ALBUM REVIEW: Last Escape – Toothdrinker
If you’re going to make an impact with your debut album, then to write a fully-fledged rock opera on one of video-gaming’s most endearing franchises is certainly a way to do it – and it’s fair to say that when Capcom released Resident Evil 3: Nemesis in 1999 they didn’t have this on their minds as a future spin-off. However, that’s exactly what Sam Khaneka has set out to achieve with his project TOOTHDRINKER, which he admits on the band’s social pages was just a random thought at the beginning of 2020 that got carried away. Coming out of Cardiff, Khaneka has pulled together an impressive array of musicians to realise his vision and now Last Escape is ready to be unleashed via Dangerous Cactus Records on November 19th.
Much like the game it’s based on, Last Escape follows the story of Jill Valentine (played here by HUBERT’S FRIEND vocalist Elly Lock), a former elite cop trying to flee from the fictional Raccoon City, which has been overrun with an outbreak of the T-Virus, a new form of biological weapon developed by the Umbrella pharmaceutical company. Said company has also created a bio-organic entity in the form of Nemesis T-Type (performed by OVERTHROW frontman Jay White), programmed to kill those who knew of Umbrella’s experiments.
Along with a stellar cast including RING OF GYGES‘ Helgi Jónsson and Kyle McNeill of SEVEN SISTERS – who also produced the record – this is as bonkers and ambitious as it gets. At times, the music drives forward with a hard rock stomp, such as on opening track Welcome To Raccoon City, while at others it channels the bluesy edge of VOLBEAT, as on One Horse Town. There’s even one track – Digging Your Own Grave – that explodes into a flurry of riffs and snarled vocals that MEGADETH would be proud of, highlighted by Kjetil Walseth‘s gravelled pipes and Tim Shaw‘s excellent guitar work.
It wouldn’t be a rock opera without the overblown moments, either. When one looks at the usual suspects for grandiose concept albums (The Wall, Tommy, American Idiot etc.), there’s always a place for the cheese and the fist-pumping. With Last Escape, this comes in a couple of significant places; firstly the soaring Three Goddesses as Jill and Carlos (played by the aforementioned Jónsson) join forces for a haunting and emotive duet, and then penultimate track Under My Skin, the bastard lovechild of BON JOVI, MEATLOAF and classic rock musical Little Shop Of Horrors, with multiple characters helping to bring the album towards the eight-minute, prog-rock closer It’s In Your Blood, which shifts from prog-rock organs to classic thrash double-bass pedals without so much as a warning. By the end, you’re left wondering if the last 52 minutes was just one big fever dream, even though you know very well it wasn’t; it’s certainly a most peculiar feeling
It’s very likely that you’ll engage with Last Escape more if you’re a fan of the Resident Evil series, but those who have never played – or even heard of – the games will still find a good amount to enjoy because the musicality is so impressive in its own right. Where the project goes from here is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s for certain; for something so ambitious, Khaneka has pulled it off with sizeable aplomb, and that deserves a serious amount of respect.
Rating: 7/10
Last Escape is set for release on November 19th via Dangerous Cactus Records.
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