At The Gates: At War With Reality (Century Media) [Review By Paul]
It has been 19 years since At the Gates released Slaughter of the Soul, widely regarded as a classic in the world of melodic death metal. At War with Reality continues with the driving no-nonsense attack that SOTS left back in 1995. A concept album based on the literary genre of magic realism (Okay!), At War with Reality showcases the vocal prowess of Tomas Lindberg, whose screaming strained delivery launched many a Swedish and Scandinavian death metal outfit. The drumming of Adrian Erlandsson combines with Jonas Björler’s soaring bass lines whilst the twin guitar attack of Anders Björler and Martin Larsson supply heavy riffs, driving melodies and subtle movement. Opening with Death and the Labyrinth, it is full of the melody and groove that compatriots such as In Flames possess in spades. As befits the concept, many of the tracks are laced with haunting atmospheric almost operatic style breakdowns; case in point being Heroes and Tombs. As the album builds the songs increase in intensity and speed; The Conspiracy Of The Blind for example; all thrash attack with the rhythm section propelling the band forward. It certainly doesn't feel like these guys have been out of the studio for nearly two decades and tracks such as Order And Chaos and The Book of Sand is complex in their construction. A welcome return to a band that was so influential first time around. 8/10
Warrant: Metal Bridge (Pure Steel Records)
Firstly this is not the american Glam metal band, whose singer Jani Lane tragically died recently, no this is the German Warrant a band who released their first album in 1985 and split shortly after, still they worked through it and have finally reformed and have finally released their second album called Metal Bridge. Strangely enough it's not a tribute to Victorian bridge builder Isambard Kingdom Brunel, which was disappointing but still it is an album filled with the kind of Teutonic speed metal the Germans do so well. After the intro comes Asylum which is atypical of German heavy metal with rampaging riffage from Dirk Preylowski, driving drums from Thomas Rosemann and a hearty gallop from bassist Jörg Juraschek who also provides the gruff vocals that are slightly Udo-like. Yes sorry folks we've arrived at that juncture where I have to make a comparison and the comparison is with Accept, Warrant do sound a lot like Accept and after 15 tracks it does get a bit wearing. This is just relentless metallic assault that simmers but never really boils over. This could in fact be a contributing reason why Warrant are only on their second album since 1985! They are competent but not a lot more, Metal Bridge is not a particularly inspiring record, well played but as I have said it is a bit over long with one too many filler tracks, meaning that it becomes a test of patience towards the end. For die hard Teutonic metal fans this will appeal but like I said for everyone else it is competent but nothing more. 6/10
Enemy Of Reality: Rejected Gods (FYB Records)
Enemy Of Reality are a Greek symphonic metal super group featuring members from a few other Greek bands, they are traditional symphonic metal with the vocals coming from Soprano Iliana Tsakiraki who has an astounding voice, similar in power and style to Tarja, she soars above the crunchy metallic backing of Steelianos' great guitar playing, Marianthi's keyboard flourishes, Thanos' bass and Phillip Stones drums. Opening track My Own Master is a speed metal track that has elements of Symphony X on it due to a driving bassline from Mike LePond who aides the speedy riff, next up is the slower more orchestral Lifeless Eyes which is a real anthem and features Marianthi's keys prominently, Needle Bites is a progressive track with shifting backing a hell of a solo and features Iliana duetting with Sirena's Ailyn Giménez their two voices interplaying excellently. The songs on this record are brilliantly delivered with all of the musicians working well together, the rhythm section is heavy and technical, the guitars shred and solo with aplomb, the keys are melodic and epic and the vocals are astounding. In what is a very congested genre Enemy Of Reality stand out as they give much heavier and indeed progressive style of music than many of their peers and to this writers ears they sound a lot like American band Echoes Of Eden who have the same style of progressive/symphonic metal, they are their most progressive on Her Descending Ghost and their most rousing on the heavyweight choral/classical crossover The Bargaining which has heaps of power behind it. Rejected Gods is a real treat for symphonic metal fans but it will also bring in others with it's progressive tendencies. 8/10
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
Monday, 10 November 2014
A View From the Back Of The Room: Robert Plant
Robert Plant & Last Internationale, Newport Centre
To see the mighty Percy in such a small venue is a rare treat and our number lapped it up as we walked into the venue nice and early, the security still waiting outside, as one of our number was not at all well we had negotiated early access, however as we sat in the bar we were suddenly ushered out, in what was starting to turn into a clusterfuck, as the minutes wore on the cluster exploded into a supernova of stupidity, with no one, especially the security knowing what the hell was going on. So apparently we all had to be searched in, even though 10 minutes previously we had strolled in nonchalantly. So our poorly member was allowed to stay with one 'helper' and the other two in our party (including me) had to leave and queue, in what seemed to be a never-ending line.
Still after this rampant fuckwittery, we managed to get in and the rest of our party had secured a seat near the back of the room (as is the norm of course). With the room filling and the electricity building it was time for the support band The Last Internationale.
Last Internationale
As Gil Scott Heron's vitriolic anthem The Revolution Will Not Be Televised came over the P.A many guessed that The Last Internationale may have a message and as frontwoman Deilia Paz arrived on stage she slung on an acoustic and started to play, the song was Worker's Of The World Unite (based on Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto) and Deilia began to roar, her voice supremely powerful and her resolve unwavering, this indeed was a band with a meaasge and indeed chops as when the rest of the band arrived guitarist Edgey Pires began to peel off riffs and solos like a certain Mr Page merged with a certain Mr Morello (who himself is a fan of the band). Paz took the bass and began to stalk the stage providing the funky bottom end and her primal shout, part Krissy Hynde, part Suzi Quatro she is a fire cracker frontwoman, the band moved through Killing Fields, Life, Liberty And Pursuit Of Indian Blood, Fire and We Will Reign from their latest album of the same name (available on the merch stand for £15 folks!!). These New Yorkers have a lot of fire and fury delivering their agenda with passion and power, the set concluded with Paz adopting the acoustic guitar again, along with a harmonica to play a note perfect cover of Neil Young's Hey Hey, My My. You don't have to agree with the ideology but you can't fault the music, sledgehammer riffs, reverbed solos and a siren with a banshee's voice. Perfect opening fodder for Zep/Plant fans. 8/10
Robert Plant
Seeing the set lists that Percy had been playing it was a solid mix of his new stuff, old solo stuff and obviously some Zep classics (albeit slightly re-imagined). The throbbing electronic beat of No Quarter opened the evening sticking to the original for the most part before his multi instrmental band the switched instruments to bayou banjos and mandolins for the swamp stomp of Poor Howard. This would be a theme for the night as the much of Plant's set and indeed the songs on Lullaby.... And The Ceaseless Roar are all influenced by or indeed drawn from the Mississippi Delta. Bassist Billy Fuller and drummer Dave Smith left the stage leaving just the leonine Plant, Mountain man Skin Tyson on banjo, rockabilly madman Justin Adams on acoustic guitar and John Baggott who was bedecked in a leather shirt on keys,, loops etc for a run through of All The Kings Horses from the Mighty ReArranger album (these three men were all part of the Strange Sensation group, that performed on this album). So far so awesome, Percy can still sing like a man a third of his age, he is still every inch a rock god strutting and prowling the stage, he is also affable making jokes and putting everyone in the audience at ease (and thereby resisting the urge to shout "We're Not Worthy!!" at the the top of your lungs). Next up was Thank You which is still as emotive as it ever was before they worked their way through more songs from the latest album all of which brought together world music and especially the amazing Ritti from Juldeh Camara who is this bands secret weapon, he adds his flourishes to both the originals and the blues covers, as far as the original songs go Embrace Another Fall is majestic and features the Welsh language vocals of Julie Murphy and Rainbow is a percussive clap along with a drum for everyone and a hand full of joy, Plant crooning like it was the old days. After building throughout the set came to it's conclusion with the Adams playing the 12 bar boogie of Hoochie Coochie Man, which shifted into Etta James' I Just Wanna Make Love To You (possibly a 50+ Diet Coke moment?) but as the shuffle continued Plant uttered those immortal words "You need coolin', Baby I'm not foolin'" which in turn led to THAT riff and the evergreen Whole Lotta Love to finish the main set. With the crowd in his hands Plant could have read the dictionary for the encore but he didn't a short break and he was back with a lounge jazz version of Nobody's Fault But Mine which warped the original brilliantly before the folk/trance of Little Maggie ending things on a fantastic high. Seeing Percy in his natural habitat is always a treat but he does seem to be enjoying himself thoroughly on stage every night, with Page concentrating on remastering the past, Plant looks to the future and steadfastly refuses to look back. Still he will always be in the shadow of Zeppelin something highlighted by iconic feather symbol on the drumkit of Smith showing that it will always be there in the background as Plant and his Space Shifters progress on their cosmic journey. Simply stunning!! 10/10
To see the mighty Percy in such a small venue is a rare treat and our number lapped it up as we walked into the venue nice and early, the security still waiting outside, as one of our number was not at all well we had negotiated early access, however as we sat in the bar we were suddenly ushered out, in what was starting to turn into a clusterfuck, as the minutes wore on the cluster exploded into a supernova of stupidity, with no one, especially the security knowing what the hell was going on. So apparently we all had to be searched in, even though 10 minutes previously we had strolled in nonchalantly. So our poorly member was allowed to stay with one 'helper' and the other two in our party (including me) had to leave and queue, in what seemed to be a never-ending line.
Still after this rampant fuckwittery, we managed to get in and the rest of our party had secured a seat near the back of the room (as is the norm of course). With the room filling and the electricity building it was time for the support band The Last Internationale.
