Album number seventeen from Joe Bonamassa but that's of course only half of the story as along with seventeen solo albums he also records under various guises with Black Country Communion, Rock Candy Fun Party, Beth Hart, countless guest spots as well as, tours that never seem to stop (except in January), running his own label, a cruise and does all of this as an independent artist.
So you could say the 48 year old is a busy guy but it's with his solo records he's gained the following he has today. Most of his record follow similar formats, they either contain all originals a mix of originals and covers or they're all covers, but his influences have shifted and grown with every release, evolving from a fairly straight blues rock style into an artists who can rock as heavy as Zep, prog like Floyd and blues like those Chicago/Detroit greats, the record have been fleshed out to fit his live presentation with brass, backing vocals, as Bonamassa takes the role of band leader as well as being a hot shot guitarist and dynamite singer.
The experiments on previous records come to fruition here with 10 tracks of global bluesing, recorded across Los Angeles, Nashville, and Greece with longtime producer Kevin 'Caveman' Shirley (Iron Maiden), as keyboardist Reese Wynans and guitarist Josh Smith re-join the recording group, there’s a shuffle and swagger to opener Breakthrough, a blueprint blues rocker if there ever was one all organ stabs and solos while Trigger Finger adds that Black Country Communion rock n roll edge, while I’ll Take The Blame brings it back to the more traditional blues again, imbued with some soul and those backing vocals. Three songs in and we’ve got many of the facets of the Joey Bones musical palette, the first slow burn coming on Broken Record, a track which has the gospel/soul influences of a live show stopper as the pace returns on You Don’t Own Me.
Breakthrough is a record where a lot of Bonamassa’s musical are rife, his ability to pack them all together and keep a record consistent is extremely skilful but this record seems to be his most personal from the lyrics, stories of resilience, doubt and hope packed into 10 tracks with all the talent you’d expect. 8/10
Beheaded - Għadam (Agonia Records)
Maltese death metal is not a phrase you hear too often but Beheaded are a band who have won awards in the past so could probably be considered to be leaders in that particular field. On their new album Għadam they explore the folklore and beliefs of their island through nine tracks of superior death metal that brings to mind Kataklysm, Rotting Christ and Behemoth, the technicality of their earlier brutal death metal phase still there with Ix-Xjaten Ta' Mohhi but with this new record they spread their wings creatively adding more melodic elements alongside some black metal inspiration too.
The experiments on previous records come to fruition here with 10 tracks of global bluesing, recorded across Los Angeles, Nashville, and Greece with longtime producer Kevin 'Caveman' Shirley (Iron Maiden), as keyboardist Reese Wynans and guitarist Josh Smith re-join the recording group, there’s a shuffle and swagger to opener Breakthrough, a blueprint blues rocker if there ever was one all organ stabs and solos while Trigger Finger adds that Black Country Communion rock n roll edge, while I’ll Take The Blame brings it back to the more traditional blues again, imbued with some soul and those backing vocals. Three songs in and we’ve got many of the facets of the Joey Bones musical palette, the first slow burn coming on Broken Record, a track which has the gospel/soul influences of a live show stopper as the pace returns on You Don’t Own Me.
Breakthrough is a record where a lot of Bonamassa’s musical are rife, his ability to pack them all together and keep a record consistent is extremely skilful but this record seems to be his most personal from the lyrics, stories of resilience, doubt and hope packed into 10 tracks with all the talent you’d expect. 8/10
Beheaded - Għadam (Agonia Records)
Maltese death metal is not a phrase you hear too often but Beheaded are a band who have won awards in the past so could probably be considered to be leaders in that particular field. On their new album Għadam they explore the folklore and beliefs of their island through nine tracks of superior death metal that brings to mind Kataklysm, Rotting Christ and Behemoth, the technicality of their earlier brutal death metal phase still there with Ix-Xjaten Ta' Mohhi but with this new record they spread their wings creatively adding more melodic elements alongside some black metal inspiration too.
So while they may not slam as hard, this evolution means they can fully realise the more conceptual nature of this record. Inspired by books from Maltese horror author Anton Grasso, each track is tilted after a book and in a major step they have recorded the album in Maltese, the first death metal band to do so. The folklore and traditional elements alongside the focus on horror theming does mean that the album has an ominous presence to it, especially as even if you can make out the lyrics (which are growled expertly) you have to work out what the themes and meanings behind the songs are, if you don't speak Maltese anyway.
It means that with Għadam you have to do a bit more digging for meaning, of course if you don't want to do that then you have a record that sees Beheaded take a route down a more expansive path than brutal death metal. Għadam takes risks which ultimately will see the band gain a bigger following outside of Malta. Folklore, superstition and blastbeats, what else could you want? 7/10
Iron Spell – From The Grave (Dying Victims Promotions)
Classic heavy metal from Santiago Chile now as Iron Spell return with their second album of speed/NWOBHM straight out of South America. A few false starts but with an EP behind them, the band led by drummer composer Felipe Carvajal made their live debut in 2014 and have been spreading riffs across their home country since then, releasing their first full length in 2014, which had a guest spot from Ritchie Faulkner, but it’s with their new album that they look to take their occult/horror-tinged heavy metal to a wider audience, with German label Dying Victims Promotions behind them.
Taking from the best of the 80’s this record is brimming with sleazy riffs, shrieking vocals, twin axe harmonies and the full expression of what made heavy metal great in the 80’s, filled with horror themes there’s plenty here for true metal fans to love. Be it the spooky Mercyful Fate-like moments such as Children Of The Night or Release From Darkness, the glammy Curse Of The Ushers or the melodic Preist-esque power of While Witches Dance through the Maiden grooves of Whispers Of Sorrow and Devil King, From The Grave encapsulates the entire decade of heavy metal as soundtrack to a horror movie that doesn’t yet exist.
The mood is set with atmospherics and interludes but what you’ll stick around for are the rapid fire assaults, the strutting grooves and a set of lungs that are filled with power and remind me a bit of Hammerfall’s singer. Iron Spell step up everything they started on their debut with this second record, classic metal fans and spook lovers rejoice as Iron Spell, like Joan Crawford have returned From The Grave (BOC Fans?). 8/10
Eight Lives Down – Fates (Self Released)
Apparently this album is for fans of System Of A Down, Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More, well it certainly has the breakneck shifts in tone and rhythm, calling it progressive thrash/groove, is quite apt, however the issue they have is that their singer is no Serj or Mike Patton, she attempts it a few times but that never quite carries off.
Eight Lives Down – Fates (Self Released)
Apparently this album is for fans of System Of A Down, Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More, well it certainly has the breakneck shifts in tone and rhythm, calling it progressive thrash/groove, is quite apt, however the issue they have is that their singer is no Serj or Mike Patton, she attempts it a few times but that never quite carries off.
This international acts features members from Greece, New Zealand France and Poland but they now based in other parts of world and as such draw from Greek zeibekiko and Brazilian forró along with thrash, groove, punk and NWOBHM, Dan Baune (perhaps the modern day flagbearer of this sound producing). The band have also played with Scardust and Noa Gruman’s Hellscore choir appears on an alternate version of The Process Of Dying.
So they have a lot of friends in reasonably high places and while I’m a fan of the music, the guitar playing especially, I just don’t find much else interesting, it’s a bit to schizophrenic and the vocals are especially grating after just a few songs, maybe others will find something good here but I find Fates too frenzied and just not very fun to listen to. 4/10
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