Album Review – Fight / War of Words (1993)

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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

The Walking Dead Review – Episode 406: Live Bait

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The Governor is back, although more human than anyone was expecting.

***WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS***

If you haven’t seen Live Bait yet, I suggest you scroll down to the end of this post first and watch the entire episode before reading the rest of the text.

twd406_01I’m absolutely sure that every fan of The Walking Dead (including myself) was waiting for a massacre this week, with the Governor and his “evil” army back. However, we were all surprised with an episode showing a very human person, abandoned by his henchmen, lost in his thoughts and wandering around as “live bait” for any walker crossing his path. Was that going to be the end of the Governor? Was he going to live the rest of his life and die in such a melancholic way? Well, as DevilDriver says in one of their best songs, “not all who wander are lost.”

The story went back to when the Governor slaughtered almost all his army after that failed attempt to take over the prison and ran away with the only two survivors, one being his right hand Martinez. We were all left thinking about what happened to them, and when they would come back for revenge, but instead we saw the governor being forsaken and starting a completely different journey in his life. He was about to give up (even with his pretty cool new “Snake Plissken” look), when the vision of a young girl made him reconsider his almost-suicidal thoughts.

Does anyone doubt the first thing that came to his mind was his daughter Penny? At least this time it wasn’t a ghost like when Rick was seeing Lori, but a real girl called Megan who had been hiding for a long time inside an apartment building with her mother Lilly, her aunt Tara and her grandpa Don. Again we were expecting him to go wild and kill everybody, but that didn’t happen. We saw a man asking for shelter and offering his help to the family, and I was really impressed with how open to a guy with an eye-patch, a huge beard and a gun those two women were. It was probably the Governor’s charm striking again! Or should I say “Brian Heriot”, the name he randomly picked from that spray-painted wall full of names? Why choosing a different name, and why talking about his time as the Governor of Woodbury in the 3rd person? Was that a sign he was ashamed of his past and willing to start a brand new life?

This was the beginning of a story that in my opinion will be great to show everybody that no one is born a villain; it’s our society that creates them. While Rick’s group is killing innocents, casting away people that were once considered an important part of the family, and teaching children how to use machine guns and knives, we saw a man looking at a child as before the apocalypse, in other words, just like a real child and not like a soldier. Don’t you think this makes him less evil and more human than most of the members of Rick’s team, especially than Rick himself? By the way, the Governor and Rick have so much in common: they seem to be strong, wise and focused leaders, when in fact they’re nothing but regular people doing something they don’t really want to do, and that due to all the stress and external pressure they can explode at any moment, just like what happened to the Governor twice during this episode when he killed an old man/walker with an oxygen tank and when he brutally assaulted three walkers with his bare hands to protect that little girl.

twd406_02Talking about the action, although it was a more emotional episode than the previous one, there were some awesome moments of violence and tension. The Governor risking his life going to that “zombie nursing home” to grab some oxygen tanks, and as I mentioned before, saving Tara from the zombie Don smashing his head with one of the tanks and saving Megan in the zombie pit was some good action, and the beginning of a strong relationship between him and his new friends. Moreover, he simply burned his old picture with his original family, which in my opinion means that inside his head those people were his family now. He said he will do whatever he needs to keep Megan safe and well, so we can stay assured our good old Governor is back in action for real, especially when we see Martinez out of the zombie pit to “confirm” that the old life the Governor had will never abandon him.

“Nobody ever mentioned just how boring the end of the world was going to be,” Lilly said. Well, not anymore. Now you have the Governor by your side (literally), you’re about to be on the road with a bunch of mercenaries killing zombies, and you’ll probably cross the path of sheriff Rick Grimes. Nothing can be more exciting than this.

Live Bait (FULL EPISODE)

App Review – Songza

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A very useful app for music lovers to enjoy anywhere, anytime.

Rating4

songzaSongza is one of those things/apps that make me believe there’s still hope in a world full of all types of useless garbage. In my opinion, any app that doesn’t add some value to your real life, or even worse, that provides the user a very fake or biased impression of life, should be banished from the planet. Fortunately, Songza is a very simple idea that can make your day a lot better, no matter what you’re doing: it’s a totally free music streaming service that recommends various playlists based on time of day, mood or activity, and you can also browse for playlists that contain specific artists, bands, music style or genre etc. Their slogan is “Good music makes good times”, and I agree 100% with them.

According to their website, Songza’s playlists are made by an expert team of music critics, DJs, musicians, and musicologists. However, there are many playlists created by users, which can be a lot more interesting as we music fans know what our friends want to listen to, right?

Songza (1)I’ve already created a playlist called Workout of the Beast, which includes 66 Heavy Metal songs from bands like Slayer, Cradle of Filth, Exodus, Arch Enemy, Primal Fear, among others, to be used as a soundtrack for those days at the gym when you need some extra energy in your workout. If you have some free time, give it a try and let me know if you enjoyed it (and if it helped you achieve that one more rep at the gym).

My favorite playlists so far are the ones below, which I’ve been listening non-stop for the past few weeks:

Reign in Blood

Death Metal

Hard Rock, Hard Bod

Hair Metal

Thrash Metal Shred

Today’s Titans of Metal

songza_articleOf course there’s a lot of crap in Songza (it’s not an exclusive heavy music app), and sometimes even the playlists you select might have one or two “surprises” that would make you want to shut Songza down and never open it again. Besides, there’s a limit of how many times you can skip the songs from a playlist if you’re not a premium user. I don’t consider these to be huge issues with this app, especially due to its strengths: there are no listening limits, it’s a light app that works well in any device, you can use it in your mobile devices, laptop or desktop, and you can have some fun creating your own playlists for the other users to enjoy (you cannot listen to your own playlists, though).

Another important detail is that as you keep “liking” or “unliking” the songs from different playlists, Songza will start recommending you different options, enhancing your experience with the app and making it a very useful tool in any moment of your real life. Just watch out to not select by mistake any playlists that might contain some disgusting shit like Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga, and you’ll enjoy Songza as much as I do.

Get the free Songza app
App Store | Google Play | Windows Store | BlackBerry World | SONOS | Amazon Appstore for Android

Book Review – The Bloody Reign of Slayer

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The heaviest band in the world deserved a better biography than this.

Rating5

the bloody reign of slayerNext week I’ll see one of my favorite bands of all time, Slayer, kickin’ ass again live here in Toronto, and in order to get ready to it how about reading their biography, called The Bloody Reign of Slayer? I have the Brazilian Portuguese version of it (“O Reino Sangrento do Slayer”), which has an “extra” introductory chapter from a guy called Tor Tauil (from the Brazilian horror punk band Zumbis do Espaço) who says something that cannot be more true: if you don’t have any of the Slayer albums, you don’t deserve to live. However, the book is not that good.

The English version of the book, published by Omnibus Press, has 320 pages and is basically divided by album: each chapter is dedicated to the years of the band following the release of their albums, for example, chapter SOUTH OF HEAVEN goes from 1988 to 1989 and chapter DIVINE INTERVENTION goes from 1995 to 1997. It goes like this until 2008 and makes some predictions about the future of the band; there’s nothing about World Painted Blood or the death of Jeff Hanneman, of course. Moreover, each chapter focus more on the songs or the meaning of the songs from each album, which is something we can get in any album review, instead of trying to show us a different angle of the band that no one knows about.

Bloody_Reign_Slayer_BackThe first chapter is about the beginnings of the band, explaining where each member was born, how their lives were before forming Slayer, their musical influences etc. It’s good information for any Heavy Metal fan, although nothing really special or unique is told unless you had no idea Tom Araya was born in Chile and Dave Lombardo in Cuba. By the way, that’s the main issue I found with the book, the fact that it has a lot of information and details about the albums and tours, but it lacks depth in terms of the “secrets” of the band.

Many other bands and musicians are mentioned by the author Joel McIver in different chapters, especially the guys from Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and all other Thrash Metal bands that started together with Slayer, as well as new band members like Paul Bostaph, but again, they’re just part of the whole story and there’s nothing that can be considered “above and beyond” regarding the details provided. Jeff Hanneman (RIP) was the most obscure member of Slayer, so why not dedicating an entire chapter to his unconventional life? Of course the author didn’t know Jeff was going to die in 2013, but everyone knew he was not a regular musician and his personal life could add a lot more value to the book.

Reino_Sangrento_Slayer_Brazil

O Reino Sangrento do Slayer (Brazilian Portuguese version)

There are also some interesting pictures in the middle of the book and some funny quotes from each band member, and maybe these are the best moments of it. I cannot say that I wouldn’t recommend The Bloody Reign of Slayer, it’s just that if you’re a long-time fan of the band there won’t be much that you don’t know already about Tom, Kerry, Jeff and Dave in the book.

