Booze, Broads And Beelzebub (B, B And B) - The title pretty much sums up what Chrome Division are all about; although you could also add ‘Bikes’ (as in Motorcycles) seeing as revving Harleys crop up in a few of their songs. Anyone familiar with their first album, Doomsday Rock ‘n’ Roll will not be much surprised with the content of B, B And B - Gritty, Down ‘n’ Dirty Rock ‘n’ Roll. Dimmu Borgir fans though, will still be wondering WTF Shagrath is playing at; hoping that he’d got the ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ shit out of his system with the first release. Well sorry, he hasn’t: Actually, I’m not sorry in the slightest, in fact, I’m fucking ecstatic that Chrome Division have created another album and hope they create many more. Was it not for the fact that Chrome Division is a Shagrath ‘Side Project’ then I’m sure the band would get all the praise they rightly deserve. However, IMHO, I feel that because Shagrath is a major figure in the Black Metal scene, BM fans find it abhorrent that he indulges in such flippant behaviour such as play Rock ‘n’ Roll and have fun whilst he’s doing it. I’ve always found that BM fans take the scene real serious and have very stringent ideals when it comes to BM music and are very possessive about the BM bands. The fact that more and more BM fans seem to be labelling Dimmu Borgir as sell-outs with each new release is irrelevant, they are still Black Metal so, technically, THEIRS! So to help BM fans separate Shagrath from his ‘Day Job’ with Dimmu Borgir and his flirtation with ‘That Other Stuff’, from henceforth he will be referred to as Stian Thoresen.

Right, now that’s been cleared up – The music! There have been many instances where Chrome Division are compared to Motörhead and Black Label Society (BLS). Personally I think this is more of a comparison visually than aurally. The leather jackets, patches and album covers all seem to flick a mind-switch sending out an assumption message to the brain to expect similar music from each band. I’m not really a fan of either Motörhead or BLS but from what I have heard, they all have completely different sounds. If the sounds were so similar there would be many instances of them being labelled as a Tribute or Cover Band and, so far, I’ve not heard this. Being an old fart I can hear some of the real old bands influences within their music: Thin Lizzy, Nazareth, Georgia Satellites and ZZ Top; they’ve even covered Sharp Dressed Man in tribute (stamping it with their own Chrome Division style obviously). Grab yourself a listen to Booze, Broads And Beelzebub at the NB Splash Page

If you enjoyed their debut Doomsday Rock ‘N’ Roll then it’s a shoo in you’re gonna enjoy B, B And B. It’s probably more testosterone and booze fuelled, politically incorrect and misogynistic than their debut with vocalist Eddie Gus peppering tracks with “Show’s yer tits!” between singing about bikes, drinking, fighting, getting laid and all the other things that you read in the tabloids that rock bands get up to. The rhythm section of Björn Luna – bass guitar (also of Ashes to Ashes) and Tony White – drums keep everything down and dirty sounding at just the right pace. The combined riffs and hooks of lead guitarist Ricky Black and Stian Thoresen grab you by any available appendage and just don’t let go. Their rhythms, melodies and harmonies bring a new dimension to a style of music that has been around longer than me which stops it from being ‘The-Same-Old-Same-Old!’ that I’ve listened to for yonks. On the whole Ricky plays some well constructed solos and guitar bridges with the exception of the last solo part on Doomsday Rider; it was like he started off playing what was gonna be a kick-ass solo, suddenly remembered he’d done that one before, winged it and ended up playing something a 10 year old would think up. Fuck ups like that should just not happen when they are at that level of professionalism. It’s only a minor thing but kinda makes you go “Damn, you blew it there dude!” Apart from that everything else just makes you want to Rock Out.

Something else that kinda pisses me off and is the fault of the record label, totally beyond anything the band can do about it, is the staggered release. We in Europe have had it on the shelves since 18 June yet it is not being released until 19 August in America – WHY???? And they wonder why people illegally download!

Because Chrome Division is a collection of members from other bands fitting in a tour is going to be something of a problem. Hopefully in the not too distant future the band members ‘Day Job’ bands will have a convergent down time long enough to allow a Chrome Division tour, and, if it was to happen, I would thoroughly recommend you go. Leaving your girlfriend, wife or significant other at home would be something else I’d recommend.