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MOTORHEAD ‘MOTORIZER’ (SPV) – Cool title, simple yet effective cover of a sword & shield. “Runaround Man” is an up tempo rocker with the typical trademarks; the ‘aint’ lyrics, distorted bass & locomotive riff & beat. “Teach You How To Sing The Blues” follows & goes for old skoool punk tendencies & Phil Campbell curiously uses Fast-Eddie-esque double stops here & there, bringing back a big element of the early Head guitar sound. Lemmy’s knack for witty lyrics is well intact, something like “English Rose” is the most authentic rock & roll to be found this side of AC/DC.
This is their 24th album & they’re a fucking institution, look at the recent TV commercials with “Ace Of Spades”, it didn’t matter that radio didn’t play them, after 30 years, Motorhead wins, period. They’re too consistently loud to fight. Songs like “Back On The Chain” are almost more gritty for their road wear & aging. There’s a certain aggression that re-appears when metal-musicians get older & continue to not give a fuck. The conviction that Lemmy tells the war-story in “Heroes”, is that of a seasoned actor on the set of a movie, he’s able to take that role with an obvious knowledge of the subject at hand, & the track it-self is along the lines of ‘Orgasmatron’, albeit far more anthemic, & a more than worthy contender for single or video (or at least second video).
WHITESNAKE ‘GOOD TO BE BAD (SPV) – After 20 years, Whitesnake delivers a powerful new batch of songs. Coverdale leads the charge with a few nods to pre-87 eras that saw the band channeling the blues into hard rock (as bands like Bad Co. once did). Songs like “Good To Be Bad”, “Can You Hear The Wind Blow” & “A Fool In Love” are a mixture of the playing level of post 1987 mixed with the Slide It In era of sleaze & class. David’s crack team of hotshot musicians shines brightly. Doug Aldrich & Reb Beach are a complimentary guitar team with flashy licks to spare, dosing songs like “Best Years” & “Lay Down Your Love” with their Americanized acrobatics mixed with a Euro-sensibility of memorable lines, managing to steer clear of any out-of-place-over-playing from the Slip Of The Tongue era. Ballads like “All For Love” & “All I Want All I Need” are’ not among their better ballads & are closer to the generic pap that ruined the bands initial blues-rock-manifesto. Yet literally every other song is great. If this truly is Coverdale’s swan song, he’s going out on top of his game.
MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE ‘IF’ (The End) – This band was so cool I was ready to put this in my yearly top 10 before I even heard it, but it’s nowhere near the brilliance of their 1st 2 albums. A disappointing follow-up, with only a handful of songs resembling what they’re capable of; (“Evening Wear”, “Lights Out”); Sure Jimmy Urine is still capable of some witty lyrics & going from low to high pitch in a mill-i-second. It wears thin when splattered onto a poppy canvas resembling the most nauseous of hip h op clichés (“Get It Up” ought to thrill the Britney fans). They were always eclectic, but never this poppy, as in sugary sweet pop (i.e. Madonna) & not the hip sort of pop (i.e. Cheap Trick). Judged as a lone CD by a nameless act, it could register as tolerable, but if you approach with this ‘expectations’, you may be let down. Not so edgy, less rock, less punk. Ranges from industrial, hip hop, pop, pop punk & a general Hot Topic style all around. Then again, if MSI had never set such a high standard they wouldn’t be able to offer such a disappointing follow up. Seriously, I could picture some of these songs in one of those High School Musical things. On the up side, Lynz remains the hottest bass chick in all of music-ever.
OPETH ‘WATERSHED’ (Roadrunner) – This band is guaranteed to deliver the goods on a consistent basis. This’ excursion has 7 son gs, all written by Akerfeldt, with the lineup of Mikael-guitar/vocals, Martin Mendez-bass, Per Wiberg-keyboard, Martin Axenrot--drums & Fredrik Akesson-guitars. All of them master- crafted
arrangements chock full of ambient-acoustic tinged-dynamics & occasional metallic ferocity. Each spanning the 7 to 11 minute mark, with heavier moments often used as climaxes & crescendos on the likes of “Heir Apparent” & “The Lotus Eater” While a dissonant black metal flavor envelops the closer “Hex Omega.” An organic follow up to Ghost Reveries, & still among their’ most focused & cohesive material. At their best they seamlessly Morph through revolving doors of varied textures. Towering above the metal world strumming on jazz chords. Opeth could be this decades’ answer to the art-rock mystery of Blue Oyster Cult & Uriah Heep, because like those bands, an Opeth album is always guaranteed to deliver an above & beyond musical experience.
