Review: Babylon A.D. – Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day
Perris Records (May 17th 2024)
Reviewer: Jason Hopper
While not a huge fan of the band, I’ve been on somewhat of a Babylon A.D. kick lately. Their first album came out at a time when I was just getting into the scene and their debut was played on a regular basis in the Fall of ’89. I had revisited the album as of late and decided to see what the band was up to lately, discovering that they were on the cusp of releasing a brand-new album. I checked out their new single, ‘Wrecking Machine’ and was pleasantly surprised by how powerful it sounded. I then requested to check out the rest of the album for this review.
After one listen through, I feel my review needs to address, first and foremost, the production. I know I should not expect the same type of quality sound in comparison to their debut, but this recording sounds dry and echoey, especially the snare drum. Also, some of the tracks sound as if they were recorded elsewhere or mixed differently. I’ll break it down when discussing individual tracks, but I will say there’s a strong set of songs here that could have been more impactful had they had been better produced.
‘Wrecking Machine’ opens the album and as stated earlier, it’s a blast! This track could have easily been on their debut album and it’s great to hear the band can still bring that type of energy. It is without a doubt the best song on the album. Things slow down for Track 2’s ‘Pain’, with its heavy groove that reminded me of a cross between Lynch Mob’s ‘Tangled in The Web’ and Bulletboys’ ‘Hell On My Heels’. Lead singer Derek Davis does a great job with the vocals on this one, effectively conveying his anger and desperation through his screams and growls.
I first noticed the production affecting the songs with Tracks 3 and 4, the ballad ‘Sometimes Love is Hell’ and the title track. In both songs, the drums and vocals are pushed to the front and the guitar seems muted and relegated to the back. Both songs are strong and would have been more impactful had they been mixed better. If you have a system that allows you to adjust the levels, then maybe it would sound better, but the average listener should not have to resort to such measures.
Other songs have varying degrees of issues. ‘Looking for a Heartbeat’ and ‘Shut Up’ all both great rockers and feature guitars mixed well, while ‘White Hot Bullet’, despite having one of the best kick ass grooves on the album, has some of the worst sounding drums found on the album. They sound hollow and muffled. We’re talking demo quality here. Every instrument is affected in this recording, but the drums stand out as sonically horrendous.
Other songs just don’t work for me. ‘Crashed into the Sun’ has a chorus that is so low effort, it ruins the entire song, which is a shame as the verse and bridge leading up to it made it seem like the song was building up to something impactful. The chorus relies on minor chords and sounds like something that would be more suited to a grunge band. Final track ‘Super Beast’ is a band instrumental and is high energy, but I’ve never been crazy for instrumentals and wish vocals had been added in.
One more thing to add. With ten tracks that involve lyrics, three of them are ballads. There’s the previously mentioned ‘Sometimes Love is Hell’, ‘I Will Never Break Never Break Again’, and ‘Face of God’. As Meatloaf would say, two out of three ain’t bad. ‘I Will Never…’ is over six and a half minutes long and meanders throughout. I got to the four-minute mark and wanted the song to end, then realized I still had two and a half minutes to go.
Despite a few strong tracks, I can’t endorse getting the entire album. If you are a die-hard fan that needs to collect everything the band releases, then by all means, have at it. You’ll find some stuff to love here. For casual listeners such as myself, I would suggest streaming the album and cherry picking what you want to listen to regularly or purchase individually. This album could have been so much more with stronger production. A real shame as these songs deserve better.
Tracklist:
- Wrecking Machine
- Pain
- Sometimes Love Is Hell
- Rome Wasn’t Built in A Day
- Looking For a Heartbeat
- I Will Never Break Never Break Again
- White Hot Bullet
- Crashed into The Sun
- Face of God
- Shut Up
- Super Beast
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