Last Internationale
As Gil Scott Heron's vitriolic anthem The Revolution Will Not Be Televised came over the P.A many guessed that The Last Internationale may have a message and as frontwoman Deilia Paz arrived on stage she slung on an acoustic and started to play, the song was Worker's Of The World Unite (based on Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto) and Deilia began to roar, her voice supremely powerful and her resolve unwavering, this indeed was a band with a meaasge and indeed chops as when the rest of the band arrived guitarist Edgey Pires began to peel off riffs and solos like a certain Mr Page merged with a certain Mr Morello (who himself is a fan of the band). Paz took the bass and began to stalk the stage providing the funky bottom end and her primal shout, part Krissy Hynde, part Suzi Quatro she is a fire cracker frontwoman, the band moved through Killing Fields, Life, Liberty And Pursuit Of Indian Blood, Fire and We Will Reign from their latest album of the same name (available on the merch stand for £15 folks!!). These New Yorkers have a lot of fire and fury delivering their agenda with passion and power, the set concluded with Paz adopting the acoustic guitar again, along with a harmonica to play a note perfect cover of Neil Young's Hey Hey, My My. You don't have to agree with the ideology but you can't fault the music, sledgehammer riffs, reverbed solos and a siren with a banshee's voice. Perfect opening fodder for Zep/Plant fans. 8/10
Robert Plant
Seeing the set lists that Percy had been playing it was a solid mix of his new stuff, old solo stuff and obviously some Zep classics (albeit slightly re-imagined). The throbbing electronic beat of No Quarter opened the evening sticking to the original for the most part before his multi instrmental band the switched instruments to bayou banjos and mandolins for the swamp stomp of Poor Howard. This would be a theme for the night as the much of Plant's set and indeed the songs on Lullaby.... And The Ceaseless Roar are all influenced by or indeed drawn from the Mississippi Delta. Bassist Billy Fuller and drummer Dave Smith left the stage leaving just the leonine Plant, Mountain man Skin Tyson on banjo, rockabilly madman Justin Adams on acoustic guitar and John Baggott who was bedecked in a leather shirt on keys,, loops etc for a run through of All The Kings Horses from the Mighty ReArranger album (these three men were all part of the Strange Sensation group, that performed on this album). So far so awesome, Percy can still sing like a man a third of his age, he is still every inch a rock god strutting and prowling the stage, he is also affable making jokes and putting everyone in the audience at ease (and thereby resisting the urge to shout "We're Not Worthy!!" at the the top of your lungs). Next up was Thank You which is still as emotive as it ever was before they worked their way through more songs from the latest album all of which brought together world music and especially the amazing Ritti from Juldeh Camara who is this bands secret weapon, he adds his flourishes to both the originals and the blues covers, as far as the original songs go Embrace Another Fall is majestic and features the Welsh language vocals of Julie Murphy and Rainbow is a percussive clap along with a drum for everyone and a hand full of joy, Plant crooning like it was the old days. After building throughout the set came to it's conclusion with the Adams playing the 12 bar boogie of Hoochie Coochie Man, which shifted into Etta James' I Just Wanna Make Love To You (possibly a 50+ Diet Coke moment?) but as the shuffle continued Plant uttered those immortal words "You need coolin', Baby I'm not foolin'" which in turn led to THAT riff and the evergreen Whole Lotta Love to finish the main set. With the crowd in his hands Plant could have read the dictionary for the encore but he didn't a short break and he was back with a lounge jazz version of Nobody's Fault But Mine which warped the original brilliantly before the folk/trance of Little Maggie ending things on a fantastic high. Seeing Percy in his natural habitat is always a treat but he does seem to be enjoying himself thoroughly on stage every night, with Page concentrating on remastering the past, Plant looks to the future and steadfastly refuses to look back. Still he will always be in the shadow of Zeppelin something highlighted by iconic feather symbol on the drumkit of Smith showing that it will always be there in the background as Plant and his Space Shifters progress on their cosmic journey. Simply stunning!! 10/10
Saturday, 8 November 2014
Reviews: Devilment, The BossHoss, Giant Squid
Devilment: The Great And Secret Show (Nuclear Blast)
Devilment was formed by guitarist Daniel Finch in 2011, but with ever changing line up Daniel reached out to his friend Dani Filth (he of Cradle Of Filth fame) to help out on a few songs, the two worked together on demos before acquiring a stable line-up of Nick Johnson bass, Colin Parks on lead guitar, Lauren Francis on vocals and keyboards and Aaron Boast on drums and percussion. The album is not what you expect this is more of a classic metal record than the black metal you'd expect from Filth with only Stake In My Heart sounding more like Cradle than the others. Yes even the tongue in cheek aspect of the Lovecraftian, horror theme lyrics remains from his Cradle project with titles like Even Your Blood Group Rejects Me which is almost Vaudevillian in it's sound but also bringing in elements of Type O Negative and southern groove swagger. But for the most part this is more straight up metal as I've said, with Summer Arteries having a groove based delivery backed with electronics, the twin guitars are excellent, the drums still blast beat away with aplomb, the keys and samples add an extra dimension to all of the songs with the jazz piano and violins on Staring At The Werewolf Corps. Filth giving his best vocal throughout his guttural roar and screech is still present but he sings a lot more on this record than on any Cradle release, his vocals too work well with Laura Francis who has a more ethereal quality of vocal. I don't really know what I was expecting from this album but I actually enjoyed it a lot, the music is good with lashings of groove, elements of thrash, a dollop of classic metal, Filth's vocals are enjoyable for the most part (his voice is one of the bugbears of Cradle for me), as a project this is great little distraction from Filth's day job with some very strong songs and perfect modern production from Scott Atkins, more of this please! 8/10
The BossHoss: God Loves Cowboys (Independent)
God Loves Cowboys is a compilation album from German, Country rock and rollers The BossHoss, now if you've never heard of The BossHoss then they are a German band that dress as cowboys, adopt Southern mannerisms and play covers and originals in a country rock style along with other styles to boot. As I've said this is the seven strong band's UK only compilation released to coincide with their support of Motorhead on their UK tour. Now the band have called this a compilation album not a greatest hits or a best of because it is a collection of their most well known songs, live staples and two covers. The band mix rock, country, blues and as well as hip hop, funk and disco actually have a lot in common with Danes Volbeat. From the outset of Bullpower the scene is set for rampaging, cattle rustling rock and roll, that moves straight into Whatever which is percussive and off-kilter with some crazy brass and a stylophone (yes a stylophone). This song shows what a seven piece band can do with two guitars, drums, bass (upright and electric) as well as washboard, mouth harp, keytar and mandolin as well as some howling rockabilly vocals on top from vocalist Boss Burns and guitarist Hoss Power. God Loves Cowboy's is hip hop with processed beats and even a bit of rapping thrown in showing this bands scope as they drive straight into the funk of Do It which has the bassline from Superstitious driving it along. Stallion Battalion is an acoustic cowboy punk and Backdoor Man has swamp blues all the way through it and a party atmosphere. With this unique mix of sounds The BossHoss are a truly unique band and it means that this album never gets boring, with irreverent songs, a good time atmosphere and some top drawer musicanship the album has 14 excellent originals and two clever covers; a rockabilly, mandolin driven cover of Killers by their tour mates Motorhead and a cover of Word Up by Cameo (recently featured on a VO5 advert). God Loves Cowboys is a great album for people who are unfamiliar with The BossHoss and gives you a great incite into this unique band. 8/10
Giant Squid: Minoans (Translation Lost Records)
Giant Squid are a post metal/progressive rock band from Sacramento California, Minoans is a concept album with a historically accurate perspective on the ancient culture of the Minoans who originated from Crete, so this is high concept territory folks meaning that many will be lose their way a bit with the lyrical content unless they read along with the liner notes. So then the band have to impress with the music, which is something they really do, encompassing doom riffs Thera and Palace Of Knossos, lots of instrumental passages, elements of jazz in The Pearl And The Parthanon, some modern prog metal lots of atmosphere see slow burning opener Minoans. Nothing about this band is simple, the songs are complex as is the bands line up with three vocalist working in unison one hollering lead, one higher cleaner lead and one female harmony which means the songs have an almost choral feel vocally. They also use the traditional instruments of a guitar from Aaron Gregory, the bass of Bryan Beeson and drums from Zack Farwell but also have keys from Andy Southward and a full time cello player on board in the shape of Jackie Perez Gratz which adds an extra dimension to this album. As is the norm with bands of this ilk this a record that needs to be taken in one sitting, not a flash in the pan instant gratification album, it is one that slowly releases its charms over many listens, for some that may not appeal but for others it will make them salivate at the thought. 7/10
Devilment was formed by guitarist Daniel Finch in 2011, but with ever changing line up Daniel reached out to his friend Dani Filth (he of Cradle Of Filth fame) to help out on a few songs, the two worked together on demos before acquiring a stable line-up of Nick Johnson bass, Colin Parks on lead guitar, Lauren Francis on vocals and keyboards and Aaron Boast on drums and percussion. The album is not what you expect this is more of a classic metal record than the black metal you'd expect from Filth with only Stake In My Heart sounding more like Cradle than the others. Yes even the tongue in cheek aspect of the Lovecraftian, horror theme lyrics remains from his Cradle project with titles like Even Your Blood Group Rejects Me which is almost Vaudevillian in it's sound but also bringing in elements of Type O Negative and southern groove swagger. But for the most part this is more straight up metal as I've said, with Summer Arteries having a groove based delivery backed with electronics, the twin guitars are excellent, the drums still blast beat away with aplomb, the keys and samples add an extra dimension to all of the songs with the jazz piano and violins on Staring At The Werewolf Corps. Filth giving his best vocal throughout his guttural roar and screech is still present but he sings a lot more on this record than on any Cradle release, his vocals too work well with Laura Francis who has a more ethereal quality of vocal. I don't really know what I was expecting from this album but I actually enjoyed it a lot, the music is good with lashings of groove, elements of thrash, a dollop of classic metal, Filth's vocals are enjoyable for the most part (his voice is one of the bugbears of Cradle for me), as a project this is great little distraction from Filth's day job with some very strong songs and perfect modern production from Scott Atkins, more of this please! 8/10
The BossHoss: God Loves Cowboys (Independent)
God Loves Cowboys is a compilation album from German, Country rock and rollers The BossHoss, now if you've never heard of The BossHoss then they are a German band that dress as cowboys, adopt Southern mannerisms and play covers and originals in a country rock style along with other styles to boot. As I've said this is the seven strong band's UK only compilation released to coincide with their support of Motorhead on their UK tour. Now the band have called this a compilation album not a greatest hits or a best of because it is a collection of their most well known songs, live staples and two covers. The band mix rock, country, blues and as well as hip hop, funk and disco actually have a lot in common with Danes Volbeat. From the outset of Bullpower the scene is set for rampaging, cattle rustling rock and roll, that moves straight into Whatever which is percussive and off-kilter with some crazy brass and a stylophone (yes a stylophone). This song shows what a seven piece band can do with two guitars, drums, bass (upright and electric) as well as washboard, mouth harp, keytar and mandolin as well as some howling rockabilly vocals on top from vocalist Boss Burns and guitarist Hoss Power. God Loves Cowboy's is hip hop with processed beats and even a bit of rapping thrown in showing this bands scope as they drive straight into the funk of Do It which has the bassline from Superstitious driving it along. Stallion Battalion is an acoustic cowboy punk and Backdoor Man has swamp blues all the way through it and a party atmosphere. With this unique mix of sounds The BossHoss are a truly unique band and it means that this album never gets boring, with irreverent songs, a good time atmosphere and some top drawer musicanship the album has 14 excellent originals and two clever covers; a rockabilly, mandolin driven cover of Killers by their tour mates Motorhead and a cover of Word Up by Cameo (recently featured on a VO5 advert). God Loves Cowboys is a great album for people who are unfamiliar with The BossHoss and gives you a great incite into this unique band. 8/10
Giant Squid: Minoans (Translation Lost Records)
Giant Squid are a post metal/progressive rock band from Sacramento California, Minoans is a concept album with a historically accurate perspective on the ancient culture of the Minoans who originated from Crete, so this is high concept territory folks meaning that many will be lose their way a bit with the lyrical content unless they read along with the liner notes. So then the band have to impress with the music, which is something they really do, encompassing doom riffs Thera and Palace Of Knossos, lots of instrumental passages, elements of jazz in The Pearl And The Parthanon, some modern prog metal lots of atmosphere see slow burning opener Minoans. Nothing about this band is simple, the songs are complex as is the bands line up with three vocalist working in unison one hollering lead, one higher cleaner lead and one female harmony which means the songs have an almost choral feel vocally. They also use the traditional instruments of a guitar from Aaron Gregory, the bass of Bryan Beeson and drums from Zack Farwell but also have keys from Andy Southward and a full time cello player on board in the shape of Jackie Perez Gratz which adds an extra dimension to this album. As is the norm with bands of this ilk this a record that needs to be taken in one sitting, not a flash in the pan instant gratification album, it is one that slowly releases its charms over many listens, for some that may not appeal but for others it will make them salivate at the thought. 7/10
Reviews: Machine Head, (Review By Paul)
Machine Head: Bloodstone And Diamonds (Nuclear Blast)
When Adam Duce left Machine Head in somewhat acrimonious circumstances at the turn of the year, questions about the future of MFH were asked by many. For a band that had released THE album of the 2000s in The Blackening, this seemed a little bizarre. Okay, we all know that Robb Flynn controls the band pretty intensely, but was there ever a doubt that MFH would return with a decent slab of metal? I don’t think so. The pressure that the band was under after The Blackening was immense. They toured their asses off on that album, hitting the UK a number of times and possibly suffered from over-exposure although I will state here that I have never seen a bad Machine Head show and indeed in the last ten years have spent more time pitting to this band than any other. The follow up release Unto The Locust in the autumn of 2011 was a decent offering with some great songs on it. However, there appeared to be a bit of a backlash to the band, possibly due to the decision to offer them the 2012 Saturday night headline slot at BOA, something which wasn't well received by some of the more extreme patrons of the festival. I have to admit I had my doubts and although I watched the show, it didn't grasp me by the bollocks like before. However, word from the front that night was that MFH were back on form. The last time we saw them on these shores was their arena tour later that year with the desperately awful Bring Me The Horizon in support, a choice that certainly impacted on ticket sales and led to the NIA where I saw them far from capacity. Still, they put on a decent show, and it is in the live arena where MFH live or die.
So what about Bloodstone And Diamonds? Well, it is a very good record, no doubt about it. Filled with the usual angst that fuels Flynn’s inner rage, the album has a greater number of songs on it than a normal MFH release; 12 in total. Is there a format to a Machine Head record? I suppose there is. A few fast thrashers, for example Killers & Kings, a lengthy epic that builds in the middle of the album, this time it is Sail Into The Black and a few weighty slabs of metal that get the head moving. Opener Now We Die is a stomping tune, huge hooks, string sections, catchy chorus and the obvious opener for their forthcoming UK shows. Flynn’s vocals are unmistakable, snarly and aggressive, spitting the words out with real venom and feeling. Killers & Kings is possibly the most instantly accessible track on the album, Dave McClain’s powerful drumming combining with new boy Jared MacEachern to form as cohesive a unit as McClain and Duce did. Ghosts That Haunt My Bones has a riff and a half in it, Flynn’s vocal calm and measured to start before it descends into classic Machine Head fare, elements of Descend The Shades Of Night combining with the power of Bulldozer, Phil Demmel and Flynn using their excellent guitar work to full effect. Night Of The Long Knives climbs from an atmospheric start into an absolute balls out gallop with McClain’s drumming quite incredible. This will cause some carnage in the pit. (Lucky I’ve got a sick note!) Sail Into The Black combines the intro tapes of Grand Magus and Dimmu Borgir, acoustic guitar and some piano dripping through whilst Flynn eulogises in the way only he can. The track stands alongside classics such as Descend The Shades Of Night and Darkness Within and will no doubt be the pacer track in the middle of their set. It then builds with MacEachern’s bass pounding before McClain uses blast beats as the track charges towards a massive crescendo.
Halfway point in the album and not a dud so far. Eyes Of The Dead continues where Sail Into The Black left off, an overture of doom before the dual soloing of Flynn and Demmel rip your eyes out. I think that Demmel in particular is a massively underrated guitarist and his work here is exceptional, peeling off the licks for fun, ripping through the track and cutting the listener across the throat. Although it is almost old school thrash, this track, like most on the album have numerous changes of direction and enormous dollops of old school MFH groove. Halfway through, and Flynn briefly turns into Dave Mustaine, all guttural and grimace before it kicks off again with rampaging solos and 100mph drumming. Beneath The Silt has a slower feel to it, with even bigger riffs and a true heavy metal feel. Andy Sneap’s mixing is of the usual high quality throughout the album. Another seven minute plus track follows in the shape of In Comes The Flood, string section and choral vocals layering the introduction before the slicing guitar work synonymous with MFH cuts across. The weakest track on the album follows, with Damage Inside a cathartic rambling construct which adds little. Indeed, it’s about here that the album starts to slow in pace and direction. Sure, it’s been a tough time for MFH of late and Flynn in particular carries spectacular amounts of baggage but there are times when you can’t help thinking that he brings some of the shit on himself. Game Over gets the show back on the road with some blistering thrash before instrumental Imaginal Cells leads to final track Take Me Through The Fire, an anthemic roller coaster of a track which combines some classic MFH thrashing to bring the album to a slightly overdue end.
Machine Head are still a vital part of today’s metal scene. Whether this album will put them back into The Blackening territory is questionable; they've public ally stated they are avoiding festivals next year to focus on their own gigs which I think is a good move. An intense Machine Head gig is one of the most incredible sights in metal, and for a band who have 20 years + under the belt, still damn fine going. Machine Fucking Head. Indeed. 8/10
When Adam Duce left Machine Head in somewhat acrimonious circumstances at the turn of the year, questions about the future of MFH were asked by many. For a band that had released THE album of the 2000s in The Blackening, this seemed a little bizarre. Okay, we all know that Robb Flynn controls the band pretty intensely, but was there ever a doubt that MFH would return with a decent slab of metal? I don’t think so. The pressure that the band was under after The Blackening was immense. They toured their asses off on that album, hitting the UK a number of times and possibly suffered from over-exposure although I will state here that I have never seen a bad Machine Head show and indeed in the last ten years have spent more time pitting to this band than any other. The follow up release Unto The Locust in the autumn of 2011 was a decent offering with some great songs on it. However, there appeared to be a bit of a backlash to the band, possibly due to the decision to offer them the 2012 Saturday night headline slot at BOA, something which wasn't well received by some of the more extreme patrons of the festival. I have to admit I had my doubts and although I watched the show, it didn't grasp me by the bollocks like before. However, word from the front that night was that MFH were back on form. The last time we saw them on these shores was their arena tour later that year with the desperately awful Bring Me The Horizon in support, a choice that certainly impacted on ticket sales and led to the NIA where I saw them far from capacity. Still, they put on a decent show, and it is in the live arena where MFH live or die.
So what about Bloodstone And Diamonds? Well, it is a very good record, no doubt about it. Filled with the usual angst that fuels Flynn’s inner rage, the album has a greater number of songs on it than a normal MFH release; 12 in total. Is there a format to a Machine Head record? I suppose there is. A few fast thrashers, for example Killers & Kings, a lengthy epic that builds in the middle of the album, this time it is Sail Into The Black and a few weighty slabs of metal that get the head moving. Opener Now We Die is a stomping tune, huge hooks, string sections, catchy chorus and the obvious opener for their forthcoming UK shows. Flynn’s vocals are unmistakable, snarly and aggressive, spitting the words out with real venom and feeling. Killers & Kings is possibly the most instantly accessible track on the album, Dave McClain’s powerful drumming combining with new boy Jared MacEachern to form as cohesive a unit as McClain and Duce did. Ghosts That Haunt My Bones has a riff and a half in it, Flynn’s vocal calm and measured to start before it descends into classic Machine Head fare, elements of Descend The Shades Of Night combining with the power of Bulldozer, Phil Demmel and Flynn using their excellent guitar work to full effect. Night Of The Long Knives climbs from an atmospheric start into an absolute balls out gallop with McClain’s drumming quite incredible. This will cause some carnage in the pit. (Lucky I’ve got a sick note!) Sail Into The Black combines the intro tapes of Grand Magus and Dimmu Borgir, acoustic guitar and some piano dripping through whilst Flynn eulogises in the way only he can. The track stands alongside classics such as Descend The Shades Of Night and Darkness Within and will no doubt be the pacer track in the middle of their set. It then builds with MacEachern’s bass pounding before McClain uses blast beats as the track charges towards a massive crescendo.
Halfway point in the album and not a dud so far. Eyes Of The Dead continues where Sail Into The Black left off, an overture of doom before the dual soloing of Flynn and Demmel rip your eyes out. I think that Demmel in particular is a massively underrated guitarist and his work here is exceptional, peeling off the licks for fun, ripping through the track and cutting the listener across the throat. Although it is almost old school thrash, this track, like most on the album have numerous changes of direction and enormous dollops of old school MFH groove. Halfway through, and Flynn briefly turns into Dave Mustaine, all guttural and grimace before it kicks off again with rampaging solos and 100mph drumming. Beneath The Silt has a slower feel to it, with even bigger riffs and a true heavy metal feel. Andy Sneap’s mixing is of the usual high quality throughout the album. Another seven minute plus track follows in the shape of In Comes The Flood, string section and choral vocals layering the introduction before the slicing guitar work synonymous with MFH cuts across. The weakest track on the album follows, with Damage Inside a cathartic rambling construct which adds little. Indeed, it’s about here that the album starts to slow in pace and direction. Sure, it’s been a tough time for MFH of late and Flynn in particular carries spectacular amounts of baggage but there are times when you can’t help thinking that he brings some of the shit on himself. Game Over gets the show back on the road with some blistering thrash before instrumental Imaginal Cells leads to final track Take Me Through The Fire, an anthemic roller coaster of a track which combines some classic MFH thrashing to bring the album to a slightly overdue end.
Machine Head are still a vital part of today’s metal scene. Whether this album will put them back into The Blackening territory is questionable; they've public ally stated they are avoiding festivals next year to focus on their own gigs which I think is a good move. An intense Machine Head gig is one of the most incredible sights in metal, and for a band who have 20 years + under the belt, still damn fine going. Machine Fucking Head. Indeed. 8/10
Reviews: Obituary, Winterfyllth, Xerath (Reviews By Paul)
Obituary: Inked In Blood (Relapse Records)
The ninth studio release from Florida death metal titans Obituary, Inked In Blood pulls no punches. Colossal riffs destroy from the start, pounding bass lines and skull pounding drumming leave your innards contorted whilst the vocals of the legend John Tardy snarl and fight their way into your brain. This is one aggressively heavy album but don’t let that put you off. Although rightly masters of the Death Metal scene, Obituary deliver on a different level to their peers Cannibal Corpse, and whilst the pace is there in spades they also deliver some tracks with less speed and more power. Within A Dying Breed, for example, is as heavy as they come, but levels you with the most enormous riffs and groove. The double prong guitar of new guitarist Kenny Andrews and rhythm guitar man Trevor Peres provide both groove and frenetic fret board action. On Minds Of The World the all-out death metal assault morphs into a more evenly paced and totally crushing tune. What interested me with this release is how catchy and memorable the riffs are. Even when the band are going full out, with the battery of Donald Tardy’s drumming hitting you solidly in the abdomen, the songs are excellently crafted with Andrews solos peeling off at regular intervals. Frank Tardy’s voice is an acquired taste, plenty of roaring, growling and guttural snarls but fits the band’s sound perfectly. Opener Centuries Of Lies demonstrates this, allowing him to extend the full repertoire in two and a bit minutes. Thirty years since Obituary first started making their mark in the world of heavy metal, Inked In Blood is a blistering release, proving that the old school still deliver and do it better than any of the young pretenders. In a year of excellent releases, this stands comfortably amongst the leaders. Powerful, pulverising and pounding, Inked in Blood is a release you really need to listen to. 9/10
Winterfyllth: The Divination Of Antiquity (Candlelight Records)
I have to admit that the underground black metal that these Mancunians bring has passed me by for several years. However, a 40 minute set at BOA, ironically as the heavens opened, changed all that and their fourth release is a thunderous affair. Now I'm not the world’s biggest black metal fan, finding much of it a little too similar and the unintelligible vocals often just amuse me. However, what I do appreciate is the technical talent of some of the top purveyors of the genre, and Winterfyllth are right up there. The title track opens the album, six and half minutes of blistering speed and blasting drumming complete with Chris Naughton’s death growls. The track does change tempo throughout, although rarely dropping below the speed limit until half way where a quick breather is taken before the band plunge headlong back into the powerful driving delivery. Simon Lucas’ drumming is phenomenal, blistering hand and foot work propelling the track towards the crescendo. For a band that look like a gathering of dentists, Winterfyllth make a quite awesome noise, once again proving that you should never go by appearances. Whisper Of The Elements provides even more evidence that these guys are a cut above the average black metal band with changes of tempo and mood throughout whilst regularly returning to the blasting delivery that you expect. How Simon Lucas drums at this speed throughout the album is beyond me but I've seen him do it live so I know it isn't fabricated. Naughton and Mark Wood provide delicate and subtle edits to each track along with the pounding riffs whilst bassist Nick Wallwork combines with Lucas to man the engine room that allows the guitars to do their thing. Whilst the album remains very true to expectations, each track contains little nuances that deviate from each other. Warrior Herd for example has them pounding rhythm section but huge melody and hooks, whilst The World Ahead, at a mere 3:26 starts with some fragile acoustic work, calm and atmospheric amongst the chaos around it. A beautiful track and a completely different piece of work. Another quite brilliant piece of work from one of England’s most underrated bands. 9/10
Xerath: III (Candlelight Records)
Another album, yet more superlatives. The third full release by British extreme metallers Xerath. Apparently named after some video game character (is this right? I’m an old man. I don’t do this stuff) [Mr H is correct League Of Legends fans - Matt], the band were formed in 2007 and have won a number of accolades for their music. I've got their first two releases, but III is a much more complete work. Opener 2053 contains elements of thrash, progressive and extreme metal, with the influence of Devin Townsend, Meshuggah, Opeth and Dream Theater all evident. Indeed, the Hevy Devy influence flows throughout the album which in my book is no bad thing. III also has lashings of symphonic metal, which combines with the other influences to produce a real fusion. Autonomous has huge riffs, string sections and keyboards combining with Richard Thompson’s excellent vocal delivery, at times Howard Jones, at times oh so Devin. This is a real groove ridden head banger of a track. As the album ebbs and flows, I found myself reflecting on the quality of the compositions. It’s a bit like someone has done the most perverse mash up of many of my favourite bands. Bleed This Body Clean would convince all but the most hardened DT fan that it wasn't the master on the vocals, such is Thompson’s combined melodic and growling vocal delivery. Huge symphonic riffs splatter all over the track, and combine with the powerhouse duo of drummer Michael Pitman and bassist Christopher Clark. Demigod Doctrine has a quite delicious collaboration of strings, power chords and blast beats with massive Devin sounding vocals merging into the complexity of the overall track. I Hunt For The Weak builds into a massive head banger of track, combining many of the previous elements with a pounding rhythm section, soaring strings and growling vocals which fit perfectly. The Chaos Reign swirls and dips, with the division of death growls and clean vocals supported by close harmonies working perfectly. Throughout the album there is some excellent guitar work from Conor McGouran. Veil Part 1 is soaring metal track that would be excellent for the soundtrack to a movie set in space as it climbs and builds. This is an album crafted to the highest quality, heavy enough to keep the extreme metal fans happy whilst the relatively unique combination of symphonic and almost standard metal really works. A work of absolute quality and well worth a listen when you can. 9/10
*Unfortunately I missed these guys at Damnation due to the confusion over the Bolt Thrower merchandise. I would really love to see how this works live*
The ninth studio release from Florida death metal titans Obituary, Inked In Blood pulls no punches. Colossal riffs destroy from the start, pounding bass lines and skull pounding drumming leave your innards contorted whilst the vocals of the legend John Tardy snarl and fight their way into your brain. This is one aggressively heavy album but don’t let that put you off. Although rightly masters of the Death Metal scene, Obituary deliver on a different level to their peers Cannibal Corpse, and whilst the pace is there in spades they also deliver some tracks with less speed and more power. Within A Dying Breed, for example, is as heavy as they come, but levels you with the most enormous riffs and groove. The double prong guitar of new guitarist Kenny Andrews and rhythm guitar man Trevor Peres provide both groove and frenetic fret board action. On Minds Of The World the all-out death metal assault morphs into a more evenly paced and totally crushing tune. What interested me with this release is how catchy and memorable the riffs are. Even when the band are going full out, with the battery of Donald Tardy’s drumming hitting you solidly in the abdomen, the songs are excellently crafted with Andrews solos peeling off at regular intervals. Frank Tardy’s voice is an acquired taste, plenty of roaring, growling and guttural snarls but fits the band’s sound perfectly. Opener Centuries Of Lies demonstrates this, allowing him to extend the full repertoire in two and a bit minutes. Thirty years since Obituary first started making their mark in the world of heavy metal, Inked In Blood is a blistering release, proving that the old school still deliver and do it better than any of the young pretenders. In a year of excellent releases, this stands comfortably amongst the leaders. Powerful, pulverising and pounding, Inked in Blood is a release you really need to listen to. 9/10
Winterfyllth: The Divination Of Antiquity (Candlelight Records)
I have to admit that the underground black metal that these Mancunians bring has passed me by for several years. However, a 40 minute set at BOA, ironically as the heavens opened, changed all that and their fourth release is a thunderous affair. Now I'm not the world’s biggest black metal fan, finding much of it a little too similar and the unintelligible vocals often just amuse me. However, what I do appreciate is the technical talent of some of the top purveyors of the genre, and Winterfyllth are right up there. The title track opens the album, six and half minutes of blistering speed and blasting drumming complete with Chris Naughton’s death growls. The track does change tempo throughout, although rarely dropping below the speed limit until half way where a quick breather is taken before the band plunge headlong back into the powerful driving delivery. Simon Lucas’ drumming is phenomenal, blistering hand and foot work propelling the track towards the crescendo. For a band that look like a gathering of dentists, Winterfyllth make a quite awesome noise, once again proving that you should never go by appearances. Whisper Of The Elements provides even more evidence that these guys are a cut above the average black metal band with changes of tempo and mood throughout whilst regularly returning to the blasting delivery that you expect. How Simon Lucas drums at this speed throughout the album is beyond me but I've seen him do it live so I know it isn't fabricated. Naughton and Mark Wood provide delicate and subtle edits to each track along with the pounding riffs whilst bassist Nick Wallwork combines with Lucas to man the engine room that allows the guitars to do their thing. Whilst the album remains very true to expectations, each track contains little nuances that deviate from each other. Warrior Herd for example has them pounding rhythm section but huge melody and hooks, whilst The World Ahead, at a mere 3:26 starts with some fragile acoustic work, calm and atmospheric amongst the chaos around it. A beautiful track and a completely different piece of work. Another quite brilliant piece of work from one of England’s most underrated bands. 9/10
Xerath: III (Candlelight Records)
Another album, yet more superlatives. The third full release by British extreme metallers Xerath. Apparently named after some video game character (is this right? I’m an old man. I don’t do this stuff) [Mr H is correct League Of Legends fans - Matt], the band were formed in 2007 and have won a number of accolades for their music. I've got their first two releases, but III is a much more complete work. Opener 2053 contains elements of thrash, progressive and extreme metal, with the influence of Devin Townsend, Meshuggah, Opeth and Dream Theater all evident. Indeed, the Hevy Devy influence flows throughout the album which in my book is no bad thing. III also has lashings of symphonic metal, which combines with the other influences to produce a real fusion. Autonomous has huge riffs, string sections and keyboards combining with Richard Thompson’s excellent vocal delivery, at times Howard Jones, at times oh so Devin. This is a real groove ridden head banger of a track. As the album ebbs and flows, I found myself reflecting on the quality of the compositions. It’s a bit like someone has done the most perverse mash up of many of my favourite bands. Bleed This Body Clean would convince all but the most hardened DT fan that it wasn't the master on the vocals, such is Thompson’s combined melodic and growling vocal delivery. Huge symphonic riffs splatter all over the track, and combine with the powerhouse duo of drummer Michael Pitman and bassist Christopher Clark. Demigod Doctrine has a quite delicious collaboration of strings, power chords and blast beats with massive Devin sounding vocals merging into the complexity of the overall track. I Hunt For The Weak builds into a massive head banger of track, combining many of the previous elements with a pounding rhythm section, soaring strings and growling vocals which fit perfectly. The Chaos Reign swirls and dips, with the division of death growls and clean vocals supported by close harmonies working perfectly. Throughout the album there is some excellent guitar work from Conor McGouran. Veil Part 1 is soaring metal track that would be excellent for the soundtrack to a movie set in space as it climbs and builds. This is an album crafted to the highest quality, heavy enough to keep the extreme metal fans happy whilst the relatively unique combination of symphonic and almost standard metal really works. A work of absolute quality and well worth a listen when you can. 9/10
*Unfortunately I missed these guys at Damnation due to the confusion over the Bolt Thrower merchandise. I would really love to see how this works live*
Friday, 7 November 2014
Another Point Of View: Damnation Festival (Review By Paul, contributions by Rhod)
Damnation Festival – Leeds University
A first trip to the Damnation Festival, brought to you in association with Terrorizer, Jagermeister and Eyesore Merch. A few musings before we get onto the bands. This is an excellent venue, with four stages and a host of bands mainly towards the heavier end of the metal spectrum. If you want your AOR or Black Stone Cherry this probably isn't your bag. If you want mind crushing riffage, indecipherable lyrics and beards that would have Amon Amarth retreating then get the fuck in. The organisation was decent, bands ran to time and the security and staff generally friendly. A few gripes have been raised on social media about the clashes and lack of space, but there is a balance that is needed and for me it worked a treat. Sure, the queuing for Bolt Thrower merchandise was a bit shambolic (although tee-shirts at £10 was very welcome) and the bar prices weren't great, but overall it ticked nearly every box.
