Madcastle - Texas Anger
by James

A mellower Pantera? An angrier Down? While Madcastle makes a valiant effort to leave their own stamp, Phil Anselmo’s obvious influence can be heard throughout their entire first effort, Texas Anger. Whether or not that is a bad thing is entirely subjective, though. This is one of those CDs that is tough for me to write about because most of the things that bother me are admittedly nit-picky in their nature. You could even say they are evidence that I am sometimes overly critical, but hey, that’s why I make the big bucks around here (please note heavy use of sarcasm in that statement). The vocals are angry and melodic in all the right places. The guitar work is a pleasure to listen to with healthy doses of bluesy riffage and ripping metal goodness. The drums are solidly handled and along with the bass, give the music a slamming backbeat. There are a few places where the songs don’t flow as smoothly as you would hope. The song will be getting some momentum going and then they will hang a right into something that kills the energy, a little. The choruses for Alcohol Driven Madness and The Nasty are good examples of what I mean. When they are firing on all 4 cylinders, though, Madcastle manages to produce some true gems. Unfulfilled is an emotionally charged song that builds from a melodic start to a powerful, heavy finish. Jack of All Fates has a hook that I guaranty will stick in your head, while Four White Walls gives us a hint of how Dale incorporates Layne Staley’s influence into his vocals. Actually, as I think about it, if I overlook the two or three songs that really didn’t work for me, I like this album, quite a bit. The good stuff on this album more than makes up for the few sub par tracks, in my humble opinion. At the same time, it’s not really anything you haven’t heard before. I realize everything has been done before, but like I said at the beginning of this, most of my complaints are nit-picky, at best.