JUDAS PRIEST ‘Nostradomus’ (Epic) – As a nearly-life-long Priest fan, I was as weary as anyone when the news of this concept album broke.
As with any piece of art, this takes a bit of time to absorb, this double-album is clearly an ambitious undertaking, & concept album in general can be a hit or miss affair, that almost always either hits a nerve with the majority or gain a cult status. In this case, Priest have delivered one of their best albums ever, (easily the best since Painkiller). When taken as a whole piece20of work. It’s great to see a band take the art of creating an album so seriously again, & to not lose their core essence with such pompous leanings.
This is an album that requires several listens to remotely understand & to fully appreciate, but I found it a rewarding experience moreso with each successive listen, finding nuances with every spin. Although several metal bands have done huge concepts like this, none really had the authority to pull it off with as much authority as the Priest have. Halford & co., have a flair for this type of cinematic soundscape, engulfing the listener into the world of Nostradomus & literally providing an hour & a half of escape into this mystical world.
To explain the album would be next to impossible, but there’s 13 main songs, with many intros & segue-ways, the songs mostly differ in terms of dynamics & many new doors are opened musically. Opening in typical metallic fashion with the intro ‘Dawn Of Creation’ (also used live), into the mid paced cyber-metal of “Prophecy”. Standout tracks include “Revelations”, with its layered black metal-ish orchestrations. “War” is a chaotic song with no drum beat, employing a percussive industrial vibe for its hectic premise.
The droning “Death”, is as close to doom as the bands been since the days of “Dying To Meet You” & “Island Of Domination”.
But, let’s also face this fact, the Nostradomus theme, regardless how cool, or interesting, is really Spinal Tap in any context, there’s no getting around the cheese factor of Rob commanding lines like “I Am Nostradomus”. It’s a great concept album, but not one with much mystery or hidden meanings. For all its great ness it’s old guys playing metal about some old guy who made prophecies, leaving little to the imagination, without room for personal interpretation. This is what it is, especially lyrically, bcause it’s based on the facts of Nostos’ actual life. (Did you know he was buried standing up?).
Despite a lot of wise-ass reviews out there, this album is an ambitious undertaking, let’s face it Symphony X kicks ass, but many people just never hear their amazing records, but with Priest, there’s a built in audience that’s guaranteed, an audience who’s been there through their ups & downs, & in the eye of the beholder, this could rank high within their catalog. I’d compare this to a mixture of Defenders, Painkiller, Angel Of Retribution with some of the dynamics from Sad Wings, Sin After Sin & Stained Class, more guitar layering than ever, creating serious depth. There’s a few songs that will grab you right off, but generally, this is an album that’s an aquired taste, where you will like certain songs after the 10th listen, but this is made to be heard as a whole. Hearing one song is akin to picking up a book & reading a random chapter, or looking at one piece to a puzzle, if you don’t hear what came before or after, then you’re lost. The more time you put into this album, the more you get out.
DIAMOND HEAD ‘CANTERBURY’ (Metal Mind) – An expanded re-issue, nicely restored on a limited gold CD, in a digi-pak with a lyric/photo booklet. Being the bands 3rd album, it’s a bit mind-blowing how fast the band seemed to be maturing & progressing at this point, to hear them go from the riff-heavy Lightning To The Nations, to the more reserved Borrowed Time, & onto this, an album that dove head-first into melodic majesty with a less heavy sound, yet containing sophisticated writing on epic cuts like “Knight Of The Swords”, with its seemingly direct Zep-influence. In that regard, you can draw a parallel to Cryptic Writings era Megadeth in terms of its less-bombastic delivery. Even this record seems to have had an impact on the likes of Mustaine. In truth, it’s a hit & miss affair & seemed to reach for the brass ring too soon. Some cuts (“Ishamel”) come off as more dated than their earlier material. The clean guitars (“I Need Your Love”) are part of a watered down approach that almost seemed to cater to US radio, if not for the ambitious writing herein. +3 bonus EP tracks, an extended mix of “Makin’ Music”, a live take of “Sucking My Love” & an interview with Sean Harris from 1983, providing insight to how he viewed the album at that time.
