While '80s-type metal is not my genre, I gave this CD an honest listen. This eight-song CD entitled Territory opens up with a track entitled "Room to Breathe", reminding me of Whitesnake. It has a very catchy hair metal chorus with Steve Sera’s vocals standing out. The reverbed George Lynch guitar solo again takes me back to the roaring '80s. Track two, "The Bed I Made", has a bit of Latin rock feel with congas and a Santana-like solo in the intro and again in the bridge that is quite appealing. It moves into an unoriginal hard rock chorus that makes me want the verse to come back right away. The third track is called "Fly" and contains every cliché about spreading your wings, feeling alive and getting higher that one would expect from a song with such a title. Track four, "Here and Now", got my attention at the beginning because of the Slash guitar intro. Cool. Enter Sera with a Dee Snider-ish vocal that again turns the clock back 20 years. "Shake the Cage" could have definitely made it onto Spinal Tap’s first record. "Shine down the light and focus on the dice, so keep the bars on your window," Sera screams, "Sacrifice. Save your life. You want salvation. A revelation. Shake the cage. I’m not a slave to the rage."

I’m looking hard for the originality. As the CD plays on, I try to imagine people still listening to stuff like this. Fiorentino is a good guitarist, there is no doubt. At times, he shows that he could explore other genres and he probably should. The rest of the band is solid and good at what they do. I will repeat that this is not my genre, but the clichés in most of the songs are unacceptable no matter what you’re listening to. The last song, "Living in Sin" seems to be their ballad. "Lord have mercy, brimstone, and fire..., religion is inside you. If it’s more than that, don’t save me ‘cause I’d choose and lose, livin’ in sin. Throw caution to the wind, you’re holding back the tide, catch your soul, catch a wave and say bye bye." Images come to mind, which is good, but the '80s really were the time when you could get away with this stuff. There are good bands that these guys remind me of. The Scorpions are one, KISS might be another. Maybe the joke’s on me though in the end, because when you do some research on these guys, you’ll find that they’ve opened up for legends like Metallica and Foghat, and some other famous bands. Anyway, check out www.ktdrocks.com for CDs, gigs and more info. Merely my opinion: File under: "2 Decades 2 Late: Twisted Sister meets Spinal Tap."

http://ktdrocks.com/