Tag Archives: heavy metal

Album Review – Adrenaline Mob / Men of Honor (2014)

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How to waste time and talent from exceptional musicians in a supergroup.

Rating7

amob_men of honorThe world of the so-called supergroups is a mixed bag of awesome bands such as Velvet Revolver, Chickenfoot and Charred Walls of the Damned, but at the same time lots of terrible ideas like Zwan, Loaded and Symfonia, which makes many fans kind of skeptical when their biggest idols decide to join some other famous musicians in a new music journey. We can say that Adrenaline Mob, the supergroup formed by Russell Allen (Symphony X), Mike Orlando, John Moyer (Disturbed) and A.J. Pero (Twisted Sister), is part of the “bad ideas” group: it is just a regular Hard Rock project were all musicians seem to be underutilized. That generic musicality was the main issue with their debut album Omertà, and now the same happens with their second full-length album, Men of Honor.

After the departure of Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), fans and the media were asking what would be of the band and if they would create something really different and unique in their future releases. Although I’ve never been a fan of Portnoy (I truly prefer drummers with more feeling like Nicko McBrain, Clive Burr, Dave Lombardo and Jörg Michael), I must admit A. J. Pero didn’t make much of a difference in Adrenaline Mob’s music. The album starts in a promising way with Mob Is Back, a pure Hard Rock song with very interesting solos and rhythm, but then it gets too generic with Come on Get Up, which despite its heavy riff offers nothing new, and Dearly Departed, one of the worst of the whole album.

amobThings do not get better with Behind These Eyes, a very boring semi-acoustic ballad made for radio, nor with Let It Go, which bass lines remind me of some Disturbed songs. The next track, Feel the Adrenaline, is the heavier one of the album, and its nice bass lines and chorus make it the best song of the album by far. The title-track, Men of Honor, is another forgettable generic Hard Rock song, while the ballad Crystal Clear is so boring it seems the band really wanted to torture us with it. Fortunately, the band wakes up in House of Lies, but again nothing that would blow our minds creatively speaking.

The last two tracks of the album are Judgment Day, which has a cool intro, heavy riffs, and even sounds like some good tunes from Chrome Division, and Fallin’ to Pieces,  one more torturing ballad to complete our disappointment with the album. And that’s it, there’s not much else to say about Men of Honor, except that the album art looks exactly the same as their previous release and that the lyrics mean absolutely nothing.

In my opinion, Men of Honor is slightly better than its predecessor (maybe due to the departure of the overrated Portnoy?), but again it doesn’t offer anything new to the audience. It’s unfortunately a waste of talent of all musicians involved: it might not be bad music, but we know those guys can generate something a lot more complex and interesting than some generic Hard Rock any amateur band can do.

Best moments of the album: Mob Is Back and Feel the Adrenaline.

Worst moments of the album: Deadly Departed, Behind These Eyes and Crystal Clear.

Released in 2014 Century Media

Track listing
1. Mob Is Back 4:34
2. Come on Get Up 4:12
3. Dearly Departed 4:57
4. Behind These Eyes 5:35
5. Let It Go 3:54
6. Feel the Adrenaline 5:56
7. Men of Honor 4:26
8. Crystal Clear 5:03
9. House of Lies 3:56
10. Judgment Day 4:06
11. Fallin’ to Pieces 4:57

Bonus track
12. Crystal Clear (Acoustic Version) 5:03

Band members
Russell Allen – lead vocals
Mike Orlando – guitar
John Moyer – bass
A. J. Pero – drums

Album Review – Van Canto / Dawn of the Brave (2014)

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This a capella Power Metal band from Germany proves why the human voice is the most powerful music instrument of all.

Rating5

vancanto_dotbWhen German Power Metal band Van Canto presented their a capella Heavy Metal to the world for the first time back in 2006, especially their cover version for Metallica’s Battery, I thought it was a fantastic and unique idea, but I wasn’t sure if that project was going to make it through the years. As we all know, the absence of music instruments implies many limitations to the sound a band can produce. However, here we are many years later with Van Canto’s brand new studio album, named Dawn of the Brave, the fifth in their career and another prove that the human voice is much more powerful and versatile than we think.

There’s nothing new when comparing Dawn of the Brave with their previous albums, but it’s still a lot of fun to listen to their own compositions, as well as their always much-anticipated versions for different classics from all types of artists and bands.

