ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • DEVIL – Time To Repent

    Norway’s Devil move into the label ranks with this debut 8 song full length. Doom metal with a small side of stoner rock is their method of musical execution, and I’ll look at the 6 other songs not already heard by these ears as 2 songs appear on the previously reviewed “Magister Mundi Xum” demo…

  • ICS VORTEX – Storm Seeker

    Coming at this solo project ICS Vortex from a different angle than most (not having been an ardent Borknagar follower), I’m unfamiliar with a lot of the previous black metal landscape the musicians stride in. The rhythm section of drummer Asgeir Mickelson and bassist Steinar Gundersen for instance are well known to me for their…

  • MONSTER MAGNET – Mastermind

    Although I’ve been a fan of Monster Magnet for many years, I haven’t bothered getting my hands on any of their new releases since 1998’s "Powertrip" album, and listening to "Mastermind", I’m reminded why I stopped keeping up with this band. Quite simply, it is because I heard it all done better back in the…

  • SAXON – Call To Arms

    After 33+ years in the metal recording business, British veterans Saxon are one of the rare bands who I believe continually strive for higher quality songwriting as they get older. It’s not about putting out a new record every 6-9 months as the early 80’s – as Saxon put on their fair share of tours…

  • HUMAN ZOO – Eyes Of The Stranger

    German sextet with an unusual element to a conventional melodic hard rock sound – they employ a full time saxophone player in Boris Matakovic who handles as much solo action as guitarist Ingolf Engler. This third album “Eyes Of The Stranger” contains natural melodies and a music base similar to Pink Cream 69 and Bonfire…

  • GHOST BRIGADE – Until Fear No Longer Defines Us

    Curveballs keep people on the edge of their seats. Complacency reduces excitement and expectations. If an artist comes out of the gate swinging for the fences, fear creeps in regarding their resolve to deliver even more each successive time. Finland gothic-alternative-doom-death band Ghost Brigade have two exemplary full lengths to their cache (2007’s “Guided By…

  • THE GREAT KAT – Beethoven Shreds DVD

    The Great Kat was a cult figure at the end of the 80s and early part of the 90s. It was primarily her first 2 releases "Worship Me or Die" and "Beethoven on Speed" that gave her most success. These are also her only two full-length. The rest of her discography consists of EPs, a…

  • TOXIC HOLOCAUST – Conjure and Command

    Joel Grind and his Toxic Holocaust have been around for about 12 years and "Conjure and Command" is their 4th full length. They continue as on the 3 previous albums, with reasonable basic and filthy black thrash. Almost all the songs are built around his riffs and his distinctive vocals. Sonically, this is much better…

  • APEIRON RESTRAINT – Apeiron Restraint

    A self-titled debut four song EP from this Norwegian quintet, the material runs the gamut of progressive music, extreme death and even slightly twisted alternative rock and jazz on distinct tracks like “In Hermetic” and “Deathmonger”. Raw guitars and Svein Erik Heglum’s chameleon vocal approach (sometimes clean like Graham Bonnet, sometimes rhythmic, like a metal…

  • VREID – Goddamnit DVD

    Vreid unleashes their full on black’n roll attack on DVD for the first time, filmed live at Rockefeller inOslo April 10th 2009 (at the Inferno Festival). The set list contains 8 songs, taken from the bands first 4 albums, (album 5,"V" was released earlier this year) making the DVD a nice introduction for new fans,…

  • NOCTURNAL BLOOD – Devastated Graves – The Morbid Celebration

    "Devastated Graves" is the first full-length release from Ghastly Apparition, the sole member of Nocturnal Blood. The music is black death, calling to mind Teitanblood with a bit of Autopsy thrown in for good measure, from the song-writing through to production.  The emphasis is on relentless pounding beats rather than atmosphere and the songs are…

  • INFINITA SYMPHONIA – A Mind’s Chronicle

    Guess we are grasping at straws for cool band names these days. Infinita Symphonia display a love for symphonic power metal with occasional nods to traditional or progressive fare. Guests on this debut album “A Mind’s Chronicle” include Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and Fabio Lione, and overall these 10 tracks (plus “Intro (verted)” the introduction) are…

  • INFINITA SYMPHONIA – A Mind’s Chronicle

    Infinita Symphonia is a fairly straight forward power-progressive metal band with hints of extreme vocals, symphonic arrangements and focus on melodic content contra instrumental masturbation. The material presented on "A Mind’s Chronicle" isn’t too far from what Pagan’s Mind has done on their later albums. The difference being that Infinita Symphonia is every bit as…

  • FORTE – Stranger Than Fiction (re-issue deluxe edition)

    There’s something about your first memories of underground metal. When you discover there’s more to life than what major media throws at you, your horizons expand and it’s almost like your appetite doesn’t subside. You crave more, you seek out deeper sounds and don’t care where the bands come from in your favorite genres. For…

  • DECAPITATED – Carnival Is Forever

    Oppression translates into fierce emotional and physical manifestations. While many would strike out with hands and fists, others take the pain, the fear, and the misery and channel it through the power of music. As a result we are currently in a renaissance with certain countries who may have lagged behind when other movements were…

  • SUICIDE SILENCE – The Black Crown

    In an effort to not seem un-hip or old fashioned, here’s my take on Suicide Silence and their third album “The Black Crown”. All the youngsters love this Riverside metal-core group, who scream and pummel with thick grooves and immeasurable anger in all their songs. Gaining a guest appearance from Korn’s Jonathan Davis on “Witness…

  • COMMUNIC – The Bottom Deep

    Metal moves me. Thousands of bands pass through my ears each year – yet fewer than 5% engage me the way Communic has over the last decade. Upon experiencing their “Conspiracy In Mind” debut in 2005, their brand of power metal with progressive, technical and thrash-like energy pinned my ears and made me want to…

  • SPEED KILL HATE – Out For Blood

    The brainchild of Overkill guitarist Dave Linsk, Speed Kill Hate with “Out For Blood” use East Coast thrash as their foundation and add in Pro Pain-like hardcore screams or occasional ventures into punk and groove to flesh out these 10 songs. Vocalist Bob Barnak has a raspy roar almost melding Pro-Pain, Pantera and Crowbar together…

  • VARIOUS ARTISTS – Embrace The Sun – The Lion Music Japan Benefit Project

    Lion Music has always been renown for their guitar hero exposure in terms of instrumental and group situations. So it’s little surprise where many of these artists gain acclaim in the Far East that they would pay it forward to help after the natural disasters crippled Japan earlier this year. As a result we have…

  • BLOOD THIRSTY DEMONS – Let The War Begin (re-issue)

    In 2010 Italian ‘horror’ metal band Blood Thirsty Demons released their fourth studio album “Misanthropy”; simultaneously they released a re-issue of their 2005 effort “Let The War Begin”, adding on two bonus tracks as extra incentive. Without any knowledge of the quality of the original album, and thereby no knowledge about what is different between…

  • UNEARTH – Darkness In The Light

    Incorporating the elements of melodic death metal and savage hardcore, Unearth unleash a fifth full length that no one will mistake for commercial leanings. “Darkness In The Light” features Trevor Phipps pushing his lungs and larynx to the max on “Last Wish” and “Watch It Burn”, while the guitar tandem of Buz McGrath and Ken…

  • NIGHT RANGER – Somewhere In California

    My time with this classic hard rock band with strong AOR-like harmonies goes back to 1984 and the “Midnight Madness” album. I remember bringing this one along on cold winter road trips with my Sony Walkman to keep me occupied as my parents ruled the car radio roost. The mainstream audience probably remembers “Sister Christian”…

  • ZERSTÖRER – Declaration of War

    Without being too stereotypical, Germany has one major affiliation for yours truly when it comes to metal and that is heavy, fast paced metal. Kreator and Tankard carries the torch for those with a taste for speed, with Scorpions and Gamma Ray bringing up the rear with some radio friendly sing a long tracks (there…

  • CROWN THE LOST – Cold Pestilent Hope

    Pennsylvania’s Crown The Lost are one of the great new breed of US power thrash bands to come out in this past decade. Bold words I know, but for my money they have an awesome riff and harmonic sensibility with both guitarists, and couple this with an energetic, bold rhythm section who can blast one…

  • JIM FOSTER – PowerLines

    Canadian singer/guitarist and songwriter who released “PowerLines” originally in 1986, but never on CD until now. Close your eyes and songs like “Maggie” and “It’s Up To You” have all the hallmarks of quintessential 80’s pop rock scene: keyboards providing the foundation, solid vocal melodies as the hook mechanism, electronic drums propelling the dance beat…

  • DIRK DIGGLER – Dirk Diggler

    Israeli porngrind named after a porn star known for his huge cock. Yeah; great imagination behind that name choice. The music is in the style of Pig Destroyer, Anal Cunt and Abscess and is mostly piss boring. Some parts may lead to lighter headbanging, but otherwise this is miserable. I hope I do not get…

  • LAST WINTER – The Heart & The Broken Compass

    My music tastes run all across the board. Metal certainly remains number one in my soul, but I’ve always taken into account the diverse landscape over rock and roll’s recording history. I believe it’s better to keep an eye and ear on what’s coming at you from all angles than to simply plead ignorance. Lifeforce…

  • RIVAL SONS – Pressure & Time

    Los Angeles based blues/rock band who embody throwback on “Pressure & Time” . Frontman Jay Buchanan at age 26 channels the best of Jim Morrison, Roger Daltrey and Robert Plant on songs like “All Over The Road”, “Burn Down Los Angeles”, and the title track. Not an ounce of current technology in any aspect of…

  • NOVEMBERS DOOM – Aphotic

    Imagine this reviewer neglecting to take the opportunity to see this IL doom quintet 20 minutes from his hometown when Novembers Doom headlined day two of the Metal Thursday fifth anniversary celebration in Worcester, Massachusetts. Especially in light of “Aphotic”, the latest studio record from this unique, forward thinking doom band with progressive and death…

  • HOLY MARTYR – Invincible

    Third album from this Italian epic metal brigade. “Invincible” tackles Japanese warrior subject matter – perfect for the charging guitars, pounding rhythms and larger than life melodies. Some of the material is slower and brooding such as “Ghost Dog”, while other songs have this Far Eastern overtone such as Nicola Pirroni’s bass propelling “Shichinin No…