Album Review – Lykaion / Heavy Lullabies (2015)

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Hailing from Italy, this band takes you into a pleasant musical journey from Hard Rock to Gothic in the same album.

Rating4

Lykaion-Album_cover640When I first saw Lykaion‘s video clip for the song “For Love”, before even listening to their full album, my first thought was “Wow, what a cool Hard Rock band from Italy!” With powerful riffs, sticky chorus, Alessandro Sforza’s sweet and full-of-attitude voice, amazing backing vocals and their Guns ‘n’ Roses and Crashdïet’s t-shirts, what else would you think? But I was wrong – and in this case, being wrong is not even close to being a bad thing.

Founded in 2000 in Rome, Lykaion mixes in their sound a lot of Gothic Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal and even Love Metal – that style well-known by Finnish bands such as HIM and To/Die/For. They are about to release their second album, Heavy Lullabies, via Finnish label Inverse Records. Along its 11 tracks, you can feel the influences of each one of these genres and be surprised with how the band can go from the deepest melancholic feelings to  Hard Rock happiness and the rage of Thrash Metal.

Heavy Lullaby opens the album and here comes the first surprise: it is a calm and smooth instrumental song! I am not quite sure if this was an interesting way to introduce the album, but it is a beautiful and deep song though. For Love comes next with a completely different atmosphere as said before, being a pure hard rock song that could be played at the iconic Rainbow, in Los Angeles, while you enjoy a cold beer, dance and sing along. The same Hard Rock feeling continues in the next track, Anthem, with great riffs and guitar solos. I would dare to say that Alessandro’s voice, in a different way and with a pinch of aggressiveness, sometimes sounds like Def Leppard’s iconic lead singer Joe Elliott.

Lykaion_Picture2Love is a theme widely explored in this album and in the fourth track, I Don’t Love You Anymore, as its own title suggests, they sing about the love that no longer exists. It is a beautiful ballad, full of mixed feelings, and to make it even more intense there are two amazing guitar solos by Fabio Valentini that can make any broken-hearted girl cry. From this point on, Hard Rock is left behind and the band dives into heavier sounds, like in Waitin’, where the band explores bass and drums in a wonderful way. Smile, although being a ballad, is still heavy, dark and deep, more like a Love Metal song. End of Time keeps the speed and the heavy feeling alive, with great backing vocals on the chorus. Out of my Heart and Animals are not exactly ballads, but they are good examples of how Love Metal songs, such as the greatest classics by HIM, should sound like.

The following track, Accept Yourself, starts with a lovely guitar solo – again, that kind of solo that makes girls cry – and you may think that here comes a love ballad, but then everything changes and what you listen is a powerful anthem, full of attitude and strong lyrics. I can imagine this music played live as one of the highlights of their concerts, with a huge interaction between the band and the audience, especially in the chorus (“Raise your hands / Up into the air / Accept yourself / Accept the mess”). What a song! After this travel through different genres, Till the End closes the album in great style, bringing some Gothic notes and feelings.

What makes Lykaion’s sound very unique is how easy they take the best features of each musical style, each band, each theme that inspired them, and turn it all into great songs that cannot be categorized in a single genre. These Italian guys genuinely know how to take their listeners into an intense and exciting musical trip. Do not miss the chance to listen to this album and show your support to this promising band on Facebook. Also, do not forget to check their YouTube channel, there are a lot of cool high quality live videos of the songs of their debut full-length album, Nothin’ But Death (2012).

Best moments of the album: For Love, End of Time and Accept Yourself.

Worst moments of the album: Smile.

Released in 2015 Inverse Records

Track listing
1. Heavy Lullaby 3:55
2. For Love 4:27
3. Anthem 4:10
4. I Don’t Love you Anymore 5:10
5. Waitin’ 3:55
6. Smile 4:04
7. End of Time 3:54
8. Out of my Heart 4:20
9. Animals 3:41
10. Accept Yourself 4:46
11. Till the End 5:06

Band members
Alessandro Sforza – vocals, guitar
Fabio Valentini – guitar
Valerio Lippera – bass
Andrea Alberati – drums

Metal Chick of the Month – Ashley “Ellyllon” Jurgemeyer

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Fall for the love of me… Crawl for the love of me.

If you’re a fan of Cradle Of Filth, Abigail Williams or Orbs, you must have already heard of the red-haired diva Ashley “Ellyllon” Jurgemeyer, Ashley Ellyllon or Ashley Jurgemeyer, a very talented pianist, keyboardist and songwriter involved in so many different projects and bands, including scoring for film and television, that it’s quite hard to list all of them here without missing anything.

Born on July 30, 1984 in Scottsdale, Arizona, but currently residing in Los Angeles, California, Ashley started her music career at the age of six by taking classical piano lessons, finally earning some years later her Bachelor’s degree in Music Theory and Composition from Arizona State University in 2006. During her years at the Arizona State University, she studied with John Metz, Jody Rockmaker, and James DeMars, and was granted the Louis Kerr Grant in composition. After her graduation, she began her career in Rock N’ Roll and Heavy Metal in New York, where she was able to combine her background in classical music with the more modern musicality of genres such as Experimental Rock, Symphonic Black Metal and Extreme Metal.

Our redhead pianist was one of the founding members of American Symphonic Black Metal band Abigail Williams in 2005, with whom she recorded one EP called Legend, in 2006, and two full-length albums: In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns, in 2008, and more recently Becoming, in 2012, this time just as a guest musician. During her years with the band, where she was always responsible for all piano, synths, and orchestration parts, and sometimes also for some background vocals, she was able to go on tour and share the stage with Extreme Metal icons Emperor, Dark Funeral, Enslaved, among many others. If you want to know more about her contribution to the music of Abigail Williams, my suggestions as a start are the awesome songs Floods, Into the Ashes and Acolytes, all three from the album In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns.

Between her departure from Abigail Williams in 2009 and her return in 2012, Ashley became the new keyboardist for English Extreme Metal band Cradle Of Filth, replacing English keyboardist Rosie Smith. She toured with the band for a while, even taking part of the music video for The Death Of Love (watch it at the end of this text), from the album Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder (which she didn’t record), and then recorded her only album with the band, the excellent Darkly Darkly Venus Aversa, in 2010. Her beautiful keyboard and piano lines can be enjoyed in powerful and heavy songs such as The Cult of Venus Aversa, Retreat of the Sacred Heart, and especially Lilith Immaculate (although she’s not in the official music video for this song). However, she mentioned her favorite Cradle Of Filth song to play live was not from her album with the band, but the sonic massacre Cthulhu Dawn, from the masterpiece Midian (2000).

She’s also part of American Experimental Rock supergroup Orbs, together with Dan Briggs (Between the Buried and Me) and Adam Fisher (Fear Before), with whom she recorded the album Asleep Next to Science, in 2010, the single These People Are Animals, in 2014, and now in 2015 the band will be releasing a new full-length album entitled Past Life Regression. The music here is completely different from Abigail Williams and Cradle Of Filth, as you’ll notice in the songs Sayer of the Law, Megaloblastic Madness, Something Beautiful, and The Northwestern Bearitories B – Kid Cancer, which is something mentioned by Ashley in one of her rare interviews like this one for PunkWorldViews.com.

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Besides those bands and projects, Ashley was also responsible for the programming and string arrangement in the album Until I Feel Nothing (2011) by American Deathcore band Carnifex, and helped American Shock Rock singer Ryann Donnelly with the songwriting for her Girl EP (2012), which can be seen for example in the song Bang.. But hold your breath, because there’s still a lot more to go: our gorgeous “ginger” musician is also working on a solo classical piano album; composed the song Sunday Sundress for the Handmade Hostess Official Book Trailer; played keyboards and composed Casting The Circle, a very interesting song by a project called The Dreadful Hours; and was named “Best Keyboardist of 2010” by Alternative Press.

Are you tired already? Well, Ashley is definitely not, and it looks like she’s always ready for more when it’s about music, as she’s also featured on a video called Antiquity Music Sessions – Ep. 1 – The Baldwin Solid Body Harpsichord, where she beautifully plays the Baldwin Solid Body Harpsichord and, although we cannot see her pretty face, we can enjoy some of her abilities as a musician (and her perfect red hair, of course). And don’t forget to check all her other contributions, compositions and projects on her official website. In addition, one can imagine how much time Ashley has to spend on the road with all her bands and projects, and what she likes to do to spend free time on tour. She mentioned she loves exploring any city she’s in, reading, writing new music, connecting to her family through the internet, and of course playing her keyboards.

Ashley’s list of idols in the world of music is very eclectic, including many classical masters such as Russian pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff, Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, French composer Claude Debussy and Russian classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz, as well as more contemporary artists like English musician Matt Bellamy (Muse) and American keyboardist Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater). Moreover, her top 5 albums simply corroborate her broad music taste, as the list is composed by Muse’s Origin of Symmetry, Darkest Hour’s Undoing Ruin, Dimmu Borgir’s Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, Radiohead’s OK Computer, and Sigur Rós’ Agaetis Byrjun, which means she’s a fan of Alternative/Experimental Rock, Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Black Metal, Post-Rock, and remember we’re only talking about her favorite albums, not everything that she listens to while performing her day-to-day activities!

In regards to her personal life, Ashley loves yoga, running, cooking, traveling, and curiously one of her favorite hobbies is making comic books. I tried to find anything she’s already produced in terms of comics on the web, but nothing came up. Maybe it’s just a personal thing for her, in other words, something she’s not willing to share with anybody else? Anyway, talking about her likes and dislikes, among her top places are Greece and New Zealand, her favorite movie is the unparalleled classic Silence of the Lambs, her favorite books are “Mozart in the Jungle” by Blair Tindall and “Still Life With Woodpecker” by Tom Robbins, and finally her favorite food and drink are, respectively, Thai food and Blood Mary. Why am I not surprised our redhead rocker loves a drink that has BLOOD in its name and is completely RED?

Equipment
Roland Fantom G8
Yamaha S90 ES
Roland Juno
Nord Stage 2 88

Ashley Jurgemeyer’s Official website
Ashley Jurgemeyer’s Official Facebook page
Ashley Jurgemeyer’s Official Twitter

Album Review – Blind Guardian / Beyond The Red Mirror (2015)

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Are you ready to explore what’s beyond “The Red Mirror” with one of the most influential Power Metal bands of all time?

Rating4

blind guardian_btrmBeyond The Red Mirror, the tenth studio album by German Power Metal pioneers Blind Guardian, their first since 2010’s At the Edge of Time (the longest gap between two studio albums in their career) and the first without bassist Oliver Holzwarth since their finest work to date, 1995’s Imaginations from the Other Side, might not be a true masterpiece, but it’s good enough to keep those Teutonic veterans going and also a perfect example of how to effectively combine metal music with a great concept, creating what some people like to call a “Metal Opera”.

Blind Guardian’s iconic lead singer Hansi Kürsch has already explained himself this album is a sequel to Imaginations from the Other Side: the two worlds have changed dramatically for the worse since then with only one gate left now between them, The Red Mirror, with the storyline revolving around the young protagonist we first met in the 1995’s classics “Bright Eyes” and “And the Story Ends”. Add to that the fact that three different classical choirs (from Czech Republic, Hungary and the United States) and two grand orchestras, each featuring 90 musicians, are part of the album, and you can imagine how grandiose the musicality contained in Beyond The Red Mirror is.

blind guardianThe almost 10-minute epic track The Ninth Wave, with its choir intro, kicks off the album proving once again Hansi’s voice is not only unique but also so powerful it’s impossible not to follow his vocal lines in their entirety. Although I loved its harmony and storyline, it lacks a little heaviness, making it more Metal Opera than Power Metal per se. Twilight Of The Gods sounds a lot more traditional than the opening track, especially its fast drums and guitar riffs and solos. Moreover, Hansi guides the rhythm here thanks in part to the song’s awesome straightforward lyrics (“Witness the twilight of the gods / Will they ever return / A storm will take us / And then wipe us out / There’s no retreat”).

The most interesting aspect in Prophecies, which despite not being outstanding at least maintains the album at a decent level, is how well we can understand each and every word Hansi pronounces, even when he does his stronger/harsher vocals; while At The Edge Of Time, with its eerie intro and a more melancholic atmosphere, doesn’t really decide if it’s a metallic or a symphonic song, hurting the final result. On the other hand, Ashes Of Eternity is the true Blind Guardian we all have learned to love, with its exciting vocal lines and beautiful guitar solos by André Olbrich making it one of the top moments of the album. Keeping up with this awesomeness we have The Holy Grail, the perfect soundtrack in the quest for the Holy Grail itself where not even a single second is boring or out of place. Moreover, the top-notch Power Metal drumming by Frederik Ehmke will definitely sound amazing live.

blind guardian_btrm deluxe

Beyond The Red Mirror Limited Edition Digipak/Earbook Deluxe

The Throne is another symphonic-centered tune with lots of elements from traditional Blind Guardian, with highlights to the great job done by André Olbrich with his inspired solos once again. The following track, the dark Sacred Mind, showcases solid instrumental lines despite not being very creative, albeit it gets a little tiring after a while; and the piano ballad Miracle Machine focuses on a superb vocal performance by Hansi. Closing the regular version of the album we have another imposing progressive 9-minute song, Grand Parade, which in my opinion gets too symphonic sometimes, even knowing it was meant to be this way. In other words, it’s not a bad song, but it won’t probably work really well live nor become a classic or anything like that. Furthermore, the special versions of Beyond The Red Mirror come with an amazing bonus track, Distant Memories, a melodic and symphonic old school semi-ballad curiously inserted in the middle of the album (as track number 6) instead of at the end; and if you purchase the earbook there’s another Power Metal bonus track for you entitled Doom.

In summary, although some moments in Beyond The Red Mirror lack more intensity and power, there are lots of excellent songs, with a couple of them deserving a 5 out of 5 so amazing they are, augmented by all the majestic orchestral passages perfectly inserted amidst the band’s unmatched Power Metal. Some fans will end up comparing it to Imaginations from the Other Side due to the existing connection between the two albums, but I prefer to keep them separate and enjoy their own elements and musicality one at a time. Although we all know there’s never going to be another Imaginations from the Other Side, we can rest assured Blind Guardian is still capable of delivering Power Metal at its finest like in Beyond The Red Mirror, and that’s the bottom line. With that said, are you ready to explore what’s beyond “The Red Mirror”?

Best moments of the album: Twilight Of The Gods, Ashes Of Eternity, The Holy Grail and the bonus track Distant Memories.

Worst moments of the album: At The Edge Of Time, Sacred Mind and Grand Parade.

Released in 2015 Nuclear Blast

Track listing
1. The Ninth Wave 9:27
2. Twilight of the Gods 4:49
3. Prophecies 5:24
4. At the Edge of Time 6:53
5. Ashes of Eternity 5:38
7. The Holy Grail 6:02
8. The Throne 7:53
9. Sacred Mind 6:21
10. Miracle Machine 3:02
11. Grand Parade 9:27

Limited Edition Digipak Bonus Track
6. Distant Memories 5:51

Earbook Bonus Track
12. Doom 5:51

Band members
Hansi Kürsch – lead and backing vocals
André Olbrich – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
Marcus Siepen – rhythm guitar
Frederik Ehmke – drums, percussion

Additional musician
Barend Courbois – bass guitar

Album Review – id. / Sagittarius A EP (2015)

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Progressive, aggressive and intricate metal music created to flow directly into your body and mind.

Rating5

EP cover - id - Sagitarrius AInspired by Sigmund Freud’s theory on the levels of the human psyche (id, ego and super-ego), comes Canadian Progressive Metal band id. and their brand new EP, entitled Sagittarius A, which will take you on a relatively short but very interesting expedition through several music genres, from World Music to Death Metal. Longtime fans of Opeth, Gojira and Mastodon will quickly fall in love with id., while others might be positively surprised with the depth offered in the music by this Vancouver-based group.

The story behind the EP title is very entertaining and shows how much attention the band members paid to every detail while composing it. Sagittarius A, which touches on topics such as inner struggle and self-awareness, is the name of the black hole in the center of our galaxy (as represented by the album art). The central idea comes from a fundamental belief in a scientific world view, free of religious influence and tyranny, outlining how people are susceptible to believe things without evidence if it appeals to their vanity, as opposed to being presented with evidence and being able to accept something that is inherently contradictory to their intuition. But don’t worry if you didn’t really get it: just sit down, relax and enjoy the heavy music spectacle presented in this four-track EP.

idphotoshoot-5920-3611476671-PM-HAnd the psychedelic heavy music journey begins with The Greatest Secret Never Told, where huge influences from French Groove/Progressive Metal band Gojira can be easily noticed in all instruments, especially in its drums and riffs. Not only that, the high-end sounding is above average for any indie band like id., something that must be acknowledged for sure. Very technical and progressive instrumental passages are also found in Humanity’s Cry, an introspective and melancholic track (not only the music itself, but also the lyrics), with highlights to the theatrical clean vocals by lead singer Jason Pennington and the amazing beats by drummer Kris DeBoer.

id.entity is a lot angrier and more complex than the previous songs, sounding almost like Progressive Black Metal before turning into rawer Death Metal, which just confirms how creative this band can be. It’s a progressive feast where all band members have a very professional and solid performance, especially guitarists Alex Dubreuil and Tyson Araszewski, all guided by the excellent desperate vocals by Jason. Lastly, we have the title-track, Sagittarius A, which despite beginning in a very smooth way, suddenly becomes a violent but harmonic flow of blast beats and harsh screams. It’s in my opinion the best of all four tracks, mainly due to its high-energy rhythm and intricacy.

You can visit the band’s official Facebook page and/or BandCamp to obtain more details and stream the music by this band that’s helping put the awesome province of British Columbia, Canada in the map of Progressive Metal. In the end, it doesn’t really matter if you’re a profound connoisseur of the life and work of the father of psychoanalysis or not: if you’re a metalhead with a strong inclination to progressiveness, your body and mind will demand more of the elaborate musicality generated by these Canadian metallers.

Best moments of the album: As already mentioned, Sagittarius A.

Worst moments of the album: None, of course.

Released in 2015 Independent

Track listing
1. The Greatest Secret Never Told 3:58
2. Humanity’s Cry 5:36
3. id.entity 6:01
4. Sagittarius A 5:57

Band members
Jason Pennington – lead vocals
Alex Dubreuil – lead guitars, bass, backing vocals
Tyson Araszewski – rhythm guitar
Kris DeBoer – drums

 

The Metal Moose Show – Episode 2015-01-27

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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 (not necessarily in this order):

1.Machine In The Mountain – Wake
2.Curse The Fall – Halfway
3.Aurin – November
4.System Of Hate – Infected
5.Foes Of The Fallen – Addiction
6.Era – Revelation
7.Era – Transcending The Physical State
8.Crawl – No Lies
9.Up Against It – Eye For An Eye
10.Vision Red – Blood Feast
11.War Rages Within – Track 2
12.Evolution Now – Let It Go
13.Me Three – Believe
14.T-55’s – Send Your Poor
15.Ravenheart – Better Off Dead
16.Stone Cadaver – Straight Wheeler
17.Doom Dogs – D Ogs Of Doom
18.Winds Of War – Quantic Impact
19.Cadacus – Safe Word
20.Perpetual Dawn – Moment Of Apprehension
21.Half A Tusk – Abandoned Theory

Click HERE to listen to this week’s episode on Spreaker or HERE to listen to it on Mixcloud.

Metal Moose Radio YouTube | Spreaker | Mixcloud

Album Review – Aethyr / Corpus (2015)

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A “lecture” in Occultism crafted by a very competent band from Russia that will satisfy your craving for freakish heavy music.

Rating4

AETHYR - Corpus cover artAethyr, a reference for the fifth element (or spirit) in various forms of Metaphysics and Occultism, is already a magnificent name for any heavy music band simply due to its meaning and pronunciation. However, it gets even more suitable when the band is capable of transferring all those mystical principles to their music, which is the case with Russian Doom Metal band Aethyr and their brand new album, the dense and ominous Corpus.

On their first full-length since their 2010 album Messio, this talented quartet from Moscow goes beyond the boundaries of darkness, with exceptional doses of heaviness loaded with a spine-chilling ambience not recommended for the faint-hearted. Just take a look at the album art, designed by Rotten Fantom, and you can have a very good idea of the level of despair Aethyr offer us all in this excellent release.

The obscure sonority found in the opening track, Nihil Grail, with its slow and somber riffs and drums, epitomizes the dark side of Doom Metal. In addition, the demonic vocals by Mr. D give this “polished wickedness” a touch of Black Metal, with its last part being at the same time mesmerizing and disturbing. I’m pretty sure Tom G. Warrior, the mastermind behind Triptykon, would love this song. Following this amazing tune, it’s impossible not to bang your head to the heavy riffs found in Sanctus Satanicus: whatever Mr. D is singing he sounds possessed by an evil entity, and when the band speeds up the music it becomes almost pure raw Black Metal so harsh it sounds.

AETHYR band photoThe epic 10-minute eerie track ATU showcases deeper guttural vocals maximized by cryptic riffs in the background, with a melancholic break at around four minutes. There’s a lot of progressiveness, tempo changes and mysterious passages skillfully played by all band members which are definitely worth our attention. Then we have the awesome CVLT, a song that’s Doom Metal at its finest, with sludgy riffs, strong beats and, more important than that, a depressive feeling that’s essential for good dark music.

But the maleficent aura created by Aethyr gets even stronger in The Gnostic Mass, which is not exactly a song but just weird sounds from what seems to be a black mass; and then in the title-track CORPUS, another 10-minute badass song that kind of continues with the weirdness from the previous track for over a minute, before the low-tuned guitars by Mr. D and Mr. W evoke all the hopelessness and sorrow of Funeral Doom while drummer Mr. S and bassist Mr. Y dictate the song’s wonderfully wretched rhythm. You can get a sense of how lugubrious this track is just by the fact that there are very few vocals lines in it, only after six minutes of music and not for too long. Finally, in order to darken your mind and your heart even more, Aethyr offer us lots of traditional Doom Metal elements in Templum, where the band gets “infuriated” halfway through it, generating chaos and havoc to close the album on a high note.

