If you want to get more information about any of the bands featured at The Metal Moose Show, simply Google the band and/or the song name to find their official website and Facebook page and, more important than that, attend their live concerts and buy their music. Here at The Headbanging Moose you can find a detailed review of Hungarian Extreme Groove Metal band Omega Diatribe (just click on the link below to read the review). Support your local bands… AND FOLLOW THE MOOSE!
On The Metal Moose Show this week:
1. Magnified Eye – Jezabel
2. The Quickiez – Starts With You
3. Black Flame – My Temple Of Flesh
4. Black Market Money Shot – ?
5. Designs Of Chaos – Darkest Storm
6. War All The Time – Deadman
7. Omega Diatribe – Extrinsic
8. Artifas – Suffocate
9. Back From Ashes – Rizen
10. Katakombi – Liejuhaudan Vanki
11. Ringleader – Web Of Pain
12. The Accident – Over The Edge
13. Up Against It – Eye For An Eye
14. Zync – Wasted Time
15. The Ghost Next Door – Forever My Demon
16. August Red Moon – Bring Down The House
17. Black Sunfire – Nightmare In The Sky
18. Decivilize – Top Of The World
19. Nova Rex – She’s A Bitch
20. Graveyard Shifters – High Heels And Broken Bones
21. Boyce – Queen Of Fire
22. Zerothiest – To The Lions
23. Bone Gnawer – Carnivore Beneath
Click HERE to listen to this week’s episode on Spreaker.
Get ready to dance to the interesting mix of Alternative Rock and Heavy Metal by this fresh and groovy Finnish band.
When I got the new Somehow Jo!album to write the review and I was told by my friend it was an alternative rock band, I must confess I was a little bit scared or concerned for this is not my kind of music. It turns out that I was surprised when I listened to it, as you “forget” about labeling the music and start paying attention to the quality of the songs, to the lyrics which go from funny to intense, to how they show different kinds of music in a short time and to how well-produced it is.
So, for those who are not familiar with the band yet, Somehow Jo! are a band formed in 2009, in the city of Tampere, Finland, and after releasing two EP’s they are finally ready to show the world their debut full-length album, Satans of Swing. There is an interesting fact about this album: according to their press-release, the “album was recorded live, because the band wanted to avoid triggering and interfering organic audio”. Recorded at Headline Recording Studio in Tampere, produced by Ari Pietilä and mastered by Teemu Kinnunen, you can feel how pure and raw every track sounds.
Still according to their press-release, “the band’s ideology is to tell people about loss, giving, open-mindedness, equality, anger, love, freedom, relaxing, questioning the future, encounter prejudices and facing difficulties”. And you find everything in this album, starting from the opening track, Next King. The first surprise is how well Christian Saurén, the vocalist, mixes moments of clean and screaming vocals – of course, this can be heard throughout the entire album. This song has a really nice rhythm, is groovy and has a heavy guitar solo. You know those songs that are nice to listen at a bar, while sipping a cold beer? This is the case in the next one, Lovesong, with highlights to the awesome work on drums and bass – they lead the song from the most alternative rock music to much heavier moments naturally. Godbye is a calmer song compared to the others, but still heavy at some moments, and it has a pretty cool harmony among the musicians responsible for the backing vocals, giving it a good old vibe.
Hatesong is different from everything else in the album: it is possible to find touches of Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Heavy Metal and Metalcore in it. It gives you that impression of “I’ve heard something like this before” and yet it is totally new, making it one of the most interesting compositions of the album. Fool has a lot of rhythm and that chorus that will make you hate yourself singing it all day long (“This is what I do, my darling, this is what I do / Baby I still miss you but I won’t be coming back to you / This is what I do, my darling, this is what I do / I’m so sorry that I made you feel like fool”). It would be interesting to see a live video of this song showcasing the interaction between the band and the audience, but in the meantime you can check its official video clip below. Great Sex & Red Wine is one of the heaviest songs of the album, where its guitars are simply amazing and its drums play an important role in the construction of the melody.
