Roadrunner United - The All Star Sessions. The greatest metal collaboration

At one time this album shocked me. It is intended solely for the fan of heavy music, and there are songs in punk rock processing, alternative compositions, brutal and melodic metalcore and even black metal. This is a real seventy-minute extravaganza, shocking and at the same time leading to the auditory ecstasy of a connoisseur of true metal.

"Roadrunner United" is a unique project, timed to the 25th anniversary of Roadrunner Records. Monster of music industry, which under its wing warmed a lot of most successful and meaningful rock bands. The idea was realized in 2005 year.

The All Star Sessions feature consists in the fact that more than 50 famous musicians were involved in the recording of the album. Such a large-scale undertaking required a well-coordinated working scheme, as a result of which it was decided to split the musicians into four teams and select the captain responsible for his track listing and the work of participants.

The first was Dino Cazares, whom many know as the guitarist of the Fear Factory. On the second post took Frontman Machine Head Rob Flynn. The third captain was Joey Jordisson, former drummer Slipknot and guitarist Murderdolls. The last captain was the youngest member of the entire assembled gang - eighteen-year-old Trivium frontman Matthew Heafy. Surprisly for all musicians Heafy showed how professional he is about the work, showed the talent of a real leader and composer.

I suggest listening to "Blood & Flames", a massive stoner written by Heafy. It was thanks to this song that I started listened to Jessie Leach as a vocalist. "Blood & Flames" is a tribute to stoner rock with blues vocal elements and bloodthirsty screaming of Leach.

The second song I chose for the post is a rough ballad "Army of the Sun". It is represented by Captain Rob Flynn. Here on vocals we hear Tim Williams, a member of the disbanded groups Vision of Disorder and Bloodsimple. Williams - the owner of a manic roar and screaming, which I always fucking liked. It was good for me to hear another song with his participation.

Another topic with Flynn is The Dagger. She opens the album, but puts it in the end of my post, as it is a steep metalcore, which requires preparation for the virgin ears.

In "The Dagger" we hear the voice and guitar Flynn + the second vocalist Howard Jones, who played in the band Killswitch Engage. The duo turned out to be a great test, the guitars sound melodic and deafening. But I love this song in the first place for the drum part of Andols Herrick (drummer Chimaira). Rigid composition, meat grinder with the coolest solo.

The song "The End" with a clearly commercial sharpening came out as a single to the album, and a little later a video clip was shot on it. This is the project of Dino Cazares, however, the text was written by another captain Matt Heafy, who also sang the vocal part.

I repeat that the whole album is damn good. Even if you're not a fan of a grim death metal or metalcore, there's a punk part called "I Do not Wanna Be", a visibly "Rich man" with Corey Taylor or a great hard rock song "Tired 'N Lonely".

Well, in the end I'll add a documental about the process of creating the album and the work of the musicians: