GUN BARREL – Outlaw Invasion

“Let the Metal do the talking” and “We just wanna Rock” – the lyrical dealings of opening track “Front Killers” manages to start the CD well enough. Germany’s Gun Barrel would never win a grand prize for innovation or showcase ambition of stretching any boundaries of the genre. They are content at cranking out the rocking routines. Indeed, that routine side of the band has greatly overshadowed its concept on the group’s new offering. Outlaw Invasion offers more of the same from the band who let loose their hybrid of AC/DC/KISS/Motörhead party-ready rocking Heavy Metal upon the world with releases such as Battle-Tested and Bombard Your Soul. Singer Xaver Drexler’s warm, nasal voice bears certain resemblance and pays homage to greats such as Mark Storace (Krokus), ex-Victory/current Godiva shouter Fernando Garcia, and the mighty Biff Byford (Saxon).

Yet, the humor and fire of past works seem gone to a large extent, although thankfully still on display at times (look no further than the title “M.I.L.F.”). Gun Barrel are more subtle than before and loose part of their former charm in the process. While they in the past would be applauded for keeping the music astray of unnecessary fat as a noteworthy pun to more pompous genre colleagues for showing how to kick ass, on Outlaw Invasion they sound remarkably uninspired.

Sure, the band lets out the rare flash of steam with their specialty; “Keep On Movin’” offers a nice catchy melodic driven riff, but at the next turn “Cheap Wild And Nasty” is just that: minus the “wild” ingredient and falls hideously flat. “Brother To Brother” shows promise with its build up and the sheer title could be an anthem of the sorts the band used to crank out, such as past sing-along’s “Raven,” “My Last Ale,” or “On the Road Again,” but never leads there. By the time “Ghost Inside” takes on, ponderings of where the fire has gone for this bunch inevitably takes shape. After the relatively solid slab during the mentioned opening track, the Gun Barrel brand has lost its flare. The band needs to change its tires, and “Parting Kiss” ends the offering more fittingly than the band probably had meant it to be.