The strongest attribute in Hellhole Bar are its guitar riffs, which somehow resemble old 60’s rock, but the rest of the elements are kind of confusing, which did not result in good unity as a whole. On the other hand, Beginning still brings old fashioned elements, especially its bass lines and backing vocals, mixing those with new elements like screaming vocals, and the result is pretty interesting.
To finish the album, the title-track, Satans of Swing, brings more Heavy Metal moments and a very special guest: Noora Luohimo, the mighty vocalist of Battle Beast. And they could not have chosen a better female vocalist to this task for she fits perfectly to the heaviness of this melody. Noora herself was very pleased to work with Somehow Jo!, as she declared to the band’s website: “I gotta say that the recording session with Somehow Jo! was one of the highlights of my life and I enjoyed working with them enormously. Above it all, the song ‘Satans of Swing’ kicks ass and so do the guys of the band. Love you Somehow Jo!, keep on rocking!”. Definitely, this is a pretty different song from what we have heard so far from Somehow Jo! and also completely distinct from the work of Noora with Battle Beast.
After nine tracks and a little more than half an hour, this band makes you ask for more and more of their music, as time flies in a very pleasant way while listening to this album. Interested in more information? Check for updates on their official Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagrampages. And, of course, you can purchase Satans of Swing on iTunes, Record Shop X, Inverse Store, and at many other locations. Satans of Swing is a really interesting piece of work, and it does not matter what kind of music you like, this is pure Rock N’ Roll for those who want to have a good time.
Best moments of the album:Lovesong, Hatesong, Fool and Satans of Swing.
Worst moments of the album:Godbye and Hellhole Bar.
Released in 2015 Inverse Records
Track listing
1. Next King 3:38
2. Lovesong 3:32
3. Godbye 4:45
4. Hatesong 3:51
5. Fool 4:50
6. Great Sex & Red Wine 3:20
7. Hellhole Bar 3:55
8. Beginning 2:40
9. Satans of Swing (feat. Noora Louhimo) 6:13
Band members
Christian Saurén – vocals, guitars
Sakari Karjalainen – guitars, backing vocals
Eero Aaltonen – bass, backing vocals
Lassi Peiponen – drums
Additional musicians
Noora Louhimo – female vocals on “Satans of Swing”
Cardinal Satan – additional guitars, banjo, tambour
It’s our God-given right to keep banging our heads to the music by the happiest and most awesome Power Metal band in the world.
Every single time Power Metal heroes Helloween release a new album, my metal heart is filled with joy. No other band beats those German metallers when the subject is fast and solid metal music charged with massive amounts of happiness and electricity. And when our beloved war dog guitarist Michael Weikath said My God-Given Right, the fifteenth studio album in their distinguished career, would be “just good old classic Heavy Metal the way it’s supposed to be”, I couldn’t get more excited to have it in my hands. What Mr. Weikath says, Mr. Weikath does, right?
After listening to My God-Given Right for the hundredth time let’s say he was absolutely spot on with his words, for the total delight of millions of Helloween maniacs all over the world, including myself. It’s beautiful and unswerving Heavy Metal, a metallic lecture to any musician on how to focus your energy and skills into crafting first-class music, and more important than that, it’s pure Helloween. In addition, guitarist Sascha Gerstner and drummer Daniel Löble seem to be getting more and more in sync with the rest of the band with each album, becoming an intrinsic part of the music by Helloween now, which of course brings only benefits to the band as a whole.
