Category Archives: Album Reviews

Album Review – Primal Fear / Delivering the Black (2014)

Posted on by
5

Primal Fear once again deliver the awesome.

Rating2

Primalfeardeliveringtheblack2014I remember back in the 90’s when Ralf Scheepers left Gamma Ray to form Primal Fear together with bassist Mat Sinner and that some people started calling them a “Judas Priest tribute band”, especially after Ralf not being called to replace Halford in the Priest itself. Well, I’ve always disagreed with that theory due to the fact that you cannot judge a band just because of their music style or type of vocal. In my opinion, you have to see the big picture and analyze the overall contribution of the band to the world of heavy music. Otherwise, we can say every band is like a “Black Sabbath or The Beatles tribute band”, right? Anyway, this incredible German band has always provided us some high quality Heavy Metal, with amazing albums such as Jaws of Death, Seven Seals and 16.6 (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead), and now the “metal eagle” has landed one more time with Delivering the Black, their tenth studio album and I dare to say their best since Seven Seals.

Why not starting the album with a ferocious kick right in the middle of your face? That’s exactly what the band does with the fantastic King For a Day, an epitome of pure Heavy Metal with its perfect riffs, fast drums, amazing solos, and a Ralf Scheepers singing better than ever. It seems he’s following the same path of some of the greatest vocalists of all time like Bruce, Halford and Dio: the older he gets, the better his voice is. Moreover, this track will be perfect as the opening song of their upcoming world tour, as it’s impossible not to bang your head from the very first second.

Primal FearWhy not continuing with the headbanging massacre? It looks like Ralf, Mat & Co. were tired of so much annoyance in the world of music and decided to counter-attack with the heavy and fast song Rebel Faction, where Canadian drummer Randy Black “kindly” reminds us that Canada is still a Heavy Metal nation, and not the pop garbage we see on TV. It’s indeed another track fans will love to see the band playing live. Then comes the first single of the album, When Death Comes Knocking,  which despite not being as incredible as the two initial tracks, is still very powerful and has some good lyrics to sing along with the band (“When death comes knocking / I stand my ground / And I won’t go down / My name stays immortal”), followed by another amazing track called Alive & On Fire, a very traditional Primal Fear track with a Hard Rock approach, perfect for Mat and his strong bass lines. And have I already mentioned that Ralf is on fire in this album?

Primal Fear keep on rockin’ with the title-track, Delivering the Black, another fast tune with great solos, riffs, drums, chorus, in other words, it has the full package! By the way, when you reach this song you’ll already be able to notice how direct their music is in the whole album, with no additional elements or any other bullshit: it’s pure Heavy Metal, just the way we love it. And this metal feast continues in Road to Asylum, with a beautiful combination of Ralf’s powerful voice and Randy’s rhythmic drums. The next track is the longest of all, One Night in December, which is a song with a somber intro, beautiful piano and excellent guitar lines, making it sound as if it had only 3 or 4 minutes, followed by Never Pray For Justice  with its “chainsaw” intro and 100% Heavy Metal sonority.

PRIMAL FEAR DTB deluxe edition

Delivering the Black deluxe edition

The last two tracks of this Heavy Metal avalanche are the lovely ballad Born With a Broken Heart, which gets even better in the Japanese edition of the album as it has the gorgeous Norwegian singer Liv Kristine (Theatre of Tragedy, Leaves’ Eyes) also on vocals, and the fierce Inseminoid teaching us what traditional heavy music must sound like. And if I were you I would purchase the deluxe edition of Delivering the Black, as it also contains a couple of interesting bonus tracks, as well as a DVD containing two music videos and the making of the album. The album art is as good as usual, with Primal Fear’s own mascot, the Metal Eagle, spreading its wings ready to soar, just like the band is ready to rock the world once again.

To sum up, the partnership between Ralf and Mat, which has always been amazing, is definitely getting better and better and Delivering the Black is the perfect representation of their total synergy together. Primal Fear is one of those bands that remind us why METAL IS FOREVER, and I can’t wait to see them live here in Toronto on May 3 “delivering the black”. By the way, I wouldn’t complain if they suddenly played the new album in its entirety, because it’s fuckin’ awesome. Long Live Primal Fear!

Best moments of the album: King For a Day, Rebel Faction, Alive & On Fire and Delivering the Black.

Worst moments of the album: Never Pray For Justice, but not because it’s a bad song. It’s just the less awesome of all.

Released in 2014 Frontier Records

Track listing
1. King For a Day 3:44
2. Rebel Faction 4:41
3. When Death Comes Knocking 6:58
4. Alive & On Fire 4:48
5. Delivering the Black 4:01
6. Road to Asylum 3:48
7. One Night in December 9:18
8. Never Pray For Justice 4:23
9. Born With a Broken Heart 4:36
10. Inseminoid 5:01

Deluxe edition bonus tracks
11. Innocent Man 4:12
12. Man Without Shadow 4:03
13. When Death Comes Knocking (single edit) 4:25

Japanese edition bonus track
14. Born With a Broken Heart (edit version) 4:13

Band members
Ralf Scheepers – vocals
Mat Sinner – bass, backing vocals
Magnus Karlsson – guitars, keyboards
Alex Beyrodt – guitars
Randy Black – drums

Guest musicians
Liv Kristine – vocals on “Born With A Broken Heart” (Japanese edition bonus track)

Album Review – Chrome Division / Infernal Rock Eternal (2014)

Posted on by
Reply

Not a great disappointment, but not a great album either from a band that can deliver a lot more than this.

