Rating: NNN
The folks at Roadrunner have done something truly innovative to celebrate their first quarter-century in the biz. With team captains from the likes of Slipknot, Fear Factory and Soulfly assigned to recruit members from some of the bigger acts in mainstream metal, Sessions plays out like a well-conceived über-jam, running the gamut from brutal death to retro power metal – often within the same song. It’d take eons to mention everyone else involved (though I commend great efforts from members of Deicide and Cradle of Filth), but even if it’s a tad inconsistent, the album manages to find some common ground between the diverse players, all of whom complement each other perfectly. Who knew metal was so much more than the sum of its parts?