With such releases as 1994's
Motor City Resurrection and 1995's
Savage Garden,
the 69 Eyes made it clear early on that they had a soft spot for proto-punk and glam. But heavy metal didn't truly rear its head as part of the band's sound until 1999's Wasting the Dawn. As heard by such selections as the album-opening "Truck On," "Lazarus Heart," and "Be My Speed," the group wastes little time showing they can riff and thrash with the rest of the metal bands. Additionally, singer
Jyrki 69 even gives
Peter Steele a run for his money in the vampire/ghoul vocal department on "Hand of God" and "Wasting the Dawn" (the latter of which is supposedly a tribute of sorts to
Jim Morrison). Not quite as derivative as their aforementioned early releases, Wasting the Dawn shows that
the 69 Eyes are perhaps slowly but surely finding their own voice in the realm of hard rock. ~ Greg Prato