Reviews: Khirki, Hardraw, Spider Kickers, Saturday Night Satan (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Khirki – Κυκεώνας (Venerate Industries)

After I compared Κτηνωδία, the debut album from Athenian rockers Khirki, to the likes of Baroness and Mastodon. I was anticipating their sophomore to be just as good and bloody hell it was worth the wait. Since 2021 and 2024, they have discovered that melody is a good thing, adapting the sludgy aggression into groovy 70’s rocking on the brilliant Pumping The Vein, the trio channelling legendary bands such as Budgie, UFO, Lizzy and Wishbone Ash. 

These classic rock trappings creeping into the continual heavy blues style of Baroness or Mastodon, particularly on tracks such as The Watchers Of Enoch, which builds on a big bass boost from Orestes Katsaros or the blasting Heart Of The Sea hooked on Dimos Ioannou’s, proggy riffs, guitars effects and often move into a nifty solos and heavy stoner/sludge grooves. 

His vocals too are impassioned and muscular. Finishing out this heavy hitting trio is drummer Orestes Mavros, whose use of traditional percussion is masterful, sitting behind the kit as a technical powerhouse on Hekate. Κυκεώνας is an Ancient Greek psychoactive drink, so there’s lots of psychedelic meandering throughout the album as the lyrical inspiration is sorceress Circe from Homer’s Odyssey. 

Khirki allow these lyrical inspirations to inform a broader soundscape, shifting them more towards the likes of Villagers Of Ioannina City, the Greek folk touches perfectly suited to Συμπληγάδες (Colleagues/Comrades) as Your Majesty puts acoustic country picking with NWOBHM gallops into more traditional instrumentation, Father Wind is a sailors lament as part of an album that heavily pays homage to the sea through vivid lyricism and shifting tides of riffs. 

With producer Theodore Zefkilis (Rotting Christ/Planet of Zeus) behind this cavernous production sound, Khirki score big with Κυκεώνας, it’s a fantastic record that has so many facets to it. Mastodon haven’t released anything this good in years! 9/10

Hardraw - Abyss Of Mankind (Pitch Black Records)

Based in Cyprus and featuring Jimmy Mavrommatis (Mirror) on vocals, Nikolas “Sprits” Moutafis (Solitary Sabred, March To Die, Friends Of Hell) and Andreas Kyriacou (Receiver) on guitars, Adamos Adamou on bass and Vangelis Moutafis on drums, Hardraw are a classic/heavy metal band releasing Abyss Of Mankind. 

Despite being over 10 years old as a group this is only their second studio record, featuring an updated line up from their first album they owe a debt to the likes of Manilla Road, Riot, Jag Panzer and the 'epic metal' scene they come from. The final track, The Riddle Disciples is actually a tribute to Mark "The Shark" Shelton of Manilla Road and features Gianni Nepi (Dark Quarterer) and Harry “The Tyrant” Conklin (Jag Panzer), but the rest of the album carries the spirit of epic metal bands I mentioned above.

Hunter X Hunted has the bassy gallop of Maiden, as does Crime Reborn, the production making the bass stand out against the twin axe harmonies and Jimmy’s dramatic vocals. It’s resolutely stuck in that 80’s metal sound from the production to the riffs, its NWOBHM and speed metal across eight songs, so die-hard fans of leather and steel will lap it up. 8/10

Spider Kickers – Necrosupper (Sleaszy Rider Records)

Spider Kickers are “legends” in the Greek thrash/death scene. Now I don’t whether that means revered or long tenured, they have been around since 1986! But I do know it’s been five years since their last album and Necrosupper again brings old school thrash alongside death and black metal similar in so many ways to German legends Kreator and the whole Teutonic scene which leaned more into the extreme than the Americans but also abnds such as Pestilence and Morbid Angel. 

From the battering stomp of As The Blood Descends, through the blistering blackened death of Disturbing The Gods and the high speed assault of Cast In Hell, the drums don’t often move slower than full on blasts (maybe on Delirium Tremens) and the guitars rip, shred and tear their way through the tracks with intensity as the growls emanate bowels of hell. 

A veteran thrash/death band with shifting riffs, dive bomb solos and evil intentions, Spider Kickers don’t reinvent anything but look to kick your ass as much as they do our arachnid friends. 7/10

Saturday Night Satan - All Things Black (Made Of Stone Recordings)

The world of occult doom metal is quite large now, many of the bands feature vocal chanteuses weaving mystical lyricism over classic Sabbath-like riffs, organs bubbling in the background as we also get Coven, Pentagram and BOC from the musical offerings. 

The latest band to add to this every growing list is the excellently names Saturday Night Satan, formed by Jim Kotsis (bass/guitars/backing vocals) of Black Soul Horde and Kate Soulthorn on vocals. Originally studio only they are now also a live band and they fit comfortably into the Lucifer, Blood Ceremony mould, the latter coming on Of Love And The Void which features flute from Joel Sempere as Andrea Marras takes things cosmic with Theremin on Witches’ Dance. 

SNS draw from 70’s proto metal (Lurking In The Shadows), 80’s post punk and 90’s rock (Devil In Disguise) to the Ghost-like worship of All Things Black. Basically if it’s dark and macabre the band will write about it and the songs all have driving grooves ready for goth discos. 7/10

Reviews: Kris Barras Band, Exist, The Cosmic Dead, Junkyard Drive (Reviews By Matt Bladen & Rich Piva)

Kris Barras Band – Halo Effect (Earache Records) [Matt Bladen]

The career trajectory from Kris Barras has been meteoric. I first saw him while he was supporting the The Divine And Dirty album as part of my collaboration with the much missed RetroVibe Records in Cardiff. Since then though he has outstripped so many of the other blues rock revival artists out there in the UK scene. 

Fronting Supersonic Blues Machine and the impact of his previous albums Light It Up and Death Valley Paradise especially have seen him capturing the attention of Earache Records and Planet Rock. This has meant that he has been afforded opportunities that many bands would dream of an not only has he capitalised on them Kris and his band have evolved into an arena size heavy rock band that fans of Alter Bridge and Shinedown will devour. 

Kris has become a fantastic frontman, his voice powerful and gritty, carrying a melodic twinge but also bluesy guts, behind him are the firebrand band of Josiah J. Manning on guitar/co-writing/production, Billy Hammett on drums, and latest member Frazer Kerslake on bass, this foursome locked in for a year of touring in front of them, including a headline show at the prestigious Chepstow Castle, alongside Stone Broken, The Hot Damn!, and Dan Byrne, this summer, as their sole South Wales date so far. 

They’ll be playing quite a lot of this album I expect as it’s written for a live crowd, heavier than previous efforts, there’s rock, metal and also some prog, see Fall To Fly. Shifting the delivery to the 2000’s metalcore bands such as Trivium and BFMV, while keeping their strong hard rock hooks in the choruses. A song such as With You highlights this well, while Savages takes things back to moody modern rock with electronic percussion, as lead single Unbreakable goes balls out in showing the sound adjustment. 

Massive distorted riffs, weighty drums, colossal chorus and a solo to die for it’s the perfect way to show off this ‘new’ Kris Barras Band. Elsewhere on Halo Effect is the anthemic pacey Waste Away With Me, the emotive Secrets, Fear Of Letting Go is a radio anthem while Reflections highlights the progressive elements and the production skills on offer that makes this the most accomplished record of Barras’ career. 

