Supershine - Supershine
(Metal Blade, 2000)

To put it bluntly, Supershine is a real fragmentation grenade of an album, a kick in the shins to all the naysayers of what real heavy metal should sound like. Doug Pinnick of King's X has been hired by guitarist Bruce Franklin (of classic christian doom metal band Trouble) for this finely executed solo album. Pinnick's breathtaking vocals aside, the real star here is Franklin's erupting, ireful guitar chords that paint a big black, permanent stain all over this record, indeed a beautiful sight. A brilliant combination of seventies jam metal and nineties nu-metal, Supershine lacks any filler whatsoever, starting and ending with the same poisoned fury.

Take Me Away is an excellent doom-filled opener, but greatly succeeded by its follower, Kingdom Come, which is a splendidly vile combination of Black Sabbath influenced music. The brooding and powerful smash that is I Can't Help You moves between light ballad and tortured chunks of Franklin's patented guitar throb. The lone cover song on this record, Shinin' On, is an ambitious epic, completely leaving Grand Funk's version in the dust. Midway through the song, Franklin's heroic harmonizing interlude cracks your head open and forces itself into your cerebellum, pushing you to headbang like no other song ever will. Candy Andy Jane is a muscled grind similar King's X's The World Around Me, but superior in complexity, with Franklin's tone on his one-note speed crunch sounding like the best of Metallica, Metal Church, or Trouble with Doug Pinnick on vocals, a metal-lover's wet dream. The smoother rock songs One Night, Won't Drag Me Down, Love, and undeniably impressive power ballad Shadows/Light would have place on any King's X album. Come to think of it, much of this stuff deserves to be on the new King's X material, which seriously lacks its former splendor. If the next King's X album sounds anything like this or Ty Tabor's The Jelly Jam, count me in, because everything on Supershine kicks.

Rating: 5/5