Anyway, if you’re still interested in knowing a little more about Slayer, you can find the book at Amazon.ca, or at Chapters.Indigo.ca in a Trade Paperback version or the Kobo Edition (eBook). The price is not bad, between 10 and 15 Canadian dollars, so I would say it’s worth the investment if you have some extra money and especially if you already have all Slayer albums, because their music is definitely a billion times more exciting than anything in this  good but not marvellous biography.

Album Review – Cannibal Corpse / Vile (1996)

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Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Mr. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher.

Rating3

VilecannibalcorpseThe year of 1996 was excellent for heavy music fans, with bands like Sepultura, Slayer, Pantera, In Flames and Stratovarius launching some unique albums, and of course we also had the ferocious Vile from Death Metal icons Cannibal Corpse, this time with a fresh new singer, George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. Although some old diehard fans didn’t enjoy the change, in my opinion Chris Barnes always sounded like a desperate gorilla choking on his own vomit screaming for help, while Corpsegrinder added more dynamism and creativity to the band’s music.

Devoured By Vermin opens this musical massacre at a very high level, showing what to expect from the rest of the album. This quickly became my top Cannibal Corpse song of all time, even better than their most acclaimed classic Hammer Smashed Face, and even after listening to what was going to be the original version before Barnes left I still prefer the official one the band re-recorded with Corpsegrinder on vocals.

cannibalcorpse1996promophoto1The following three songs keep on “destroying” our necks and bodies: Mummified in Barbed Wire, Perverse Suffering and Disfigured, especially this last one, are perfect for any circle-pits or for a heavy workout at the gym after a stressful day at school or work. With Bloodlands the band seems to give a break to all the insanity with a heavy but slow song, just to get back as fast and destructible as possible with the amazing Puncture Wound Massacre and the instrumental Relentless Beating. The album continues with another great song for a horror movie soundtrack, Absolute Hatred, the violent Eaten from Inside (which has some awesome riffs and solos), and the short but complex Orgasm Through Torture (what a beautiful name). The last song, Monolith, is nice but sounds too generic compared to the rest of the album. Nothing that makes Vile less amazing, though.

There’s not much to say about the totally brutal and gruesome lyrics, or about the insanely evil front cover (if you’re a pussy, go for the censored version of it). Those are trademarks of one of the heaviest bands on Earth and make the final material even better. The guitar players do an excellent job and I’ve already said what I think about Corpsegrinder, but let me focus on Paul Mazurkiewicz and Alex Webster. Paul is not a simple drummer, he’s a ruthless human jackhammer, while Alex is a beast that makes anyone completely forget about Cliff Burton after listening to his demented and unmatched bass lines.

You can say whatever you want about the band with Barnes or Corpsegrinder on vocals, as each fan of the band has their own reasons to prefer this or that guttural style, but one thing is certain: Cannibal Corpse’s Vile kicks some serious fuckin’ ass and is mandatory in the collection of anyone who appreciates some brutal and extremely technical high-quality Death Metal.

Best moments of the album: Devoured By Vermin, Disfigured and Puncture Wound Massacre.

Worst moments of the album: Bloodlands and Monolith.

Released in 1996 Metal Blade Records

Track listing
1. Devoured by Vermin 3:13
2. Mummified in Barbed Wire 3:09
3. Perverse Suffering 4:14
4. Disfigured 3:48
5. Bloodlands 4:20
6. Puncture Wound Massacre 1:41
7. Relentless Beating 2:14
8. Absolute Hatred 3:05
9. Eaten from Inside 3:43
10. Orgasm Through Torture 3:41
11. Monolith 4:24

Band members
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher – vocals
Rob Barrett – guitar
Jack Owen – guitar
Alex Webster – bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz – drums

The Walking Dead Review – Episode 405: Internment

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According to our “hero of the day” Hershel, a sad soul can kill quicker than a germ. However, not as quick as Rick and Carl together.

***WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS***

If you haven’t seen Internment yet, I suggest you scroll down to the end of this post first and watch the entire episode before reading the rest of the text.

twd405_01Holy shit, the intensity of this episode was insane! I don’t even know where to start (maybe by saying that there was no sign of Carol?). There was so much going on at the same time, so many characters giving outstanding performances, that it will be hard for the producers to surpass Internment in terms of action and adrenaline. And regarding our friend Hershel, he was a total badass dealing with walkers, kids and the virus, all at the same time, and finding time to even make some jokes. I think he deserves the “Spaghetti Tuesday” on Wednesdays now, if they can find some spaghetti anywhere.