Take a shot at the album trailer HERE and at the band’s official BandCamp page for a taste of Aethyr’s music, and of course visit their Facebook page for more details about the release of Corpus and the band’s upcoming concerts. More than just a Doom Metal album, Corpus is a “lecture” in Occultism that will satisfy your thirst for creepy and deranged heavy music, and you will get addicted to it without a shadow of a doubt.

Best moments of the album: Nihil Grail, CVLT and CORPUS.

Worst moments of the album: The Gnostic Mass, but only because it’s not an actual song.

Released in 2015 Cimmerian Shade Recordings

Track listing
1. Nihil Grail 7:03
2. Sanctus Satanicus 4:28
3. ATU 10:21
4. CVLT 5:23
5. The Gnostic Mass 6:11
6. CORPUS 10:05
7. Templum 6:29

Band members
Mr. D (Denis Dubovik) – vocals, lead guitar
Mr. W (Vladimir Snegotsky) – rhythm guitar
Mr. Y (George Meshkov) – bass
Mr. S (Anton Sidorov) – drums

Collectibles Review – Iron Maiden Clothed 8” Action Figures

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This time, Eddie decided to dress up for the party.

Rating1

Maiden-figuresAlthough the new Iron Maiden Clothed 8” Action Figures by NECA (National Entertainment Collectibles Association) were launched in 2014 and the official NECA website states those are now discontinued, I believe they’re worth a review anyway so awesome they are. There are only two versions available, The Trooper and The Mummy, each with their own unique characteristics and accessories and, more important than that, as the description says they’re both clothed, becoming some sort of tribute to the traditional action figures from the 70’s featuring cloth costumes.

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Iron Maiden – 8″ Clothed Action Figure – The Trooper

The first of the two action figures to be launched was The Trooper, back in July 2014, featuring a tattered Union Jack flag and saber accessories. This Eddie is so cool and so well-crafted you will feel like one of those collectors who refuse to take the action figure out of its original box to avoid any type of damage to it. There are other versions of “The Trooper” Eddie available in the market, like the head knocker bobble head, but the fact Eddie now comes with actual clothes turns it into a must-have item for your personal collection of Eddies. This action figure might be discontinued on the official NECA website, but that doesn’t mean you cannot find it on other websites such as Amazon, or even at some physical toy/games stores.

Iron Maiden – 8″ Clothed Action Figure – The Mummy

Iron Maiden – 8″ Clothed Action Figure – The Mummy

It might have taken a few extra months for The Mummy to be released (it was launched only in September 2014), but it was totally worth the wait. Pretty much the same that was said about The Trooper is applied to The Mummy, with the additional fact that it was launched in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of Iron Maiden’s unparalleled masterpiece Powerslave,  and of course its corresponding World Slavery Tour 1984-1985. This version of the action figure is just as superb as The Trooper, featuring chains that can be connected to Eddie’s mouth, as well as an alternate head that reveals more of his face. Its clothes are so detailed I wonder if each unit produced wasn’t manually sewn and assembled. Moreover, just like The Trooper, you can find The Mummy at Amazon and maybe at other physical stores in your city.

In short, there’s no reason for you not to buy both The Trooper and The Mummy. I cannot tell which one is my favorite, as both are incredible and look really awesome among my other action figures and bobble heads. And besides, you’ll spend only between 45 and 75 US Dollars with each one, which is not a huge investment if you think of how valuable those items will be in a couple of years. Our good friend Eddie decided to really dress up for the party this time, so do not disappoint him and send him an “invitation” to join you at your own Heavy Metal celebration at your place.

Album Review – The Passion Of Our Souls / Soulmates EP (2015)

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Enjoy this first-class fusion of pop and heavy music by a promising dynamic duo from Finland.

Rating4

THE PASSION OF OUR SOULS - Soulmates cover artOne day you’re walking down the street or hanging out at the mall, and you see that guy or girl that makes your heartbeat “match the beat of the universe”, as perfectly quoted by American author Joseph Campbell. That’s the moment when you finally find your soulmate, the person you want to spend the rest of your life together, and that’s exactly what Finnish Melodic Death/Pop Metal dynamic duo The Passion Of Our Souls want to express with their excellent debut EP entitled Soulmates.

