You can’t knock their collective pedigree. Take Greg Hampton, go-to guitarist for Alice Cooper and Bootsy Collins, ex-Monster Magnet riffmeister Ed Mundell, Gov’t Mule bassist Jorgen Carlsson and Vinny Appice, kid brother of Carmine and erstwhile drummer for Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hell.
9 Chambers deliver bludgeoning rock at brain-curdling volume, at a speed that rarely dips below 200mph. There are hints of Mountain and early Sabbath in their full-on attack, though the best reference point is perhaps the heavy stoner groove of Mundell’s old band.
No bad thing, of course, but there’s a distinct lack of shape or form to these 14 songs, with only a passing interest in melody. Know Your Enemy is a case in point, the band roaring along apace but completely neglecting to drop in a hook. Even the sole concession to a power ballad, Can’t Turn Your Back, is stubbornly inaccessible.
Promising maybe, but 9 Chambers is considerably less than the sum of its parts.