Rating6

CoverWhen the Norwegian band Chrome Division started as a side project from Shagrath, the leader of Dimmu Borgir, and Lex Icon, founder of The Kovenant, releasing the awesome album Doomsday Rock ‘N Roll in 2006, and Booze, Broads and Beelzebub after that in 2008,  the world of heavy music opened a big fuckin’ smile with their interesting mix of Heavy Metal, Hard Rock and pure Rock N’ Roll, or as the band itself likes to call it, “Dirty Doomsday Rock and Roll”. However, after vocalist Eddie Guz left the band in 2008, the quality of their compositions went down and it doesn’t look like they will recover from that fall in the short-term. Their following album, 3rd Round Knock Out, from 2011, wasn’t as good as its predecessors, and now with Infernal Rock Eternal once again they release an album way below their musical capacity.

Good Morning Riot is just an acoustic intro, similar to what Volbeat have been doing lately in their albums, that prepares the listener for what comes next: Endless Nights was the first single released by the band for this new album, including a very well-produced music video with a huge mistake: where are the famous half-naked sexy girls in the video? And what’s with all the Bon Jovi-ish wah-wah’s? Anyway, it’s a good and direct Rock N’ Roll song that will please even who’s not a fan of the band. The following track, (She’s) Hot Tonight, despite being good and with a hint of Motörhead in it sounds too commercial for what Chrome Division usually does, while on the other hand The Absinthe Voyage shows an excellent work with the guitars and a heavier approach similar to what they used to do in their previous albums.

BandHowever, after that the problems with the album get really serious: Lady Of Perpetual Sorrow has a pleasant acoustic intro, but lacks a lot more creativity and energy, getting too boring after a while; the same happens with the uninspired The Moonshine Years with its generic heavy riff. Fortunately the next song, No Bet For Free, is a lot more more Rock N’ Roll, full of interesting solos and a good performance by Shady Blue, but the quality goes down again with On The Run Again, which is just a regular song with a good rhythm. Then comes Mistress In Madness which has a very decent start, but then gets back to the same generic level until the end. Reaper On The Hunt has that dirty sound we learned to enjoy from the band’s old songs, and it suits Shady’s voice a lot better, while You’re Dead Now is another slow-paced generic song. The album ends with the awesome Ol, a very “Motörhead” track that is way better than most of the other songs, and if you get the digipak you can also enjoy the good bonus track called Dirty Dog, which is worth the investment in this special version of the album.

In summary, although Infernal Rock Eternal cannot be considered a bad album, it’s not even close to the awesomeness of Doomsday Rock ‘N Roll. Shady Blue is not a bad singer, not at all, but he lacks more punch and so far hasn’t been able to add the same value to the band as Eddie Guz used to. Honestly, I was expecting a lot more from a band that has already created such masterpieces like Serial Killer, Breathe Easy, The Angel Falls and Booze, Broads and Beelzebub, but it looks like Chrome Division cannot get to that same level of music again, or maybe they do not want to, as a more polished and commercial approach might mean more money in their pockets. I really hope that’s not the reason for what the band is doing nowadays, and that they can get back to that dirty old music we like so much soon.

Best moments of the album: The Absynthe Voyage, No Bet For Free and Ol.

Worst moments of the album: Lady Of Perpetual Sorrow, The Moonshine Years and You’re Dead Now.

Released in 2014 Nuclear Blast

Track listing
1. Good Morning Riot 1:28
2. Endless Nights 4:44
3. (She’s) Hot Tonight 3:46
4. The Absinthe Voyage 5:05
5. Lady Of Perpetual Sorrow 5:33
6. The Moonshine Years 5:59
7. No Bet For Free 4:37
8. On The Run Again 4:42
9. Mistress In Madness 5:07
10. Reaper On The Hunt 4:07
11. You’re Dead Now 5:17
12. Ol 3:24

Digipak edition bonus track
13. Dirty Dog (Bonus Track) 3:28

Band members
Shady Blue – vocals
Shagrath – guitar & backing vocals
Damage Karlsen – lead guitar & backing vocals
Ogee Ferrari – bass guitar & backing vocals
Tony White – drums

Album Review – Axel Rudi Pell / Into the Storm (2014)

Posted on by
4

A fantastic “storm” of heavy riffs and solos by one of the best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal guitar players from Germany.

Rating3

CoverAs I mentioned here, 2014 is becoming an excellent year for Heavy Metal. The 53-year old German guitar player Axel Rudi Pell, who has been on the road since 1981, has just released his sixteenth studio album, Into the Storm, and the final result is so pleasant that it will be hard for any headbanger not to enjoy it.

The only change in the band from the previous albums, since 1998, is Bobby Rondinelli on drums replacing the beast Mike Terrana, but that didn’t affect the quality of the music negatively: Mr. Axel Rudi Pell is one of those guys that really masters the art of shredding and playing amazing solos without sounding stupid or arrogant, and that also uses his gift to leverage the whole band’s potential instead of only showing off himself, making the final result always above average.

After the nice intro The Inquisitorial Procedure, the band already provides us one of the top moments of the album with the song Tower of Lies, which sounds like a Heavy Metal tune from the 80’s with  excellent riffs and Johnny Gioeli doing a superb job on vocals, and of course a unique solo from Pell. The energy level remains high with Long Way To Go, a pure Hard Rock composition which reminds me of some old Axel Rudi Pell songs, and it’s also a highly recommended track for a road trip or for a sports TV commercial. Then comes Burning Chains, another one of my favorites with its awesome intro and constant duo between Mr. Pell on the guitar and Ferdy Doernberg on the keyboards. This song will become a fan favorite for sure, especially for the band’s live performances.