Hailing from Hämeenlinna, Finland, and formed in 2014 when lead singer Julia Mattila and multi-instrumentalist Samuli Tuomas Mäkelä met each other and began to carry out together their passion for music (which by the way was the inspiration for the name of the band), The Passion of Our Souls offer us all what can be considered a concept EP, with all four tracks talking about passion and love. Moreover, the music itself is very well-crafted and effectively illustrates the message the band is sending to the listener. Add to that the beautiful combination of the band’s logo, designed by Argentinian graphic designer Victoria Pelejero, and the album art, created by Mexican graphic artist Angat Calavera, and you have a full-bodied final result which will please all fans of heavy and melodic music.

Give Me Your Soul already explains what the band wants to say with “Melodic Death/Pop Metal” due to the dark sounding of its Doom Metal riffs blended with the voice of Julia Mattila, who travels between demonic growls and mainstream clean vocals, creating a unique pop/metal atmosphere. Besides, its lyrics could easily belong to a pop music hit so passionate they are (“Your smile and eyes are like drug to me and / This is something that the whole world will see”). Then we have the thrilling Everything, which begins somehow like the new songs by Arch Enemy, reminding me of their latest single “War Eternal”: it’s a headbanging tune with a strong melodic vein, and you will love the guttural and clean vocals together in its catchy chorus. It’s so professional it doesn’t sound the band has only two members, although I wonder how Julia will be able to do both voices at the same time live. Well, that’s just a minor detail, at least for now.

THE PASSION OF OUR SOULS band photoThe even deeper guttural vocals in What Tomorrow Brings showcase a more contemporary Melodic Death Metal side of the band, where heavy riffs and somber but smooth passages go really well together; while the blast beats in Till Death Do Us Part keep the song a million light-years away from being commercial. This track has simple but intelligent lyrics about the whole concept of marriage, plus an exciting rhythm thanks to the amazing job done by Samuli. Not only that, its chorus couldn’t be more melodic and emotional (“Please marry me / And I’ll be yours forever / I’ll love you till the end / Till death do us part”), in line with the whole concept of the EP.

When Soulmates is over you will be craving for more of The Passion Of Our Souls, so let’s hope they do not take too long to release a full-length album with more of their amazing music. In the meantime, there are several places where you can know more about the band and enjoy their work, such as BandCamp, YouTube, SoundCloud, ReverbNation and BandPage. If I had to summarize the EP in just a few words, I would say it’s a topnotch fusion of pop and heavy music highly recommended for you to enjoy with your soulmate.

Best moments of the album: Everything is in my opinion the most appealing of the four tracks.

Worst moments of the album: Let’s wait until they have a full-length album to select a bad moment, right?

Released in 2015 Independent

Track listing
1. Give Me Your Soul 3:25
2. Everything 4:57
3. What Tomorrow Brings 3:53
4. Till Death Do Us Part 5:15

Band members
Julia Mattila – growls, clean vocals (Seele, Julia)
Samuli Tuomas Mäkelä – all instrumentation (Kara Darahu, Snovonne)

The Metal Moose Show – Episode 2015-01-20

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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 (not necessarily in this order):

1. Endless Rain – Some Angels
2. Fall – Rust
3. City Of The Weak – White Fire Alarm
4. 5 Eyes Wide – Long Gone
5. Far Away Stables – Understanding The Depths
6. Far Away Stables – Hellish Conditions
7. Psychopathic Daze – Moment Of Clarity
8. Universal Theory – Turn Me On
9. Pahneron – Untitled
10. Skeletal Horseman – Bring You Down
11. Vengeful Ghoul – Ruthless Crow
12. Wolf Blood – Witch
13. Skies To Conquer – The Pulse
14. The Silverblack – Dandelion
15. Our Souls Evolve – Manipulations
16. Six Gun Saints – Ashes
17. Thee Massacre – Track 8
18. Potergeist – Swampire
19. Kiss Is Kill – Revelation
20. Rear Naked Choke – Suicide Betsy
21. Dreamgrave – Black Spiral
22. Forever Still – Scars

Click HERE to listen to this week’s episode on Spreaker or HERE to listen to it on Mixcloud.

Metal Moose Radio YouTube | Spreaker | Mixcloud

Album Review – Marduk / Frontschwein (2015)

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The Babylonian gods of Black Metal return with more of their blasphemous and apocalyptic war-themed music.

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coverWhen Swedish Black Metallers Marduk added interesting topics such as Third Reich history and World War II to their lyrical/conceptual themes, starting with their 1999 album Panzer Division Marduk, I guess many of their diehard fans weren’t really sure what was going to happen to those guys that once stated they wanted to become the most blasphemous band in the world. If you look at their very first demo, the controversial Fuck Me Jesus, which was banned in several countries following its release due to its explicit cover art, and look at their brand new album, Frontschwein, it’s noticeable they’re not as blasphemous as before. But who said that change wasn’t for good?

