Celebrating ten years since their now legendary concert alongside Leon Russell, Tedeschi Trucks Band, finally get around to releasing their live concert which was tribute to Joe Cocker and Leon Russell's iconic Mad Dogs And Englishmen concert from 1970.
In an attempt to recreate the collaborative madness of the original Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, their band and Leon Russell, arrived at Lockn' Music Festival to pay homage to this piece of musical history.
Their 12 piece band, featuring brass, a backup singer section and of course Trucks' slide guitar are joined original Mad Dogs members in Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, and Chris Stainton. There's also Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes, Warren Haynes, Anders Osborne, and Dave Mason all joing the fun. Like the original this is a huge cast of musicians creating a party vibe in front of a receptive crowd.
Starting the set with The Letter, the maestro of blues piano Russell plonking away and those soulful tones of Susan Tedeschi, we're on to a winner as various others take the role of vocalist with Russell, Chris Robertson and more as Trucks, Tedeschi and Doyle Bramhall II share skilful guitar chops.
The setlist quite closely follows the original with a few Russell/Cocker originals mixed with some covers, tracks such as Feelin' Alright, alongside Leonard Cohen's Bird On Wire, which is infused with gospel and The Weight from The Band.
Their 12 piece band, featuring brass, a backup singer section and of course Trucks' slide guitar are joined original Mad Dogs members in Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, and Chris Stainton. There's also Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes, Warren Haynes, Anders Osborne, and Dave Mason all joing the fun. Like the original this is a huge cast of musicians creating a party vibe in front of a receptive crowd.
Starting the set with The Letter, the maestro of blues piano Russell plonking away and those soulful tones of Susan Tedeschi, we're on to a winner as various others take the role of vocalist with Russell, Chris Robertson and more as Trucks, Tedeschi and Doyle Bramhall II share skilful guitar chops.
The setlist quite closely follows the original with a few Russell/Cocker originals mixed with some covers, tracks such as Feelin' Alright, alongside Leonard Cohen's Bird On Wire, which is infused with gospel and The Weight from The Band.
There's also a pair of The Beatles covers in She Came In Through The Bathroom Window and With A Little Help From My Friends, which was always a showstopper for Cocker and repeats that trick here as the penultimate song.
Finally seeing the light of day as an album and concert film, Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited Live At Lockn’ brings all the chaos and class of the original to a whole new audience from a band who are deeply entrenched in American music history. 8/10
Unaligned - A Form Beyond (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Mark Young]
Finally seeing the light of day as an album and concert film, Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited Live At Lockn’ brings all the chaos and class of the original to a whole new audience from a band who are deeply entrenched in American music history. 8/10
Unaligned - A Form Beyond (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Mark Young]
And so, it would appear that the fine folks at Transcending Obscurity Records have done it again. Unaligned enter the technical death metal fray with their debut full length release and look to give things a bit of a well-intentioned shake.
The band itself consists of members of Withered Throne, Demon King and others, and I confess that I know nothing of them prior to giving this its first spin.
Transcending Obscurity have a habit of dropping bands on you who are simply irresistible from a listening perspective and I’m hoping that they don’t forget that having all the technical ability means nothing if the songs aren’t any good.
And our survey says – yes, they are good. What they are is a blistering collection of metal that manages to successfully bridge the gap between technical ability and what is best about the genre we love.
There are no meandering or pointless acoustic interludes, its just full on from the off. What this does mean is that it is difficult to then find new ways to describe each song without rinse and repeating. There is an underlying fury at play, even during those restrained moments.
Enemies Of Ash sets our scene, a brief moment and then its bang. It’s the best kind of cacophony that surely will appeal to all fans of extreme music. The vocals are punishing, along with the drums (Andrew Guia and Jack Blackburn, take a bow) which are synched in such a way that they blast along at speed.
Coming into the group from differing bands could have been problematic but that is not the case. The way that this opening track unfolds sounds like they have been playing together forever. From a technical standpoint it is similar to other bands of the same ilk, and I guess that is unavoidable, but by injecting a furious joy they give it a certain something.
Unbecoming Of I is next and continues to batter whilst deploying an almost mesmeric melodic line that plays opposite the constant percussive destruction. It follows up with that same energy level that has established itself already, just torching its way from start to finish.
