We almost passed this one after seeing the cover art, but then we saw that guitars were at charge of Martin Sweet from Crashdiet, and needed to give “Fast Lane“, the debut album by ALPHA DESTROYER, a listen. And glad we did it. First we found the official animated video for the title track and wow… that riff in the verses is pure Ratt circa 1987!
Sometimes musicians get the creative itch to try new things and collaborate with different artists. Eric Dorsett is probably best known for his work in Dead Conspiracy and Sleepless – and decided in 2022 to establish a new outfit to satisfy more of his diverse influences across the classic hard rock to heavy metal platforms.
This five-piece outfit Alpha Destroyer contains a mixture of players with a ton of experience – Martin Sweet of Crashdiet, bassist Kelly LeMieux of Goldfinger and Buckcherry, guitarist Kevin Hahn who already works with Eric in Sleepless, and drummer Ryan McPhaill (Sioux, King Twang). The creative flow that originally developed as a four-song EP soon took wings and more material took shape.
Alpha Destroyer’s ”Fast Lane” is kinda cool, groovy hard rockin’, with some twists here and there. There’s heavy numbers, others bluesy, a pair of melodic.
‘Masterplan’ is one of our absolute faves on this disc, the main musical hook elevates the proceedings to arena level proportions, along with a big-time, harmony chorus. There’s some modern day Skid Row here.
This is followed up by fellow heavy hitters ‘Dirt In the Ground’ and ‘Lobotomized’, tunes designed to knock yer block off. ‘Sweet Dreams From Oblivion’ gives me Megadeth vibes with Eric Sexton Dorsett’s gritty, raspy vocal, giving a nice touch. ‘Conspiracy’ is dark and heavy too.
‘Manic Messiah’ is another winner, catchy, melodic, with Crashdiet vibe, we love the chorus. ‘The Prophet’ rocks with groove and doomy atmospheres, with a Ozzy aura all over.
To make a long story short, Alpha Destroyer did a nice job with ”Fast Lane”. It’s a mix of hard rocking / metal influences from all members, and while it is familiar the guys add some cool twists to escape the usual cclichés
Highly Recommended
Tracklist:
01. Straight Into The Grind
02. Masterplan
03. Dirt In The Ground
04. Transmission
05. Lobotomized
06. Fast Lane
07. Sweet Dreams From Oblivion
08. Manic Messiah
09. Conspiracy
10. The Prophet
Alpha Destroyer – Fast Lane – 2025
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