Another Point Of View: Crowbar (Review By Paul)

Crowbar – The Garage, London

Hang The Bastard

I arrived too late to see openers Dripback but was in time to catch London based sludge outfit Hang The Bastard put in a 30 minute set which whilst mildly entertaining and certainly well received by the very healthy crowd did little for me. The band are tight with the low keyed down tuning sludge and stoner delivery that you would have expected on this bill. However, despite being a man mountain in size, vocalist Tomas Hubbard's delivery was pretty uninspiring. Little to no variation in pitch or style, and a general screech which made the actual lyrics indecipherable. After 20 minutes of this it all blurred into the same thing and I found my attention wandering. The rest of the band in a decent shift with energy from bassist Joe Nally the highlight (including some backing vocals) but I can't say I'd go and see them again. 5/10

Crowbar

The Garage was close to capacity for New Orleans sludge legends Crowbar. No intro tape required with these guys. Straight onto the stage with the intimidating founder and all round hero Kirk Windstein announcing “we've got good news and bad news”. “The good news is that we are Crowbar from New Orleans, the bad news is that we’re going to kick your ass”. And with that they launched straight into the brutal Conquering. As heavy as a troop of elephants dancing on your head in lead boots, Crowbar certainly don’t mess around. Windstein handles the front of stage with ease, the brooding heavy passages interspersed with the faster punky hardcore elements synonymous with the sludge and stoner movement. High Rate Extinction followed, one of three tracks from their self-titled album.  News of a new album were greeted with cheers from the crowd, although no new tracks were given an airing on the night. However, several tracks from Sever The Wicked Hand, their last ball crusher were spread through the set including the title track which was so heavy that I thought my liver had burst. A return to the debut album Obedience Through Suffering produced the rarely heard Vacuum, a mighty slab of sludge which in keeping with the rest of the evening, crashed through the floor. Whilst there is little in the way of guitar solos with this genre, Windstein and Matthew Brunson ensure that you are fully aware that they can play, laying down riff after riff whilst maintaining the low keyed tuned down delivery. Don’t think it’s all slow mind, as there are passages within several tracks that incite serious pit action. A devastating Liquid Sky and Cold Black Earth continued the aural assault, new boy Jeff Golden on bass keeping momentum and drive and linking well with drummer Tommy Buckley who was smacking seven shades out of the kit. This was a well-paced set with a steady increase in tempo leading to a climax of Cemetery Angels and set closer Let Me Mourn which was massively appreciated by the crowd who were roaring their approval from early in the set. Windstein referred to the band’s forthcoming appearance at BOA with some relish and promised a couple of new tracks in the set. It should be a good one if it is anything like this performance. 8/10

Reviews: Bigelf, Adrenaline Mob, Dark Forest, Savage Messiah

Bigelf: Into The Maelstrom (InsideOut Records)

Is this Bigelf or creative genius Damon Fox's solo album? That was what went through my mind as I read the liner notes, Fox handles the vocals, guitar, bass and most importantly the keyboards on the majority of the tracks with only bassist Duffy Snowhill remaining from the bands last incarnation and only appearing on a few tracks along with Luis Maldonado invited to "play some solos and add some colour" on the guitar. However for the most part it is Damon Fox flexing his twisted creative muscles on this album, he is aided and abetted on by musical Nomad Mike Portnoy on the drums and as usual Portnoy adds a huge amount of class to every track but never overshadows anything. So on to the album and as usual its a bit of a trip moving through, Beatles like pop-psychedelia, Sabbath doom, propulsive organ driven prog and even a bizarre carnival atmosphere throughout with wurlitzers and organs driving all of the songs. With the Incredible Time Machine Fox starts things off with a creepy lurching song with a sugar sweet verse and ominous chorus and then time shifts (wink wink nudge nudge) into a fuzzy dreamy final section, summing up Bigelf's sound in one 4 minute song, next is the science fiction inspired Hypersleep which has sludgy main riff punctuated by some synths and features Fox's unique vocals before things shift again into a space rock freak out worthy of Hawkwind. The album carries on like this through 12 tracks taking you on a magical mystical tour through Fox's mind from the sitar based rock of The Professor And The Madman, the heavy metal Vertigod and Theater Of Dreams which doesn't sound like Portnoy's former band but rather his inspiration John, Paul, George and Ringo, the most telling of all the tracks is the driving Control Freak which possibly explains why Fox has gone all Steven Wilson on us. This yet another excellent album from Bigelf who shows that really it doesn't matter if the album is just him as he is Bigelf. Welcome to his world! 9/10 

Adrenaline Mob: Men Of Honor (Elm City Music)

So I'll say this now, despite the critical beating it took form the music press, I quite enjoyed the first Adrenaline Mob album. In the interim between the first and this second album the band have lost Mike Portnoy (see Bigelf & Transatlantic and Winery Dogs for some reasons why) and in his place have put A.J Pero from Twisted Sister, so not the supergroup they once were only ex-Disturbed man John Moyer and Symphony X's Russell Allen remain in the A-List talent bracket. So what is the album like? Well it's your strict meat and potatoes metal, the riffs are heavy and melodic and the lyrics are chest beating and misogynistic, this is the sort of music Nickelback strive for when they are not trying to write arena ballads. Case in point is the opener Mob Is Back which sounds a lot like Burn It To The Ground with slightly better guitar playing from Mike Orlando. Unfortunately the album doesn't get much better than this, the band seem to be pooling their collective talents and driving in cruise control, this is American radio rock at it's simplest, Dearly Departed is The Foo Fighters, Behind These Eyes is a big Def Leppard like ballad. Maybe I'm getting old but this album disappoints me, it is far below their collective talents, yes I did like the first album as for a one off it was quite a breath of fresh air for all those concerned however it did strike me as a one-time thing and on this sophomore album they prove it by showing no advancement at all. Back to the day jobs I think guys! 4/10

