Pelata Since losing vocalist extraordinaire Carl Albert in 1995, Vicious Rumors has attempted to carry on with no less than four other singers: Brian O’Conner (on 1998′s Cyber Christ), Morgan Thorn (for 2001′s Sadistic Symphony), James Rivera (of Helstar for Warball in 2006) & Ronnie Stixx (who toured with the band but never recorded). At one point, even guitarist/band founder Geoff Thorpe handled lead vocals (on the first post-Albert album, 1996′s Something’s Burning). To varying degrees, the albums worked. Each one had moments of passionate intensity. Each one also had moments that may not have lived up to the VR name. I thought they had struck gold with James Rivera as Warball was easily the best thing they had done to date since Albert’s untimely demise. I am, however, happy to report that the new album (which also sees vocalist #5 attempt to fill Carl Albert’s shoes) is even better.

Brian Allen is taking his turn at the VR mic in true, aggressive metal spirit! Not taking anything away from the other guys who’ve stepped in here, Allen is without a doubt THE man for this job. He packs an intense, absolutely (forgive me) vicious punch! Musically, Thorpe and company have cranked everything up a notch, and the result is, from my view, the best thing the band has done since 1995′s Word of Mouth.

The band has buckled down and put out a very, very strong album. Tracks like “Razorback Blade” and “Axe To Grind” call to mind the glory and speed of classics like “Hellraiser” (from the 1990 self-titled album). Allen proves his mettle here with some seriously impressive vocal acrobatics and soaring wails…absolutely blistering. He comes down out of the stratosphere and puts in a brooding, impassioned performance on “Black”. “Rite Of Devastation”, “Murderball” and “Blood Stained Sunday” all boil over with patented VR rage and spirit, the likes we haven’t heard in a long time. Crowd-rousing track “Let The Garden Burn” is an homage to the European, open air metal festivals held every summer and is sure to get crowds headbanging and chanting back. There is simply not a bad song to be had here, people. Guitar solos are something the band is known for and a couple of returning heros turn out some gems. Brad Gillis (Night Ranger) makes his second appearance on a VR album. Former VR guitarist Mark McGee (who played on all the band’s albums from 1988 through 1995) is welcomed back for a few guest shredders in tandem with Thrope. Testament‘s Eric Petersen even puts in some harmonized solo runs on “Murderball”.

This is the album that I, as a Vicious Rumors fan, have been waiting for since Albert’s passing. Putting a few past missteps aside, because the band has released some strong material over the years. But they have hit a home run with Razorback Killers! This album feels like a natural follow up to Word of Mouth and easily ranks among the Albert years’ material. Get it!

Double-D Vicious Rumors have always been one of the most underrated bands. These American veterans deserved much more. Their albums with Carl Albert (RIP) are timeless classics and masterpieces for metal music. Now after 30 years of ups and downs they are still able to kick ass.

Razorback Killers is another great chapter in their discography. It is easily one of the best power metal releases this year. Vicious Rumors are back in their best form. Balancing on the edge of thrash and power metal the guitar duels between the founder Geoff Thorpe and the new axeman Kiyoshi Morgan are just brilliant. Well no one can replace the divine voice of Carl Albert but the new singer Brian Allen has strong powerful voice and fits really nice to the songs.

Razorback Killers is great symbiosis between the classic and the modern times in heavy metal. In this abundance of mediocre pretending releases these oldschool compositions packed in newschool production are great choice for all heavy music lovers. The new Vicious Rumors album won't cause revolution or shoot his creators to the mainstream but is great present to their dedicated fans and 4,5 stars rating is absolutely deserved!

J-Man Vicious Rumors is a band who never really "hit it big" in terms of commercial sales, but is one of most consistent U.S. power metal bands out there. Since their inception in 1979, the band has been regularly churning out high-quality heavy metal albums to their dedicated fanbase. Razorback Killers, the band's tenth full-length album and first in nearly five years, is yet another impressive chapter in their already noteworthy discography. Vicious Rumors may not be the most revolutionary band anymore, but these veterans do still know how to deliver kick ass heavy metal in 2011 - and, in the end, that's all that really matters!

