Winger - Seven (Frontiers Music Srl) [Matt Bladen]
When I looked at the PR for this album I was shocked and appalled to see that Multi-platinum selling but, often overlooked for how good they actually are, melodic rock band Winger are SUPPORTING joke band Steel Panther on their upcoming UK tour. That is a travesty.
Winger for my money are one of the best bands to come out of the 80's, having had some mega hits back in the days of Sunset Strip they transitioned into a harder, heavier and grungier sound as the years wore on balancing both styles on their latter albums, while touching on prog too. They then split only to reform in 2006, getting back on track with Karma but really hitting their stride again with Better Days Comin' in 2014, but now in 2023 the four original members Kip Winger (vocals/bass) Reb Beach (guitar), Rod Morgenstein (drums), Paul Taylor (keys/guitars) and long time guitarist John Roth return with another record called Seven.
It's another cracking Winger record, opening with the grungy Proud Desperado, choppy guitars and a heavy stride gets you rocking as the 80's melodic rock bleeds back in on Heaven's Falling and Tears Of Blood, brings some Zeppelinisms with the Winger sound. Just these three songs will convince you how good this record is; Kip's vocals are hued and honeyed, grittier than they were back in the day (a bit John Payne) his bass the rhythmic anchor while the orchestrations (which I assume are also him) are pristine and cinematic when used.
Obviously he is the namesake but this is group of veterans who have appeared on nearly every album, Taylor actually makes his return to the recording on Seven, so lock in brilliantly together making even the simplest tracks such as Voodoo Fire sound complicated, the drumming of Morgenstein and flashes of organ from Taylor underneath the killer guitar playing of Reb Beach and Jon Roth for dirty riffs and passionate solos. Even on the ballads, Broken Glass sounds more like the current Scandi AOR scene than a leftover from the Seventeen days.
I love this record. I'll even forgive the Bon Jovi-like It's Okay because it's followed by the speedy rocker Stick The Knife In And Twist. Bands like Winger, Mr Big, Extreme and even the UK's Thunder and Little Angels who all came as the glam/hair/sunset strip scene was fading are some of the most creative and Winger show this again with Seven the "hair band Dream Theater" (Kip's description) should get the recognition they deserve. 9/10
Hammerfall - Crimson Thunder (20th Anniversary Edition) (Nuclear Blast) [Matt Bladen]
Cast your mind back to 2002, Nu-Metal ruled the roast in terms of rock and metal airwaves, the NWOAHM was emerging from metalcore, the classic/power metal scene seemed all but dead but over in Sweden the Templars Of Steel in Hammerfall stayed true to the cause with their fourth album Crimson Thunder.
Having already been an active band for 10 years at this point it they weren't going to go down the route of trying to make their music popular, producing what is probably their most bombastic record to date. The album itself has all but been eclipsed outside of the power metal circles by one song (more on that later) but looking back on this 20th Anniversary release, it's great to reminded how good Crimson Thunder is as a record. I will say I didn't really get into Hammerfall until the live album One Crimson Night, and the subsequen studio album Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken, but the live record was recorded on the Crimson Glory tour in their native Sweden so it gave enough of an impression to win me over fully and go backwards to this record and their three others. This made me a huge fan, of the band and weirdly I only saw them for the first time around this time last year supporting Helloween.
However on to the record and it opens well with the chugging Riders On The Storm, features a big ballad in Dreams Come True, two instrumental interludes, a cover of classic metal legends Chastain and at least three tracks that are regularly featured in their live set to this day. It feels like Crimson Thunder was their breakthrough record, or at least the record that started their breakthrough, defining where they would go in the subsequent 20 years. It also features Hearts On Fire, the song now forever associated with Hammerfall, the theme of the Swedish Olympic Curling team, and the one song that has transcended beyond the power metal niche, also proving quite controversial at the time with fans of more extreme styles.
