Art of Anarchy has been around since 2011 and this is only their third album. Granted, these guys have been busy with other projects, however, their biggest problem has been lead singers. They are now on their third album and third lead singer. It started with Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots, then it was Scott Stapp from Creed and now it is Jeff Scott Soto for their latest album, ‘Let There Be Anarchy’. Hmmm…did you notice a trend on the singers names????
And the fact they have had three lead singers, two of which have been sued by the band for lack of promotion, you start to wonder if the problem is the singers or the band. I personally think it is a combination of both because Weiland and Stapp are not known for being the most stable personalities, but I am sure the band had to play a role too. For me, the biggest problem with Art of Anarchy is that they have no sense of identity. Three albums, three very different sounds and nothing that makes them cohesive so you know it is the same band. No signature sound. And that my friends, bugs the crap out of me.
The band is full of talent as you have Tony Dickinson on bass, Jon Votta on guitar, Vince Votta on drums and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal on lead guitar. Their current singer is the only reason I bought the album as it is none other than Jeff Scott Soto (and if you notice at the bottom of the post, I’m a massive fan as I’ve done 86 posts on him to date). That is a lot of talent.
For those following along on the series, you know by now that SOTO is Jeff Scott Soto’s band that he uses to differentiate his solo stuff from his more heavier sounding metal songs. And this is heavy. This is the band’s third album now in the last 4/5 years and the only difference in the band is at bass. Sadly, bassist David Z (of Z02 & Adrenaline Mob) passed away in a tragic accident. In his stead is none other than Tony Dickinson and he also helped produce the album. We still have Jeff on vocals, obviously, along with BJ on keys and guitars, Edu Cominato on drums along with Jorge Salan on guitars.
The album was released on May 19, 2019 and it doesn’t stray far from the first two albums. It is a heavy rock album, a little at times and a modern, electronic sound also. But…I can’t say they’ve been my favorite projects from Jeff. Yes, I do like the heavier sound and Jeff does a fine job of singing, but the songs haven’t been as melodic as I like, the hooks aren’t as catchy and the choruses are a little lackluster at times. That doesn’t mean the first two albums were bad album, I just haven’t enjoyed them as much. And is this one any different? Well, it might be my favorite of the bunch, but is it a favorite of the Soto collection? We first need to dig deeper and explore these tracks to see how they stack up.
The album kicks off with “Hypermania” and a full on electronica bit before kicking in hard & heavy. Musically the song is really awesome, but I can’t get past the horrible lyrics in the chorus. The rhyming of hypermania with the words insania and no brainia. Totally childish and lame. Take out the lyrics and this is a killer modern metal track. For me, I just skip the whole thing and start the album with the title track.
The title track, “Origami”, explodes with some ear-splitting drum pounding, a vicious riff and then it turns in to a speed metal attack. Jeff’s vocals are aggressive and he attacks the song with a killer’s rage and it is awesome. One of the heaviest tracks on the album and it really grabs hold and slams it home. The guitars are freaking nasty, the solo is cool and Jeff even gives off a scream which he does so well. A real ballbuster of a track and should be the opening track!!
“Belie” is up next and it slows things down a little. No, not a ballad, just a slower tempo. There is a darkness tone to it, it is still heavy. The verses give off a sadness and don’t really connect with the music. The payoff comes with the chorus with layers of harmonies and Jeff does sound great. The cool thing about it is you get a bass break, a drum break and a guitar break in it which is nice to see all areas shine. And the guitar solo is a screamer. One of the best on the album.
More great guitar work opens “World Gone Colder” and the guitar never lets up. It is full of piss and vigor throughout the song. A roller coaster of riffs. The chorus is enjoyable and Jeff really goes all out, but you can’t say enough about the guitars on this one as they are the star. The solo will seal the deal for you.
“Detonate” is the only song to feature the late, great David Z on bass. For that, it is a little special. It starts with a slow build, a whispering Jeff Scott Soto on vocals and then the band comes roaring in and the song gets going. If you listen close, you can hear David just smacking the bass. The song is hard & heavy, and with a title like detonate, you’d expect this song to explode and it doesn’t quite get as explosive as I’d expect and starts to lose me by the end.
Things slow down with “Torn”, a quasi-power ballad. The foot comes off the gas with this one and Jeff gives a very pleasant vocal delivery. Musically, everything is toned down, softer yet full of emotion. The chorus is catchy and Jeff really takes it up a notch. The drum sound on this one is solid, the guitars give a melancholic tone and when Jeff screams “GO”, the guitars lay down a solo that fits perfectly with the song. The guys show they aren’t one-dimensional.
The heavy comes back with “Dance with the Devil” and if you are going to have devil in the title, it better kick ass. There is a whole Sons of Apollo vibe here with even hints of Dio. The riffs are speedy, gritty and brutal, the drum work is powerful and destructive especially the double kick drum whose speed is insane. A rocking track, but also a little forgettable when its over as it doesn’t stick with you.
“Afterglow” is up next and the sound is more like a Soto solo album as it is more melodic, a little funky at times and has a big band swing groove. The chorus is full on harmonies and the song is although has a serious tone, is a lot of fun for me as the groove is really cool. One of my favorite tracks on the album.
“Vanity Lane” takes it back to the heavy and it has a darker tone and more serious feel to it. The chorus is better than the verses and the guitar solo is great, however, I like the song well enough, but it doesn’t stick with you. Not memorable enough.
The final song on the album is a Michael Jackson cover of his song “Give In To Me” which is one of Michael’s more rocking songs and SOTO does it justice. It starts off slow and Jeff goes in to a deeper register and when the chorus explodes, he goes back to that Jeff sound he is so famous for. I love this song already, so I do enjoy it here as it is hard to screw up a Michael Jackson song.