The amazing ballad When Truth Hurts has beautiful lyrics and shows another great performance by Johnny on vocals, and easily explains why Mr. Pell already has four ballad albums in his career. The guy is a “ballad genius”! Things speed up with Changing Times and its cool keyboards, dirty riffs and another classic solo, while Touching Heaven, despite being a good quality Hard Rock song, doesn’t add much to the album. The same happens with High Above: the rest of the album is so awesome that this song sounds weak compared to the others, although it’s pretty good too. The way, this song is probably what Bon Jovi could have been doing if he had a heavier approach or a guitar player like Mr. Pell by his side.

Axel Rudi Pell 2014Hey Hey My My is an outstanding version for one of Neil Young’s greatest hits, with Johnny doing a brilliant job one more time. That’s one of those songs that confirms why this excellent American singer has been with the band for such a long time, since the album Oceans Of Time. The last song of the album is the title-track, Into the Storm, an epic song with a great atmosphere in its more than 10 minutes of duration and another good example of how to compose long songs without sounding boring after a while. Furthermore, the digipak edition brings two very interesting bonus tracks: the instrumental White Cats (Opus #6 Scivolare), and a cover version for Ritchie Blackmore’s Way to Mandalay, most probably as a tribute to one of Mr. Pell’s biggest influences.

And last but not least, I was going to give Into the Storm a 3.5, but I couldn’t find a reason not to give it a 4.0 after listening to it for a couple of times. Besides, the album art is so marvelous that it helped raise the album’s rating a little. As previously mentioned, it’s hard to find an album in the career of this great German guitar player that doesn’t make you start playing air guitar, bang your head or simply sing along with his beautiful ballads. I don’t know if Into the Storm is going to be one of the best albums of 2014, but I know that it will be hard for most of the other bands to beat it in terms of quality, musicality and feeling.

Best moments of the album: Tower of Lies, Burning Chains, When Truth Hurts and Hey Hey My My.

Worst moments of the album: Touching Heaven and High Above.

Released in 2014 SPV/Steamhammer

Track listing
1. The Inquisitorial Procedure (intro) 1:48
2. Tower of Lies 4:26
3. Long Way To Go 5:32
4. Burning Chains 5:23
5. When Truth Hurts 6:46
6. Changing Times 6:05
7. Touching Heaven 7:02
8. High Above 4:49
9. Hey Hey My My (Neil young cover) 5:02
10. Into the Storm 10:35

Digipak edition bonus tracks
11. White Cats (Opus #6 Scivolare) 4:54
12. Way to Mandalay (Blackmore’s Night cover) 7:52

Band members
Axel Rudi Pell – guitar
Johnny Gioeli – vocals
Volker Krawczak – bass
Bobby Rondinelli – drums
Ferdy Doernberg – keyboards

Album Review – Grave Digger / Tunes of War (1996)

Posted on by
2

Don’t forget to grab your sword and shield before listening to this masterpiece.

Rating2

Tunes_of_warIt looks like the end of the 90’s was a special period for concept Heavy Metal albums: we had the perfect Cruelty and the Beast, which I talked about a couple of months ago here, and another masterpiece from the German Power Metal band Grave Digger, the album Tunes of War. I guess I don’t need to say how awesome an album entirely dedicated to Scotland and its struggle for independence from England can be, right? It was also the first album in the band’s trilogy of concept albums inspired in the medieval times which was continued by Knights of the Cross (1998) and Excalibur (1999).

I had the pleasure to talk to all members of the band during a special acoustic performance at a Heavy Metal pub in São Paulo (Brazil) back in 1996, one day before their full gig for the Tunes of War tour. They explained me how the album was created, all the ideas they had, their trip to Scotland to better understand the country’s history and so on, and that’s probably the reason why Tunes of War is so good and precise: it follows the true facts that happened between the 11th and the 18th centuries with the Scottish clans, and all the horror, blood and death in their path for freedom.

Tunes of War starts with THE BEST intro of all time, The Brave,  a mighty Heavy Metal version of “Scotland the Brave” (or “Alba an Aigh”, in Gaelic), considered by many the unofficial Scottish national anthem. There’s no way a regular person won’t feel inspired and ready for war while listening to it. What the band did with this song was amazing, and a perfect intro to one of their best songs of all time, Scotland United. It’s an instant classic with a chorus tailored for any army in the world (“United, united we stand / United, forever and ever!”). The next song, The Dark of the Sun, also has a strong melody with its lyrics exalting the Scottish warriors, while William Wallace (Braveheart) has one of the most furious riffs I’ve ever listened to in my life, and as you can see its dedicated to the life of the great William Wallace, one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence who was spectacularly portrayed by Mel Gibson in the Oscar-winning masterpiece Braveheart (which I saw for the 1000th time this week).

Grave_Digger-Tunes_Of_WarIn The Bruce (The Lion King), the band shows a very obscure side, almost as if they were a Doom Metal band, getting back to their traditional Power Metal with The Battle of Flodden. Then comes a very beautiful but sad ballad, called The Ballad of Mary (Queen of Scots), where we see Chris Boltendahl’s voice in a completely different way. By the way, this song has such dark and melancholic lyrics that it might suddenly make you cry especially if you can feel all the pain in it. The Truth, Cry for Freedom (James the VI) and Killing Time are considerably short songs, but very effective in the whole storyline, and all amazing for any of the band’s live performances.

The last few songs are kind of paradoxical: while Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching) is just perfect with its amazing riffs, lyrics, and one of the greatest chorus in the history of Heavy Metal (“The clans are marching ‘gainst the law / Bagpipers play the tunes of war / Death or glory I will find / Rebellion on my mind!”), Culloden Muir sounds quite boring if compared to all other songs. There’s still an outro called The Fall of the Brave, which in my opinion perfectly represents the end of a battle with all the corpses and blood on the war field, and if you have the special edition you’ll be able to enjoy three of Grave Digger’s old classics, all excellent for a beer and some mosh pits: Heavy Metal Breakdown, Witchhunter and Headbanging Man.