Kicking off proceedings on the Terrorizer stage, Bristol death metal outfit Amputated (7) got the day off to a fine start with a solid 30 minutes of impressive extreme death metal. Amputated take no prisoners, inciting the day’s first pit action with some pile driving and quite terrifying riffage. The UK’s Cannibal Corpse, Amputated are similar in delivery and theme to their West Country cousins Flayed Disciple. Song title of the day was already secured with Repugnant Genital Deformity. If you can’t work out what they sound like you clearly need a subscription to Terrorizer for the next decade.
Kicking off proceedings on the Terrorizer stage, Bristol death metal outfit Amputated (7) got the day off to a fine start with a solid 30 minutes of impressive extreme death metal. Amputated take no prisoners, inciting the day’s first pit action with some pile driving and quite terrifying riffage. The UK’s Cannibal Corpse, Amputated are similar in delivery and theme to their West Country cousins Flayed Disciple. Song title of the day was already secured with Repugnant Genital Deformity. If you can’t work out what they sound like you clearly need a subscription to Terrorizer for the next decade.
A packed PHD stage greeted locally based outfit Black Moth (7) with a very warm welcome and they soon got into their stride with opener Tumbleweave from recent release Condemned To Hope dark, doomy and atmospheric. Unfortunately a muddy sound masked the excellent vocals of Harriet Bevan and whilst the doom element of their music benefited the cutting edge of their more gothic and indie style got a little lost.
Meanwhile back on the Terrorizer stage Rhod was sampling the sounds of Aeon (8) from Osterund, Sweden. More death metal was the order of the day, with a startlingly good performance full of top quality crushing technical power. Our intrepid reporter was noted to enthuse “Pure death metal on an epic scale. I was this close to jumping into the pit”. No higher praise can be heaped onto a band than that.
Meanwhile back on the Terrorizer stage Rhod was sampling the sounds of Aeon (8) from Osterund, Sweden. More death metal was the order of the day, with a startlingly good performance full of top quality crushing technical power. Our intrepid reporter was noted to enthuse “Pure death metal on an epic scale. I was this close to jumping into the pit”. No higher praise can be heaped onto a band than that.
First visit of the day to the smaller Eyesore stage for Glasgow’s Falloch (8) who delivered a stunning set full of introspection and melancholy, post-rock, black metal and rock. A large crowd reacted very favourably to Falloch’s 35 minute set, and their delivery was spot on, benefiting from a decent sound. Complex and intricate progressive tones combine with powerful riffs and breakdowns with Alcest amongst the obvious influences. Well worth checking out.
Whilst Rhod worked his magic at the Bolt Thrower merchandise stall, the unmistakable clatter of Raging Speedhorn (5) filled the Jagermeister stage and area. I'm afraid that I don’t get the ‘horn (sorry!) and their aggressive hard-core sound, with the dual vocals of John Loughlin and Frank Regan fail to inspire. A quick exit was called for.
Back in the PHD stage Icelandic outfit Solstafir (9) provided one of the weekend’s highlights with a 50 minute set which captivated the capacity crowd. A mesmerising delivery included two tracks from their rather bloody good Otta album. Front man Aðalbjörn "Addi" Tryggvason is enchanting, every inch the rock star in leather jacket, weaving a spell of light and shade around the audience, capturing your attention with his mere presence, vocals and guitar work. He is ably supported by æþór Maríus "Pjúddi" Sæþórsson who adds plenty of reverb, intricate fretwork and powerful riffs. Concluding the set of five songs with Goddess Of The Ages, Solstafir’s first UK festival performance was a true I was there moment. Beautiful stuff.
Whilst Rhod worked his magic at the Bolt Thrower merchandise stall, the unmistakable clatter of Raging Speedhorn (5) filled the Jagermeister stage and area. I'm afraid that I don’t get the ‘horn (sorry!) and their aggressive hard-core sound, with the dual vocals of John Loughlin and Frank Regan fail to inspire. A quick exit was called for.
Back in the PHD stage Icelandic outfit Solstafir (9) provided one of the weekend’s highlights with a 50 minute set which captivated the capacity crowd. A mesmerising delivery included two tracks from their rather bloody good Otta album. Front man Aðalbjörn "Addi" Tryggvason is enchanting, every inch the rock star in leather jacket, weaving a spell of light and shade around the audience, capturing your attention with his mere presence, vocals and guitar work. He is ably supported by æþór Maríus "Pjúddi" Sæþórsson who adds plenty of reverb, intricate fretwork and powerful riffs. Concluding the set of five songs with Goddess Of The Ages, Solstafir’s first UK festival performance was a true I was there moment. Beautiful stuff.
Racing back to the Jager stage in time to catch the final strains of Scorpionica, the mighty Orange Goblin (9) hit the stage at 100mph and absolutely destroyed the venue with a blistering set stuffed with more goodies than a Christmas stocking. A mixed set with old favourites like Saruman's Wish nestled comfortably alongside Sabbath Hex and The Devil's Whip from this year’s Back From The Abyss. Man Mountain Ben Ward stop grinning such is the rabid frenzy that greets each track. The guitar work of Joe Hoare sounds incredible, riffs and hooks raining everywhere whilst the driving rhythm section of bassist Martyn Millard and drummer Chris Turner propel all of the songs along at breakneck speed. By the time that Red Tide Rising closes the set, Goblin have the crowd eating from their palms whilst Ward is probably still grinning today. A triumphant performance from one of the best UK bands.
Amongst the legends that are gracing the Leeds halls are American Doom Merchants Saint Vitus (7), who are performing Born Too Late in full. A strong turnout saw the band open with Living Backwards before I Bleed Black demonstrated why these guys are icons of the doom metal scene. However, even with the constant urging of guitarist Dave Chandler and Scott “Wino” Weinrich, it all appears a little dull and attention starts to wander. Saint Vitus went on to play Born Too Late in the second half of their set but by then the dulcet tones of Sunderland’s Wodensthrone had lured us back to the Earache Stage. Arriving half way through their set, this made up for our inability to get to Winterfyllth’s earlier set. Wodensthrone (8) deliver an infectious brand of melodic black metal and they capture the attention of those who weren't attracted to the main arena. We are rewarded with a powerful set mixing tracks from both Loss and 2012’s Curse.
Amongst the legends that are gracing the Leeds halls are American Doom Merchants Saint Vitus (7), who are performing Born Too Late in full. A strong turnout saw the band open with Living Backwards before I Bleed Black demonstrated why these guys are icons of the doom metal scene. However, even with the constant urging of guitarist Dave Chandler and Scott “Wino” Weinrich, it all appears a little dull and attention starts to wander. Saint Vitus went on to play Born Too Late in the second half of their set but by then the dulcet tones of Sunderland’s Wodensthrone had lured us back to the Earache Stage. Arriving half way through their set, this made up for our inability to get to Winterfyllth’s earlier set. Wodensthrone (8) deliver an infectious brand of melodic black metal and they capture the attention of those who weren't attracted to the main arena. We are rewarded with a powerful set mixing tracks from both Loss and 2012’s Curse.
German funeral doom merchants Ahab (8) deliver one of the heaviest sets of the day back in the PHD stage where huge guitar and crushing chords combine with Daniel Droste's evil and guttural vocals which sound like Satan if he’d stepped on a plug. Meanwhile Cannibal Corpse (9) demonstrate their billing as death metal kings with a steam roller of a set in front of a packed out Terrorizer stage, with hundreds queuing to get in throughout their turn. Opener Fucked With A Knife sets the tone for Corpsegrinder and colleagues to lay waste to all around them. Sadistic Embodiment and Icepick Lobotomy from the latest release A Skeletal Domain stands comfortably alongside old school classics such as Hammer Smashed Face.
Due to the capacity of the venue, not everyone can get into see Coventry’s finest Bolt Thrower (10) in their first UK Festival headline set. Those who don’t miss an absolute master class in death metal. Opening with War/Remembrance Karl Willetts and co are in stunning form, laying waste to all in the hall. There is little time to draw breath as the band grind out classic after classic, Anti-Tank, This Time It’s War and an absolutely pulverising No Guts … No Glory with Barry Thomson and Gavin Ward powering on the crushing riffs whilst Jo Bench adds a third guitar such is the thunderous delivery of her bass which welds with the blistering drumming of Martin Kearns. And then it arrived; The Killchain sets everyone in the arena bat-shit crazy, heads banging and pits galore. Willetts grins and leave the stage before the band return for a double salvo of At First Light and When Cannons Fade before a final hammer to the head with Silent Demise which leaves the audience battered, bruised and enjoyably damaged. Incredible stuff and as the crowd leaves, the smiles are everywhere. The stuff of legends. Roll on next year.
