Lynch Mob “Smoke and Mirrors”

By: Jesse Mazzoccoli

Smoke and Mirrors by LYNCH MOB

The long awaited, highly anticipated and well overdue follow up to Lynch Mob’s debut album Wicked Sensation is finally here, and Smoke and Mirrors is by far the bands best work to date. Lynch Mob has released several marginally successful albums since putting out their debut record back in 1990, but this is the first time since then that guitar virtuoso George Lynch and vocalist Oni Logan have released an album together. The outcome is pure magic.

Smoke and Mirrors picks up right where Wicked Sensation left off, with great guitar licks and riffs, exquisite acoustic guitar playing and slide guitar sounds coupled with superb lyrics and melodic vocal phrasing. With this latest release Lynch Mob is back and better than ever.

The lyrics on certain tracks, such as “21st Century Man” and the album’s title track, hit home with many of the hot-topic, in the moment, issues of today such as the current global turmOIL and Big Brother’s ever-watching, over-looking eye. Brilliantly phrased melodies and tasty guitar shred-work should make this album an instant hit with fans of ’80s metal, as well as rein in a new, younger fan base with songs like “Time Keepers,” “Let the Music Be Your Master” and “Lucky Man.” The latter combining fresh harmonies, creative riffs, and uplifting lyrics, a trait that seems to escape much of the music released today.

Some of the guitar tones Lynch uses are similar to those he used in the late 1980s, while others sound similar to the later albums from Metallica, System of a Down, and Lamb of God. The combination of vintage and contemporary tones, let alone the tasty riffs and licks, is sure to grab the attention of new and veteran guitarists alike.

After listening to Lynch Mob’s latest album, it becomes quite apparent that Lynch was definitely behind much of the industrial thought that was Dokken. Portions of the new Lynch Mob album sound like they could actually be Dokken, until Logan’s vocals make their way into the soundscape, ratifying the essence that defines the Lynch Mob sound.

Buried amid the pyrotechnics, lightning fast guitar riffs, and bold harmonies on the albums songs are the occasional clichéd lines that might be better suited for the latest country-music anthem bellowing about truth, justice, and the (un)American way, most notably on the title track. However, Lynch saves the day with a bare bones heavy blues interlude just before the steroid-pumped bluesy solo that is brutally elegant. Overall, these small details don’t take focus away from the fact that this is Lynch Mob’s finest output yet.

The title, Smoke and Mirrors, be it accidental or intentional irony, is anything but. Lynch and Logan come together to create an original and distinct sound and recapture the spirit that was once, and is once again, Lynch Mob. Vintage tones, as well as fresh new sounds and riffs from both Lynch and Logan earn Lynch Mob a B+ with Smoke and Mirrors.