MOLLY HATCHET : JUSTICE
SPV/Steamhammer
It’s been a very long time since we had a studio album from Molly Hatchet (2005 in fact), and in all that time, a lot has changed. Band ‘mainman’ Bobby Ingram has lost his beloved wife Stephanie, band members have come and gone, and more or less, the Jacksonville boys have (to the wider world) seemingly slipped beneath the radar. It’s no secret that Bobby’s ‘version’ of the ‘hatchet maybe the ‘official’ one (as he solely owns the name, the trademarks, and everything else), BUT, with Gator Country containing practically all the main members of ‘Hatchet, then this band’s legitimacy is surely up for serious scrutiny.
The ONLY original MH member to be found here is guitarist Dave Hlubek, and as great as it is to find him here, the question has been asked time and again as to why he has returned? A lot of older fans suspect it is purely a decision by Ingram to try to give the band firmer historical legitimacy, certainly, those same fans believe he belongs in Gator Country instead. This, of course, is a completely moot point, as Dave seems happy with his place in the ‘Hatchet.
So to the album itself, a beautifully polished release, immaculately produced by Tommy Newton, and is a strong, but NOT classic album, finding the band veering into sappy rock ballad mode too often… more on that in a bit. Featuring eleven brand new songs, here we find the Ingram/Galvin/Hlubek axis rounded out by Shawn Beamer, Tim Lyndsey, and of course Dann… oops I mean Phil McCormack. If you’re not familiar with MH history, you may not know that after Danny Joe Brown died (far too young!), Ingram replaced him with the aforementioned McCormack. “Nothing wrong with that” you say. Ah yes, BUT, Phil not only sounds uncannily like the late great lamented DJB, but he looks frighteningly alike him too! Make of that what you will…
If it sounds like I’m Hatchet bashing, I’m truly not, I remain a big fan, and will always buy anything new by the guys, as I genuinely love them with a passion, but I’m also not so blinkered by my passion for their music that I won’t ask questions when needed. The album kicks off in classic style with the massive left/right/left sucker punch that is “Been To Heaven Been To Hell”, “Safe In My Skin”, and “Deep Water”. Then, things ‘slip a little’ in “American Pride” and “I’m Gonna Live Til I Die” because, sadly, I know lyrically they are not ever going to be vaguely cerebral, and the lyrics hurt my head.
So to that point it’s all been good, but at that point, the album nose-dives in spectacular fashion, and struggles ever to fully recover! What goes so very wrong? Two dreadful ‘power ballads’, so cloying, nauseating, and so ‘Janet and John’ lyrically, that I cannot listen to them without vomiting blood and wanting to commit acts of violence on anyone or anything that happens to be near me at the time. “Fly On The Wings Of Angels (Somer’s Song)” means well (its a single meant for a child abuse non-profit charity- so kudos for that aim), but it sucks balls as a song, and even worse is the diarritically appalling “As Heaven Is Forever”… for which the band should be branded as idiots, for creating something so nauseating! GHASTLY! Could the band not have placed these songs more sensibly, one at the third way point… one at the two thirds point… that MIGHT have been passable. To put them back to back mid album is a catastrophically awful decision… it simply kills the momentum built up before, and the rest of the album then struggles to escape the hideous inertia created by these to hateful dirges!
“Tomorrows And Forevers” tries hard to repair the damage, but it’s not until “Vengeance” that the band snarl and stamp again, and by then there are only “In The Darkness Of The Night” and the title track itself to go, and you do feel that it’s been an uphill battle all the way. The title track is a genuine Suvvern Rawk epic, it’s a kind of “Freebird”/”Boogie No More” moment, timeless and immense. I wanted SO much to love this album unquestioningly, but I just can’t, because what could have been a masterpiece, instead is just strong but not great… and that hurts.
75/100
SATANIC MUTTLEY
