From the first note of the first track, “Intervention” there is an obvious air of Pantera to the Texas Hippie Coalition. “Big Dad” Rich attempts Phil Anselmo’s unique vocal talents, but is more comparable to a failed karaoke singer.
There are plenty of bars around the United States that would be proud to have him grace them with their presence. However, trying to make it as a band is not the most appealing way to showcase this group’s limited talent.
Throughout the album, it’s obvious that they have been influenced by a variety of music, from jazz to death metal. However, instead of melting them together into a beautiful symphony of sounds, they come together to make an aural version of SPAM.
At the end of the second track “Flawed”, the vocals start with a Kid Rock-like feel before dropping into the aforementioned karaoke version of Pantera. From there, the album changes over to “Rollin’”, where they make a return to their deep southern roots and a variety of singing styles.
“Groupie Girl” is an epic failure at a power ballad. The hasty and jerky changes from slow to fast speeds makes it difficult to keep up. But, it is the only song that stands out for the sole reason that it differs from the rest of the tracks.
On their Facebook page, Texas Hippie Coalition list their influences as : ZZ Top, Black Label Society, Pantera, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Willie Nelson. Their final product, however, sounds like an unsuccessful mish-mash of these great talents.
Overall, Rollin’ comes off as Texas Hippie Coalition trying to restart the magic shared in the mid-to-late nineties by several skilled and accomplished heavy and thrash metal bands. Unfortunately, the album comes off as nothing more than a sad cover band.
you are full of horse*&!#. This is the only good new band that has come out in 10 years. Thank god someone is still interested in playing rock and roll, instead of whiny emo crap.