Unbecoming Of I is next and continues to batter whilst deploying an almost mesmeric melodic line that plays opposite the constant percussive destruction. It follows up with that same energy level that has established itself already, just torching its way from start to finish.
Ruins Of Lunacy completes that opening salvo and closes out a very strong 1-2-3 that gives them a very positive platform from which the remainder of tracks can deploy. Each shares a common DNA in that they hit the ground running and know exactly what needs to be done. As mentioned earlier having set a high bar early on their emphasis is on maintaining that level of quality whilst not repeating themselves.
A Form Beyond brings a little more to the party, after a frenetic start they bring a little atmosphere into it, and it acts as a breather for them to regroup and recommence their carpet bombing of the senses. It also provides the listener with the smallest amount of respite which avoids fatigue.
A Form Beyond brings a little more to the party, after a frenetic start they bring a little atmosphere into it, and it acts as a breather for them to regroup and recommence their carpet bombing of the senses. It also provides the listener with the smallest amount of respite which avoids fatigue.
Which brings us to Essence Erased, where they change things around, back off with the insane tempos and show us that there is more to them than just speed. It’s a cracker, changing through the gears with a measured pace that still has a feeling of speed to it especially after the halfway mark and I love the way it moves constantly forward.
Spirit Dysmorphia repeats with a similar arrangement, but again they grab you with effective progressions that you don’t mind. Both songs show that they can provide crushing statements of intent that mix in melody and rock-hard riffs. Death Entwines Us All follows up, returning to the savagery set out at the start.
There is a feeling that they are on the home straight with this, picking up speed and energy in order to set you up for Dreaming In Decay. This is where they bring it all together, mixing in speed with some mint guitar work. It doesn’t forget that it needs to hit hard, and it does.
Everything about it is top class and is a quality way to close the album out. There are no weak tracks on this and that is borne out in the fact that each one is as vital as the one before it.
It's technical without overwhelming you, bringing that together with all the riffs you can chew. 9/10
Helstar - The Devil's Masquerade (Massacre Records) [Cherie Curtis]
Helstar is back from hiatus with The Devil’s Masquerade. 12 tracks of pure adrenaline with Avernus as a musical interlude to start which is a suspenseful mass of distorted sound before kicking off with the album title track The Devil’s Masquerade.
Helstar - The Devil's Masquerade (Massacre Records) [Cherie Curtis]
Helstar is back from hiatus with The Devil’s Masquerade. 12 tracks of pure adrenaline with Avernus as a musical interlude to start which is a suspenseful mass of distorted sound before kicking off with the album title track The Devil’s Masquerade.
Rivera’s vocals are controlled, deep and vicious, the repeating chorus has a commanding effect. Smith’s drums are fast and earth shattering and the instrumentals on this album are textured and luxurious and shows us what true passion for a genre sounds like.
Barragan, Smith and DeLeon are expert show stealers and play their guitars sharply with precision which is highlighted in Stygian Miracles, which starts off explosive and slides between steady and rampant with a remarkable genre defying black metal scream vocals for the breakdown which was surprising since the album is predominantly classic heavy metal.
Carcass For A King has more of a melodic vibe with an intricate instrumental and The Haunting Mirror is a blinder, spiralling guitars and a more theatrical delivery from Rivera which drives the narrative of the album. At first listen, I thought it was your typical classic heavy metal album which I do have a soft spot for however each track offers some black metal and more showy elements which really gives us something unique.
The showmanship from Rivera is remarkable and I would love to see these play live as I'm sure it would be unforgettable. The production of The Devil’s Masquerade is top notch, and I was busting a move throughout, there’s more than what meets the eye with Helstar. 9/10
Stargazer - Stone Cold Creature (Mighty Music) [Simon Black]
Stargazer have been quite prolific of late. With a whole decade passing between the release of their first two studio albums, you could be forgiven for thinking that this was merely an occasional project fitting in amongst others, but I suspect it has more to do with the fact that the sophomore revival in 2019 brought 60% of line up change and with it, clearly an impetus to keep the band more active.
