Album Review: Gunjack - The Third Impact
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
Formed in 2017, Gunjack is an Italian old school metal trio comprising Mr. Messerschmitt (Alessandro Dominizi) on voice/bass, Gamma Mörser (Fabio Cavestro) on guitars and M47 (Andrea Ornigotti) on drums. ‘The Third Impact’ is their third full-length release.
Taking this one head on, it’s easy to see why the band pin their colours to the old school metal mast. This is gritty, gnarly heavy metal performed with gusto and energy. Their immediate sound is undoubtedly Motörhead, something that is prevalent throughout the 50 plus minutes that this album lasts. Of particular resonance is the vocals which are about as close to Lemmy as you’ll hear, full of the gravel-soaked style that is so missed today, and whilst Dominizi is nowhere near the grand level of Mr Kilmister, the comparison isn’t such that it becomes a parody.
The power trio from Milan cover a myriad of topics. There’s the blasting no compromise of ‘Blast n’ Roll’, the straightforward bludgeoning of ‘The Tournament’ and the Therapy riff of ‘Meltdown’, with a bruising drum sound and hammer jack effect. The music is intense, hard hitting and at times borderline thrash. The brilliantly named ‘Nuke to be Sure’ sits in this category, with driving bass and drums and a relentless riff battering away. And there’s a semi-funk feel to ‘Metal Influencer’ which has a pulsing bass line that makes you groove regardless of whether you want to or not.
The biggest challenge with this release is the vocals, which are an acquired taste in every way. There is some slight wavering and wobbling which at times is a bit of a task to digest and the tone strays off beat at time. But if you can accept and embrace the rawness, then this is one big chunky piece of music that screams “have a good time”. This is another band who if you stumbled across at the right time would have you dancing in next to no time. According to the band, their live attitude is “just loud music, booze, rock’n’roll and a crazy entertainment”. Sound okay to me!
