Review by Krys on May 28, 2002.

Honestly, the first time I gave “Binge and Purge” a spin it didn’t do much for me but I guess it had something special after all because somehow it made its way back into the player and actually stayed there for a while. Now, after few good sessions I have to say this album has to be one of the most interesting hard rock releases I’ve heard since early 90s.

Torok’s fusion of rock genres from the 70s to the 90s is amazing; the band mixes styles from greats like Kiss, Ted Nugent, and early Iron Maiden through Skid Row to blues guitar touches from Vaughn to Clapton. Recorded with a raw sound and atmosphere of earlier rock days it reminded me of flower power concerts and loudmouthed potato-sack wearing hippies. These 11 tracks were made for you to listen to while you lie on the ground and smoke a fat pipe. What else could come from a bunch of guys that thank Playboy and motorcycles for gratuitous inspiration?

Ex-Impaler guitarist Michael Torok feeds this music with his excellent guitar skills and his amazing blues/rock touch, and while most rock bands turn me off with cheesy vocals, Bryan Erickson is one of the strongest points of this band. From clean vocals to tearing screams his performance is simply excellent. But not everything is excellent here; most tracks are very good tunes but some of them seem to lose direction and at the end make an impression of nothing more than a jam session. What might have been an intentional move by Torok’s musicians didn’t have the desired effect on me and actually broke my attention and sometimes even bored me. Overall “Binge And Purge” is a very good debut and with few tweaks and bigger production budget a break through moment is well within Torok’s reach.

Bottom Line: Recommended for anyone hungry for pure hard rock based on good songwriting and even better delivery.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 7
Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.6 out of 10