Wretch - On record, at long last.

Many classic metal songs are about persistence, strength and survival in the face of all odds. Northeast Ohio metallers Wretch don't merely sing about such topics; they embody them. Formed in the mid-1980s, the group was one of the last wave of area '80s metal bands. It was one of 16 local bands with a track on the 1989 compilation Heavy Artillery, the final release from Bill Peters' Auburn Records, the label that recorded and promoted all the top bands from the scene: Shok Paris, Breaker, Destructor.

Wretch never released anything, save that one track, and the band was history by the early '90s, following an ill-fated trip to L.A. that didn't include vocalist Colin Watson. But like Auburn Records itself, which Peters reactivated in 2002, Wretch has risen from the dead and picked up where it left off. On Saturday, November 4, it'll celebrate the release of Reborn, its first-ever full-length disc. Its 11 tracks include seven tracks from its '80s heyday, three newer tracks and a cover of Breaker's "Touch Like Thunder." Musically, nothing's changed for the group as it carries the flag of '80s Iron Maiden/Judas Priest-influenced power metal on tracks like "Fire" and "I Am Storm." Those tunes showcase the rampaging rhythm section, nimble guitar leads and signature expressive performances from Watson that display both his piercing, sustained high notes and his raw, lacerating lows.

Watson hadn't sung for more than 15 years. "When I left Wretch, my heart was broken," he says. "I just didn't want to do music anymore." Then he got a phone call from guitarist Nick Giannakos back in 2003, asking him if he'd be interested in reassembling the band to do a track for a new Heavy Artillery compilation Peters was putting together.

"That would have been somewhere around the summer of 2003," recalls Watson. "We did it at the old 609 [Studios] with [Breaker guitarist] Don DePew, one of the last projects there. We got there and then that night, it just seemed natural. We were all together again and it was really cool. We did "Eyes of Fate' and when we got done, Bill Peters says, "You know, guys, that really was good. Why don't we just do a whole Wretch album and I'll just scrap Heavy Artillery II?' And we all laughed about it and joked and then, you know, Bill calls and says, "I'm serious. Why don't we really do that?'"

And they did. The band still wasn't past setbacks though. The original rhythm section — drummer Jeff Curenton and bassist Dennis Hayes — was tapped to join East Coast metal band Seven Witches, and Dennis's guitarist brother, Dave Hayes, left as well. All appear on the record, although the live band — the one that'll be on the record the band plans to start recording by the beginning of the year — now includes second guitarist Mike Cykon, bassist Tim Fredrick and drummer Chris Koshock.

"We have four or five brand-new songs, parts for a couple more," says Giannakos. "I think we're going to end up using one or two old ones we didn't put on the first disc. I'm sure we'll have enough by the first of the year, certainly by February, to get back in and record."

With luck, that'll give the band something new to offer fans when it heads over to Europe next summer to play one of the big metal festivals there, following in the footsteps of the other Auburn bands who have done so in the past few years. It's quite a coup for a band that never played outside Ohio in its heyday. But Europe, especially Germany, is a diehard market for the sort of old-school metal Wretch plays.

Giannakos, the band's main composer, says, "I'm still writing the same way. I've never changed. I get ragged on that a lot. Iron Maiden is Iron Maiden and that's what I listen to. I can't see myself ever changing. If that's what people like, they'll get more of it."

music@freetimes.com

Return of Simple

Saffron

(self-released)

returnofsimple.com

Return of Simple, which revolves around the songs and trained piano skills of former Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory student Rob Kovacs, wears its Ben Folds influence on its sleeve but brings quite a bit of its own thing to the mix. It aptly calls its music "chamber pop," and this collection of nine dreamy, sparkling confections shows why. From the bouncy Beach Boys-like chords of the title tune which opens the nine-track CD to the prog-rock feel of the rapid-fire "Flying Blind" with its flashy piano outro, the trio (at the time of the recording; they're now a quartet) shows off without burying the songs' appealing melodies in virtuoso drek. Tunes like "Hover," which pours lush "ooh-ooh" vocals over shimmering piano arpeggios, and the fluttering but translucent "Can You Hear Me Say Goodbye" are accessible and technically impressive. At worst, a few songs are meandering and unfocused, but they're so pretty, they're like candy you can't stop eating. — Anastasia Pantsios

Chad Frey

The Beginning of Something Big

(Frey Nation Records)

FNR.piczo.com

Doylestown, Ohio native Chad Frey has an eccentric list of musical influences, and that can be heard on the brand of experimental/alternative music he plays on his new disc, The Beginning of Something Big. Songs such as "If I Dated a Spice Girl" (a group which he lists as an influence) give an example of his humorous side, whereas songs such as "Farewell for Memories" take a more serious approach with lyrics about death. Standing out on the disc is a tribute song to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain that's simply entitled "Kurt Cobain." Frey recalls Cobain's troubled ways and eventual suicide. "To Be Continued" is the final track, and Frey experiments with whispering lyrics and uses synthesizers in a way that makes it sound like a song by the Pixies. — Stephen Tompkins