The Dead Rock Commandos of Greece come back with their first album since 2019's Great Hallucinations.
Their new album Return From The Point Of No Return takes all the veteran instincts they have accrued from being a band since the 90's and pour them into some of their best music yet.
The four piece of Dino (drums), Andreas (bass), Tolis (guitars) and band leader Argy (vocals) kick out the jams across 8 songs, part Monster Magnet, part Sabbath, part Kyuss, these are hallucinogenic grooves that are buried under a fug of reefer smoke.
Exploratory space rock moments such as Heavy Trippin and the lucid Shipwrecked Powder Monkey are cinematic slow burners that call back to the heyday of Sky Valley. They are counterpointed by driving heavy rock of tracks such as opener Dust.
Those deep, analogue -sounding grooves are delivered with some oscillating synths and Argy's unmistakable vocals or the strutting Uncut where they throw a bit of stink on the riff
With Shallow Grave they full commit to the desert blues before bringing plenty of guitar freakouts on Falling Inside.
The four piece of Dino (drums), Andreas (bass), Tolis (guitars) and band leader Argy (vocals) kick out the jams across 8 songs, part Monster Magnet, part Sabbath, part Kyuss, these are hallucinogenic grooves that are buried under a fug of reefer smoke.
Exploratory space rock moments such as Heavy Trippin and the lucid Shipwrecked Powder Monkey are cinematic slow burners that call back to the heyday of Sky Valley. They are counterpointed by driving heavy rock of tracks such as opener Dust.
Those deep, analogue -sounding grooves are delivered with some oscillating synths and Argy's unmistakable vocals or the strutting Uncut where they throw a bit of stink on the riff
With Shallow Grave they full commit to the desert blues before bringing plenty of guitar freakouts on Falling Inside.
Nightstalker always manage to translate their stage energy into their studio albums, it's music for big groove lovers and each album is a reminder about why they are so loved in their native country and the world at large.
Never compromising, never chasing what's popular, Nightstalker do things their way and they do it loud. 9/10
P.S If you're in Greece or luckily have contacts like me, pick up the new copy of Metal Hammer Greece for a free Nightstalker live album: Live From Technopolis Athens. It's the first ever live release and shows the band on top form in their own country.
Tiktaalika - Gods Of Pangaea (InsideOut Music) [Matt Bladen]
Featuring some immense vocal talent from Daniël de Jongh (Textures), Tommy Rogers (Between The Buried & Me), Rody Walker (Protest The Hero), Vladimir Lalić (Organised Chaos), Haken guitarist Charlie Griffiths rechristens his solo project as Tiktaalika, the name of his first album.
Never compromising, never chasing what's popular, Nightstalker do things their way and they do it loud. 9/10
P.S If you're in Greece or luckily have contacts like me, pick up the new copy of Metal Hammer Greece for a free Nightstalker live album: Live From Technopolis Athens. It's the first ever live release and shows the band on top form in their own country.
Tiktaalika - Gods Of Pangaea (InsideOut Music) [Matt Bladen]
Featuring some immense vocal talent from Daniël de Jongh (Textures), Tommy Rogers (Between The Buried & Me), Rody Walker (Protest The Hero), Vladimir Lalić (Organised Chaos), Haken guitarist Charlie Griffiths rechristens his solo project as Tiktaalika, the name of his first album.
On Gods Of Pangaea he again moves away from the prog metal that he and many of the collaborators are associated with, the band rounded out by drummer Darby Todd (Devin Townsend) and bassist Conner Green (Haken).
Gods Of Pangaea again is inspired by American and European thrash metal with Megadeth and Mercyful Fate the two biggest contributing sounds to the record as there's some Heavy Devy too.
Gods Of Pangaea again is inspired by American and European thrash metal with Megadeth and Mercyful Fate the two biggest contributing sounds to the record as there's some Heavy Devy too.
De Jongh's vocals are very close to the Mr Mustaine so with Give Up The Ghost and the first two tracks, including the multifaceted and complex title track have a huge similarity to Megadeth, the latter also reminding me of epic Maiden.
This album is more song focussed than the previous one, continuing the overarching concept but more focussed on paying worship to the power of the riffs, more directly the power of those famous riff stay have always been so important to Megadeth, Metallica, Judas Priest et al.
