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Howard Stern’s sidekick and well-known metal drummer Richard Christy’s band Charred Walls of the Damned’s sophomore release, Cold Winds on Timeless Days, is an intricate, melodic and traditional metal album. On the self-titled debut, Christy proved himself as a songwriter, and the album was well-received by critics and fans alike. On Cold Winds on Timeless Days, the songwriting is again a strong point. Christy wrote most of the music and it fits the four band members’ ability and style well. The musicianship of this calibre of band is exactly how you would expect it to be. Jason Suecof’s intricate guitar solos, Christy’s precision-like drumming, Steve DiGiorgio’s technicality on the bass and Tim “Ripper” Owens’ sheer velocity on vocals makes Cold Winds on Timeless Days bluster with energy and electricity. Christy is such an enthusiastic metal fan himself, that his influences run deep with traditional metal bands, some obvious (Priest, Death, Iced Earth), some obscure (Wrathchild America, Powermad), but he knows his shit. What comes out in the music of Charred Walls of the Damned is an extension of Christy’s influences. The Iced Earth comparisons will undoubtably come up often during Cold Winds on Timeless Days, but with three fourths of the band an ex-Iced Earth member, it’s inevitable. Suecof’s production skills is what he’s mostly known for (Trivium, All That Remains, DevilDriver) but his guitar prowess had gone unnoticed until Charred Walls of the Damned’s debut. On Cold Winds on Timeless Days, Suecof’s guitar solos are equally as awesome; intricate, progressive and fiery. They fit properly into the framework of the songs. Owens’ voice is as strong as ever. His calculated falsettos and layered vocal harmonies come through loud and clear. As expected, Christy’s drumming is tight. His creative fills, blast beat ability and double bass technicality is ever present. As good as their debut was, it sounded a little formulated. But on Cold Winds on Timeless Days, the band sounds more like a cohesive unit and the songs are a little easier to wrap your ears around them. It’s also longer than the barely half hour of the debut, with three extra songs as well. | ||||||||||||||||||
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