SKEW SISKIN – Peace Breaker

Well, they have done it once again without missing a beat or batting an eyelash. They’re batting average is still one thousand. What the hell does this all mean? It’s all in reference to the opener on the new Skew Siskin CD, “Metal In Your Face.” Once again a balls-to-the-wall ass-kickin’ tune that will make you want to put your fist through concrete. It’s that intense! Forget your morning coffee. Just put this on your car stereo on your way to work. Not only will you get there early, you’ll want to beat the shit out of anyone who gives you grief or gets in your way.

Listening to Skew Siskin gets you pumped like an over-inflated wet suit. Not too many new releases, individual songs, or even older albums out there do that anymore. You won’t find any lulls in their music. These guys produce some of the best music that is guaranteed to get you revved-up when you are down, or even half-dead for that matter. The energy that rushes through you when listening to a Skew Siskin album is almost like a drug. Once you listen to these guys, you are hooked.

Skew Siskin (1992) had “If The Walls Could Talk,” Electric Chair Music (1996) had “Introverted,” What The Hell (1999) had “Spend The Night With Me,” Album Of The Year (2003) had “We Hate,” and Peace Breaker has “Metal In Your Face.” All of these openers are gangbusters.

One thing that can be surely said about Skew Siskin is that they aren’t shy … as is the case with the incomparable Nina C. Alice, the band’s lead vocalist. She is one-of-a-kind when it comes to vocals and her voice is extremely recognizable. She has the perfect voice for being the frontman (pardon the expression Nina) for this band. She is a mixture of Kim Carnes, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin, and Bon Scott … and even Brian Johnson. Her voice has raunchiness to it, even when she tries to hit the high notes. Listeners will undoubtedly fall in love with this German’s unique voice.

The lead guitar spot is taken up by the one-and-only Jim Voxx. He is another gifted individual in the band who has been there from day one. A talented musician, he has not limited his abilities to just playing great Metal/Hard Rock guitar with those famous licks and leads he is noted for, but also produces, records, and mixes everything in his own studio (Monongo Studios).

New to the band is both Randy Black (drums) and Henning Menke (bassist). Listening to the new album, it becomes quite obvious that the decision makers of the band have made another good choice in selecting these two new members. Randy’s drumming is fast, powerful, with great cymbal work. Henning has the job of holding everything together with his bottom-end bass playing. He does a fantastic job and can be heard on all tracks without being drained out by any others from the band. He is especially spectacular on the opener.

The titles to some of the songs found on the album are of typical Skew Siskin fashion. “Metal In Your Face,” “Ridin’ With The Devil,” “Hit You Harder,” “Who The Hell Are You,” “War, Fire, Guns & Blood,” “Eva Braun Is Back In Town,” “I Don’t Care,” “Loser,” and “Shoot The Rats” are some of the tracks titles. It is clear from these titles that Skew Siskin music definitely has an attitude. They aren’t trying to be a political machine or outspoken as a U2 for instance, but they do try to get a message across in their music without shoving it down people’s throats.

Whatever taste you have in music, you owe it to yourself to give this band a listen. Peace Breaker has 13 tracks and is almost 56 minutes in length. At least one thing is for sure, and that is Skew Siskin isn’t one of those bands who put out one album a year just for the sake of it … you get your money’s worth of great Metal/Hard Rock when you buy a Skew Siskin release. This is definitely a band worth having in your music collection, especially if you are into good Metal/Hard Rock.