Dark Forest: The Awakening (Cruz Del Sur Music)

Dark Forest are a old school metal band bringing NWOBHM to the modern era. Hailing from the the West Midlands (the spiritual home of metal) the band have all the hallmarks of Iron Maiden and bands of the early 80's along with revivalists like Cauldron. The first thing strikes you is the guitar playing of Christian Horton and Patrick Jenkins which is superb bringing the dual guitar riffage of Murray and Smith/Gers aided by the smashing drums of Adam Sidway and the galloping bass of Paul Thompson. However despite the strength of tracks like The Awakening, Turning Of The Tides, Secret Commonwealth and the rousing closer Sons Of England the band have one weak link and that is the vocals of Josh Winnard who despite having a bit of puff in the higher sections, he is flat for the rest of the time, his voice really is not my cup of tea, maybe it's because most bands of this ilk have a vocalist that can at least sing (albeit some can't hit the notes) not the other way around that seems to be the case with Dark Forest. I was looking forward to some good quality British metal and musically the band pull it off it's just that voice that grates on me so badly. My advice is listen to the album and see what you think but for me the album that could have been so much better if they had just changed one little thing. 5/10

Savage Messiah: The Fateful Dark (Earache)

So four albums into their career Savage Messiah still have a point to prove and they go some way to proving it on The Fateful Dark from the intro of Iconocaust  they channel Metallica's arena heroics before the main riff kicks in and its all guns blazing with the super fast thrash riffage of Joff Bailey and Dave Silver which is driven by the face crushing rhythm section of Stefano Selvatico's bass and Andrea Gorio's double kick frenzy and mixes the razor sharp riffage with lots of melodic passages. This trend continues with the fist pounding Minority Of One which has a killer solo in the middle and also shows how good Silver's vocals have become since their debut, he has his own unique delivery that suits the band's modern thrash style. I've been calling Savage Messiah a thrash band but they do bring in traditional metal to the proceedings as well with Cross Of Babylon having the sound of latter period Judas Priest and Hellblazer is prime power metal and Live As One Already Dead is a Megadeth style power ballad. In fact the 10 tracks on this album are full of power and passion packed with killer riffs face melting solos and lots of heavy bottom end all topped by Silver's strong vocals and the crystal clear production. This is a seriously good album, definitely Savage Messiah's best release and it will go some way to push them up into the upper echelons of the British metal scene. 8/10  

Reviews: Majesty, Klogr, Tides Of Sulfur

Majesty: Banners High (NoiseArt Records)

Lets lay it down now before we start, that Majesty (no not the band that were to become Dream Theater) sound like Manowar, a lot like Manowar, in fact if anything they are blatant copyists. The rampant drumming, galloping bass, face melting guitars and soaring vocals, coupled with swords and sorcery lyrics mean that the German band have all the loin-clothed bravado of the American 'True Metal' creators. Indeed the band themselves changed their name to Metalforce for one album and signed to Magic Circle Music before returning to Majesty and Massacre records shortly after. So yes the band do sound like Manowar but putting that aside the band play with passion and power, with the dual guitars adding the Maiden-like harmonies to the songs about battle and war that are filled with solos galore and has founder member Tarek Maghary leading the charge so to speak with his Eric Adams-esque vocals which soar above the true metal music. This is metal (or at least Manowar) by numbers mainly but if you like your metal muscular, powerful, slightly cheesy and at least half naked and trussed up with leather, then you will like Majesty's sixth album and you will bang your head, draw your broadsword and grab your war axe to tracks like the frenetic We Want His Head, the sing along Banners High and the anthems United By Freedom and Take Me Home all of which sound like they could be on Kings Of Metal or Battle Hymns. If all this sounds like your idea of hell then I'd give Majesty a wide berth, however for everyone else that ignores the fact this is Manowar, it is a fun sixth album from the Germans. 6/10

Klogr: Black Snow (Zeta Factory/Believe)

Now this is going to be a hard one, Klogr (pronounced kay-log-are) are an alternative metal band from Italy and America, their name comes from the law of Weber-Fechner, which is known as the fundamental psycho-physical relationship (S = K log R). (So now you know) Anyway back to the task at hand and musically the band are labelled as alternative metal and that they are with elements of A Perfect Circle, Tool and modern bands of their ilk, the band have down tuned metallic riffs with some dreamy harmonies, the bass intro of Zero Tolerance opens the track up for the riffage Giampi and Rusty who bring some strong riffs to the track with Rusty also bringing a wide vocal range with shouts and a harmonic clean vocal that sounds a lot like APC and Tool's Maynard. The band then move into the percussive, radio friendly Refuge which should blow up on American FM channels. This seems to the style of the album with chunky metallic downtuned riffs, angry vocals and lots of alternative attitude, so they have enough melody to appeal to those that like the Alter Bridge set but also enough power to tour with Prong (which they are currently doing). The band have a sound that is similar to a lot of bands but a sound that is very much their own mixing the bands previously mentioned with some of the ballads coming off like Bullet For My Valentine (Heart Breathing) and others full of the angst and heaviness shown by NIN albeit without the electronic influences, see Hell Of Income, then the band will move into an almost Deftones area on Room To Doubt before leaving things on the almost Katatonia like dreamscape of Ambergais. The songs are powerful and draw from the American style of alternative metal bands, the production is crisp and makes the songs sound very punchy. This is a grower of an album that after a few plays will open itself up into one of the most intelligent and cerebral albums this year so far. Watch out as Klogr are about to make a huge impact. 8/10

Tides Of Sulfur: Eternal Bleeding Demo (Self Released)

Cardiff noise merchants Tides of Sulfur have obviously adopted the 'music as a weapon' approach to their debut demo. The demo is made up of three tracks each of which are heavy sludge-like metal with screamed vocals from bassist Chris Bull who brings the bowel rupturing bottom end as well as the demon like guttural roars and banshee screams that punctuate the riff assault of Anthony O'Shea who tries his best to make your ears bleed, both men are anchored in their assault by the drums of Tom Lee who smashes the hell out of his kit. The band have lots in common with sludge masters Crowbar as well as throwing in some Neurosis for good measure. From the opening tolling bells, which moves into the killer intro from O'Shea and then the heavy as a hammer bass driven main riff Grimace starts things off nicely and then moves straight into the sledgehammer doom of Walk With The Living before finishing off with the stomach rumbling of the title track which is slow and ominous in the classic Sabbath style. This is a classy debut and is very well produced for a demo, the roughness of it lending to the violent, evil sounding songs. If you want some serious brain rattling from a new metal band then look no further than Tides Of Sulfur. 8/10  

Reviews: Hatriot, Freedom Call, Vanden Plas (Reviewed By Paul)

Hatriot: Dawn Of The New Centurion (Massacre Records)

The latest project of long standing thrash veteran Steve Souza basically grabs you in the nuts, kicks seven shades of shit out of you and leaves through the back door whilst you regain your breath. This is a full-on 80s thrash fest from start to finish. This is the second full album from Hatriot, following quickly on the heels of 2013’s Heroes of Origin debut. Clearly, subtle isn't a word that exists in the Souza vocabulary as opener My Cold Dead Hands comes straight at you, with multiple shredding and Souza’s trademark vocals which left a huge influence on Exodus after Paul Baloff between 1986 and 1993 immediately grabbing the attention. Indeed, the comparisons with his former band are impossible to exclude. Driving drums and bass with the dual guitars of Kosta Vavatakis and Miguel Esparza ripping back and fore dominate the opener and the massive Testament sounding Your Own Worst Enemy before a slight easing of tempo during The Fear Within. Souza’s vocals were always a bit marmite-like. Personally, I like the guttural growl he uses; not only does he possess one of the most recognisable vocal styles in thrash, but you can usually get the gist of what he is singing too. This is quality musicianship with the drumming of Cody Souza particularly notable throughout the album and outstanding on Honour In The Rise and Fall which powers through like an express train. Ridiculous title award goes to Superkillafragsadisticactsaresoatrocious which could comfortably slot in to the Exodus back catalogue; massive hooks, soaring solos and chanting chorus combine to really give this the old school feel and even comes with the chanting of “Free Pussy Riot” in the fade which gives you an idea of the track’s lyrical meaning. The title track is the album’s stand out song, with Souza opening up with a trademark scream before a slow build up, full of groove and hook, with the track layering sweetly and increasing in strength and speed as it moves to the crescendo with increased tempo and some powerful fretwork from Vavatakis and Esparza. This track briefly allows you to catch your breath before the full throttle onslaught takes hold. Fans of Testament, Exodus, Violence, Kreator and even Onslaught should really get on the outside of this album. Yes, it has been done before; no, it’s not groundbreaking but if you love a bit of old school thrash in the Bay Area tradition then this is for you. 8/10

Freedom Call: Beyond (SPV/Steamhammer)

A bit like Hatriot, the eighth album from the German Power Metal outfit Freedom Call contains few surprises. Opener Union of the Strong absolutely stinks of Helloween circa 1986 but is delivered in exactly the way you want your German power metal to be. Harmonies galore, rapid fire drumming, squeaky vocals and solos coming at you from every angle. Knights of Taragon follows the same pattern, sword and sorcery lyrical content and some interesting use of trumpet style synths adds to the mix. Chris Bay’s vocals are exactly what you would expect, following the Michael Kiske blueprint of high pitched almost falsetto delivery at times alongside an almost narrative delivery at times. Heart of a Warrior continues in the same vein, rampaging along with the powerful drumming of new man Ramy Ali combining with Ilker Ersin on bass. The guitars of Bay and Lars Rettkowitz deliver some intricate and detailed fretboard action throughout. The Maidenesque Come on Home contains the brilliantly delivered line “Bang Your Head or Die” before drifting into a sing-along ala United by Judas Priest. The title track opens with piano and a string section with Bay doing his best Dickinson impression before off we gallop again. This is quite simply great fun and for those who have seen these guys on stage, you'll know that they are an absolute scream live. Beyond contains 14 tracks and the edition I have also has a second disc of live and unplugged tracks which unfortunately don't always portray Bay’s vocals in the best light but even so you certainly get your money’s worth. This album has more cheese in it than Madame Fromage's specialty Cheese Shop, and by the time you get to Follow Your Heart with its saccharine sweet harmonic choruses you'll have either broken out in a big grin and a massive hope that these guys will appear at BOA again or you’ll have put Hatriot on repeat to cleanse your system. I’m somewhere in the middle with power metal. However, this album is well constructed and sticks very close to a formula that works. 7/10

Vanden Plas: Chronicles Of The Immortals - Netherworld (Path 1) (Frontier Records)

Germanic progressive metallers Vanden Plas latest release is a marmite album with no middle ground. You'll either love this or absolutely hate it. The band’s former works have developed themes from the world of fantasy with lashings of progressive overtones and this one moves even more into that realm being a collaboration with multi-million selling fantasy author Wolfgang Holhbein and based on his Chronicles of the Immortals books. Opener Vision One sets the scene with a narrative from Dave Esser and heartfelt vocals from the unfortunately named Andy Kuntz (yes, cousin of German Footballer Stefan) before the band launch into the real opener Vision Two – The Black Knight; an eight minute plus epic that has drawn massively from Dream Theater in both composition and structure. Several changes of tempo and excellent musicianship with intricate interplay between Gunter Werno’s keyboards and Stephan Lill’s guitar work surge through this piece which reaches a crescendo with a choir adding backing vocals. You get the picture. The remainder of the album is broken down into a further eight ‘Visions’ with the story developing around a boy who is different and feels no-one understands him. Kuntz’s vocals are solid and impressive with a decent range on display. Vision Three – Godmaker continues in a similar vein albeit slightly shorter, and again it is the Dream Theater comparison that instantly comes to mind. Vision Four – Misery Affection Prelude introduces female vocals and segues neatly into Vision Five – A Ghost’s Requiem where the pace is much slower with piano and strings delivering a sombre atmosphere. The theatrical element of this album is unsurprising given the background that the band have in theatre, and this contributes massively to the way the album flows with huge classical elements complementing the regular changes in tempo and direction. Most of the tracks on the album rock in at six minutes plus but throughout the constant change in styles and delivery mean that you are rarely distracted and attention is maintained. This is an album crafted with delicacy and no little beauty. Highlights for me were Vision Seven – The King and the Children of the Lost World which is again crafted elegantly and combines heavy passages with much lighter elements. The album closes with Vision Ten – Inside, a six minute conclusion to the story which maintains the intricate and delicious balance of light and dark interplay that runs throughout the album. Definitely one of the albums of the year if you like progressive metal with huge classical overtones and a big production. If you don't, steer well clear. I’m in the former camp. It’s a damn fine release. 9/10

