Reviews: Ambush, Gorilla, Dripback, Stallion (Simon & Paul H)

Ambush: Infidel (High Roller Records) [Simon Black]

Swedish Classic Metallers Ambush are back with their latest release, and so far are not showing any signs of the dreaded ‘third album syndrome’ (Is there such a thing? - Ed). Ambush seem to be taking the authenticity to the classic period to the max. Their first album Firestorm was somewhat raw, and could have been done in the 70’s, and the follow up Desecrator improved on that. We now seen to have reached the mid 80’s with multi-track recording reverb and everything. Joking aside, it’s nice to hear a band learn their craft and develop in front of your ears, and this album is definitely a far more polished affair than its too predecessors, but the influences (Dokken, Priest, Maiden) are still there loud and clear without sounding plagiaristic.

Where the album works is that although they’ve got a distinct sound of their own throughout, they manage to successfully very the tone and pace without losing that distinctive essence, notably the more stripped back Yperite, with its baseline driven riff and late 70’s Scorpions rhythm guitar (think Rudolf Schenker et al doing their synchronised thing and you will get the tone). To be fair, all the songs are on the ball, punchy metal, with plenty of groove in the rhythm section, some good solid riff-based songs and appropriately flashy solos that bring up images of spandex, Flying V Axes’s and lots of facial gurning. 

The album starts really getting into its stride around track three (Leave It To Die), with some nice double bass thundering and a cracking vocal turn from Oskar Jacobsson, who can hit and hold the high notes and screams without sounding forced. Single Hellbiter is probably the best example of where they are heading – a rock club dance floor pace, with the kind of chorus anyone can sing along too whether they know ‘em or not, and the trad solo and harmonised axes after the middle eight straight out of US 80’s Rock Radio. There’s also plenty of faster moments for those of us that love a little speed…

It’s been five years since we had anything from these guys, and this is a welcome return with an album that quite simply does not have a weak track on it, which although could be accused of being ‘nothing new’ stylistically, does not sound stale or derivative. Instead we have a fresh, entertaining and lively release from a band who sound like they really are just getting going properly. 8/10

Gorilla: Rock Our Souls (Go Down Records) [Paul Hutchings]

You may recall reading the review of Treecreeper, Gorilla’s first album for 12 years which was released in the summer of 2019, back in the days when we could walk freely to pubs, clubs and go to gigs. Yes, such memories. Treecreeper was a fine release, full of the fusion of punk and hard rock attitude of Blue Cheer, Motörhead and St Vitus. Well, as if that release wasn’t enough of a treat, now we get the rerelease of Rock Our Souls, the album that preceded Treecreeper back in 2007.

Founded in 1998 in that most English of Towns, Hastings, Gorilla are proudly influenced by the sounds of the 60s and 70s. The list is a lengthy one, but as well as the trio above, throw in any of by Budgie, Grand Funk, MC5, Pink Fairies and you’ll get the flavour. Rock Our Souls brings you eight tracks and 41 minutes of raucous riffing, dripping with Sabbath riffs but with an authentic vintage feel and sound. Full of heavy, doom-soaked songs, Rock Our Souls was the band’s third release. Songs like Vulture Tree, the aggressive Overkill feel of Bludd Suka, the raging cover of Hot Cars and the timeless classic fuzz of High N Mighty. Recorded at the Pondswood Hit Factory on Paulos Mobile Recording Unit, engineered by Louis Bronco Wigget and mastered at Hate Recording Studiosound Engineers, this is a gritty throw back to 2007 via 1975. 7/10

Dripback: Blessed With Less Than Nothing (4 Family Records) [Paul Hutchings]

“We’ve been trying to squeeze this musical turd out a year now, we’ve pushed so hard we’ve got piles, but the shit is finally hitting the fan – new Dripback coming to you in March!” declares front man Wez 4. It’s hard to follow the sentiment expressed so eloquently but all I really need to tell you is that this is a five track fifteen minute EP which captures all the dirt under the finger nails before curling those digits into a ball and slamming the fist hard into the face. There’s nothing remotely radio friendly or commercial here, just a snarling mix of hardcore, death metal, punk and grindcore. Dripback have played at Download and Bloodstock as well as supporting some solid outfits such as Soilent Green, Biohazard, Lock Up, Pig Destroyer and Nasum. This really is a fiery explosive and nasty beast that is angry, punchy and generally rather unpleasant. The five-piece have left no prisoners. It’s simply brutal. 6/10

Stallion: Slaves Of Time (High Roller Records) [Simon Black]

It seems to be 80’s week here at Musipedia Of Metal, at least on my plate. Stallion are a German quintet on their third album, and this is like jumping back in time to the point where metal first really diverged, and suddenly there were all these new edgy bands with great songs and shows, but naff production. This album is no different. The songs are pure 80’s metal crossing into and out of thrash, with a cleaner vocals sound, but the production is a bit hit and miss. That said, it’s not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination.

When the album starts, I thought I was getting a Sanctuary tribute act, which is definitely where Waking The Demons and No Mercy are coming from, and then the album does a full on body swerve, turns up the reverb to eleven and gives us the inevitable attempt at a more radio friendly hit in tracks like Time To Reload (think Autograph on that one) and All In. By the time we get to Brain Dead we’re firmly into Painkiller territory.

When recapturing a particular period in time it’s a fine line between tribute and parody, and whereas other disks I have listened to this month get the balance right, Slaves Of Time doesn’t quite make it (the title is rather apt really). For me it’s very badly let down by the production, which just sounds like they were too focused on catching the engineering of the period rather than focusing on getting a distinctive band or album sound together and letting the song-writing do most of the talking. What’s stopping this album from getting at least another 2 points on its score is the dreadful overuse of echo and reverb on Pauly’s vocals (which sound much better on the ballad Die With Me, although this is one of the weaker tracks), which is a shame as he’s got a great voice, but the effects just over accentuate the falsetto to the point of irritation.

This is 2020, and it’s perfectly possible to surf the revivalist wave with writing and performance whilst still taking advantage of the huge technical advances made in digital recording techniques, and if Stallion can get this balance right, I doubt much will stop them. Vocals aside, everything in the instrumental sections is doing it absolutely right, with some absolutely razor sharp performance from a group of musicians clearly used to playing in sympatico together. What this album lacks in production it makes up with bucket loads of energy and enthusiasm, so don’t write these guys off just yet. 7/10