Madame Mayhem –Now You Know

Holy Cow! Did I read this right? Billy Sheehan from Mr. Big, Ray Luzier from Korn, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal from Guns N’ Roses, Russ Parrish “Satchel” from Steel Panther and Corey Lowery from Saint Asonia all together on an album? Well f$%& me! What in the world am I to expect here? Hard Rock? Modern Rock? A Classic Rock twist? I guess it all depends on whoever’s wallet could afford putting these bad boys of history together for 14 tracks. Oh, who’s that singing? Madame Mayhem? With goth lipstick and dark Halloween hair? F#$%! This woman is no stranger to collabing with big artists and making waves on iHeart Radio.

Wait a second. Let me calm down here. I’m already starting to expect a historic album here. But will the singer match such heroes of music? Here we are with a hot chick backed by an impressive group of well-known musicians. I often try not to spend too much time with looking at pictures of a beautiful female singer as I prefer to let her musical talents swoon me. Let’s face it, sometimes fans of a female fronted group are a bunch of guys or lesbians hot for the looks and not for any other reason. Don’t get upset, I said sometimes. Like maybe 10%. Record labels have been known to screw things up a time or two putting too much emphasis on the look of the singer too. So let’s see how this album stacks up.

Listening to this album wowed me! At least for the most part. I couldn’t believe the variety and heavy hitting combinations of riffs, melodies, bass lines, beats, leads and changeups. Usually with 14 tracks it gets a bit redundant, however, this group nearly made me mess up my pants. With such a diverse lineup of musicians I found it refreshing to hear that each song had a modern day hard rock style. No one would mistake them for any of the bands these musicians came from which is great news as there is a self identity here with this group. But what of Madame Mayhem?

Well, I have mixed feelings. Her vocals start out with conviction. Her vocal attacks have great variety for a female artist. I say it like that because most female fronted bands I have heard tend to get stuck in a lack of vocal variety on the tracks. I do find Madame falling into the cracks of high pitch yelling instead of powerful singing here and there. It tends to hint at a bit of a whine in her voice during the times she stays in that stretched vocal space too long. Fortunately, as the album goes on there is tremendous sing along scales that are absolutely amazing. I was impressed as I heard her attempt vocal decisions that were fresh and simply rocked my world in ways I haven’t heard a female singer do. At times I found a resemblance to Alice In Chains style vocals and several occasions thought she had a Seether style approach. The closing song also presented another angle to her voice with a style that oddly reminded me of Queen. But the deliciousness was that I really felt like I was listening to an original artist. With the types of songs this fantastic group created and the vocal approach Madame painted over each track I have to say we have a winner.

Madame Mayhem – Monster [Official Video]

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All in all, the music is beyond badass for me. I totally got randy listening to the powerful variety from one track to the next. And although a few times Madame missed, she hit a whole lot and I am convinced that listening to this several more times would allow me to put Madame Mayhem just below a pedestal with some of my very favorites such as Breaking Benjamin and Alice in Chains. Fortunately, I think she has room to grow as a singer which will one day blow me not just out of the water but onto the sand. I rock this impressive debut at a solid 5 skulls!

Although there were many excellent songs these blew me away immediately.
Monster, Left for Dead, Witchcraft, After 2AM, Under the Microscope, Can’t Stand (my favorite on the album)

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Review by Daniel C. Morrison for RockRevolt Magazine