Tenacious D: The Rize Of The Fenix (Colombia)
Movie star/Comedian Jack Black and Classically trained guitarist/comedian Kyle Gass return with their third album and this time they have focussed on the mix of comedic rock songs with small skits in between them that were present on the first album. The opening title song is almost prog rock and tells of the D's rise from the critical fire. Their backing band is fantastic and the drums of Dave Grohl are still present and correct. Deth Starr is a rocking sex fuelled ditty which is as dirty as it is heavy; The Ballad Of Hollywood Jack And Rage Kage tells of the bands reconciliation after the Pick Of Destiny, the Latin flavoured Senorita is also great. However I think Roadie is the best track about a road crew since Motorhead's. This is not a grown up album, there are still cock jokes and general silliness aplenty but the music elevates it from a piss take to a full on comedy metal album. Black may have lost his film touch as of late but he can still make a brilliant noise with Gass as his sideman. More please! 8/10
Accept: Stalingrad (Nuclear Blast Records)
After coming back with a bang on 2010's storming Blood Of The Nations Accept return with their 13th studio album Stalingrad and they prove once more why they are 'the' Teutonic Metal band. Starting with the Pirate metal swashbuckle of Hung, Drawn And Quartered before following it up with the Sabaton-like Stalingrad (which also has the big backing vocals). The funny thing about these comparisons is that Accept are really not copying anyone they have been doing this before most of today’s bands were in school. they have lost none of their power and excitement. Mark Tornillo's vocals are excellent and while he will never be the legendary Udo however his rasp is perfect for Accept's heavy metal riot and what a riot it is. The album features all of Accept's hallmarks, heavy dual guitars from Wolf Hoffman and Herman Frank, machinegun drumming and balls thoroughly to the wall (witnessed on Flash To Bang Time). This is a fantastic album and it is equally as good Blood Of Nations which was a stormer and a true return to form. This is the continuation of that top level performance so if you want a classic metal noise this is the record to get now. 9/10
SkyHarbour: Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos (Basick Records)
Keshav Dhar is a genius, he has managed to meld the modern sound of polyrhythmic playing and down tuned Djent with soaring guitar harmonies and technical but musical playing. He has drummer in Anup Sastry and a bassist in Nikhil Rufus and the album features guest vocals from ex-TesseracT man Dan Tompkins (who is most prevalent on the excellent Catharsis) and Indian vocalist Sunnieth Revankar. The album features some guest soloing from Amogh Symphony's Vishal J Singh and Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth). The record is an absolute stormer with most of this attributed to Dhar's guitar skills. This is math metal at its musical best well worth checking out. 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment