Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band: Straight To You Live (Provogue) [Matt Bladen]
Apparently people have been asking for a live DVD from Bluesman Kenny Wayne Shepherd for as he puts it "decades". He has one live album previously in 2010 but a mammoth nine studio albums, which he has rigorously toured. Obviously that touring has all but stopped he has finally gotten around to releasing said DVD. Recorded live at the Leverkusen Jazzstage, for Rockpalast back in November 2019 as part of World Tour for his 2019 album The Traveller, Straight To You Live is a DVD/Album that captures the American guitarist and his seven-piece band in full incendiary form, Shepherd peeling off bluesy licks and emotional guitar solos right from Women Like You the first of four from The Traveller where you can really hear the band going for it.
The rock instrument ensemble augmented by a brass section for a full bodied blues sound. Vocalist Noah Hunt brings a proper Whiskey voice to the proceedings with Shepherd and the band pumping out powerful blues rocking on a set that features two covers Talk To Me Baby by Elmore James and Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) by Jimi Hendrix which closes the show, while his own tracks bring a soulful vibe to proceedings with Diamonds & Gold, the slow burning Heart Of The Sun along with his two biggest tracks Shame Shame Shame and Blue On Black. It's an almost perfect setlist from Shepherd and band and acts as an ideal reminder of what he can do live. 7/10
Six Foot Six: End Of All (Scarlet Records) [Simon Black]
You know, occasionally slaving over a keyboard trying to crank out reviews for hundreds of records a year wears you down (I know tough gig, huh?). But then something like this little beauty comes along and kicks you up the 2020 and makes it all very, very worthwhile. Sweden’s Six Foot Six have not been around long and what started as solo project for vocalist /guitarist Kristoffer Göbel (Falconer), has now become a well-regarded act onto their crucial sophomore release. Melodic Metal has been in the doldrums for a while, with a positive deluge in recent times of new acts trying (and failing) to recreate a heyday they were simply not alive for. However, this Swedish four piece (like the excellent fellow Swedes Dynazty) absolutely nail the balance between Classic and Modern Metal. The first single Welcome To Your Nightmare starts things well, with a cracking catchy beat and a vocal melody line that gently pulls you into the album.
The vocal approach takes me by surprise from the get go, as Göbel teases and tantalises in a very distinctive, yet subtle and theatrical way, before opening up as the song really gets going. His voice is quite confidently restrained throughout – but it is clear, hearty and charismatic - proving that you don’t need to gargle gravel or scream like your testicles were on fire to be effective. By the end of this first track, I’m tapping along like I’m listening to an old favourite. Air guitars on standby, chaps...Title track End Of All keeps it going, with its bouncy beat, ridiculously catchy vocal melody riff lines which completely at odds with the somewhat dark subject matter of the lyrics. It’s also got a crackingly simple but effective instrumental section, which throws just the tiniest bit of shredding in to prove that they could go much further if they wanted. Which they do on the much heavier In God We Trust, which rips in with a catchy opening hammered riff and a pile driving verse. There are so many catchy Melo tracks on here that this feels like a record that will work well played in its entirety live. In The Eyes Of The World and Blood Will Out, coming at the point where an album often starts to lose steam, keep the energy and flow moving even though they’re far from the strongest tracks on here.
Final Vittoria plays with the format again, and what we get is a very theatrical (not operatic) mood piece that showpieces how effortless and natural a frontman they have in place here. The only weak link in the pack is I Am Your King, which doesn’t have the same production feel as the rest of the album, and I can’t help feeling it might have a different production origin. It also takes the experimentation a little too far, losing that punchy melodic coherence we see through the rest of the album, but to be honest this is really a minor glitch on what is otherwise a superb record, that flies through is fifty-five minutes in a blur. This may have started as a solo effort for Göbel, but with the support of Christoffer Borg on guitar, Markus Gustafsson on bass and Henrik Hedman on drums what we have is band firing on all four Very Metal cylinders and is a massive improvement on their first album. This really has been a damn fine year for Swedish Melodic Metal and this opus is a cracking addition to about the only positive aspect to 2020. Roll on a UK tour please chaps, as air guitar at home is wearing a bit thin. 9/10
Fucked & Bound: Suffrage (Quiet Panic) [Liam True]
Grindcore is a wacky genre, as most people are probably familiar with Napalm Death or Pig Destroyer being their gateway bands to the genre. Fucked & Bound however take the styles of both bands into account on Suffrage. The raw production of Pig Destroyer & the hard hitting twisted distortion of Napalm Death. It’s a change from the normal sound Grindcore puts out as it has more Punk influences through the riffs of the mangled guitar tone of Brian McClelland to the frantic drumming of Matt Chandler puts the songs into a new realm of warped Grindcore. The vocals are absolutely larynx shredding as vocalist Lisa Mungo unleashes her dystopian voice upon the 14 track album. Astonishingly it packs a big punch as it only rolls for 23 minutes. From start to finish there’s no breaks. Nothing slows down. Everything is full gear, full force and full incendiary as the band erupt their fury into your ear drums as you succumb to the demonic noise. It’s deadly. It’s fast. And it’s extreme. It's the soundtrack for 2020 as it’s as fucked up as the year has been. And It’s perfect. 9/10
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