It may be a long time since I saw that MMA fighter turned bluesman getting the first spotlights on him, but in that time he, and his band, have become future arena headliners, with Halo Effect being the album that will win him new fans of all musical backgrounds, not just the tried and tested Planet Rock faithful. 9/10

Exist – Hijacking The Zeitgeist (Prosthetic Records) [Matt Bladen]

It may only be seven tracks long and the longest run time is just over 6 minutes but Exist can definitely be classed as a prog metal band due to the sheer intensity and technicality of what they play within a mean run time of about 5 and a half minutes. 

One moment it’s stop-start tech death intensity, the next ambient post metal meandering, growled vocals segueing into clean harmonies. The concise approach was intentional on this fourth album to instil more of a collaborative approach to writing and focus on the songs themselves rather than just the traditional focus on the virtuosity that comes with so many tech death groups. 

Max Phelps (vocals/guitars) has done time with Cynic and there’s a lot of direct influence from that band here, The Mars Volta too was a name that crept into my head as I listened to Thief Of Joy (featuring Sanjay Kumar of Inferi), the dichotomy of Max and bassist Alex Weber’s vocals working well for lots of light and shade, Weber’s bass playing integral to One Degree Removed From Human, which shouts Fear Factory. 

The riffs taking a heavier turn on this album and Phelps has a foil in Charles Eron for the broader but more natural guitar style, looping and overdubbing giving way to tow players in unison. Eron also gives this album a lot of synths that paint ambient pictures over Exist’s more direct, more crushing sound. I talked about Max Weber’s bass, his rhythm section partner Brody Smith is a beast, just listen to the offbeat pattern he has on album closer Window To The All. 

Dealing with paranoia, conspiracies and all manner of existential horrors Hijacking The Zeigeist is never too clever for its own good and Exist are allowing their virtuoso playing to inform their song writing not overshadow it. 8/10

The Cosmic Dead - Infinite Peaks (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Rich Piva]

Glasgow’s The Cosmic Dead are an extremely prolific instrumental heavy psych rock band that are back to bend your mind once again on their nine full length record, Infinite Peaks. Album number nine (number 9…number 9…) continues the psych rock goodness the band has become known for, this time with two extended spaced-out tracks that are very cool but occasionally too long for those of us with short attention spans and/or not currently using any mind-altering substances.

The first track is Navigator # 9 (number 9…number 9…) and you know said navigator is lost in some kind of gigantic black hole with all sorts of strange images flashing before his eyes as his twenty-three-plus minute journey goes from rock to rock in his attempt to survive. The track is huge in every way and has an epic slow burn build that incorporates some killer psych guitar (of course) and a wall of heavy psych sounds (see what I did there?). 

This is certainly some mind-bending stuff and not for those looking for verse-chorus-verse. This one could have been done in parts, because at about the eight-minute mark things chill out a bit, giving the traveller a bit of a needed rest. It is a pretty extended rest, as the guitar doesn’t really start to spin again for a good six to seven minutes, making this song drag a bit, but when it kicks back in, look out, because not you incorporate some spacy Krautrock to the heavy psych goodness with very cool results. 

Track two is a bit shorter (20 minutes) and I think you know what you are in for with a song called Space Mountain. This is not the Space Mountain Ric Flair (WOOOOOOO - Ed) used to mention in his 1980s promos, but more of an actual space mountain on a distance alien planet that has never seen human life before. This one rips it up in parts and doubles down on the Hawkwind on even more drugs vibes you get from Infinite Peaks.

The Cosmic Dead are a fun and exciting band and Infinite Peaks lives up to that description. The playing is excellent and the band is as mind bending as ever. Track one drags a bit however and you really need to buckle in for this one, but overall this is another successful trip from The Cosmic Dead. 7/10

Junkyard Drive - Look At Me Now (Mighty Music) [Rich Piva]

I am pretty sure I could write the same review for the new album from Denmark rockers Junkyard Drive that I did for their 2022 release Electric Love. Why you say? Because these guys have a formula that they stick pretty close to that includes 80s hard rock/Sunset Strip/Hair Metal (go fuck yourself Eddie Trunk, I’ll use that term as much as I want, you gatekeeper you) with some modern, slick production. Sort of a less sleazy Buckcherry, that always has two or three really good songs and the rest that really don’t do too much for me. Here we are in 2024, and their new one, Look At Me Now, is here, and let’s just say meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Yeah, the fans of this band will be happy for exactly what I wrote above. Solid playing, some good songs, some healthy hard rock nostalgia, but nothing to far off their entire body of work. The opener, Somewhere To Hide is a pretty sweet track and Beauty Fool would have been a hit in 1986 for sure. I can even picture the video. Really though after four listens, I remember nothing else. Was it listenable? Sure. Do I need to go back to it? Nah. Does it sound like their other stuff? Very much so.

I was very tempted to just cut and paste my 2022 review and change the song names, but I am a professional, and instead you get me telling you the new Junkyard Drive will be a nice addition to their discography for their fans but really does nothing to convince someone on the outside who has not been blown away up to this point to hop on the train. Look At Me Now is more of what this band does, if you like that you will be happy, if not, you will probably be in mid territory, and should go listen to Law And Order’s album Rites Of Passage instead. 5/10

M2TM South Wales 2024: Swansea Heat #3 Interview With Confessions Of A Serial Killer By Paul Hutchings

Interview with Confessions Of A Serial Killer – Heat 3, M2TM, Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff 23 April 2024

1. Let’s start with introductions. Who is who and what does each person do in the band?

Cozy - Vocals, Adz - Guitar, Dan - Bass, Davie - Drums

2. Where are you from and how long have you been together?

The band was formed in June 2023. Cozy, Davie, and Adz have played in various bands with each other. This is Dan's 1st band. We've spent most of the past 9 months writing, creating, rehearsing, and releasing the music, making sure it's ready for the live stage. Our 3rd single will be released to coincide with our heat at Metal 2 the Masses

3. Describe your music in five words.

Aggressive, Violent, Intense, Primal, Real

4. What prompted you to apply to be part of Metal to the Masses – South Wales?

What better way to collect more victims. On a serious note, since getting back on the scene (after the pandemic) we noticed things were different with gigs becoming harder to get on. We saw this as an opportunity to get our name out there and leave a few memories in the heads of the audience.

5. If you have played Metal to the Masses before, tell us about your previous experiences and importantly, why you’ve returned!

Davey Cozy and Adz made it to the final in 2017 with a previous project. We had a blast and made quite a few new friends along the journey, but the best part was going up against some of the best Rock/Metal acts at the legendary Fuel. Why are we returning?... We're returning with a new line-up, new attitude, new music and a point to prove!

6. Bloodstock is a big festival – have you attended the festival in the past? If so, what would you say are the best things about the weekend?

Yes, a few years back now, the general atmosphere and feeling of home, zero stress or pressure. A place where a metal fan can truly relax, have fun and be themselves and have the time of their lives watching the best music on the planet.

7. Apart from Metal to the Masses, what do you have planned for 2024?

We'll be releasing several new singles and videos and playing as many shows as possible, plus a few other things we are keeping under wraps for now.

8. What can we expect from you in your heat?

The tightest most professional show of unrelenting metal that we can bring.

9. And what are you expecting in your heat and journey through the competition?

Zero expectations, just to put on the best show we possibly can and the hope that we can win over some new fans, and if we progress then to represent our region to the max and push ourselves as far as possible.

10. Finally, where can people find details of the band – promote your socials here!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551244584913

https://youtube.com/@COASK_music

https://instagram.com/coask_music

https://www.tiktok.com/@coa.sk

Reviews: Blue Öyster Cult, Tarot, Tonnerre, Brutalism (Reviews By Matt Bladen, Rich Piva, James Jackson & GC)

Blue Öyster Cult – Ghost Stories (Frontiers Music Srl) [Paul Hutchings]

We’ve had numerous releases in recent years by this legendary band who celebrated over 50 years together over the past couple of years. They haven’t been prolific with new music in the past few years though, with only The Symbol Remains (2020) and 2001’s Curse Of The Hidden Mirror having been released this century.

So, a possible new album sent a quick wave of anticipation through me. It dissipated quickly though. Another collaboration with Frontiers Music, Ghost Stories is a collection of what is described as “reimagined and newly completed songs that span from 1978-2016. These musical treasures, long considered 'lost gems' by Blue Öyster Cult enthusiasts, were originally recorded between 1978 and 1983, except for one track from 2016, If I Fell."

Now for enthusiasts, this may be a fantastic discovery. Songs crafted in sessions for albums but didn’t make the light of day. And there is usually a reason for that. And so it proves here.

Now, at their legendary veteran status, one can’t really be critical about the band’s direction and decision. And having seen them deliver a master class at their headline show in 2023’s Stonedead Festival, where they were as smooth as I’ve ever seen them.

With original reel to reel analogue tapes transferred to digital and with the help of AI alongside the production and mixing qualities of Steve Schenck and Richie Castellano, there was then additional studio work and overdubs completed by remaining original members Eric Bloom and Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, both Albert Bouchard and Rick Downey appear on drums with additional overdubs recorded by Joe Bouchard.

There’s nothing offensive about Ghost Stories. Nothing at all. It’s perfectly easy listening. But it’s just that. A cover of The Animals We Gotta Get Out Of This Place is perfunctory, whilst the only known recording of the band playing the MC5’s Kick Out the Jams doesn’t really set the world on fire.

Ultimately, this is a release that’ll please those wanting something a little collectible. For me, despite the usual fluid and integral musicianship, I’m afraid it wasn’t anything that special. 6/10

Tarot - Glimpse Of The Dawn (Cruz Del Sur Music) [Rich Piva]

If someone held a gun up to my head and asked me what was the best decade of music my immediate response would be 1970s, even though I was way too young to remember it first hand. You can tell this to be true by many factors including my record collection, but when I see “70s inspired” or something like that in a review or bio I will go there before anywhere else. 

I have been fooled and disappointed too many times by such descriptions, but my faith has been restored by the first album in eight years from Australian retro rockers Tarot, who very well may have a real working time machine, because be prepared to get transported back to that era when you experience Glimpse Of The Dawn. 

I’ll throw some70s comparisons at you to get it out of the way: Uriah Heep, Sabbath, Rainbow, early Styx, Deep Purple, the heavier side of Tull, 70s Yes, even bits of early Genesis. I’m done with the old band comparisons. If you want newer comparison points, think the record from fellow Aussies Butterfly and their killer Doorways Of Time record from 2021 or maybe Wytch Hazel minus the Jesus. Glimpse Of The Dawn, however, is in a class of its own and is one of my favourite things I have listened to in years.

Let’s get this out of the way right now. I have heard multiple unrelated comments about the vocals on Glimpse Of The Dawn as being annoying or just not that good. Are the guys singing Geoff Tate or Chris Cornell? Not at all, but the vocals on Glimpse Of The Dawn are exactly what is required to make this record pretty much perfect in my eyes and ears. The organ drives the record and is the catalyst to make this record as great AS IT IS. All eight songs are just epic. 

The opening title track, with the organ and the piano breakdown and the riff and the overall vibe of this track. I’m out of breath typing this and I haven’t even mentioned the solo yet. I love the opening riff of The Winding Road and how the gallop of the track matches with the words and theme just perfectly and the guitar work once again is top notch. The production on Glimpse Of The Dawn is exactly as it should be, as this record is my ideal sounding album; just check how the guitar, organ, and voices meld together towards the end of the second track. 

Leshy’s Warning has an acoustic opening that reminds me of something from the Genesis album A Trick Of The Tail until the dual guitars kick in and the harmonized vocals combine to take you back in time and when the heavier parts kick in look out. Once again, the production is excellent, especially how the acoustic guitars are layered across the track and the sound of the Purple-esque organ work. 

Echoes Through Time has a very familiar sound to it but it is a combination of so many excellent influences from the 70s that you will call out a different band every time you hear the song, but if there is one comparison that overshadows the others it would be Deep Purple. This will also be the song where people question the vocals, but to me this is very much a non-issue. 

 Every respectable 70s album with prog leanings has some kind instrumental interlude, so of course we have a two minute acoustic and synth bridge called The Harrier that leads seamlessly into the soundtrack to an epic journey, The Vagabond’s Heart, where the organ continues to take this album to the next level. The album keeps the excellence going right through till the end, with the amazing organ and guitar partnership on Dreamer In The Dark and the great closer and Purple Heep vibe of Heavy Weighs The Crown.

I have a feeling my love of Glimpse Of The Dawn is going to surprise some people, but nothing has caught me as me as much as the new Tarot record. This will be an AOTY contender and is a generational album that will stay with me always. Yup, I love this that much. 10/10

Tonnerre - La Nuit Sauvage (Cuz Del Sur Music) [James Jackson]

The first thing you notice when pressing play in this album is the very familiar sound, the second is the vocals - they’re all in French.

Quebec based Tonnerre are hugely influenced by the sounds of 70’s era hard rock, citing influences such as Blue Oyster Cult and AC/DC; which the intro to the title track reminded me of immediately.
Whilst I can’t possibly comment on the lyrical content; my high school French wasn’t up to scratch in high school and it’s been over 30 years since I last sat in that classroom; the emphasis and enthusiasm of female vocalist Annick, is something that doesn’t need translation and it comes across convincingly, so much so that I’d imagine a live performance would be worth seeing.

The riffs accompanying those vocals are blues rock inspired, as I listen to the album those influences previously mentioned come to the fore, as do the likes of ZZ Top, Steppenwolf and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the maraca style percussion of Ceux Qui Sommeillent splendid in its nod to the late 60’s and 70’s.

La Nuit Sauvage roughly translates, according to the bio, A Night In The Wild, a title that, again according to the bio, is about nights spent in the woods, shadows in the dark and noises of unknown origin; personally it feels like more of a nod to the free wheeling, long hair and motorbikes images conjured up when you think of 70’s rock - but that may well be my lack of understanding of the French language.

Definitely one for anyone who likes their rock with a blues accent and more than a hint of Classic Rock inspiration. 7/10

Brutalism - Solace In Absurdity (Comatose Music) [GC]

In a twist shocking to nobody who regularly reads M.O.M’s reviews I tend to do a lot of death metal and today is no different, however this is my least favourite of all the death metals, its ‘’brutal’’ death metal in the form of the latest Brutalism album, Solace In Absurdity.

 
Opening with Introlism (see what they did there), is neither clever or funny, it’s just annoying, it’s a minute and a bit of music that sounds like it’s been recorded by 5 people who have never met nothing goes together and everything is just thrown together and sounds a complete mess. Asphyxiating On Vomitous Excretion only really gets a positive mark because it uses an Arnold Schwarzenegger quote at the beginning after this it all gets very predictably br00tal and is just thudding double bass that sounds like it’s a rolled up blanket being hit with a wooden spoon and the snare is St Anger levels of annoying, the guitars just squeak and squeal for the most part and obviously the vocals sound like someone farting through their mouth.

Solace In Absurdity follows in much the same way really and somehow manages to have less structure and is again a complete mess and just sounds like its been all thrown on to the mixing board and someone has pressed record and hoped for the best, Astrocytomic Hemorrhaging hurts my brain to listen to, all the sections are just sloppily played and tagged together and the twangy bass that pops out from under the mess every now and then just prods the annoyance filter up another notch, when a half decent guitar riff does somehow rear its head its just ruined by all the other noise they choose to throw about and add in for no reason? 

Accelerated Decrepitude follows the all too familiar BDM routine, drums that drown everything out and hide all remnants of guitars barring the squealing pitch harmonics that are always present and then the vocals drown out everything the drums don’t, when you can hear the guitars sort of midway, you can hear that a decent slow and chunky riff is there but as soon as you here it, its gone again BUT towards the end this song does find a sort of rhythm and is ok but the vocals do their absolute best to ruin it again, Flesh Pyramid finally sounds like they have met each other and know what a structure is for all of about 30 seconds and I’m starting to think that this album is a late April Fools Day gag, there is just no cohesion or song structure and while in mathcore or djent that can be a strength, here its just downright annoying! 

Nothing fits with anything else, it’s like abstract jazz death metal played in the dark with blindfolds on, it must be a nightmare seeing this live!? Also to fade a song like this out for almost 30 seconds is a crime against recorded music. It’s surprising it’s taken until Sickening Synaptic Pathways for the usual horror movie sample to be used and that we finally get a listenable track, it’s pretty standard stuff but at least its got some sort of structure and you can make it out as a complete song, Compulsive Acts Of Repulsion is just boring and the drums and vocals take centre stage again and they completely overlook some actual decent riffs for ‘’brutality’’ in another spectacular fumble. 

To be honest I skimmed through Elimination Of The Heliosphere and Consuming Obsession because I was losing the will to live by this point and they were both as drab and annoying as the rest of the album and then I saw final track Asyncritus was over 7 minutes long, I listened to it then just went and sat in a corner and cried tears of joy that it was all over.

Please understand that despite my initial statement that this sort of DM is not for me I always want to be proved wrong by a band, here however Brutalism have just reinforced my view that BDM is just not worth the time and should probably just be avoided, I’m sure there are people who disagree with me and fair play to them, they can listen all they want, I however won't be. 2/10

Reviews: Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse, Korpiklaani, Alpha Wolf, Friends Of Hell (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse - Hot Nostalgia Radio (Grow Vision Music & Records)

Roots rock band Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse are based in California and my do they sound like it. Their music is eclectic, shifting from various genres Their style is a mixture but there's Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, Electric Six, The Tragically Hip, The Trews and lots more. Buckets of 12 bar blues, some country swagger and glorious rock n roll, it's like a Tarantino movie score. From the rollicking boogie of Oh Yeah! to the folksy travelling anthem of Let’s Ride, this is definitely a record built around nostalgia but with a 21st Century attitude. 

Their last album was released in 2019 so they’ve had four years to record this one and singer/songwriter Greta Valenti (aka Beaux Gris Gris), has been sitting on these tracks and ventured out to make an album of 3-4 minute pop songs to make you joyful, whether it’s the empowering fuzz stomp of Wild Woman or the Zeppelin-stomp of Satisfy Your Queen, the B-52’s Surf rock of I Told My Baby, the New Orleans blues of All I Could Do Was Cry or the folky Marie, the band can turn their hand to any sort of blue collar music style. 

A high level of musicianship comes here, with parping horn arrangements from Daniel Kirkpatrick on Middle Of The Night, Stephen Mildwater (bass) and Tom Rasulo (drums) form a solid foundation whatever the style, focussing the grooves on Sad When I’m Dancing but bringing the pulse to ballads such as The Runaway and rockers like I Told My Baby. The highest kudos go to Robin Davey’s incredibly varied guitar sound, peeling off soulful solos on Penny Paid Rockstar and strutting riffs across 14 songs while Sam Robertson’s keys too are varied be it the rollicking piano on the bluesy rockers, the 80’s synths on Harder To Breathe or the Fender Rhodes/Hammonds on Don’t Let Go. 

Greta though is the star with wide vocal range, part rockstar, part preacher, both namesake and talisman, Greta (Beaux) stamps her seal all over this album. Officially released next month, the album was leaked by the band so fans could listen to it before their upcoming tour. I suggest you do as Hot Nostalgia Radio could well be one of the pop rock records of the year. 9/10

Korpiklaani – Rankarumpu (Nuclear Blast)

Seeing as nearly all of my MoM colleagues have an aversion to folk metal, some of them quite violently, I find myself yet again reviewing an album by Korpiklaani. How I do this without just saying “sounds like Korpiklaani” is a hard task but with journalistic integrity I have to at least try. 

Seemingly releasing albums just as an excuse to play more festival dates in front of inebriated festival goers, Korpiklaani’s newest album, their twelfth, throws back to the faster sound they had in the mid 2000’s, founding member Jonne Järvelä (vocals/guitar) feeling that they had maybe slowed down on the last few albums so decided that this one was going to be an up tempo, joyous record with emotional moments such as Viikatelintu but mostly its galloping Finnish folk metal created to pay tribute to the gods and the natural world around them, and of course what would a Finnish band be without a song dedicated to a Sauna (Saunaan). 

Järvelä is supported in this wild folk explorations by guitarist Cane, bassist Jarkko Aaltonen, drummer Samuli Mikkonen, accordionist Sami Perttula and new member, ex-Turisas violinist Olli Vänskä, who alongside Perttula puts his virtuoso stamp all over this twelfth album, the writing prowess of reasonably new drummer Samuli Mikkonen cannot be understated as Jonne says “he has brought a huge amount of new energy to the whole group”. This record also sees Jonne returning to writing lyrics after a long while so there’s lots of Norse myths, forest tales and of course drinking, the landscape of Finland a direct inspiration. 

For anyone who thinks Korpiklaani lost their way a little, Rankarumpu is a record full of full pelt jigs ripe for party season. Kippis! 8/10

Alpha Wolf – Half Living Things (Sharptone Records)

Right here we go then. More ultra-modern, ultra-aggressive, ultra-savage metal from Down Under. Becoming more known for beatdowns and breakbeats than bar room boogies and pub rocking, Australia has been the home of some of the biggest ‘core’ bands on the scene today, shamelessly taking inspiration from Nu-metal, hardcore, metalcore and death metal, but just doing it louder and more savagely, bands such as Alpha Wolf have been making waves for a number of years. 

Scottie Simpson (guitar), Sabian Lynch (guitar), Lochie Keogh (vocals), John Arnold (bass) and Mitch Fogarty (drums) are Alpha Wolf and on this third album they make some of the most brutal noises of their career, if Slipknot jammed with Bring Me The Horizon and Meshuggah, you’d get what Alpha Wolf do. The BMTH style inspires the atmospheric Whenever You’re Ready, while Double Edged Demise and Pretty Boy has the frenzied blasts of the Iowa legends. 

There’s little chance to catch your breath, Alpha Wolf punish you with their attack, bringing in Ice T to spit some venom on Sucks 2 Suck, surprisingly sounding like Body Count. A Terrible Day For Rain explodes out of the speakers with the metallic dissonance of a band such as Gojira as the title track has the most hardcore style to it. 

While not really my thing on the whole, Half Living Things has some variation to it that saves it from being another metal/death/core clone, from the angular Bring Back The Noise to the cathartic Ambivalence, Alpha Wolf continue to position themselves towards the top of the Aussie heavy scene. 8/10

Friends Of Hell – God Damned You To Hell (Rise Above Records)

Founded by drummer Tasos Danazoglou (March To Die, Mirror, Satan's Wrath, ex-Electric Wizard), vocalist Albert Witchfinder (ex-Reverend Bizzare) and named after a Witchfinder General album, Friends Of Hell formed in 2021, they released their first album of disgustingly retro occult/blasphemous doom in 2022, aided in their quest for corruption by bassist Taneli Jarva and guitarist Jondix, they now return to drag you down to hell again through classic heavy doom. 

There has been a few changes as Albert has been replaced behind the mic by Per “Hellbutcher” Gustavsson (Dead Kosmonaut), with Beelzeebubth (Mystifier) and Nikolas “Spirits” Moutafis (Hardraw, March To Die, Mirror, Solitary Sabered) both added on guitar. It means that Bringer Of Evil and Snakes Not Sons can have lots of guitar harmonies and acoustics, on top of the classic doom riffing, Ave Satananas, for instance will be tickling Rise Above owner Lee Dorrian’s doom muscle. 

Hellbutcher’s histrionic vocals are an ideal fit, dramatic and theatrical there’s links to Hell, Cathedral, Pentagram, Pagan Altar, Angel Witch and of course Sabbath, on every Satan praising, hellraising epic doom metal cut. The production is analogue, like a vinyl, it’s warm and a little with some loss but, it’s just what the music needs. Classic Priest is all over the snarling Let The Devil Take You Away while Cross Inverter just reeks of Sabbath. Any fans of epic/classic/NWOBHM/doom will find so much to love here. 

Play loud, Hail Satan and become Friends Of Hell. 8/10

M2TM South Wales 2024: Swansea Heat #3 Interview With House Of Hosts By Paul Hutchings

House Of Hosts Interview - M2TM Heat 3, Bunkhouse Swansea 13th April 2024

1. Let’s start with introductions. Who is who and what does each person do in the band?

We're fronted by Dan (Griff) Griffiths roaring on the vocals, twin axe men James Russell and Ross Davies, backed up by rhythm section Beth Goodwin on the drums and Jack Hunt on the bass. Backing vocal duties are shared throughout the band to give massive, spicy choruses.

2. Where are you from and how long have you been together?

Our base of operations is Swansea, although realistically we're a mix of Swansea and Bridgend. The first incarnation of the band was formed by James and Beth about a decade ago, but as many bands do when you're young, it didn't work out. Then, back in mid-2022, they decided to revive House of Hosts, now being fronted by Dan who had played with them in a previous band.

Needing a bassist, Jack was recommended by a mutual friend, and after rocking up to a rehearsal and not being kidnapped by these strangers, Jack would join the band permanently. We gigged as a 4 piece for about half a year and entered the studio, but something was missing. We concluded that a second guitarist was needed. Luckily, Jack's best friend was a guitarist, which led to us recruiting Ross and completing our sound, and the band wouldn't be the same since.

3. Describe your music in five words.

Explosive, Introspective, Groovy, Energetic and THICC.

4. What prompted you to apply to be part of Metal to the Masses – South Wales?

It's one of the biggest metal events in the South Wales scene, having been going on for as long as any of us can remember. It's a fantastic opportunity to meet new people, get our name out there, and most importantly play some amazing shows.

5. If you have played Metal to the Masses before, tell us about your previous experiences and importantly, why you’ve returned!

This will be our first time playing as House of Hosts, although all of us have played the event before in different bands. The energy and excitement of Metal to the Masses is just the best, we'd be idiots to not want to come back!

6. Bloodstock is a big festival – have you attended the festival in the past? If so, what would you say are the best things about the weekend?

Unfortunately, none of us have been to the festival in the past, however Griff is extremely excited to be attending for the first time in 2024! We all have friends who have been, and they always say the same, it brings people together regardless of background. Which these days is something sorely needed.

7. Apart from Metal to the Masses, what do you have planned for 2024?

We've got a few milestone shows coming up, including our first festival (Station 18 Festival in Swansea, with some incredible bands), our first trip over the bridge to Bristol, reaching out to new venues in South Wales we haven't played before, and some things we can't currently talk about. Expect more shows, music, and more of our faces plastered online.

8. What can we expect from you in your heat?

Massive riffs, melodic choruses, chunky breakdowns, and a sweaty, sweaty bassist.

9. And what are you expecting in your heat and journey through the competition?

We're expecting an intense night of competition with all bands giving it their all, which means a better night for everyone. We're going in with the mindset of treating every show like your biggest show yet. That way, even if we are unsuccessful in progressing, we can still look back knowing we put on a hell of a set.

10. Finally, where can people find details of the band – promote your socials here!

https://linktr.ee/houseofhosts

Reviews: Orecus, Aniimalia, Burn Down Eden, Oakfarm (Reviews By GC, Zak Skane, Matt Bladen, Rich Piva)

Orecus - Dreadnought (Violent Groove) [GC]

Just getting round to clearing up some of this week’s releases and of course as there is a death metal album knocking about, here I am again reviewing it! This one, Dreadnought comes from Sweden’s Orecus and is their second full length to be released by Violent Groove.

From the very second All Traitors Bleed The Same starts I already get the feeling this is going to be good! The guitars of both Elias Ryen Rafstedt and Kim Wiklund sound huge and decimate everything before them with big, thick chugging riffs and the drumming from Henry Gonzalez is absolutely top draw, unfortunately Marin Maxe’s bass just seems to get drowned out as usually sems to be the way on most death metal nowadays BUT, the star of the show on this however is vocalist Philip Grunuing, he sounds fucking unreal! the depth and he gets on his voice is something to behold and just powers everything forward with such ferocity! 

Hunter is another feral mix of inhumane drumming and waves and waves of huge chugging riffs all layered over with more intense vocal work and the way it all just syncs together is amazing as nothing is out of place or sounds lost, it’s all there for a specific reason and it all works phenomenally well! Dark Matter has an arrogant stomp about it and is reminiscent of if Fear Factory went death metal today and not back in 1991. 

As a little bonus, we get a fancy guitar solo courtesy of ex Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers to break up the relentless nature of everything. Harm has the familiar sounding deathcore brutality running throughout and has the first of four guest vocals from Joe Mcglynn of Man Must Die, but there is a ‘’you better check yourself before you wreck yourself’’ lyric that makes me want to vomit in my mouth a bit and slightly ruins the song for me!! 

Control has the familiar pattern of walls of guitars that crush and pummel and drums that destroy and punish and towards the end has breakdowns of epic size and quality that lead into Pacifist that has a bit of a more of a measured feel to it and because of this it accommodates well for the guest vocals of Bjorn Strid from Soilwork, it does feel like the foot has been taken off the gas a little bit here though, that is right until the end when they just smack you around the head with the sort of brutality that should be illegal. 

Fuming does little to make you think there will be a bad song on this album and has a shade of mathcore/djent added into the mix and features vocals from Kevin McCaughey of Ion Dissonance and once again the way they match the guest vocal to a song is done perfectly! Warning Shot is an absolute blast of a song and is full of blast beat drums and savage black metal edged guitars and another ridiculous vocal performance that needs to be heard to be appreciated, this is the album highlight right here!! Phenomenal Stuff! 

Stronghold is an altogether different beast and for once dials the pace right back and when the main section begins the slowed and measured pace continues, there is slight change up midway that drains into another slower section to drag the song to the end with some more huge sounding guitars, to be honest I feel that it’s a bit of a weird song but still works in the whole album production, I do fail to make out the guest vocals from Humanity’s Last Breath’s Filip Danielsson though and that may be because his style is so similar to Philip’s?? 

So, it’s on to Culminating to finish us off and for one last time we get absolutely pummelled and broken by the deathcore mix of guitars and drums but none of this is formulaic in anyway like some can be this has sounded fresh and invigorating all the way through.

In a shock to absolutely nobody reading, I loved this album and can’t really find a serious fault with it!? It was furious, energetic, exciting, and most importantly savagely heavy throughout. All I can say to finish is, you need to make it your top priority to hear this album immediately! 10/10

Aniimalia – Carousel (Marshall Records) [Zak Skane]

To open up this four track E.P, Jungle begins with some frantic Dave Grohl-esque drum fills whilst we are hit with some booming open notes and unison bends from the guitars before it leads into there first verse in this E.P. 

From listening to the first phrase we are getting some garage rock vibes with the vocals being processed through some megaphone style effects that are featured throughout this whole E.P. throughout this we’re getting these octave fuzzed riffs that reminisce of bands like The White Stripes and The Marmosets. With the in your face delivery and from energetic instrumentation and the rebellious lyrical content this makes a promising opener. 

Hurt Me Back brings in some Bring Me The Horizon Nu metal styled bouncy fuzzed up riffs followed by ambient verses with consists of shimmering guitar effects before it’s amplified to bouncy choruses and high range vocal hooks. The Puppeteer brings the heavy down a notch with the singer bringing in some soulful vengeful phrases over punchy pulses and groovy bass lines that build up to bluesy fuelled breakdowns. 

The closing track titled doom does what it says on the tin with it’s huge booming riffs, spacy ambient guitar effect that glide through the verses. The track providing some Deftones vibes with huge guitar chords being strummed over the half time drum beats. The vocalist provided some gothic sounding melodies whilst providing some haunting reverbed melodies in the bridge sections.

Through out this follow up release the band have made a gracious continuation of their bluesy garage rock sound with the bombastic octave fuzzed riffs on songs like Jungle and Doom whilst providing some sleazy drum grooves in Hurt Me Bad and the soulful vocal takes on tracks like Puppeter. For fans of The Marmozets, The White Stripes and The Queens Of The Stone Age. 8/10.

Burn Down Eden - Dismal (Seek & Strike) [Matt Bladen]

Death metal? Deathcore? Call it what you want, Dismal is a five track banger from German band Burn Down Eden. Technically impressive metal with riffs set to destroy and inhuman drumming over this short blast of fury the band display some songwriting that has drawn comparison to Soilwork or Kataklysm as the punishing riffs are offset by some widdly lead guitar playing and black metal speed picking on The War Within and Reap The Apocalypse especially. 

If you're looking for a relaxing listen this isn't it, Burn Down Eden are furious and assault you with their musical aggression, the expletives growled menacingly on Death Of A Songbird as those drums just keep going and going. It's a five knuckle shot to the skull with a lot of virtuosity behind the brutality. Following up their debut EP with another bludgeoning, Burn down Eden should be in your spectrum if you like your death metal techy. 7/10

Oakfarm - Oakfarm (Pink Tank Records) [Rich Piva]

Oakfarm are a new German trio who have 70s written all over their bio. They look the part too. Musically they are knee deep in arguably the best musically era as well, as these guys have the time machine in full effect for their self-titled debut.

From the arena rock riff and solo from What If you can feel yourself transported back, reminding me a bit of contemporary retro rockers like The Golden Grass. Reason is another standout track and outlines how these guys are not just posing for the 70s but get it totally, even if none of them were born yet (I don’t know this for sure). Anyone hear a bit of Grand Funk on The Way? It’s a bit cleaner but still has a similar vibe. 

I think some will struggle with the vocals a bit, with Sombre Vita being an example of this, but musically this track is very cool. I cannot escape the Golden Grass comparison, but I think GG is a bit catchier and has more complex song structures, but the vibe is similar for sure. The track Friends has a southern rock vibe to it that I can get behind and the closer, The Melody, is probably the strongest track on the album. I cannot figure out what is missing here, but there is something that makes this record incomplete.

I wanted to love the debut from Oakfarm, and on first listen I did, but one each following listens I felt like there was something missing or a tad bit hollow in some of the songs. It may be my fault comparing them to one of my favourite bands The Golden Grass, but try to go in without anything to compare the band to and maybe you will get more out of it than me. 

Oakfarm is a listenable debut that initially caught me but failed to hold on, but I am still interested in what comes next for them as I hear a ton of potential. 6/10

Reviews: Captain Hawk, Empty Frame, The Vulcan Itch, Under The Sun (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Captain Hawk - Ghosts Of The Sea (Symmetric Records)

Four years ago Elina Englezou and Bob Katsionis created Goditha - The Rock Opera, well now they go nautical with their newest rock opera Captain Hawk. It's a bombastic, cinematic, epic record with a multitude of vocalists playing the parts, to tell a story of gold, sirens, sea witches and mutiny.

Again Englezou writes the story and the music, brought the singers together "wrote all the choir parts and made all the artworks, videos, booklet and LP designs" according to Katsionis even though she was trying to take time off. Englezou plays Balalaika and Ocarina on the album but it's Katsionis who plays pretty much everything else, his veteran power metal status and Sound Symmetry studio affording him the luxury of playing guitars, bass, keys and programming the drums while also arranging, mixing and producing the album.

Aggelos Pavlos and Vassilis Koilakos add violins and ud, fleshing out the joyous power metal with traditional instruments. Influences such as Running Wild are obvious but also Avantasia, Aina, Ayreon and any of the other metal operas around. So yes there's are no less than seven guest singers from Diviner, The Silent Wedding, Enemy Of Reality, Prydain, Disharmony, Endomain along with The Fantasy Choir conducted by Charalambos Stergiopoulos and arranged by Thanassis Pelekanos.

This means it's a full bodied vocal approach, like a full blown musical set to symphony power metal, echo voice different, so you can identify who is who. It's massive in scope, tells a great tale and is full of impressive performances, safe to say Elina Englezou and Bob Katsionis strike gold again with Ghosts Of The Sea, I'd love to hear more in future from Captain Hawk and crew. 9/10

Empty Frame - Underdogs (Coma Records)

Originally a band that paired rock and classical instruments, Empty Frame are a rock band who try to innovate with every release and are getting heavier with every record. Having been around since 2005, Underdogs is only their fourth album and its the most rabid they've released, choppy post rock riffs that are augmented by cello and violin, sort of like a heavier style of psychedelic 60's rock or a riffy ELO on the woozy High Plains. 

The best use of the classical instruments comes on The Rider where Holst meets Morricone, Nikos Solomos' violin and Kaiti Pantzari's cello used brilliantly together as Kaiti's vocals are there to counterpoint Panagiotis Fetsis' baritone. He's the bass player of the band too, bringing doomy grooves to Sing Along, Babis Vasileiadis' drums adding loads of breathing room on the title track. Christos Kallimanis' are the most varied though from jangling melodies to ferocious riffs and a everything in between on the closing Mountain Cloud. 

Empty Frame have a unique sound, I hear a lot of R.E.M or Madrugada in Empty Frame's sound, its unique and evocative, more so than a lot of rock bands. 7/10

The Vulcan Itch - Rise Of The Fallen (The Lab Records)

The Vulcan Itch state bands such as Helmet, Mars Red Sky and Alice In Chains as influences and their music does sit in-between the alt/grunge and stoner scene, the bright and breezy Wasted reminding me of first two albums Foo Fighters or QOTSA; jangly guitars, throbbing basslines and punchy drumming continuing on Perfect Life.

This is album is apparently their most melodic, making it lighter than their previous records, one EP and one album, but I've never heard those so this is my first impression of the band and while I do like this trios sound it never really varies from the QOTSA blueprint (The Way) with a bit of Helmet in their too.

They get angular on Addicted To The Dark, riffy on Now Or Never and Is It Happening, while Liars And Betrayers has a snarl of punk. It's all pretty decent musically, if you love melodic alt/grunge rock then there's a lot to scratch this itch. 7/10

Under The Sun - Bell Of Doom (Sound Effect Records)

It seems a like a lifetime since Under The Sun released their debut EP but in 2024 the Bell Of Doom rings again and Under The Sun return with this debut album. Having been cranking out riffs since 2015, Under The Sun are a fuzzy, heavy rocking band who bring in stoner, doom born out of the voodoo blues much like Nightstalker and Orange Goblin, grooving bass drives things forward with fuzzy riffage from the guitars.

It's pacey from the off those OG influences coming on Smoking Angels, the cry of "Oh Yeah!?" getting the bluesy stoner riffs moving at full throttle, pace kept fast on the punky C.O.C-like Cry Out, this is filthy stoner metal to start a debut, the influences I mentioned earlier coming to the surface. On the title track, which is proceeded by a rolling bell, adds those doom sounds with a bit of Electric Wizard fuzz and Sabbath worship of course.

It's the first proper doom track on the record as psych wandering of desert rock is key to the woozy One Reason, while Pony Ride puts Sabbath against the NOLA sound, the production making it sound decidedly retro as there's a two channel approach so listen on headphones or through twin speakers. Their debut EP leaned a little too much on sludge doom but on this full length they let the filthy rock n roll breathe a bit more. Killer riffs from Athens. 9/10

Reviews: Child, Traum, Red Sun, Once Upon The End (Reviews By GC, Matt Bladen, Rich Piva & Mark Young)

Child - Shitgeist (Suicide Records) [GC]

Not much in the way of pre album info from the record company for Swedish death, grinding punks (thanks Facebook) Child, maybe they just want the music to do the talking so with that in mind time to listen to their latest release, the charmingly titled Shitgeist.

Everything sucks, everything’s fucked, no hope inside are the first cheery lines we are greeted with they are mixed with some wailing feedback before Shitgeist kicks into life and this definitely feels more on the punk side of things all be it fast hardcore punk and it’s a delightful bundle of noisy guitars, thundering drums and vicious vocals.

Mass Crowning shows its grindcore hand now and its textbook! Fast, maniacal, and unhinged and all in just over 1 minute, beautiful! Tin Foil Party People harks back to the crusty D-beat punk styles of the early 80’s but now mixes the grind in and this is just a glorious fuck you in music form having showed both styles separately they now mix them together in a furious and fantastic way! 

Time Island manages to lever some death metal in there and as promised we now have had what they described themselves as, all the styles meld beautifully and create an unholy assault on the listener and never give you one second of peace and this is exactly what ‘’death, grinding punk’’ should sound like! 

I Will Refuse clocks in at over 4 minutes which is a bit of a shock because after the onslaught of the previous 4 tracks this is just a complete U-turn stylistically it takes over a minute to kick in and when it does, we get a kind of echoey and atmospheric 80’s hardcore punk track but its just a bit odd? It’s an ok song but just seems a bit of a weird choice. 

Golden Chasms goes back to the direct grinding punk style that has played so well so far and also has a nice mid-section that’s slowed down and provides more of the death metal chug and groove before Creative Inventions Of Killing gets you 2-stepping and windmilling round the room in a beautiful and chaotic hardcore blaze and shows that this is really what they should concentrate on as when they aim for the kill they just don’t miss! 

Shame, Smite, Subside is another perfect lesson in grinding death metal, its short, sharp and vicious and over in super quick time, just like it should be! Glowing Kids is another epic (3:02) but this time they manage to not change the sounds or styles they just expand them and pad them out but not lose any of the edge.

Welfare Collapse is straight back to reminding you not to take your eye off the ball and expect to be battered again and again with another full-on grind baseball bat to the face. After the previous lessons in aural brutality it seems that with final track Swiper, Child feel the need to introduce another way to punish us so decide to throw in a sludgy, slow and doomy track for another surprise but this time there is no missing the point or stunting the albums progress, this is a horrible noise but it just fits in so well and shows there are so many ways to make a listener feel uncomfortable in the best possible way and is a flawless way to end a phenomenal album.

From pretty much the first second to the very last, this album was fucking incredible! It’s a vicious and brutal attack on your ears and lasts long in the mind after it finishes, the levels of ferocity and anger going through these songs are truly breath-taking and make for a painful but ultimately rewarding listen and barring that one odd song is practically a perfect album in every way! I pondered whether that one song was worth marking this album down, but I just can’t bring myself to do that to such a magnificent piece of work! This album needs to be listened to bey everyone so they can understand just how good it is! Trust me, you won’t regret it! 10/10

Traum - Traum (Subsound Records) [Matt Bladen]

Drawn from the cosmic realms, filtered through transcendental soundscapes and delivered by a four piece in sync with each other and the universe at large, Traum, the debut album bur Traum is an instrumental journey through the furthest reaches of musical exploration where, rock, jazz, electronic, prog and psychedelic all combine through the skilful playing of Luca Ciffo (guitar/bass), Lorenzo Stecconi (guitar), Luca T. Mai (synth/sax) and Paolo Mongardi (drums) who spent a month living together in an old farmhouse to make this record. 

They shared mutual influences, cohesion and improvisation to make track such as Infraterrestrial Dub bleed seamlessly into the post rock intensity of Erwachen, nothing ever sounding like a clash or something different. As this debut album progresses, there's nods to pre-DSOTM Floyd on Katabasis, some Ozric Tentacles on the throbbing Inner Space and jazz rock from bands such as Diagonal on Vimana. 

There's not much to say about this album, you need to listen to it to really understand what it's all about, instrumental mastery that so often is immersed in psychedelia. 8/10

Red Sun - From Sunset To Dawn (Subsound Records) [Rich Piva]

Italian trio Red Sun are a psych/space instrumental band who’s third album, From Sunset To Dawn, continues on the path of their previous discography, bringing us mind bending spacey jams from under the Italian sky (stolen from their bio). I can sometimes drift from interest with instrumental bands, lets see if that happens with this one.