DIAMOND HEAD " BORROWED TIME" (Metal Mind) - The sophomore LP, I read an old review, which called this a ‘tragic’ album, & while that element is there, it’s also got more dynamic (Zeppelin inspired) songs, with complexity & feeling. Sean Harris’ haunting vocals do echo Plant’s (title cut & “Don’t You Ever Leave Me”). Brian Tatler’s riffs are bluesy & less fiery. Its material evokes a mystical presence that serves as a 5th member, with a perpetual dark cloud forming above each song. From hopefuls the NWOBHM to elder statesmen within the span of one album, the maturity here as compared to the debut is beyond obvious. Besides “To Heaven From Hell” & “Am I Evil”, this isn’t all that thrashy. 7 bonus tracks are tacked on to this gold disc re-issue, taken from EP’s Four Cuts & In The Heat Of The Night, with glimpses of the era between albums. “Dead Reckoning” & “Shoot Out The Lights” both offer straight forward’ power.
CAVALERA CONSPIRACY ‘INFLIKTED’ (RR) - THE super-group; of 2008. The Cavalera brothers reunited along with Soulfly-guitarist Marc Rizzo & Gojira bassist Joe Duplantier. The results are sonically crushing (great production from Max) with 11 infectious thrashers that employ elements of Nailbomb & Soulfly, (likely the brothers’ strongest & most consistent album since Chaos A.D.). The title cut kicks into a catchy up-tempo crunch with in your face attitude. Thrash roots come to the surface on “Sanctuary” with clever counter riffs & climatic time changes, accompanied by a reciting of ‘everybody dies tonight’. Proudly in touch with their’ past, & forging a logical evolution.
Rizzo delivers commendable fretwork & the presence of Duplantier ensures a prominent bass role (he co-wrote “Ultra-Violent”, (which he didn’t play on, as Down’s Rex Brown played guest bass on the track). “Nevertrust” is a punk-ish tune with some inimitable lines; “Never Trust The Fuckers-Never Trust The Bastards”. This is for those who wanted a Sepultura reunion. I’m convinced of 2 things; one, Max & Igor have out- done their past band, & two, if Sepultura did do a reunion I doubt they could create anything nearly this good.
ISOLE ‘BLISS OF SOLITUDE’ (Napalm) – Labeled ‘epic doom metal’, with varieties of stoner-doom, raw power doom, gloom doom, emo-doom, the depressive kind & the bluesy kind, this sort of falls in between them all. Sludgy slow dragging motifs with solid musicianship; beyond the basement baked variety. Not unlike Type O or My Dying Bride/Katatonia, with enough energy to attract the fans of E-Wiz & other slow forms of torturous noise. Arrangements are long & a bit complex & loaded.
KATAKLYSM ‘PREVAIL’ (NB) – Canada’s metal titans probably haven’t had much time to rest, although this is their first album since 2006, the bands relentless touring has seen them hitting even smaller cities multiple times, along with issuing a live DVD retrospective along the way (2007’s Live In Deutshland’).
These 10 songs have a cohesive tightness of a seasoned act. Songs like the title cut demonstrate groove-laden writing & precise execution. Slithering into mid tempo for “As Death Lingers” & “Blood In Heaven”, a fist pumping grinder destined to incite’ head banging coast to coast. A more defined beast hath emerged. Utilizing a memorable approach, that’s closer to thrash & 6 Feet Under than blazing DM. “To The Throne Of Sorrow” lays into their most pummeling assault in some time, with primal riffs that recall early Sepultura, with equal elements of Slayer & Obituary.
DOKKEN ‘Lightning Strikes Again’ (Rhino) – The first since 2004’s Hell To Pay, hints at a return to form, with Jon Levin copping copious amounts of Lynch-isms within his tone & playing. If it were comparable to old stuff, it’d be much more Back For The Attack than Tooth & Nail. Lyrically Don drowns us with victimized-pussy-whipped whining. Kicking off with 3 high-gloss tunes with lots of vocal layers,
“Disease” rumbles out of the speakers-& proves to be one of the 3 ass kickers here (the others are the up-tempo “Point Of No Return” & “This Fire”), & there are some ballads, like, “How I Miss Your Smile” & the lazy “Oasis.”
MINISTRY ‘COVER UP’ (13th Planet) – One final rave up & rock out for Alien Jourgensen & his cronies, this covers CD features 8 newly recorded covers & 3 from prior albums. Of the new, opener “Under My Thumb” (sung by Burton Bell) is a throwback to the early days, with a creepy dark wave vibe. The others are FM standards like “Space Truckin”, “Radar Love” & “Bang A Gong” played somewhat faithfully, while “Just Got Paid” by ZZ Top gets metal-ized & juiced up full throttle. “Black Betty” is laced with some industrial flavors. While “It’s A Wonderful World” just comes off as boring & sad, although it seems to hold a special place for Al, with its origins beginning on an out of tune piano somewhere. The 3 others most have heard; “Lay Lady Lay”, “Supernaut” & “Roadhouse Blues.” A not so essential covers album, I’d say there’s less than 5 really good tracks here. But hey, there’s always the inevitable farewell tour live CD to look forward to eh?
QUEENSRYCHE ‘Take Cover’ (Rhino) –11 covers-spanning their eclectic spectrum, Loyal versions of “Neon Knights” & “Synchronicity II” are instant highlights. While tackling Queen’s “Innuendo” is ambitious, it falls short on grandiosity, especially vocally. As does “Welcome to The Machine”, which lacks the industrial coldness with Tate’s voice just not fitting. On the flip, they’re able to show a fun side with “Almost Cut My Hair” & “For The Love Of Money”. A mixed bag of styles with varied results, but nonetheless the band seems to be having fun again.
MINISTRY ‘THE LAST SUCKER’ (13th Planet) – You’ve heard the news, this is the last studio LP for Al, going out with a bang on the 3rd of his trilogy. The most noticeable thing with opener, “Lets Go” is how involved Tommy Victor was in the writing. Gone is the speed of Mike Scaccia’s Slayer-esque ripping. This is chock full of Victor’s bottom heavy staccato. Samples warn “A Storm’s A Brewing”, & Al urges us on; “Let’s Go Insane!” “Watch Yourself” has tightly syncopated power chord bursts on its intro before launching more low chugging Victor-riffs over a neo industrial beat. Al’s intuitive sense of sampling & lyrical jabs at the Bush administration come to a head on the title track, “Last Sucker”-Sorry Fucker-Nice Try’. Guitar solos=more simplistic (for obvious reasons). “Death & Destruction” is about the only one that recalls the vintage days, with a few clever samples. “Roadhouse Blues” seems a piss-take, turning it into a 3-chord Ramones version that’s barely recognizable (apart from the vocals). “End Of Days“ part 1 & 2 drags on with a cautionary picture of the future painted in its spoken word format. For me, this comes up short on the greatness of a Psalm 69 or Rio Grande Blood. Above average, but does have some filler. They shall be missed.
OVERKILL ‘Immortalis’ (Bo Dog) – As a fan since their first album, I welcome all new material. This is one of the most consistent bands in the history of metal. You can always count on them for balls-out thrash power-which fires you the fuck up. Having settled into a groove, not unlike their 1st few albums, these 10 songs rage at mid pace for the most part. Guitarist, Dave Linsk has become an integral contributor with his blend of shred & melody. New drummer Rob Lipnicki has precise timing & doesn't’t over-play. Blitz-is Blitz. Song-wise, openers “Devil’s In The Mist” & “What it Takes” are battering & full of attitude, with staccato riffing from the school of “Wrecking Crew”. My personal favorite is definitely “Overkill V” (the sequel), which suddenly morphs back to their blood metal days with its Maiden influence & old school structure.
STUCK MOJO ‘Southern Born Killers’ (Napalm) – Back for more, Atlanta’s Stuck Mojo return to form with CD of post nu-metal (think Ozzfest 2nd stage in 1999). Opening with bruising rap rock of “I’m American” & “Southern Born Killers”. “Metal Is Dead” is a parody of true metal. Some lyrics are a bit political, alluding to post 9-11 subjects (“For The Cause Of Allah”). When not reminding us how fucked up the world is, a bit of fun seeps in on stuff like “Yoko”, an ode to band-destroying chicks. New singer Lord Nelson takes the reigns & helps make this their most natural sounding release in years.
XASTHUR ‘A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors’ (HH) – Malefic’s maiden solo voyage. Crudely recorded in 2000/01. Initially issued on limited CDS & & as imports from Sweden & France, this is said to be the last issue. Songs like “Suicide In Dark Serenity” pull you under like quicksand into a hopeless pit of bleakness & despair. The mostly instrumental compositions allow the listener to drift into their own dark conclusions. “Possession” seems like a haunting loop in mind of a killer. “Spell Within The Winds”, has a primitive lead vocal screaming through the fog & darkness. The cover of the early Burzum track “Black Spell Of Destruction” makes perfect sense for a 1-man BM project, (although Malefic seems to have taken the road of Filosofem as of late), (a cover of Mutilation’s “Eternal Empire Of Majesty Death” is also tagged on). Songs are generally long & somewhat ambient in a blackened sense. Within this extensive release, you definitely get the feeling it was never intended for mass consumption. An intriguing glimpse into the origins of Xasthur.
ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS ‘Numinosum’ (13th Planet) – This collaboration between Burton C. Bell (FF) & John Bechdel might catch some fans off guard, anyone expecting industrial metal will get a huge dose of acoustic rock (with hints of industrial). BB's voice is the calling card but at times is too redundant for its own good, making every song similar with cleanly sung ‘ooh’s & ‘ahhs’. Kind of like 1 minute of Floyd’s Animals repeated over & over. Examples; “Violet Morning” has Burton singing over a solitary acoustic, in a placid atmosphere. “Like Falling Snow” has quiet drum machines & that yawning vocal thing.
NAPALM DEATH 'Punishment In Capitals' (Armoury) - This is a 28 song set from '03 @ a benefit show for S.H.A.C. & features the line-up with Mitch Harris & Jesse Pintado (RIP) on guitars. Tearing through song after song with the ferocity of The Ramones on meth. An agressive urgency underlines grinding chestnuts like "Suffer The Children", "Scum" a cover of "Nazi Punks Fuck Off". The sound of Napalm live is that of a menacing tornado spewing out jagged edges from their many albums. A good primer for the un-initiated & an example of their classic line-up on a good night.
TESLA 'Real To Reel' Part 1 & 2 (Ryko) - Seldom will you see a band who embody the authentic spirit of 70's hard rock more than Tesla. This is part 1, with 13 songs ranging from FM standards to deep cuts. Attention to analog detail gives a warm natural sound to covers like "Day Of The Eagle" (Robin Trower) & "Bad Reputation" (Thin Lizzy). Jeff Keith adapts well to the various vocal styles & the band have no problem tackling giants like "I've Got A Feeling" (Beatles) & "Honky Tonk Woman." Proving, it's more about feel than chops, (although they have both). The song list & liner notes for part 2 are included in the cover, which resembles a reel to reel machine with an empty space for part 2, which is every bit as essential, with spot on covers of 70's party rock gems like "Do You Feel Like We Do", (with a note for note talk box solo), "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" with vocal trade-offs, the early Aerosmith ballad "Seasons Of Wither", etc..
UNLEASHED ‘Midvinterblot’ (SPV) – Partially a continuation of the simplistic writing on HELL’S UNLEASHED & partially a possible reaction to some of the reviews it got-which were mostly unfair, accusing them of being less brutal. However, H.E. is still MY favorite- album by them. Songs like “This Is Our World Now” & “In Victory Or Defeat” have a genuine thrash quality. Slightly conceptually similar to Amon Amarth with lots of old school tendencies, treading the line between thrash, black metal, death metal, pure heavy metal & Viking metal. A great album once people get past expecting them to sound like they did 12 years ago. The catchy title track is a groove heavy mixture of 6 Feet Under, Cirith Ungol & Obituary. A throw back to the days when you could understand the words & songs didn’t all sound the same. Quick & to the point songs, with a timeless quality that could’ve existed in the 80’s or 90’s.
EYES OF LIGEIA - ‘A FEVER WHICH WOULD CLING TO THEE FOREVER’ (Paragon) – Seven tunes resembling kvlt BM/DM wit h a terrible production. Riffs are mediocre & repetitive low tuned & droning, occasionally adding some quiet –parts. Vocals are barely audible. Has a few cool moments but it’s hard to listen to production-wise. Demo-quality stuff that underground fans might want to check out. Organic keyboards add a touch of bleakness. Drums are mixed low & often sound like a drum machine buried under 6 feet of dirt. “A Strange And Fitful Presence” attempts a “Triumph Of Death” crawling doom. Below average stuff, overall.