Thus, it’s when “Happy Happy Helloween” come ripping that you better get ready for an insane Rock N’ Roll party. Mixing elements from all of their albums, including even their iconic debut album Walls of Jericho, the opening track Heroes punches you right in the face with its powerful instrumental and beyond exciting rhythm and chorus (“Everyone can be a hero / We are, we are / Sometimes up then down to zero / We are, we are / Heroes, heroes”), followed by Battle’s Won, which reminds me a little of “Burning Sun” from their previous album, the also excellent Straight Out of Hell. It is Power Metal to the second power with Daniel leading the sonic attack, the type no other band in the world can create, with highlights to the balance between the lead vocals by Andi Deris and the efficient backing vocals. Then we have the title-track, My God-Given Right, which transpires Helloween from the Andi Deris-era, and I can’t wait to hear this tune live. Besides, you’ll be humming its beautiful riffs for weeks in a row, and it’s impossible not to love its “Star Wars meets Helloween” official video.
Right after that Power Metal trinity, why not hitting the dance floor with the entire band in the amazing Hard Rock/Heavy Metal tune Stay Crazy, one of the best tracks to be added to their setlist in my opinion? Those awesome riffs keep coming nonstop from the guitar duo comprised by Michael and Sascha, with kudos to Andi for an outstanding performance yet again. And sounding like a hybrid between “I Want Out” and “I Can”, the also excellent Lost in America is old school Helloween with the fresh touch of their latest works, with highlights to its fun lyrics and an amazing job done on guitars once again, especially in regards to the solos. Concluding this second trinity, the awesomeness goes on and on in Russian Roulé, a song that represents what I would call “badass Rock N’ Helloween”. Not only it has the heaviest riffs of the whole album, but Andi and Daniel are also thrilled while playing this song, with only one single question left to be answered: are you going to come out and play with the band?
The Swing of a Fallen World is the weakest of all tracks, not actually fitting in with the rest of the album. Despite a desire for it to be epic, it ends up falling flat due to its very basic and repetitive instrumental, with no outstanding moments at all. Fortunatelly, the album quickly regains momentum with the relaxing ballad Like Everybody Else, a good option for soulmates to enjoy together. We know they’ve created better ballads through the years, but this is still a nice song, and of course the most interesting part are Andi’s vocals as they always work pretty well in slow songs. Then we have the superb Creatures in Heaven, a high-end Power Metal feast where Helloween prove why they’re the masters of this type of metal music: it’s exciting from start to finish, where they pay a tribute to themselves traveling back in time and back to the present and future of the band, with the riffs and solos by Michael and Sascha truly touching our hearts so amazing they are.
No one else could have written If God Loves Rock ‘n’ Roll but Mr. Andi Deris, as it’s pure Hard Rock with the entire band on fire delivering divine rock music to us mere mortals, enhanced by its witty lyrics (“Leather suits you better / Got to let your hair grow / Take the black and enjoy the new show / Welcome to an army spreading over the world / Wild and proud brothers / Haven’t you heard?”). And following the same rockin’ pattern, Living on the Edge is highly recommended to be part of your soundtrack for a road trip, where Michael, Sascha and one of my favorite bassists of all time, Mr. Markus Grosskopf, give us a lesson on how to flawlessly tame their strings.
Are you tired already? There’s no way you can get bored with Helloween, with more Power Metal at its finest to you in the form of Claws, a good complement to an amazing album, as well as You, Still of War, the longest of all tracks, which has an inner beauty that will turn it into a fan favorite without any doubt. It’s a lot more progressive than usual, showcasing those unique guitar duos we learned to love in their music, closing the regular version of the album the best possible way. And if you grab one of the special editions of My God-Given Right, there are different bonus songs, all pretty good, with Free World being my favorite due to its riffs.
However, as Helloween is not an ordinary band, My God-Given Right comes with the whole package. The artwork, once again created by German international photographer Martin Häusler, comes available as a 3D lenticular print (visible without 3D glasses), and you can also be totally entertained by the Helloween family providing their words of wisdom about each track of the album HERE, HERE and HERE. Because, in the end, what really matters is that it’s our God-given right to stay crazy and keep banging our heads to the music by the happiest and most awesome Power Metal band in the world.
Best moments of the album:My God-Given Right, Stay Crazy, Russian Roulé, Creatures in Heaven and If God Loves Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Worst moments of the album:The Swing of a Fallen World.
