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Ross The Boss - By Blood Sworn

By Blood Sworn
Among The Bones
This Is Vengeance
We Are The Night
Faith Of The Fallen
Devil's Day
Lilith
Play Among The Gods
Circle Of Damnation
Fistful Of Hate

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It’s really about time the guy who invented power metal cashed in. Ross The Boss is, of course, the former loin-cloth abusing riff warrior behind both NYC proto-punks The Dictators and the heaviest band of all time ever, Manowar.

Ross’s new solo album skews much closer to the chest-thumping, Valhalla-hailing macho-metal of the latter. Aided greatly by the remarkable vocals of Mark Lopez – gritty as Staley, belty as Halford – Boss tears through a big, meaty pile of bear-fightin’ music, from the scorching street rock of Devil’s Day to the epic power-metal/ grunge mash-up of Among The Bones and We Are The Night.

Expect fury, expect high-pitched wailing, expect nimble-fingered speed-metal majesty. None of it sounds remotely contemporary, but none of it sounds dated, either. It’s like Ross floats effortlessly in his very own bare-chested, blood-splattered, forever-heavy True Metal world forever. As it should be, really. Posers get lost.

Came from the sky like a 747. Classic Rock’s least-reputable byline-grabber since 2003. Several decades deep into the music industry. Got fired from an early incarnation of Anal C**t after one show. 30 years later, got fired from the New York Times after one week. Likes rock and hates everything else. Still believes in Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, against all better judgment.