Reviews: Angus McSix, Ivan Neville, Saint Deamon, Magnus Rosén Band (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Angus McSix – Angus McSix And The Sword Of Power (Napalm Records)

Dying as a martyr and hero against evil, Angus McFife was cast into the Realm Of Martyrs, many were unsure what the next chapter would be. Equally Thomas Winkler left previous band Gloryhammer due to the Scooby Doo-like twist of them revealing themselves to be evil all along, but never fear as he and the character have been reborn as Angus McSix.

It’s great to hear his voice again as he was the focal point of that previous band, but with a hopefully better supporting cast this conceptual power metal can continue under this new guise. Inspired by Masters Of The Universe and Arthurian Legend, the rebirth of Prince Angus comes when his home is in danger again, but with his hammer of glory gone he sets out to the depths of hell to take Sixcaliber, the sword of power, there by becoming Angus McSix, opening a gateway to new evil Archdemon Seebulon, (Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann of Orden Ogan). So the story has begun again, this the origin record that brings in new characters (musicians) and lots more power metal silliness.

Unlike Gloryhammer, there’s a bit more variety musically the influence of Levermann obvious to anyone that knows Orden Ogan; the backing choirs especially prominent on Sixcaliber and Ride To Hell. Overall it’s a bit meatier in the riffs, with more soloing and less outright double kick blasting, utilising Winklers vocals for big sing along choruses. Still things are humorous with Pegasus, Time-Travel, a Laser-Shooting Dinosaur, and an influence of videogames. If you loved the tales of Angus McFife then Angus McSix is, in the immortal words of Nigel Tufnel, “one louder”. 8/10

Ivan Neville – Touch My Soul (The Funk garage/Mascot Label Group)

You’ve got to be confident in your abilities as a performer to cover Talking Heads, especially when you turn This Must Be The Place into a brass laden, funk song that stays true to the original but also sets out to improve it. But of course Ivan Neville is confident in his abilities, few people can release their first solo album in almost 20 years and get Bonnie Raitt, Michael McDonald, Trombone Shorty, Doyle Bramhal II and a glittering cast of musicans to guest on it. If you know anything about roots music in America you’ll recognise the name Ivan Neville, he has his own band, called Dumpstaphunk, has played with The Stones and Don Henley, and is part of the Neville dynasty. 

His uncles Art, Charles and Cyril were collectively known as The Neville Brothers, a seminal band who blended funk, soul and R&B while Art and Cyril also members of funk legends The Meters band who imbued the musical spirit of New Orleans. Ivan’s father Aaron was a balladeer and stylist, so a rich musical history runs through his blood. As does the love of New Orleans and the sound of Louisiana. On this solo album Greatest Place On Earth is his hip shaking, hollering tribute to the carnival atmosphere of ‘The Big Easy’, the attitude of this album to make you feel better, get you smiling and dancing to the rhythms of Dance Music Love and Hey (All Together), which features Michael McDonald, Bonnie Raitt and more on vocals. 

The ballads such as Touch My Soul and Blessed are hair raising, the latter using electronic drums, that were inspired by Sly & The Family Stone, Neville confirming they were a big influence on his songwriting. With his family linage, his history, his day job and his background as part of the fertile NOLA scene, Ivan Neville is a veteran with a fire that still burns strongly. 8/10

Saint Deamon – League Of The Serpent (AFM Records)

I’ve been a fan of Swedish power metal band Saint Deamon since their 2008 debut album, so after two records and no sign of them I sort of gave up that they were ever coming back, another quality band lost to the mist of popularity and changing times. 

However in 2019 they made their comeback with Ghost, the core line up of vocalist Jan-Thore Grefstad, guitarist Toya Johansson and bass player Nobby Noberg still intact. The old spark was still there and Ghost impressed, thankfully though they have managed to stick around a bit longer and record this fourth album. League Of The Serpent features new drummer Alfred Fridhagen but the songwriting is still the same high quality melodic power metal that first drew me to In Shadows Lost From The Brave back in 2008. 

With a lot of experience but you’d assume still a lot to prove due to a 10 year layoff, League Of The Serpent is about establishing Saint Deamon for who they are, rather than reminding the metal public who they are. Songs such as Lord Of The Night have a renewed vigour to them, the use of keys restrained but effective as A Lie To Be Undone is inspired by both prog rock and AOR, weaving in and out of emotional chorus hooks, acoustic guitar passages and euphoric riffing. It’s one of my favourites on the record but it’s a tough choice as this fourth album feels like their debut. 

The band themselves confirming everything here was written and recorded fresh, with orchestrations dense on the classic power metal sounding Gates Of Paradise, Raise Hell at the heavier end, while the opener At Break Of Dawn is swashbuckling nautical metal, and there’s one or two slower ballad moments to add difference. The band have called this a ‘greatest hits’ and that rings true as League Of The Serpent is Saint Deamon at their best. 9/10

Magnus Rosén Band – It’s Time To Rock The World Again (X World / Sound Pollution)

Covers albums… They can usually either incite excitement or contempt, most the latter but few the former, when new material is mixed with covers then you have to separate both and analyse them differently. So to the new album from the former Hammerfall bassist Magnus Rosén, he has formed Magnus Rosén Band, finding a glut of famous voices including Tony Martin, Chitral Somapala plus lots of musicians from around the world to add their talents. 

The original songs are probably the best here, though you can hear the influences as The World And Times sounding like the funk rock Extreme, Glitter And Blood like Scorpions. With Circus they move into pop rocker while Terminator is a bass instrumental workout ala Primus. Paperplane is a nostalgic throwback while Sign Of The Times is funkier and Dressed To Kill sounding like Kiss, probably deliberately. 

Then we get to the covers and they aren’t really needed, Something (The Beatles), Street Fighting Man (Rolling Stones), The Winner Takes It All (ABBA) and Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers) are all pretty perfunctory, while including a version of Hearts On Fire by his former band seems almost rude (especially when you didn’t write it). Was impressed by this record, not really, the covers are all a bit easy and obvious, and the originals are good but could do with perhaps being an EP by themselves. 5/10