Art of Anarchy – ‘Let There Be Anarchy’ (2024) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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.

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Ellefson / Soto – ‘Vacation in the Underworld’ (2022) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

Jeff Scott Soto has worked with some massive players so a hook up with David Ellefson, formerly of Megadeth, is no surprise. The two were working together back in March 2021 and had released a single which was a cover of Riot’s “Swords & Tequila” and I have to say it was pretty damn great. But two months later, Ellefson saw himself wrapped up on a major sex video scandal. The two decided to let things lie low for a long while and about a year later, they finally announced that a full album from the two would be coming soon. And finally on October 7, 2022, the album “Vacation in the Underworld” saw the light of day. But no “Swords & Tequila” sadly.

The two guys had a little help with Andy Martongelli on guitar. He is with the metal band Arthemis and he and David had been writing some songs together for a future project. David thought his long time friend, Jeff Scott Soto would be great for these songs. They needed a drummer so Paulo Caridi has played in Hollow Haze, The Bad Guy Experiment, and Cosmic Dead Ringers was brought in to complete the band. The sound of this band is heavy. It is a cross between Thrash, Metal and Melodic Rock. Jeff has a band that is for his metal side called Soto, but that band was missing the songs. Let me tell you, the songs are on here!!!

When this project was announced, I immediately went and pre-ordered the CD bundle which was signed by both David and Jeff as you can see from the top picture of this post. It also came with a 4×4 limited card, a couple stickers and a guitar pick as you can see below. And here is the thing. About 3 weeks before it’s release, I saw and ad for the album and I completely forgot I had ordered this already a few months earlier…so…I ordered it…AGAIN! Yes, I have two signed copies of the album. Man, I’m getting old. That was definitely a mistake on my part…but there is a mistake on the band’s part too. The back cover (above) shows 15 tracks…but there are only 14. Someone skipped track 12 and went from 11 to 13 on the track numbers…OOPS!! Enough, let’s get to the music.

The album opens with the title track, “Vacation in the Underworld”. The eerie, menacing guitar solo opens and when the drums hit, the power is even darker and more ominous. When the song kicks in, those double kick drums are so threatening and then Jeff finally comes in on vocals and all is right with the world or the underworld. The song is pure metal with a Power metal vibe to it. I love the heaviness and the power…it is a killer opener.

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