From the very beginning of the episode, I bet everybody was worried about losing Hershel (to the walkers) or Glenn (to the virus), although we knew somehow those two would survive. The thing we didn’t know was how they were going to make it through all that chaos, and both were great, especially Hershel. This was HIS episode and nobody else’s: he showed everyone he’s not only a wise man, but he also has the heart of a lion. The way he handled everything, from not killing people/walkers in front of the kids to risking his life to save Glenn, was amazing. It was interesting to see an episode so full of action and tension without Daryl or Michonne, who would usually be in the middle of the fights and action scenes. Hershel is now the official “badass one-legged grandpa” of the crew, his lonely tears at the end holding his Bible were touching, and from now on we know the group cannot survive a single day without him.

twd405_02And what about that “zombie massacre” provided by the dynamic duo of Rick and Carl? That was probably the start of a beautiful partnership between father and son, something that we have been all expecting from them since the TV show started. The look Rick gave to Carl when the kid was annihilating all those walkers with a machine gun was so cool! It was almost possible to see a very proud father pointing to his son and screaming to everybody else “You see him? You see how strong my son is? That’s my boy!” Let’s wait to see what happens next, but if the show follows the comics, this partnership will become stronger and stronger each day, guiding The Walking Dead to a “Rick and Carl” exclusive storyline, with no one else included except for the herds of zombies, of course. Based on what we saw last night, they’re more than ready for that.

One thing is certain: they have to leave the prison as soon as possible. It’s not a sustainable environment, everybody is dying, and the fences are not holding the walkers anymore. There was an important message last episode when that guy said he and his girlfriend do not wait until a place goes bad, they simply move on. I hope Rick gets the message really soon and they get out of the prison, which despite being an important “character” in the show, is turning into a hassle for everybody inside.

And last but not least, just like almost every episode of The Walking Dead, when we thought everything was fine and everybody was safe and ready to toast some marshmallows outside, there he was. The Governor is back (even if it was for less than 5 seconds), and as I said, it’s going to be brutal. I cannot wait for next week’s massacre episode.

Internment (FULL EPISODE)

Collectibles Review – Iron Maiden Eddie Headknockers

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A mandatory item in the collection of any Maidenmaniac in the world.

Rating1

eddie head knockers action figure necaWhen someone becomes “obsessed” by a band or artist, he or she is capable of spending unreasonable amounts of money in any stupid garbage that has the band’s name on it. Particularly these days where the illegal downloads are responsible for huge money losses for the record companies, selling concert tickets, exclusive clothing, memorabilia and other things you cannot download became the cash cows for all types of bands, including even giants such as Iron Maiden, Metallica and KISS.

headknocker_somewhereAlthough Metallica has a more commercial approach in their music and KISS has all that magic behind their face painting and stage performance, it is Iron Maiden that has the biggest advantage in selling stuff to their fans due to their unbeatable mascot Eddie. It’s almost impossible to find a Maiden fan that doesn’t have at least one simple T-shirt with Eddie’s face on it, and some fans like me enjoy collecting the weirdest and most exclusive items available (if those items do not “damage” my bank account too much, of course), making this market even more profitable for the band.

Among all the Iron Maiden and/or Eddie stuff I’ve seen in my life, the headknockers (or bobbleheads) produced by the company NECA (National Entertainment Collectibles Association) are the most interesting and detailed, and the price around 30 Canadian Dollars make them a very accessible item for all Maidenmaniacs to add to their collections. They’re very high-quality toys, made of a material that’s way better than any other plastic bobbleheads like the ones from Funko, and they’re bigger too, reaching around 8” tall.

headknocker_trooperNECA launched five Eddie headknockers a few years ago, all extremely well-crafted. I have two of those, The Trooper (which I used in my Trooper Beer review pics, as you can see here) and The Number of the Beast, and I’m still trying to find the other three. Well, when I was in Stockholm (Sweden) this year I saw the Live After Death one at a music store downtown, but it was over 60 Euros, which is too much and my bag was already full of stuff. Regarding the other two, I’ve never seen the Piece of Mind and Somewhere in Time bobbleheads for sale anywhere yet, only some pictures on the Internet. By the way, the Somewhere in Time one seems to be the most awesome of all, followed by The Trooper. I wonder if one day they’ll create new bobbleheads for some other classic Eddies, as for example Powerslave, Phantom of the Opera and Be Quick Or Be Dead (this one would be absolutely insane with Eddie grabbing that same politician by the neck).

headknocker_deathI bought mine at the Sunrise Records located at Yonge and Dundas in Toronto, but I’m not sure if they still have any left. Anyway, you can try their online shop, and there’s always something available on Amazon.ca. And if you find any of the three I’m still searching for, please let me know, because instead of “Iron Maiden’s gonna get ya, no matter how far”,  the motto in my case is “I’m gonna get the Eddie headknockers, no matter how far!”

Album Review – Halestorm / ReAniMate 2.0: The CoVeRs eP (2013)

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Why instead of launching two EPs with cover songs in less than two years didn’t they launch only one full album?

Rating6

ReAniMate 2.0I’m not a fan of Halestorm nor will ever buy any of their albums, but when I saw they launched another covers EP which included one of my favorite Priest tracks of all time, Dissident Aggressor, I decided to give them a try. In 2011 they launched ReAniMate: The CoVeRs eP with cover versions for Slave To The Grind (Skid Row) and Out Ta Get Me (Guns N’ Roses), among others, and now they come up with another covers EP. This either means that they simply love playing songs from their biggest influences, or that they don’t trust their own music that much, because I can’t understand why they had to launch two covers EPs instead of only one full album, such as the magnificent Undisputed Attitude recorded by Slayer back in 1996.

Dissident Aggressor opens the EP and it’s undoubtedly the best track of all, although I prefer a million times the version from Slayer and a billion times the original song from Judas Priest. Anyway, there’s nothing special in this version, it’s just a well-played cover song. Then comes Get Lucky from Daft Punk, and here we have one of those cases where the cover version is superior to the original, such as DevilDriver’s version of Sail (Awolnation), mainly because the original song is not really heavy, but again nothing special. In Shoot to Thrill (AC/DC), they turned an all-time classic into a regular song, despite all the effort from Lzzy to sing as “Hard N’ Heavy” as possible. Hell is for Children from Pat Benatar and Gold Dust Woman from Fleetwood Mac are so close to the original ones that, in my opinion, do not add any true value to the EP. Finally, their version for Marilyn Manson’s 1996 is not as good as the original one, and it even lacks the energy Manson had when he recorded it.

HALESTORMThe album art is too generic, especially if compared to the first covers EP. And regarding the musicians, although they are all pretty good I guess no one cares too much about any of them except for the beautiful and competent lead singer Elizabeth “Lzzy” Hale: she’s the only reason why Halestorm became so famous in the world of music, and the only thing that can keep the band alive in the following years. Nevertheless, her voice might be powerful but it’s certainly not unique; if you listen to Mia Coldheart, from the Swedish band Crucified Barbara, you’ll understand why I’m saying this. By the way, Crucified Barbara is not as famous as Halestorm only because (GUESS WHAT?) they’re not from North America.

In summary, it’s an interesting EP with some good covers from a band that is currently under the spotlights, but that’s it. And if they launch another ReAniMate covers EP in 2014, well, then they’ll take the 1st place of “best professional band in the world that only plays cover songs” from Finland’s Children of Bodom.

Best moments of the album: Dissident Aggressor and Shoot To Thrill.

Worst moments of the album: As I previously mentioned, the fact that it is their second covers EP turns it into some kind of “rip-off”.

Released in 2013 Atlantic Records

Track listing
1. Dissident Aggressor (Judas Priest cover) 3:12
2. Get Lucky (Daft Punk cover) 3:08
3. Shoot to Thrill (AC/DC cover) 5:07
4. Hell is for Children (Pat Benatar cover) 4:46
5. Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac cover) 4:10
6. 1996 (Marilyn Manson cover) 4:22

Band members
Lzzy Hale – lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitar, keyboard
Arejay Hale – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Joe Hottinger – lead guitar, backing vocals
Josh Smith – bass guitar, backing vocals

Album Review – Teräsbetoni / Metallitotuus (2005)

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The best Manowar album of all time not recorded by Manowar. And what’s even better, it’s entirely sung in Finnish.