THE HAUNTED ‘THE DEAD EYE’ (CM) – “The Prosecution” might remind you of the current Headbangers Ball bands, while “The Fallout” points to something resembling Fear Factory & Korn. Melodic metal-core with hints of thrash. Shedding their tag of ‘melodic death metal’ more & more. “The Medusa” shows them still in touch with their roots in MDM (2 members were in At The fucking Gates after all). Riffs & solos are used more for embellishments. “The Premonition” mixes the aggro of Lamb Of God with the subtlety of Meshuggah. Writing goes into streamlined & downright musical areas.
THESYRE ‘EXIST!’ (Osmose) – Consisting a 33- minute song, & a 2:41 radio edit of it. Quite original, injecting thrash & industrial into simplistic structures with subtle variations on the main chugging E string riffs. Diminished demon tones are heavily used (CD is dedicated to Piggy). Conceptual stuff that stays accessible. Never going far over the listeners- heads. Going into a Neil Peart sounding build up at 8:45, into a cool triplet riff. An artistic statement without over- stating its self- importance, their strength is an ability to play as a cohesive & original unit. Managing to hold the attention for its duration, with some choice guitar solos. Similar to Nothingface-era Voi Vod in its conceptual spacey-ness, a precise humanoid touch creates its personality. No fake production shit here, riff after riff of organic thinking mans metal.
THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE TO UFO ‘LIGHTS OUT’ (Deadline) – A hail to this under-rated super-group by an all-star cast. Pat Travers kicks ass on their classic live opener “Lights Out”, where he takes vocals & plays loud blues licks, while never letting loose like he could if he wanted to. Vocally fitting to Pat’s soulful style. Jani Lane on “Doctor Doctor” is vocally adequate, but lacking attitude & he changes lyrics on the chorus as well. L.A. Guns’ singer Phil Lewis tackles “Rock Bottom”, with a thin production & a wimpy guitar tone, it does not do justice to the original musically, not to mention having Phil on lead guitar was a questionable idea, since this is considered one of Michael Schenker’s greatest guitar solos ever. Some of these classics are literally reduced to sounding like a karaoke band. John Corabi provides a highlight with his vocals on “Only You Can Rock Me.” Cool to hear Paul Di’anno on “Shoot Shoot”. Uriah Heep’s Bernie Shaw does a good Phil Mogg vocal on “Natural Thing.” The highlight is the closer of MSG doing “Doctor Doctor” the way it was meant to sound, using one of his UFO standards as a launch pad to rock the fuck out. For most of the CD, the vocals make or break it since the band doesn’t do much to enhance it. A better idea would’ve been to gather some of the legions of big name guitar players who were influenced by Michael Schenker, instead of assembling well known singers with a session band who play with the stiffness of an American Idol back up band.
FULL BLOWN CHAOS ‘WITHIN THE GRASP OF TITANS’ (Abacus) – AKA-Hatebreed Jr. The kind of shit tailor made for Trendbangers Ball. Screamo-aggro by a capable band who keep it all metal-core. FBC have original song titles & a decent guitar tone going for them. “Rise & Fight” is post nu metal . Down tuned basic riffs accentuated by a good drummer who plays it safe most of the time, with 4/4 double bass beats. Imagine taking one dimension of Pantera (percussive riffing) & doing an entire CD of it. “Anchored Heart” follows a similar pattern. No variation sound-wise either, lots of loud open note riffs & triggered drums.
FRANK MARINO & MAHOGANY RUSH ‘REAL LIVE’ (Factor) – An exhaustive marathon performance full of hard driving rock classics that serve as vehicles for Frank to play endless solos to. Opening with “Voodoo Chile” (slow version), full of sinister blues licks. “He’s Calling” clocks in at over 15 minutes with FM digging into an endless arsenal of back ward slides & harmonic minor licks. A 12 minute “Red House” has more smoking blues jams. Others like “Stories Of A Hero”, “Poppy” (17+ minutes of Santana vamping) , “Crossroads”, “Try For Freedom” are full of so much feel it’s downright spiritual. Absent are his more hard rockers (“Strange Dreams”, etc..). This 2+ hour jam is a feast of standards from rock’s blues based golden age of the late 60’s & early 70’s. A crash course of every conceivable variation of Frank’s guitar wizardry, a guitarist who has both feel & technique & relies more on speaking his soul through the instrument than bombarding you with flashy scales, explored through the forgotten art of live exploration & improvisation. Songs bleed together in an endless jam without stopping, songs morph into one another seamlessly. Truly an unsung hero of rock guitar. Housed in an attractive tri-fold packaging with a booklet full of photos & an in-depth interview with the man himself.
