MOLLY HATCHET

To be perfectly honest, I had no idea that MOLLY HATCHET still existed. I recall a stint in the late '90s where I would see the band's name advertised in random dive bars in my neck of the woods, but aside from that nobody was really screaming their name from the mountaintop. Under the radar, however, the MOLLY HATCHET train kept on a rollin' and the band has been consistently putting out albums since the turn of the century; despite the tragic loss of two members. All that being said, I guess my "THE HATCHET IS BACK, BABY" shtick is shot completely to hell for this review isn't it? Comeback or not, this is a band that has spent the last 35 years putting out some rather tasty Southern rock and after last year's disappointment from LYNYRD SKYNYRD, that's quite an accomplishment.

Don't expect "Justice" to live up to the legacy set by HATCHET's early material and nothing on this album comes close to the sheer Southern sweetness of "Flirtin' With Disaster", but this is a solid effort in its own right. Things start off strong enough with "Been To Heaven Been To Hell", which brings that bar-brawlin' vibe of the classic material to life. "Safe In My Skin" and "Deep Water" (after a keyboard intro that came straight out of an '80s movie soundtrack) aren't bad throwbacks to MOLLY HATCHET's glory days either, but it's the soulful "American Pride" that brings out the Southern-fried best in these rockers; at least where the album's first half in concerned. Despite its shades of BON JOVI, the epic warrior's anthem "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" injects a nice shot of darkness into the album and is the one song that fits singer Phil McCormack's gruff voice to a tee. The song's series of melodious guitar solos are a nice touch too. Heavy on the piano and heartache, "Fly On Wings Of Angels (Somer's Song)" and "As Heaven Is Forever" could very well be the missing links between '80s hair ballads and '90s country. Heartfelt, yet generic. After a rather middling mid-section, "Justice" closes off the sort of Southern rock fury one should expect from one of the genre's pioneers. Slide guitars, whiskey-soaked vocals screaming about justice in the world, call-and-answer guitar solos in the vein of "Free Bird"; it doesn't get much better than this South of the Mason-Dixon Line.

If you're looking for an album to take you back to the golden age of Southern rock where SKYNYRD and THE ALLMAN BROTHERS ruled the roost, I'm afraid this isn't it. That's not to say that "Justice" doesn't have its share of bright spots, but it falls short of living up to the band's legacy. In short, "Justice" is a mostly decent mixture of '70s and '80s rock with an added shot of Southern sizzle. Hey, at least their album covers still kick ass.