The intro Dawn of the Brave sounds like they’re just warming up their voices for what’s about to come, and it’s already a good sign of the overall quality of the album. One thing I really enjoy about Van Canto is their “made for battle” lyrics, mainly because they don’t let us forget that despite the absence of real guitars, they’re still a Power Metal band, and that’s exactly what happens in the heroic song Fight for Your Live, which could have easily been recorded by Manowar (“We are at your side / Day by day, and night by night / Fill your soul with pride / Reminding you to fight for your life / Fight!”). It’s one of the top moments of the album, with a great performance by all members.

To the Mountains focuses on Inga’s powerful voice, with a more melodic approach that sometimes reminds me of Within Temptation or Epica, and it will surely sound amazing when played live, while it’s impossible not to sing along with Badaboom, the first single of the album, with its strong rhythm and addictive chorus. The following track is the first cover version in Dawn of the Brave: thousands of bands have already recorded a cover version for Europe’s biggest classic of all time, The Final Countdown, but I’m pretty sure none was able to do it a capella as Van Canto, and believe me, the result is marvelous.

Dawn of the Brave goes on with Steel Breaker, an average Hard Rock song not as interesting as the previous tracks, and The Awakening, a faster and more melodic track that will surely be enjoyed by the fans of the band. Then come The Other Ones with its powerful atmosphere and strong lyrics, and the second cover song of the album, Holding Out for a Hero from Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, another excellent heavy version for a song that’s not Heavy Metal at all.

vancantoTheir last two own compositions in the album are called Unholy, a song with good lyrics and a nice rhythm, and the sensational My Utopia, which sounds like a mix of Stratovarius and Iced Earth (without the real shredding, of course). And finally, the album ends with two excellent cover songs: Into the West, an Annie Lennox cover taken from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King soundtrack (which in my opinion is one of the best soundtracks ever), and the one and only  Paranoid, from Heavy Metal icons Black Sabbath, with Ross taking the lead on vocals. The limited mediabook edition includes interesting orchestral, acoustic and other versions for some of their own songs, while the earbook edition comes also with a bonus DVD containing some of their own songs and awesome versions for all-time classics from Nightwish, Grave Digger, Blind Guardian, Manowar and Iron Maiden.

Alright, they’re not 100% a capella: they use a full real drum kit, played by the good Bastian Emig, but that doesn’t make the final result less impressive. Sly and the beautiful brunette Inga do an amazing job on vocals, but it’s the sound of guitars and bass produced by the trio of Ross, Stefan and Ike that gives Van Canto that “it” factor, in other words, that makes them so unique when compared to all other Power Metal bands in the world. I still can’t believe those guys are able to do those fantastic guitar solos just by using their voices!

In summary, Dawn of the Brave is a very creative album that everybody who enjoys some good singing should listen to and appreciate. The band surely proves to us all that no music instrument in the world can be compared to the human voice, which is the idea of the album art, don’t you agree? It’s an instrument so powerful it can even turn calm and smooth a capella music into pure Power Metal.

Best moments of the album: Fight for Your Life, Badaboom and My Utopia. Among the cover songs, the best ones are definitely The Final Countdown and Paranoid.

Worst moments of the album: Steel Breaker and Unholy.

Released in 2014 Century Media

Track listing
1. Dawn of the Brave 1:08
2. Fight for Your Live 3:59
3. To the Mountains 4:05
4. Badaboom 3:31
5. The Final Countdown (Europe cover) 4:55
6. Steel Breaker 3:40
7. The Awakening 4:13
8. The Other Ones 4:18
9. Holding Out for a Hero (Bonnie Tyler cover) 3:51
10. Unholy 3:28
11. My Utopia 5:13
12. Into the West (Annie Lennox cover) 4:25
13. Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover) 3:04

Limited Mediabook Edition bonus tracks              
1. If I Die in Battle (Orchestral Version) 4:45
2. My Voice (Orchestral Version) 5:29
3. Take to the Sky (Orchestral Version) 4:24
4. Neuer Wind (Jovian Spin Remix) 3:48
5. Lost Forever (Acoustic Version) 5:01
6. Last Night of the Kings (Choir Version)  4:11

Band members
Dennis “Sly” Schunke – lead vocals
Inga Scharf – lead vocals
Ross Thompson – higher guitar vocals
Stefan Schmidt – lower guitar vocals, solo guitar vocals
Ingo “Ike” Sterzinger – bass vocals
Bastian Emig – drums

Album Review – Orisonata / Orisonata (2014)

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Beautiful vocals, superb saxophone solos, classical guitar, jazz, piano and many other elements make this Progressive Symphonic Metal album a very fresh and attractive alternative in the world of heavy music.

