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North Carolina's Chaingunn is composed of "old-school" (hate that term) metalheads, and the music on this first demo release leaves no doubt as to where these guys come from. The music is deeply rooted in late 70s/early 80s heavy metal, with a small vibe of 70s-era classic rock. This wouldn't have sounded out of place if it had been released 20 years ago, but it also doesn't sound of out place today - mark of timeless music. Vocalist R.R. Shumate sounds like a mix of David Wayne (Metal Church) and Udo Dirkschneider (Accept, U.D.O.), you can hardly get more "classic metal" than that vocal-wise! He does a very good job overall, although in a couple of instances the vocals do sound a bit forced, as if he doesn't quite reach the level he wanted to, but even then the result is still quite acceptable, just a bit unequal if you take the CD as a whole. The vocals are pretty aggressive overall (to be expected with such vocal influences), but Shumate can also get into much more melodic ("soft"?) in his delivery, the fifth track, "Sleeping in the Fire" a testimony to that effect.

Musically, this is classic metal from beginning to end, and not of the lighter form but rather of the very heavy and raw variety. The music simply crushes, there's no other way to put it, and there are some real wicked solos in there like I'd like to hear more often - I think of Randy Rhoads-era Ozzy when I listen to this stuff. This is heavier than what you'd get from Priest or Maiden, for example, flirting with mid-80s thrash and with a few touches that remind me of October 31 (not surprising, since one of the guys is member of that band.) This is not perfect, there are some rough edges, but that's to be expected from a demo. This is more than compensated by the fact that the 6 tracks on here feel ALIVE - this is not bland, overproduced stuff. Listening to this you can almost feel as if the guys were playing it right in front of you. Now that's fucking metal! The last track is an excellent cover of Black Sabbath's "Voodoo"

My main problem with this CD is that it won't leave my CD player... So if you've been waiting for a review, you can blame Chaingunn for the delay. :) Now I can't wait for the upcoming first full length.