Discography

Hand Of Doom

By Hand Of Doom

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Hand of Doom
3 star rating

Is a Black Sabbath cover band any less of a karaoke joke when said the band includes Hole bassiste Melissa Auf der Maur, Queens of the Stone Age's Nick Oliveri and Money Marks Pedro Yanowitz? Auf der Maur's whining vocals are an act of clarification on "Paranoid," "War Pigs" and "Fairies Wear Boots"; the band's performances are so note-for-note perfect, it's like being locked in a shower with old Sabbath tapes and a demented street singer. But most of all, Hand of Doom is one heck of a good time. There is much unabashed glee and gumption in these nine tracks; all you want to do is twirl your hair and play air guitar. While it lacks the titanic tonnage of the Ward/Butler rhythm section, Hand of Doom plays with an infectious send of humor that borders on parody. You're laughing with them, not at them, of course, but with Auf der Maur sounding like she just pulled a hangnail on some songs, Hand of Doom is more and exercise in exultant fan worship than bloody, mental anguish.

- Ken Micallef


Paper Magazine

Hand Of Doom
Live in Los Angeles (Idahomusic/Retrophonic)

Wondering what it would be like to sing karaoke with Melissa Auf Der Maur is useless now that the former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bassist has released this eight-song live disc of Black Sabbath covers -- either a shameless attempt to cop MTV's golden goose or a bizarre one-off that's too fun to ignore. The record's more the latter, although it's truly a shame that Auf Der Maur doesn't sound bombed. Her between-songs banter is coherently snarky, introducing herself as "Iron Man" and the various members of her entourage, which includes fashion designer Molly Stern, as "Crazy Train," "Sweet Leaf" and "Ronnie James Nick-O" (Queens of the Stone Age's Nick Oliveri). But the songs are faithful to a fault, and Auf der Maur's redheaded Canadian impression of Ozzy is charming, especially on "Paranoid" and "Changes." Yes, her version of "Changes" -- arguably the sappiest, stupidest rock ballad ever written by anybody anywhere -- is tender enough to bring tears to this reviewer's eyes. "Everybody has a heart," she says. "Everybody has a broken heart." True, true. So true, Jack and Kelly's dad would even have to agree. While it's worth recognizing that The Osbournes has reduced Sabbath's legacy to kitsch and that certain Hand of Doom covers -- "Fairies Wear Boots," "Black Sabbath" -- are so self-consciously theatrical they sound like the cast recording of Black Sabbath! The Musical, there's no question that were Auf der Maur to ask, an impromptu Thursday night Ozzfest at Sing Sing would definitely be on us. "Can you help me?" Oh, yeah.

By Jonathan Durbin


Kerrang! Magazine

Hand of Doom
Live in Los Angeles: Black Sabbath Tribute

KK(rating, goes from 1 K to 5)

Melissa Auf Der Maur attempts her best Ozzy impression. And fails.

Oh dear. Hand of Doom, onetime Hole/Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur's Black Sabbath tribute may have been a giggle live, but listening to this album is about as funny as child abduction. Musically, her assembled collection of no-mark friends and associates do a fairly decent job of recreating some of Sabbath's best material, but while Melissa may be a drop dead cool bass player, she's by no means a great vocalist. In fact she sounds bloody stupid singing these definitive rock classics. There are a couple of bearable moments here: Queens of the stone age's Nick Oliveri saves the day by taking the mike for a screaming version of 'The Mob Rules'; and Melissa does manage to quietly croon her way through the ballad 'Changes'. Essentially, however, 'Live in Los Angeles' is a souvenir of a live event that the world could have easily done without.

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