Tuesday, 4 November 2014
A View From The Back Of The Room: Y&T
Y&T, The Globe, Cardiff
American rockers Y&T are now in their 40th year of touring and as such they have embarked on an anniversary tour, thankfully hitting Cardiff's diminutive The Globe venue. Now myself and my compatriots opted for the pub instead of the supports (sorry) but part of me wished we had gone in earlier as when we arrived we were literally on the bar, which is at the back of the room, but still the beauty of The Globe is that the stage is high enough for a band to be seen, added to this is that Y&T are not the most visual band letting their music do the talking. The exception is guitarist John Nymann who is well up for it, but more about him later. We squeezed in next to the Y&T megafan next to us, who's love for the band was only beaten by his love for Rush, something one of number despaired at. Still the band took to the stage 15 minutes before the official start time and kicked things off with the awesome opening one two of Hurricane and Black Tiger which is Ron Burgundy distilled in a song. Because the band have been doing this for so long they have twelve albums they can draw from and they did so with L.A Rocks coming from Contagious, Lucy from Ten before the more Burgundy with Lipstick And Leather. I do kid as Y&T are from the late 70's and 80's so of course their songs will always have a hint of misogyny but this is more tongue in cheek now. What has always separated Y&T from their 80's brethren is the musicanship with a real blues rock edge coming through in the guitars of Dave Meniketti, who also happens to have a flawless voice too, his band are not to shabby either with the the rhythm section of Mike Vanderhule's drums, Brad Lang's bass (still feels weird without Phil Kennemore though) and the guitar dervish of John Nymann who ended up in the crowd at one point during a solo spot. Again we went back to Ten with Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark which Meniketti claimed many disliked, I can see that as both Ten and Contagoius are a bit poppy, not that this put off superfan who continued to sing back the lyrics to his wife during every song (I know one current Mrs that would have given him a swift kick to the gonads) Back to the old school with Dirty Girl and Mean Streak before the slightly cheesy All American Boy changed the tone again, the proto speed metal of Midnight In Tokyo gave Meniketti a chance to show his amazing guitar playing. We got one from Musically Incorrect with Cold Day In Hell before the middle of the set brought some album tracks, I'm Coming Home from 2010's Facemelter along with I Want Your Money also from their 2010 album towards the end of the set. I between the songs from the latter albums we got Rescue Me the evergreen cheese of Summertime Girls and the finale of I Believe In You which is still as anthemic as ever! 20 songs in the main set and 1 hour and 45 minutes gone by, with only 15 minutes left we got an encore of the supreme riff-fest of Forever which is very hard to follow and as the final song, Sail On By, kicked off this laid back ballad seemed to be a little bit of an anti-climax so we left. Y&T are always consistently good but they showed how strong most of their career has been on their anniversary tour. Roll on Hard Rock Hell for a second bite!! 9/10
American rockers Y&T are now in their 40th year of touring and as such they have embarked on an anniversary tour, thankfully hitting Cardiff's diminutive The Globe venue. Now myself and my compatriots opted for the pub instead of the supports (sorry) but part of me wished we had gone in earlier as when we arrived we were literally on the bar, which is at the back of the room, but still the beauty of The Globe is that the stage is high enough for a band to be seen, added to this is that Y&T are not the most visual band letting their music do the talking. The exception is guitarist John Nymann who is well up for it, but more about him later. We squeezed in next to the Y&T megafan next to us, who's love for the band was only beaten by his love for Rush, something one of number despaired at. Still the band took to the stage 15 minutes before the official start time and kicked things off with the awesome opening one two of Hurricane and Black Tiger which is Ron Burgundy distilled in a song. Because the band have been doing this for so long they have twelve albums they can draw from and they did so with L.A Rocks coming from Contagious, Lucy from Ten before the more Burgundy with Lipstick And Leather. I do kid as Y&T are from the late 70's and 80's so of course their songs will always have a hint of misogyny but this is more tongue in cheek now. What has always separated Y&T from their 80's brethren is the musicanship with a real blues rock edge coming through in the guitars of Dave Meniketti, who also happens to have a flawless voice too, his band are not to shabby either with the the rhythm section of Mike Vanderhule's drums, Brad Lang's bass (still feels weird without Phil Kennemore though) and the guitar dervish of John Nymann who ended up in the crowd at one point during a solo spot. Again we went back to Ten with Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark which Meniketti claimed many disliked, I can see that as both Ten and Contagoius are a bit poppy, not that this put off superfan who continued to sing back the lyrics to his wife during every song (I know one current Mrs that would have given him a swift kick to the gonads) Back to the old school with Dirty Girl and Mean Streak before the slightly cheesy All American Boy changed the tone again, the proto speed metal of Midnight In Tokyo gave Meniketti a chance to show his amazing guitar playing. We got one from Musically Incorrect with Cold Day In Hell before the middle of the set brought some album tracks, I'm Coming Home from 2010's Facemelter along with I Want Your Money also from their 2010 album towards the end of the set. I between the songs from the latter albums we got Rescue Me the evergreen cheese of Summertime Girls and the finale of I Believe In You which is still as anthemic as ever! 20 songs in the main set and 1 hour and 45 minutes gone by, with only 15 minutes left we got an encore of the supreme riff-fest of Forever which is very hard to follow and as the final song, Sail On By, kicked off this laid back ballad seemed to be a little bit of an anti-climax so we left. Y&T are always consistently good but they showed how strong most of their career has been on their anniversary tour. Roll on Hard Rock Hell for a second bite!! 9/10
Reviews: Rammstein, Lordi, Sorrow's Path
Rammstein: Dem Regen (??)
So this has appeared from out of nowhere, there is no information about the album but it seems to be a bootleg containing new/unreleased songs as well as some remixes. With the previously released songs like the still epic Mein Hertz Brennt and Mein Land (featured on their compilation album). As far as the new stuff goes we start off with Schatten Grim which does sound a lot like Sonne, Exzenter has the metallic/electro stomp Rammstein excel at with marching drums, big riffs and Till's huge vocal delivery, the title track is very electronic and harks back to the early albums, in fact the newer tracks all have that classic Rammstein sound, the anthemic Fried Eis is pounding techno metal with Till sparring with a female singer and Blunt Vaults is evil with Adios having an almost power metal riff. With Rammstein there is also an element of fun in all Rammstein songs as they give us a cover of Das Model by Germany's other premier band Kraftwerk, which they rock up in true Stein style. So with the 'normal' songs covered we are taken into the remixes part of the record first is a slower sparse electro 'funeral version' of Mein Land then we get two 'live' tracks which I'm assuming are demos as the production on them is not great but both songs are pretty cool, then there is the funky metal/trance version of Stripped as well as the remix of Mein Hertz Brennt which makes it even more unsettling. So without any information this is about all I can say about Dem Regen if this album is looking forward to the new full length album then I can say the new songs sound great, if it is an album of unreleased stuff then this stuff is very strong and if it's a bit of both it serves as a tasty little stopgap for fans. 7/10
Lordi: Scare Force One (AFM)
Finn's Lordi have always had a lot to live up too; their Monster Show album was a strong album full of schlock horror hard rock songs harking back to Twisted Sister, Kiss and even Alice Cooper, their profile was raised with their Eurovision win and their Arockolypse album which in my opinion is their finest hour. However since then they have really struggled to reach the heights of these to albums, Deadache was a bit too serious, Babez For Breakfast was far too 80's echoing the sleaze and AOR scene a bit too much for my liking putting more focus on keys than on riffs on the other hand their previous album To Beast Or Not To Beast was a little more rocking but still had a bit too much keyboard, thank fully though the very well named Scare Force One brings back the riffs in droves, this for me is a very good thing as guitarist Amen has always been very good, no he isn't flashy but he knows his riffs. The title track kicks things off with some very cool riffs, Mana's speedy drums and the occasional organ and synth flare from Hell, this has always been what Lordi have been about and it sounds like they are retuning to it, How To Slice A Whore too has some great guitars, the horror theme and shows off Mr Lordi's unique vocals brilliantly, Hell Sent In The Clowns is the only truly scary song for me but I digress. As the album progresses the riffs continue with Monster Is My Name Nailed By The Hammer Of Frankenstein and Sir, Mr Presideath, Sir. Still despite the riffs coming back in force, Lordi still rely a little heavily on the keys and they do seem to treading the same old ground lyrically. Lordi have always been more of a visual live act and this album gives them a few good tracks to add to their live set, but still bands have to keep their act fresh and give their fans new music. Scare Force One is a good album but it's nothing they haven't done before, still it will appeal to fans. 7/10
Sorrow's Path: Doom Philosophy (Iron Shield)
Sorrow's Path hail from the shores of Greece and they play a strange mix of melodic and crushing doom metal. An intro and then straight into Tragedy (no a Bee Gee's cover thankfully) but it sets the pace for the rest of the album, big slabs of doom metal riffage from the guitars of Kostas Salomidis and Giannis Tziligkakis bolstered by sledgehammer drums from Fotis Mountouris and rumbling bass from Stavros Giannakos. The band are based in doom metal but they are not the slow lumbering doom you associate with a lot of bands in this genre, yes they do have the occasional slow, brain frying doom passage but much of album is made up of faster, distortion heavy guitar passages and melodic solos giving many of the songs like A Dance With The Dead having a more classic metal feel so think Maiden meets Candlemass and you won't be far off. Much of the lyrical content is drawn from the occult as you would imagine but it is delivered by the strong European vocals of Angelos Ioannidis who has a unique voice that suits the music well, his mid range is slightly Halford-esque and he can also add a few growls too. Yes this is more than just doom, there is a lot of it present see the final few tracks of Epoasis, Clouds Inside Of Me and Darkness these are the doomiest tracks on the album with rumbling riffs galore and even some synths and organ on Darkness, which is actually a little off putting in places. The band do tend to swing more towards the classic metal style on most of the tracks with lots of galloping rhythms and melodic solos. If the thought of Candlemass mixed with Maiden or Priest excites you then Sorrow's Path will be right up your street, the mix of doom and classic metal is just right and these Greek metal warriors pull it off in style! 7/10
So this has appeared from out of nowhere, there is no information about the album but it seems to be a bootleg containing new/unreleased songs as well as some remixes. With the previously released songs like the still epic Mein Hertz Brennt and Mein Land (featured on their compilation album). As far as the new stuff goes we start off with Schatten Grim which does sound a lot like Sonne, Exzenter has the metallic/electro stomp Rammstein excel at with marching drums, big riffs and Till's huge vocal delivery, the title track is very electronic and harks back to the early albums, in fact the newer tracks all have that classic Rammstein sound, the anthemic Fried Eis is pounding techno metal with Till sparring with a female singer and Blunt Vaults is evil with Adios having an almost power metal riff. With Rammstein there is also an element of fun in all Rammstein songs as they give us a cover of Das Model by Germany's other premier band Kraftwerk, which they rock up in true Stein style. So with the 'normal' songs covered we are taken into the remixes part of the record first is a slower sparse electro 'funeral version' of Mein Land then we get two 'live' tracks which I'm assuming are demos as the production on them is not great but both songs are pretty cool, then there is the funky metal/trance version of Stripped as well as the remix of Mein Hertz Brennt which makes it even more unsettling. So without any information this is about all I can say about Dem Regen if this album is looking forward to the new full length album then I can say the new songs sound great, if it is an album of unreleased stuff then this stuff is very strong and if it's a bit of both it serves as a tasty little stopgap for fans. 7/10
Lordi: Scare Force One (AFM)
Finn's Lordi have always had a lot to live up too; their Monster Show album was a strong album full of schlock horror hard rock songs harking back to Twisted Sister, Kiss and even Alice Cooper, their profile was raised with their Eurovision win and their Arockolypse album which in my opinion is their finest hour. However since then they have really struggled to reach the heights of these to albums, Deadache was a bit too serious, Babez For Breakfast was far too 80's echoing the sleaze and AOR scene a bit too much for my liking putting more focus on keys than on riffs on the other hand their previous album To Beast Or Not To Beast was a little more rocking but still had a bit too much keyboard, thank fully though the very well named Scare Force One brings back the riffs in droves, this for me is a very good thing as guitarist Amen has always been very good, no he isn't flashy but he knows his riffs. The title track kicks things off with some very cool riffs, Mana's speedy drums and the occasional organ and synth flare from Hell, this has always been what Lordi have been about and it sounds like they are retuning to it, How To Slice A Whore too has some great guitars, the horror theme and shows off Mr Lordi's unique vocals brilliantly, Hell Sent In The Clowns is the only truly scary song for me but I digress. As the album progresses the riffs continue with Monster Is My Name Nailed By The Hammer Of Frankenstein and Sir, Mr Presideath, Sir. Still despite the riffs coming back in force, Lordi still rely a little heavily on the keys and they do seem to treading the same old ground lyrically. Lordi have always been more of a visual live act and this album gives them a few good tracks to add to their live set, but still bands have to keep their act fresh and give their fans new music. Scare Force One is a good album but it's nothing they haven't done before, still it will appeal to fans. 7/10
Sorrow's Path: Doom Philosophy (Iron Shield)
Sorrow's Path hail from the shores of Greece and they play a strange mix of melodic and crushing doom metal. An intro and then straight into Tragedy (no a Bee Gee's cover thankfully) but it sets the pace for the rest of the album, big slabs of doom metal riffage from the guitars of Kostas Salomidis and Giannis Tziligkakis bolstered by sledgehammer drums from Fotis Mountouris and rumbling bass from Stavros Giannakos. The band are based in doom metal but they are not the slow lumbering doom you associate with a lot of bands in this genre, yes they do have the occasional slow, brain frying doom passage but much of album is made up of faster, distortion heavy guitar passages and melodic solos giving many of the songs like A Dance With The Dead having a more classic metal feel so think Maiden meets Candlemass and you won't be far off. Much of the lyrical content is drawn from the occult as you would imagine but it is delivered by the strong European vocals of Angelos Ioannidis who has a unique voice that suits the music well, his mid range is slightly Halford-esque and he can also add a few growls too. Yes this is more than just doom, there is a lot of it present see the final few tracks of Epoasis, Clouds Inside Of Me and Darkness these are the doomiest tracks on the album with rumbling riffs galore and even some synths and organ on Darkness, which is actually a little off putting in places. The band do tend to swing more towards the classic metal style on most of the tracks with lots of galloping rhythms and melodic solos. If the thought of Candlemass mixed with Maiden or Priest excites you then Sorrow's Path will be right up your street, the mix of doom and classic metal is just right and these Greek metal warriors pull it off in style! 7/10
A View From The Back Of The Room: Bloodshot Dawn (Review By Matt & Paul)
Bloodshot Dawn, Seprevation, Triaxis - The Exchange, Bristol
Across the bridge to Bristol for a hell of line up featuring Wales' own classic metal band Triaxis, Bristolian death/thrash mentalists Seprevation and Portsmouth technical death band Bloodshot Dawn. There were two other bands on the bill but we missed them due to other factors, but still for £6.50 we got three excellent bands and one of the most surreal nights I've ever witnessed.