The short answer is I did not drift, as the eight tracks on Sunset To Dawn kept me involved and never dragged. This is why I prefer short bursts of instrumental rock and not always twenty-minute epics (unless you are Clouds Taste Satanic). I love the chill vibes and synths on Intempesto. A Violent Dusk is the most straight-forward rocker (for them) and has a super cool vibe to it. The Sunset Turns Purple has a cool little riff to go along with the chill spacey synths. One cannot not think of Hawkwind when hearing a track like The Coldness Of The New Moon, and this is OK. The epic closer The New Sun helps to finish us the story with no words, which is what great instrumental rock bands can do (see CTS once again).

Overall, the new Red Sun record is an enjoyable psych/space instrumental listen. The band can certainly play, I love the use of synths, the vibe of the record is very cool, and the band can tell a story without words. Keeping the songs shorter and expert sequencing of the album makes From Sunset To Dawn one of the better instrumental albums I have heard so far in 2024. 7/10

Once Upon The End - Archive 200 (Independent Release) [Mark Young]

And now a cheeky 4 track poke in the eye from French Melo-death metallers Once Upon The End. Formed in 2016, the 5-piece have been consistently releasing music since 2019 that has appealed to fans of Arch Enemy, In Flames et al. 

That influence is writ large over Dying Concrete, employing a mixture of the growls and powerfully charged clean singing against melodic patterns that run between frenetic and solid staccato bursts. Its all here, the emotionally charged ascending movements, the trem picked infills, harmony parts and yes, it’s good. But only good, on the strength of this first track its perfectively functional melodic metal. 

We Are The Dead comes in with a gentle non-distorted introduction before the expected speed of sound metal breaks in. At the risk of repeating myself, its good, solid stuff but it doesn’t have anything there that makes it better or worse than the other melo-death bands out there. Their main strength is the incredible voice of Ezalyr, especially when the cleans are deployed. There is an amazing power within it that elevates the music around it. 

Even saying that, the drop off in the middle here does suck the energy from it before they pick the pace up again. Moon Scavengers has an Iron Maiden vibe to it, guitar lines that dart to and fro but again they enter familiar territory that doesn’t offer anything really new. I keep saying this that there is nothing wrong with the music here, because there isn’t its just not doing anything for me at all. 

Final track, The Old Ones rumbles in, deploying the striking cleans and growls to equal measure. Here, they show what they can do if they try to move beyond their influences because Ezalyr’s voice has that something that gives the music something more.

Right, so melo-death is probably not my favourite genre. I suppose that if you have been listening to or have listened to the originators of that scene since it came about in the 90’s and weren’t really that fussed then, like I wasn’t then it needs to come in and be the best thing I could possibly hear in that genre. The music here is good, it does what it needs to do but it just doesn’t grab me at all. 

There is a definite audience for this, because it does have that voice which gives it that edge. They just need to play to its strengths. 6/10

Reviews: Ironside, Cedric Burnside, Susan Santos, Symphonity (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Ironside - The Viking Saga (Self Released)

If the title didn't give it away this is not a band dedicated to the wheelchair bound American detective. 

No this Ironside hail from The Midlands but their hearts and their shields carry the beat of the Norsemen from Scandinavia. Having seen this prog metal band make their live debut at Power Metal Quest Fest in 2022 Ironside have spent 2022/2023 sculpting this debut album into the 31 minute concept piece it is.

The band tell stories as part of a full conceptual piece, surrounding a warrior and his battles against a new king, the loss of his brother and Ragnarok. The trio of Dale (bass), Joel (keys/drums?) and Josh (guitars) using plenty of synths and orchestrations to increase the cinematic effect of these songs, such as the magnificent ballad Warrior's Rest. Anchoring the pianos/keys etc are the thick djenty riffs and blast beating drums that drive the apocalyptic End Of Everything. It's all polished by Matt Jones of CapsaArx Studios/Dakesis.

Now if you're coming in thinking this is Viking Metal, it is not, it's prog rock with a Viking theme to the lyrics, on track such as Shield Wall they remind me of Coheed And Cambria or to a much bigger extent the often over looked 3. The high pitched vocals are soaring into Leprous territory, but on Skål the bassy rock is cut from a Muse album track as is Valhalla, though this one is more a Black Holes & Revelations single.

I was impressed by the band when I saw them live but bloody hell this is an absolutely epic debut record. It's worth all the time and skill that has been put into it. Hammers and shields in the air as you serve Odin with every single note. Fantastic! 9/10

Cedric Burnside - Hill Country Love (Provogue Records)

Drawing from his heritage in Northern Mississippi, GRAMMY Award winning musician Cedric Burnside deals out another set of road anthems that at their heart always find their way back to Hill Country. So much so that Burnside's music is labelled Hill Country Blues as it's his soul that is the engine of these albums. 

It's about giving back, showing his roots and how they got him where he is today, a musically diverse artist that traverses America's homegrown genres such as blues, gospel, country and Americana, following in the musical footsteps of his grandfather R.L Burnside who 'invented' the hypnotic, repeating Hill Country Blues sound and was given his due finally when Jon Spencer (he of the blues explosion) took him on tour. Cedric was playing drums with his grandfather at just 13 and from there has found fame and recognition of his own including the previously mentioned GRAMMY. 

Hill Country Love was recorded in a flurry, just two days is all it took to lay down these 14 tracks in an old building with Luther Dickinson, capturing the spirit of the blues that gives some parping mouth harp to I Know, punching acoustic rawness on Shake Em Down and moody shuffles on Toll On They Life or the percussive beat of Funky. The stripped back, immediate sound of this record allows you to feel how the recording process was, 14 tracks that showcase why Cedric is now the leader of the Hill Country Blues movement. 7/10

Susan Santos - Sonora (Self Released)

The sixth album from Susan Santos is a boisterous record where Santos' blues background is stretched into country and even psychedelia, showcasing her talent as a guitarist and a singer too. Influenced by the desert, these are outlaw road anthems from the inhospitable heat, nothing that resembles Kyuss unfortunately but there's enough that you can hear the cicadas clicking, the dust devils rolling and smell the cacti. Santos plays all manner of guitars, as well as banjo and sings, locking in with David Salvador (bass) and Juli El Lento (drums) as a power trio. 

Drawing on songs about the desert itself and the often notorious characters and animals that live there, Susan leans into her Spanish heritage with some Tex-Mex influence; ZZ Top riffs on What I Want and SRV scuttles on Let It Ride. However elsewhere there's smoky jazz on Have Mercy and even a bit of dreamy Lady A country on So Long, it's all played with panache from this veteran axe slinger. Classy American rhythms, Santos is a very welcome mirage on Sonora. 7/10

Symphonity - Marco Polo: Live In Europe (Limb Music)

Now I was at this tour so I remember what it was like live. Symphonity headlined Power Metal Quest Fest last year on their Marco Polo: Live in Europe tour where this live album is drawn from. If you don't know who Symphonity are they are a symphonic power metal band who have delivered a fair few concept albums in their time and this set followed their Marco Polo concept record but with some older material thrown in. 

This is a DVD/CD collection and the audio selection has 13 songs recorded in different cities while the DVD was filmed in Zlín/Czechia. The mix of gigs covered in the CD is a little jarring, especially as they made sure that this release had very little post editing on the DVD so I assume they've taken the same route on the CD as there's odd cuts, moving to the next song while having a brief but of talking that's stopped abruptly. 

I think it would have been better to have the album from one of the shows rather than a mish mash of a few. Anyway the music is good, both vocalists work well together though the one is a little quiet in the mix but if you want to hear what Symphonity sound like then listen to their albums, this live release is for hardcore fans only. 6/10