Album Reviews [Archive] - The Diamond David Lee Roth Army

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:48 AM

There's been a lot of hype around this release, with members of the classic Lizzy lineup claiming that this 'lost' recording is superior to the classic 'Live and Dangerous'. Well, it isn't. It is, however, a very, very fine live record: the performance of the band may well be on a par with 'L&D', with 'Soldier of Fortune', 'Jailbreak', 'Cowboy Song' and 'Massacre' crackling and bouncing out of the speakers ('Don't Believe a Word' is a little flat, however); and Lynott's smooth, unusual tones slowly draw you deeper and deeper into his tales of joy and woe. What hinders this from being a classic, however, is the absence of an electric atmosphere which used to be an essential part of live albums - what made 'No Sleep 'til Hammersmith', 'Metallic KO' and 'If You Want Blood' classics was not just the face melting recordings of their respective bands on fire, but the capturing of the atmosphere in the room at that time - those records ooze personality, and bottle up a moment. This one doesn't. Lizzy were an excellent band, and this is a damn fine record of a damn fine performance, but a couple of moves short of a pefect 10.

A much better recording that last year's glorified bootleg of the '75 tour (although with a far less interesting track listing), this will be an asset in any fan of 70s hard rock's collection.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:48 AM

You know when a toddler become frustrated with a jigsaw and frantically hammers together two pieces that aren't meant to join, ultimately resulting in a final product which resembles the picture on the box in the same creepy yet distant way that a lookalike resembles their celebrity? Well, that's sort of what's happened here, with Cornell's sombre lyrics and dark tones jarringly out of step with 'producer extraordinaire' Timbaland's up-beat hippoty-hoppety music. The result is a collage rather than a collaboration, and it falls short of satisfying in every way.

Now, I have no problem with artists experimenting. When Metallic released 'Load', I thought 'different, but cool'; when Megadeth released 'Cryptic Writings' I thought 'Dave's a Cat Steven's fan? Who'd of thought it? But these songs rule...' and when Halford released 'Two' I thought.....ok even I'm not that open minded! But for experimentation to work it has to be done with a clear goal in mind, and still has to spring from the same essence that makes that artist great. In Cornell's case, experimentation with electronic music would have been better executed in a darker mould, a la Nine Inch Nails. That would have been from the same place as 'Superunknown', 'Badmotorfinger' or that criminally underated 'Euphoria Mornings'.

Here though the hip hop experiment seems contrived. Cornell singing 'That bitch ain't a part of me' just feels like a man play acting, rather than pouring his soul out; and the meanderings which make up the music on 'Time' and 'Sweet Revenge' feel half-hearted and under-cooked. It's certainly not the case that there's no plus points here - despite the presence of Justin Timberlake (mercifully low in the mix), 'Take Me Alive' is a very interesting tune and the point where the collaboration of Timbaland and Cornell works best. Highs are painfully few and far between however - along with the mediocre rock-by-numbers of 'Carry On' last time out, it seems that what we are witnessing here is a frightening public midlife crisis.

Cornell still has an outstanding voice, but on the evidence here you'd never know that in the early 90s this man wrote songs by which all subsequent rock music would be judged. It's a cruel irony that the super-talented often set themselves a bar that they spend the rest of their lives failing to clear. Listening to this will lead to frantic head shaking, not banging.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:49 AM

"I've been waitin' for a long time honey for the wrong side of the kiss...." (what a fuckin' lyric!)

The Supersuckers make albums that instantly make life's stresses seem like distant problems; a band that manages to be a good time rock n roll band without being entirely dispossable. You know exactly what you're going to get: tales of bad men and badder women, beer, brawls and broken hearts all blasted out through shit kickin' riffs and 4/4 rhythms - there is nothing contrived here, just real life in all its beautiful ugliness. This is what The Ramones would have sounded like if they'd been a bunch of good ol' boys, music to fight and fuck to, music that makes you tap your foot, shake your ass and grin the groans away. Highlights include the punchy rhythm of 'Listen Up', the Lizzy-esque harmony of 'Something Good For You', the comic bravado of 'I'm a Fucking Genius', and the sombre blues of 'What It Takes' and 'Paid', which is good time rock played by those who have lived the bad times and the good. This is as good as The Supersuckers have sounded in a decade - may be not the heights the reached with 'The Evil Powers of Rock n Roll' or 'The Sacreligious Sounds of the Supersuckers', but a damn good spin nonetheless. Great songs, clever lyrics and a sense of humour - what more do you want from a rock record?

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:49 AM

Put simply, this is a post-hardcore record that isn't boring. In times when it seems every band in this genre writes songs that exist purely for the mid-section breakdown, that is a mighty fine achievement, and a refreshing one. This band don't even have generic on the horizon: the greasy riff to 'Bastard's Waltz' deserves an king sized award; and the unnerving and unhinged fury of 'Sorceress' is about as purely emotional as music can get. All great music has a sense of melody, and an incessantly attractive rhythm, and this group understands that - unlike so many other bands of this ilk, each song on this record stands unique from the others but all contain the stamp of character that runs throughout the album. From the classic metal riffery of the title track and 'Lucifer's Rocking Chair', to the old-skool hardcore of 'Harem of Scorpions' and 'Let It Pour' the listener is presented with a melting pot of everything that has been great about extreme music for the past 25 years. The vocals aren't cookie monster, but are barked with vitriol in a style that's reminiscent of the criminally underated 90s band Strife, and are a perfect vehicle for lyrics which paint in various shades of anger, rage and despair. Closing with the souring 'Zed's Dead Baby', this is a band that feels it and means it - if they keep putting out discs like this, they may very well become legends. Not for the faint hearted, but pure catharsis on plastic. My neck hurts, I'm sweating, and my ears ache, but damn it feels good.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:50 AM

This is a side project from Peter Tagtgren, lead singer/guitar player in death metal band Hypocrisy and producer/editor of Dimmu Borgia, Celtic Frost and Immortal. But this ain't death metal. If you had to label it, 'Anthemic Industrial' would be nearer the mark, the record is stamped with a sonic boom nearer to Strapping Young Lad (the Devin Townsend influence is very evident), the sombre despair of early Nine Inch Nails, and the twisted concotion of sounds displayed by Ministry and Misery Loves Co. The quality of the songs marks this out as much, much more than a whim, the fate of many side projects. There is so much to love here: the solomn lament of 'No-one Knows', the riff-crushing despair of 'Feed Us', and the frankly schizophrenic opener, 'I'm Going In' are just a few of the highlights. Throughout, scuzzy guitars are at the forefront of a sound lifted by choral sections and keyboards which compliment rather than overwhelm the grungy sound, amplifying the massive hooks in the choruses to make the songs truly anthemic. Make no mistake, like Trent Reznor Tagtgren knows how to weld his dark poetry with pop senibilities - these songs stick in your head. This is quite a unique talent - dark yet uplifting, intense yet catchy.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:50 AM

Following opening slots of AC/DC and Aerosmith, there has been a lot of hype around this Irish band, with many hailing them as the successors of the classic rock titans like Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, and Humble Pie. Well, they aren't. To be great, you have to be looking forward and strive for originality. The Answer seek to do neither.

Not that that's a bad thing - on their debut record, the mix mash of 70s influences hadn't been fully absorbed, and the listener found themselves thinking 'so this one's the AC/DC song, this one's the Bad Company song.....' as each successive track displayed a different style and influence. On the softmore effort, however, the band have welded all of these influences into a unique stlye that is at once timeless and their own. The result is a damn fine record which is far more than the sum of its parts. Fully in the 70s blues-rock mold, but with songs perfectly crafted - there is very little fat here - the majority of songs have every drip of potential squeezed out of them. Opener 'Demon Eyes' is a full tilt smasher, all hooks, chord progressions and blues riffs asunder; 'Why'd You Change Your Mind' alternates from swamp blues to metallic thunk; 'Too Far Gone' boasts a kick in the teeth riff and climaxes as an epic of bombastful proportions; and 'Walkin' Mat', with its switch-scratch beat, is true sonic shamonry. At it's best, you'll sit their grinning like a fat kid with a birthday cake.

It's not all killer, however. The albums' two softer moments display lazziness: 'Pride' is one idea rotated, and 'Comfort Zone' is formlaic and unimaginative - truly out of character here. But when faced with such energy and sheen it's churlish to focus on negatives. Guitarist Paul Mahon is a blues slinger straight out of the Perry/Slash school of 'belt em out' solos and is more subdued here than on the debut record - he does his job, taking the song up a notch but never meandering needlessly. The real star is singer Cormac Nelson - a soulful screacher who delivers a master class in intonation on 'Too Far Gone' and 'Why'd You Change Your Mind', and croons his way through the quieter moments. Like all great singers, he projects such character that you want to listen to the tired blues tales of bad men, badder women and wild nights. That's talent.

One day they might deliver a truly great record - this will more than do in the meantime. A record to crank in your car all summer.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:51 AM

Fact: The Bronx are better than your band. No question, there will be no competition. This is a band that can makes epic 2 and a half minute songs - such is their leanness - each one of which takes the listener on a journey that leaves a keenly felt impression. This is their thrid studio release, and their third eponymous record. Like earlier records, all of the great parts of punk and hardcore from the past three decades are blended together and smoothed out with the inestimable cool of rock 'n' roll and rolled together into one big clusterfuck - a giant, strangley attractive Frankenstein of a band that make the next 10 records you hear sound frankly irrelevant. Yes, that good. The intensity - most keenly displayed on 'Digital Leash' - is staggering, and I had to check a couple that they weren't actually playing this live in the room.

It all starts with the greasy chunk that forms the riff to 'Knifeman', a song which epitimozes the album - for this is an ALBUM, not a collection of songs, there is vision and purpose here - huge chorus, a menacing groove, swagger, balls and metallic sheen all undercut with huge slabs of rumbling bass. This time the vocals are not all scream and bark, but fall somewhere between croon and shout, warmth and anger. The precise snap of 'Enemy Mind' is dazzling; 'Six Days a Week' and 'Pleasure Seekers' are anthems of aggressive dispossesion; and 'Ship High in Transit' has an instantly likeable swagger and scowl.

The lyrics defy cliche: told with candidness, each personal tale alternates between edifying and disturbing whilst always been instantly poigniant. Undoubtedly too angry for some listeners, you have to be in the mood for this band - but when the time is right, by God is it worth it. Destined never to be a household name, but whose impact will be felt for decades to come. Just when you thought hardcore couldn't get any more generic, a band produces three records of this calibre. Outstanding.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:51 AM

Like every album since 1981's 'For Those About To Rock....', this is billed as 'the best AC/DC album since Back In Black'. And you fall for it every time. You buy into the hype, go to the record store all excited, grab the CD, rush home, put it on the stereo and .............try and mask your disappointment. You find yourself saying things like 'that bass is really tight', 'ooooo, the snare sounds good there' or - if your really deep in self denial - 'that's like an out-take from Powerage'. Eventually, however, you give up, and quickly forget about most of the songs on the new album, safe in the knowledge that 'DC will only play one of them on tour before rolling out the same setlist from the last 20 years.