DREAM EVIL ‘UNITED’ (CM) – This band covets heavy metal music as something spiritual. Praising it like Stryper praises the Jesus. DREAM EVIL are spreading the world about the good book of heavy metal (pun-In-fucking-TENDED!). Playing pure undiluted pure old school metal from the domain of Priest, & old Queensryche. “Blind Evil” exhudes a tightness & is accessible na metallic way. Their upbeat positive message gets slightly over-bearing after a while though. They could use variations in lyrical themes for sure. Positivity can be an attribute, but it often can take away the important rebellious factor.
CRADLE OF FILTH ‘THORNOGRAPHY’ (Roadrunner) – The preachers of Filth deliver another well-written & nicely recorded album. Further progressing into their own style . A goth laced British onslaught with lots of Maiden-like nuances & guitar harmonies. More clever lyrical recitals of witchery from Dani. What begat on Damnation & Nymphetamine has manifested into a total metamorphosis from their old shit. The bulk should appease older fans (“Dirge Inferno”, “Tonight In Flames”, “I Am The Thorn”, “Foetus Of A New Day Kicking”) & some dark wave goth on “Byronic Man” & the cover song “Temptation”- the 1st video, a duet with a female singer. The presentation has themes of vampirism. The weakest spot, “Lovesick For Mina” is to Cradle what “Wasted Love” was for Maiden. Fans will either see this as a growth, a continuation, or as a wimp out, all depending on their preferable element of COF. Clearly the band isn’t going backwards. This CD does grow on you. I’m digging songs like “Libertina Grimm” the more I hear them.
LAMB OF GOD ‘Sacrament’ – An album that’s already charted in the top 10 on Billboard. The inevitable follow up to their breakthrough album Ashes Of The Wake. Full of the brutal riffs, precise double bass drums & screaming fits that fans have come to expect. Songs generally have a more catchy quality, “Walk With Me In Hell”, “Redneck” & “Pathedic” are true to form, & more accessible at the same time. Riffs aren’t quite as off the rails this time, opting more for simplicity & melody.
MORBID SACRIFICE ‘SEVERED DEATH’ (Open Grave) – Old school death metal in the style of Death, Possessed & Obituary, “The Offering” opens with a gut- punching groove. Guitar solos have a lack of distortion & the tones sound a bit dated & tame. “Buried Alive” (not the Venom song) is faster, but rather harmless from its week guitar & vocal production. Reminds me of a demo from ’88.
URGEHAL ‘GOATCRAFT TORMENT’ (Southern Lord) – Some of the most primal BM since the days of Deathcrush. Songs like the title track & “Risus Sardonicus” have a foundation which begat on The Return & Pure Holocaust. Embracing the hellish rawness of Venom & Bathory. Keeping it basic with a B&W cover of a goat head & song titles that leave no question to their intent. Titles like “Antireligious”, “Satanic Black Metal In Hell “& “Gathered Under The Horns” usually means one thing-which is Pure Fucking Black Metal. The booklet has photos of the band covered in corpse paint, spikes & inverted crosses. Comes off as the real deal to me. Lots of conviction with an overkill of purely ugly demonic shit, for purists who know there is no progression necessary in black metal music. As the cover says, this is ‘From The Hearts Of Fucked Up Souls.’ .
BANG TANGO ‘FROM THE HIP’ (Perris) – 10 tunes from singer Joe Leste & his new line-up. Resulting in some Electric-era Cult moments. “I’m The One” musically sounds like a virtual re-write of Faster Pussycats “Poison Ivy.” The current band has a bluesier feel than the original cats. Mark Simpson plays an adequate slide solo here & there. As always BT has a separation from bass/drums, guitars & vocals, with those 3 elements usually doing their own thing within the songs. Other songs like “Simple” go back to 70’s influences more than ever.
RUSSELL ALLEN & JOHN LANDE ‘The Battle’ (Locomotive) – Melodic & proficient 80’s style arena rock with a polished production & stupidly happy vocal layering. Tasty guitar solos liven things up on most songs. Power metal without the metal part. A mixture of Asia, Kansas & Journey. Seems like they might like it in Europe.
