Reviews: Whom Gods Destroy, Scott Stapp, Dragonforce, Wasted Death (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Whom Gods Destroy - Insanium (InsideOut Records)

Keyboardist Derek Sherinian and guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal were core members of prog metal supergroup Sons Of Apollo alongside Jeff Scott Soto, Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy. SOA's second album proved to be their last with Portnoy playing in numerous bands and now back in the Dream Theater mothership, Sheehan on tour with Mr Big one last time and Soto singing for anyone who wants him. 

It left Thal and Sherinian looking for another set of collaborators, they found Dino Jelusick not long after he left Frontiers and started to write songs, keeping the musical synergy they established with Sons Of Apollo but experimenting a bit further to see where it took them. After Dino joined they added bassist Yas Nomura and drummer Bruno Valverde and by June 2023 their debut was complete. 

It continues the legacy of Sons Of Apollo but under a new name of Whom Gods Destroy, all the players are virtuoso, that rhythm section is especially impressive, Yas and Bruno having a chemistry that is unbeatable even when they're playing something slower and more deliberate like bonus track Requiem or The Decision. 

The basslines are thick and insistent, grooving on the palm muted Over Again, while on the first track In The Name Of War, Valverde lays down some technical beats, his feel of the kit is incredible. Of course the record is driven by Sherinian's keys and Thal's guitars, they are the melodic part of this band, making The Decision sound like the Dream Theater of Falling To Infinity the one record where Sherinian played with them. 

It's got a passionate chorus built around exquisite playing where Thal and Sherinian weave in and out of each other in the fantastic middle solo section before the riffs get heavier on Crucifier or Crawl which could be my favourite track here, due to how well it shows off Jelusick's incredible vocals. 

As does Find My Way Back, I've said in the past how good Dino's voice is and while he has a lot of similarities to JSS, he brings his own style to the songs, keeping it the same but different. I could break down every song here but it's a prog metal album from some of the best musicians out there, so yes they are a natural successor to Sons Of Apollo, but Whom Gods Destroy make their own indelible mark. 9/10

Scott Stapp - Higher Power (Napalm Records)

If you've been on the internet in the last year you'll have heard Scott Stapp's unmistakable voice. The songs he sang with Creed are all over Tik-Tok and Instagram, reactivating the interest in the band even probably leading to their reformation. Stapp also has a solo career which has been incredibly successful his last was in 2019, but Higher Power ramps up his previous record with some high quality performances and song writing. 

Alongside those incredible vocals is the scintillating virtuoso playing of Yiannis Papadopoulos, a long time member of Stapp's band, he's an award winning player and peels off solo after solo here shredding up a storm similar to one Mr Tremonti on Quicksand especially. There's also some guests spots from the always fantastic Dorothy and Grammy winning country songwriter Steve McEwan. 

Massive riffs come from the off as the title track is some darkly heavy metal, down tuned and punishing from the guitars, though with an undercurrent of synths and Stapp unleashing those vocals for the first time on a song about rediscovering yourself. The info around this album tells me that the songs traverse loss, frustration, betrayal and near defeat, Stapp always using his own life and the world around him to influence his emotive and inspiring lyrics. 

The heaviness continues on Deadman's Trigger, but there's obligatory ballads with introspection coming on If These Walls Could Talk, which is a ballad with rocker Dorothy, that smoky country sound that is all over Dorothy's music brought here too as they are on You're Not Alone the co-write from McEwan adding a lot of acoustic Americana. So that's metal, country, rock all covered, but Stapp doesn't stop there Black Butterfly adding electronics. 

Due to Stapp's vocals being the way they are, it's a little ballad heavy but there's a lot of variation climaxing in the beautiful Weight Of The World. It's a tribute to Stapp's faith but without being preachy, it's an album that puts the positive power of belief through some radio friendly modern metal and balladry. 8/10

Dragonforce - Warp Speed Warriors (Napalm Records)

What I’ve been so struck by with all the Dragonforce albums since Marc Hudon joined on vocals is how they’ve been able to transition those extreme power metal guitar workouts, so many will recognise from Through The Fire And The Flames, Valley Of The Damned and My Spirit Will Go On, into 4 or 5 minutes rather than the 7-8 minutes of their first few albums. 

