Wah Pedal

Following 10 years of studio silence in the wake of his recent return stint with Accept and his ongoing solo efforts, Herman Frank’s original flagship project and long-running hard rock meets heavy metal icon Victory returns with a fresh lineup and coat of paint to match…

If you buy into all the hype and the look, then all your standard journalistic clichés about "a man playing like he was possessed" would certainly seem to apply in the case of this record. Eric Sardinas has only one groove, and that's the one with the pedal put firmly to the metal. Playing electric Dobro gives his sound a raw, distorted edge right down to the wah-wah pedal that flirts with comparisons to George Thorogood and other ham-fisted slide rockers (he plays unamplified on his originals "Cherry Bomb," "Goin' to the River," and "Sweetwater Blues"), although Sardinas is a considerably more able player than Thorogood. Comparisons with Johnny Winter would also not be unfounded; he makes a guest appearance here on vocal and guitar on his "Tired of Tryin'." Hubert Sumlin is also brought aboard to reprise his original rhythm part of "Down in the Bottom," although he's totally swamped in the mix by Sardinas' over the top bombast, both vocally and instrumentally. Fans of the Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, and George Thorogood style of blues-rock will want to add this one to the collection.