This album is more song focussed than the previous one, continuing the overarching concept but more focussed on paying worship to the power of the riffs, more directly the power of those famous riff stay have always been so important to Megadeth, Metallica, Judas Priest et al.
The Forbidden Zone and Mesozoic Mantras features a lots Hevy Devy and modern prog styles, more akin to Griffiths' day job.
Tiktaalika is now an established bands rather than a solo project, let's see if he can take it on the road in the future, until now though Gods Of Pangaea is a killer metal album for fans of Megadeth, Devin Townsend and lovers of the riff. 9/10
Kerberos - Apostle To The Malevolent (Independent Release) [Mark Young]
Sometimes you get a curveball thrown your way. Each month, I ask the boss to send a random selection of music because I feel its one of the best ways to come across hitherto unknown bands who may shoehorn their way into your affections.
Tiktaalika is now an established bands rather than a solo project, let's see if he can take it on the road in the future, until now though Gods Of Pangaea is a killer metal album for fans of Megadeth, Devin Townsend and lovers of the riff. 9/10
Kerberos - Apostle To The Malevolent (Independent Release) [Mark Young]
Sometimes you get a curveball thrown your way. Each month, I ask the boss to send a random selection of music because I feel its one of the best ways to come across hitherto unknown bands who may shoehorn their way into your affections.
Such is the case with Kerberos, and their latest round of symphonic death metal with Apostle To The Malevolent. As a rule (and yes, they are made to be broken) I don’t have a lot of love for this off-shoot so when I pressed play I’ll be honest and say now that I wasn’t expecting much.
Praeludium In H Moli starts by throwing classic shapes and my heart sinks. It seemed to confirm that as a genre, it can be overblown and I thought well its only 5 songs and will be over quickly enough.
Then, Near-Violence Experience boots in with a glorious bit of riffing, all triplets and spitting fire and suddenly it’s a whole new ballgame. Its still overblown, but it’s the right kind. Super-low death vocals come in and suddenly its backed with an angelic voice, set amongst the metal mayhem and we are off, moving from brutality to virtuosity and its breathtaking.
Then, Near-Violence Experience boots in with a glorious bit of riffing, all triplets and spitting fire and suddenly it’s a whole new ballgame. Its still overblown, but it’s the right kind. Super-low death vocals come in and suddenly its backed with an angelic voice, set amongst the metal mayhem and we are off, moving from brutality to virtuosity and its breathtaking.
This is musicianship of the highest order and the only problem I have is trying to give proper credit to the vocalists on here for who does what, The whole track comes in and just scorches your ears. I defy you to listen to this and not smile at it, such is the positive vibe I got from it.
Liar Within continues that high-speed momentum whilst being able to throw more of those incredible guitar lines at you. Each part of this band is operating at 100% capacity in making sure their respective station is doing what it should be doing. Guitars at a 1000mph, yes.
Urgent drumming, yes. Changing vocals, yes and it zips along like you wouldn’t believe. Its heavy, but as clear as a bell which I love. The way they apply the symphonic aspects is top class because they don’t let it get in the way of the riffs, they know that they have to have them in place.
Alpine Sea hits the shore with an opening that is reminiscent of the South Bank Show (those of a vintage may remember it, otherwise Google it kids) but it settles down to offer a spotlight on the stunning operatic vocals of Ai-Ian Metzger or Félicien Burkard (source Bandcamp) before it changes direction and tempo to suit.
One thing doesn’t alter is how good it sounds and a lot of that credit has to go to how they incorporate the Kerberos Choir into the whole picture. None of it is used for effect, every note is meant to be heard where you heard it and it combines to fantastic effect so that even for non-fans, its excellent in its execution.
Final track is Apostle To The Malevolent and the choir is in full voice on this one, bringing in the metal fury accordingly and its 9 minutes of just mind-blowing guitar. It’s the sound of a band that can do both sides, death metal riffs that batter, melody lines that soar and then the symphonic side that supports without sounding out of place.
Final track is Apostle To The Malevolent and the choir is in full voice on this one, bringing in the metal fury accordingly and its 9 minutes of just mind-blowing guitar. It’s the sound of a band that can do both sides, death metal riffs that batter, melody lines that soar and then the symphonic side that supports without sounding out of place.
There are a few bands out there who would kill for some of the guitar work that is on here because frankly the energy that is displayed here leaves a lot of bands in their dust.