Barragan, Smith and DeLeon are expert show stealers and play their guitars sharply with precision which is highlighted in Stygian Miracles, which starts off explosive and slides between steady and rampant with a remarkable genre defying black metal scream vocals for the breakdown which was surprising since the album is predominantly classic heavy metal.
Carcass For A King has more of a melodic vibe with an intricate instrumental and The Haunting Mirror is a blinder, spiralling guitars and a more theatrical delivery from Rivera which drives the narrative of the album. At first listen, I thought it was your typical classic heavy metal album which I do have a soft spot for however each track offers some black metal and more showy elements which really gives us something unique.
The showmanship from Rivera is remarkable and I would love to see these play live as I'm sure it would be unforgettable. The production of The Devil’s Masquerade is top notch, and I was busting a move throughout, there’s more than what meets the eye with Helstar. 9/10
Stargazer - Stone Cold Creature (Mighty Music) [Simon Black]
Stargazer have been quite prolific of late. With a whole decade passing between the release of their first two studio albums, you could be forgiven for thinking that this was merely an occasional project fitting in amongst others, but I suspect it has more to do with the fact that the sophomore revival in 2019 brought 60% of line up change and with it, clearly an impetus to keep the band more active.
Which is definitely what seems to be happening, with this being the third studio release in the intervening six years, which isn’t bad if you adjust for the fact that Covid happened in between the first two. Regardless, this is a band I am coming to err, stone cold…
Hailing from Norway, one could be forgiven in thinking that the classic Rainbow track they share a band name with was where they are coming from, but this is a healthy dose of classic Melodic Hard Rock with a very 80’s US Radio friendly vibe to it.
Hailing from Norway, one could be forgiven in thinking that the classic Rainbow track they share a band name with was where they are coming from, but this is a healthy dose of classic Melodic Hard Rock with a very 80’s US Radio friendly vibe to it.
The reality is though this music doesn’t ever really go away, and the boards of venues the world over seem to be actively being trodden by bands young and old for whom this is the peak of heavy musical excellence stylistically. There is an argument that the market for such music is getting older, but judging from the gigs I have seen of late that’s also simply not the case, and the genre continues to attract a cross-generational crowd, telling me that it’s going nowhere any time soon.
Back to Stargazer though, and I have to say this five-piece landed very well with me. The material is fresh and energetic, and whilst you can clearly hear the 80’s ethos loud and clear, it doesn’t feel dated, nor is it trying to be embarrassingly retro for the sake of it and has a rich and well-crafted studio sound and production values which polish the overall effect of the songs, rather than distract.
The songs are all well written and arranged, with solid riffing melodic hooks as the framework and a band that clearly gel well together. Tore André Helgemo’s vocals are on the nose, but for me it’s guitarist William Ernstsen who steals the limelight, with a quite frankly superbly fluid and effortless grasp of melody, self-harmony and an innate ability to shred without seeming overtly showy. A guitar hero of the old style for sure.
The record packs fourteen well-crafted songs into a brisk forty-five minutes and still leaves me wanting more, which tells me that their back catalogue is beckoning. That said despite the consistency of the material, it does seem to be lacking a couple of floor filler’s to make the crowded marketplace sit up and take notice, but overall, I am definitely not disappointed. 7/10
Back to Stargazer though, and I have to say this five-piece landed very well with me. The material is fresh and energetic, and whilst you can clearly hear the 80’s ethos loud and clear, it doesn’t feel dated, nor is it trying to be embarrassingly retro for the sake of it and has a rich and well-crafted studio sound and production values which polish the overall effect of the songs, rather than distract.
The songs are all well written and arranged, with solid riffing melodic hooks as the framework and a band that clearly gel well together. Tore André Helgemo’s vocals are on the nose, but for me it’s guitarist William Ernstsen who steals the limelight, with a quite frankly superbly fluid and effortless grasp of melody, self-harmony and an innate ability to shred without seeming overtly showy. A guitar hero of the old style for sure.
The record packs fourteen well-crafted songs into a brisk forty-five minutes and still leaves me wanting more, which tells me that their back catalogue is beckoning. That said despite the consistency of the material, it does seem to be lacking a couple of floor filler’s to make the crowded marketplace sit up and take notice, but overall, I am definitely not disappointed. 7/10
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