LA retro NWOTHM riff machines Saber, play the style of speed metal that Trevor William Church favours with his band Haunt and it's probably a safe bet that their debut record Without Warning would not have been released without the help of Church who not only released it through their label but also recorded and played the drums and gives it the classic 80's production sound. Now if Church is involved in anyway with a band you can assume that they are probably going to be of a high level and about as authentic as it comes the band dressed in denim, leather and hightops, their twin axe attack and occult themed lyrics all carrying the hallmarks of the speed metal bands of yore. Take a track like Outlaw with some choppy riffs from Joel and Hat as David's throbbing bass takes the gallop here along with Leather Laced Lady. What makes the record stand above the multiple speed metal acts that seem to explode out of North America are the vocals of Steve Villa who actually has a relatively wide vocal range adept in the gritty mids as well as the skyscraping highs that speed metal bands are so associated with. Zipping past in a flurry Without Warning was released on digitally and on cassette on New Years Day and already stands out as one of the NWOTHM releases of the year! 8/10
Octavision: Coexist (Self Released) [2020]
Octavision is basically a solo project by guitarist Hovak Alaverdyan, he has set about creating a progressive metal project with some of the best musical talent around today. Hovak not only plays the incredible guitar here but also wrote all of the music and produces much like Prog metal virtuosos John Petrucci and Michael Romeo fusing that classic British prog rock phrasing, with the heavier, more explorative American style favoured as elements of djent also come in with focus too on massive orchestrations and keys from co-producer Murzo really reinforcing those classic guitar/keyboard duos that are such a feature of Dream Theater, Symphony X and Fates Warning. Other musicians that add to this record are drummer Roman Lomtadze on every single track while Avo Margaryan adds Blul (Areminian Shepherd's Flute) to the first song Mindwar. Adding bass to the record are Victor Wooten and virtuoso Billy Sheehan, no stranger to the prog genre, in fact his Sons Of Apollo bandmate Jeff Scott Soto contributing vocals to the title track which is very SOA along with Apocalyptus which is a bit funky/jazzier. These are the only two songs with vocals on the record but the instrumental cuts are in no way inferior to the vocal songs as this is where Alaverdyan really makes his mark as a composer of interesting, catchy instrumental tracks. Personally I feel the vocal/instrumental split should have been a little more balanced but that can be addressed on later releases, Coexist is a very strong debut from a prog metal project. 7/10
El Colosso: Forgotten Ancestors (Self Released) [2020]
Bursting out of your stereo system from Melbourne Australia are El Colosso who bring their latest album Forgotten Ancestors after one of the most troubling years ever (though Australia have dealt with it far better than the UK government). Written before the Pandemic much of what makes up this record lyrically has come to fruition with a lot of it dealing with humanity reacting against science (Covidiots) while politics become more and more untruthful and confusing. Forgotten Ancestors deals with many of these themes so could be considered prophetic if it were deliberate, moreover it’s another rallying cry against all forms of oppression and subterfuge and like with the best anti-establishment bands it’s delivered with massive stoner rock grooves and the wild abandon of space rock trying to find some hope on tracks such as As One where the repeating chorus is used to unify not divide. What makes El Colosso’s message is that it’s forged to be as authentic as possible, adopting a D.I.Y approach to the recording, much of it was done individually or through Zoom (other video conferencing apps are available) not that you notice as tracks such as Too Many Times Won have a broad soundscapes that are usually reserved for big studios. Forgotten Ancestors is packed to the brim with riffs (Down), taking numerous genre shifts that result in a great hard rocking record from this Aussie band. 8/10
Church Crusher: Worship That? Never! (Mutilation Throne Records) [2021]
Kicking off from the titular line from Devil’s Advocate delivered by the permanently enraged Al Pacino, Albuquerque death/thrashers Church Crusher start as they mean to go on with religion baiting, guttural death metal, played as low tuned as possible with a relentless beat down. Now this does mean that most of the songs subscribe to a sound that’s a mixture of Deicide and Brujeria the growls never moving up from a bottom dwelling gargle, the drums full of blasting double kicks and the riffs trying to reach the end of the song as quickly as possible with a bit of crossover thrash groove thrown in too. It means that Church Crusher’s debut full length never really evolves into anything other than just light speed thrash/death with some hardcore aggression. It makes for a one dimensional listening experience but I’m sure pit-trolls will be circling their front rooms with reckless abandon. 5/10
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