Review: Magnum (Simon Black)

Magnum - Live At KK's Steel Mill (Steamhammer / SPV)

Magnum holds a very special place in my blackened heart, because they were one of the first Hard Rock acts I listened to when I was a kid, and really were my gateway into this whole hard and heavy genre. I simply would not be sitting here writing this thirty-five plus years later had not a friend’s copy of On A Storyteller’s Night not blown my recently dropped balls off back in the 1980’s. I’ve followed them ever since, have physical copies of every release, have been there for the live shows most years, chatted with them occasionally and genuinely consider myself lucky to have had that opportunity. So, this release was always going to be a tough one to review…

Recorded on 10th December 2022, this was what sadly became Magnum’s final live gig. I had seen their penultimate show a mere three days earlier in Cardiff, had the chance to interview Bob Catley and say hello to Tony Clarkin in the corridor, but like everyone else I expected the magic to simply just carry on and come round again the following year for the next album and tour, because like a good wine they just kept getting better with age.

That album did indeed rock up the following January (the superlative Here Comes The Rain), but Tony sadly passed away a few days before it was released and moved on to the great gig in the sky. Now, I am well aware that Magnum are playing some tribute shows in a few weeks’ time around the UK, and I’m not sure how I feel about that, because without Tony ripping the ceiling off with his utterly unique and distinctive playing style, it isn’t Magnum - for me at least, which is why I felt that I didn’t want to be going when they were announced.

People like me who always shell out for the enhanced editions of the studio albums will have this material already, as there’s a full DVD of this show included on that version, but since the numbers of those pressed were always limited and rightly the surviving members of Magnum felt that everyone should have the opportunity to hear this show. It’s a fantastic set list, and with sixteen songs in there is value for money. With twenty-three studio albums to draw from they always resisted the temptation that most bands of their longevity make of just going through the motions with a couple of new songs getting aired each tour and playing it safe with their greatest hits for the remainder. 

Although Magnum included a couple of tracks from the then current album The Monster Roars (another absolute belter by the way) the remainder of the set balances their extensive discography very well. Yes, we all love it when our long-term favourites get an airing, but it was always refreshing when Clarkin dug out less well-known songs which may not have been played live when the studio album that spawned them was current. This is one of the reasons I always made the effort to try and catch the show every year, because they always kept us on our toes.

The sound quality has been much enhanced from the DVD version as well, which was a bit rough and ready, and the band are on excellent form, but then they always were. At this point Tony and Bob were celebrating fifty years of working together, and despite the fact that the line up had some newer (if not necessarily younger) blood in it, with Lee Morris, Dennis Ward and the quite fantastic Rick Benton were breathing huge amounts of new life into Magnum. It showed in the studio releases, and it definitely drips from the live performance which oozes the mutual love and respect flowing between the band and the audience. Magnum shows were always special, but with an almost hometown Wolverhampton show always closing the tour there is always an extra bit of frisson in the air, and this recording captures it perfectly.

It has also reminded me of what I have been missing, which is that wonderful feeling of standing in the audience hearing Clarkin’s fantastic songs played live. So, I find myself revisiting and regretting my decision to not go to one of the upcoming tribute shows, now long since sold out. In the meantime, this gets a resounding full marks from me. Thanks for all the fantastic memories, Tony. 10/10

Reviews: Dominum, Final Siege, Lord Agheros, Mors Atra (Matt Bladen & Liam Williams)

Dominum - The Dead Don't Die (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]

Zombie metal, like pirate metal, dwarf metal etc etc is metal with a gimmick, usually a good gimmick but one that always has the potential to get really old, really fast. Dominum are the first purveyors of 'Zombie Metal' their debut album only being released 10 months ago. They've played many high profile shows since then but the creative brain of bandleader Dr. Dead doesn't cease and they now have their second record ready to go.

