather disappointed in the title track. While a very fast paced track, the song just never quite got over with me. But I was pretty happy to see that it was my only musical disappointment with this album.

The album has a deluxe international version available that features two bonus tracks. The first is called "Tainted Nation" while the second one is a cover of the IRON MAIDEN song "Total Eclipse". I haven't heard either song so I can't weigh in on what I think of them. However, the deluxe version also comes with a 12 page lyric booklet. I wish that had come in the standard version because I would've liked to have checked out the official lyrics and any other credits that might've been included. It is a missing feature in all of the standard Rat Pak Records releases I have gotten in the last couple of years.

But I digress...

I've always enjoyed the vocal style employed by Munroe and rockers like "My Shadow" and the outstanding "Sleepless Mountain" show him in fine form. But I really like when Munroe adds just that little bit of extra cutting edge to his vocals.

The track "Turn To Stone" employs a winning stylistic choice in the pacing and that extra edge to the vocals helps make it a much stronger song. But I think the closing track "United" does an even better job of capturing the best of Ronny Munroe's vocals. The music on the track is great from the get go but the accompanying vicious growl from Munroe helps elevate the song's pissed off at the world lyrics. It gives them an extra dose of emphasis as he spits out the lyrics.

Essentially Ronny Munroe is on a remarkable run as of late. With two straight powerful solo albums and a supremely satisfying record with the reformed METAL CHURCH, how can anyone bet against him?

While it did take a couple of listens to really get into a couple of the songs, overall Electric Wake is a fine example of how to make a stand out and ballsy metal record.

4.5 Out Of 5.0

Pick up your copy of Electric Wake in the KNAC.COM More Store right HERE.