Razer CD REVIEW & INTERVIEW W / Chris Catero
RAZER
Dark Devotion Expanded Edition
Release Date – July 19th, 2011
Razer Is:
Chris Powers – Lead Vocals
Chris Catero – Bass, Backing Vocals
Jeromy Graves – Guitar
Paul Sullivan – Guitar
Eric Bongiorno – Drums, Backing Vocals
All I can say is WOW. Razer mixes old school metal and the new rock vibe with ease. There is a ton if different musical influences running through this CD. With sixteen songs there is a lot to take in. With that being said I think sixteen songs might be too many to hold the attention of some younger fans. Old school rock and metal fans might be more prone to listen to the whole CD in its entirety and like it if not love it. The disc opens with the hard hitting single “Do You Want It” written by bassist Chris Catero and former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman. They also do a killer cover of Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks”. Singer Chris Powers vocal range is amazing. He delivers a different vocal style on each song. The musicianship is spot on. If you didn’t catch Razer’s “Dark Devotion” the first time around the Expanded Edition is well worth picking up.
Track List Is As Follows:
Do You Want It
Superpaun
What I Say
Cold War
Never Understand
Dark Devotion
Right Kind Of Evil
Fall From Grace
Frozen
Falling In Line
Save The World
Cut And Paste
The Broken
When The Levee Breaks
Every 1s A Winner
Frozen – Live From The Living Room
INTERVIEW W/ Chris Catero
RN: Tell us about the re-release Dark Devotion.
Chris Catero: This is an expanded edition of the album that came out last year. The reason is, it was released in a very limited manner. What happen was through the year, God Bless Jose Mangin at Octane. He is a big fan of the band and he picked up on it. Jose is one of those guys in rock radio that gets to be a rebel. He plays what he wants to play. He really helped the band out. He played a couple songs and what ended up happening along the way we picked up new management and we started to get a lot of things in place for the band businesses wise. Management suggested that we put out an expanded edition and add a few more songs.
RN: I heard your song “Do You Want It” on Octane. I really dug it.
Chris Catero: The song “Do You Want It” is a song that Marty Friedman (ex- Megadeth) and I wrote together. We went in and did a few covers songs pretty much the way Marty and I would do them. And we had an acoustic version of “Do You Want It” and I said why don’t we try a full version of it. And after that I sent it to Jose just to see what he thought of it. And before I knew it he was already spike rotating our songs and I asked about “Do You Want It” and he told me he was putting it in rotation and within a few weeks it made their Big ‘Uns Countdown. That was when I thought “Ok I think we have something here.”
RN: When does the CD come out?
Chris Catero: The CD comes out July 19TH and the single “Do You Want It” should hit main stream radio around the same time.
RN: I was looking for tour dates and I couldn’t find any. What’s going on with that?
Chris Catero: Well we have a few one offs coming up. We are trying to get everything squared away all at the same time. Our booking agent wanted it to coincide stuff with the release of our single.
RN: What do you do when you’re not working with Razer?
Chris Catero: I play Bass in Marty Friedman’s solo band and I run Krank Amps.
RN: How is it touring with Marty Friedman? He is a big celebrity over in Japan.
Chris Catero: Sometimes it’s crazy because he actually is a true blue celebrity over there. Over and above anything you do with rock music. He is all over T.V. It was kind of weird, we did a DVD there a few years back and walking down the street he had little old ladies coming up to him. These are not the typical people that would know who he is. I asked him, “How does she know you”? He said, “I was booked on a cooking show that’s how she knows me”. It’s pretty crazy.
RN: You have a lot on your plate. You play in two bands and you run Krank Amps. How do you manage your time?
Chris Catero: I have to run the entire company right now because we are going through some restructuring but when it’s all done I’ll be handling artist relations, marketing and product development.
RN: I have to ask, do you sponsor yourself?
Chris Catero: Of course, most of the equipment we use I had a hand in the development. So it’s definitely a labor of love when it comes to that stuff.
RN: Is there anything you want to say to your fans that have heard the single on Octane or to the people that are reading about you for the first time?
Chris Catero: I would like to say I hope you enjoy the single and if you like it check out the rest of the album. I think people will be pleasantly surprised that there are 15 other killer songs on the album that you will dig.
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