Released in 2015 Nuclear Blast
Track listing 1. Heroes 3:51
2. Battle’s Won 4:53
3. My God-Given Right 3:30
4. Stay Crazy 4:05
5. Lost in America 3:35
6. Russian Roulé 3:53
7. The Swing of a Fallen World 4:53
8. Like Everybody Else 4:04
9. Creatures in Heaven 6:36
10. If God Loves Rock ‘n’ Roll 3:21
11. Living on the Edge 5:19
12. Claws 5:52
13. You, Still of War 7:21
Digital/Limited/Earbook Edition bonus tracks 14. I Wish I Were There 4:12
15. Wicked Game 3:56
16. Free World* 3:34
17. Nightmare** 4:43
18. More Than a Lifetime** 3:58
*Limited Edition Bonus track only **Earbook Edition Bonus track only
Band members Andi Deris – lead vocals
Michael Weikath – lead and rhythm guitars
Sascha Gerstner – lead and rhythm guitars
Markus Grosskopf – bass
Daniel Löble – drums
Born in Turin, Italy in the beginning of 2012 from an idea of guitarist Noxy after his musical experience with a band from the city of Genoa called Lethal Poison, what Italian hard rockers Roadless have to offer us in their first full-length album, Keep Rolling, can be clearly summarized as direct and effective Rock N’ Roll. In other words, they’re not aiming at reinventing the wheel nor anything like that, but offering rockers and heavy metallers all over the world straightforward and versatile rock music that will put our bodies in frenzied motion. As simple as that, and it works extremely well.
After releasing their first EP in 2012 entitled Love to Roll, which name by the way was born from the psychedelic attitude of the band, and after sharing the stage with famous bands such as Pompei Nights (Sweden), Dead Vikings (Japan), Dobermann (Italy), and especially with American veterans Faster Pussycat, Roadless look and sound ready to spread their rockin’ wings and conquer new territories with their exciting musicality. In addition to that, the band is truly strengthened by the support from their record label, Carma Musik Records, who, according to their owners, “loves to produce only the music that still manages to excite, remaining one of the few who still believe in the power of emerging music.” That alone says it all.
Enough with the chit-chat, it’s time for Rock N’ Roll, baby! And the opener Scary Face couldn’t be more suitable for that: totally inspired by classic Rock N’ Roll and Hard Rock from the 80’s and 90’s, it’s a great tune where Noxy and frontman Blaze are kicking ass in a display of love for old school rock music. Following that brilliant start, with a similar vibe to Deep Purple’s classic “Perfect Strangers” and with Blaze lowering down his voice a bit for a darker result in a few passages, Back To The Top is pub rock music that could have easily been a song from a renowned Hair Metal band from the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, especially due to its guitar solos and thrilling beats; while we all gotta love the riffs in She’s Gonna Take Me, a song about love, sex and relationships, with a great performance by drummer Cris Crow.
Not only the lyrics in the fast and furious track Love To Roll are an ode to 90’s rock music, but the song also has a Punk Rock touch that makes it even more exciting. Can you imagine how cool it should be to see them playing it at a sold out pub night? Anyway, Home Sweet Homicide showcases an instrumental full of elements found in the Rock N’ Roll played by Motörhead, with highlights to Cris Crow and bassist Morgan for fueling the music with their outstanding performances, and in order to maintain a high level of energy Roadless deliver Never Say Never, a more rhythmic song where Blaze and Noxy once again make a great sonic duo.
Heavier and slightly more modern, the next song, Voodoo Love, was born to be a radio hit thanks to its amazing riffs, lyrics and the vocal lines by Blaze, followed by Hot Mama, a badass sexist song loaded with the best elements of Stoner Rock, Hard Rock and old school Rock N’ Roll. This is another great composition I consider perfect for a hot and sexy strip-tease, and I can even visualize the strip girl taking off her tiny panty during the guitar solo. Then suddenly the band gets a lot thrashier in the high-speed circle pit-generator You Are Nothing with its lyrics that are definitely not what we can call “polite”, probably a message the band has to a very good friend, before they say goodbye to us all in Believe, where their Stoner Rock side gets even stronger, with its distortion, heavy beats and raspy vocals giving it a rawer taste.