So does The Dead Don't Die do anything different to their debut Hey Living People? Well they've leaned more into the horror influence, making for a darker, more sinister style of metal that shifts from power into more classic 'heavy' metal realms. That being said they still use synths/orchestrations, the real heaviness arriving with the pulsing One Of Us while the title track is a twisted lullaby that has a guest appearance from Dominum's tour mates Feuerschwanz's Ben Metzner. Though Killed By Life is much more like Feuerschwanz's style of folk metal.

There's more of epic feel on this record, more maturity but still some tongue in cheek lyrics, including a cover of Scorpions Rock You Like A Hurricane. Dominum seem like they have discovered what works for them as a band, if you want to hear their progression then check out the bonus live disc from Graspop 2024. The Dead Don't Die, they just get stronger on album number two. 8/10

Final Siege – Nuclear Doom State (Wormholedeath) [Liam Williams]

Happy new year to one and all, I hope you all had a very metal Christmas! My first review of the year is for the second album Nuclear Doom State from New York based death/thrash metal band Final Siege. This is a very beefy serving of some great thrash songs with a strong mix of death metal elements to spice things up a bit.

We start off with a short intro track The Day After... This song starts with some eerie clean guitar with a lead guitar joining in over the sound of total warfare. Air Raid sirens, guns being fired, bombs going off, total chaos. A fitting start for what’s to come. Next up is W.A.R. and this track really kicks things off. Nice thrashy intro which leads into the main riff. There’s a short guitar solo before the main riff comes back in. The bridge section has a nice chuggy guitar part with a chorus effect leading into the next guitar solo which begins with some cool divebombs. After the solo the guitars pick up speed and the rest of the band join back in for the outro of the song.

Then we get to the title track, Nuclear Doom State. Another air raid siren and a little bit of duel guitars lead into more chaotic thrash fun. This track features not 1, not 2, not even 3... But 4 guitar solos which progressively get longer and more flashy, with the last being my favourite. It also leads into the outro which slowly fades out. I do think the vocals are slightly weaker in this track but the rest of the band more than make up for it. 

We then come to my favourite track on the album, Psychological Maceration. Really cool intro, nice lead guitar leading into the first verse. From then on the guitars chug along nicely with the drumming until we get to the chorus which is where things get really fast and epic sounding. This repeats for a second time before we come to a more almost progressive sounding bridge section which sounds pretty good. Things then speed up again for the outro and then we reach the end of the song.

Track 5 is An Insatiable Lust For Violence. This one has a dirty dissonant sounding sludgy intro, more great drumming and a nice build-up to the first verse. This is another song where I felt like the vocals were a bit weaker to other tracks on the album but it’s still a good song. There’s a couple of guitar solos, with the second being a lot better than the first. There’s a nice blastbeats section after the second solo and then the song erupts into total chaos for the outro, very epic! 

Primordial Combat is up next and this is another absolute banger of a track. It begins with a drum intro and some guitars slowly creeping in. There’s a nice lead guitar part with tremolo picking, more epic blastbeats while the guitars chug along and some great vocals which fit pretty well with this track. We then come to the final track on the album, Taxed To Death. This track is a great one to end the album on. It keeps changing up throughout the song which keeps things interesting. There’s a nice dirty guitar solo for the outro, bringing the album to a close.

This is a great album. It’s a little rough in some parts with the mixing, I think some of the guitar solos could have been improved on and as I mentioned, there’s a couple of tracks where the vocals don’t quite hit the mark for me, but apart from all that, it’s a solid listen! Some parts are very old school thrash while other parts are proper over the top, crazy death metal with other elements sprinkled in throughout, like little bits of sludge, prog and groove metal. This was a fun album to start the new year off with a bang! 9/10

Lord Agheros - Anhedonia (My Kingdom Music) [Matt Bladen]

Gerassimos Evangelou is Lord Agheros, Lord Agheros is Gerassimos Evangelou, they are one and the same, a single person project which features all compositions/performance's done by the Gerassimos. Because he is a solo artist it means that an album such as Anhedonia will never really be stuck in one genre for too long, fearlessly combining multiple styles for a huge cinematic effect. Be it acoustics, operatic sopranos vocals, a string section and a wind section, these tracks are all epic, noted by long run times and dense compositions. 

Lord Agheros comes from the more atmospheric and avant-garde style of black metal favoured by Ihsahn on his solo project, alongside the gothic proclivities of Wolves In The Throne Room and Moonspell. This new album broadens the style more so than before with fearsome blasts of black metal counterpointed and coddled by symphonic backing, ambient sections, classical/operatic moments and world music influences (Can I hear a digeridoo?) 

There's plenty to get your head around each track unfolds like it's own storyline, taking you through the mind of it's creator. It's a record that needs repeated plays to fully understand and while many may not quite understand what's happening at first, when you listen to it a couple of times you understand that Lord Agheros' takes the pioneering spirit of black metal and brings it to some sprawling musical brilliance.

Not your average extreme metal album but one that is highly impressive. 8/10

Mors Atra - Eternal Rest (Self Released) [Liam Williams]

Back for more! And this time we have a serving from Deathcore group Mors Atra with their new album Eternal Rest. This review is going to be a bit short because as much as I do like most of this album, I really struggle thinking of things to say when reviewing heavier stuff like this and I don’t want to start getting too repetitive with my reviews.

This album is quite a long one, with 13 tracks in total and lasting just under 50 minutes. There are 3 interlude tracks including the intro. The first 2 are quite symphonic and have a haunting vibe, but the third is surprisingly quite upbeat and a little bit funky sounding which was a bit odd but I did enjoy it more than the previous 2, purely because I was expecting it to be exactly like the others. 

I can appreciate it when bands and artists throw a curveball like this in out of nowhere, especially when it’s done well like this example. I just wish they could have experimented like this a bit more. The first proper song is the albums title track and to be honest, I really didn’t like this song. It starts off with just an absolutely unbearable and incomprehensible amount of noise and I had no idea what was going on from the start of the track until the end.

However, the rest of the album is actually really good. Very fast and aggressive throughout most of the run time with hardly any moments of slowing down or getting boring. There was some parts that got really chaotic and a little bit messy sounding but nowhere near as bad as the title track. There’s quite a few standout moments which I really found myself enjoying, like for example; a nice panned guitars section before the bridge of Purgatorium. 

The doom metal sounding intro of No Rest For The Wicked and the panned whispers leading into the first verse of the final track The End. The further I got into the album the more I was enjoying it. It’s very heavy, great drumming, great guitar playing, some symphonic death metal parts and really good screaming vocals for the most part. Although there were a couple of instances of long low EEEEEEEEEEEs which gave me Chris Barnes related PTSD flashbacks, so just adding that in here as a warning.

Overall, like I said, it’s pretty good generally, some parts do sound a bit too messy (especially the title track) but if you like your heavier chaotic stuff then I’m sure you’ll like this. Great playing from the band, and mostly great vocals from the vocalist! 8/10

Review: Wastefall, Stormcast, Scarflood, Empty Mirror (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Wastefall - Soulrain 21 (SleaszyRider Records)

Originally released in 2004, the second album by Greek prog metal band Wastefall, Soulrain 21 has now been remastered by Yannis Manopoulos (Thelemite) and re-released as a 20 year anniversary version. Led in 2024 by Domenik Papaemmanouil (vocals/guitars/keys) after they went on hiatus in 2008, they reformed in 2013 with a new line up.

They are now revisiting this album sees them again delving into 21 Students who lost their lives in worst car accident in Greece. Domenik is now forging his own path looking for live allies to get Wastefall back on the stage but obviously this album has the line up from the time.

Don't let the Nu-Metal influences that come through on Soulrain (record scratches) and Stunned To The World put you off, Wastefall are a prog metal band just using the sounds of the time time to make their prog contemporary, shifting riffs, chugging rhythms and some Russell Allen-like vocals come on Stunned To The World, mirroring what many of the big prog players were doing around this time.

