Thunder! Lightning! Fighting! Heavy metal in the night! (Dream Evil)

I really dislike pressure sales-people. But what I dislike even more is allowing myself to be pressured into buying something.

I allowed myself to be persuaded to buy a CD called Brush-Fires Of The Mind by a band called Sons Of Liberty. Dumb dumb dumb.

Why did I buy? Three reasons.

It was in the Mall of the Emirates Virgin Megastore, and the sales guy has recommended some good stuff to me before (Russell Allen's Atomic Soul and Stratovarius are two that come to mind). That's the first.

Second - Sons Of Liberty is a project by Jon Schaffer from Iced Earth. I really like Iced Earth - an American hybrid of Iron Maiden with lyrical stuff that is more philosophically interesting than the norm.

Third - The CD was in digipak form. Usually a good sign. I love Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson's stuff. He usually goes for the upmarket digipak format.

Stupidly I, therefore, made a tenuous link to Wilson and thought - solo, digipak, trustworthy sales guy.

Mr Schaffer in action

I did have a nagging, nagging thought it was a mistake  (the name and cover pic rang bells and I'd just finished a Lee Child book about the lunatic fringe militia groups in America). But 60 dirhams? What the hey, right?

Starts off fine - opening track Jekyll Island is like Iced Earth musically. That's a great thing. And to be fair, for the most part the music is excellent.

The bad stuff? It's a concept album. A heavy metal concept album...with a...message. Eeeeeeeiigggghhhhhhhh!!

Jon writes about the message inside the CD (damn you shrink wrap). I wish I'd seen this sentence before I parted with my cash:

It's crucial for all of us to learn the real history and the real agenda of the Federal Reserve System, the 3rd Central Bank of the United States.

I am not making this up!!

I've listened to the CD three times now - just to check out my initial thoughts and I know I will never listen to it ever again. Anybody want my copy?

I'm going to go back to Iced Earth and Dream Evil to try to wash the taste off.