Rating2

metallitotuusAs any normal person in the world, I developed a passion for a country very different from my own many years ago: the Republic of Finland. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, right? And I had some very good reasons for that, because especially in terms of music and drinks, Finland is way better than Brazil. So I started studying Finnish and saving money for the “trip of my dreams”, which finally happened in the beginning of 2006. I was able to see the snow for the first time (which now that I live in Canada doesn’t seem to be that cool anymore); I tried lots of different types of beer, vodka and other typical Finnish drinks; I made some really good friends; I saw Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica and Lordi live, as well as a theatrical play with Tarja Turunen; and went to a heavy karaoke where I saw a guy singing an amazing song called Metallisydän. Wait, what the hell was that song? What band was that?

Then the next day or the other one (of course I don’t remember exactly when), I went to a nice pub called On the Rocks, and there was this cover band playing some classics from Queen, Rolling Stones etc., when they played another powerful heavy song in Finnish called Taivas Lyö Tulta from that same band, and that was more than enough to make me ask a guy at the pub the name of the band and run to a record store the next day to buy their album. This is the story of how I discovered the Power Metal band Teräsbetoni (“Reinforced Concrete” in English) and bought their debut album, the almost perfect Metallitotuus (“Metal Truth” in English), one of the best, if not THE best, Power Metal album of the past 10 years at least (and a million light-years better than anything Manowar has produced since Louder Than Hell).

terasbetoniThe album starts in the most powerful way possible with a track that has the same name as the band, Teräsbetoni (Reinforced Concrete), which could easily be used as the Finnish National Army’s anthem. It’s impossible not to compare each part of the song with some old Manowar classics, and I’m pretty sure that was the band’s original intention. The next track is one of my favorites: Älä Kerro Meille (Don’t Tell Us) has an amazing riff and the lyrics have that message about the fight for freedom and making your own decisions. Then comes my top Teräsbetoni track of all, not only of this album: Taivas Lyö Tulta (Sky Strikes Fire) is the perfect “battle track”, with a superb chorus that even if you don’t know a single word in Finnish you’ll start singing it as soon as you listen to it. This is a masterpiece that could have been a Manowar classic in a parallel world, if Manowar hasn’t become the most arrogant and laziest band in the world of Heavy Metal.

The following tracks might not be as good as the first three, but they’re very interesting in terms of riffs and rhythm: Vahva Kuin Metalli (Strong as Metal) and Silmä Silmästä (Eye for an Eye). Then comes another instant classic called Metallisydän (Metal Heart), a beautiful ballad I heard for the first time at that heavy karaoke I mentioned and that until today makes my “metal heart” beat stronger, and the funny Orjatar (Slavewoman), which in my opinion was some kind of tribute (or joke?) to Manowar’s Pleasure Slave. Anyway, it’s an awesome tune for all headbanging girls of the world.

The last part of the album keeps the energy level up with the fast and heavy Tuonelaan (To the Underworld); the title-track Metallitotuus (Metal Truth); another of my favorites Voittamaton (Invincible), which has the most Manowar-ish riff and drums of all (it sounds a lot like Fighting the World); and the interesting Teräksen Varjo (Shadow of Steel). The ONLY crappy song of all is the last one, Maljanne Nostakaa (Raise Your Cup), not due to its instrumental which is fairly good, but the singing done by Arto Järvinen makes you skip this track and go back to the beginning of the album. It’s simply mediocre.

digipak

Metallitotuus special digipak front cover

The front cover is a piece of junk (albeit not as bad as this one, and besides you can be lucky to find the special digipak version anyway), Jarkko Ahola oversings 99% of the time, and their Manowar-ish lyrics didn’t add much to my limited Finnish vocabulary, but I don’t really care about those minor details. Metallitotuus is pure Heavy Metal, and a very exciting album to listen to at any occasion.

Teräsbetoni, as well as many excellent European bands, are really underrated in North America.  Add to that the fact they do not sing in English and are in an indefinite career hiatus and it seems absolutely impossible to see them one day playing live here in Canada. Anyway, despite all that, it’s a band definitely worth listening to, which has recorded some very good albums with Metallitotuus being their biggest masterpiece. Let’s just hope they get back in action, and that for the power of Odin they somehow come to Toronto for at least one single concert.

Best moments of the album: Taivas Lyö Tulta, Älä Kerro Meille, Metallisydän and Voittamaton.

Worst moments of the album: Maljanne Nostakaa, mainly due to the horrible singing as I mentioned before.

Released in 2005 Warner Music Finland

Track listing
1. Teräsbetoni 5:54
2. Älä Kerro Meille 3:29
3. Taivas Lyö Tulta 3:21
4. Vahva Kuin Metalli 3:02
5. Silmä Silmästä 3:41
6. Metallisydän 5:27
7. Orjatar 3:11
8. Tuonelaan 3:33
9. Metallitotuus 4:30
10. Voittamaton 3:50
11. Teräksen Varjo 4:32
12. Maljanne Nostakaa 6:05

Band members
Jarkko Ahola – lead vocals, bass
Arto Järvinen – guitar, vocals
Viljo Rantanen – guitar
Jari Kuokkanen – drums

Album Review – DevilDriver / Winter Kills (2013)

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Get ready for some insane heavy tunes by Californian circle-pit masters.

Rating5

Winter_kills_devildriverI know it’s a little late to talk about an album launched back in August, but the problem is that I didn’t have time to listen to Winter Kills carefully until now, and to be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of the band and the only DevilDriver album I previously had in my files was the awesome The Last Kind Words. However, I’m starting to enjoy their music more and more, especially among the “new” heavy bands available in the market, and I also noticed I’m not the only one to think like that: DevilDriver has became one of the most accepted new bands by old and demanding headbangers due to its violent lyrics, excellent instrumental and crazy on-stage performance.

The melodic opening track Oath of the Abyss has intense dark lyrics and it’s a good start to the album, albeit not as good as for example Not All Who Wander Are Lost. The following track, Ruthless, is undoubtedly the best song of the album with its amazing riffs, ruthless lyrics (just as the name of the song), and Dez’s voice in this track is as heavy as hell, which by the way is a constant in the entire album. Desperate Times can be used to explain why the mosh pits at any DevilDriver concert are so brutal, while Winter Kills, the title-track, keeps up with the speed and violence and it’s impossible not to get addicted to the chorus. “Mark my words/ There’ll be a change in the guard! / There’s frost on the sill / So now winter kills!”

DD2013Another strong track is The Appetite, which despite the stupid vide sounds ideal for crazy mosh pits, and the final solo is awesome. Your appetite for more DevilDriver will just grow after listening to this song. The weakest track of all in my opinion is Gutted: it has an extremely heavy intro, but I didn’t like the rest of it until the end. Curses and Epitaphs is more melodic than the previous tracks, with drummer John Boecklin doing an excellent job behind his set, while Carings Overkill is just filler, not a creative or interesting track at all. The last songs of Winter Kills are terrific: Haunting Refrain has a slow intro that turns into a heavy tune later on, with a magnificent guitar solo; Tripping Over Tombstones is another song that can easily take part on a “circle-pit soundtrack”; and finally Sail, a cover song from the indie band Awolnation, is a billion times better than the original song. The guitars and drums are just perfect!

The bonus tracks are also worth listening to: both Shudder and  Back Down to the Grave  are pretty heavy, and they even remind me of some songs from In Flames. The front cover is not very original, neither are the lyrics, but everything works fine when put together with the music. Frontman Dez Fafara keeps singing like a wild animal and has a very talented group of musicians with him, producing some high quality material for all generations of metalheads.

In summary, if you hate Facebook, Instagram and cameras during a Heavy Metal concert, you should be listening to this new overpowering album by DevilDriver and getting ready for monstrous circle pits in their next concert in your city. Winter Kills might not be what we call revolution in music, but it will crush your neck for sure.

Best moments of the album: Ruthless, The Appetite and Sail.

Worst moments of the album: Gutted and Carings Overkill.

Released in 2013 Napalm Records

Track listing
1. Oath of the Abyss 5:36
2. Ruthless 4:09
3. Desperate Times 4:08
4. Winter Kills 4:54
5. The Appetite 4:46
6. Gutted 3:28
7. Curses and Epitaphs 5:04
8. Carings Overkill 4:33
9. Haunting Refrain 4:59
10. Tripping Over Tombstones 3:38
11. Sail (Awolnation cover) 4:04

Bonus tracks 
12. Shudder 4:03
13. Back Down to the Grave 4:44

Band members
Dez Fafara – lead vocals
Jeff Kendrick – guitar
John Boecklin – drums
Mike Spreitzer – guitar
Chris Towning – bass