MANOWAR ‘THE SONS OF ODIN’ (Magic Circle) – It’s been 6 years since Warriors Of The World & 1 year since “King Of Kings” came out on the Hell On Earth IV DVD. This, their first EP previews 5 tracks from the GODS OF WAR CD, & is packaged with a DVD-EP containing footage from their 2005 Convention, a sound check of “Herz Aus Stahl” & a preview of the Earthshaker DVD.
For the ‘new’ songs, “The Ascension” is an intro to “King Of Kings” (both live). “Odin” is an instrumental orchestral track, leaving 2 unheard songs; “Gods Of War”; a slow atmospheric tune with a haunting chorus & “The Sons Of Odin”, a more up-tempo song that begins with verses over a bass line into heavy riffs & an awesome guitar solo & ending with a spoken narrative at the 5:12 mark. Technically you’re only getting 3 new songs here.
Overall, a nicely packaged preview of their upcoming CD, content wise, there’s not much that is exclusive here. Mainly this is something to hold over the die-hards until their new CD comes out.
SAHG ‘1’ (Candlelight) – Black Doom from the gutters of Norway, much closer to Ozzy era Sabbath & St. Vitus than anything remotely modern, an authentic relic with powerful songs like “The Executioner Undead.” Picture the way black metal bands write lyrics & picture those ideas applied to stoner metal. This has an organic vibe & grooves that seem to flow naturally from some basement in Norway clouded with hash smoke. “Godless Faith” could pass for an out- take from Sabotage or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. SAHG have found the missing piece from what makes doom sound like DOOM-the experimental trippy element & the variations that the old Sabbath records had. BOW TO SAHG!
GWAR BEYOND HELL' (DRT) - Following the momentum of WAR PARTY, this CD is to War Party what America Must Be Destroyed was to Scumdogs , by that analogy I'm referring to the growth on the solid foundations of the CD's that preceded them. Given a pristine modern production from Devin Townsend. This regurgitation has a certain blatant conviction that makes them seem to be trying to prove something. This regurgitation has the best results of any album since A.M.B.D. & it's probably within their most 3 or 4 essential albums so far.
Their cover of Schools Out succeeds in bringing a fun vibe, although it comes off as the equivalent of Weird Al covering the song, (in terms of satire and making it their own style). Still, all in all it's good to see GWAR take art of making albums seriously again and while songs like Go To Hell will never rank up there with The Salaminizer it's definitely a step in the right direction.
KREATOR Enemy Of God' (SPV) This is a re-release of their latest album, on a DVD that combines a new audio mix of the album, in SACD style with lyrics on the screen as it plays, the visual portion has a pro shot 13 song set from the Wacken Festival, with new songs like Enemy Of God , Impossible Brutality & Suicide Terrorist next to Phobia , Violent Revolution & classics like People Of The Lie , Pleasure To Kill , Terrible Certainty , Betrayer , Flag Of Hate" & Tormentor. (around one song each from their classic albums). Their set has a full production with tons of dry ice, lights & a concentrated amount of aggression & energy crammed into their given set time. Clearly overtaking Megadeth's claim of the world's true state of the art metal band. Kreator is one of the few bands from their era that have taken what they did to the next level (albeit after some experimentation). Mille & Sami have a complimentary chemistry. Standout parts include the harmony intro of Violent Revolution & the various solo trade offs. Extras are a few videos & a 3 song live Rockpalast TV appearance that starts with Reconquering The Throne . Also includes all of their recent videos. EOG, the CD itself, is another return to their thrash roots, with the tightness of Coma Of Souls & some of the riffiing styles from Terrible Certainty.
EVERSCATHED ‘RAZORS OF UNREST’ (Open Grave) – 10 songs spanning thash, death metal & power metal. “Overthrow The Sphere Of Existence” is a stripped down 3- piece thrasher with a 2 minute instrumental intro that brings Destruction to mind. Vocals are of the growling death metal variety. Yet singing overall is minimal, allowing more room for riffs & time changes. Think Death’s Human with a live sounding recording. “Raging In Unrest” has some cool slow riffs at 1:30. An un-produced sound that some of the old 80’s albums had. Straight up no bullshit metal with a live sounding recording.
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