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Tuesday 12 July 2022

Reviews: Primal Fear, Grave Lines, Wizzo, Cleanbreak (Reviews By Simon Black, Matt Bladen, Rich P & Finn O'Dell)

Primal Fear - Primal Fear: Deluxe Edition (Atomic Fire Records) [Simon Black]

Now I love a bit of Primal Fear, me. Although I’ve really only known about them for about seven or eight years, I’ve always considered them to be one of the better proponents of the power metal genre - ostensibly because they have never strayed too far from the NWOBHM template of their closest influence Judas Priest. For whatever reason though, I’ve never gone back to the very start, so this is me listening to their twenty-two year old debut with fresh ears.

I think its safe to say that I love it.

The Priest influence is really stark here, but then this won’t have been long after Ralf Scheepers was pipped to the Priest post by Ripper Owens, having left Gamma Ray to do so (obviously on good terms since Kai Hansen does a guest turn here) and vocally in particular he’s a dead Halford ringer on this outing, although he definitely finds his own voice moving forwards. I don’t actually have a problem with this, as at the time Priest had a very different vocalist in Owens and the thought of a reformation was still a long way off, so there was definitely a gap in the market. 

This is very much Primal Fear’s take on what should have come after Painkiller, but you can hear the groundwork for their own distinctive sound at points. I wasn’t aware that this was originally a bit of a fun filler project, hence the closeness to Priest, before realising they were actually onto something and starting to get a little more serious. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of Priest worship and Primal Fear do it very well here, before starting to get more distinctively their own beast with the Jaws Of Death album.

Each of the tracks on here is an absolute belter and you still get classics like Chainbreaker and Running In The Dust cropping up live today. That’s why they get away with it and with some pile-driving instrumental delivery, plus Scheeper’s voice shredding the wallpaper you cannot really go wrong. They even manage Priest lyrical cheese par excellence with the slightly naff Formula One, but to be fair it’s the only real filler, with the remainder of the original tracks from the core release still standing up well today. Compare this filler piece to the more expansive Tears Of Rage though, and you get the hints of where they will go when they abandon the hero worship and start their own distinctive direction, and it’s the strongest and most emotive piece on the record.

To make this feel a little bit better value for money Jacob Hansen has done a lovely job remastering this (just compare this to the original on a streaming platform and you will soon see why) and there’s a few live nuggets thrown in for good measure. As a one-off bit of love and tribute, it still stands up well, even though it got slated at the time for not being nu-metal. I guess the fact that this stands up at all over two decades later whilst most nu-metal categorically do not says it all really. As a launch pad to one of the now top-drawer power metal bands who these days can do no wrong, it’s a modest but highly enjoyable start to a stellar career. 8/10

Grave Lines - Communion (New Heavy Sounds) [Matt Bladen]

Across their last two album Grave Lines have been skillfully creating their own little musical world, unaffected by trends and whats popular. The 'heavy gloom' London foursome draw inspiration from the doom/sludge heavies such as Neurosis and Yob, the knuckle dragging opener Gordian displaying this perfectly, a slow burning echoed, ominous journey, climaxing with a discordant final part, drenched in distortion and bile it sets a tone. 

As well as the sludge/doom style they have always done so well the previous two albums have added some of the woozy, gothic post-punk of Killing Joke and Echo & The Bunnymen, which is reflected on Lycaenid, a track that is stripped back and brooding, shifting from haunting, goth atmospherics before the acoustic, almost choral feel comes back towards the end, its a set piece for sure as Carcini meanwhile brings both aspects together well though it also has what I would call punk doom, gutsy and growling it builds riffs upon riffs. Grave Lines are a band whose music won't always fit in a neat little box, they frequently add ear deafening noise rock pitched against ambient oddness, on the spoken word prayer of Tachinid giving both. 

