Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You CD (album) cover


Atomic Rooster


Heavy Prog

3.82 | 170 ratings

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Queen By-Tor
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Roosters are best made Atomic.

After losing someone like Carl Palmer after their debut album, most bands would simply crumble and die. Not was the case for this English 3 piece (formally 4) who would regroup and release a couple of stellar albums, the first of which being this opus, Death Walks Behind You.

As the name and eerie cover art would suggest, this is a heavy and dark album. Indeed, through most of the songs one gets the feeling that Death is walking behind them thanks to the whining guitar and creeping piano as the album opens. But while the album opens quite slowly the rest unfolds bombastically as soon as the riff for the title track finally shifts into gear and gets things rolling.

While the first track manages to set a very heavy and evil sound, the rest of the album makes sure that it follows closely. The other non-instrumental tracks on the album each follow in an either similar tone or something close to it. While a couple of the tracks prove to be quicker and more catchy such as the melody driven Tomorrow Night and the hard rocking I Can't Take No More, the album is at it's best when it's at that creeping death-like pace. This is accomplished by just about every other song on the album, but especially well by the mini-epic 7 Streets and the melancholic Nobody Else with it's hauntingly beautiful piano intro and almost stellar climax.

Of course, what would this album be without its instrumentals? The two instrumental tracks on the album, the organ driven Vug and the almost terrifying Gershatzer, both give incredible depth and life to the album with their winding passages showing how dynamic a band like Rooster can be.

Fans of heavy prog especially should get a kick out of this one, but it's recommended for everyone who just likes to rock as well. 4 stars, excellent effort!

Queen By-Tor | 4/5 |




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