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Cannon: Metal Style
Melodic Metal/Hard Rock
Rating: 3.5/5.0
www.cannon-the-band.com
Metal Mayhem Records
www.myspace.com/cannongermany
Stateside, its hard for us Americans to keep up with every German metal band that's been around for the last 25 years. I never heard of Cannon, but they formed in 1986 when NWOBHM was fading or on life support. Cannon released a single full length album in 1988 called 'Thunder & Lightning' which seemed to garner generous and pleasing reviews in Europe. Since then their history has been more than a bit scattered: re-releasing their first album more than once, doing some cover material (AC/DC), and releasing their demo material. Truly new material did come again until 2006's 'Back In Business.' Now, Cannon presents 'Metal Style,' a return to their roots they say.
So what is Cannon's metal style? For an approximation, vocalist Mat Rein Jaehnke sounds like Udo Dirkschneider's doppelganger and the band's riffs sound like Accept's bastard child. Take note that the word 'heavy' was not included in the album title. Although there are some heavy metal nuances here (Into The Fire and Out In The Streets, but not on the poorly named Heavy Metal Style), this is basically melodic metal that could easily be mistaken for melodic hard rock (I Bet You Win or The Wooden House). I found the best songs to be Out In The Streets, That's What I Am, and I Bet You Win.
Essentially, Cannon's 'Metal Style' transports you back to the mid-1980's with generally average melodic metal/rock. But, for whatever reason, I enjoyed this album from beginning to end. Maybe this is because the first time I listened to it I was on my daily walk; it kept me going for an additional mile. Average or deriviative, 'Metal Style' was a guilty pleasure. - Craig Hartranft
By Craig Hartranft
In Short
Cannon's 'Metal Style' transports you back to the mid-1980's with generally average melodic metal/rock. But, for whatever reason, I enjoyed this album from beginning to end. Maybe this is because the first time I listened to it I was on my daily walk; it kept me going for an additional mile. Average or deriviative, 'Metal Style' was a guilty pleasure.
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