BPMD Delivers Headbangers Soundtrack for Summer 2020

Attention headbangers: "American Made," your summer 2020 soundtrack, arrives on Friday, June 12 courtesy of BPMD. The new all-star metal quartet features singer/Jersey guy Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of Overkill, drummer Mike Portnoy (Metal Allegiance/Sons of Apollo/The Winery Dogs), bassist/producer Mark Menghi (Metal Allegiance) and guitarist Phil Demmel (Vio-lence, ex-Machine Head).

The disc is a ferocious, gritty, metalized reimagining of 10 classic and back wall 1970s hard rock hits.

"American Made" features a couple of tracks that may be new territory for some listeners. Ellsworth does a fantastic job on The James Gang (Joe Walsh's pre-Eagles band) tune "Walk Away." On "Evil" BPMD delivers a raving version of blues-rockers Cactus' interpretation of the Willie Dixon blues tune.

Other highlights includes a boot-stomping, commanding version of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s "Saturday Night Special" and super-charged interpretations of Ted Nugent's "Wang Dang..." and Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic." The band especially shine on a galloping, sped-up take on Van Halen's "D.O.A." The "VH II" track may be a bit obscure to non die-hards. It's one of VH's heaviest songs, with a nasty guitar lick, and features Ellsworth's new Blitz Lee Roth scream.

Then there's the band's raucous reimagining of ZZ Top's "Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers," which in a nutshell describes BPMD's personality, on the album and during its making, which, as Ellsworth relates, was a fun and loose yet laser-focused affair. The band also takes on tunes from Blue Oyster Cult ("Tattoo Vampire"), Mountain ("Never In My Life") and Grand Funk Railroad ("We're an American Band").

We had the pleasure of speaking with Jersey's own Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth

You've performed on Metal Allegiance albums, which feature Mark Menghi and Mike Portnoy. Is that how you got involved with BPMD?

It was a quick conversation with Mark. The whole premise, the seed of this, was planted by his son. He and his son were in the backyard listening to all this 70s stuff and his son said, "dad, you've got to cover this." I guess Mark had had too many beers and said, "I've gotta call Bobby." So we went to Mike Portnoy's studio and jammed like a 70s band and it was a lot of fun. It was men getting to be boys again. It's great that it's coming out now. People could use some fun in their lives.

BPMD is cool in that it's diverse. It pulls yourself and Phil Demmel from the thrash world, Mike Portnoy from the progressive and hard rock arena, and Mark is a jack-of-all-trades.

I think the chemistry was the key and that came from Metal Allegiance. Mike and Mark are the core of Metal Allegiance and Phil Demmel and I have done songs with them. That helps give BPMD a very strong, unified presentation on "American Made." It's funny, too. Mike is actually a closet thrasher. He comes to a lot of Overkill shows and he actually filled in at an Overkill show in New York. I think it was 2004. We had two hours of rehearsal and he did the whole set.

Did you already know most of the songs on "American Made"?

I sang most of these songs in the shower while going through puberty! I was a Columbia Records House kid and would get all the hard rock stuff, whatever appealed to me from the description under the ad from the catalogue. I got stuff from most of the bands on this album.

How did you decide which two to contribute?

We each picked two songs for the album. Mine were the Mountain song "Never In My Life" and (blues-rockers) Cactus' version of "Evil," an old Willie Dixon blues tune. Cactus reimagined the blues version and they were such a precursor to today, gritty vocals and great bass. The song was originally written in the 50s and it's about a rule breaker. Perfect for me! I also wanted to pick cuts that were heavy and Mountain was a 3-piece that couldn't sound more heavy. They're obviously known for "Mississippi Queen" and that's the record "Never In My Life" is from. It's a deeper cut, which is what I was going for.

What's the key to reimagining a song so that it has a fresh vibe but doesn't cross the line into unrecognizable or over-the-top territory?

It has to be recognizable but you also have to put your own stamp on it. I remember as a kid trying to duplicate Steven Tyler but I realized you can't. There's only one Steven Tyler. But that's the beauty of it. It's ok to be you.

With these songs and this group you start with the foundation and then you start adding that crunchy, distorted guitar and you make it crisp, present day. Then you've got Mike and Mark with the rhythm section harkening back to the groove of the 70s. Mike is playing walking bass lines through the entire album.

Which song was most challenging for you?

The hardest was "D.O.A." I'm not as cut out for the David Lee Roth stuff as the bluesier stuff. He's got a different delivery; not a lot of people can sing what he sings. I've never had a problem with screams but the Roth screams are a whole different animal. That was the hardest work of this whole thing for me.