Grave Digger has always had wonderful front covers (take a look at this one from Heart of Darkness, for example), and in Tunes of War it’s no different. Regarding the lyrics, as I said, they are all profound and tell the whole story in the best way possible. Of course, nothing would be possible without Grave Digger’s awesome musicians, especially their leader and founding member Chris Boltendahl, owner of a unique voice in the world of Heavy Metal.

To sum up, a brilliant concept album from one of the greatest Power Metal bands in the world, and by far their best album of all time. Only Iron Maiden’s The Clansman is more brilliant than the songs from Tunes of War, but it’s just one song anyway. Moreover, this winter in Canada has been one of the worst of all time, with frigid temperatures and extremely stressful morning and evening commutes due to all the snow, ice storms and freezing rain, so why not getting ready for this “ice cold battle” on the streets enjoying this great album in your car? I definitely will.

Best moments of the album: Scotland United, William Wallace (Braveheart) and Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching).

Worst moments of the album: Culloden Muir is the only song that is not totally awesome in the whole album.

Released in 1996 GUN Records

Track listing
1. The Brave (Intro) 2:23
2. Scotland United 4:35
3. The Dark of the Sun 4:33
4. William Wallace (Braveheart) 5:01
5. The Bruce (The Lion King) 6:58
6. The Battle of Flodden 4:06
7. The Ballad of Mary (Queen of Scots) 5:00
8. The Truth 3:50
9. Cry for Freedom (James the VI) 3:17
10. Killing Time 2:53
11. Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching) 4:05
12. Culloden Muir 4:08
13. The Fall of the Brave (Outro) 1:56

Special digipack bonus tracks
14. Heavy Metal Breakdown
15. Witchhunter
16. Headbanging Man

Band members
Chris Boltendahl – Vocals
Uwe Lulis – Guitars
Tomi Göttlich – Bass
Stefan Arnold – Drums

Album Review – Iced Earth / Plagues of Babylon (2014)

Posted on by
1

Jon Schaffer & Co. deliver the fans another excellent traditional Heavy Metal album.

Rating4

Iced Earth - Plagues of Babylon (2014)Based on one of the first releases of the year, the album Plagues of Babylon from the American Heavy Metal band Iced Earth, it looks like 2014 will be very promising for the world of heavy music. It’s not a masterpiece, nor even the best album of the band’s solid career, but it sure is a pretty good Heavy Metal album. After the interesting Dystopia (2011), which marked the debut of Stu Block on vocals, Iced Earth suffer a few more lineup changes now (again, and again, and again…) with Luke Appleton and Raphael Saini debuting on bass and drums, respectively. All those changes usually affect the quality of the music of any band, or at least the continuity of the work done, but fortunately the final result in Plagues of Babylon is above average and the changes are barely noticed.

Half of the songs in the album follow the “Something Wicked” concept, according to Jon Schaffer, while the rest have no connection to it (which doesn’t mean they’re not interesting songs). The band sets the bar really high with the opening track, Plagues of Babylon, with its imposing start/intro, awesome chorus (“So if you’re asking yourself, why? / Your eyes are blind to the raging storm / Will they cleanse the Earth of humanity? / Unleash the Plagues of Babylon?”), and almost 8 minutes of pure Iced Earth always led by Jon Schaffer’s unparalleled riffs. And is it Stu or Matt Barlow on vocals? It’s hard to tell sometimes. Democide has another “marching” intro, as if the band was getting “ready for war”, and its fast rhythm full of Thrash Metal elements will surely turn it into a fan favorite.

Plagues of Babylon continues with The Culling, which is a regular song with a nice solo, but nothing compared to the previous tracks, and the great Among the Living Dead with the one and only Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian) also on lead vocals. It’s a powerful song with stunning riffs and variations, making it the best of the album in my opinion. In Resistance, Stu sounds less like Matt, and it’s interesting to see how Jon tried to create an epic song here with a “Babylonian” heavy riff. The End? sounds like some of the old Iced Earth songs; however, it’s too long and becomes boring after a while.

The second half of the album begins with If I Could See You, a beautiful semi-acoustic ballad with a great job done by Stu, despite its extremely mellow cliché lyrics. And here comes Jon Schaffer with one more epic song with over 6 minutes, Cthulhu, but it lacks more creativity and energy. Peacemaker is traditional Iced Earth (so traditional Stu sounds exactly like Matt here): I enjoyed a lot the guitar solos in this track, but again Jon could have added more creativity into it to make the overall result even better.

icedearthpromo2013Parasite offers absolutely nothing new: it’s just filler and probably the worst song of all. On the other hand, Spirit of the Times puts the album back on track, and you must agree with me that Jon not only loves Heavy Metal ballads but also knows how to create some very good ones. Then comes a weird cover for the song Highwayman, from American songwriter Jimmy Webb, with Michael Poulsen (Volbeat) and Russell Allen (Symphony X) on lead and backing vocals together with Jon Schaffer, and finally an outro so stupid that I prefer not to talk about it.

Last but not least, Plagues of Babylon has an astounding front cover, featuring Iced Earth’s unique mascot Set Abominae with his army of living dead. It’s pure art, a brilliant concept, and I just love it. Furthermore, you can stream the full album here on Iced Earth’s official website through the app Spotify, and start getting used to the songs before it’s actually released and you can buy your physical copy of it, and before their 2014 world tour, with many dates across the USA and Canada including a concert in Toronto on Monday, April 14.

