Residual Alcatraz

Greensboro, North Carolina's oddly named Dogbane play a traditional style of U.S. Heavy Metal with Doom influences on their even more oddly named debut, Residual Alcatraz. The guitars have a meaty buzz and the vocals are drenched with echo. The album runs the gamut of tempos and never gets tedious in that respect. Faster songs like "Devil in the Dark" and the title track remind me of Slave to the Grind-era Skid Row while the slower stuff, "God Forgive You" and "Burning in the Night," for example, evoke TT Quick. Singer Jeff Neal conjures up a little Mark Shelton, on occasion.

Dogbane hasn't come up with anything truly killer on Residual Alcatraz but all the songs are solid with a good amount of variety. A few steps up in the songwriting department could really put them over the top. Dogbane is a band to watch.