Reviews: Troubled Horse, Elysion, Amoral

Troubled Horse: Step Inside (Rise Above)

Sweden does seem to be in it's purple patch at the moment with some very fine rock and roll bands coming out of the country in recent years Troubled Horse are the latest in a long line, but they are pretty special. They play riff heavy, retro garage rock that comes out of the late 60's and early 70's, so you need to think Free Fall, Graveyard and Witchcraft in terms of style, especially the latter as the band is made up of former and current members of the Swedish occult rockers. The band throw in the creeping organs of Ghost on Bring My Horses Home and also nods to Sabbath on Another Man's Name (which has pinched the riff of Supernaut). The bass of Ola Henriksson rumbles like thunder keeping the band moving along metronomically and along with the drums of Jens Henriksson the band have a The Doors style percussive drive that is topped by the unforgiving guitars of John Hoyles which riff and solo with like Iommi, rounding off the band is vocalist/guitarist Martin Heppich who is the band's ace as he provides the extra muscle in the guitars section and also also hollers like a wounded animal on tracks like Fears and the powerful One Step Closer To My Grave, which is one of the albums best tracks with it's jangly but rifftastic delivery, it's clapping middle eight and the sumptuous solo. Heppich vocals are similar to fellow Swede Ralph Gyllenhammer of Mustasch and the music Troubled Horse play suit his voice to the ground. This is an album taht does a rare thing, it blows you away with it's combination of retro riffage, psychedelic tendencies (Shirleen) and nods to doom on the first listen and then gets better with every subsequent spin. The band have created an album as good as any of the bands I mentioned in the initial list, the album is sublime with everything coming together excellently. 2014 is truly the year of the (Troubled) Horse!!! 9/10

Elysion: Someplace Better (Massacre Records)

Elysion are classed as goth metal and from the opening strains of Made Of Lies this is proven to be 100% accurate with the light and shade of the guitars moving from clean to distorted in a heart beat with the verses lighter and the choruses having that big meaty riffs. I know it's a genre cliche but the band feature the angelic, haunting vocals of Christianna who sounds a lot like Christina Scabbia in terms of delivery and when coupled with the pulsing Gothic metal it gives these greeks a similar style to Lacuna Coil albeit without the male vocals, with some Within Temptation and Evanescence thrown in for good measure. The second track Someplace Better introduces the keys which are handled by guitarist Johnny Zero with the rhythm section made up of Petros Fatis on drums and FXF on bass. The songs have big riffs, lots of keys and synths and a massive dubstep section in What Lies Beneath. The band have some dark imagery, emotional lyrics and big ballads like The Promise which is replete with plantative piano, violins and a soaring guitar. All of these elements, makes for premium gothic metal, along with the Christianna's strong and frankly excellent, non operatic, vocals (she also sounds a bit like Hydrogyn's Julie) the band do what they do very well. Yes they do sound a lot like Lacuna Coil and usually this gets less marks from me but in this style of music it is very hard to stand out so sounding like the genre leaders is not necessarily to the bands detriment it just means that they have absorbed enough of the LC's charisma and musicality to progress upwards and when they have some pretty heavy riffage, see Our Fate, and Christianna's vocals the band can't really fail. Strong Gothic metal 8/10

Amoral: Fallen Leaves And Dead Sparrows (Imperial Cassette)

Finns Amoral are a bit of an enigma, until 2009 they were a Death/Thrash metal band until they dramatically changed their style leaving just guitarist Ben Varon and drummer Juhana Karlsson with a new line-up that played straight down the line power metal. This is not a bad change as the I went back and listened to their early stuff and it's good however I do have a soft spot for power metal and there post 2009 output is a lot better a it merges classic power metal of galloping basslines, dual guitars and strong clean vocals, however this is mixed with some modern metal riffage and lots of time signature changes in the longer tracks and indeed the shorter ones!) It's on the first track On The Other Side Pt. 1 that the band nail their colours to mast with the double kick drums rampaging, the pinched harmonic laden drop D riffage, the bassline driven verses and the Trivium-like soloing. Ari Koivunen's vocals are powerful but not ear splitting or helium fulled, yes they are in the upper register but they don't distract you, in fact he has similar style to fellow Finn Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica or even James LaBrie. The guitars of Varon (rhythm) and Masi Hukari (Lead) are awesome with some massive modern riffage and Hukari's love of spectacular solos coming through. The songs are varied coming away from the power metal base in places but Prolong A Stay features some amazing orchestral stuff on top of the galloping riffage that wouldn't sound out of place on a Maiden album with some lead breaks that are very Djent like before everything turns into a Wintersun-like rampage. This goes straight into the acoustic almost Zeppelin-like Blueprints which also has some killer organs in it and moves into the folksy-ballad of If Not Here, Where which kicks up into Queensryche territory after the intro and also has some growled vocals. If i was forced to make a comparison its like Baroness were mega NWOBHM fans (the album cover alone would give you this idea) but this would be pigeonholing a band that can't really be. The band are never a pastiche they balance the right line between classic and modern with progressive flourishes and quality songwriting throughout. The more I listened to this album the more I fell in love with it, it is just everything you could want in a metal, it's an engaging sometimes challenging listen that both makes you nostalgic but plants you firmly in the present day, they have done more in eight tracks than many bands do in their careers. Well done Amoral you originally had my curiosity, now you most definitely have my attention. 10/10

