After exiting Manowar over twenty years ago, Ross the Boss' first solo CD, New Metal Leader, is a return to the epic power-metal sounds of his past work.

Ross' solo band came about when he played "A Night of Early Manowar" at the Keep It True IV Festival in Germany backed by Manowar cover band Men Of War. Ross ended up taking Men Of War under his wing as the Ross the Boss band.

Ross the Boss - Keep It True Festival

In an interview with Stalker, Ross said "I realized they were special the first time we rehearsed. They´re schooled musicians with deep respect for me and the music. Before playing the Keep It True Festival for the second time, we stepped into Tarek´s studio and laid down tracks for "I Got The Right" and "We Will Kill." The next step was to see if Patrick could write lyrics for the songs. When the songs were finished, I knew I had a band and I never wanted to play another Manowar song again. I never wanted to be an "oldies guy" who paid tribute to himself. Playing Manowar songs with a tribute band was cheesy, but fun. We got great offers and made a lot of new contacts and friends; however, we knew we weren´t going to do it for long."

New Metal Leader isn't quite Manowar's Kings of Metal but it is pretty darn close. The disc's 11 tracks are pretty much all melodic anthems that are sure to get fists pumping in the air. Vocalist Patrick Fuchs doesn't have the road-worn sound of Manowar vocalist Eric Adams but, if you look at Ross' quote above, he wasn't trying to form a Manowar cover band. Patrick has a great voice for this genre of music.

"Blood of Knives" is the first full track on the disc (after the epic metal guitar-driven opener) and is pretty indicative of what the rest of the disc sounds like.


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The band stays in this power metal groove for most of the disc but there are a few diversions into the metal ballad territory ("God of Dying") that I associate with The Scorpions and "May the Gods Be With You" is the sort of radio-friendly rock song that Kiss was writing in the early 90's.

Both fans of power metal and early Manowar should enjoy this disc.

Links:
Ross the Boss' MySpace Profile
Ross the Boss' Website