Take for instance Killer Queen, Burning Heart and Pixel Prison both around 6 minutes, both feature light speed guitar workouts from Herman Li and Sam Totman, maybe it’s the lack of their keyboard player but as they have leaned more heavily into videogame lore, Dragonforce have managed to make their songs punchier but still make shred heads we themselves. 

Anyway with that musing out of the way it's on to the newest album from Dragonforce, Warp Speed Riders, another nine-ish tracks of extreme power metal led musically by the founding guitarists alongside screamer Hudson, inhuman drum machine Gee Anzalone and bassist Alicia Vigil, where styles clash, videogame music blurs with triumphant power metal, synthwave gets some shredding solos and there’s even a Taylor Swift cover. 

In their most recent years, the band have embraced their online ‘meme/viral’ etc presence to increase their reach to listeners. Herman Li especially has a Twitch channel where those who perhaps know just that one song will be welcomed into the weird world of Dragonforce and the inviting style of nerd metal. I’ve been on the ride since the beginning and Warp Speed Riders is up there with their best releases. 

From the blistering Astro Warrior Anthem into the anthemic Power Of The Triforce, inspired by The Legend Of Zelda videogames, we get the happiest song ever written about Warhammer 40K on Space Marine Corp and the Eighties-tastic Doomsday Party which you’ll need you RayBan Wayfarer’s for, just listen to the electronic drums. So let’s address the elephant in the room, yes, there is a Taylor Swift cover, the tongue twisting Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version) (Dragonforce’s Version), which speeds up the Global Megastar’s song in the proper Dragonforce way, again appealing to their internet fanbase brilliantly. 

As well as Ms Swift there are four bonus tracks, an instrumental version of Power Of The Triforce. Then a plethora of guests including Amaranthe’s Elize Ryd on Doomsday Party, which I imagine will be the version played on their up-coming co-headline tour. Burning Heart gains Alissa White-Gluz on screaming/singing while Astro Warrior Anthem has both Matthew K Heafy of Trivium on vocals and Nita Strauss shredding up a storm. They’re similar to the originals just with some extra seasoning to what is another brilliant power metal feast from Dragonforce. 9/10

Wasted Death - Season Of Evil (APF Records) [Matt Bladen]

Like things that go bump in the night, seeing your first video nasty or the Conservative Party, true horror never really goes away.

Wasted Death lean on this, with three previous EP’s they have delivered horrific tales of zombification, hammered into your synapses with thrash, hardcore, grindcore and d-beat riffs that sound like they were played on a rusty chainsaw rather than a guitar. Full throttle assaults on the ears intended to draw blood by the bucket, Wasted Death are the sort of band Slayer wish they were, or at least the sort that Jeff and Lombardo pictured. 

Signed to APF, they’ve found a home for their terrifying tirades and on Season Of Evil they arrive fully transformed and flesh devouring. Comprising Charlie Davis of Beggar on vocals and I assume a broken bass due to the amount of fuzz it produces, Wayne Adams of Big Lad on six string assault and the raw production and Tom Brewins of USA Nails on percussion battery, Season Of Evil is visceral music for despicable people. 

Imagine a universe where Converge and High On Fire played Slayer covers and watched endless Dario Argento flicks and you’d be in the right graveyard. Speaking of Argento, the band have released a mini movie to accompany the album, a low budget zombie flick that also features John and Scott from Green Lung and embodies the spirit of what Wasted Death are all about. 

Scott Black of Green Lung appears a couple of times on the record adding the Hanneman dive bombs as the only semblance of ‘melody’ while Wasted Death see fit to record a record as close to In Battle There Is No Law as possible. Not that this is a negative thing as there’s brilliance in the nastiness; NOLA grooves fed through abrasive, gnashing powerviolence, what’s not to love? 9/10