ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • DARE – Sacred Ground

    The excellent albeit underrated melodic rock band that is Dare recently released the album entitled "Sacred Ground", their seventh one so far. The band consists of Thin Lizzy’s Darren Wharton (vocals and keyboards), Nigel Clutterbuck (bass), Vinnie Burns (guitars), Kevin Whitehead (drums), and Marc Roberts (keyboards). While one may be tempted to describe the album…

  • SEVEN IMPALE – Contrapasso

    I really dug Seven Impale’s previous album, the one entitled "City of the Sun", and so, naturally, I was quite excited about receiving a promo copy of their upcoming album, "Contrapasso". As with its predecessor, "Contrapasso" draws on a myriad of different bands and influences, and while the style of the music may be close…

  • METAL ALLEGIANCE – Fallen Heroes

    A brief three song EP recorded as a tribute to the loss over the past year of three iconic musicians: Lemmy Kilmeister, David Bowie, and Glenn Frey, Metal Allegiance contains seasoned players across the metal spectrum. Everyone who’s anyone knows the skills of Alex Skolnick on guitar and Mike Portnoy on drums, while Mark Menghi…

  • DEMONBREED – Where Gods Come to Die

    Considering four-fifths of this German death metal unit came from Lay Down Rotten, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that we have an experienced quintet even if Demonbreed started last year. "Where Gods Come to Die" is an old school death debut album, the 12 songs living in a time vortex where nothing…

  • BLAAKYUM – Line of Fear

    Lebanese thrash/ heavy metal band Blaakyum is a first for this journalist – as you don’t hear a lot of bands from the war torn country of Lebanon. Their second album "Line of Fear" has an aggressive yet melodic sensibility that makes these 9 songs quite addictive. Middle Eastern folk and tribal inflections aid the…

  • NATIONAL SUICIDE – Anotheround

    An uppity brand of thrash here from Italy’s National Suicide on their second full-length "Anotheround". Active since 2005, their debut album "The Old Family Is Still Alive" came out back in 2009, which begs the question…. Why did it take 7 years for the follow up? After multiple go arounds, "Anotheround" certainly has a lot…

  • STORM OF PARTICLES – Storm of Particles

    Born in March of 2015, Italy’s Storm of Particles quickly moved from covering their favorite bands to an original act – releasing their debut self-titled demo this year. 4 songs and a brief opening instrumental that revel in a melodic death platform that gains a fresh outlook through folk-oriented aspects pushed through guitar overdrive. Matteo…

  • SUNSTORM – Edge of Tomorrow

    The fourth album from this project act contains ex-Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner, keyboardist/producer Alessandro Del Vecchio, and DGM guitarist Simone Mularoni among others. "Edge of Tomorrow" as a result has more of a heavier sheen to the normal melodic rock/ AOR proceedings. Prime-time Journey comes up right out of the gate for the blistering…

  • KISSIN’ DYNAMITE – Generation Goodbye

    Shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that Germany’s Kissin’ Dynamite have been garnering a healthy buzz for their brand of melodic, modern hard rock since starting as the Blues Kids in 2002 (smartly changing names in 2008).  This fifth album "Generation Goodbye" continues the trend of writing a solid set of tracks that contain…

  • NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST – Overkill Commando

    Polish four piece Nuclear Holocaust play a pacy type of death grind that (as you can safely guess by the cover) has a slightly retro ‘Terrorizer’ kind of feel to it. I like the relative lack of tempo changes – these guys go from fast ‘d’ and skank beats to blasts and don’t spend too…

  • DENY THE CROSS – Alpha Ghoul

    If I told you Deny the Cross was constituted of members from Spazz, Agents of Satan, Municipal Waste and Discordance Axis you would probably have a fairly good idea what to expect from ‘Alpha Ghoul’. And, if your guess was in the ballpark of grinding powerviolence delivered in sub-60 second shots, you’d be 100% accurate. But…

  • HERETIC – Underdogs of the Underworld

    20 years on and self-proclaimed Black Metal Punks Heretic are still churning out the dirtiest rocking beats this side of Hell. I first met their brand of punked-up Black n Roll on 2013’s ‘Angelcunts and Devilcocks’ and was impressed by how simple yet effective their approach was. This is the type of music that delivers…

  • HELLBRINGER – Awakened from the Abyss

    ‘Awakened from The Abyss’ is second full length from Aussie thrashers Hellbringer. The main thing you need to know about this record is that it sounds uncannily like Slayer’s ‘Hell Awaits.’ I am sure there is no way that this is a mistake or something that happened unconsciously. If so, how could everything be so…

  • JOHANSSON & SPECKMANN – Edge of the Abyss

    Free of physical locality restrictions to prohibit creative endeavors, international collaborations in the recording field appear to be a fairly regular occurrence in the metal realm these days. Home studios and computers make these records affordable and quicker to develop – as "Edge of the Abyss" is the third Johansson & Speckmann record in four…

  • CARMINE APPICE – Stick It! My Life of Sex, Drums and Rock ’N’ Roll

    Carmine Appice is a legendary drummer. His impressive resume lists bands and artists such as the pioneering Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, Blue Murder, and countless other outfits that would take up half a page just to name-drop. This brand new biography of his, appropriately entitled "Stick It! My Life of Sex, Drums…

  • ROGER PEDERSEN – Guitar Madness and Other Nice Songs

    Roger Pedersen is a highly talented musician and guitarist hailing from Norway, and this album of his entitled "Guitar Madness and Other Nice Songs" is his third so far according to the press sheet that accompanied the promo copy I was given. As the title of the album suggests, the fourteen tracks that constitute this…

  • FAKE IDOLS – Witness

    Ex-members of Italian melodic death metal bands Raintime and Slowmotion Apocalypse decide to form Fake Idols in 2013, releasing a self-titled album a year later. "Witness" is the follow-up for a new label in Scarlet Records, an 11 track effort that straddles the melodic/modern hard rock and metal lines. The quintet present focused songs that…

  • ADX – Non Serviam

    French speed/ heavy metal band ADX has been together since 1982 – gaining a cult allegiance due to their quality riffing and melodic vocals while sticking to their native French tongue for the lyrics. The tenth studio record "Non Serviam" contains 11 tracks of guitar-based harmonies, double bass oriented tempos, and a lot of marching/heads…

  • SCOUR – Scour

    Scour is a brand new ensemble featuring Phil Anselmo on vocals, John Jarvis on bass, Derek Engemann on guitar, Chase Fraser on guitar, and Jesse Schobel on drums. This 6-track plague of theirs was recently released upon the unsuspecting metal masses by the ever-awesome Housecore Records, and I must say that I rather enjoy Scour’s…

  • THRONE OF HERESY – Antioch

    Forming in 2009, Swedish death metal group Throne of Heresy have been climbing out of the underground scene ever since. Their self-released debut album "The Stench of Deceit" in 2012, recorded at Abyss Studios (owned by Hypocrisy/Pain main man Peter Tägtgren), received critical appreciation while increasing the fan base. Abscession vocalist Thomas Cliford joined in…

  • KILLIT – Shut It Down

    These days it’s not surprising to hear of a band coming together from outer countries and settling down in another active scene. Killit began in 2014, the quintet’s members spanning from Argentina, Hungary, Israel, and Britain – settling down in London and working on their craft before releasing this debut full-length "Shut It Down". What…

  • TRICK OR TREAT – Rabbits’ Hill Part 2

    Inspired by the Richard Adams novel Watership Down which is a classic adventure story regarding rabbits who take on human traits and have to establish a new home because of the destruction of their warren (where they burrow and normally live), Italian power metal band Trick or Treat felt the book deserved a two part-concept…

  • BROKEN HAND CHARITY – Götterdämmerung

    Broken Hand Charity is an alternative hard rock/metal band hailing from Denmark with a groovy rock ‘n’ roll vibe to it that brings to mind bands such as Alter Bridge, Volbeat, early Guns N’ Roses, Soundgarden, the latest solo record by Slash, and so on and so forth. One can even detect a few influences…

  • JÖRG STEINECK – Lo Sound Desert

    This brand new documentary entitled "Lo Sound Desert" by Jörg Steineck is quite the interesting thing. It focuses on and chronicles the birth and rise of what is termed the desert rock scene and how that particular scene was influenced by the vast, open, and somewhat desolate spaces of the Californian desert as well as…

  • REVOCATION – Great Is Our Sin

    Six full-lengths deep into a career, Revocation stack up well as a proven entity in the technical thrash/death community through killer musicianship and execution, plus a solid discography to boot. The major change to take place for "Great Is Our Sin" is a drummer shift, as Phil Dubois-Coyne steps down and we have ex-3 Inches…

  • AUTOKRATOR – Autokrator

    I recently reviewed the sophomore album by this ugly French death/doom/drone/industrial metal combo, the one entitled "The Obedience to Authority", but then following that, the debut album of theirs showed up in my pile of albums for review. Unlike the sophomore album, which I like, the debut album of theirs is slightly more monotonous and…

  • NERODIA – Vanity Unfair

    For all the spit and polish metal bands that exist in the world (clean productions, everything assembled in the right place), it’s nice every once in a while to just hear some raw, spitfire material that goes for the jugular and takes no prisoners. Italian blackened thrash band Nerodia live for the speed on their…

  • C.B.MURDOC – Here Be Dragons

    Formed in 2006 out of the remnants of Mörk Gryning, this is a Swedish unit intent on being as equally intriguing as it is modern when it comes to their progressive death metal style.  C.B. Murdoc on their second album "Here Be Dragons" delivers an 11 track caustic, frantic body blow in musical form –…

  • DEFILED – Towards Inevitable Ruin

    Musikken til japanske Defiled har jeg fulgt med på siden jeg fikk oppleve dem live på Inferno i 2004. Kanskje ikke så mye a skryte av, ettersom de kun har gitt ut et album siden den gang og det kom i 2011. Men det var til gjengjeld et album det luktet svidd av. «In Crisis»…

  • WOLVERINE – Viva Machina

    I have some memories of Wolverine being a death metal band back in the days, but today these swedes are all about the more progressive and atmospheric kind of music. Nothing wrong with that, we all know the fabulous journey of Katatonia, and Wolverine appears just as comfortable and confident as their fellow countrymen. No surprise…