18. December 2014 By Walter Price 0

Review: Twenty Two Hundred – ‘Carnaval De Vénus’

An album that is turned up to 11, hotter than melted cheese in a pizza-pocket in hell, and so flat-out sexy that it makes my bra unhook itself.

By Maria Haskins

I don’t know how much I have in common with Slash, but apparently we both think that Twenty Two Hundred and their album “Carnaval de Vénus” kicks ass, and that’s something. Ever since I heard the track “Hitman” last year, I’ve been waiting impatiently for the full album, and it does not disappoint. Carnaval de Vénus is a tour de force, rumbling with a heavy, thick, fat rock’n’roll groove that will roll over you like pleasure train and make you want to do bad, but very enjoyable, things.

This is a band that already sounded very good on their debut EP “Eleven” (released in 2010). Since then they’ve toured with Slash, picked up Tony Cardenas-Montana on vocals, and been signed to Tonequake Records. The end result is an album that is turned up to 11, hotter than melted cheese in a pizza-pocket in hell, and so flat-out sexy that (to steal an expression from a friend of mine) it makes my bra unhook itself.

I can’t pick a favorite track because I want them all. Things start off just right with the deep and heavy “7X Down”, laced with enough swaggering attitude to make you adjust your underwear; then “Got It Bad” rattles your bones with a wickedly twisted bass and a seductive slither to the vocals.

After that, it’s just one sexy beast after another: “The Rat” and knockout “Hitman” both growl and throb with riffy goodness, while “Stone Cold”, starts out bluesy and teasing before slamming you down with riffs that are so heavy and hot, you’re likely to need a cold shower. Drew Alig is just relentlessly good on drums, and both Marcus Kain on guitar and Mark Wells on guitar and bass obviously have their instruments set to “kill” all through this album. Just listen to “Mojave” where their riffs are so heavy they might crush something. The way these two make the guitar and bass fit together is definitely a big part of this album’s sex appeal.

Another part of that appeal is Tony Cardenas-Montana’s vocals – they’re like really good booze: goes down smooth, but with that rough bite that makes you want more. His voice is flaunting that power on “The Sun”, a track with a loose, slow-burning vibe that comes back again on both the seductive “Everything” and the heavy, dancier “Enemy”. The band cranks it up a notch on the brilliantly groovy “Shot Down”, before topping it all off with “Why Can’t You Love Me” – 8+ minutes of pleading, pleasing, irresistible rock with a groove so deep you feel it in your bones.

Twenty Two Hundred is on fire on “Carnaval de Vénus” and this is a blistering hot album: the lyrics, the music, the vocals, it all comes together flawlessly. My verdict: Take this album home, put it on, make out with it, and give your subwoofer a serious workout at the same time.

Twenty Two Hundred: official website / Facebook / Twitter