The Doom In Us All – A Black Sabbath Tribute

Somewhere in the 90’s, Miller released a new beer they simply called Miller.  To set it apart they gave it a red label and akin to people calling the smokes in a red pack Marlboro Red’s it was commonly referred to as Miller Red.  Around the time of its’ release (94-95?) I found myself in a bar with a Miller rep present.  Seeing my bottle of Budweiser, he keenly suggested I try a Miller Red.  His pitch being that if I like Budweiser I will like Miller Red.  To which I pondered “If someone wanted a Budweiser why wouldn’t they just order a Budweiser?”  When I saw yet another tribute record for Black Sabbath I again pondered “If I want to listen to Sabbath why wouldn’t I just listen to Sabbath?”  And after listening to it, I feel my first intuition was spot on.

The Doom In Us All is the brainchild of Tourniquet drummer Ted Kirkpatrick.  Who is quite an accomplished musician biding time on another pointless tribute record.  While well played and recorded, none of the versions on this record offer anything unique and frankly lack any real passion.  Which you would think is the point.  Even known metal super-fan Chris Jericho‘s vocal on the opening track “War Pigs” sounds like it was recorded by someone running late for dinner.

Hammering a nail into your foot just to see the level of medical care you’ll receive in the event you need it would serve more purpose than this “tribute”.  Quite frankly, I blame the digital age.  You can dropbox tracks to anyone anywhere and they can add their part.  Which results in uninspired cash grab rubbish like this.  If you really believe in what you are doing you should be in the room when it’s recorded.  This recording ends up having a primary service to humanity by showing us the downside of technological advances.

If there is a high point it would be the vocal track Thousand Foot Krutch singer Trevor McNevan gives on “Lord Of This World”.   It is the only example of remote passion on this passion project.  Other guests include Corey Glover, Scotti Hill and Ripper Owens.  If you’re curious in the least I hope it’s on Spotify.

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bakko@decibelgeek.com