Empty Haven adds some Nevermore melodicism as it shifts towards church organ driven Lullaby For The Gods something that's got some of those early 2000's synths sounds, the drama brought back on the building Lesser. This is a very musically complex, emotionally dense record, written about a horrific incident, it's a concept record but also a tribute this who lost their lives done with some excellent prog metal fans of Dream Theater, Symphony X, Shadow Gallery or Nevermore will lap up.

Soulrain 21 deserves revisiting as it's an excellent prog metal record, made better with the modern remaster, if Wastefall are using this re-release to highlight where they're going in 2025 then I'll be waiting in anticipation. 9/10

Stormcast - Tremors In The Ether (Self Released)

Cypriot/UK based melodeath band Stormcast were formed in Nicosia in 2007 and have been steadily building a fanbase and recording since then. They didn't release a debut until 2014 after playing MetalDays on 2013 then rapidly followed it up in 2018 after some line up changes. Now led by Mike Angastiniotis (vocals/guitars) they entered and won the 2019 Brighton Metal To The Masses.

So with all that behind them they have set about releasing their third album Tremors In The Ether, Mike refers to it as their most mature album yet and that's obvious from Gods From A Stranger Land which has some orchestral swells and haunting female vocals while Kings Of The Everlost is a total blitz at the end, full of shifting proggy rhythms and Gojira-like fret slides. They have embrace modernity too though, with the synths that build through the title track.

Mike's vocals are brilliant, growled and clean while his guitar playing, alongside Diogo Jones is similar to the Heafy/Beaulieu of Trivium on Oceans, intricate and muscular hand in hand it's got influences from melodeath, metalcore and Swedish scene, the guitar duo backed by Panayiotis Chrysostomides' bass as Jack Wrench provides the session drums, keeping a double kicking percussive part even on the lighter moments of Collective Incompetence.

Tremors In The Ether is definitely a mature record from Stormcast, it's also their best record, modern, meaty and brimming with technical prowess, Stormcast show the full spectrum of their talent with this third studio album. 8/10

Scarflood - Scarflood (Self Released)

Only three years in existence, Rethymo based band Scarflood know their way around a riff and on their debut album there's plenty of them for those of you that love your metal with an alternative edge then you'll be banging your head to tracks such as The Wrongdoer and Safer On The Cross quite readily.

Influenced by bands such as Chevelle, 10 Years, Sevendust and Godsmack, they are an alt metal band driven by the thick rhythm section of bassist George Kourakis and drummer Antonis Petridis, they bring some proggy moments to Reset Reality shifting the pace as they bring syrup grunge to Shadows Subside.

Nick Marinakis punches out the guitar riffs and provides the rough vocals too, the AIC acoustics of Dirt Road sit comfortably in the middle of the record. Antonis Pk gives the melodic leads and arpeggios on the choppy Gale and the tough Bones Don't Lie. A relatively new band on the scene, Scarflood impress with their debut. Brash but emotive alt metal from Crete. 7/10

Empty Mirror - Deus Profanus (Self Released)

Something a bit more gothic now from Greece's capital. Athens band Empty Mirror have been through the ringer a few times since forming in 2020. The line up has changed a few times since they first arrived but they have released and EP (Echoes Of Eternity) in 2022 and have now followed it up with Deus Profanus which is touted a debut album but at 6 tracks and 30 minutes I'd consider it to be EP but hey let's get into it anyway.

Featuring some heart tugging violin from Johanna Von Der Vögelweide of Feuerschwanz, Empty Mirror also features two vocalists (male and female), two guitarists, a rhythm section and a keyboardist, it sounds big moody and evocative, the pouring rain and spoken word brings you into the record Luminous Child starting the record properly with some dramatic goth metal, soaring soprano vocals against lower croons/growls.

For the rest of the record not much changes, the metallic elements sit in harmony with the classical piano and acoustic moments. It's gothic symphonic metal that was so popular in the late 90's and Empty Mirror is a great example of it. 7/10

Reviews: Status Quo, Epitaph, Gudger, Altareth (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Status Quo - Driving To Glory (Cherry Red Records)

Status Quo are one of the longest tenured, endearing rock bands inn the UK rock scene. They're perennial road dogs, having been touring for more than 50's and while it seems they may be finally be hanging up their Telecasters and White Sneakers, though nothing is ever confirmed in Quoland until Francis Rossi says so, there's still plenty of gold to mine in their extensive back catalogue.

Driving To Glory presents rare tracks from the late 1990's and 2000's as the Quo balanced between being a nostalgia act and one with plenty of creative ideas. Now these tracks sound like Quo, there's no surprises, it's four on the floor 12 bar blues always in search of that fourth chord but as they are mainly CD singles, soundtracks, or editions of albums only available in one country, collectors and superfans will have them in one place, remastered by Mike Paxman with co-operation of the band.

Picks of the record include the slightly proggy Fighting With The Pack and the full length version of the nostalgic but also slightly sarcastic Famous In The Last Century with a new versions of classic Whatever You Want and Don't Waste My Time, Driving To Glory is just for fans but speaks volumes about the the longevity of Status Quo as a band. 7/10

Epitaph - Path To Oblivion (My Kingdom Music)

Italian doom that begins with some dripping water, ghostly voices and solitary piano? Yeah count me in. Taking cures from Italian horror movies and gothic doom, it's a bit like Cathedral writing the soundtrack for Dario Argento flick, similar occult trappings to the likes of Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Trouble, Saint Vitus and Cathedral.

It's their first album to feature Ricky Dal Pane behind the mic, a brilliant addition to the band as his powerful vocal has the histrionic style of Bobby Liebling or Leif Edling. He brings a theatrical sound to the record, adding touches of Ronnie James Dio on Condemned To Flesh a track that features some bristling synths under the classic heavy metal riffs.

With Nameless Demon they showcase their doom credentials with an 8 minute gloomy slow burner, the choirs and organs brought in for the interlude of She's Born In Blasphemy before Epitaph adds more grunt to Voices Behind The Wall.

Ok Path Of Oblivion has some clichés to it, in the atmospheric samples especially but if Heaven And Hell/Dio fronted Sabbath was your favourite era then you'll likely love Epitaph's third full length. 8/10

Gudger - Gudger III (Self Released)

Aaron Eddleblute and his brother Matt come from Ohio guitar royalty, their father Derek Eddleblute are all worshippers of the riff, playing blues influenced heavy rock that moves through stoner, doom and classic metal too.

Matt no longer plays in the band but Aaron and his father still rock like there's no tomorrow a familial bond linked but heavy music, Justin Kaplan joining them to add to the muscular heavy rock influenced by classic rock bands, stoner, doom and more.

Gudger III brings to mind The Sword, tracks such as the pacey Dust And Shadow having the thrust of the Texas band while Fever Dream is prime Sabbath Worship. Derek's riffs bring a bit of the blues to Peaks And Valleys and while Dig Deep increases their speed, Live It Down is a massive doomster.

Aaron's vocals have that soulful grit you want from riff slinging music such as this. Taking inspiration from The Sword but also bands like Alter Bridge (Vicious Cycle), Gudger don't like to pigeonhole themselves, they just play riffs and play them well. 8/10

Altareth - Passage: The Welfare Sessions (Self Released)

The Swedes know doom, I mean they know most musical genres but they have a real affinity to doom. One of the hottest acts in the Swedish doom scene is Altareth, a five piece who play the traditional style of doom that's all heavy fuzz, distorted vocals and elongated jams. Think Sleep, Electric Wizard as well as Candlemas and Monolord.

Recorded at Welfare Studios, Passage is a record that is totally live, recorded with the five piece on unison, little added except for the keys on Archetypes, this is punch in the guts heavy doom with stoner tendencies, I'd expect this to be how Altareth managed to get signed to Magnetic Eye Records but now with an independent release they're able to show their rawer, rougher side a bit more.

Captured in situ, Passage will leave you're ears ringing for days after that finally fuzzy chord is played. 7/10