Beggar's Ball - Fight This Town
Self-Financed
Kick-ass Southern-influenced Groove/Stoner Hard Rock/Metal
10 songs (39'08)
Release year: 2006
Beggar's Ball
Reviewed by Marty
Surprise of the month
Beggar's Ball call Hollywood California home and are the product of a very fruitful partnership between guitarist Eddie Brnabic and vocalist D.K. Revelle. Opting to ignore the highly polished "pop" metal that record companies are force-feeding the masses in this day and age, the writing partnership between Eddie and D.K. collectively raises the middle finger to anything even remotely related to the current popular music scene. This "demo" recording Fight This Town was made in the band's rehearsal space during 2005 and they make no apologies about the sound quality, noting that it was recorded very crudely and on very "cheap" equipment. It was made to help get them a label deal and was never meant to be released in it's current form. You have to admire their honesty and truthfully, the crude production really suits their brand of reckless, rough and ready hard rock/metal and must be as much fun to play as it is to listen to.

Mix in a little bit of early Appetite For Destruction era G'N'R with some of the more modern hard rocking style of Velvet Revolver's Contraband album, add in a much heavier guitar based sound and way more attitude and you have a pretty fair mental image of what Beggar's Ball is all about. They offer up a kick-ass hard rocking sound that has an Al Jorgensen (Ministry) type of screaming and "filtered" vocal sound and a touch of Southern rock influence that brings Corrosion Of Conformity to mind. Low Life Blues kicks you in the ass right off the start and besides all the aforementioned influences, this track leans towards more hard core metal and extreme metal genres. Their songs have great riffs and a very solid groove, not unlike many of the great "stoner" metal bands out there. D.K.'s very "throaty" and raspy vocal style fuels the attitude and aggression of their songs and at times, reminds me of Paul Di'Anno during his heyday with Iron Maiden. Life In A Lie cranks up the speed a few notches with its punk-fuelled angst and some great riffs by Eddie Brnabic. A few tracks feature more slower and plodding stoner type metal but the norm for this album is high energy, in-your-face riff blasting metal. The Southern feel to their music is front and center with American Vocal, a track that G'N'R would be more than happy to have in their repertoire. Catchy and with more of a straight ahead melodic hard rock approach to both the music and the vocals, these guys put Velvet Revolver to shame. Other album highlights include the crushing Famous And Filthy, the album closer that's full of great heavy metal riffing, tons of attitude and will kick your ass all the way back to the start of this album and then demand that you listen to it again.

This CD was a real surprise and a also a great pleasure to listen to. With the stoner graphics and overall G'N'R style of imagery, I was half expecting that sort of band but the real surprise was discovering just how great this band is. Yes there are G'N'R influences but more with the attitude rather than the overall sound. The only real obvious similarities are with guitarist Eddie Brnabic who uses the same sort of wah-pedal driven lead style as Slash. Beggar's Ball is heavier, angrier and out to be as anti-mainstream as they can possibly be. The drop D tuning on a few tracks really beefs up their sound and with their killer groove, Black Label Society fans should take note. Right now, they are currently recording a new album to be released very soon. As of yet, they have failed to attract major label attention but I suspect that somewhere, someone will see this "jewel in the rough" so to speak and sign these guys. They are also playing lots of shows in and around California and the west coast this summer and would be an awesome live act to catch no doubt. If anyone has the stones to let these guys open for them, be afraid...be very afraid....

This entire CD is available for streaming at this location.

Killing Songs :
Low Life Blues, Life In A Lie, American Vocal and Famous And Filthy
Marty quoted 82 / 100
Other albums by Beggar's Ball that we have reviewed:
Beggar's Ball - 1321 reviewed by Marty and quoted no quote
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