Triaxis
Welsh metallers Triaxis are going from strength to strength, they are currently recording their third album and we were promised a sneak peek of two songs from said album. Now to address the elephant in the room, this was a Halloween show with all the bands and indeed a lot of the fans in fancy dress. Triaxis went all out with the band decked out as The Zombie Village people and kicked things off with Sand & Silver the pounding drums of Giles The Builder were like skull cracking metronome and they worked well in providing the bottom end with new girl Becky's Rickenbacker bass, who in her biker with handlebar moustache get up resembled a female Lemmy (Surreal moment number 1). The riffs came thick and fast from Soldier CJ and Cop Glyn, with elements of Maiden, Priest and even thrash bands like Megadeth, the riffage was sublime, the solos of Glyn melted the fretboard and CJ's rhythm guitar just brought riff after glorious riff. Finally to top it all off were the sublime vocals of cowperson (political correctness here you see) Krissie, there aren't many vocalists that are still audible when the mic is about a foot away from them, the power this woman has is amazing. We were taken into twisting metallic rhythms of Sker Point and the excellent Some Things Are Worth Dying For which gave a nod to of what to expect on the new songs with a war theme and heavy weight music. As we collectively got our breath back and massaged our necks, it was time for the new songs, first up was Victorious which brought forth the heavier new sound and saw Krissie in full Xena mode. Finally the Welsh band left us with the the might of Death Machine which ended the set strongly. Triaxis have always been good but by mixing up the set list a little and adding the new tracks it showed that they are both progressing strongly as a band and producing some more top quality metal!! 9/10
On a personal note, the band paid tribute to a of fallen brother the Musipedia's during their set bringing a little tear to the eye of myself and Mr Hewitt. So thank you guys, we appreciate it so much.
Seprevation
Back in May I’d seen Seprevation serve notice of intent with half an hour of blistering burning groove laden thrash which was sufficient for me to purchase their debut Consumed, an album that spent several weeks on repeat in the car. Blessed with an excellent sound tonight, Seprevation turned in a performance several levels above that one in May and possibly took all the points on the night. Dressed as superheroes, well, Batman, Spiderman, Superman and of course Willyman, the Bristolians provided a thrash onslaught which once again highlighted their excellent musicianship and song writing. The band started as they meant to go on with a maelstrom of riffs, blast beats and shouts on the excellent Servants Of Suffering before rapidly moving into Slave To The Grave and Sarcophagal Chamber. The first three songs battered you like a fight with Manny Pacquiao with the band drawing most of their set from their debut album Consumed they played a relentless set of death infused thrash with everything coming at lightning speed, lots of shredding, powerhouse drumming and the semi-death vocals of Lluc Tupman combined to get the healthy crowd moshing and thrashing away. This included the surreal sight of a Ewok in the middle of the pit at one stage (surreal moment number 2) However they drop a point for their cover of Iron Maiden's The Trooper no matter how good it was, and indeed it was good. If these guys can maintain the momentum they have a great chance of progression and I’d love to see them on the Sophie stage at BOA next summer. 9/10
Bloodshot Dawn (Review By Paul)
Fresh from an impressive main stage opening set at BOA, Bloodshot Dawn has already delivered one of the albums of the year with the recently released Demons, full of high quality compositions and technical death metal. In the club environment Bloodshot Dawn are in their element and tonight they were excellent again. Buoyed by the release of Demons and a successful UK tour, and assisted by the excellent sound, newie Smoke And Mirrors kicked off proceedings in fine form with Josh McMorran and Ben Ellis soloing as if their lives depending on it. In fact, such is the shredding prowess of these two that later in the set, when asked what the audience wanted, one wag shouted out “less shred” which raised smiles all around. The Bloodshot set was a mixture of new tracks from the new album and older tracks from their self-titled first album. Vision, The Quantum Apocalypse and Archetype merged seamlessly with Unified amongst others. Technically Bloodshot Dawn are in a class of their own, dynamic structured songs with massive blast beats and a driving rhythm section and most importantly some huge hooks which leave the songs in your head for ages afterwards and after a slow start the crowd increased in both size and ferocity with Josh instigating a brief wall of death at the end of the set. One of the most important bands in the UK metal scene today, Bloodshot just keep getting better and better. 9/10
Across the bridge to Bristol for a hell of line up featuring Wales' own classic metal band Triaxis, Bristolian death/thrash mentalists Seprevation and Portsmouth technical death band Bloodshot Dawn. There were two other bands on the bill but we missed them due to other factors, but still for £6.50 we got three excellent bands and one of the most surreal nights I've ever witnessed.
Triaxis
Welsh metallers Triaxis are going from strength to strength, they are currently recording their third album and we were promised a sneak peek of two songs from said album. Now to address the elephant in the room, this was a Halloween show with all the bands and indeed a lot of the fans in fancy dress. Triaxis went all out with the band decked out as The Zombie Village people and kicked things off with Sand & Silver the pounding drums of Giles The Builder were like skull cracking metronome and they worked well in providing the bottom end with new girl Becky's Rickenbacker bass, who in her biker with handlebar moustache get up resembled a female Lemmy (Surreal moment number 1). The riffs came thick and fast from Soldier CJ and Cop Glyn, with elements of Maiden, Priest and even thrash bands like Megadeth, the riffage was sublime, the solos of Glyn melted the fretboard and CJ's rhythm guitar just brought riff after glorious riff. Finally to top it all off were the sublime vocals of cowperson (political correctness here you see) Krissie, there aren't many vocalists that are still audible when the mic is about a foot away from them, the power this woman has is amazing. We were taken into twisting metallic rhythms of Sker Point and the excellent Some Things Are Worth Dying For which gave a nod to of what to expect on the new songs with a war theme and heavy weight music. As we collectively got our breath back and massaged our necks, it was time for the new songs, first up was Victorious which brought forth the heavier new sound and saw Krissie in full Xena mode. Finally the Welsh band left us with the the might of Death Machine which ended the set strongly. Triaxis have always been good but by mixing up the set list a little and adding the new tracks it showed that they are both progressing strongly as a band and producing some more top quality metal!! 9/10
On a personal note, the band paid tribute to a of fallen brother the Musipedia's during their set bringing a little tear to the eye of myself and Mr Hewitt. So thank you guys, we appreciate it so much.
