Trevor William Church must be easily bored. He's prolific as the leader of stoner/doom riff masters Beastmaker pumping out records at a rate most other bands would laugh at. So far they've had 2 full lengths and 12 EP's. Although he's not content with that, he also has Haunt a classic metal project that despite only being around since 2017 has released 2 EP's and now 2 full length albums with If Icarus Could Fly being the second full length, (seriously man take up knitting or something).
Technically a solo project, we've reviewed Haunt's stuff before and it is everything you'd expect from a classic metal band (much like Beastmaker is occult doom at its purest) dual riffs, galloping bass and songs about history and fantasy, at just over 30 minutes it doesn't need you to engage your brain too much but there is joyous sense of nostalgia to the album's when Maiden, Priest, Tokyo Blade, Angel Witch et al were all still raw and vital fighting for space in Sounds magazine. Run And Hide is straightforward, while Cosmic Kiss brings a more spacey style to the traditional metal template. The whole record flies by with every track getting your head banging nicely. Classic metal done well can't be beat and Haunt do it well. Maybe Church should change his name to Midas. 8/10
Turner: Parliament EP (Self Released) [Polly]
Solo artist Turner is certainly on the right path with his music, his second EP release that shows he is onto greater things. The Anticipation of EP’s intro leading into Forward it packs quite a kick, the lyrics ‘it gets better’ is quite apt as the EP flows through to belter after belter to conclude with my favourite track. Dusk, featuring,Christina Rotondo has a theatrical essence to it from her powerful voice and dramatic delivery that with the creepy melody at the beginning paints quite the picture. Haunter, my favourite on the album opens with a lullaby-esque melody that gives an eerie warmth before plummeting into the heavy riffs that follow.
The EP felt as though I was on drugs and liquid with the sound. Jonny Turner’s soothing and earth shattering voice draws you in and spits you back out with heavy proggy riffs and comforts you all over again. Every time I have listened to the EP I forget about the epic solo casually slipped into Hunternot not because it’s forgettable but because there are so many other aspects to the album that are imprinted. I’m excited for his next project that will more than likely be better again. 8/10
Burning Rain: Face The Music (Frontiers Records) [Manus]
Super(ish) group Burning Rain, made up of ex-members of Dio, Whitesnake, Montrose, and Steelheart among others, are onto album number four with the cliché-titled Face The Music. There’s 12 tracks on this record, but none of them contain anything particularly attention-grabbing. Even the catchy choruses leave the ear as quickly as they come. The album’s faster, upbeat rock songs, like the title track and Midnight Train, might make for decent driving music or something, but the ballads like Shelter and If It’s Love really drag on, and there are far too many of those. There’s nothing blatantly terrible to pinpoint about any of these songs, but they’re just dull and lack any sort of real excitement. 5/10
Mindmare: Psychotic Regression (Some Studio) [Polly]
The opening track Psychotic Regression didn’t suck me in as much as I expected however the background synths did add a layer to the track that made it more enjoyable. The solo for this track is an area that I enjoyed but the general riff seemed quite repetitive after a while. Elsewhere on the album A New Slave Of Mankind was one of the tracks that I enjoyed more, opening with guitars followed by the impressive speed of the drums made this for me. I can hear a pinch of clean vocals that should have been emphasised more but generally the pace of the stringed instruments battling against the drums work well with this track, exit riffs work well however it does not fade into the next track well.
The Deceit has one of those openings to the songs that’s familiar. I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, it kind of feels like it has been done before. In spite of this the progression of the song is one of the winners of the album where the guitars and vocals work well with each other. Overall I enjoyed the album,I can’t think of anything brilliant to say about it, but nothing terrible either. 5/10
Turner: Parliament EP (Self Released) [Polly]
Solo artist Turner is certainly on the right path with his music, his second EP release that shows he is onto greater things. The Anticipation of EP’s intro leading into Forward it packs quite a kick, the lyrics ‘it gets better’ is quite apt as the EP flows through to belter after belter to conclude with my favourite track. Dusk, featuring,Christina Rotondo has a theatrical essence to it from her powerful voice and dramatic delivery that with the creepy melody at the beginning paints quite the picture. Haunter, my favourite on the album opens with a lullaby-esque melody that gives an eerie warmth before plummeting into the heavy riffs that follow.
The EP felt as though I was on drugs and liquid with the sound. Jonny Turner’s soothing and earth shattering voice draws you in and spits you back out with heavy proggy riffs and comforts you all over again. Every time I have listened to the EP I forget about the epic solo casually slipped into Hunternot not because it’s forgettable but because there are so many other aspects to the album that are imprinted. I’m excited for his next project that will more than likely be better again. 8/10
Burning Rain: Face The Music (Frontiers Records) [Manus]
Super(ish) group Burning Rain, made up of ex-members of Dio, Whitesnake, Montrose, and Steelheart among others, are onto album number four with the cliché-titled Face The Music. There’s 12 tracks on this record, but none of them contain anything particularly attention-grabbing. Even the catchy choruses leave the ear as quickly as they come. The album’s faster, upbeat rock songs, like the title track and Midnight Train, might make for decent driving music or something, but the ballads like Shelter and If It’s Love really drag on, and there are far too many of those. There’s nothing blatantly terrible to pinpoint about any of these songs, but they’re just dull and lack any sort of real excitement. 5/10
Mindmare: Psychotic Regression (Some Studio) [Polly]
The opening track Psychotic Regression didn’t suck me in as much as I expected however the background synths did add a layer to the track that made it more enjoyable. The solo for this track is an area that I enjoyed but the general riff seemed quite repetitive after a while. Elsewhere on the album A New Slave Of Mankind was one of the tracks that I enjoyed more, opening with guitars followed by the impressive speed of the drums made this for me. I can hear a pinch of clean vocals that should have been emphasised more but generally the pace of the stringed instruments battling against the drums work well with this track, exit riffs work well however it does not fade into the next track well.
The Deceit has one of those openings to the songs that’s familiar. I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, it kind of feels like it has been done before. In spite of this the progression of the song is one of the winners of the album where the guitars and vocals work well with each other. Overall I enjoyed the album,I can’t think of anything brilliant to say about it, but nothing terrible either. 5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment