The Return of Iron Man
Posted in Reviews on May 29th, 2009 by JJ Koczan“Iron” Al Morris III is a doomer’s doomer; an original in of the congregation of The Riff. His band Iron Man, in the ranks of the original Hellhound Records greats, has seen ups, downs, further downs and expanses of time where the question, “Hey, what the hell ever happened to Iron Man?” wasn’t necessarily out of line. With just the self-released Submission EP to show for studio material (though there have been a host of live albums since 2006) in the time between 1999’s Generation Void (Brainticket) and today, Morris and Iron Man have been through lineup changes, periods of inactivity and damn near every other obstacle you can put in front of a band, remaining in spite of everything in the top names of traditional Maryland doom, which, to be fair, is a scene forgiving of intermittence among its own.
In 2009, Iron Man signed up with Pittsburgh‘s Shadow Kingdom Records to release their new album, the aptly-titled I Have Returned. Anyone who knows the band knows they got their start chopping out live sets mostly comprised of Sabbath covers, but on I Have Returned, originality takes center stage, with vocalist Joe Donnelly (once an Ozzy impersonator) providing unique companionship for Morris‘ riffing. The rhythm section of bassist Louis Strachan and drummer Dex Dexter makes this an entirely new lineup surrounding the guitarist since Generation Void, but Iron Man more than meet the tightness required by the music, sounding cohesive and natural throughout the album’s 10 tracks.