Sebastian Bach ‘Still Kicking and Screaming’

Sebastian Bach has a lot to scream about. Last year he filed for divorce from his wife, and this past August his New Jersey home was destroyed by Hurricane Irene. He’s been through hell lately, but you can’t keep a good rock star down – especially one with such amazing hair.

Over a decade since he left the 80’s metal band Skid Row, Bach can still draw a crowd all his own. His fourth solo album Kicking and Screaming is available now via Frontier Records, and you can catch him live this month at Starland Ballroom (Nov. 5th) and Irving Plaza (Nov. 10th).

With a series of Northeast tour dates on tap, Sebastian Bach has better things to do than talk to us. But as luck would have it, he shared seven minutes with us anyway.

On this particular Friday evening Bach is kicking back with his kids at their temporary home in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. His real home isn’t far, but he can’t even go inside. What was once featured on MTV’s Cribs is now officially uninhabitable.

www.sebastianbach.com

“We lived in that house for 20 years, never had a drop of water”, Bach explains. “And now after Hurricane Irene its condemned and we cant live there anymore. The reservoir overflowed, and it never happened before. I don’t know why, if it’s global warming or what, but it’s pretty scary.”

There are a few sore subjects in Bach’s life right now, but all of this turmoil translates pretty well when you scream into a microphone for a living. So if from great torment comes great art, than Bach has turned life’s lemons into a loud, aggressive, and legit modern rock album.

You can hear the excitement in his voice as he talks about Kicking and Screaming, which hit shelves on September 23rd.

“It goes along with Angel Down (his 2007 solo album) and Slave to the Grind, one of the first Skid Row albums”, he gushes. “It’s all modern production, we recorded in Hollywood with Bob Marlette as the producer, and he let me work as hard as I wanted on the CD until I was completely happy.”

Working with Marlette meant stamping some serious metal cred onto the record – the producer has worked with legendary artists including Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath. Add young guitar prodigy Nick Sterling and drummer Bobby Jarzombek (Halford, Iced Earth) to the mix and Kicking and Screaming is as heavy as it gets.

The first sign of fireworks comes care of the loaded riff from the title track, and it only accelerates from there. Known for his work with Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, noted rock guitarist John 5 leaves his mark during a raging solo on another high-energy tune ‘Tunnelvision’.

In an almost therapeutic way, songs like ‘Dance on Your Grave’ and ‘Dirty Power’ really give Bach a chance to address grievances with his ex, too. “I don’t have to reach far for my emotions on this record, with the divorce and all”, he admits.

Every rock album needs a power ballad, and you can totally picture the fan blowing Bach’s blond locks out of his face as he sings the wistful tune ‘Dream Forever’.

Bach’s tour will take him through Europe in January, and he plans to hit the festival circuit next summer. And despite heartaches and hurricanes, this rock star is still able to roll with the punches. “Somebody said, ‘what’s your next record going to be called, The Hurricane Took Everything Your Wife Didn’t?”, he jokes.

www.sebastianbach.com

TheWaster.com | New Jersey
11.03.2011