But there is a bonus track so it ain’t over yet. “KMAG” closes things out and what is a KMAG? It is Kiss My Ass Goodbye! It is heavy as hell and the drums are earth shatteringly hard. I like this one a lot and the big payoff is that chorus as anytime you can scream out Kiss My Ass Goodbye it just feels great. A great way to go out on the album.
Track Listing:
Hypermania – Delete
Origami – Keeper
Belie – Keeper
World Gone Colder – Keeper
Detonate – Delete
Torn – Keeper
Dance with the Devil – Keeper(1/2 Point)
Afterglow – Keeper
Vanity Lane – Delete
Give In To Me – Keeper
KMAG (Bonus Track) – Keeper
The Track Score is 7.5 out of 11 Tracks or 68%. SOTO didn’t impress me much with the first two albums, and the third didn’t do much better. The songwriting is still subpar as the lyrics at times are cringe worthy and the songs aren’t as memorable as most of Jeff’s work, however, this one held my interest a little more and had more songs that I liked. If I had to pick a favorite of the three so far, this would be it, but not by much. My Overall Score is a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars which is the same as the 2nd album, but since I like this one a little more maybe it should be 3.6, who knows. I’ll stick with Jeff’s other albums more than I will with SOTO…sorry Jeff.
UP NEXT: SONS OF APOLLO – ‘LIVE WITH THE PLOVDIV PSYCHOTIC SYMPHONY’ (2019)
Jeff Scott Soto has said this is a working band and not a side project and will be around for a long while. He is proving that fact by releasing a second album in just over a year after the debut. This one, called ‘Divak’, was released on April 1, 2016. The debut album, I didn’t feel was a band album as the band never really played on any of the songs. It was a solo album with a lot of guests if you ask me. This time around, Jeff makes it a band. And who is in that band? Aside from Jeff, it is the same guys from the debut artwork (as they weren’t really on the album). You get Jorge Salan on guitars, BJ on guitars and keys, David Z (Of ZO2) on bass and Edu Cominato on drums.
There are still a ton of guests, but this time they are really guests. They are additional guitarists, some solos, keyboards and backing vocals while the band handles most of the grunt work…as they should if this is a band. The album is just as heavy as the last, if not heavier. It rocks out as it is both melodic and a little proggy at times. Jeff usually does more melodic, rock and doesn’t get this heavy or hasn’t in a while, but he missed this stuff and that is why Soto exists. It fulfills his desire to really go full tilt and it certainly delivers that and more.
The album kicks off with, “Divak”, a symphonic, dramatic and totally intriguing instrumental piece. The intensity builds and totally makes you feel like you are in to an adventurous journey. The biggest problem is that it ends…it just stops. It doesn’t bleed into the next song which I think is a huge missed opportunity as this was a really fantastic piece and would’ve flowed better with that seamless transition.
Jeff Scott Soto has been around for over 30 years now and he started out singing for some heavy bands like Yngwie Malmsteen and Axel Rudi Pell. Then he was more melodic with bands like Talisman, Eyes and W.E.T. and he evened funked things up with his solo albums on occasion, but he has always liked the heavy stuff. For his next project, it wasn’t another solo album, but instead it was a new metal band called SOTO. Hmmm…where did he come up with that name? Jeff has said this is a working band and not a side project and will be around for a long while and there is definitely a band. In SOTO are of course, Jeff, but you also get Jorge Salan on guitars, BJ on guitars and keys, David Z (Of ZO2) on bass and Edu Cominato on drums.
However, there are so many guests and extra musicians on this album, that I’m not sure you can really count this as a band album as the “band” isn’t on every song. Now, that doesn’t take away from anything on the album, I’m just saying I don’t really see this particular SOTO album as a band more of as a project. The album came out on January 30, 2015, but I don’t see a physical release of the album in the States so they only had digital. My copy of the album is actually from Mexico and is a digipack. No bonus or nothing extra, but I will take what I can get. Let’s jump right and get in to the meat of it all as the music is why we are here.
The first track is “Final Say” and it is written by Jeff Scott Soto and Adrenaline Mob member Mike Orlando who does all the instruments on this song (see, no band members but JSS). And like I said above, that doesn’t take away from the music as this song kicks some major ass. The guitars are heavy, the drums are thunderous and Soto is aggressive and lethal with the vocals. An explosive opening that tells you right away this is a heavier, darker JSS and I’m all for it.
For My Sunday Song #284, we are going to discuss the song from Jeff Scott Soto’s metal band called Soto. The song is called “The Fall” and was written by Jeff along with fellow TSO member Tony Dickinson. The album is ‘Inside the Vertigo’ and the song were released in 2015 and was originally intended to be a solo album, but since the album had a band vibe and the sound was so much heavier than anything he had done recently, he went with SOTO as a band.
“The Fall” is an angry song. Someone has hurt him badly and stabbed him in the back and he isn’t having it. He is fighting back and letting them know he has it out for them and he can’t wait for them to fall from the graces and fall flat on their face. It sounds like it was someone famous as the line “Fame and Fortune/Big Star Everywhere/One more big talk millionaire” leads me to believe that. I don’t know who it is and can’t find where he has said but I wonder if it is Neal Schon who dropped him from Journey and I don’t know if they talk anymore. But I am purely speculating and have no real clue. Purely a guess. It could be anyone.
Musically, the song is just as angry. It is some of the heaviest work Jeff has done. There is a very modern metal vibe with hints of Marilyn Manson in the guitar which is handled by Chris Feener and Tony Dickinson. Jeff’s vocals are as aggressive as the music. You can hear the anger and his screams are intense and powerful. If you need an album to wake you up, this one would do it. It is balls-to-the-wall aggression and when you are done you are ready to punch someone in the face!!
2 Loud 2 Old Music 