Following their excellent 2012 release Serpent Sermon, Frontschwein (their thirteenth studio album) is not only a lesson in Black Metal, but also in Military and World War History, and let’s face it: no other music genre can represent the agonies and destruction caused by any war better than Death/Black Metal. Frontschwein is a war-themed concept album with every single song talking about a specific fact related to war, all of course impregnated by Marduk’s obscure musicality. If you love reading and studying about war, and if you’re a metalhead whose blood boils to the sound of nonstop blast beats and harsh growls, this album is perfect for you.

Despite its melodic intro, the opening track Frontschwein (which by the way means “frontline soldier”) quickly turns into badass Black Metal, with the unstoppable drumming by Fredrik Widigs and the truly devilish vocals by Mortuus (especially during the chorus) making sure any candy-asses stay away from this album. On the other hand, I have no idea what the band wanted to do with The Blond Beast: what the hell are those horrible “pop music” drums? I mean, the riffs and vocals are quite decent, but those lame commercial beats ruin the entire song.

bandFortunately, that’s the only mistake the band made in Frontschwein. In the bloodcurdling Afrika, Marduk offer us an extremely dense music carnage, with Morgan and Widigs redefining the word “wicked” with their sick guitar lines and bestial drumming respectively. The slower but completely demonic tune Wartheland, which talks about a Nazi German administrative subdivision formed from Polish territory annexed in 1939, focuses on the desperate screams by Mortuus boosted by a maleficent atmosphere. Following that lesson in vileness,  in Rope of Regret the band returns with their “heavy artillery”, and in spite of all the sonic insanity their music is far from being a mess, as you can perfectly listen to and enjoy each instrument throughout the entire song.

Between the Wolf-Packs couldn’t sound more traditional, displaying all those unique elements that fans enjoy in Black Metal, whereas Nebelwerfer (or “Smoke Mortar”, a World War II German series of weapons) emanates darkness, with an incredible Doom Metal ambience mainly due to its slow-paced grim rhythm. And Falaise: Cauldron of Blood gets back to straightforward Black Metal, with highlights to the interesting addition of some slower breaks amidst the furious blast beats, and to Mortuus sounding even more amazing with his 100% barbaric guttural vocals.

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Frontschwein Mediabook Limited Edition

The longest track of all, Doomsday Elite, is another “anthem of despair” without a single second of peace, with all band members giving their best and adding a lot of power to the song, while the excellent 503, which I believe talks about German Tiger Tank Battalion 503 in World War II, sounds actually like a tank: it’s slow, extremely heavy and very imposing, with its Doom Metal elements and gruesome bass lines by Devo turning it into an outstanding moment of the album. And finally, the last regular track in Frontschwein, Thousand-Fold Death, makes sure no one survives the band’s brutal assault. It’s a nonstop tune that will put a huge smile on our faces and an even more gigantic pain in our necks, with kudos to Morgan for his awesome guitar riffs.

The mediabook limited edition of Frontschwein comes with a very generic bonus entitled Warschau III: Necropolis (a variation for the city of Warsaw, Poland), an instrumental track with some obscure growls, but nothing that adds any value to that version of the album. Anyway, it doesn’t matter if you’re a huge fan of Black Metal or not, the new album by Marduk is worth a listen. If you don’t know the band that well, you’ll be surprised by how entertaining their apocalyptic dark music can be, and if you’re a longtime fan of the band, I guess I don’t need to say this is a mandatory addition to your evil collection.

Best moments of the album: Frontschwein, Afrika, 503 and Thousand-Fold Death.

Worst moments of the album: The Blond Beast.

Released in 2015 Century Media Records

Track listing
1. Frontschwein 3:12
2. The Blond Beast 4:26
3. Afrika 4:00
4. Wartheland 4:17
5. Rope of Regret 3:52
6. Between the Wolf-Packs 4:28
7. Nebelwerfer 6:17
8. Falaise: Cauldron of Blood 4:58
9. Doomsday Elite 8:11
10. 503 5:12
11. Thousand-Fold Death 3:46

Mediabook Limited Edition Bonus Track
12.Warschau III: Necropolis 2:59

Band members
Daniel “Mortuus” Rostén – vocals
Morgan “Evil” Steinmeyer Håkansson – guitar
Magnus “Devo” Andersson – bass
Fredrik Widigs – drums