And, for the most part, it's the same this time. Opener 'Rock 'n' Roll Train' is so AC/DC-by-numbers that it sounds like a tribute band that has decided to write it's own material - plodding, ponderous and flabby as it rotates the same idea over and over, it seems to go on forever. It sets a tone for the rest of this disk, and it is a trap that a lot of older bands fall into once they can no longer pull the trigger - thinking that quantity will be a ready substitute for quality. Indeed, there are 15 songs here. FIFTEEN. We are treated to every average ditty they had on file in what amounts too a gallery of mediocrity: 'Wheels' and 'Skies on Fire' are instantly forgettable, and 'She Likes Rock 'n' Roll' almost laughably falls flat on its face in an attempt to be anthemic.

Indeed, it's only when the band stretch themselves that we get some gems. The slowed down 'Decibel' has a great hook and is seductively catchy; the bluesy 'Stormy Day' is a thriller, displaying Jonson's best melody which beautifully compliments the slide guitar; and the soft/heavy switch in 'Rock 'N' Roll Dream' works a treat. Had such boldness been injected into the other tunes, this album would have made for more interesting listening.

The lyrics are as bad as any set the band have produced after Bon's notepad ran dry around 'Flick of the Switch' - most criminal are 'Big Jack', and it's when cringing through this number that you realize just how essential Scott's wit was to this band's heyday. History has taugh us though that expecting subtlety and tease in latter day DC's lyrics is like waiting for Kevin Costner to make a good movie. But Brian Jonson is on good form - his range is higher than on any record since 'Razor's Edge' and his unmistakable charisma is present throughout - easily the record's saving grace.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of the guitars, which sound oddly flat. No-one had a more distinctive tone than Angus, but it's barely present here. The crunch of 'Powerage', 'Let There Be Rock' or even 'Flick of The Switch' seem a life time away. The bluesier tones of 2000's 'Stiff Upper Lip' are abandoned for a thinner, pastier sound which seems to rob the band of much of their undeniable power. Criticism must be levelled at knob twiddler Brendan O Brien who seems to do his best work with more introspective, darker bands - when handling out and out rockers, however, he leaves them sounding somewhat emaciated.

And yet, for all of its flaws you can't help but like this record. That's the magic of AC/DC - even on a poor showing they leave you with a smile. That's surely the only reason that they can still sell millions of records after howler after howler of a record. Any other band couldn't get away with this. But then, no other band has the charisma of AC/DC.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:52 AM

An album of two halves this one. The first half is as METAL as it gets. It's like a trip back to 1984: a singer who can barely carry a tune (the wail on 'Hijak the Night' is laughable), Accept-like riffage that chuggs with all the regularity of an alcoholic during happy hour, duel guitar 'Hey Mom, watch this!' solos, anthemic choruses, and lyrics that could be lifted straight out of a file labelled 'generic' - you say cliche, they say classic. It's all tried and tested, and makes for warm listening, even if on 'Greek Fire' formulaic passes into stale. Given the sound of the drums, an educated guess would be that this was recorded on a shoe string budget, but it just doesn't matter. This is the type of band that the unitiated just don't get, the kind of band that are larger-than-life comic book villians. It doesn't set the world alite, but you can't help but smile and throw the horns. METAAAAAAAAAAL!

The second half is a wholly different beast: on songs like 'Ol Girl' the band manages to form its own sound, which stays true that blue-collar metal they so clearly adore, but adds southern groove and flavours - the vibe is looser, and yet more epic. We are far from generic-town here: 'Heat Feeler' is no cheesy soft moment but an upbeat stoll through Skynrdsville that climaxes as a gargantuan epic. The Thin Lizzy harmonies add subtely, the lyrics become more adventurous, and the band opens up a little with it's time changes. It sounds like Maiden jamming with The Hold Steady - all bravado and cool blasted out as the day bleeds into night. If they have more tunes like this, the future would be promising; if not, well, there's always those devil horns!

Moments of brilliance admist the solid if not spectacular.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:53 AM

There are some albums where you remember the exact moment when you first heard them: 'Master of Puppets', 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath', 'Powerslave', 'Physical Graffiti', 'Rocks', 'Appetite for Destruction', 'Into the Pandemonium', 'Roots', 'Vulgar Display of Power', 'The Shape of Punk To Come'......for all their differences they all have something in common - they herald a raising of the bar. This is one of those records.

Album opener 'Oblivion' begins unobstrusively, a slow tingling 'Vol.4'-esque riff inviting the listener in to what soon emerges as everything we have come to expect from Mastodon: the odd, unexpected time-changes; de-tuned riffage; moody chord progressions; duel guitar harmonies which are the melancholic bastard children of Thin Lizzy; and swirls of drums which drive each track with the carefree abandon of a cyclone, rather than the rigid, bullet speed track-train assault that is the choice of most modern metal bands. But you also notice the differences this time out. The vocals are cleaner, more audible and higher in the mix, and the unassuming sense of meoldy that this band has always possessed is much more to the forefront - this song's haunting hook is irrepressible. In typical Mastodon style, wave after wave of music wash over the listener in an experience which is simultaneously claustrophobic and euphoric. It's a presage of what's to come.

The faster, frantic boom of 'Divination' ups the pace, snarling vocals and serene melodies mixing in a disturbing combination, as huge chorus and psychotic bulldozing riffs compete for the ear's attention. 'Quintessence' is a swirl of music, alteranting between the loose jazz of the verse and fuzzy punk fury of the chorus - imagine the Mars Volta in a bar fight. But it's on 'The Czar' that your jaw really drops. All 11 minutes of it. The sombre, brooding, dream-like opening section giving birth to a series of HUGE riffs and drum bombardments - a collage of musical parts which sounds gargantuan, and melodrama of operatic stature. This is the epic of Maiden powered by the gutteral bass pummeling of early Kyuss. It's the sheer quantity of the quality that baffles - like '....And Justice For All' Metallica, the songs contain riffs that most bands would give their left nuts for buried amongst other riffs of the same calibre.

'Ghost of Karelia' begins with eastern harmonies and is interspersed with an eerie melody which swarms throughout the song; in complete contrast, the title track is all Unsane-eque riff chugg, a bowl lossening begining giving way to a hypnotic mid-section made up of multiple interwoven guitar melodies. This is complex without being overwhelming - the sense of song always being placed before any desire toward acclaim and viruosity. Closing epic 'The Last Baron' is a myriad of riffs and time changes, the most pedal to the metal song here - snapping into a spasmodic prog-rock masterpiece around the 8:15 mark, it closes with soaring, macabre guitar lines which complete a truly dazzling 50 minute musical journey.

This band is as much prog as it is metal, as much King Crimson as Iron Maiden. The most obvious comparison in style would be Neurosis, but Mastodon have far more groove about them. Some will undoubtedly find Brendon O'Brein's production have robbed the band of some of the 'metal' evidence on previous records 'Leviathon' and 'Blood Mountain': the sound is layered, and much of the guitar crunch and thudding drums is buried - but this record is still as heavy as it is epic. Not a Friday night party album by any means, like most of the current crop of meta elite - Opeth, Tool, Kylessa, Lamb Of God - this band needs to be digested.

The decision to persevere is a wise one. If I were a betting man, I'd stake my savings on this record being talked about in lofty tones 20 years from now - and you will still get the warm glowing buzz of reminiscence in your guts when you remember the first time you heard it.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:53 AM

This record got panned when it came out, largely because it heralded a change in direction to a darker sound and one which largely avoided the hysterionics of earlier releases - what record companies sell as 'mature'. But it has improved with age to the ears of this listener: the heavier, post-grunge stomp of the meatier material - perfectly characterized on opener 'My Enemy', with its greasy riff and ominous vocal - are complimented with the delicately eerie softer numbers, like agonized lament 'Breakin' Down.'

Producer Bob Rock has a habit of changing bands, and he certainly did so here: Sebastian Bach sings in a much lower key than on testosterone fuelled previous effort 'Subhuman Race' (1991), leaving his screams to compliment rather than dominate songs; and the guitar pyro-technics of Dave 'Snake' Sabu and Scotti Hill, whilst still evident, are curtailed in favour of the whole. The sound is fuller and bass heavy, adding to the record's brooding quality. 'Frozen' is a mesh of twisted riff and vocal torment; the buzzing bass of 'Beat Yourself Blind' is a kick in the face, a more twisted, Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden-esque take on 'Slave to the Grind'; and 'Medicine Jar' is a scuzzy rocker, the dream of sunset strip turned into a nightmare. But it's the more melodic moments where the band surprise most - despite being formulaicly soft-heavy-soft-heavy 'Into Another' is beautiful and heartfelt, and Eileen is an alt-kilter melancholic tune unlike anything the band had done before which culminates in a monstrous riff.

It would all end for Bach-era Skid Row after this, and for many 'Subhuman Race' was an odd note for the metallic titans to exit on. But almost 15 years on the strength of these songs is impressive. Every home should have one.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:54 AM

After the three storming new tunes on the 'Black Sabbath: Best of the Dio years' there's quite a bit on anticipation about this. Is it any good? That's all you want to know, right? Well, it certainly is.

Is it 'Heaven & Hell' or 'Mob Rules'? No, but it was never going to be. It is considerably stronger than the patchy 'Dehumanizer' (1992) however, and the quality is more consistent throughout. From the slow boom of opener 'Atom & Evil' the tone is set - a Dinosaur heavy riff kicks in at Dinosaur pace, and their is a void of space between Iommi and Appice which makes the band sound cavenous. It's more personality than craft, however - if any other band were to cut this tune it would sound distinctly average, the holes would be all too clear, but the charisma and black sheen of Sabbath add a charm that you can't teach.

Indeed, at its best on the Neon Knights style numbers like 'Neverwhere' and 'Eat the Cannibals' this record manages to recapture some of unique magic that separated them from Ozzy-era Sabbath: both are pacier and built around rolling-thunder riffs, with 'Eat....' souding thrashier, like Motorhead covering classic Sabbath. What it impresses most is the powerful ease with which Dio soars over the rumbling bass monster behind him. Outstanding. First single 'Bible Black' also stands out - Iommi's guitar trading off Dio's croon at the opening before opening up into a beast of a song, the sort of epic that metal's bread and butter 25 years ago but which have long since gone from view.

It's not all shots of glory, however. At times the record plods and needs an injection of dynamism - I can't help thinking that the employment of the more creative Bill Ward on drums would have helped here, some of his ingenuity could have livened up 'Breaking Into Heaven' and 'Rock n Roll Angel', and on some of the songs a little self-editing might have helped - on the slower tunes, less is often more.

But it would be churlish to end on a critical note for finally we are presented with a 'reunion' that has produced new music worth owning. The band are alive and kicking, and all performances are strong (Iommi's riff on 'Follow the Tears' re-defines 'heavy'.) But it's Dio who steels the show, making the like of 'Double The Pain' and 'Turn the Screw' the epics only he could. Not too sure that it lives up to the promise of 'The Devil Cried', 'Shadow Of the Wind' and 'Ear In The Wall' gave us two years ago, but its close. Real close.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:54 AM

A record that borders on the side of solid rather than spectacular, but one which all rockers will undoubtedly enjoy. At it's beating heart this is a punk rock band - taut guitars, punchy drums and minimalist vocals. Duff's voice is stella here - he's no long the Ringo that Guns 'N' Roses used to let sing - and is the attitude which drives the band. The melodies of 'Flatline' could have helped out the 1st Velvet Revolver album greatly, the punk-funk of 'Sleaze Factory' brought a wry grin to the face of this reviewer, and the 70s Brit-punk of 'The Slide' blows out of the speakers, complete with gang backing vocals. As for the album's softer moments, the alt-rock drawl of 'Mother's Day' works well, but the stab at quirkiness on 'Blind Date Girl' falls on its face. Ironically, however, the album's biggest shortcoming is its length - there is no need for 13 songs here, and the removal of ABC rock like 'Transluscent' and the cliche-driven AOR of 'IOU' would have left the band going with their A game. That being said, this a very enjoyable crank-in-your-car-on-a-summer's-day album.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:55 AM

From the instant you hear the banjo which opens this record, you know it's indebted to the South. Unlike the slew of current bands peddling re-invigorated Southern rawk - led by the very capably but not particuarly exciting Black Stone Cherry - this isn't a spicing up of the old recipe. Whilst the intonations of this record - the blues tinged guitar tones, the imagery and reference points in the lyrics - is painted with the vocabulary of the past, the whole thing is contructed on a thoroughly modern foundation, with time signatures more indebted to post-hardcore than Skynrd, and vocals which, whilst not 'screamo', are barked rather than crooned. Managing to couple anger and melody effectively, this band sounds like bastard offspring of Molly Hatchet and a pit-bull - what really oozes out of the speakers though is not just the songwriting talent on display here, but the passion and sincerity of the delivery. This band means it.

Much more full-throttle than previous outing ('II' in 2007), this intensity is staggering but fails to showcase the full range of the bands palet. The ball-breaking swagger of 'No Good Son' and slashing-scuzz guitar of 'Harvest Moon Hanging' best exhibit the group in mosh-making mode, whilst the thick groove of 'Last Train Coming' has a real swing to its heaviness. But it's not merely indolent rage - the ease with which Maylene switches from the brutal verse of 'Setting Scores By Burning Bridges' to its anthemitcally catchy chorus shows them to have made the most of their musical heritage, and their ability to sound epic in four minutes on 'Step Up (I'm On It)' is truly impressive.

It's not all killer though. The stab at sentimentality on 'Listen Close' - completely with kitsch 80s chorus harmony - sounds uncharaterisically contrived, and the switch from Neil Young musings to brutal modern metal in 'Oh Lonely Grave' is the one point at which the group's typical welding of old-skool and new falls apart at the seems. But this is a small price to pay for an album which comes sandwiched between the rootsy beauty of instrumental 'The End Is Here...' with the sonic grandeur of 'Waiting on My Deathbed'.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:56 AM

Imagine if Faith No More had been raised in the South and exposed to the tones of the local Baptist Church, if Jane's Addication had expressed their oddness through macabre funk rather than esoteric lightness, or if Kyuss had been amalgamated with Sly & The Family Stone. It is only then that you begin to comprehend the uniqueness with which Clutch present the listener - indeed, they literally present it, the art work for this record is littered with maps, UFOs and a host of arcane symbols. And yet, for all of this oddness Clutch have managed to balance being utterly unique with being instantly loveable. They have achieved this by ensuring that each song is crafted around the two things that provide the foundation for all great music - an infectious rhythm and irresistable melody. This then is reinventing the wheel for the sake of taking a famliar journey, but one made all the more mezmorizing for the effort.

Take 'Let A Poor Man Be'. Just when you thought you couldn't hear another take on largely traditonal blues, you are proved utterly wrong by the cold slap of originality. Clutch's blues-rock is like Govt. Mule or a ZZ Top revelling in their quirkiness whilst being backed by a herd of elephants necessary to carry the weight of their grooves. This is schizophrenic stoner rock captured largely in the juxtaposition of the bands funk with vocalist Neil Fallon's dark vocals and wrapped around with guitars that often boarder on the eerie.

Here is a band unconcerned with trends, airplay or increased record sales. A band who make music for the people who get it. The small group of devottees worldwide who want to take the journey this album offers. All of their records have been strong, but despite the weight of expectation Clutch somehow manage to exceed it. More stripped back than their last two albums, the band's performance is more forcefull and to the point. Neil Fallon's usual scat-like delivery has been toned down to allow the natural melody and tone of his voice shine in all of its richness, and the lyrics on opener 'Motherless Child' are even instantly comprehenisble, almost bordering on blunt. But the curve-balls soon come thick and fast: '50,000 Unstoppable Watts', 'The Amazing Kreskin' and 'Freakenomics' all possess the typical Clutch tone without ever veering into the realms of 'stock' - indeed it is only on 'Witchdoctor' that the band approach a by-the-numbers tune. But ultimately, this is Neil Fallon's record - his preacher-man ability to whip a song into a frenzy most evident on the impossibly chameleon structure of 'Abraham Lincoln'. Pefection made to look improvised.

In a musical landscape increasingly grouped and penned in it is refreshing to be presented with something so un-catergorizical as Clutch, and joyous to allow your mind to be opened to their swamp-gravy grooves.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:56 AM

The debut record from ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitar hero Jake E Lee's new band, featuring Eric Singer on drums (ex-Kiss and future Alice Cooper band) and the impossibly talented Ray Gillan on vocals (ex-touring vocalist for Black Sabbath.) In many respects, this record was the antithesis of the increasigly bloated hair metal that was been coughed out of an ever tired Sunset Strip - raw, under-produced, and bluesy, it was a beautiful counterbalance to the reverb-heavy, production lavished monstrosities that L.A was churning out in its final days before the rise of Grunge. The influences were obviously and unappologetically European - Led Zeppelin, Humble Pie, Jeff Beck Group, Cream and Deep Purple - and the delivery verges on primal. Album opener 'High Wire' featured a riff of gargantually-serpentine proportions that equals anything Jimmy Page ever penned, Lee's blues-hysterionics battling with Gillan's soaring vocals for the listener's attention. The blues dominates the record, with the frosty-kiss of 'Winter's Call' Zeppelinization of the power ballad, and 12 Bar explosion of 'Rumblin Train', which was Lee's showcase. Gillan returned the favour on the haunting epic of closer 'Seasons' his voice spinning from low, tender croon to testosterone wail, marking the song out as a stamp of sincere anguish in a sea of sacarine sentimentality populated by the rest of L.A at the tail end of the '80s.

Indeed single 'Dreams In The Dark' is the only glaring sign of the times here, whilst 'Dancing On The Edge' and 'Hard Driver' keep up the full-tilt rawk angle that the likes of Raging Slab would up and run with in subsequent years, with 'Devil's Stomp' was the kind of hulk of a song beyond the hairspray and lip gloss of the likes of Pretty Boy Floyd and Slaughter.

This was the high point for Badlands, who never reached their potential. Their second record - 'Voodoo Highway' - was a mixed bag cluttered with forays into James Taylor-esque MOR, and the death of Gillan due to A.I.D.S a year later meant that Lee, surely one of the most talented guitar players of the decade, was now a gunslinger without a cause. A sad end, but what a beginning!

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:57 AM

What a band name, and one that perfectly fits the sound of a group who melt together the astro-jams of early Monster Magnet with the sonic boom of Rage Against The Machine in an album that balances the power and beauty that makes heavy music sublime. Heavy bass driven riffs cascaded by vocals with the tint of Chris Cornell roll out of the speakers to drive a band whose sound is truly biblical in proportions, most readily demonstrated on 'Skyscraper Moment' and 'Dedications'. All of your favourite 70s rock bands are in the mix here and forced through a blender of Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age with the excessive meanderings of latter noticeable absent. This is a band that manages to handle an impressive range - 'Hollow Parade' sways like a latino stripper during happy hour, whilst 'Dedications' manages to cement bombast to creepy in the way that Warrior Soul did during the early 90s - without ever losing the sense of purpose that makes this feel like a coherent album. The cavenous swagger of 'Clone Baby' climaxes beautifully in a piano refrain, whilst the nitro charge of 'Headlights' and 'Dynamo' take the album to a place that every Sabbath-worshipping band strive to find, but rarely do. No chinks in the armour here - one day they'll write a classic.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:57 AM

From the instant the crescendo of crashing drums and guitars which opens this record kicks in, embellished with the sound of picks sliding down necks, you know exactly what you're dealing with. Seconds later a burst of duel guitar harmony bursts in and suddenly its 1984 all over again. Yes, this is the sort of record that leaves the uninitiated dumbfounded and the converted edified, for what we have here is a bonafide Heavy Metal record. Songs like 'Curse You Salem', 'Love At First Bite' and 'Mr Twisted' ("tell me where's your miiiiiiind") only heighten the sense that this is a record from another age delivered by a band which sounds like the much loved offspring of Accept and Anvil, their buzz-saw guitars chugging behind a wail which sits somewhere between Halford and Udo. The band often thinks that a chorus is simply repeating the same line four times but it doesn't matter, because this isn't about finesse, it's about passion, and Wolf certainly can't be found wanting in that department. 'Voodoo' and 'Hail Caesar' may push formulaic into the realm of forgetable, but on barrage of drums and anthemic vocals of the title track, 'Blood Angel' and 'Hiding In The Shadows' this band has managed to craft tunes which sit alongside the best from the decade they so clearly long to revive by emulating. 2009's soundtrack to the 80s.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:58 AM

"You ain't seen the last of me" barks frontman Dez Ferrah over and over on your new anthem of definace 'Back With A Vengence'. Well, 10 years ago the metal world was wishing it had as his previous outift - Nu Metal one-trick-ponys Coal Chamber - whimpered into oblivion. No-one gave Devildriver a chance, but they have slowly carved a place in the metal community the hard way largely off the back of a fearsome live reputation and the release of sreadily improving studio output. Devildriver's previous three records have passed from solid to good to verging on great, have they made the maelstrom of an album that's been rattling around in Dez's head all of these years? Yup.
Opener 'Pray For Villains' encapsulates this record. Like flesh pulled tort over a muscular torso, tight guitars and crunching drums snarl with intent. What separates this band from nearly all other contemporary American Heavy Metal bands is that exude purpose rather than posture, so much so that there is no weak link here - the A grade is all that makes it. Chimera could learn a lot. 'I've Been Sober' and 'Teach Me To Deliver' veer into Lamb of God territory - the latter sounding like Virginia's favourite sons would if they had been raised on hardcore rather than death metal - but the parallel doesn't run too far. Devildriver sound like no-one else. Their's is a breed of nitro charged classic metal.
The pace slows in the album's middle - the epically un-nerving 'Forgiveness Is a Six Gun' and unholly heavy 'Its In The Cards' - and elsewhere the switch and blast beats of 'Earth Stepped In' - laced with frazzled riffs - ensures that not everything is constructed around double bass patterns. Devildriver only paint in shades of brutal, but melody is often enjected subtely through guitar parts low in the mix to ensure that songs are memorable, and Dez's rhythmic vocal delivery presents an element of subdued catchiness. This is an epic record. To join the Gods the band needs to learn to break up the full throttle blasts. Even a band as heavy as Slayer know that slicing speed next to mid-pace makes things appear heavier by extremes, and Devildriver could learn a lot from a more dynamic injection of time signatures within songs rather than between them. But that's to nit-pick with a near masterstroke. Dez's roof might not be on fire any more, but their's a raging passion withing. The gaunlet has been thrown down - can any US band rise to meet it?

