Appice – Sinister

In the world of rock the name Appice is well known as brothers Carmine and Vinny have between them played drums for bands including Vanilla fudge, Beck, Ozzy Osbourne, Ted Nugent, Rod Stewart, Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, and Last in line. They played together for the 2014 album “Drum wars – live” but till now have never collaborated on a studio album. The album, “Sinister” features a mix of new songs and songs from their long careers, and as you’d expect, they arent short of friends to call in to play on the album. The album features vocals from Paul Shortino (Rough cutt, Quiet riot), Robin McAuley (MSG), Chas West (Lynch mob), Jim Crean and Scotty Bruce plus Carmine Appice sings on “You got me running”. Guitarists on the album include Craig Goldy (Dio, Giuffra), Bumblefoot (Guns n Roses), Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake), Mike Sweda (Bulletboys), Eric Turner (Warrant) and David Michael Phillips (King Kobra). Erik Norlander (Lana Lane) does the keyboards for the album, and bass comes from Tony Franklin (Blue murder, The firm), Phil Soussan (Ozzy Osbourne), Johnny Rod (WASP, King Kobra) and Jorgen Carlson (Gov’t Mule) So clearly there’s an impressive array of talent here, but as some sports teams have found, a team of all-stars isnt always successful, and in music it’s the same with some “super-groups” flopping while others succeed.

My fear with this album was that it would be too drum focussed and full of long drum solos to show off their talents – that’s certainly how many guitarists have approached it in the past and their albums suffer as a result, but the Appice brothers have taken the far better route – they’ve focussed on making a great rock album and in the main, just letting their drumming speak for itself as a part of the songs. It’s only really in “Drum wars” that the focus is firmly on the drums.

This really is a great rock album and not just something for drummers to enjoy.

“Sinister” will be released on 27th October 2017 via Steamhammer/SPV

Track listing

1. Sinister
2. Monsters and heroes
3. Killing floor
4. Danger
5. Drum wars
6. Riot
7. Suddenly
8. In the night
9. Future past
10. You got me running
11. Bros in drums
12. War cry
12. Sabbath mash