Band:	Dee Snider
Album:	For The Love Of Metal
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	July 27, 2018
A review by:	nikarg

01. Lies Are A Business
02. Tomorrow's No Concern
03. I Am The Hurricane
04. American Made
05. Roll Over You
06. I'm Ready
07. Running Mazes
08. Mask
09. Become The Storm
10. The Hardest Way
11. Dead Hearts (Love Thy Enemy)
12. For The Love Of Metal
13. So What [Japanese bonus]

This is one of the biggest surprises this year not just for me, but also for Dee Snider himself. "This is a really incredibly exciting album that I did not expect to make, especially at this point in my life", Dee said about For The Love Of Metal. And my guess is that no one expected him to deliver a triumphant piece of metal music such as this either.

I was never a fan of Dee Snider's music and Twisted Sister's hard/glam/hair rock always used to rub me the wrong way but the man is undoubtedly a hard rock legend. Moreover, I have never been a fan of most of the musicians that participated to make this album a reality; quite frankly I more or less dislike their respective bands. However, Dee Snider has unleashed an overly enjoyable, no-filler, purely metal album.

Dee, now at the age of 63, had no intentions of releasing another record and it was Hatebreed frontman, Jamey Jasta, who challenged him to make a contemporary heavy metal album. In the beginning they didn't even have a deal with a label, something that changed when high profile names such as Mark Morton (Lamb Of God), Joel Grind and Nick Bellmore (Toxic Holocaust) and Charlie Bellmore (Kingdom Of Sorrow) expressed their desire to contribute in the project.

For The Love Of Metal is heavy metal in all its majesty, a true headbanger's delight. It is modern and fresh with perfect production. It is catchy and energetic and full of grooves. It is deliciously cheesy during the single time it slows down (the duet with Arch Enemy's Alissa White-Gluz) and ferocious when it wants to be powerful ("Tomorrow's No Concern"). It has sing-along choruses ("Mask", "The Hardest Way" featuring ex-Killswitch Engage vocalist, Howard Jones), fist-raising anthems ("Become The Storm", "For The Love Of Metal") and American-sounding-tribute-to-Judas Priest moments. For instance, the riff of "Lies Are A Business" could have easily opened Screaming For Vengeance and if the Metal Gods hadn't scorched us with their Firepower a few months ago, For The Love Of Metal would have probably topped my heavy metal album of the year list.

It must be noted that Mr. Snider is singing other people's lyrics (about standing up, believing in yourself, fighting back and a lot of anti-bullying themes) over music that was written and composed without his participation. Yet, he absolutely and totally owns this record, his voice sounds better than ever and, as far as I know, this is the most metal he has sounded in his entire career. And this is why he's so convincing when he screams:

"We are all fucking metal!"

Indeed Dee, we are. Thank you so much for this.