CRUCIFIED BARBARA – The Midnight Chase

Ughhh. Why oh why must the production on some of these Nuclear Blast releases be so goddamn clean? This all female band from Sweden takes their cues from Motörhead and Joan Jett but the production really hides that. I need raw dirty guitars, gross vocals, and dry sounding drums. I’m thinking Diamond Head or early Priest recordings — more rock and roll. This all feels too arranged, rehearsed and digitally enhanced. I could barely hear the bass. The sad thing is the songs are pretty catchy. Lee Aaron’s “Metal Queen” came to mind on more than one occasion. The heart is there, it’s just the execution isn’t. So disappointing. Fuck. (Nuclear Blast, crucifiedbarbara.com) James Korba