To sum up, the partnership between Jon Schaffer and Stu Block seems to be working very well in the past few years, and the powerful music in Plagues of Babylon is a good example of it. As I mentioned before, if most of the releases in 2014 are as good as this album, then we metalheads will have a very happy headbanging year.

Best moments of the album: Plagues of Babylon, Democide and Among the Living Dead.

Worst moments of the album: The Culling, The End? and Parasite.

Released in 2014 Platinum Dragon Germany GmbH/Century Media

Track listing
1. Plagues of Babylon 7:48
2. Democide 5:23
3. The Culling 4:27
4. Among the Living Dead 5:15
5. Resistance 5:00
6. The End? 7:14
7. If I Could See You 3:56
8. Cthulhu 6:05
9. Peacemaker 5:02
10. Parasite 3:30
11. Spirit of the Times 5:06
12. Highwayman 3:13
13. Outro 0:25

Band members
Jon Schaffer – rhythm, acoustic & lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Highwayman”
Troy Seele – lead guitar
Stu Block – lead vocals, backing vocals
Luke Appleton – bass guitar
Raphael Saini – drums

The Year In Review – Top 10 Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Albums of 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Christmas is just around the corner, and it’s that time of the year where our ears are tortured by those boring old songs (unless you listen to something like this, the best Christmas song ever!), but at least our stomachs are rewarded with some delicious food and drinks. It’s time to look back and see what went right in our lives, our mistakes, and make plans for the coming year. And why not listing the best Heavy Metal and Hard Rock albums of 2013, which pretty much constituted the soundtrack of both our good and bad moments this year? Here are my top 10 albums of 2013, excluding EP’s, best of and live albums. I hope you enjoy the list!

Helloween_Straight Out of Hell1. Helloween – Straight Out of Hell
The German Power Metal masters are back with their most awesome album since The Time of the Oath.
Best song of the album: Straight Out of Hell

Chthonic-Bu-Tik2. Chthonic – Bú-Tik (REVIEW)
The best Heavy Metal band of the East delivers another superb album full of strength and creativity.
Best song of the album: Defenders of Bú-Tik Palace

TriviumVengeance3. Trivium – Vengeance Falls (REVIEW)
A brilliant lesson in heavy and fast riffs from Matt Heafy and his crew, proving why they are a reference in the world of heavy music.
Best song of the album: Brave This Storm

Outlaw_Gentlemen_&_Shady_Ladies_Album_Cover4. Volbeat – Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies
This band from beautiful Denmark takes another huge step to conquer the world of music.
Best song of the album: Dead But Rising

Serpents_Unleashed5. Skeletonwitch – Serpents Unleashed (REVIEW)
A magnificent and gruesome Thrash/Death Metal album from one of the most prominent new bands in the U.S.
Best song of the album: I Am Of Death (Hell Has Arrived)

Motörhead_Aftershock6. Motörhead – Aftershock (REVIEW)
Do you enjoy some good old Rock N’ Roll? If so, you must listen to this album.
Best song of the album: Do You Believe

Nemesis_by_Stratovarius7. Stratovarius – Nemesis
Stratovarius delivers an amazing album, their best since Timo Tolkki left the band in 2009.
Best song of the album: Halcyon Days

Amon-Amarth-Deciever-of-the-Gods8. Amon Amarth – Deceiver of the Gods
Not as unique as Surtur Rising, but still a mighty and powerful album from this Swedish Melodic Death Metal band.
Best song of the album: Father of the Wolf

Black_Dog_Barking_(Album_Cover)9. Airbourne – Black Dog Barking
As long as our mates from Down Under are alive, Rock N’ Roll will never die. Get ready to rock!
Best song of the album: Live It Up

SuperCollider10. Megadeth – Super Collider
“MegaDave” and his band return with a very interesting mix of Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Country and Folk music.
Best song of the album: Kingmaker

And here are the other albums that would make my top 20 list this year:

11. Black Sabbath – 13
12. Lordi – To Beast or Not to Beast
13. Carcass – Surgical Steel
14. Tarja – Colours in the Dark (REVIEW)
15. DevilDriver – Winter Kills (REVIEW)
16. Sepultura – The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart (REVIEW)
17. Children of Bodom – Halo of Blood
18. Six Feet Under – Unborn
19. Dream Theater – Dream Theater
20. Pink Cream 69 – Ceremonial

These are some of the new releases already announced for 2014 that deserve to be listened to, and that will most probably be reviewed on this blog:

Axel Rudi Pell – Into The Storm
Chrome Division – Infernal Rock Eternal
Iced Earth – Plagues Of Babylon
Primal Fear – Delivering The Black
Gamma Ray – Empire of the Undead
Within Temptation – Hydra
Steel Panther – All You Can Eat
Behemoth – The Satanist

And finally, maybe we’ll have brand new material from giants such as Iron Maiden, Slayer and Judas Priest, who knows? Or something new from great bands that have been “quiet” for a good period of time like Exodus, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Cannibal Corpse, Testament, The Agonist, among others. Let’s wait and see, or even better, let’s wait and LISTEN!

Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year! See you in 2014!

Album Review – Five Finger Death Punch / The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Volume 2 (2013)

Posted on by
Reply

5FDP release the second part of what sounds pretty much like something in between Slipknot and Stone Sour.

Rating6

5FDP_Vol2It seems that there’s a huge problem with bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Killswitch Engage, Avenged Sevenfold and many others from the same style and time: the lack of a true and honest musical direction in their careers. I’m not saying they shouldn’t experiment new elements and/or different approaches in their songs, but their “musical spine” looks too shallow.

