Bonz: Broken Silence review
After a somewhat lengthy absence, while the rest of Stuck Mojo focused their attention on Fozzy with WWE superstar Chris Jericho, the silence has been broken and Mojo howler Bonz is back with a vengeance.
Stuck Mojo helped to set the standard for the Rap-Rock genre with their unique blend of southern fried metal, fused with a Rap vocal delivery. Bonz’s newest project with Primer 55 guitarist Curt Taylor, the aptly titled Broken Silence, is an impassioned rally cry that shows he still has something to prove.
Bonz has worked with Taylor and Bobby Burns from Primer 55 in the past with the band Killer In The Workplace, who released and toured behind one album, calling it a day in 2011.
Broken Silence is the result of a joint venture with Eternal Sound and Pavement Music and also features guest appearances by Primer 55 singer Jason Luttrell and Mojo/Fozzy guitarist Mike Martin.
Not surprisingly, songs like opener “Sinister Grin” and “Bad News” follow the crushing musical soundscapes of the first Primer 55 album Introduction to Mayhem, counterbalanced by the Southern Rock swagger of Mojo, while “Sour Diesel” is a distinctive and devastating cross pollinated Rap-Rock hybrid.
Tracks like “Godshine,” “30 Seconds to Swat” and “Bad Love” are shamelessly addictive Rap-Rock anthems the redefine accepted definitions of heavy and could have been on any of the wonderfully chaotic Stuck Mojo albums.
By stark contrast, “Take It Personal” goes against the grain of expectations, by leaning heavily on the more Rap side of Bonz’s musical personality and is represented twice on the album, both as a studio and live performance.
Meanwhile, the machine gun riffs and buzz saw grooves, of title track “Broken Silence” is a different beast altogether that invokes the spirit of the true Rap-Rock pioneers Anthrax. While elsewhere, ”Comes Over Me” steals a page from the Godsmack playbook musically, but is still driven by the patented cadence of Bonz.
Here’s the bottom line- For those of you longing for a Stuck Mojo reunion, your prayers have been answered, as the band has recently announced they will be getting back together. In the meantime Broken Silence is everything you’ve been waiting for and is one hell of a way to fill the void.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
-Eric Hunker