Anvil - Pounding The Pavement

Published January 14 2018

*=Staff's pick	Bitch In The Box Ego Doing What I Want Smash Your Face Pounding The Pavement Rock That Shit Let It Go* Nanook Of The North Black Smoke* World Of Tomorrow* Warming Up Don't Tell Me (Bonus track)

Genre	Heavy Metal	Steve "Lips " Kudlow	Vocals
Tracks	12	Steve "Lips " Kudlow	Guitar
Running time	46 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Steamhammer/SPV	Chris Robertson	Bass
Release	January 19, 2018	Robb Reiner	Drums
Country	Canada	-	Keyboards
Producer	Jörg Uken
Similar bands	Raven, Motörhead

I never was some kind of ultra fan of these Canadian heavy metal veterans, but a man's just got to admire them for their longevity in the scene and the everlasting core of the band, Lips and Robb, for sticking together through thick and thin. These guys continuously struggle on a seemingly never-ending process of trying to finally make it to the upper tiers and is perhaps metal's most known band in relation to how many records are being sold, revenue and stuff like that.

It's sort of old school heavy metal music even to this very day and I would say that the riffing over the record is following pretty much a classic routine and a maybe recognizable pattern, but reportedly they never really set out to do anything different for that matter, so they definitely keep their integrity and their reputation of being all metal intact.

Even if I somewhere in the back of my mind suspect that the band is sonically looking for grit and roughness in order to make the music as authentic as possible, I think that the sound quality is a little bit poor for a product that could be a result of utilizing today's cutting-edge technology, which doesn't necessarily always have to mean overcompressed, pale and stiff, but simply just clear and in a certain sense soothing to one's ears.

As I listen to the record I often think about what impact a top vocalist could have made to this band by contributing with a greatly appealing voice and slightly different vocal melodies, because it would probably have generated in a larger fanbase at the end of the day, as far as I'm concerned. I mean, just look at what kind of frontmen most well-known or even famous metal bands have and you can easily figure out that the singer is what truly is the icing on the cake in a lot of cases if you want to make it big.

The second half of the record I think destroys the first one, even though I can distinguish a clear Black Sabbath groove in the absolute most outstanding track and the song I listen to over and over again, World Of Tomorrow. So, don't lose faith too quickly in this record since Pounding The Pavement is ultimately an overall better product than the last couple of albums from these experienced, diligent and hard-working metallers.

See also review of: Anvil Is Anvil , Hope In Hell , Still Going Strong , Back To Basics

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	3	4	5	5

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - Tobbe