Every time I listen to this band from Los Angeles, California, they sound to me more and more like a hybrid between Slipknot and Stone Sour, but with the more mainstream looks of A7X instead of the scary jumpsuits and masks. Don’t get me wrong, I consider Ivan Moody a very talented singer, as well as all other musicians (especially guitar Jason Hook), and their music is far from being boring or “MTV garbage”. However, there’s nothing that really pumps me up when I listen to 5FDP. By the way, this acronym is extremely funny to me: 5FDP in Brazilian Portuguese literally means 5 sons of a bitch (“5 Filhos Da Puta”).

Let’s focus on the music now, starting with Here to Die, the opening track and also the coolest song of the album: although it’s a good song, it’s not original at all, sounding 100% like Slipnkot. The same can be said about the next two tracks, Weight Beneath My Sin and Wrecking Ball, both with nice riffs and chorus, and ready to become hits on the radio. In Battle Born, it felt as if I was listening to Stone Sour instead of 5FDP; it’s not a bad ballad, but again too predictable.

five-finger-death-punchFans will certainly enjoy Cradle to the Grave, especially the drums which fit the song perfectly, while Matter of Time is just filler with nothing new to offer. The Agony of Regret is an average intro to the interesting ballad Cold, with its orchestral elements and beautiful lyrics. The next track, Let It Go, makes me wonder if this album is some kind of tribute to Slipknot, and songs like My Heart Lied and A Day in My Life confirm 5FDP are trying hard to be the next big Rock N’ Roll radio hit and make some money out of it, but they don’t work well with more extreme metal fans like myself. Maybe the most enjoyable moment of the album is not one of their own songs: House of the Rising Sun is a well played heavy version for a traditional folk song which author is unknown, with the band The Animals playing the most beautiful version of it in 1964.

I didn’t fully listen to The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1, only Lift Me Up (featuring the one and only Metal God Rob Halford), but based on the reviews I’ve read so far the material was not that different from Volume 2.

One thing 5FDP have mastered doing is producing some really astonishing album covers. I thought the front cover from War Is The Answer was their best one, but that was until they released The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Volumes 1 & 2. Their comic-inspired representation of the endless war between Heaven and Hell is fantastic and deserved a full comic series with their mascot, Knucklehead, as the anti hero. That would undoubtedly make this album a lot more interesting, at least for me.

Best moments of the album: Here to Die, Wrecking Ball and House of the Rising Sun.

Worst moments of the album: Battle Born, Matter of Time, My Heart Lied and A Day in My Life.

Released in 2013 Prospect Park

Track listing
1. Here to Die 3:00
2. Weight Beneath My Sin 3:36
3. Wrecking Ball 3:13
4. Battle Born 3:43
5. Cradle to the Grave 3:18
6. Matter of Time 3:16
7. The Agony of Regret 1:42
8. Cold 3:47
9. Let This Go 3:16
10. My Heart Lied 3:35
11. A Day in My Life 3:44
12. House of the Rising Sun 4:07

Band members
Ivan Moody – vocals
Zoltan Bathory – rhythm guitar
Jason Hook – lead guitar
Jeremy Spencer – drums
Chris Kael – bass

Album Review – Skeletonwitch / Serpents Unleashed (2013)

Posted on by
2

The ‘Witch returns with 31 minutes of pure destruction.

Rating4

Serpents_UnleashedThe first time I saw or listened to Skeletonwitch was back in 2011 when they were one of the opening acts for Arch Enemy here in Toronto (the other opening acts were DevilDriver and Chthonic, just so you can imagine how awesome that night was), and since then I’ve become really interested in their brutal music. Now this band from Ohio is back with another extremely heavy album, Serpents Unleashed, which is already being considered by many the best Thrash/Death Metal album of 2013 (you can listen to the entire album here) . And after listening to it, I kind of agree with that.

The opening track (and also the title-track) Serpents Unleashed is Hell on Earth! What a ferocious and intense massacre! Moreover, I like the fact they usually add many Black Metal elements to their music without sounding like a Black Metal band, which is already clear from the very beginning of the song. Beneath Dead Leaves keeps up with the devastation with its insane drums, pretty good riffs and crazy solos, while I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived) is heavy, fast and has all the elements the fans of the band love in it. I saw the video for it a while ago and I have to say that it wouldn’t have been so great with a different song; it’s the best song of the album in my opinion.

The next tracks are From a Cloudless Sky, which has a nice intro and captivating riffs, and I can imagine how crazy the circle pits are going to be when it’s played live;  Burned from Bone, another fast tempo song with some more Black Metal elements (especially the riffs); and Unending, Everliving, a song that starts slowly if compared to the previous tracks, but then resumes the accelerated speed of the album.

SkeletonwitchThe second half of the album begins with Blade on the Flesh, Blood on My Hands, an intense song full of non-stop drums and riffs and a good chorus. It’s definitely another recommended track for some good mosh pits if played live. Then comes This Evil Embrace, which reminds me a little of some old Slayer songs, with a chorus that is pure Black Metal and the best guitar solo of the whole album. The worst song of Serpents Unleashed is Unwept: despite not actually being a bad song, it sounds too generic for me and lacks some creativity. The following track has the coolest name of all, Born of the Light That Does Not Shine, and delivers some more musical brutality for the delight of all Skeletonwitch fans. The album ends with its longest song More Cruel Than Weak (the only one with over 4 minutes), which provides us some high quality riffs and drums, and of course, a lot of violence.

The lyrics are gruesome as usual, but I guess you’re not expecting them to start singing about butterflies and unicorns, right? And finally, the album has an astonishing front cover: it looks like they hired a very talented Gothic artist from the 15th century to paint it! I love when the album art is not some generic computer-based image and adds a lot to the whole concept of the album, like what happens with Serpents Unleashed.

In summary, the ‘Witch proves again why they’re considered one of the best bands of the Thrash/Death Metal scene, with Chance Garnette doing an exceptional job with his unique guttural vocals. That guy sings like the most evil and hideous witch in the history of mankind, something that became a trademark in Skeletonwitch’s music. One might say the songs are too short, but remember that’s how Slayer has always released their albums, and all songs in Serpents Unleashed are as heavy as they can be. It’s just a matter of quality over quantity.

One final interesting fact about Serpents Unleash is that the band is even selling a pretty cool cassette tape version of it, just when we thought those types of media were long gone. Well, a lot of people thought heavy music was dead and gone years ago, but as you can see with bands like Skeletonwitch pulverizing everything, they were fuckin’ wrong.

Best moments of the album: Serpents Unleashed, I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived) and This Evil Embrace.

Worst moments of the album: Unending, Everliving and Unwept.

Released in 2013 Prosthetic Records

Track listing
1. Serpents Unleashed 2:11
2. Beneath Dead Leaves 3:07
3. I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived) 2:47
4. From a Cloudless Sky 2:48
5. Burned from Bone 2:39
6. Unending, Everliving 3:03
7. Blade on the Flesh, Blood on My Hands 2:26
8. This Evil Embrace 3:39
9. Unwept 2:25
10. Born of the Light That Does Not Shine 2:18
11. More Cruel Than Weak 4:18

Band members
Chance Garnette – lead vocals
Nate “N8 Feet Under” Garnette – guitars
Scott “Scunty D.” Hedrick – guitars
Evan “Loosh” Linger – bass
Dustin Boltjes – drums

Album Review – Cradle of Filth / Cruelty and the Beast (1998)

Posted on by
1

This is how any band in the world should record a concept album.

Rating1

410309-300Today is my birthday and I was thinking about which classic album that has helped define my musical taste should be reviewed. I could go for one of my favorite albums of all time, which would be Iron Maiden’s Powerslave, Judas Priest’s Painkiller or Slayer’s Reign in Blood, but instead I chose something more complex and unconventional: Cradle of Filth’s Cruelty and the Beast, a unique concept album dedicated to the legend of the serial killer Elizabeth Báthory, the “Blood Countess” from Hungary who tortured and murdered hundreds of young women in the 16th and 17th centuries, and who many believe used to bath in the blood of her victims to rejuvenate her skin like if she was a vampire. The story itself is inspiring enough for a really dark Heavy Metal album, and no other band rather than Cradle of Filth would have been capable of creating such a masterpiece.

I love the intro Once Upon Atrocity, not only because I’m totally fond of obscure intros like this one, but also because the thrilling transition to the amazing Thirteen Autumns and a Widow is beyond perfect. And what can I say about this song? Despite being probably too heavy and heinous for most of our society, it’s a mesmerizing chef d’oeuvre that no other band is capable of doing (not even the current Cradle of Filth is anymore).The drums and keyboards are terrific, providing the song a unique atmosphere. Then comes one of the band’s most famous tracks, Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids, which is not as fast as the first song, but it’s also excellent and has some very good riffs.

Cradle+of+Filth+Cruelty+and+the+BeastBeneath the Howling Stars was the first song I’ve listened to ever from Cradle of Filth, and until today it makes my day a lot better when I listen to it. From its horror movie-like intro in the keyboards to the chorus, it’s a perfect fit for the soundtrack to apocalypse. I know Dani cannot reach the same high-pitched notes anymore, but it’s still great to listen to this song and I hope the band adds it back to their future setlists. The next track, Venus in Fear, is an instrumental song that is not recommended at all to listen to with your parents or your little sister, while Desire in Violent Overture is another musical typhoon from this Extreme Metal band from England.

The Twisted Nails of Faith is one of my least favorite ones, which doesn’t mean it’s not a furious track (it’s not just as brilliant as the others), followed by what can be considered an “Extreme Metal Opera” called Bathory Aria: this 11-minute insanity starts in a melancholic way with Benighted Like Usher, evolves into a storm with A Murder of Ravens in Fugue, and finally ends with a poem-like part called Eyes That Witnessed Madness. I REALLY would like to see them playing this live one day, that would be a dream come true. The album ends with another instrumental song, Portrait of the Dead Countess (this one you can listen to with anyone around you, no problem), and the fast and heavy track Lustmord and Wargasm. And if you’re still alive after this infernal tsunami, it means you enjoyed it and you’re ready to listen to everything again and again.

All musicians in this album are awesome (including the guest musicians) despite none of them being with the band anymore except for Dani Filth, the mastermind behind Cradle of Filth. Well, he’s the main reason why Cruelty and the Beast is so good, because without him it would be just a regular album. Although Dani’s trademark voice was not as high as in their previous albums, he was singing like a demon, adding a lot of violence and despair to the musicality of the whole album. Not only that, the lyrics in Cruelty and the Beast are also as creative, evil and wonderful as always, this time even better due to the whole storyline involving Countess Bathory as the main character, and the front cover and the rest of the album art are the perfect finishing touch for it.

Cradle_Of_Filth-Cruelty_y_The_Beast_(Limited_Edition)-Frontal

Koch Records’ 2001 two-disc edition front cover

If you’re lucky enough to find the Koch Records’ 2001 two-disc edition bonus disc, you’ll be amazed by their superb covers of Iron Maiden, Venom and Sodom, bands with a high influence on Cradle of Filth’s music. The only bad thing about this bonus disc is the mix version for The Twisted Nails of Faith: I don’t like when a Heavy Metal song are mixed into some generic electronic song, and this one is not different from that.