You can take a listen at the full album at Spotify and SoundCloud, connect to the band at their Facebook page and YouTube channel, and buy Keep Rolling at the Carma Musik Records webstore or at Amazon. In English, we would say something like “This is fuckin’ Rock N’ Roll!” to describe the awesomeness in Keep Rolling. However, as we’re talking about an Italian band, I think it sounds a lot more genuine and rousing if we all pay homage to that beautiful country and scream together QUESTO È ROCK N’ ROLL, CAZZO!
Best moments of the album:Scary Face, Love To Roll and Hot Mama.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2015 Carma Musik Records
Track listing 1. Scary Face 3:18
2. Back To The Top 4:40
3. She’s Gonna Take Me 2:35
4. Love To Roll 2:23
5. Home Sweet Homicide 3:44
6. Never Say Never 3:06
7. Voodoo Love 3:07
8. Hot Mama 4:08
9. You Are Nothing 2:09
10. Believe 3:56
Band members Blaze – The Voice Of Fuckin’ Revolution
Noxy – Reckless Jungle Guitar
Morgan – Thunder Bird
Cris Crow – Drums Killer
If you want to get more information about any of the bands featured at The Metal Moose Show, simply Google the band and/or the song name to find their official website and Facebook page and, more important than that, attend their live concerts and buy their music. Here at The Headbanging Moose you can also find detailed reviews of many other excellent underground bands. Support your local bands… AND FOLLOW THE MOOSE!
On The Metal Moose Show this week:
1. A.S. Orchestra – Winter Rain
2. Neck Of The Woods – Two Smokes
3. Twin Giant – Devil Down
4. Send Them Sin – Disasters Of War
5. Outlaws And Moonshine – Whiskey
6. Hasta La Muerte – Pour Another Shot
7. Haster – Within These Walls
8. Hybrid Nightmares – In The Labyrinth
9. Seraphine – Tempest
10. Serpentium – Condemned To Fall
11. Stagger – A Thousand Reasons
12. Zalta – Hungry For Life
13. Tether – Collar
14. Throne Of Eden – Tombstone Lullaby
15. Cave Dweller – Terror Incognita
16. Universal Theory – Turn Me On
17. Goatblood – Adoration Of Blasphemy And War
18. Tearless – Step Into Darkness
19. The Ugly – Song 2
20. Black Plague – Black Plague
21. War Rages Within – Time Machine
22. War Rages Within – Ignite
Click HERE to listen to this week’s episode on Spreaker.
She is a singer, a songwriter, and an amazing guitar player. Not only that, she has already shared the stage with worldwide renowned music icons such as Steve Vai, Alice Cooper, Richie Sambora, Carrie Underwood and even with the King of Pop, the unparalleled star Michael Jackson (R.I.P.). But if you think I’m talking about some old or classic guitarist, you’re absolutely wrong: our “Metal Chick” this month is the Australian beauty Orianthi Panagaris, or simply Orianthi.
Born in Adelaide, Australia on January 22, 1985 and of Greek and Australian descent (which explains her name), Orianthi started really early in the world of music at the age of three, when she began playing the piano, then moving to her true passion, the guitar, when she was around six. Besides the piano and the guitar, she can also sing and play bass and drums, showcasing her unquestionable talent as a multi-instrumentalist and already explaining why she reached success so early in her life.
Orianthi attended the Cabra Dominican College in Adelaide, Australia, and when she was about six or seven years old she wrote her first song and played it in front of the whole school. Thanks to her father, she grew up listening to many Rock N’ Roll classics like Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Santana, most of them from North America, which then became her biggest motivation to move to the United States to build her career there. Besides all those artists, she also mentions Darren Hayes and Keith Urban as two of her biggest influences in music.