Has it changed my mind on Symphonic metal? Well for the most part I would say no, unless there are others who sound like this.
Has it changed my mind on Symphonic metal? Well for the most part I would say no, unless there are others who sound like this.
Kerberos would be the exception, the way that they bend certain genres to their will whilst sounding (at least to me) wholly original is something else. And its also great fun to listen to. 8/10
Anomos - Triumvirate (Self Released) [Mark Young]
Now we head North of the border to sample what’s going on up there. Anomos have stepped up to drop you their latest, Triumvirate for you to get your teeth into. Following on from 2020’s The Kosmokrator, Anomos have built an album that wants to kick you in the teeth.
Dead Awaken is short warning sign that something is coming our way as Oathbreakers lurches into sight with some razor-sharp riffing that continually batters without really leaving a mark on you. Its when they get into the ribs of In Desolation then the needle changes position and its like a different band, fully formed but splitting off at different tangents and tempos.
Anomos - Triumvirate (Self Released) [Mark Young]
Now we head North of the border to sample what’s going on up there. Anomos have stepped up to drop you their latest, Triumvirate for you to get your teeth into. Following on from 2020’s The Kosmokrator, Anomos have built an album that wants to kick you in the teeth.
Dead Awaken is short warning sign that something is coming our way as Oathbreakers lurches into sight with some razor-sharp riffing that continually batters without really leaving a mark on you. Its when they get into the ribs of In Desolation then the needle changes position and its like a different band, fully formed but splitting off at different tangents and tempos.
Comparing the two, In Desolation is miles away from the opening track and in terms of pulling those different threads together it does it so well. Its aggressive from the off, only really slowing down as it reaches an incredibly satisfying conclusion.
All That We Know takes a moment and then those super-tight riff patterns come in once more before they drop in a touch of pummelling thrash that amps up the melodic attack. Its full on and in your face and like In Desolation it lands supremely well.
All That We Know takes a moment and then those super-tight riff patterns come in once more before they drop in a touch of pummelling thrash that amps up the melodic attack. Its full on and in your face and like In Desolation it lands supremely well.
Looping back to Oathbreakers, that feels almost flat when compared to these, there is more urgency in them and with All That We Know it’s a largely breathless affair. The closing solo work that allows the rest of the band to come back in is handled well and it suits the song as a whole.
This change in gear is apparent on the later tracks, Void Walker keeping that forward momentum in place and charges along at a decent lick.
Eviscerator Of Lochend is all muscle and bone, and again we are looking at a different band once more as they mix in some class bass work amongst the spot on riffing. It’s a great mix of the melodic and the brutal, keeping that ascending movement in place that works so well in metal.
Eviscerator Of Lochend is all muscle and bone, and again we are looking at a different band once more as they mix in some class bass work amongst the spot on riffing. It’s a great mix of the melodic and the brutal, keeping that ascending movement in place that works so well in metal.
Check out the guitars at around 3 minutes, its class and then they keep piling more onto you just to keep that pace in check.
Triumvirate acts as their circuit breaker before the final act, and again depending on how you feel about instrumentals will decide how this one affects. For me, they could have got rid and gone straight into their closing epic of Down We Fell.
Triumvirate acts as their circuit breaker before the final act, and again depending on how you feel about instrumentals will decide how this one affects. For me, they could have got rid and gone straight into their closing epic of Down We Fell.
There is a touch of latter-day Carcass about this one and that is not a bad thing at all. It nails that mid-pace, giving them space to pick up the pace as they need to. I’ve said this before that longish tracks need to have something to keep you onboard, not just repeating or extending guitar lines out for no real reason.
Anomos are telling a story on this, using all of what makes metal fun to listen to on it and with this they do succeed in keeping you with them. There is some mint guitar on this, especially in the final seconds just before it finishes and they end the album strongly.
As releases go, it’s a worthy one for you. Apart from the opening track being a little flat when compared against the songs that follow and even saying that it isn’t a poor song. As they progress, the album opens up to deliver a box of metallic treats that has a little for everyone.
As releases go, it’s a worthy one for you. Apart from the opening track being a little flat when compared against the songs that follow and even saying that it isn’t a poor song. As they progress, the album opens up to deliver a box of metallic treats that has a little for everyone.
Some of the work on here is top-class, there is a balance on display and an intuitive appreciation of what is required from them. Give it a whirl, you won’t be disappointed. 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment