Razer: Razer

Classically classic rock, rocked in the classic style.

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It’s been half a decade since Razer’s debut album, but it seems something is finally stirring in the Arizona desert.

Now assisted by former Guns N’ Roses manager Alan Niven (who produced the album, and on whose Tru-B-Dor label it appears), Razer’s latest release has less of an industrial hue than its predecessor, and is much better for it.

Razer is part Gunners (It’s A Mutha could be It’s So Easy’s second cousin), part late Thin Lizzy and part Alice In Chains, and while it might not scale the heights of any of those bands at their best, it’s truly a slick collection, brimming with confident swagger.

In singer Chris Powers and guitarist Jordan Ziff, the band have two outstanding performers, and the highlight, The Things You Do, an epic jumble of Bonham drums, Page riffs and Cornell howls, suggests there’s much more to come.

Classic Rock 214: New albums M-Z

Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.