She started playing with different bands when she was around 14 or 15 years old, which was when she left school, and kept playing with cover bands until she was 21, when she finally moved to America to pursue her dream as a musician. Since then, as a solo artist, Orianthi has already released three full-length albums and one EP (although none of her albums are really Heavy Metal or Hard Rock): Violet Journey, Believe, Fire EP, and Heaven in This Hell; her debut single According to You went to No. 3 in Japan, No. 8 in Australia and No. 17 in the US; in 2009 she was named one of the 12 Greatest Female Electric Guitarists by Elle magazine; and in 2010 she won the award as “Breakthrough Guitarist of the Year” by Guitar International magazine. Do I need to say that her dreams came true?
Furthermore, as already mentioned, her involvement with some music giants has just elevated her status as a successful artist. For example, Orianthi appeared at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, which took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in February 2009, as the lead guitarist for American country music singer Carrie Underwood, and more recently toured the world as the lead guitarist for American Hard Rock master Alice Cooper. I had the pleasure to see Orianthi live three times in 2012 with Alice Cooper, as the opening act for Iron Maiden during their Maiden England North American Tour here in Canada in the cities of Toronto, Ottawa and Sarnia, and it was amazing to witness how she managed to fit in his band so smoothly and professionally, especially considering the abysmal difference of their years on the road. You can check lots of cool videos from Orianthi performing with different bands and artists at her official YouTube channel, like this live version of her 2013 single Frozen.
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However, being the lead guitarist for Michael Jackson’s This Is It concert series, which later became a documentary, was probably the most outstanding moment of her music career. In one of her interviews, Orianthi tried to explain how she was chosen by the King of Pop, and the impact that had on her life. “I don’t know exactly why he picked me, but he watched my YouTube videos and loved them. He had his choice of guitar players, but I came in and played the ‘Beat It’ solo for him. Afterward he was so happy he got up and grabbed my arm and started walking up and down the stage area with me. He said, ‘Can you play once for me?’ and hired me that night. I wish he was still around. He made me believe in myself more, and I learned so much. Going into it, I thought it would be all about playing guitar solos. But the majority of it was playing chords and funky rhythms.”, she said. After Michael’s death, she played and sang at his memorial, globally televised live on July 7, 2009.
Finally, being an artist always provides the person some good stories to tell the others, and it hasn’t been different with Orianthi. For example, the blonde guitarist said that during one of her concerts she got up on one of the speakers, and didn’t realize that right behind her there was a confetti canon that could shoot probably 20 feet right across the audience, which would have sent her to the hospital that night with a pretty bad injury in the butt. Fortunately for Orianthi (and for all of us), one of the sound guys warned her and she jumped off just a few seconds before the canon went off. I’m pretty sure Orianthi herself would agree with me that, although she has a great onstage performance and Rock N’ Roll actually demands some crazy stunts to be perfect, being blasted in the ass might not be the best way to please her fans.
Equipment PRS Custom 22 (Manos)
PRS Custom 24 (Pepper)
PRS SE Custom 24
PRS SE Singlecut
SE signature model (SE Orianthi)
EVH 5150III
ENGL
Mesa Boogie
Marshall Amplifiers
“You know just go and find your own voice, whether its playing guitar, singing, song writing, working hard, I love what I do, I love playing guitar, I love performing, you have to love it, there’s just so many hours you have to put into it, you can’t be in this industry if you don’t love it.” – Orianthi
If you want to get more information about any of the bands featured at The Metal Moose Show, simply Google the band and/or the song name to find their official website and Facebook page and, more important than that, attend their live concerts and buy their music. Here at The Headbanging Moose you can find a detailed review of Hungarian Extreme Groove Metal band Omega Diatribe (just click on the link below to read the review). Support your local bands… AND FOLLOW THE MOOSE!
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 