Lucifer: Lucifer, I (Rise Above)
A few years ago a band called The Oath appeared on the occult doom rock scene formed by two leather clad rocker chicks in the shape of guitarist Linnea Olsson and singer Johanna Sadonis, they released a great debut then as fast as they appeared they split up leaving everyone unsure of what happened. However in what was a slow release promo campaign including snippets of sounds, not much information on the band and a non album single (very retro), Sadonis reappeared with another band named Lucifer, (no prizes for guessing what the songs are going to be about then) but after sneak peeks and another single finally their debut album Lucifer I. The album was written by Sadonis and ex-Cathedral man Gaz Jennings and as such is a prime slice of occult 70's style rock of Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult and indeed Pentagram or any proto-metal band you care to mention. Things start off with Abracadabra and Jennings (known as The Wizards here) gives us a thumping riff while ex-The Oath drummer Andrew Prestridge rumbles like distant thunder and bassist Dino Gollnick underpins with a voodoo bassline. The key element of Lucifer's sound though are Sadonis' haunting vocals she croons, howls and bewitches on every track while holding sermons on the occult and the Satanic (what else). From bell tolling doom of Sabbath, through the glistening Izrael, the doom laden Morning Star and the powerful Grave. This is a solid slab of occult doom rock, let's hope this band lasts longer than Sadonis' last effort as this album has a lot of potential. 8/10
Ten Foot Wizard: Sleeping Mountains (Beard Of Zeus)
Oof this is a bit of alight riff heavy stoner rock with head spinning bass, thunderous drumming, rocking and rolling riffage and shouted vocals. Coming from Manchester these men describe their sound as hailing from the Beard Of Zeus and they might be right as this is 70's style psych rock fitting perfectly into the stoner rock genre that means that Ten Foot Wizard have a Clutch meets Orange Goblin style of heavyweight rocking with a bit of Desert rock sun gazing thrown in. On We Go is pure Clutch replete with time change in the middle of the track that oozes with the blooze. All four members play their instruments with loose precision allowing the songs to breathe freely letting their blues and 70's rock influences shine through, Emlyn's bass walks tall on the QOTSA-like Up & Away, Jonny's drums anchor the groove throughout while the guitars of Adam and Gary are the bands wall of riffage that allow Gary to shout like man with too much whiskey and weed. The band don't need to stretch themselves too much as they stick to a solid stoner groove but with tracks like Railway Shuffle, Covered In Tits, Through This World and Sabbath worshipping, jazz inflected Ode To Death the band have really hit upon the Southern rock/stoner mix that Neil Fallon and co does so well. Cracking album from these Wizards of heavy rock. 8/10
Forgotten Suns: When Worlds Collide (Premiere Music)
Forgotten Suns are progressive metal band hailing from the sunny shores of Portugal and they draw from the sounds of Dream Theater, Symphony X and Shadow Gallery, with thrashy metallic guitar riffs, melodious keys and synths, blast beat drums, galloping bass and powerful vocals. They are also not adversed to a longer track with five of the 7 tracks on this album coming in at over 10 minutes long with the concept track The Road To Nowhere Parts 1 & 2 bookend the album at 11 minutes and 17 minutes respectively, the songs move and twist (like those dark figures Maiden sang about) through various time signatures and even sometimes genres. The guitar playing of Ricardo Falco is ad you would expect adding sublime solos and riffs over J.C Sambora's powerful drumming while Ernesto Rodrigues provides the slinky keys and driving synths. So musically the band have a lot of talent however vocally I'm wasn't impressed by Nio Nunes his voice has a habit of bordering on the whiny while trying to do his best James LaBrie (who has got a unique voice) still if you can get past this then When Worlds Collide is a good little prog metal album. 6/10
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