Seprevation
Back in May I’d seen Seprevation serve notice of intent with half an hour of blistering burning groove laden thrash which was sufficient for me to purchase their debut Consumed, an album that spent several weeks on repeat in the car. Blessed with an excellent sound tonight, Seprevation turned in a performance several levels above that one in May and possibly took all the points on the night. Dressed as superheroes, well, Batman, Spiderman, Superman and of course Willyman, the Bristolians provided a thrash onslaught which once again highlighted their excellent musicianship and song writing. The band started as they meant to go on with a maelstrom of riffs, blast beats and shouts on the excellent Servants Of Suffering before rapidly moving into Slave To The Grave and Sarcophagal Chamber. The first three songs battered you like a fight with Manny Pacquiao with the band drawing most of their set from their debut album Consumed they played a relentless set of death infused thrash with everything coming at lightning speed, lots of shredding, powerhouse drumming and the semi-death vocals of Lluc Tupman combined to get the healthy crowd moshing and thrashing away. This included the surreal sight of a Ewok in the middle of the pit at one stage (surreal moment number 2) However they drop a point for their cover of Iron Maiden's The Trooper no matter how good it was, and indeed it was good. If these guys can maintain the momentum they have a great chance of progression and I’d love to see them on the Sophie stage at BOA next summer. 9/10
Bloodshot Dawn (Review By Paul)
Fresh from an impressive main stage opening set at BOA, Bloodshot Dawn has already delivered one of the albums of the year with the recently released Demons, full of high quality compositions and technical death metal. In the club environment Bloodshot Dawn are in their element and tonight they were excellent again. Buoyed by the release of Demons and a successful UK tour, and assisted by the excellent sound, newie Smoke And Mirrors kicked off proceedings in fine form with Josh McMorran and Ben Ellis soloing as if their lives depending on it. In fact, such is the shredding prowess of these two that later in the set, when asked what the audience wanted, one wag shouted out “less shred” which raised smiles all around. The Bloodshot set was a mixture of new tracks from the new album and older tracks from their self-titled first album. Vision, The Quantum Apocalypse and Archetype merged seamlessly with Unified amongst others. Technically Bloodshot Dawn are in a class of their own, dynamic structured songs with massive blast beats and a driving rhythm section and most importantly some huge hooks which leave the songs in your head for ages afterwards and after a slow start the crowd increased in both size and ferocity with Josh instigating a brief wall of death at the end of the set. One of the most important bands in the UK metal scene today, Bloodshot just keep getting better and better. 9/10
Sunday, 2 November 2014
Reviews: Sixx A.M, Crobot, While Heaven Wept,
Sixx A.M: Modern Vintage (Eleven Seven Music)
The kings of the gutter LA scene Motley Crue will soon be hanging up their spurs and shelving their hairspray for good within the next year, a good job then that band leader, bassist, serial corpse and reformed hell-raiser Nikki Sixx has this project to fall back on. Sixx A.M have been Sixx's side project since 2007, their first two albums were based upon Sixx's Heroin Diaries memoir and his second autobiography This Is Gonna Hurt respectively. So Modern Vintage is the first album not to part of another project so I was wondering how well it would hold up. Well the answer is very well indeed, the project retains the same members as the previous releases with Guns N Roses axe slinger DJ Ashba on lead guitars and producer/singer/multi instrumentalist James Michael (producer for Halestorm, Meat Loaf and Motley Crue) providing the vocals, additional guitars, keys, drum programming and of course his Midas touch production. So into Modern Vintage and the title is one of the best ways of describing the album with elements of 70's glam rock and 80's sleaze mixed with modern alt-radio rock Stars is a guitar packed opener that screams of the post 2000 era but it sharply followed by football stomp of Gotta Get It Right which sound like classic Queen all backing choirs, thumping percussion and preening bravado. Ashba's guitars are excellent, he echoes the guitar heroes of old playing with a relaxed experience, Sixx is a great bass player providing the backbone to most of the songs while clearly channelling his influences, finally there is very little I can say about James Michael's vocals other than wow! There is a great mix of styles on this album with the acoustic southern influenced Get Ya Some, the chest beating Let's Go, the almost disco funk of Miracle, the New Orleans carnival feel of Before It's Over and a fantastic reworking of The Cars Drive which gets an electronic overhaul with some massive drum loops and synth fuzz. This is yet another top drawer album from Nikki and his new Crue, let's hope that we see a lot more of these guys after Motley Crue finally call it a day, with GNR's relative inactivity it is really only Michael that could stop that but I'm sure they can work it out. 8/10
Crobot: Something Supernatural (Wind-Up Records)
Pottsville, Pennsylvania may not immediately spring to mind when you think of rock and roll but this city of 14,000 people is also the home of Crobot, the heavily bearded, eight legged riff machine. The band play music that they describe as "Dirty. Groove. Rock" and they are pretty spot on they have a really soulful mix of blues based rock with a real heavy groove. In fact if you are a fan of Clutch then Crobot will be right up your street as they have a similar style of riff based rock fuelled by smokes and brews, as well as Clutch there are nods to Scorpion Child, Wolfmother, The Sword and even Soundgarden. Crobot's songs are all drawn from fantasy and the occult meaning this band will appeal to the dope smoking, beer drinking, comic reading members of the fanbase. With titles like Skull Of Geronimo, Chupacabra and even simple Wizards the band stick rigidly to the fantasy imagery. As the album kicks off with excellently titled Legend Of The Spacebourne Killer we are thrown straight into a world of blazing leads from Chris Bishop he takes you to space and back with his six string wizardry, the groove comes from the bass and drums of Jake and Paul Figueroa who are the voodoo groove of a bottom end. The percussive Nowhere To Hide follows before the honking mouth harp led The Necromancer takes you into blues territory and shows off the keen vocals of Brandon Yeagley who sounds like a merger of Chris Cornell and Myles Kennedy with a soulful croon that can explode into a sky scraping holler at any moment. Crobot do what they do, but they have crafted an album of songs perfect for the live arena, somewhere that Crobot apparently are truly electrifying. Pick up a six pack, roll some doobys and crank it up Crobot welcome you into their world! 9/10
While Heaven Wept: Suspended At Aphelion (Nuclear Blast)
While Heaven Wept have been around for a since 1989 but I will admit I've never heard of them, but on doing some research I found they have are a progressive metal band with a taste of the epic about them, now any band that has two guitarists and two keyboardists (sometimes three) is a bonus in my book. So pressed play and the classical intro Introspectus came to life with it's plaintive cello and classical guitar playing, the band are known for their emotive and personal lyrics dealing with struggle and problems so the sadness etched into this intro is the norm for the band, as the scene was set the drums clattered and the guitars kicked in with gusto, the band is the brain child of Tom Phillips and he leads the guitar charge with some technical and melodic playing ably aided by Scott Loose and the pulsing synths of Jason Lingle and Scott's sister Michelle Loose-Schrotz, while the drums are handled by her husband Trevor and the bass comes from Jim Hunter and the deep sonorous vocals of Rain Irving ties everything together. The first two proper tracks are huge in scope but the length of them is immaterial as the time flies by as you are taken of a journey with some seriously epic music, middle track is Heartburst which is a slow classical guitar piece that explodes into a searing guitar solo in the final section, from here on out the songs get better and much wider in scope with the 5th and 6th tracks amalgamating at least three different songs to create a some lush arrangements that deal in light and shade, the guitars soaring with some seriously fantastic solos see Reminisce Of A Stranger/Lifelines and rhythms that are bolstered by the the amazing keys that work together to create quite an overpowering musical adventure. Some may love this some may hate it but give it time and it will reveal itself as a great progressive album. 7/10
The kings of the gutter LA scene Motley Crue will soon be hanging up their spurs and shelving their hairspray for good within the next year, a good job then that band leader, bassist, serial corpse and reformed hell-raiser Nikki Sixx has this project to fall back on. Sixx A.M have been Sixx's side project since 2007, their first two albums were based upon Sixx's Heroin Diaries memoir and his second autobiography This Is Gonna Hurt respectively. So Modern Vintage is the first album not to part of another project so I was wondering how well it would hold up. Well the answer is very well indeed, the project retains the same members as the previous releases with Guns N Roses axe slinger DJ Ashba on lead guitars and producer/singer/multi instrumentalist James Michael (producer for Halestorm, Meat Loaf and Motley Crue) providing the vocals, additional guitars, keys, drum programming and of course his Midas touch production. So into Modern Vintage and the title is one of the best ways of describing the album with elements of 70's glam rock and 80's sleaze mixed with modern alt-radio rock Stars is a guitar packed opener that screams of the post 2000 era but it sharply followed by football stomp of Gotta Get It Right which sound like classic Queen all backing choirs, thumping percussion and preening bravado. Ashba's guitars are excellent, he echoes the guitar heroes of old playing with a relaxed experience, Sixx is a great bass player providing the backbone to most of the songs while clearly channelling his influences, finally there is very little I can say about James Michael's vocals other than wow! There is a great mix of styles on this album with the acoustic southern influenced Get Ya Some, the chest beating Let's Go, the almost disco funk of Miracle, the New Orleans carnival feel of Before It's Over and a fantastic reworking of The Cars Drive which gets an electronic overhaul with some massive drum loops and synth fuzz. This is yet another top drawer album from Nikki and his new Crue, let's hope that we see a lot more of these guys after Motley Crue finally call it a day, with GNR's relative inactivity it is really only Michael that could stop that but I'm sure they can work it out. 8/10
Crobot: Something Supernatural (Wind-Up Records)
Pottsville, Pennsylvania may not immediately spring to mind when you think of rock and roll but this city of 14,000 people is also the home of Crobot, the heavily bearded, eight legged riff machine. The band play music that they describe as "Dirty. Groove. Rock" and they are pretty spot on they have a really soulful mix of blues based rock with a real heavy groove. In fact if you are a fan of Clutch then Crobot will be right up your street as they have a similar style of riff based rock fuelled by smokes and brews, as well as Clutch there are nods to Scorpion Child, Wolfmother, The Sword and even Soundgarden. Crobot's songs are all drawn from fantasy and the occult meaning this band will appeal to the dope smoking, beer drinking, comic reading members of the fanbase. With titles like Skull Of Geronimo, Chupacabra and even simple Wizards the band stick rigidly to the fantasy imagery. As the album kicks off with excellently titled Legend Of The Spacebourne Killer we are thrown straight into a world of blazing leads from Chris Bishop he takes you to space and back with his six string wizardry, the groove comes from the bass and drums of Jake and Paul Figueroa who are the voodoo groove of a bottom end. The percussive Nowhere To Hide follows before the honking mouth harp led The Necromancer takes you into blues territory and shows off the keen vocals of Brandon Yeagley who sounds like a merger of Chris Cornell and Myles Kennedy with a soulful croon that can explode into a sky scraping holler at any moment. Crobot do what they do, but they have crafted an album of songs perfect for the live arena, somewhere that Crobot apparently are truly electrifying. Pick up a six pack, roll some doobys and crank it up Crobot welcome you into their world! 9/10
While Heaven Wept: Suspended At Aphelion (Nuclear Blast)
While Heaven Wept have been around for a since 1989 but I will admit I've never heard of them, but on doing some research I found they have are a progressive metal band with a taste of the epic about them, now any band that has two guitarists and two keyboardists (sometimes three) is a bonus in my book. So pressed play and the classical intro Introspectus came to life with it's plaintive cello and classical guitar playing, the band are known for their emotive and personal lyrics dealing with struggle and problems so the sadness etched into this intro is the norm for the band, as the scene was set the drums clattered and the guitars kicked in with gusto, the band is the brain child of Tom Phillips and he leads the guitar charge with some technical and melodic playing ably aided by Scott Loose and the pulsing synths of Jason Lingle and Scott's sister Michelle Loose-Schrotz, while the drums are handled by her husband Trevor and the bass comes from Jim Hunter and the deep sonorous vocals of Rain Irving ties everything together. The first two proper tracks are huge in scope but the length of them is immaterial as the time flies by as you are taken of a journey with some seriously epic music, middle track is Heartburst which is a slow classical guitar piece that explodes into a searing guitar solo in the final section, from here on out the songs get better and much wider in scope with the 5th and 6th tracks amalgamating at least three different songs to create a some lush arrangements that deal in light and shade, the guitars soaring with some seriously fantastic solos see Reminisce Of A Stranger/Lifelines and rhythms that are bolstered by the the amazing keys that work together to create quite an overpowering musical adventure. Some may love this some may hate it but give it time and it will reveal itself as a great progressive album. 7/10
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