Razorback Killers is a hard-hitting album in a lot of ways. I'd consider it "power metal with balls", if you will. The music is really heavy and relentless; I hear a lot of influence from the Bay Area-thrash metal scene on Razorback Killers. Songs like "Razorback Blade" could barely be considered traditional/power metal in my opinion. My favorite track is probably the opening cut, "Murderball" - Brian Allen's vocals are just spectacular there. One of the best things about Vicious Rumors is the top-notch musicianship, and that certainly applies here. The blinding guitar work from Geoff Thorpe and Kiyoshi Morgan (as well as Mark McGee, Brad Gillis and Eric Peterson as guests) is excellent - if you're a guitar player of any sort, this is the type of album that you simply cannot resist. One of my only major gripes about this release is the production. Razorback Killers simply sounds far too polished and sterile for these ears. It's really a shame; the music has a decidedly raw heavy metal approach, but the over-stressed production values only diminish one of the album's finest assets. A rawer sound would've enhanced my enjoyment significantly.

Despite my gripes with the production, Razorback Killers really is an excellent album from Vicious Rumors. These American veterans show no signs of slowing down, and Razorback Killers is definitive proof of this. People who enjoy old school power metal with a modern production should love this one. Of course, albums like this have existed for the last 30 years, but when the music this good, it's hard to consider that a major setback. 3.5 stars and a solid recommendation are deserved for Razorback Killers.

Stephen The fourth release of Vicious Rumors, "Welcome To The Ball", is a real deal of what we called a true American power metal, slicing between the melodic edge of British heavy metal with some furious thrashy edge, while Carl Albert's screaming voice is purely a great blend of Rob Halford and Sebastian Bach. This album was their best selling release and the style is probably not new if you're already with their previous releases, but what makes this album is more interesting than the rest is it contained a necessary commercial element but generally most of the songs are still idealistic and brutally fast.

"Abandoned" is my first fave track of the album. A superb slab of heavy metal with an intense screamer and dense riffs. "You Only Live Twice" is faster, and the thrashy and violent riffs reminds me of Skid Row's "Slave To The Grind". "Raise Your Hands" introduced a double pedal assault, melodic riffs, dynamic drumming, and a beautiful harmonic chorus. This is quite similar to "Six Stepsisters", another wonderful track to love. "Children" is a decent ballad and I think "When Love Comes Down" is much better. The song is a reminiscent of Whitesnake's style and Albert's powerful vocal at the end of the song is outstanding.

Of course the album is not without flaw. I see a string of fillers such as "Savior From Anger", "Strange Behaviour", or "Ends of The Earth" but all of them are still acceptable. The strength of the album, beside what I've stated above, is also on the musical variety of each track which prevented the album from being monotonous and enjoyable for repetitive spins. "Welcome To The Ball" is one of the great legacies of the late Carl Albert, he has such a volcanic pipes and his vocal is definitely one of the valuable point on the album. For fans of heavy metal, Vicious Rumors had done such a monstrous job and this release deserved at least four-stars.

Nightfly Although not releasing their first album until 1986 Vicious Rumors had been kicking around the San Francisco bay area since the turn of the decade, an area that has become synonymous with the eighties thrash metal movement spawning the likes of Metallica, Exodus and Testament. Vicious Rumors were an altogether different beast however, playing more traditional power metal in the vein of Judas Priest.

By the release of their eponymous third album Vicious Rumors had honed their art to near perfection, releasing the finest album of their career. The band are all excellent players with a strong dual guitar team of Geoff Thorpe and Mark McGee. In Carl Albert (sadly now deceased) they had a fine singer in the classic histrionic metal tradition and a solid as a rock rhythm section with drummer Larry Howe and bassist Dave Starr.

The album is a mixture of slower metal rockers and high speed, though never reaching thrash level power metal all infused with an ear on melody. What makes this their greatest album is the sheer consistency of the material with no weak tracks in sight. Album opener Don’t Wait For Me, whilst not the fastest song is a brutal slab of melodic metal with two great guitar solos and while it doesn’t get any better than this the other up tempo tracks like On The Edge, Thrill Of The Hunt and Hellraiser are its equal. There’s much to enjoy in the slower tracks though. Ship Of Fools and Down To The Temple being particular highlights.

Vicious Rumors would go on to release more fine albums, not least their most recent effort Warball, but for sheer consistency it doesn’t get any better than this.