The View From The Front Of The Room: Evil Scarecrow

Evil Scarecrow & Ten Cent Toy, Bristol Exchange

So once more along the bridge the merry travellers did go, this time it was for the the mighty Evil Scarecrow who continue to draw us to their presence. After rounding up our posse we did a tour of watering holes to make sure we were properly lubricated cyborgs. Into the Exchange and having missed the first two bands we got in just in time to see Ten Cent Toy who hail from Wales.

Ten Cent Toy

TCT burst onto the stage and immediately bludgeoned the crowd with their LOG style groove metal, playing tracks off their album as well as a new track called Contra (up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,A,B, Start) that still had the heavy, groove style of their earlier stuff. Yes they are not doing anything different but when you can pull a crowd and suitably make them headbang and jump around then I'd say job done. Having seen TCT a fair few times for me they do always seem to sound the same but for anyone discovering them I would say that they would be pleasantly surprised, they are heavy, aggressive and full of vitriol! A good way to open up proceedings but desperately in need of new tracks in my own opinion but for anyone watching them for the first time will have their heads crushed 7/10  

Evil Scarecrow

Gathered in the corner of the room (nowhere to hide and make a grand entrance) the five members of Evil Scarecrow make a motley crew of crazies in their black metal stage gear replete with corpse paint, spikes and chains. The band burst on to the stage and straight into Choose Metal which with Brother Pain, Dr Hell and Kraven Moredeath all providing the riffage, Monty Blitzfist drumming like a demon and Princess Luxury adding the keys and samples that give the band more scope. Before rocking the crowd they proceeded to make them cry with the emo-epic Blacken The Everything which saw the crowd giving their best sobs, then they moved into The Thundercats theme (which your writer ruined the intro of) and then into Morbid Witch which prompted more claws tot he sky. Then the drums signalled to the crowd to raise a claw to the sky for the arrival of Crabulon, seeing a room full of metal heads scuttling is still hilarious and this needs to be a single soon! At the end of the set we were treated to Vampyre Trousers which again had it's intro ruined (not by me) before the band ran off to hide in the corner again. Encore time and first it was the now legendary Robototron with the crowd providing more perfect robot squares during it's chugging breakdown which then moved into the band introductions and Brother Pain's crowd surf (I didn't drop him this time luckily) and then into War And Seek   which with a Arnie like stomp brought the set to an end. Evil Scarecrow again show that they are truly fantastic live and they just need everyone like us to fund their quest for world domination!! 10/10

Out Of The Beyond 31

Royal Southern Brotherhood: S/T (Ruf 2012)

What do you get if you form a band the features the son of an Allman Brother with a Neville Brother? Well you get 12 tracks of soulful blues rock from the smooth opening phrasing of New Horizon, the Santana-like funk of Fired Up! which has Cyril Neville's percussion all over it, as well as his soul drenched vocal delivery, the band then move through the blues balladry of Left My Heart In Memphis on which Neville shows off his excellent pipes again. This isn't a one man show however with both Devon Allman (son of the great Gregg) and Mike Zito providing the six string heroism with lots of slide guitar and good old fashion blues rocking, Yonrico Scott on the drums providing a foil for Neville and Charlie Wooton on bass, who is at his most prevalent on the funky almost reggae style of Fire On The Mountain. The band look to the past and also the future by using the classic blues phrasing and lots of rock, funk, soul and also country (Nowhere To Hide) and creating some modern blues rock in the process. The album is obviously a testament to the heritage and the skills of the contributors, all of them play excellently providing the album with a free-flowing live-in-the-studio feel and a silky segue of every track into the next ensures that this album oozes with groove and knowing confidence of a band that do what they do drawing from their heritage and pumping out some top quality blues rock. 8/10

Myrath: Desert Call (XIII Bis Records 2010)

Desert Call is the best band to come out of Tunisia's second album and it affirms just how good they are from the off with Forever And A Day opening with the Middle Eastern flavour and the downtuned riffage. The band have a lot in common with Orphaned Land mixing metal with lots of Eastern promise, however unlike OL the band have no growls or death vocals and favour a more progressive symphonic/power metal style than many in the genre. The album moves from Forever And A Day into the very heavy Tempests Of Sorrow which has some crushing riffs designed to level buildings. The band have some amazing sounds with Malek Ben Arbia's guitars powering the main bulk of the songs but that's not to dismiss the amazing keyboards and orchestrations of Elyes Bouchoucha who along with Zaher Zorgati's vocals give the band their sound, as Zorgati has a real eastern feel to his vocals which sit somewhere between chanting and crooning. The rhythm section of Saif Louhibi's drums and Anis Jouini's bass too are excellent and provide the band with some amazing technical playing, Jouini even gets a bass solo on the title track! (Lucky guy!). The band show off there technical ability and their progressive tendencies with the Dream Theater/Symphony X like Silent Cries which clocks in at just over 10 minutes, features several changes of pace and tone and ends the first half of the record brilliantly, this style is also most prevalent on Empty World and Shockwave The song reaches it's pinnacle with Zorgati's awesome vocals, this guy can sing excellently, the song also features keys out of the Jordan Rudress school of ivory-tinkling. A great album from one of the bands at the forefront of the 'oriental metal' genre (blame Metal Hammer) a cacophony of metal, Arabic sounds and musicianship of the highest order, find this album and then work your way through the bands other two and you will find that Myrath are more than just a label. 9/10  

