Charred Walls of The Damned with Don Jamieson

In an unlikely situation (maybe not-so much in this case), comedian and co-host of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show Don Jamieson was the warm up for Charred Walls short run of dates in the U.S. Armed with his wit and sarcasm, Don delivered jokes fitting for the crowd themed around the metal music even taking a hilarious jab at Rob Halford (he also made sure it was done with respect) using several Judas Priest titles (‘Ram it Down’, ‘Eat me Alive’, 'Point Of Entry') to tell a guy in the crowd what the Metal God would do to him sexually. Very funny.

Charred Walls Of The Damned is the new band from former Iced Earth and Death drummer Richard Christy (who’s day job is working for the Howard Stern Show), and features Tim Owens, (once in Iced Earth, Judas Priest, currently with Yngwie) on vocals, joined by guitarists John Comprix (Beyond Fear) and Matt Sorg, and bassist Ed Stephens (Shock Paris). New to the road, the guys are out supporting Charred Walls debut by playing the whole album, combining death/thrash metal riffing with a power metal chorus on tracks like ‘Blood On Wood’ and ‘Ghost Town’ (which also has a promo video so the crowd knew it pretty well). Richard wrote the songs and did a good job combining both genres into his brand of traditional yet aggressive heavy metal. Styles that don’t work often but do here.

Mixed in with the Charred Walls stuff was ‘Starting Over’ from Tim’s solo album “Play My Game” and a blazing ‘Scream Machine’ from his band Beyond Fear. Owens is one of those singers that always delivers and has a voice matched by few (which is why he got the Priest gig). ‘Burn In Hell’ was great to hear, done very well and lived up to the original and yes… he did the screams. And speaking of…for Maiden’s ‘Number of The Beast’, Tim nailed Dickinson’s in the finale and it was a show stopper. But then again, did anyone doubt he could? I sure didn’t.

Being a very new band the numbers were not there, but that was expected. The album is solid and the players are talented so Charred Walls should have legs (as long as they don’t get lost in the shuffle). I’m curious to see how the tour does and what comes of the next album.

Setlist
Blood On Wood
From The Abyss
Scream Machine
Creating Our Machine
Ghost Town
Burn In Hell (Judas Priest)
Drum Solo
Number Of the Beast (Iron Maiden)
The Darkest Eyes
In A World So Cruel
Starting Over
Fear In the Sky
Voices Within the Walls
The Four Horsemen (Metallica)
Manifestations