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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nHaving initially seen large numbers of Charger T shirts at punk shows here in the UK, before checking out their debut 7 track EP\/mini album released back in 2019, and thinking it was pretty damn decent, I can honestly say that I never realised that Rancid\u2019s Matt Freeman, along with Jason Willer (from Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine), and Andrew McGee (from Wired All Wrong) were the people responsible for conjuring up the no-nonsense metal onslaught that the band specialise in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, I know Lars Frederiksen has dabbled with the odd AC\/DC\/Rose Tattoo riff over the years with The Old Firm Casuals, but Charger are full-on \u201crock out, with your cock out\u201d (if you know, you know) heavy metal, specialising in the type of metal Hell\u2019s Headbangers would have (dismembered?) kittens over, so perhaps that\u2019s what initially threw me. Although knowing who is behind the unholy (yet rather splendid) racket Charger produce is neither here nor there at the end of the day, because if you like early \u201880s metal (think Motorhead, think Anvil, think early Tank and think Chariot) then you are going to absolutely love the band\u2019s 11 track full length debut album, \u2018Warhorse\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFast and frantic\u201d is the default setting for Charger, and for most of this record I\u2019m in serious danger of having the worst case of headbanger\u2019s neck I\u2019ve had since the Youth Club Discos of my early teens. Tracks like opener \u2018Devastator\u2019, \u2018Will To Survive\u2019 and \u2018Running Out Of Time\u2019 simply thunder along, middle finger in the air and taking no prisoners in the process. Elsewhere there\u2019s a whiff of early \u201880s Saxon in the riff that introduces \u2018Rolling Through the Night\u2019 and just a hint of Nashville Pussy at their dirtiest during \u2018Stand Fight or Die\u2019, all custom built to soundtrack your wildest of parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its only when Charger switch direction slightly, venturing more into the dungeons and dragons world of metal, via album closer \u2018Sword Of Dio\u2019 and (with the aid of the air raid siren guest vocals of Jake Nunn from Hell Fire) on \u2018Summon The Demon\u2019 that I find myself drifting off. It\u2019s not that the tracks are bad you understand, it\u2019s just I\u2019m not really a huge fan of that metal sub-genre, and I\u2019d much rather have preferred to have heard a few more four to the floor barnstormers along the lines of \u2018Forsaken Soul\u2019 or the Motorhead chug-a-thon of \u2018Black Motor\u2019 instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Released on multiple formats on 18th<\/sup> March 2022 via Pirate\u2019s Press Records, \u2018Warhorse\u2019 is a fierce slice of metal and perhaps one of the most radical sounding Rancid associated side-projects to date. Now someone get Charger out on the road with Midnight and give us THE metal gig of 2022.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n