Malison Rogue: S/T (Inner Wound Records 2011)

Malison Rogue are a metal band from Sweden and from the opening chords of Friend Or Foe? one name came rushing to my head and that was Queensryche, Malison Rogue sound an awful lot like the Washington natives with every track having that progressive punch that Queensryche bring to their works. The riffs of Bjoerkborg come thick and fast with both speed metal tendencies on tracks like The Pain You Cause but also the 'ryche's melodic power rock on songs like I Grieve which is straight off the Empire album with its pulsing bassline of Pete Fury and the marching drums of Doc, all of which is topped off with the powerful vocals of Zeb who doesn't hit the highs of Geoff Tate but he certainly has the crooning power of the man himself, these songs have power on We're All Born Sinners, emotion on the mega ballad My Mistakes and also heaps of musicality, see the orchestral Scars which features choirs and keys orchestrated by in demand vocalist Mats Leven who also provides backing vocals. This is a great album if you like Queensryche or bands of their ilk then you will really get a kick out of this! 7/10     

Another Point Of View: Limp Bizkit (Review By Lee Burnell)

Limp Bizkit, Crossfaith, Nekrogoblinkon & Baby Godzilla, Great Hall Cardiff

On a dampened night, nothing dampened the spirits of God knows how many people who turned up to see them in The Great Hall. With strong support coming from Nekrogoblikon and Crossfaith.

Baby Godzilla

Without a doubt the second worst band I have ever seen. This quartet of confused and I'm guessing tone deaf band haven't found their sound yet. If this was their sound, they should quit. They started off with the front man, they really aren't worth researching so no name’s to be thrown out, getting in the face of the crowd screaming and trying to play….something. Out of a 20 minute set, they managed to spend 10 of those jumping off their amplifiers and falling down, which made them watchable. They are definitely a young band because they didn't have a look… the front man looked like Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro, the guitarist looked like a ginger Misfits ripoff, the bassist, I overheard a friend that he reminded him of a butcher (Your guess is as good as mine) mixed with a fat kid dying for a dump, the later I could understand, teeth clenched throughout the set and the crowd were worried about whether or not he would/did cut one. Thankfully the smell of weed overtook the potential of any chemical warfare. If I had to say one good thing about Baby Godzilla, would be that they reminded me, granted marginally, of Minor Threat, but even I understood Minor Threat. To sum up, they should split. Absolutely garbage. At best 1/10.

Nekrogoblikon

I've listened to Nekrogoblikon’s impressive 2011 album Stench a couple of times before the gig and was told they put on a good show. Boy were they right, we were greeted by John Goblin, yes, he was actually a goblin dressed in a shirt and tie, work trousers and converse. He did a great job warming the crowd up for the band’s arrival, which they kicked off with A Feast. The vocals were even more brutal in person and I loved it, the band were tight. Nothing out of sync and they all seemed to enjoy John Goblin jumping round the ring getting the crowd going. The band took their time and played songs such as Goblin’s Ahoy! and Army Of Goblins from their debut album Goblin Island to No One Survives, Prince Of The Land Of Stench and Bear From Stench through to Powercore and Giraffe from last year’s EP Power. This is definitely a band to keep an eye out for and if you're into gimmicks and metal and never listened to this band. I suggest you do immediately! Only downside was the frontman Scorpion being noticeably drunk when trying to react to a fan throwing a bottle on the stage. Other than that, superb and I’ll definitely be seeing them again. 8/10

Crossfaith

I missed this band in May last year and have been loving their EP Zion as well as their 2013 featured release Apocalyze. I've heard great things about their energy, their performance and their showmanship and I was kind of hoping this band were worth the ticket price alone. The band took a commanding stage presence and after 90 seconds the band’s Synth/DJ/Keyboard player Tamano Terufumi stage dived into the crowd as they blasted We Are The Future. An awesome mix of metalcore and dubstep blended to perfection. They are a few bands I've seen that have perfect rhythm and timing, especially with all the synth drops but Crossfaith are definitely one of the best all-rounder bands I've seen live. They then followed up with their fantastic Monolith and they had the crowd in their hands. Bone crushing riffs, Dubstep that people didn't hate, what more could you want? By this time the crowd were lively, mosh pits were starting, raves commencing, I was very confused, even more confused when I joined in with jumping along with the rest of the crowd. There was one song that would follow suit perfectly, Jagerbomb, which they went immediately into and everyone freakin’ lost it! This was certainly an intense gig now! Kenta Koie, the lead singer then asked the crowd to form a wall of death...yeah….they drew a good number to do it but I was lucky to not get caught in it for once before belting Countdown To Hell before asking the crowd to get down to the ground in a Corey Taylor-esque manner before the band got into Eclipse and the band finished off with their impressive track Leviathan. They were worth the £20 alone and if you’re going to the Download Festival in June, check them out! Band of the night so far, 9/10!

Limp Bizkit:

It was like 2001 had come round and I was 13 again and I was very happy. The setup was unusual, Wes had a hawaiian theme, booze in Pineapple’s, proper luau going on there and Wes took the stage with a ukulele and just playing away and singing a cheesy old timey song. The crowd weren't amused by this, he went on for far too long and people were pretty drunk now. The band came on and Fred greeted the crowd with “Keep on Rollin’ baby, you know what time it is.” Wow, right out of the block with Rollin’. Holy shit, crowd surfing, mosh pits after 10 seconds. Surely a record? Could they follow it up with something to calm the crowd down? Nope, Hot Dog. I was so happy. Sang along with the words, remembered them all and I wasn't the only one. I wonder why, needs more fuck words in there I think, only 46. It was time for the band to break it down with Bring It Back, my favourite song from Gold Cobra and you could start to tell that not many people listened to anything after Chocolate Starfish And The Hotdog Flavour Water. Fred kept teasing the crowd saying they weren't allowed to play Break Stuff in case it ensued a riot and changed the tone with Gold Cobra. A pretty tight set so far, entertaining, great setlist so far, happy days. If the crowd needed perking up (they didn't) they started playing songs from Three Dollar Bill Y'all by playing the first verse of Pollution. When they stopped and said they weren't playing the rest but were going to play another, I was disappointed. Although the second song was Counterfeit but yet again they stopped after the first verse. I didn't like that, it seemed like Fred and the band wanted to coast their way through the rest of the show now. I was proven right for the next 15 minutes after they went through My Generation, Livin’ It Up and My Way in quick succession. I don't blame Limp Bizkit for stopping for a couple of minutes after that, the venue was unbelievably hot. But they recomposed and went into Re-Arranged, happy face. I forgot Limp Bizkit did this but they cover songs in their setlist and we were treated to Killing In The Name Of by Rage Against The Machine, Fred had already mentioned they had a 70 minute set so I wonder why the didn’t play something else instead of KITNO, that kind of got to me a little bit. But Wes started playing the Take A Look Around riff and the crowd got into top gear. Well I thought that was top gear until the finished with Break Stuff and everyone just went nuts! I’m in two minds about what to give this, 13 song set list with 2 of those finishing after 90 seconds and one was a cover…. The band were solid and I was very happy to see them, I’d see them again but wouldn't be amused if they did the same again. 9.5/10 although I’m tempted to give Crossfaith band of the night.

Reviews: Primal Fear, Chrome Division, Augustines

Primal Fear: Delivering the Black (Nuclear Blast) (Review By Paul)

2014’s power metal season opens on a high with this offering from German veterans Primal Fear. Opener King For A Day opens at a blistering pace with multiple solos, driving bass lines and thundering drums along with the soaring vocals of founder member Ralf Scheepers. This is German power metal at its best. Think Helloween circa 1986 and you have the standard. There are no surprises but many excellent tracks which really get the head nodding vigorously. Rebel Faction follows with a similar driving pace, huge driving rhythms and crunching guitars from Magnus Karlsson and Alex Beyrodt. The drumming on this track is monstrous, Randy Black running on his double bass pedals ably supported by the driving Harris-esque bass lines of Matt Sinner. When Death Comes Knocking has a slightly calmer opening and slower pace throughout allowing Scheeper to deliver his lyrics assisted by the harmonies that one would expect from old school power metal. As you would expect from a band with nine previous releases under their belt, this is a tight and crafted release. Alive And On Fire is a rocky fist pumper with traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo and one that should really produce some fantastic air guitar in the live arena. As with the majority of German power metal bands, this is an album that follows a formulaic and well-trodden path but hey, don't get me wrong. This is great stuff and sits comfortably alongside Accept and the awesome Freedom Call in the genre. Delivering The Black, the title track has massive Dio influences and the lyrical content of many of the tracks have the great man’s lyrical themes. Penultimate track Born With A Broken Heart is the obligatory power ballad that will have lighters aloft. Album closer Inseminoid ensures that the ballad is a distant memory, powering through with similar drive and gusto to the majority of the tracks on the album. This is power metal at its finest. How about a slot at BOA? 8/10

Chrome Division: Infernal Rock Eternal (Nuclear Blast) (Review By Paul)

The fourth album from Dimmu Borgir frontman Shagrath’s side project and a cracker it is too. Opening with a brief instrumental Good Morning Riot the tempo is cranked up immediately with Endless Nights which is a straight in-your-face heavy rock track. A stomping rhythm underpins the track, with the vocals of Athera (From Susperia) grabbing your attention from the off. Some top soloing from Kjell Aage Karlsen (Aka Damage) on lead guitar throughout this track and this is an opener of intent, totally setting the scene for what is about to come. Some ingenious use of a vocoder adds a little extra. This is pretty far removed from the symphonic black metal that Shagrath is better known for with the next track (She’s) Hot Tonight continuing in the heads down metal vein. Group choruses, driving bass and drums and excellent soloing; it’s all here. This is biker rock with a flavour of 1980s metal at its best. The Absinthe Voyage maintains the momentum, thundering along like an out of control juggernaut before the pace slows with the anthemic Lady Of Perpetual Sorrow. The pace picks straight back up with the next track The Moonshine Years swiftly followed by No Bet For Free which has Motorhead’s classic influence coursing through it. This is good stuff. On The Run Again takes a more bluesy rock approach but continues to blast out, Athera’s gruff vocals complemented by the sing-along choruses and Age Troite’s driving bass lines. Mistress In Madness is the fastest track on the album, with pulverising drums from Tony White the main feature as this wild horse gallops along. This is straightforward heads down rock ‘n’ roll metal, pure and simple. However, it is delivered with style and confidence, grabbing you in the nuts from the start and dragging you along for the ride. No fillers on this album and the closer Dirty Dog is downright sleazy filth, Motley Crue but with more guts. If you like your metal served with no-nonsense then this is one for you. Excellent stuff! 9/10

Augustines: S/T (Oxcart Records)