Rating4

orisonata-cover-artIf anyone asks you about Symphonic Metal, you automatically think of bands from countries like Finland, Netherlands, Italy, Germany or any other European country, but never of American bands, right? Well, that’s about to change with the self-titled debut album from American Progressive Symphonic Metal band Orisonata, a project by composer and guitarist, Jason Lee Greenberg, and his wife, vocalist Jennifer Grassman.

Orisonata can be compared not only to bands such as Nightwish, Within Temptation, Kamelot, Tarja Turunen and Blind Guardian, but also to the progressive musicality from Dream Theater and even to the Pop/Rock from Evanescence, Sarah Brightman and Muse. And the band was able to generate that high quality mix of classical guitar, jazz, and heavy music in a very solid and professional way, which in my opinion is the biggest strength of this project: being so diverse without losing their value proposition. In other words, Orisonata deliver what they promise, which is some very creative and unique heavy music.

And as the music is what really matters here, let’s get down to it. The album might have only 7 songs in total, but together they are responsible for over 50 minutes of music, highlighting the band’s progressive vein. The first track of the album is also the longest one: with almost 9 minutes, Journey to the Center of the Earth is a pleasant Heavy Metal voyage the likes of Nightwish, with amazing saxophone solos, changes in tempo, breaks and everything else you want to see in a progressive heavy song. Then come Once And Future King, a very progressive tune with interesting riffs and guitar solos, and The Great Baptism, a song that mixes the sonority of Dream Theater and Tarja Turunen in a way that would make both band and artist very proud of Orisonata.

The following track, Unholy Creation,  can be considered the most Heavy Metal one of the album with its fast drums, heavy riffs and many hints of Nightwish from their Oceanborn times, accompanied by the amazing piano from jazz artists Pamela York. Furthermore, the vocals and lyrics fit the song perfectly, making it the best track of the album in my opinion.

Oath Breaker keeps the energy level up with the great singing done by Jennifer, together with some awesome solos and music variations, while Robin Hood offers us more delightful saxophone solos amidst pure Symphonic Metal. The album ends with the beautiful ballad The Muses, a very “medieval” tune with highlights to the amazing contribution by Cynthia Butler on flutes.

orisonata-jennifer-grassman-photo-by-laughlin-photographyRegarding the lyrics, they’re all based on literature, legend and ancient mythology, and remind me of some old Nightwish songs such as “Sacrament of Wilderness” (you can check the lyrics from Onisonata’s “Unholy Creation” in the video at the bottom of this review), and in terms of the album art, it is also very well-done and matches with the album’s proposal and musicality.

And finally, all musicians involved in this project are extremely talented, but we have to salute the couple Jason and Jennifer for their brilliant work with all instruments and beautiful operatic vocals, respectively. Although they’ve been on the road for quite some time and won many awards for their previous music creations, it’s amazing to see the amount of passion they still have for composing new material. Besides the “dynamic duo”, I would say the most important piece of the music found in Orisonata are the stunning solos by world-renowned classical saxophonist Todd Oxford. What this guy does with his saxophone is unbelievable and adds so much value to the music that it’s hard to imagine any of the songs without it.

So far, the album as had a soft release on CD Baby and on Orisonata’s official website, but will shortly be available through Amazon, Spotify, and other major retailers, and you can also check more information about the band on their official Facebook page and on Twitter.

Of course, the band has yet a long way to go and only time will tell if they’ll succeed or not, but two lessons can already be learned from Orisonata: for all other independent bands in the world, this is the level of work, professionalism and creativity you need to put on your music in order for it to be successful, otherwise you’ll be just “one more band” in the market; and for heavy music lovers, Orisonata show how good the indie scene can be and that we should support it as much as we can if we want to keep the flame of Heavy Metal alive.

Best moments of the album: Journey to the Center of the Earth, Unholy Creation and Oath Breaker.

Worst moments of the album: Once And Future King.

Released in 2014 Independent

Track listing
1. Journey to the Center of the Earth 8:42
2. Once And Future King 6:35
3. The Great Baptism 8:04
4. Unholy Creation 7:18
5. Oath Breaker 5:01
6. Robin Hood 7:55
7. The Muses 5:07

Band members
Jason Lee Greenberg – all guitars & instruments
Jennifer Grassman – all vocals

Guest musicians
Todd Oxford – saxophone
Wade Vandesande – bass on “Oath Breaker”
Brad Shearhart – bass on “Robin Hood”
Pamela York – piano on “Unholy Creation”
Cynthia Butler – flutes on “The Muses”
Marco Bayarena – synth solo on “Journey to the Center of the Earth”

Album Review – Within Temptation / Hydra (2014)

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As the name of the album says,  Within Temptation show all their “heads” with an interesting mix of Symphonic Metal, Pop, Rock, Rap and other musical variations.

Rating4

CoverLess symphonic, but a lot more eclectic: that’s a good definition for Hydra, the brand new studio album by the Dutch Symphonic Metal band Within Temptation, with so many special guests that it makes me wonder if they asked Pitbull or J-Lo for some tips on how to sell more albums. Anyway, 39-year old Dutch princess Sharon and keyboard player Matijn were responsible for almost all songs, all full of different elements from other musical genres, and it’s even hard to keep calling what the band does as Symphonic Metal after listening to it.

I’m not sure if the diehard fans of the band will enjoy it due to all the new stuff added to the music, but one thing I have no doubt about: the professionalism and talent of all members of the band. Hydra doesn’t have a single moment where it sounds amateur, showing how much the band cares about the final result of their material, and that becomes 100% clear with the opening track, Let Us Burn, an awesome start with its symphonic atmosphere, excellent keyboards and chorus, and Sharon’s voice as beautiful and potent as ever.

The next track, Dangerous, has an interesting duo on vocals with Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage) together with Sharon and a more Heavy Metal approach, while And We Run, despite following a similar formula with rapper Xzibit on vocals, sounds too pop for me, but might be interesting for part of the fans. The next song is also the best track of the album undoubtedly: Paradise (What About Us?), featuring the one and only goddess Tarja Turunen with her unique perfect voice, has some great guitar solos and was born to become an instant hit. Not only that, this amazing song also has a music video made for our pure delight, with a “green” message against technology and, of course, all the beauty of Tarja and Sharon together.

Hydra continues with the semi-acoustic Edge Of The World, a beautiful song where Sharon shows a smoother side of her voice, and Silver Moonlight, another strong moment of the album with a very enjoyable pace and with the keyboards giving it all that special atmosphere. The next song, Covered By Roses, lacks creativity and it’s one of the albums weakest tracks (despite Sharon’s performance being beautiful again), followed by another nice song, Dog Days. The regular version of Hydra ends with the good song Tell Me Why with its strong chorus and keyboards, and Whole World Is Watching, featuring Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum), a nice ballad but nothing special if compared to the other songs of the album.

Within-Temptation-2014However, if you acquire the digital premium or the deluxe album box version of Hydra, the total running time of the album goes up to over 90 minutes of music with all the bonus tracks. There’s a bunch of cover songs and alternate versions, including the music video for Paradise (What About Us?), but the best one by far is their version for the song Radioactive, from the American alternative rock band Imagine Dragons. This version is way better than the original (which by the way is not bad), and the same can be said about Summertime Sadness, from Lana Del Rey, and Dirty Dancer, from Enrique Iglesias.

The album art is simple but very effective, representing well the Hydra and what the band is delivering with the album. Regarding the musicians, as I previously mentioned, they’re all very professional and know what to do with their instruments, but it’s impossible not to get addicted to Sharon’s voice and “forget” the instrumental parts sometimes. And yes, she will be the “Metal Chick of the Month” one day for sure.

To sum up, Hydra might not be a wonderful album, but it’s pretty consistent and a good choice for the road, the gym or anytime you don’t want to get too heavy. Don’t worry, Within Temptation is still Symphonic Metal, and it’s totally entertaining to see how they were able to add so much unusual stuff to their music without losing their identity. Maybe Hydra will grant them the so desired ticket to stardom, who knows?

Best moments of the album: Let Us Burn, Paradise (What About Us?) and Silver Moonlight. Among the cover songs/bonus tracks, I would say Radioactive is the best one by far.

Worst moments of the album: Covered By Roses and Whole World Is Watching.

Released in 2014 Nuclear Blast/Universal Music

Track listing
1. Let Us Burn 5:31
2. Dangerous (feat. Howard Jones) 4:52
3. And We Run (feat. Xzibit) 3:50
4. Paradise (What About Us?) (feat. Tarja Turunen) 5:22
5. Edge Of The World 4:55
6. Silver Moonlight 5:17
7. Covered By Roses 4:48
8. Dog Days 4:47
9. Tell Me Why 6:12
10. Whole World Is Watching (feat. Dave Pirner) 4:03