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:59 AM

When this record came out in 1999 it was a saving light in a dark time. At that moment 'Nu Metal' was in full flo (sic) as the baggy pants briggade took over and the metal landscape was populated by whinge-rock or worse, frat-by bruisers who despararely wanted to be in Cypress Hill but chose to detract from the fact thay they couldn't rap by creating music that was of an even more flimsy character. Kilgore were the antithesis of both. And yet they made little impact, and remain criminally forgotten.
'Steamroller' opens this record as a parody of rock-star self hatred so prevalent at the time: "Every time I see myself I choke down all the loathe inside/ It's so rock-star typical/ Can't you see why I'm cynical?" bark the vocals in a display of intellgence and wit which mark the album out to this day. Even a stalwart of metal subject matter - a critique of organized religion - is treated in a provoking, rather than provocative, manner in 'Never Again', a song which displays a brand of introspection refreshing amidst a sea of banal invective that has cluttered this topic since the mid-80s. It is this intensity and thoughtfullness which stagger ten years on - a lesson in songwriting.
The band delivered smokey vocals over taut, pummeling groove in a sound which owed much to Pantera's sludgey blues and Voivod quirkiness. But it is the variety which gives this record its strength. Each song is unique yet stamped with a coherent band 'sound', the mark of a great album. 'In Search Of Reason', with its blues chainsmoker of a riff, is offshot by the alt-rock darkness of 'Introverted' and haunting Cohen-lullaby-meets-Tom-Waits-nightmare of 'Providence', whilst the intensity of the Rollins-esque monologue of 'TK-421' (featuring Fear Factory's Burton C Bell) is a long way from the 'Ultra Mega Ok'-era Soundgarden meets Metal Church of 'Lullaby For Your Casket'. And yet for all their individuality, each song sounds like the member of the same family.
They only made one record (who knows why?) but what a debut. Ten years on, its still more original, more intense, and more inspiring than 99% of the metal out there. If an album this left-of-field came out tommorrow I would wet myself with excitment.

binnie

10-08-2009, 11:59 AM

Another installment from the wonderfully oddball world of Therapy?, Ireland's pleasant clusterfuck of a trio. Imagine if Bob Mould had joined Killing Joke and forced them to play Cheap Trick covers. Off-kilter doesn't come close, and opener 'The head That Tried To Strangle Itself' is a perfect example of Therapy?'s deconstruction of songs into a punk-industrial nightmare. By way of contrat, typically dispondent 'Enjoy The Struggle' is wonderfully formulaic, and the band remind the listener that they can pen a hook when they so choose, choosing to lay it over a rumbling bass and jaunty guitar wrapped around a riff that recalls Marilyn Manson's 'Beautiful People'. 'Clowns Galore' is the soundof the end of the 1st wave of punk before it finally died in the early 80s, an angry Joy Division on crack. Only a band featuring Andy Cairns superglue charisma could get away with being so bleak, his impact most prevalent on 'I Told You I Was Ill' which bridges the chasm between heartwrenchingly emotional and deliciously sardonic with ease.
This record continues the band's late career rejuventation of previous outings 'High Anxiety' and 'One Cure Fits All', although the warmth of the production on those records is curiously absent here and this can be a jarring listen at times. Many still yearn or the pop sensibilites of 1994's masterpiece of angst-rock 'Troublegum', but those were different times and Therapy? are now different men. The bands have always sounded like a collective of broken souls, but whilst in youth their wounds were nursed with anger, in middle age they are bandaged in laments, most hauntingly in the celtic mist which drapes the mournful title track.
This is far from perfect, however. 'Somnambulis' runs out of ideas, 'Exiles' drifts into a half-formed introspecitve jam and 'Magic Mountain' serves only to prove the fact that the nine-minute epci should not be the band's modus operandi. But when it all comes together, as it does on closer 'Bad Excuse For Daylight' you marvel at how gloriously ingloious Therapy? are. Long may they continue.

binnie

10-08-2009, 12:00 PM

Bold title. Bold record. Especially considering when it came out (2001) few wanted to hear their Slayer-meets-Pantera-meets-Meshuggah brand of hate-metal, but the slow burn and set backs only served to make L.O.G the gnarliest pitbull on the block. For the current kings of metal - at least as far as the anglo-american variety - this was the beginning proper. Raw in a 'Kill 'em All' kind if way this is nowhere near as sonically impressive as the one-two KO combo of 2006's 'Sacrament' and this year's 'Wrath', but it is an impressive record on its own merits. Like many great metal bands, L.O.G took what was going on in the underground - the likes of Will Haven, Unsane and Meshuggah - and made it more paletalbe without leaving it emaciated. Opener 'Black Label' kicks off with a rolling riff and double bass attack that Fear Factory would be proud of before culminating in a slow crushing riff in the spirit of 'Burn My Eyes' era Machine Head. The guitars have a blues-kissed tone to them and melody is subtely injected into songs by the maestro work of Mark Morton. On 'A Warning' Obituary-stlye riffing is sped up three gears and laid over and impressively drum beat. Indeed, a death metal heritage shines through this record but it could never be confined to the parameters of that label - crunchier, less concerned with atmospherics, this is more Thriller than Horror movie. What has always impressed most about L.O.G is the quantity of the quality, and there is very little fat on these songs. Sections are not drawn out, and the listener struggles to keep up with changes of tempo as riffs are buried beneath riffs in songs so compact they ooze the benefit of a lifetime on the road, an effort that only amplifies their energy by making it seem earned.
This is a long way from perfect though. Randy Blythe was not yet the complete package as a vocalist, often seeming lie a generic cookie-monster. The intonations of 'Wrath' and 'Sacrament' were not yet fully honed. Indeed, the band itself was not the complete synthesis of its influences. Often the songs seem to say 'here's the hardcore bit', 'here's the Machine Head bit', 'here's the Death Metal section', and the middle section of 'Black Pariah' is almost Meshuggah plagarised. But on 'Subtle Art of Murder and Persuasion', 'Pariah' and 'Black Dahlia' it is evident that some seeds had already sprouted with mezmerizing effects. The band have grown to be more comfortable with Morton's natural sense of melody and have learny to take their feet off the gas occaisionally so as not to overwhelm the listener. This, however, was the genesis - increasingly, it is looking like it may be the conception of a legend.

binnie

10-08-2009, 12:01 PM

If you wanted to define 'Rock N Roll' for someone who'd never heard it, Motorhead would be the best place to start. What band better encapsulates the sound, attitude, volume and FTW ethos? They're the standard bearers. It's odd then that so much of their catalogue is overlooked, especially that post 1990, but if truth be told in the post-grunge world they've released a slew of strong albums. Like 2004's 'Inferno' 'Bastards' was a late career high. The trademarks are all here - snake-hipped riffs, gravel vocals, witty lyrics and sledgehammer delivery - but the quality is decidely impressive and the record captures the raw energy of the band at its best. Indeed, this may be the best sounding 'head record since 'Ace Of Spades', and certainly contains the best set of lyrics that Lemmy's ever penned, performd with the understatedly rich tone of his voice in fine form.
'On Your Feet Or On Your Knees' and 'Burner' are an arresting 1-2 opener and charge in with delicious rawness. 'Bad Women' is pure adrenelin, like Little Richard if he ditched the piano and developed some boulder sized bollocks - rock n roll boiled down to its fighting weight, de-nuded of all trimmings and grinning with direct intent. 'Death of Glory' possess a greasy anger amplified by infectious guitar licks and is outdone in the anthemic stakes only by 'Born To Raise Hell''s raucous abandon. Its on 'Lost In Ozone' and 'Devils' where the real rough diamonds are though. Showing a contemporay sound which remains quintessentially Motorhead, both songs are definitive proof that this band were never one-trick ponys, and that there's much more to Lemmy than birds and booze. The latter also possess a hell of a hook.
There is a sticking point though. 'Don't Let Daddy Kiss Me' is not a bad song, but its hard to appreciate a tune about child abuse. To their credit, it avoids the melodrama or saccarine sentimentality of Aerosmith's 'Janie's Got a Gun' or Skid Row's 'In a Darkened Room', or the clummsily coy inappropriateness of 'Mr Tinkertrain' - the song is unassuming, heartfelt and clever, and perhaps something this unsettliong is a genuine tribute to Lemmy's skills as a songsmith. Many, however, will baulk at the subject matter.
To these ears, this deserves to be viewed as one of the best Motorhead records from any-era, and it remains at testament to that band that 30 years in they can still wipe the floor with most of the younger pretenders. 'We Are Motorhead', 'Hammered' and 'Inferno' would continue the highlights in subsequent years.

binnie

10-08-2009, 12:02 PM

Jeeeeeeeeeeezus. In a bumper year of cutting edge metal releases, this one stands out. Goatwhore maybe the nearest thing to pure aggression in the metal world. Featuring former members of Acid Bath, Soilent Green and Crowbar, this band is shot through with extreme metal know-how and an unassuming sense of the heritage which makes the music they so clearly love great. Tracks like 'The Passing Into The Power of Demons' and 'Lazor, Flesh Devoured' manage to perfectly balance brutal and palatable in a display of metallic might which places this band alongside the best of any modern metal band. Opener 'Apocalyptic Havoc' alternates between power chords and tight riffage, the guitars tuned with a deadly tinge of blues sludge that reeks of vitriolic intent - this is the sound that Phil Anselmo was aiming for with Superjoint Ritual, but Goatwhore have songs. Great songs.

What impresses most is the ability to balance their musical virtuoisty with the power that only simplicity can deliver in metal: unlike so many modern death metal bands, dexterity is only displayed when needed. Thus the title track alterantes between impossibly complex sections which are reminiscnet of vintage Death, and trad metal riffage which injects a blast of rhythm into the complexity, dabbles of harmony and tinges of catchiness making the heaviness memorable. Similalry, whilst 'The All Destroying' is all blast beats and frenetic riffing, on 'Provoking The Ritual Of Death' the band eschews virtuosity in favour of brutal simplicity, laying down an indecently heavy swamp groove. Death, thrash, black, hardcore, trad, the band paints with all of these hues to create something utterly beautiful in its darkeness - 'Leckoning Of The Soul Made Godless' for example sounds like the offspring of Mercyful Fate and a pitubull, a slab of chugging guitar mere inches from the face of the listener. It's raw and its heavy, it's dirty and mean!