If you've heard the album, this version doesn't do anything different, it's not a remix or remaster so you may only be interested in the additional tracks all of which are demo/unrefined versions that show you the process behind this albums creation, which is interesting for superfans but that's about it. Within 4 years of this album classic/power metal was back in with a vengeance and I'll go on record as saying that Crimson Thunder was the album that spearheaded that resurgence. 8/10
Deathstars - Everything Destroys You (Nuclear Blast) [James Jackson]
Despite the rather grim and frequently pessimistic lyrical nature of Deathstars’ songs, I’ve often found the songs to be catchy, with more than enough hooks to keep your head bobbing and choruses that you soon find yourself singing along to, this month sees the release of their new album and it’s been on repeat for the last few days.
Everything Destroys You is the band’s fifth album and whilst there are no surprises to anyone that has listened to the band before, this is a blend of Goth Rock and Industrial Metal that perfectly suits the tone lyrically and visually; its more of the same and as the adage goes “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and it certainly ain’t broke. I’ve quite often got bored of bands that churn out the same songs album after album but there’s enough going on within each Deathstars song to keep it interesting, to keep me listening and the more you listen to it the more you actually hear, synth overlays the guitar riffs as underlying melodies become more prominent while the lyrics take on more meaning.
Opening track This Is.. opens with a sinister synth before evolving into a rock riff filled with a great groove before evolving once more into something straight from the Rammstein book of fist pumping anthems, This Is.. is a solid start to the album and it’s full steam ahead from there, Midnight Party carries on the momentum as does Anti All before title track Everything Destroys You slows it down a touch, it’s an easy album to listen to; nothing stands out in the wrong way, just as there isn’t a track that I can single out as being far better than the rest, it’s a good album, one that you can put on and just enjoy. And it’s one of very few albums that I’ve had the opportunity to listen to and review lately that I’ve not skipped a single song.
If you’re a fan of the band then this is obviously what you’ve been waiting for and you won’t be disappointed, I’ve been listening to a similar band called Hell Boulevard and can recommend them if the Goth Rock style found on Everything Destroys You floats your boat. 8/10
Unchosen Ones - Sorrow Turns To Dust (Self Released) [James Jackson]
One of the things about power metal that I’ve never really liked is the vocal style, that’s often reaching for higher notes, always reminding me of 80’s radio rock, I imagine the vocalist to be wearing a lacy shirt with half of the buttons left undone, hair being teased by a wind machine as he croons to the camera, more than likely surrounded by ridiculously beautiful women. Obviously it’s jealousy but it just doesn’t work for me, instrumentally I’m quite into it, though admittedly some of it I find to be a bit show offish; if you’ve played Guitar Hero and are as shit as I am at it you’ll know what I mean.
There’s a very traditional heavy metal style to some of the songs on Unchosen One’s album Sorrow Turns To Dust, lyrically there’s a sense of futuristic apocalypse; tracks like the opener Far Beyond The Thunderdome are a seemingly obvious nod to the movies which may well have been devoured for inspiration, the barren or Ashen Wasteland (track 9) of Mad Max acting as a muse. The World Is Ours To Take has one of my favourite lyrics on the album in the form of “Many claim to be divine, and maggots heed their call”.
The songs are well written, despite the fact that I’m not a fan of the clean vocals, I’m a fan of the Metalcore approach to vocals, clean and guttural where it suits, it does work with the music accompaniment here. Accursed Moon, fifth track on the album is in rather of an odd position for me, it’s instrumental, all keys and choral vocal arrangements and it could’ve easily built into crescendo before melting into the next track, it doesn’t however, so therefore stalls the album midway in my opinion.
The following tracks are all much in the same vein as those before it, though closing track True Warrior is probably the closest thing that Unchosen Ones come to a ballad, as it takes the tempo down a few notches and is far more emotive in its presentation. Each song is quite catchy in a way, I’m pretty sure that if I were to listen to it a bit more intently then I’d soon be singing along with it, there are some nice hooks and it’s all done pretty well; however I don’t think that it’s something I will be playing again. 5/10
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