Augustines (formally We Are Augustines) are now on their second album and they have really hit the overdrive button on this one. Their debut was based upon the personal experiences of Singer/guitarist Billy McCarthy, mainly the deaths of his mother and brother, delivered with the workingman, Americana style of The Boss and The Gaslight Anthem. On Augustines the mood is still serious but more celebratory, after the ghostly electronic opening of Intro (I Touch Imaginary Hands) the album picks up pace with wall-of-sound like production and as many instruments as possible thrown in to create a African spiritual style song Cruel City replete with the chanting backing vocals. This opening song sounds like it was pulled straight off Paul Simon's seminal Graceland album and it plunges straight into Nothing To Lose But Your Head which has all the reverberated staccato guitar of early (and relevant) U2 albeit with a McCarthy's grizzled, wounded vocals that howl over these layers of sound provided mainly by multi-instrumentalist Eric Sanderson who has bass, guitars, keys all under his remit and keeping the beat is Rob Allen who does a stirling job by adding little flourishes in many of the songs and is the main driving force behind the reflective Weary Eyes which is the kind of song Brandon Flowers wishes he could write and it is followed by another powerful anthem Now You look Back which shows off McCarthy's voice at it's best, yes it's an acquired taste but it works so well with this rootsy style of songwriting in both rockers and the plaintive ballads like Walkabout. Yes the ghost of Springsteen is there with the soul stirring songwriting and every man storytelling, but the band also have the musical chops of Neil Young, the edginess of Nick Cave, the sadness of Leonard Cohen and lots of modern influences to keep them as contemporary as possible, like alluded to earlier the band sound like a more mature version of modern 'rock' bands like The Killers, Kings Of Leon etc. With Arise Ye Sunken Ships their debut it was the sound of  band finding their feet and convincing themselves that what they were doing was worth the adversity they wrote about on the album, this record however is the sound of a band showing the world at large that they are not only talented songwriters and performers but they are also vital for both their honesty and their integrity. This is an excellent album that will set Augustines on a path to world wide recognition!! 10/10    

World Of Metal 5: Valtari, Unscarred, Running Death

Valtari: Hunters Pride (Self Release) (Review By Nick)

Coming from the land down under Valtari is a melodic Death Metal project with a twist… there is but one of them! Fronted and indeed solely brought together by Marty Warren, this brave man has undertaken a big project that could go one of two ways. Warren’s second full-length album under the name of Valtari opens with Bitterness, which is a solid punch in the face if ever such a statement was needed. Filled with the heavy hitting drums and melodic riffs that this genre mixes so well, new album Hunters Pride gets off to a flying start. Undefeatable and Can You Hear Me continue much in the same vein with background melodies thrown in from soft yet somehow aggressive sounding keyboards. Into Shatter The Myth and In Slides that flawlessly slither into each other with ease, they slow things down a little and its Warrens voice that stands out particularly in these two tracks. Raspingly high at times with short rumbling growls when called upon but at the same time both as pure as silk. Vocally it’s hard not to compare Warren to that of Immortals old school Abbath vocals at times. From With A Childs Smile through to Tyrant the album picks up pace again, the face smashing relentless thumping riffs continue, at the same time forcing your head to bounce in every direction possible. Soon the album must finish with The Gift and Hunters Pride, and wow… what a way to finish! Slowly building up steam The Gift is a final tribute to the vocals of this album, Warren’s voice being tested at both ends of the scale without failure, beautifully supported by the snapping rolling drums and the melodical riffage I have come to expect. The encore of Hunters Pride is the epitome of Warren’s work; filled with everything that is right about this album and this genre. Rammed with enough keyboards, pounding drums and grinding guitars to wave a stick at, that all inevitably finishes in great style, changing its pace to keep you hooked into one final triumphant solo. Thankfully my earlier worries we swiftly dismissed by a brilliant effort from Marty Warrens mind. Needless to say I like this album; I like this album a lot! Watch out Sweden, Melodic Death has a father now too, and its name is… Australia?? 9/10

Unscarred: Fake Democracy EP (Contorted Records & Finisterian Dead End) (Review By Nick)

Unscarred is a powerful pounding-groove machine, wild and slightly crazy Thrash band formed in Paris. My initial opinions as the first track 100 Lashes struck my ears were “Damn this girl can sing!” Lead vocalist known simply as “Nelly” springs straight into action with quick strike up the octaves Sean Peck (Death Dealer) like opening. Followed quickly by an onslaught of groove-laden thrash. The next two offerings Fake Democracy and Puppets Territory come from different ends of the spectrum; Fake Democracy continues the groove filled bouncy bass led trend from which it was born from thanks to Bassist “Brice”, who brings good depth and strength to the track while not detracting from the vital thrash element of Unscarred. Puppets Territory as mentioned before is a different brand of music all together and enters the EP into a darker part of thrash. This time Nelly bringing slow deep growls to the forefront of the track. Although musically still of the same quality unscarred have already delivered us, this did spoil the path the EP was taking a little for me and briefly took the smile from my face as the fun seem to dissipate. Soon though the pitch perfect chorus quickly brought my smile back as Nelly reaches of the high notes again. This track was a little confused I think, and so was the next track Reborn. Despite the return of the growling vocals the funky thrash returns in this track and that for me is what Unscarred are good at. The life is brought back into the album here with the bass bouncing and the constant running guitars supplied by Boris and Nico holding the song well while keeping you intrigued as to where the album is going. Finally Meet Your Fate is a departure back to where the album started; honest groove filled thrash, only this time with a little more pace. Nelly’s vocals return to what they do best and the band seem a lot more attuned to this style of music, we’re even offered a solo or two here. The song ends with a hammering statement on the drums from Franck and leaves me with a smile on my face. Not the heaviest of stuff you’ll ever hear from this genre and Unscarred seem to be a little confused in themselves at times. Just a little more direction needed. However what this EP and band represent so far is good music with lots of fun, and there is simply nothing wrong with that in my book. A great band to catch live I highly suspect and I really hope I do have the chance in the future. 7/10

Running Death: The Call Of Extinction (Self Released)

From the opening chords you can tell what is going to happen and when the heavy, speed riffage kicks in all double kicks and razor sharp guitars you can tell that Running Death are: one a thrash band and two a very good one, especially on the solo front as Unleashed features some great fret-wanking throughout. The Germans wear their influences on their sleeves with Kreator and Slayer being the main two especially with the vocals of Simon and Julian who move between shouts and growls throughout. This is a great E.P with 5 strong thrash tracks that move like a whirlwind with lots of speedy riffs, good old fashion stomping rhythms see Call Of Extinction the songs have progressive tendencies as they move between different tempos on Celebrate Your Aggression which has sounds remarkably similar to South Of Heaven stylistically. Yet another German thrash band showing the yanks what for!! 7/10