The German power metallers bearing the name Heavatar released their sophomore album about a week ago and rather appropriately named it "Opus II – The Annihilation". The name of the game is a bombastic variant of power metal with quite a few speed/thrash metal influences to it. Such diverse acts as Manowar, Metallica, Judas Priest,…
"The Mutual Admiration Society" by the highly talented Sterling Ball, John Ferraro and Jim Cox is an entirely instrumental affair where the three aforementioned gentlemen have been joined by such renowned guitarists as Steve Lukather (TOTO), John Petrucci (Dream Theater) Steve Vai (Whitesnake), Steve Morse (Deep Purple), and Albert Lee (Eric Clapton, The Everly Brothers).…
"The New Reality" is the third and final chapter in Geoff Tate’s (ex-Queensryche) trilogy of albums under the Operation: Mindcrime banner depicting the rather sickening and bleak future that lies ahead of us (some of which has to do with virtual currencies, stock trading, and internet banking) and the result is both uninspired and uninspiring,…
French progressive death metallers Voice Winter released this 7-track opus of theirs last year via M.U.S.I.C. Records, but for whatever reason it did not find its way to my pile of stuff to review until recently. So, we are not exactly dealing with a brand new album here, but let us discuss it anyway, shall…
The Brazilian power metal outfit TraumeR is about to unleash this 13-track album entitled "The Great Metal Storm" via Fastball Music. Quite the over-the-top title, eh? Actually, "The Great Metal Storm" is an expanded re-issue in that it was originally released back in 2014, but it is now being given wider distribution by Fastball Music…
The German outfit named Pleasure Agony released this self-titled album of theirs sometime last year. Musically, the band is rooted in modern thrash metal with lots of groovy and bouncy parts to it. In terms of riffs and melodies and so on, everything is rather straightforward and easy to digest. There are no convoluted arrangements…
Du verden, dette var merkelige saker… Trondheim baserte Chontaraz kjører på med kraftfull og smått fengende metal, i utgangspunktet noe jeg fort kunne fått sansen for, men en vokalist på konstant fullt turtall, som kjører eget løp uavhengig av hva de andre i bandet holder på med, setter fint stopper for det… Her burde de…
Black Sites from Chicago is the brainchild of former Trials guitarist/vocalist Mark Sugar and I must say that I was initially quite curious as to how this new band of his would sound. Musically, you can tell that the band draws from the well of classic heavy metal, 70s hard rock, progressive metal, and modern…
The German outfit Pikes Edge hovers somewhere between modern melodic metal, groove metal, and metal-core, which is to say that the quintet’s music consists of aggressive riffing, lots of breakdowns, concise guitar leads, and pissed-off-yet-varied vocals. Listening to "All of Our Beauty" brings to mind bands such as Devildriver, Arch Enemy, At the Gates, and…
"A Prelude Into Emptiness" was an incredibly bombastic overblown piece of progressive metal that sounded as uninspired as it was truly uncatchy. Somehow, some way, the band managed to create a longer album, more bombastic and more overblown album but upped the ante in terms of uncatchiness. Read: not a single track retained by my…
The Italian quartet bearing the rather clever (?) name of The Brain Washing Machine released "Connections" just a few weeks ago, and stylistically speaking these guys lean toward a groovy and somewhat varied mix of modern rock and hard rock with a dose of grunge and stoner rock thrown in for good measure. Truth be…
The 12th studio album from death/groove metal band Six Feet Under, "Torment" features a new guitarist in Ray Suhy – as well as twelve new tracks that run the gamut from mid-paced affairs to occasional faster numbers featuring some blast beats. The problem for full enjoyment again resides in the rhythmic barking underworld growls of…
The German (hard) rock quartet known as Piledriver, which is primarily a Status Quo tribute band, released this 13-track album of theirs containing original material back in October 2016 via Rockwall Records, but for some reason the promo did not find its way to my pile of stuff to review until quite recently. Nevertheless, we…
Hamburg, Germany’s Warpath released four albums during the early 1990’s before ending in 1996. 19 years later, they reformed with only vocalist Dirk Weiss remaining from the first incarnation, assembling a brand-new lineup for the fifth studio record "Bullets for a Desert Session". These 12 songs cross the lines of doom, thrash and hardcore –…
The fuck is this, an instrumental djent demo?! The entire duration of this album all I hear is good ideas for actual songs but the prevalent motive seems to be djent. Djent in the morning, djent in the afternoon, djent in the evening. Songs do not much differ from each other and within. Ok, so…
"Obedience" is my first encounter with the French modern sounding thrash metal outfit known as Dead Cowboy’s Sluts. To my rotten ears, these guys incorporate quite a few metalcore influences as well, but mostly they just bring to mind bands such as Machine Head, Pantera, Pissing Razors, and Devildriver. I haven’t listened to the band’s…
Thirteen Bled Promises is an insanely brutal deathcore band hailing from Spain, and this album of theirs entitled "The Black Legend" is a follow-up to their 2012 debut album. The music spawned by these guys is pure fucking lunacy. Elements of death- and grind metal are thrown in for good measure, but that does not…
Are audiences really clamoring for death growls with their traditional metal favorites? If so, this fourth edition of Six Feet Under’s "Graveyard Classics" series will whet your appetite. Metal Blade CEO Brian Slagel handpicked five Judas Priest songs and six Iron Maiden songs for vocalist Chris Barnes and the Florida death metal troop to put…
The second album from Italy’s Housebreaking is a 9 track adventure into groove metal with occasional modern inflections. These songs have a lot of trademarks of old Coal Chamber, Devildriver, and a pinch of Rammstein – simplistic, low-tuned guitar hooks, repetitive and equally minimalized hoarse vocal patterns, plus bass and drums that hone in that…
This is the debut album for Swiss heavy metal quintet Headless Crown – an 11 song record entitled "Time for Revolution". Taking approximately three years to assemble the right musicians, the sound is very street level and focused on easily identifiable hooks from both musical and vocal perspectives. It’s clear to hear that Saxon, Accept,…
