RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS
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ANGEL KING – World of Pain
Discovering new music in hard rock and metal gives my brain fuel to live and my fingers thoughts to ruminate upon. Due to the nature of the business with technology allowing musicians to affordably record material we have so much new product hitting us weekly- and as a result it’s tough as a journalist to…
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THE FORESHADOWING – Second World
Ah sweet doom. The journey remains long, the road to glory almost as arduous. Musically respected, often revered by the most fervent of fans. Not the path to take if you hope to make a sustainable living solely from the output of your music (Black Sabbath notwithstanding). The Foreshadowing embody a sound as a sextet…
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WILD FRONTIER – 2012
Fifth album from these veteran German hard rockers- starting in 1990 and clawing their way through the scene, Wild Frontier took their name from the fine 1987 Gary Moore album. “2012” comes six years after their last studio record “Bite The Bullet”- but this is my initial sojourn into the band’s songwriting and style. Overall…
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DAWN OF DISEASE – Crypts of the Unrotten
This German death metal act started in 2003 and originally broke up in 2007 despite relative success releasing a mini-CD in 2004. Fortunately a new lineup emerged in the spring of 2009 as co-founder and original singer Tomasz Wisniewski started with the last drummer Mathias Blasse, found two new guitarists in Lukas Kerk and Oliver…
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CRYSTAL VIPER – Crimen Excepta
The fourth full length studio album from Poland’s Crystal Viper explores more of their epic old school metal influences, using a lyrical concept theme of historical facts mixing with a fictional storyline relating to witches, black magic and the holy inquisition. Songs like “It’s Your Omen” and “Witch’s Mark” have galloping riffs, high pitch note…
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LONEWOLF – Army of the Damned
The French scene may be better known in modern metal times for its technical death prowess, but at the heart of its domestic output are the roots of traditional, true and epic bands. Active again since 2000 and originating in the early 1990’s, Lonewolf fly the flag for old school, Running Wild style power metal.…
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ENGEL – Blood of Saints
On paper this should be a home run sell- unfortunately Sweden’s Engel seem content to focus on more of the commercial aspects of their post –industrial meets modern melodic death oriented sound. With their third album “Blood Of Saints”, the guitar playing at times attempts to get a tad adventurous on “Down To Nothing”- only…
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KISSIN’ DYNAMITE – Money, Sex & Power
Welcome back to the sleaze driven, Sunset Strip 80’s hard rock scene with Germany’s Kissin’ Dynamite. The third full length from this five-piece makes you suspend all of your daily stress and fast paced work life into 10 songs embodying a live it loose and free manner. Expect large vocal harmonies, addictive guitar hooks, firm…
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STALLION FOUR – Rough Times
Let’s face facts- when it comes to hard rock and heavy metal, there’s not much more innovation or cross-genre pollination left to tackle. So it shouldn’t surprise you that for all the exploration that occurs, some bands just want to plug in, crank things up, and play. Stallion Four hail from Sweden and live for…
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GRAVE DIGGER – Home at Last EP
The appeal of an EP in today’s marketplace is limited to ardent collectors and curiosity seekers who wish to dip their toes into new unchartered waters. Germany’s Grave Digger consistently release EP’s prior to full length albums, and at least offer exclusive tracks to make the package more enticing to purchase. “Home At Last” will…
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THE ORDER – 1986
This Swiss quartet reaches back into the old school hard rock ideals for this fourth album “1986”. Riffing and lyrical themes that go for the bouncy, anthem hooks, bluesy vocal swagger and straight forward bass/ drumming- The Order won’t stray far from those tenets within these 10 songs. Whitesnake, Van Halen, early Sinner and of…
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SOULLINE – We Curse, We Trust
Here’s another surprise. The Swiss metal I’ve heard through the years hasn’t been this heavy, as the quintet Souline play a brand of harmony laden, melodic death quite different from the Krokus/ Gotthard classic hard rock sound I’m used to from bands in this country. “We Curse, We Trust” is their third full length record,…
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SOULLINE – We Curse, We Trust
‘We Curse, We Trust’ is the third full-length from Swiss melodic death metallers SoulLine. Imagine a triangle with Dark Tranquility at one corner, HIM on another and Katatonia on the last. The sound of ‘We Curse, We Trust’ falls somewhere in the space between the three points. At times we have DM vocals, and at…
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KOBRA AND THE LOTUS – Kobra and the Lotus
The thunder from Canada arrives in the form of the five-piece traditional- power metal oriented Kobra And The Lotus. With this self-titled 10 song, 42 minute effort, prepare yourself for an onslaught of guitar salvos and harmonies, steady double bass fueled drumming as well as the soaring, high pitched vocal confidence out of Kobra Paige.…
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ATHLANTIS – M.W.N.D.
The second album from Italy’s Athlantis is my first exposure to the quartet’s power metal wares. “M.W.N.D.” features a new vocalist in Jack Spider, a new drummer in Enry Sydoz as well as the experienced guitar/ production skills of Pier Gonella (ex-Labyrinth) and bassist/ keyboardist Steve Vawamas (Mastercastle, Shadows Of Steel). Out of the 12…
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UNLEASHED – Odalheim
Twenty one years beyond their “Where No Life Dwells” debut album, Unleashed release their eleventh studio platter “Odalheim”. Becoming very self-contained in their later years with owning their personal recording studio as well as handling management within house I believe has helped the quartet shape their own destiny, and let Nuclear Blast do their job…
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DEADBORN – Mayhem Maniac Machine
Remember when all the technical death metal bands hailed from North America- especially Florida and Quebec, Canada? Not anymore my friends… in current times even countries more known for their traditional and power scenes are participating in the juggling tempo, dive bomb chord changes and ripping blast beat contests like Greece, Italy, and Germany. Deadborn-…
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SHADOWDANCE – Future Negative Fantasy
11 years since their last album release with an EP in 2004 entitled “Another Look” to keep a name going in the marketplace- Philadelphia’s dark progressive/ power metal band Shadowdance return with this second full-length “Future Negative Fantasy”. Guitarist Carlos Alvarez handles the bulk of the songwriting, production, and additional keyboards- supplemented by vocalist George…
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THE FORSAKEN – Beyond Redemption
Nine years can be an eternity to a fan of The Forsaken- yet they’ve had to wait that long for this fourth studio album to hit the streets. Laying low and playing occasional festival/ club gigs when they could while leaving their previous label in 2009, “Beyond Redemption” showcases the Swedish death metal troop in…
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HELLDORADOS – Helldorados
Given the Scandinavian sleaze metal explosion of recent lore, should it really be shocking to see German acts like Helldorados taking their shot at glory? Forming in 2009, the Stuttgart based quartet attempt to bridge the conventional, fun loving sleaze aspect with an injection of guitar power and drumming more familiar to traditional/ power metal…
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NECROVATION – Necrovation
Necrovation’s second, self titled release, needed a couple of spins before it settled in. The formula is gritty old school death metal but with some thrash elements and a vocal that I do not think fitted the general sound. Necrovation (SWE) released their debut, "Breed Dreadness Blood" back in 2008 and I did enjoy that…