Digital Premium/Deluxe Album Box bonus tracks
11. Radioactive (Imagine Dragons cover) 3:15
12. Summertime Sadness (Lana Del Rey cover) 4:07
13. Let Her Go (Passenger cover) 3:44
14. Dirty Dancer (Enrique Iglesias cover) 4:15
15. And We Run (evolution track) 5:41
16. Silver Moonlight (evolution track) 6:05
17. Covered By Roses (evolution track) 4:43
18. Tell Me Why (evolution track) 5:00
19. Paradise (What About Us?) (feat. Tarja Turunen) music video – iTunes Premium Version 5:51

Band members
Sharon den Adel – vocals
Robert Westerholt – guitars, vocals on “Silver Moonlight” and “Tell Me Why”
Ruud Jolie – guitars
Martijn Spierenburg – keyboards
Jeroen van Veen – bass guitar
Mike Coolen – drums
Stefan Helleblad – additional guitars

Guest musicians
Howard Jones – vocals on “Dangerous”
Xzibit – vocals on “And We Run”
Tarja Turunen – vocals on “Paradise (What About Us?)”
David Pirner – vocals on “Whole World Is Watching”

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

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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

Metal Chick of the Month – Doris Yeh

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doris01

Set Fire to the Island, Doris!

There’s nothing better than starting this year with a special post about the charming musician and activist Doris Yeh. Born in Taipei (or Taipei City), Taiwan on September 19, 1976 (at least, this is the date I found after a lot of effort!) and nicknamed “Thunder Tears” in her band Chthonic, this Taiwanese beauty is a good example of how music and imagery walk hand in hand on the path to success nowadays. Her exotic Asian traces, together with the powerful heavy music played by Chthonic, are leading her and the band to stardom not only in the East, but in the whole world of music.

Doris herself doesn’t like to define Chthonic’s music style as Extreme, Death or Black Metal. In fact, she prefers calling what their band does as “Orient Metal”, especially because the Western definition of heavy music is not the same as the one in Asian countries. We have to agree with her and the rest of the band that what Chthonic do is totally different from the traditional North American and European Thrash/Death Metal, because despite being heavy music they add many different elements (like the interesting instrument Erhu) and have a unique way to express themselves visually.

In one of her interviews, Doris said she used to play the piano when she was a child, and kept playing it for about 10 years before starting playing bass. She then joined Chthonic in 1999, replacing bassist Xiao-Yu, recording her first album with the band, 9th Empyrean. After that, she recorded the albums Relentless Recurrence (2002), Seediq Bale (2005) and Mirror of Retribution (2009), but her best albums with Chthonic are without any doubt Takasago Army (2011) and their most recent album, Bú-Tik (2013), where it’s easy to notice her improvement as a musican and her growing importance to the band’s current success.

Giants like Iron Maiden, Nine Inch Nails and Slayer, and more obscure bands such as Emperor and At The Gates, are among her biggest influences in music, and when asked about a great female bass player she enjoys, Doris mentioned the American alternative rock musician Kim Gordon, showing she’s not only connected to heavy music in her life.

Doris Yeh’s onstage performance is always amazing, not only due to her talent as a musician but also because of her beauty and energy. I had the privilege to see Chthonic live in Toronto during Arch Enemy’s North American Khaos Tour 2011, which also had DevilDriver and Skeletonwitch as opening acts, and I was impressed by her nonstop headbanging and total commitment to the band’s music and to the fans.

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After a couple of years with Chthonic, Doris became the band’s official spokesperson and business manager, taking over the responsibilities from the band’s founder and lead singer Freddy Lim. She is also seen as a sex symbol (surprise, surprise!) and often works as a top model too, appearing on the cover of different magazines in Taiwan and in the rest of the world, like Body Magazine, Revolver Magazine and FHM Magazine. Not only that, Doris also joins her Metal friends Angela Gossow and Alissa White-Gluz in the world of activism by supporting the Awakening Foundation, a Taiwanese organization founded in 1982 which main goal is promoting women’s rights and self-awareness.

In October 2012, Chthonic released a very special 96-page book of sexy photos of Doris taken at the Green Island in Taiwan, entitled Set Fire to the Island, which also includes a single that according to the band is a “symphony with piano, strings, and wind music, so that you may enjoy it not only with your eyes, but also with your ears.” Well, I still prefer Chthonic’s regular music, but I must admit that those astonishing pictures of Doris together with some good symphonic music are a delight for any fan of Chthonic’s unique bassist.

Equipment
Bass: ESP – Andromeda (5-string signature bass)
Amp – head : Ampeg SVT 450
Amp – cab : Ampeg SVT 410HLF
Effects: MXR M80 BASS DI

Doris Yeh’s Official Facebook page
Doris Yeh’s Official Twitter

“‘Dream big’ won’t make you a great person, ‘Do it’ will.” – Doris Yeh