It's the finale of Sinensis that is a throbbing industrial number, diverting from the sludge/doom sound the most out of everything here, elements of Type O Negative and Depeche Mode too. Sinensis shows that Grave Lines can turn their hands to pretty much whatever style they want to. Communion is their third album and advances their exploration into the wider darker realms of music, dealing with the human condition through loud, abrasive noise. Jake Harding's expressive vocals, Stgrn’ Matt's grinding bass, Oliver Irongiant's growling riffs and Sam Chase's percussive battery are what Grave Lines so damn good and Communion is their best album yet. 8/10

Wizzo - Most Severe Crisis (Wizzo Music) [Rich Piva]

Ah the 90s. A great time for music that has been a major influence in a whole bunch of bands putting out heavy rock today. Citing bands like Alice In Chains and Soundgarden will trigger all sorts of wonderful emotions for people of a certain age, and there is a ton of borrowing from them and other like minded bands of that era today. Wizzo is one of those bands, but for every grungy riff you get from their second album, Most Severe Crisis, you also get some heavy shoegaze vibes of bands like Swerevdriver, Hum, and even a band like Ride. This is a big shift from the Chicago, Illinois band’s self-titled debut which leaned a bit more towards the sludgy side of things, even incorporating harsh vocals throughout. Most Severe Crisis goes for even more melody while keeping some of those sludge vibes that made their debut such a strong release.

Hollow Earth kicks us off with some 90s style grunge, harking to a time of flannel and bad facial hair, with a great opening riff and some serious Jerry/AIC vibes both in the playing and the harmonized vocals. You get more of the same with the title track, but you start to hear some of those Catherine Wheel/Swervedriver vibes starting to shine though, in a really great way. Sacrificial Lamb starts more towards that sludgy side, reminding me of something off one of the more recent Baroness records, but Baroness as if they have been listening to Hum. 

The track Is What Is to me is where I really start to hear a heavy version of the band Ride, which is a good thing. But a stoner/sludge version of Ride. I love the synth that is incorporated as well. End Is Nigh is a standout track with more of that grungy, sludgy, Hum/Ride combination that Wizzo have perfected on Most Severe Crisis. Wizard’s Sleeve is another standout that reminds me of a mash up of the more melodic side of Mastodon and Swervedriver while Godless Interval closes out this excellent release with an epic, post hardcore feeling track you get with the more recent Quicksand releases.

I love the direction Wizzo has gone on Most Severe Crisis. This is a much more mature, complex record then their debut. The production has the band sounding excellent and you can tell Wizzo has figured out the direction they want to head, leaving behind the harsh vocals for a much more melodic approach which really suits them. As a person of that certain age mentioned above, this is right in my wheelhouse and combines so many things I have loved over the years to create an excellent sophomore effort for a band that you need to keep you eye on for big things on the horizon. 8/10

Cleanbreak - Coming Home (Frontiers Music Srl) [Finn O'Dell]

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing the debut of a supergroup, Iconic, also on Frontiers Records. That hard rock offering included Michael Sweet of Stryper fame, whereas this band has his brother, Robert (drums), and bandmate Perry Richardson on bass. So, this is the Stryper rhythm section with Mike Flyntz (Riot V) on guitar and James Durbin (American Idol, Quiet Riot and solo) handling the singing. Already a couple of songs into this and I can't help but draw comparisons to the band that comprises half of this lineup, Stryper, but with some positive differences.

The title track kicks things off with a solid rocking song revealing a few things: James' vocals are on point, Mike's solo is amazing and the rhythm section is as tight as advertised. Before The Fall is more plodding and less radio rock. Dying Breed again has me feeling a Stryper vibe, as does We Are The Warriors and Dream Forever. Man Of Older Soul breaks the tempo monotony with a quicker paced jam. 

The opening riff of Still Fighting sets the tone for this quicker song. The Pain Of Goodbye settles things down, but not too much and with a chorus that is an attention grabber. Ok, just because the next song is also the name of the band doesn't mean it is the standard of the group, in fact it sounds different than everything else here and really screams Stryper. Find My Way finds the boys getting back to their solid hard rock sound and the final cut, No Other Heart, fits well here too.

Overall, solid hard rock offering with no ballads that is more listenable than the home band that makes up half the band. 8/10

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