Just when you were beginning to think he fell off the face of the earth, former Ozzy guitarist and axeman extraordinaire, Jake E. Lee, returns to the metal scene with a brand new project, Red Dragon Cartel. I have been a fan of Jake’s since “Bark at the Moon” which is one of my favorite records so I was really looking forward to hearing Jake’s new band.
Using social media, Jake found vocalist D.J. Smith and drummer Jonas Fairley through facebook submissions and the band was complete. With the help of bassist Ronnie Mancuso and producer Kevin Churko and his son Kane, Jake utilized the library of riffs he had written over the years and came up with some fantastic new metal songs. Kicking things off with vintage Jake E. Lee riffs is “Deceived” and things just take off from there. “Shout It Out” has a great hook and a killer chorus and “Feeder” has a slinky bass groove and features Robin Zander of Cheap Trick on vocals. The slower paced “Fall From The Sky” provides a nice change of pace and “War Machine” has an awesome Sabbath type riff. Maria Brinks lends her signature shrieks on the standout “Big Mouth” and Sass Jordan gives an outstanding performance on the bluesy “Redeem Me.” To cap things off is the beautiful piano of “Exquisite Tenderness.”
“Red Dragon Cartel” is a phenomenal hard rock record from one of the best guitarists around. One listen to this album and it’s easy to see how much rock and roll has missed the presence of Jake E. Lee. I, for one, am very happy to welcome him back!
