Rock/Metal Reviews


 

The Dead Ringer
Hanker

 

Hanker are a traditional heavy metal band from Quebec, Canada. 'The Dead Ringer' is their second album, the first was entitled 'In Our World'.


Hanker are Pascal Cliche on Lead Vocals, Guitar and Keyboards, Patrick Gravel on Guitar and Backing Vocals, Martin Jones on Bass and Luc Guay on Drums.


Narration by Rejean Garon.


The Dead Ringer was recorded at Studio Sequence, Quebec (Canada). Produced by Pascal Cliche.
Engineered by Yves Drolet. Mixed by Yves Drolet.Re-mastered by Jean-Francois Chicoine at Studio SNB, Montreal (Canada)


The tracks are : 'Unsung Hero', 'Holy Screen', 'You Won't Live Eternally', 'The Clown', 'They Are Gone', 'Dead As The Night', 'The Age Of The Quick Fix', 'F.A.T.E.', 'No More War', 'United We Stand, Divided We Fall'.


The Dead Ringer is a concept album, telling the life of a church bell ringer and his reflection on life.


The album starts with 'Unsung Hero', a great track, starts with a short narrated passage followed by a heavy riff. The vocals are good from Pascal who has a powerful voice, theres a nice melody with some nice changes in tempo and direction. With some great guitar.


'Holy Screen' is an excellent track with some nice changes in tempo and direction and again some excellent guitar work.


Track 3 is 'You Won't Live Eternally' great track again with some nice changes in tempo and direction.


'The Clown' is a ballad, it has a brilliant intro and one of my favourite tracks. the vocals are superb, again some nice changes in direction and tempo and there's some excellent guitar solo's.


Next is 'They Are Gone' another ballad, but again a very good one. Again the vocals are spot on,the tracks starts off fairly quiet and builds up as the track moves on. Great Solo's.


'Dead As The Night', is a great track with a great melody, nice changes in tempo and direction and some great guitar.


Track seven is 'The Age Of The Quick Fix', an excellent track with a great intro,again nice changes in tempo and direction within the song and some great guitar.


'F.A.T.E.', is another great ballad.


Track nine is 'No More War' another excellent track with some great guitar.
and to finish 'United We Stand, Divided We Fall' another great track.
The Dead Ringer is an excellent metal album. It does remind me a bit of Iron Maiden , Judas Priest and I'm sure it would appeal to fans of these bands.
Buy and Enjoy!!


The Official Hanker Homepage : http://www.hankermetal.com
Official Hanker Fan Club : 22 Assomption, C.P. 178, Beaupre, Quebec, Canada. G0A 1E0

Buy The CD