Past M.D. – Desert Moon Hotel Review

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With no shadow of doubt, there are within Metal music some very distinctable national signatures as the NWOBHM, or the Teotonic Metal and even the Norwegian Black Metal. I’d dare to say that Hair Metal or Hard Rock have a very distinctable national signature that is from the United States. When the fan listens to a band as Mötley Crüe, Poison, Cinderela or even Bon Jovi this distinct signature is present as well. That happens because those bands have an approach that borders the Blues and, therefore, Rock. It’s not rare to have in their albums songs with a bluesy approach or a rock approach. For the fans with an ear for languages the accent is also very distinctable though the processes of recording take a lot of the accent from the singing. Thanks to the transnational process of Metal music acceptance, there are bands from all over this sad and lonely and pathetic little planet playing Metal tonight and many of them showcase no signature of their nationality to embrance the distinct sonancy of other natinality. This process happens very often and we have here a great example with Past M.D. “Desert Moon Hotel” where in “Texas Jimmy (Taneytown, the other side),” for instance, even the very pronounced Texan accent is emulated. Not to mention the ZZ Top sonancy.

Past M.D. stands for Midnight Darkness as this was the band’s name after their break up in 1985 and their reunion in 2004. “Desert Moon Hotel” is their third album after their comeback and the long hiatus and their chance to change things over. As aforementioned, the album has a strong taste of American Hard Rock with distinct influences of Southern Rock and some Blues. ZZ Top is an obvious influence but not all. Past M.D. play harder than the Eagles – from where I’m standing there are obvious connections to “Hotel California” -, but their influence is felt here not only in the album tittle. The guitar solos are heavily influenced by Poison’s C.C. Deville as it would be expected. Black Label Society would be a sure shot as well. The album is always standing in the gray area of the the borders of Metal music and Hard Rock as the guitars play it heavy and vocals follow the Southern Rock lane.

I admit that the first time I heard album kicker “Lies” I didn’t get too excited. Some traits there at first didn’t cheer me up. However, listening to it the second time changed a lot my impressions. It’s like I got used to their music. That’s why I always listen to an album more than one time. It’s fair to the bands that dedicated their efforts to record and produce the album and, then, send it to us here at Metal Addicts. Little by little the album gets more and more heavy and acquires more and more traits as in “Bad to the Bone” whose guitars are pretty heavy.

“Desert Moon Hotel”  is a fun album to listen to if my dear fan is in the traits it showcases. Guitar solos as incredibly neat and well-performed. The same goes with the riffings and all the moods in here. I guess it was worth the wait and the comeback.

Past M.D. “Desert Moon Hotel” will be released on October 1st.

Track Listing:

  1. Lies
  2. Murphy’s Law
  3. Can I Get a Witness
  4. Colorblind
  5. Texas Jimmy (Taneytown, the other side)
  6. Ma Carson’ Medicine
  7. The Naked Truth
  8. Paralyzed
  9. Bad to the Bone
  10. Dance with the Wolverine
  11. Nip and Tuck
  12. Afterlife

Watch “Ma Carson’ Medicine” official music video here: