Ignitor

The Spider Queen

Classic Metal Vocals 101 | Heavy Artillery

When you’re an old-school, traditional metal band with a complete concept album written, you need a lead singer with the charisma to carry the bulk of the load, from the multiple character portrayals to the storyline, to the overall flamboyance of the entire project. With original singer Erika Swinnich leaving Ignitor after their second album, 2007’s Road of Bones, the Austin, TX band wound up hitting the free agent market. Their new recruit turns out to be an odd choice, but ultimately a perfect fit.

Most of us remember Jason McMaster as the Axl-esque frontman for late ’80s sleaze rockers Dangerous Toys, and the last time we heard from the dude was a few years ago when he appeared with Shadows Fall on their cover of “Teas’n, Pleas’n,” but although Ignitor’s influences lie more in Maiden and Priest than cock rock, McMaster lends The Spider Queen the kind of personality that the band’s previous output lacked. It’s not always successful (the maudlin “I Never Knew” feels awkwardly executed), but when the album does connect, it hits hard. McMaster snarls ferociously on the churning “The Games Begin,” his vocals drenched in early ’80s reverb, while his commanding, theatrical approach on “Evil Calling” and “Magnum Opus” displays a surprising level of range, the sound of a guy clearly relishing a chance to go all Halford—or perhaps more accurately, all David Wayne—on us. Musically there’s nothing new here, and thematically we have no idea what’s going on, but the exuberance of this record is undeniable.

—Adrien Begrand

Username

Password

Forgot password

Register new account