Anyway, if you love Extreme Metal and a good story, you must listen to Cruelty and the Beast. Cradle of Filth might not be the best Heavy Metal band in the world, but this album helped redefine extreme music for sure and destroyed all the remaining boundaries between music and art for good.

Best moments of the album: Everything in this album is gold, but if I had to choose only a couple of songs they would be Thirteen Autumns and a Widow, Beneath the Howling Stars and Bathory Aria.

Worst moments of the album: None, unless I can choose a song from the Koch Records’ 2001 two-disc edition bonus disc, then I would say Twisting Further Nails (The Cruci-Fiction Mix).

Released in 1998 Music for Nations

Track listing
1. Once Upon Atrocity (Instrumental) 1:43
2. Thirteen Autumns and a Widow 7:14
3. Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids 7:18
4. Beneath the Howling Stars 7:42
5. Venus in Fear (Instrumental) 2:20
6. Desire in Violent Overture 4:16
7. The Twisted Nails of Faith 6:50
8. Bathory Aria (Benighted Like Usher/A Murder of Ravens in Fugue/Eyes That Witnessed Madness) 11:02
9. Portrait of the Dead Countess (Instrumental) 2:52
10. Lustmord and Wargasm (The Lick of Carnivorous Winds) 7:30

Koch Records’ 2001 two-disc edition bonus disc
1. Lustmord And Wargasm (The Relicking of Cadaverous Wounds) 7:58
2. Black Metal (Venom cover) 3:27
3. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden cover) 7:10
4. Sodomy & Lust (Sodom cover) 4:47
5. Twisting Further Nails (The Cruci-Fiction Mix) 5:33

Band members
Dani Filth – lead vocals
Stuart Anstis – guitars
Gian Pyres – guitars
Robin Graves – bass
Lecter – keyboards
Nicholas Barker – drums

Guest musicians
Sarah Jezebel Deva – backing vocals
Danielle Cneajna Cottington – backing vocals
Ingrid Pitt – Lady Bathory’s narration on ‘The Twisted Nails of Faith’ and Bathory Aria’s ‘Eyes That Witnessed Madness’

Album Review – Fight / War of Words (1993)

Posted on by
2

An amazing Heavy Metal album from a totally awesome band that unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore.

Rating3

Fight_-_War_of_WordsWhen the Metal God Rob Halford (the best Heavy Metal singer of all time) left Judas Priest back in 1992, no one knew what was going to happen to him or to the band. Fortunately for most of his fans all around the world, he formed the amazing band Fight in 1993 and recorded one of the most underrated Metal albums of the 90’s, War of Words.

How can someone not get completely addicted to an album that starts with two masterpieces such as Into the Pit and Nailed to the Gun? These two songs are more than perfect, with the Metal God reaching his famous powerful screams and the rest of the band simply kickin’ some serious ass. In my opinion, they’re better than almost anything Halford or even the Priest have produced since then, except for Resurrection (which might be a good topic for a future post).

After this incredible start, War of Words keeps delivering some excellent material: Life in Black is a very nice slow and heavy tune, while Immortal Sin is another instant classic with its great riff and chorus; the title-track, War of Words, has another great performance by Halford, while Laid to Rest can be considered the darkest track of the whole album. Then we have one of the least memorable tracks, For All Eternity, which is not bad but becomes boring after two minutes, and the hit single Little Crazy that made even people that knew nothing about Halford or didn’t enjoy Metal at all sing along with our Metal God.

fightThe last part of the album is a little weird if compared to anything Halford had previously recorded in his career, with a sonority that reminds me of some more modern Thrash Metal (something that didn’t even exist in the beginning of the 90’s). If you listen to the songs Contortion, Kill It and Vicious today, you’ll think they’re from a brand new band, not from a group from the 90’s which had one of the most iconic classic Metal singers of all time. My favorite one from these three tracks is undoubtedly Kill It, especially due to its pretty simple but cool chorus. Reality, A New Beginning closes the album, and I personally don’t understand what the band wanted with this song. It is extremely boring compared to the rest of the songs.

Maybe the front cover is the weakest part of the album, because even a 5-year old kid can do something better using only pen and paper, but in this case I don’t care about it due to the high quality of the music. And of course, great songs can only come from real musicians: Halford is the Metal God, there’s nothing else any mere mortal like me can say about him; Russ Parrish (or if you prefer, Satchel from Steel Panther) is a very talented guitar player, as well as Brian Tilse, and they both produced awesome riffs and solos in this album; Jay Jay also delivers some great bass lines;  and Scott Travis, the drummer that has been giving more speed and power to all Priest songs since joining the band in Painkiller, does an amazing job here too.

In summary, if you have never listened to War of Words, you have no idea of what an amazing Metal album you’re missing. Fight might be a long-gone band today, but the music they produced during their short life was pure fuckin’ Metal.

Best moments of the album: Into the Pit, Nailed to the Gun, Immortal Sin and Laid to Rest.

Worst moments of the album: For All Eternity and Reality, A New Beginning.

Released in 1993 Epic Records

Track listing
1. Into the Pit 4:13
2. Nailed to the Gun 3:38
3. Life in Black 4:34
4. Immortal Sin 4:39
5. War of Words 4:29
6. Laid to Rest 4:40
7. For All Eternity 4:42
8. Little Crazy 3:49
9. Contortion 4:35
10. Kill It 3:30
11. Vicious 3:11
12. Reality, A New Beginning (includes hidden track “Jesus Saves”) 13:18

Band members
Rob Halford – vocals
Brian Tilse – guitars
Russ Parrish – guitars
Jay Jay – bass
Scott Travis – drums