Reviews: Four Stroke Baron, Untamed Land, Jeff Scott Soto, Impargo Imperii (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Four Stroke Baron - Classics (Prosthetic Records)

Now comprised of just Kirk Witt (vocals and guitars) and Matt Vallarino (drums), Avant Garde metal act Four Stroke Baron return with their third album named Classics. That's a bold album title, as it usually denotes a greatest hits compilation but this record is all new material but is Four Stroke Baron bringing together everything they have done before but building it too the maximum they can. Part of that was recruiting Devin Townsend to produce the record with one proviso that he go as big as possible. Which is a bit like welcoming the bull into the china shop. He has brought his own signature, in your face style to the production adding some of the out and out intensity of Strapping Young Lad on G.O! which also feels a lot like Fear Factory as well. 

On the review of their previous covers release Monoqueen I commented on Four Stroke Baron's eclectic musical style where they throw various kinds of heavy metal, electronics and pop sensibilities into their sound. So against the atmospheric Coat Of Barbery, there are punishing numbers like Rolling Gloom 1999 but then we also have 13 Steps To Stockholm which is full twitching synths and the finale of Russian Thought Experiment which features the electronic band NXOV and is a left field choice for a closing song as it's a slow piano based number which conjures Steven Wilson and Depeche Mode, but is brilliantly realised, awash with dark romance. It's a brave choice of song, ending a brave, experimental record, richly deserving of its Classics title. Four Stroke Baron are an enigma but they are winning me over to their uniqueness with every release. 8/10

Untamed Land - Like Creatures Seeking Their Own Forms (Napalm Records)

With the idea of multiverse, filled with multiple versions of everything that has been floated by Marvel for years now, it is only conceivable that in one of these universes Hans Zimmer and Ennio Morricone got together to record a black metal project. If they did it would sound like Untamed Land, the Ohio based metal project, consisting of soul musician Patrick Kern, released their debut in 2018 and listening to this follow up is a little bittersweet as I must have missed the debut, so before I even got through the first track on Like Creatures Seeking Their Own Forms, I went back to discover Between The Winds and discovered that I had missed a wonderful record. 

So going back to this one and I was again blown away by how much I enjoyed this album. Clocking in at 5 tracks but well over 40 minutes, without the two short versions at the end, it's a Spaghetti western influenced experimental extreme metal record that does both styles pretty much perfectly. The atmospheric/cosmic/doom/pagan metal is all encompassing, long metallic passages and growled vocals with touches of Alcest, Sojourner and Wayfarer the blasting final section on the stunning 15 minute The Heavenly Coil is a great example of what Patrick Kern does as these waves of extremity lead into scrubbing acoustics and even a bloody harpsichord augmented with those classic Morricone haunting female choirs. 

When you first play this album, Once Upon A Time In The Kenoma is about as traditional as you can get from the standpoint of a Western soundtrack, the horns, fiddle, piano and Spanish guitars start us off with this instrumental offering, before we get the first glimpses metal on A Nameless Shape the 13 minute record that along with Clothed In Smoke and The Heavenly Coil are the meat of the record as closer Achamōth brings back those operatic choirs set against tubular bells and echoed drums. I'm struggling to describe how good this album is. I'm a massive Western fan as well as a extreme metal fan so this album was pretty much my idea of heaven. 9/10

Jeff Scott Soto - The Duets Collection Vol.1 (Frontiers Music Srl)

Jeff Scott Soto needs no introduction, he's a world renowned vocalist, currently taking the mic for Progressive metal supergroup Sons Of Apollo. He also has a glut of solo record that range from hard/melodic rock moving heavier and lighter as needed. In the midst of the worldwide lockdown, Jeff took a list of some of his favourite songs from his discography, then brought in musicians; Jorge Salan, Howie Simon and Leo Mancini on guitars, bassist Tony Dickinson and drummer Edu Cominato to re-record them in a slightly different way. What Jeff has done here is gathered some of the best and brightest vocalists in the melodic rock world to duet with him here. 

Kicking off with the riffing Livin’ The Life with Erik Martensson (Eclipse/W.E.T.), the first noticeable addition though is Mr Big's Eric Martin on Talisman's Mysterious which is followed by the full throated contribution from Inglorious' Nathan James both of whom match JSS's power well, working in unison on these tracks. Elsewhere we have the bluesy Callin' All Girls (Eyes) which has Russell Allen (Symphony X), then there's Warrior from JSS's time with Axel Rudi Pell and features current Axel Rudi Pell vocalist Johnny Gioeli. The songs have been perfectly chosen to highlight each vocalist and while The Duets Collection Vol 1 is a bit of a rock n roll party with Soto and his friends, it's also a polished melodic rock record featuring some star performances. 8/10   

Impargo Imperii - A Tale Of Darkness And Hope (Sleaszy Rider Records)

Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition! Their chief weapons maybe fear, surprise and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, but Bologna metal band don't do anything of the sort, their chief weapons are muscular riffs, conceptual lyrics and joyous devotion to power metal. Formed by brawny singer Gwarner and keyboardist Ivanhoe, they set about creating a symphonic/power metal band with elements of Rhapsody, Hammerfall and Manowar, in 2016 they added Luke Fortini on lead guitar, with Mick and Iskandar on bass and drums, as Jeyn Hope adds co-lead vocals. 

This is their fourth album and it's a conceptual record about the Inquisition meaning that the galloping power metal riffage has some Catholic chanting and darker tones to reflect how that organisation tortured and killed people they accused of blasphemy, check out any of the literature surrounding them to be horrified what people do in the name of their Religion. The conceptual style of the record makes for a cinematic style, but with a riffy power metal sound of bands such as Orden Ogan, whose Seeb Levermann mastered the record letting the symphonic and metallic style breathe. Imargo Imperii don't wildy deviate from the symphonic/power metal sound but their fourth album also has some neo-classical guitar playing that will also appeal to a wider audience. 6/10