Classical musicians bring extra dimensions to metal. Cellos and violins can’t help but add a little something wicked. Yet, as good as Apocalyptica’s rendition of “Master of Puppets” is, no matter how different, it’s still an example of ventriloquism. Judgment Day’s second album is original juice. It began as an attempt to write avant-garde string music for the street performance. Yet, like the makings of a classic jazz session, their tunes morphed into different beasts when they stopped rehearsing and let their muse go to work. Under the studio microscope, the string players avoided using guitars, improvised a missing bridge here, an intro there, occasionally creating new pieces out of whole cloth. With classical training strengthening their metal infatuation, Peacocks/Pink Monsters bangs like Iron Maiden and Megadeth (“Klagenstuck”), vintage Motorhead (“Barrage”), plus latter-day smart bombs like Tool (“The Constant,” and the title track). The new metal folks are carrying violin bows and wearing leather.
This article appears in August 18, 2010.