What Goatwhore have presented the world with then is a record which was conceived from all of the strength of forty years of metal to deliver a concotion that is wholly their own. A near perfect slice of heaviness for 2009.

binnie

10-08-2009, 12:02 PM

People more familiar with Grand Magnus's magnificent 'Iron Will' - a record which encapsulates the past and present of Heavy Metal, deliciously lavished with intricate guitar, deceptively complex song structures, and harmonized vocals - might be surprised by the straighforwardly blunt power of their earlier work. What separates this band from most Sabbath-worshippers is their commitment to writing songs rather than simply jamming on riffs, switiching from fierceness on 'Legion' to a laidback groove on 'Generator.' This record is much closer to straighforward doom metal than 'Iron Will', huge riffs are delivered with underplayed performances and unclutterred production to create so much space that the sound is biblically epic. Songs like 'Gaunlet' display effortless heaviness and provide a showcase for vocalist JB's raw croon, and 'Coat of Arms' the sort of timeless tune that The Sword would kill to write. It's far from a complete record, however. 'Wheel of Time' and 'Black Hole' run out of ideas, and 'Never Learned's attempt at emulating Sleep feels ill-formed. Perseverance, however, yields some black beauties - the Danzig-esque blues of 'Black Hounds of Vengence' provides a taste of the talent here. A patchy affair, but fans of 'Iron Will' will not be disappointed.

binnie

10-08-2009, 12:03 PM

Dangerous thing hype. It often raises expectations and forces preconceptions of an album that can only be a disappointment upon first listen. Much has been spewed about this record being a return to the technical thrash that cemented the Megadeth name in the late 80s. There is certainly some truth in this - 'This Day We Fight' is performed with breakneck savegry and sounds like it came straight out of 1985, and the crunching rhythms and snapping riffs which colide to make 'Head Crusher' may well deliver the most ferocious piece of music that Dave Mustaine has ever penned. But if truth be told, this is no Thrash record or retro-Megadeth album. Most of the material here sounds like beefed-up versions of the mid-paced metal displayed on 'Countdown To Exctinction' (1992) and 'Youthanasia' (1994) - packed with riffs and laced with some of the finest metal songmanship known to mankind? Yes. But fast? Not particuarly.

But whilst 'Endgame' is no Thrash record, it is a heavy one. Monstrously heavy, in fact. The title track - a dystopian vision of a US populace enslaved by its government sometime in the near future - is everything that makes Megadeth great rolled into one. Multiple sections welded together by time changes which snap the song around at will, a ranting Mustaine vocal, intermitent solos, and relentless riffing all combine to make an epic wave of sonic battery. It sounds as fresh now as it did in 1990. Why? Because no one else does it this well. 'How The Story Ends' unfolds around a riff that could crunch a planet whole, before descending into a display of metal mastery that could only be delivered by Dave Mustaine. The frontman is on fine form throughout this disc, delivering his best ever collection of melodic choruses and most focussed display of songwriting since 'Countdown....' Indeed, of the Megadeth albums released since 1994, this is also the most consistent. Much credit must be given here to producer Andy Sneap, who has trimmed the songs down to hone their potency and delivered a powerhouse sound which is much more bass heavy than fans might expect.

Even potential bananna skin 'The Hardest Part of Letting Go.....Sealed With A Kiss' - a power-ballad (eek!) descrbing a lover who kills his girlfriend a hides her corpse behind a wall - is dispatched with aplomb. Although unlike anything the band have recorded before, Mustaine's sombre vocal and twisting meloldy are a perfect fit with the album's macrabre vibe. Ultimately it is this completeness that makes 'Endgame' so invigorating, for what we have here is a BAND - Megadave is officially Megadeth again. As if to announce their newly solidified status as a band of brothers, the album kicks off with a showcase for new guitar hero Chris Broderick (ex Nevermore/Jag Panzer) in 'Dialetic Chaos', two minutes of guitar dueling between he and Mustaine. This serves to get the urge to widdle out of their systems, and the solos on the rest of the album always serve to inject energy into songs rather than dominate them. Brodderick is certainly impressively dexterous, but whether his solos will prove to be that memorable is something which only time will tell.

Unpack the hype, and what we have here still delivers. Elements of all era's of Megadeth have been rolled into something which is far more than the sum of their parts. Picking up where 2007's 'United Abominations' left off, this is Mustaine's past and present, and hopefully a sign of his future.

binnie

10-08-2009, 12:03 PM

I've always thought as The Wildhearts as a British version of Cheap Trick, a band who manage to effortlessly combine outright oddness with instant accessibilty. No-one else sounds like 'em, but they write songs so good that they feel like old friends the first time you hear them. This record is a patchy affair, however. There are certainly plenty of plus points: 'The Jackson Whites' and 'John of Violence' typically combine bombastic rock with viscous melodies to forge a uniquely anthemic sound which is at once quintessential to this band without ever straining near to the territory of by-numbers. Similary, 'Plastic Jebus' displays Ginger's sardonic humour and talent to pen of killer chorus, whilst 'Tim Smith' and the titletrack err on the band's more metallic side, a maelstrom of furious riffs whirling underneath melodies of almost saccarine sweatness, schizo rock delivered in pop clothing. It is surprising then to find 'Only One' and 'You Took The Sunshine From New York' to be underdeveloped musically and twee in tone, and 'You Are Proof That Not All Women Are Insane' a letdown to a great song title. The band's decision to allow CJ and Scott to share lead vocals with Ginger often leads to an album whose character feels cluttered, and the attempt to mask this with vocal effects only further steals charisma. But it is perhaps the fact that this record is so heavily invested in dealing with New York (where it was recorded) that poses the biggest problem - the band, so wonderfully English, lose something as tourists. This is not a poor record by any means, and it is typical of a band that continually develops and experiments that it sounds nothing like the majestic metallic thump of previous outing 'Must Be Destroyed' and yet both sound utterly like only The Wildhearts could. Resplendent with highs but littered with lows.

binnie

10-08-2009, 12:04 PM

There's a point half-way through 'Gonna See My Friend' - the opening track on Pearl Jam's ninth studio record - that you are overcome with sheer glee, an overwhelming sense that they've finally crawled out of their own asses. Forever. With its switch beat, blues licks and pulsating bass this Stones-meets-The-Clash number is everything great about rock 'n' roll wrapped up in an incediary delivery. It's an opener that makes you feel that Pearl Jam have maintained the momentum garnered by 2006's eponymous record, an album of full tilt rock in which they finally seemed to achieve their life long ambition of sounding like an even more pissed off version of Crazy Horse. So 'Backspacer' is a great record then? Nope.
It all comes crashing down on track 2, 'Get Some'. With a verse that sounds oddly like The Killers it is a song which, like most of the other tunes on 'Backspacer', meanders in search of a hook. We are suddenly back in the territory which marred Pearl Jam's mid 90s work ('No Code' and 'Yield') so terribly - the pathological fear of 'selling out' leading to an abandonment of anything which might make most of their songs memorable. One gets the sense that this band would like to write the perfect 'Anti-Hit'. The absence of chorus has the ability to render the most adventurous song here, 'Unthought Known', a perfectly crafted Springsteen-esque arrangment which sounds glacial, into sounding curiously incomplete.
Pearl Jam haven't made a dud. Far from it, in fact. 'The End' is Vedder at his best, an exposed nerve of a song overpowering in its rawness; and 'Johnny Guitar', with its odd vocal line, sees swirls of guitar effortlessly wrapped around and impossibly tight beat. But for every moment of rejuvenation, theres one of aimless wandering - the performances are typically raw and powerful, the lyrics typically provocative, but with just a little more polish these songs could pass from good to great. Pearl Jam have always done things their own way - the weird little ditties interspersed throught 'Vitology', falling out with Ticketmaster, and spending most of the 90s creating music as un-marketable as possible. But intergrity is often one part admirable, one part frustrating.

WACF

10-08-2009, 12:26 PM

binnie

10-08-2009, 12:29 PM

Cheers WACF. I'd heard they were great live, but I've never had the pleasure of seeing them. I've just picked up their debut album but not listened to it yet.

'Hail Destroyer' hasn't gotten old yet though. Intense.

rocknrolldork

10-09-2009, 02:33 PM

Great reviews Binnie!

binnie

10-10-2009, 10:16 AM

Cheers dude! Glad you likey :D

kwame k

10-10-2009, 07:59 PM

Kick ass Thread, Binnie!

binnie

10-25-2009, 09:36 AM

Two things separate this band from almost all of their punk/hardcore peers: 1) they write songs about real problems, rather than conveying an aesthetic and invented sense of misery; and 2) they mean it. They REALLY mean it. Songs about broken Britain, the angry laments of a younger generation increasingly desperate, disenfranchised and despondant in the face of the world around them. This is the sound of a furious verve for life turned sour through the restrictions of barriers which they can do nothing about, expressed in lyrics which are both visceral and eloquent. This is a traditional British punk record. But it is one which is saturated with the musical inventiveness of a generation of post-hardcore, and consequently 'the vulture', 'the riverbed' or the epic 'crucifucks' deserve to become points of reference for every band working in heavy music. Imagine Discharge, but with a variety that can only betoken intelligence. The most important British band working today.

binnie

11-21-2009, 05:14 PM

Do I need to describe what this sounds like? If you've been a fan of metal for five minutes, you've heard Slayer. They've influenced everybody for a quarter of a century, they've been mercilessly ripped off, and yet nobody sounds quite like 'em. All the unique parts of the Frankenstein are here: squeaky-slashy duel solos; impossible speed; pariah screamed vocals; lyrics about war, anti-religion and serial killers; and the sheer bluntal heaviness. The AC/DC of extreme music are back with another record and given that in 25 years they've only ever made one clunker - 'Diabolus in Musica' - this is well worth a listen.

It's not great, however. It's not so much that its any less 'Slaytanic' than any other Slayers records, it's just that much of the material on here is a lot less memorable, criticisms that cannot be levelled at the bands other two records this decade, 2006's incendiary 'Christ Illusion' and 2001's later-career high, the criminally underated 'God Hates Us All'. The Kerry King tracks here sound decidedly rushed and uninspired - having a vibe similar to the 80s hardcore covers record - 'Undisputed Attitude' - tunes like 'Psychopathy Red', 'Unit 731', and 'Hate Worldwide' are almost like a Slayer tribute band that has decided to write its own material. Fast, brutal and heavy, yes, but painfully one-dimensional and almost self-parodic.

It's only when the band step out of its comfort-zone musically - as they did with 'Jihad' on 'Christ Illusion' - that we get the real treats. The eerie chill of 'Human Strain' is unlike anything they've really done before; the bruised beauty of the melody on 'Beauty Through Order' is biblically epic; and 'Playing With Dolls' is as disturbing as music can be. Knowing that their fanbase is so unforgiving of anything that moves away from the formula, these are brave choices for Slayer, but they are succesful ones. Even the title track features an unusually melodic riff in the bridge that takes the song up a level from the relentless chugging riffs we've heard a hundred times before, and it's this song with its muti-parts and time changes which shows that Slayer can still take just about anyone in extreme music. For this isn't a poor record by anyone's standards other than their own.

There's a lot of talk about a thrash 'revival' - well, on the evidence of this, 'Death Magnetic', and 'Endgame', the old guard are in little need of reviving. Is it going to be in your top three Slayer albums? No way. But is it still belligerant enough to have you playing every air instrument known to mankind? Yup - so much so your neck will snap.

binnie

11-21-2009, 05:33 PM

Great music leaves something unquantifiable with you. A feeling that soothes you, and is awakened every time you return to a great album. Several Alice In Chains albums have managed the seemingly impossible feat of touching countless numbers of human beings with whom the band have never personally interacted - 1992s 'Dirt' changed everything in heavy music, and 1996s 'Unplugged' is - no arguments please - the best album ever to feature that moniker.

For what AIC do is make music which is impossibly melodic and incredibly heavy. Heavy, not just in a sonic sense, but in an emotional one. This is a band which always sang about real pain, real longing, a band which wouldn't know 'contrived' if it bit them. The death of Layne Stayley - the voice of the band - would seem to be a loss then that would prove to be as implossive as removing the keystone from a bridge. Not so, my friends, not so.

What is amazing about new singer William Duvall is how natural he sounds on this record. He doesn't try to be Layne, to sound like him or replace him; nor does he make the mistake of many new singers in rock bands and try to make it his show, and to alter the band's sound to suit him. He just sings the songs. And, along with Jerry Cantrell, he sings them beautifully - if Layne is missed at any point here its only on the acoustic 'Your Decision' in which Cantrell's lead vocals seem to be missing the ying to their yang.

This is a startling record. It's all there from opener 'All Secrets Known': the hauntingly dark melodies, huge riffs, slow, brooding bass undercurrent and the band's effortless twist from loose verse to tight chorus, a trick repeated on the melodic rumble of 'Acid Bubble'. It's gut-wrenchingly moving stuff: if the title track - Cantrell's hymn to Layne's final days - doesn't touch you then you must be dead inside. This is the classic AIC sound, but its not stagnation - 'Last Of My Kind' is more metallic than they've ever been, and 'Lesson Learned' is a timeless rock anthem. Sure 'A Looking In View' may be a little complicated and over-long, but you can forgive the imperfection in the presence of such power. This is more than a reunion. More than a peddling of the glory days. They've done it again - this album leaves an impression.

MERRYKISSMASS2U

11-24-2009, 09:24 AM

This is a side project from Peter Tagtgren, lead singer/guitar player in death metal band Hypocrisy and producer/editor of Dimmu Borgia, Celtic Frost and Immortal.

Let us not forget Bloodbath!

binnie

11-24-2009, 10:26 AM

Good to see you my friend - hope that all is well!

MERRYKISSMASS2U

11-24-2009, 11:06 AM

Yeah you too man. I'll be posting here more often now ;)

The site was down for a year or so, so I forgot about it because I got tired of checking to see if it were up or not

binnie

12-04-2009, 03:57 AM

No Chan, you can review whatever album you like. It would be great to read your reviews. :D

binnie

12-23-2009, 02:51 PM

It seems that every time Paradise Lost release an album it's hailed as a 'return to form' but the truth is they've never lost it. This is typical of the British goth-metal pioneer's sound - hulking riffs, brooding atmospherics, uncomplicated yet massively emotive guitar melodies, and tortured vocals - and they are still the missing link between Metallica and Fields of the Nephilm. What's truly staggering about this album is just how finely crafted the songs are, and the vairety of material they offer, from the boom of 'First Light', the intensity of the ironically entitled 'Fragile' to the sombre lament of the title track, a song which concludes by exploding into classic rock at its most epic. This is truly an album rich and stacked deep with gems - the riff-tastic 'Universal Dream' is a masterclass in metal. Twenty years in, and they're still this good. But yet, you sense there's just something holding them back from greatness. Although almost everything here is finely crafted, perhaps that's the problem - sometimes the songs, whilst not sounding laboured, feel over-thought, and Paradise Lost have never been a band to just let it rip. For that reason, they'll always be a nine and never a ten - but they're a damnsight better than 99 out of the next 100 bands you'll hear.

binnie

12-23-2009, 03:34 PM

The opening track of this record is called 'Facebreaker' - do I need to tell you what sort of music they play? Thought not. A band featuring Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares, this is an adaptation on his full-time band's sound - staccato riffing around double-bass drum patterns. Only faster, much faster. It seems that drummer Tim Yeung has three feet. Also like Fear Factory, the vocals switch from full-on agro to melodic croon. The problem, however, is that Travis Neal is no Burton C Bell. So, is this just sub-standard Fear Factory you shouldn't bother with? No, far from it in fact. 'The Battle of J. Casey' has an almost Kreator-esque thrash about it, and 'Monolithic Doomsday Devices' is brutal hardcore. This is an album which should be filed under 'intense', and one which will find a welcome home in any fan of modern metal's collection. The problem, however, is there's only so much you can do with double-bass patterns, and at times the record feels relentless - when it all comes together, as it does on the title track and 'Redefine', we are treated to something special; but when the ideas generator comes up short on 'Anarchaos' and 'Letter To Mother' we are left with something forgetable. A patchy record which comes nowhere near to eclipsing the band's 2007 debut 'Bleed The Fifth' (a near classic) this is well worth your time, but hardly more than the sum of its parts.

binnie

12-23-2009, 04:12 PM

A minute and a half into 'No One Loves Me & Neither Do I' - the opening track on the debut album from 'supergroup' Them Crooked Vultures, the bastard child of Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones - you think you have this record sussed. This is just Queens of the Stone Age with a (much) better drummer. Typically understated sunset drawl-rawk, a meandering jam akin to Homme's most recent QOTSA outings, you think. Then, like a left hook out of nowhere, a huge bass riff kicks in and the song takes off in a funk-tastic journey. John Paul Jones sounds like a man half his age on this record - just when you thought another 'supergroup' would inevitably disapoint, this record happens.

The sound is certainly indebted to Homme's full-time project, but its not limited by it. 'Mind Eraser, No Chaser' and 'Dead End Friends' are a cauldren of sped-up blues riffs. 'Elephants' maintains an irresitable groove through warped time-signatures; 'Caligulove' is Cheap Trick schizo-pop; and 'Reptiles' pays homage to '...Levee Breaks' Led Zeppelin, but it sounds like Jane's Addiction covering the tune. This is an un-apologetic rock record, but one which is not self-congratulatory. There is some incredible playing here - especially from Grohl's, a drummer capable of immense dexterity who nonetheless underplays everything with aplomb - but there's no nod-and-wink showmanship, and that's refreshing. It's a good time record that rewards repeated listens, at times and other-worldly jam, but one which never becomes self-indulgent.

Self-editing would have been advisable - 'Interlude With Ludes' and 'Warsaw or the First Breath You Take after You Give Up' add little that isn't already here in a superior form, and slow the record down in its middle section. But all is forgiven by the time you reach 'Gunman' - a bass-driven boogie that you will dance too, trust me. One of the few supergroups for whom you long for a second record.

rocknrolldork

12-30-2009, 04:12 PM

A review of the The Flaming Lips cover of Dark Side of the Moon

After watching and hearing the Flaming Lips derailment of what was intended to be a tribute to the Who on VH1 a year or so ago, I was a bit leary of them covering DSotM. It turned I was leary with good reason.

From the brash intro of Speak To Me to the final heartbeat of Eclipse I was left unimpressed and a bit insulted. It's hard to believe this is the same band that recorded some of my favorite efforts of the past 10 years or so. While Peaches does a fine job, the guest spots from Henry Rollins, much like the overall performance of the album, simply falls flat.

There are some bright spots to the album. The Great Gig in the Sky and Us and Them are definitely the standout tracks. They maintain some of the original tunes' integrity while incorporating some of the classic psychedelic synth vibe that originally put The Flaming Lips on the musical radar. That doesn't mean they are very good though.

Overall: I can't help but think some of these tunes would better served on a various artists tribute to DSotM. All the sounds and groove of The Flaming Lips that their fans will dig with an uninspired/lack-lustre performance and sloppy/choppy production. Die hards will want to get it to complete their collection but otherwise not worth the money. If you want to hear a good tribute to DSotM, get the Dream Theater bootleg: MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LFI893A8)

1 1/2 out of 5

binnie

12-31-2009, 08:54 AM

binnie

12-31-2009, 01:35 PM

Kiss have always been big but never particuarly clever. Nothing much has changed here. In fact, this album has a decidedly retro feel to it: a conscious drive toward their '70s sound; formlaic art work with the lyrics printed clearly one page per song, like they used to be in the good ol' days; and a centre-fold photgraph of the band in all of their made-up glory, complete with signatures - a detail which suggests that they still take themselves waaaay too seriously. Blues riffs are still burried in glitter, the lyrics are still terrible, the songs are still written around ideas stretched thinner than the spandex pants in their collective wardrobe, and the whole thing is still camper than Christmas.

But it works. It REALLY works. From the moment opener 'Modern Day Delilah' kicks in with its tumble riff and gargantuan chorus, you just know this is a good Kiss record. This is a band that has always worked best at its simplest - a hamburger served best with extra cheese and little garnish - and songs like 'Say Yeah', 'All For The Glory' and 'I'm An Animal' are the uncomplicated pop rock staples upon which they've made their millions. Purists may say it can never be vintage Kiss without Ace Frehley and Eric Carr in the mix, but Thommy Thayer and Eric Singer fill their roles adequately (the former contributing to a belter in 'Never Enough') and allow this to be what the band has been for at least 25 year - the Gene and Paul show. Ultimately this is a Paul Stanley album - the Starchild not only handled production duties and wrote most of the tunes, but sings his balls off througout. Simmons may have a standout cut in 'Russian Roulette', but he's also responsible for the stinker 'Hot and Cold'.

Overall, 'Sonic Boom' is something of a Kiss trifle - layers of everything good from their near 40 year career arranged into one treat of a record. Thus you have 'Danger Us' and 'When Lightning Strikes' to represent the blues rock of their '70s heyday sitting alongside 'Stand', which replicates the pop glories of their '80s peak. You get the sense that the memory of 1996's disaster 'Psycho Circus' became something of an albatros, and this time round the band wanted to ensure that their career ended (for this surely is the end?) with Boom rather than a whimper.

binnie

01-01-2010, 01:37 PM

When the title track kicks in to open this record, you get warm sense of familiarity that comes with listening to legends - with it's blues riffs cranked to a broken-swagger and gusto, this is the Rolling-Stones-with-the-wheels-abouttofalloff we've come to love about the 'Dolls. It's a surprise then that the bulk of this album departs from that trademark sound. 2006's reunion record - 'One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This' - was unconciously nostalgic in its delivery of slabs of thick glitter-blues, and the hiring of Todd Rungren to produce 'Coz I Sez So' might lead listeners to expect a more self-conscious drive to re-capture the band's '70s sounds. It's a welcome surprise that this no ape of a record, and a sign of the hunger still abounding in the Dolls bellies which leads to some truly inspired moments being displaid here. The menacing refrain of 'Better Than You' is a dark beauty; 'Lonely So Long' is drenched in a Cohen-esque croon; and 'My World' is the sound of a later-day REM who have discovered their testicles. This album then is not an attempt to be 'modern' or 'relavant', but certainly a drive to be a more mature New York Dolls, and as such it's drenched in the unabounding honesty which made them great in the first place. The lyrics are still a hive of uncomplicated pinache and gutter-glitz wisdom, and its when the band are stipped down on the battered agony of 'Making Rain' - a slab of uncontrived melancholy so many EMO bands would give every dyed hair on their heads to pen - that we remember how poigant this band can be. No nostalgia trip, but still a familiar friend, and far from perfect - these Dolls are still coming at you warts and all.

binnie

01-01-2010, 01:48 PM

Slaves To Gravity have been awarded many plaudits for their debut album, lapping up tags of 'best new band'. These are certainly well deserved, but in a sense they're also misleading, for there is little 'new' year. In essence we have a band which sounds like 'Purple'-era Stone Temple Pilots or 'Down On The Upside'-era Soundgarden, a slab of post-grunge which is littered with high-points. Whilst it's not a patch on any of its influences, it is an impecable debut, and, like Life Of Agony's equally post-grunge sounding 'Ugly', is far from being simply a copy-cat record. Song's like 'Heaven is A Lie' revolve around a swirl of riffs, harmonies and hooks which smack of a song-writing maturity far beyond this band's youth; and the macabre-jangle of the Jane's Addiction-esque 'She Says', with its bleeding vocal, is a taste of the talent in reserve here. Bolstered by the rich, crisp and thick production of Chris Sheldon, the songs have been worked at but rarely stray into the territory of sounding laboured. Rich, dark, and yet strangely uplifting, this is a sign of things to come - for whilst Slaves To Gravity are still a long way from penning a classic, should they learn to absorb their influences more fully into their own sound we may get a masterpiece in the future.

binnie

01-10-2010, 02:02 PM

A band that blends the funk of early Rollins Band and Rage Against the Machine into a monstrous sound, Mammal deserve to crush everything in their wake. This is a disc which drips with hunger, passion, anger and - that rarest of commodities today - something to say: indeed, on 'Smash the Pinata' this band hits the menacing wit that Hank Rollins' music used to posses. A maelstrom of sun-kissed blues riff, tight beats and belted vocals swirl out of the speakers at tsunami speed and with a massive sound which perfectly compliments the band's fist in the face to the post-consummerist world. 'Bending Rules' is broken funk, 'The Majority' is angular riffery, whilst 'Religion' is dark simplicity. Sheer bloody power delivered through understated musicianship and songs honed to the point of breaking. What are you waiting for?

binnie

01-23-2010, 03:59 PM

Yet another post-hardcore band. Just what the world needs, right? It's easy to be dismissive, but there are some real gems on this debut record. Like many bands of this ilk, hulking riffs and time-changes smash into catchy chorus and huge soundscapes in songs which pursue a series of peaks and troughs - you could never accuse this group of lacking ideas. They are, however, guilty of confusing sentiment and melodrama - as with so many bands who have arrived in the last five years, the band believes that an emotion is somehow truer if it is expressed more force. As is the case with the majority of these bands, the result often feel contrived rather than genuine, and the nuances of performance and mature vocal delivery would take this record to the next level.

That being said, the songwriting here is remarkalbe. 'Overture' is an epic of biblical proportions, and the pop-sensibilites of '1998' are irrisistable. It is only on songs like 'End of Level Boss' and 'Borderline Exit Plan', however, that we get a sense of what this band can really do, for it is on these songs that they transcend their influences and find the confidence to display their own unique sound. More of this in the future could see an album that is impeccable rather than just impressive. This debut is bound to be enjoyed be any fan of modern alt-rock or post-hardcore music.

binnie

03-30-2010, 03:34 PM

This is rock with a low IQ and a high RPM. It leaves the listener with a feeling of ambivalence. One the one hand, you can't help thinking that the shameless AC/DC plagarism is a cheap shot - this band couldn't even spell originality, let alone produce it. On the other hand, you find yourself rocking along to this mutha - air drums, air bass, air guitar, sore neck, the works. This is the way that AC/DC wanted to sound in the 80s during their post 'Back in Black' lull: the difference is that Airbourne play with BALLS - big, hairy, sweaty, tequilla-filled balls, a raging enthusiasm that blasts out of the speakers. They make no pretence of their being anything 'new' here - this is no frills, blue-collar rock 'n' roll made for people who work a shitty job Monday to Friday and want something on a Saturday night which, to quote Lemmy, 'tears ya heart out and gives it back to you better.'

Every cliche is here - songs about sex ('Chewin' the Fat'), songs about groupies ('It Ain't Over Till It's Over'), songs about defiance ('Bottom of the Well') and songs about the inevitable world domination of rock 'n' roll ('Raise the Flag') - but it doesn't matter, the ineffectiousness of this band is catching. It's based solely on the fact that Airbourne don't have a contrived bone in their body. They mean this, and the listener is left in no doubt that they spend most of their lives drinking and chasing women who fulfill the criteria of being 'Blonde, Bad and Beautiful'.

Perhaps lacking the unbridled fury of their debut record, 'No Guts, No Glory' is nonetheless a decent record containing a mix of bonafide anthems - 'No Way But the Hard Way', 'Get Busy Livin' - and workmanlike by-the-numbers rock - 'Steel Town', 'Bottom of the Well'. Packed with adrenaline fuelled workouts, this is a good rock record: but they might just have a spectacular one in them.

binnie

03-31-2010, 03:05 PM

Contrary to popular opinion, Diamond Head were not the only NWOBHM band brimming with potential who failed to make it. Angel Witch have become hugely influential, but they barely made a blip on the musical landscape when this record came out 30 years ago. Full of great melodic solos, huge riffs and powerful vocals, this was a very good record full of potential. Yes, there are plenty of appauling lyrics, but the enthusiasm makes up for that; and yes, the production budget was 'tight' to say the least, but the rawness only adds to the flavour of the songs. The title track is a gem - a hypnotic collection of proto-thrash; the soaring chorus on 'Atlantis' demonstrated the potential this band had; the soft-heavy Sabbath stomp of 'Sorceress' is thunderous. There are some clunkers - 'White Witch' for example - but the feel of the underground that drips from this record gives it a magic that todays highly produced, sonicly huge albums will never have. There are the seeds of a genre of music here that Iron Maiden would go on to master - listening back, you realize how different your record collection could luck if it had been this band, and not the Irons, who had been in the right place at the right time.

binnie

04-01-2010, 04:35 PM

Unfairly maligned as a stinker in BR's unparalleled 30 years of quality punk rock, there was plenty to like on this record. The choppy time-changers of opener 'Hear It' grab the listener by the balls; the alt-rock crunch of the title track displays a hulking riff; and 'The Biggest Killer In American History' is typically anthemic. But somehow, this record feels a little more contrived than the solidified angst of other BR records - the departure of key songwriter Brett Gurewitz left a band searching around for a new direction whilst still clinging to the habits of old, a result which often leads to the banal ('The State of the End Of The the Millenium Address') or an uncomfortable new poppier direction - 'Raise Your Voice' sounds like Lou Reed writing for the Beach Boys, and it's ugly. Most of all, however, despite only clocking in at 40 minutes this records seems to go on forever - the absence of Gurewitz's more upbeat punk tunes allows the preaching of Garrafin to take its toll on thr listener. That being said, even when wounded BR are still a thousand times more interesting than the average punk band - it may not be spun too often by many of their hardcore fans, but tunes like 'The Voracious March of Godliness', 'Strange Denial' and 'The Same Person' make this far from a clunker. Even legends can have an off day.

Blackflag

04-01-2010, 11:08 PM

Fantastic. A return to his earlier stripped-down blues style.

binnie

04-06-2010, 04:05 PM

Debut album from a bunch of Scottish oddballs who have spent the best part of a decade becoming one of the UK's leading rock bands. Most fittingly described as the missing link between Grunge and Prog, the band's songs are characterized by a mesmerizing swirl of time-changes, complex riffs and an orchestral approach to song-writing, all of which is held together by impossibly beautiful melodies. Imagine a Foo Fighters who were not embarrassed by the fact that they can play their instruments; or an Incubus that would embrace their progressive leanings. This is rock music with a brain and a soul - moving without being sentimental, powerful without being overpowering.

Opener 'joy.discovery.invention' is emblematic of the record - a brooding tune on which the band snaps from playing loose to incredibly tight at the drop of a hat. Those searching for metallic bombastry will be dissappointed - although songs like 'kill the old, torture their young' contain plenty of angst, this is a band in touch with their femine sides, most aptly expressed on closer 'scary mary'. This record was the shape of what was to come, the begins of a truly epic sounds which reached it's apex on fourth record 'Puzzle'. There are plenty of rough edges here, but this should be hailed as a modern classic - the moment at which musicianship and emotion crept back into chart music.

binnie

04-12-2010, 01:22 PM

Slash - Slash

For a man whose past can only have taught him to expect trouble from singers, it might seem an odd choice to begin a solo career by working with over a dozen of them. Such is the weirdness of life that Slash insists that this is the easiest record he's ever made. It feels like it, too. The slick, light vibe which slips off this record is not what fans would customarily expect from Slash - this is a long way from the bomabastic schizo-sleaze rock of Guns 'n' Roses, or the ultra cool punk-angst of Velvet Revolver. Rather, what we have here is a polished rock record, and one in which we see Slash grow comfortably into his role as an 'elder statesmen' of the genre. That is not to say that this album sounds middle aged, but it certainly feels mature.

None of this is detrimental to the quality. Indeed, it is this record's surprises which are its strong points. Fergie seems an odd choice of partnering for a man whose has spent 25 years on the cusp of metal, but her vocal on 'Beautiful Dangerous' is outstanding, a nitro-charged wail over a dark and funky beat which is sown up in the best hook on this disc. Similarly 'Nothing To Say' - featuring M Shadows from heavy metal kings Avenged Sevenfold - is a welcome departure for the Top Hatted one. Easily the most metallic thing he's recorded to date, the track features frantic riffing and shredding solos the like of which many guitar snobs probably thought he couldn't play. Contrastingly, the record's quietest moment, 'Saint Is a Sinner Too' featuring the relative unkown Rocco DeLucca, is perhaps its strongest moment - a beautifully solomn guitar piece complimented with hushed vocals falling somewhere between Jeff Buckley and Elliot Smith. Surprised aplenty then - even Kid Rock remembers that he can sing on the southern rock flavours of 'I Hold On'. It's pretty damn good, too.

If anything, its the older guard who fall a little flat here. Ozzy Osbourne, bless him, tries his absolute damndest to steal the show, sounding as aggressive and focreful as he has in years, but also reminding this reviewer of Kermit the Frog, such is the 'studio magic' which is needed to get anything decent out of his larynx these days. Lemmy's 'Doctor ALibi' is a typical tale of rock 'n' roll excess over a hedonistic riff-fest, but it feels tired and generic by the standards of the legends playing on it. It's Page and Plant compared to the mess that is Iggy Pop's 'We're All Gonna Die', however, a lyrical performance so uninspired to be beneath a man who is - no arguments please - the most dangerous hellraiser that rock 'n' roll has ever birthed.

But such moments are overshone by the strength of the other songs here. Myles Kennedy wraps his unfeasibly talented pipes around two tunes: the blues rocker 'Back From Cali' and epic 'Starlight', and it is perhaps his vocals which match Slash's guitar tone most fittingly. Simiarly noteworthy is Ian Astbury's 'Ghost', which sees The Cult man on his finest form for quite some time. Anyone with ears could have done without Maroon 5's Adam Levine limp wristed 'Gotten', but overall you can't help but enjoy this album. There's certainly nothing classic here, but what we have is far beyond competent. These 'Santana' albums normally don't work - there usually feel smug an unfocussed. This one doesn't. What Slash has done has placed his ego to the side. He sits back, rather than dominating the songs, using his music to bring out the strenghts of each singer whilst still producing a modern rock record which feels very much like an album rather than a collection of songs. Well worth a listen.

binnie

04-12-2010, 03:57 PM

Skindred - Shark Bites and Dog Fights

If I was to describe this as 'ragga metal' you'd probably stop reading. I can't think of a better term to encapsulate the sound of this Welsh crew, however. Crunching guitars and samples sit over punk arrangements, and vocalists Benji rythmically spits his lyrics over the top in a sound that recalls later-era Pitchshifter. The result of this sonic cocktail is a massic groove, most aptly captured in 'You Can't Stop It'. What makes this mixture of styles work so effectively is the band's pop sensibilities and skill in writing hooks, whether that be in 'Stand Up For Something' - a true anthem - or the almost trip-hop of 'Who Are You', with its soft vocal and emotive soundscapes. There is a lot to like here. There are a couple of clunkers in the midst - a cover of Eddy Grant's 'Electric Avenue' does little but put some big guitars on the original arrangement, and on 'Calling All Stations' the ideas well runs dry. That being said, this is a very solid record, and I'll bet you've never heard anything like it.

binnie

04-13-2010, 05:00 PM

Baroness - Blue Album

This is heavy, bitterly heavy, but it ain't metal. Show Baroness a song constructed around chugga-chugga riffs in 4/4 and they'd probably find it immoral. Indeed, these Georgians don't really play songs - these are pieces of music, almost suites, which breate and pulsate, swan dive and soar across luscious musical landscapes which feel to have no time. Somewhere between sludge metal and prog rock, this manages to be uplifting, far more sonorous than your average extreme metal band - if this all sounds pretentious, it shouldn't, for despite being complex, Baroness are not needlessly showy. Their music is devoid of nod-and-wink muso smirking, and the band play as one - guitarists Peter Adams and John Baizley weld their instruments into one, and drummer Allen Bickle peppers each track with intonations and subtelties. Moreover, this is brutally raw. Indeed, the production is so crisp and sparse that it feels almost live, an added slice of humanity which invites you to become absorded in their swirl of riffs and throbbing drums beats.

The 'Blue Record' is painted in many hues. Expounding their stoner credentials on the explosion of 'Jake Leg', the sonic bombast is juxtaposed with acoustic lament of 'Steel That Sleeps The Eye'. A punkier version of fellow Georgians Mastodon, Baroness can more than hold their own with their more successful cousins, and pieces like 'Ogeechee Hymnal' and 'A Horse Called Golgotha' sound like the earth opening up and bellowing. If 'O'er Hell and Hide' feels like a wasted opportunity, you can easily forgive it in the face of the quality here.

This is a challenging listen, but a rewarding one. Those looking for a verse-chorus-verse-chorus band will be frustrated, but those of an adventurous bent will be rewarded. If Baroness learn the value of unity they will one day deliver a classic. On the 'Blue Record', as with the 'Red Record' before it, each piece of music feels distinct and not necessarily realted to the other - this is a series of concertos not related to a larger symphony. If the lesson of coherence is learnt, Baroness will one day deliver a record that is inspiring rather than inspired.

binnie

04-15-2010, 03:11 PM

Fear Factory - Mechanize

It opens with industrial noises, a presage of the metallic precision which is about to kick in. The familar BOOM of double bass patterns sandwiched perfectly with short, punchy staccato riffs and roaring vocals usher in the rythmic assault that is Fear Factory - they are back!

In the mid '90s there were four metal bands that really mattered: Pantera, Sepultura, Machine Head and Fear Factory. These were the four bands taking the remnants of thrash and welding it to underground influences to produce music of new visceral vibrancy. But Pantera imploded, post-Max Cavelera Sepultura made records of increasing mediocrity, and until five years ago Machine Head, like Fear Factory, seemed to have faded away. 'Mechanize' is Fear Factory's 'Blackening' - a bold statement of reinvention that is startling in its hunger, vision and, most importantly, its sheer aggresssion. Indeed, the band hasn't seemed this brutal since 'Soul Of A New Machine' waaaaaay back in 1992. Maybe its the influx of new blood - a new rhythm section of drum God Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Strapping Young Lad, Forbidden) and Byron Stroud replicate the mechanical precision of old, but add a new intensity to it, a perfect foil for the tort riffage of Dino Cazares. The results are vitriolic: the sonic savagery of 'Industrial Disciple', the brutal precision of 'Powershifter' and death metal tinges of 'Fear Campaign' are staggering in their rawness, and it is on listening to them that you realize just how indebted the modern metal landscape is to this band. Most of all, however, you realize how talented vocalist Burton C Bell is - every band that switches from gutteral bark to melodic chorus is ripping this guy off, and few possess the pipes to compete. Cookie Monster vocals are the easiest way for a band to sound generic, and it takes a vocalist with real charisma, with real feel, to make them distinct - Bell has always managed to do that, his rythmic delivery making these songs memorable. On 'Christploitation' everything clicks perfectly, and it will be the most masterul piece of metal you hear this year: whether charging like a bull on the edge of a heart attack, or brushing over the listener with dark, intricate interludes, this is the essence of Fear Factory in one song.

Closing with epic 'Final Exit' - which ends with an almost hymnal electric symphany - you realize what it is that seperates bands like this from the countless others in their wake: the writing of ALBUMS rather than compiling a body of songs. It is a curious irony that a band whose subject matter has always been so obsessed with the potential and dangers of technology that in the Ipod age of pick 'n' mix music, they would consciously produce a record so retro in its approach - a musical journey which is far, far, more than the sum of its parts.

Near perfect.

binnie

04-18-2010, 03:47 PM

From the vaults: Metallica - St. Anger

Possibly the most maligned record ever made, this album was nonetheless a noble failure. The sound of band hungering to embrace its metalllic essence yet reticent to simply replicate its past, 'St. Anger' is full of experiments, some of which worked and many of which didn't. At times the sonic equivalent of one those abract pieces of art which Ulrich loves so deeply, reviewers quickly pointed to there being much 'wrong' with the album - the stunted, tin-can drum sound, the turgid mix, and the absence of guitar solos being the most commonly sounded. None of this really gets to the root of the problem, however. What this album really lacked was nuance, the contrast of darkness and light, beauty and the beast, which made Metallica, like all truly great metal bands, unmatchable in the 80s and which heirs to the throne Mastodon are running with now. The absence of lighter moments makes for over 70 minutes of music which is as tuneless as it is furious.

Given the well publicsed 'problems' which the band, and James Hetfield in particular, were enduring during the process of producing this album, perhaps this ferocity is art at its most pure: catharsis. Detractors quickly scoffed at the notion of 'millionaire crybabys', but such mocking doesn't really hold any water - the notion that money buys happiness or fulfilment is as disengenuous as the suggestion that Hetfield was not a deeply troubled soul during this period. Indeed, there is a rawness, a primal expression of torment, which seeps from this album and it is perhaps that which disturbed reviewers as much as the unconventional sonic approach - the uncomfortable vulnerability on display here makes for a times unnerving experience. At its best this rawness produced the Discharge riffage and naked vitriol of opening salvo of 'Frantic' and the titletack, and the slugging body blow of 'Purify', a song so heavy it could wind a buffalo; at its worst its left us with the aimless 'Invisible Kid', a musing on an ignored childhood which reaches for profound but only manages to grab trite.

There is little contrived about this venting, then. Indeed, the main problem with Lars' drum sound is that it felt like a calculated attempt to get back to basics, a calculation which detracted from Hetfield's wounded vocals and visceral guitar playing (it is noticeable that the songs sound so much more powerful on the accompanying DVD studio performacne.) 'All Within My Hands' is the latter's finest hour, a beast of a song exploring the depths of a controlling personality which can result from inferiority - a huge departure from the 'fuck the world' mentality so frequently projected from Hetfield, the track nonetheless manages to stagger in its aggressiveness, and may be one of the most inventing recordings Metallica has ever laid down. Although decidedly less aggressive 'The Unnamed Feeling' is nevertheless a mongrel beauty of a song, and perhaps the true embodiment of the 'greasy' sound which Lars so often mistakenly employed to characterize the 'Load' albums.

'St. Anger', then, was a real musical statement from a band in turmoil. Accusations of 'sell out' fall flat on listening to this piece of commercial suicide, and album without an obvious single and which existed apart from any musical trend of the time. It is a hard listen, and even harder to love - but it is a truly honest emotional statement. Ugly as it was, this was three guys making music from their hearts - a limping band, but a beautiful one statement despite all of its deformities. A maelstrom of riffs, time changes and a battery of some of the most aggressive music ever recorded, to these ears 'St. Anger' makes many of the death and extreme metal 'underground' bands sound as dangerous as Lady Gaga by comparision. And it is the song which encapsulates that ugly beauty most perfectly, 'Some Kind Of Monster', which would have perhaps been its most fitting title - it has certainly become its most appropriate epitaph.

binnie

04-20-2010, 03:50 PM

Armored Saint - La Raza

There is a hunger in evidence on this record. Like an old fighter mustering everything in the tank for one last shot at the glory which fate has denied them for so long, Joey Vera an co. sound like they mean it. We've seen a lot of that from the old guard in recent years - Testament's furious 'Formation of Damnation' was a career high, and on 'Ironbound' a defiant Overkill set out to throttle listeners into accepting that they deseve far more than the journeymen status they are so often awarded. That gusto is here too, right for the ominous orchestral opening to the record's first track, 'Loose Cannon'.

In truth, however, Armored Saint fall short in their hunt for glory. That's not to deny that there are powerful moments here: on 'Left Hook From Right Field', with its punchy Helmet riff, John Bush sounds like he knows that this is far better than anything that the limping version of Anthrax could currently come up with; and on 'Chilled', a lament for life to slow down in middle-age, the band had created a perfect harmony of music and lyrics. But for every high, there is a moment of mediocrity which blights progression. Songs like 'Get Off The Fence' and 'Black Feet' stall, and sound stale in comparison to the joyfully punky 'Little Monkey' or the tight groove of 'Head On' or the titletrack.

Armored Saint, then, aimed for great but only managed to clutch onto good. Yet that's no mean feat, and they deserve some serious respect. Unlike many bands of their era, this is a musical statement, not a nostalgia trip. This is no retro-thrash record - sure its fast in places, and its heavy, but the band has a musical pallette far wider than they did 20 years ago, and they're not afraid to use it. Grooving in places, blasting in others, this feels like a labour of love. Sometimes, you don't have to win the belts to earn to status of champs.

binnie

05-11-2010, 03:58 PM

Scar Symmetry - Dark Matter Dimensions

A band with multiple-personality-disorder, Scar Symmetry borrow heavily from every possible sub-genre of metal and weld their pickings into one unique sound, a kind of 'Russian Slice' of metal if you will. Imagine death metal vocals spliced with ultra melodic choruses, guitar wizzardy contrasted with extreme metal pummelling, soaring power-metal melodies pasted over blast beats. What is odd about this shameless eclecticism is its coherency - the sheer strength of the riffs and melodies here carry the listener through the bands genre-smashing sound. Yet, the band leaves you with an ambivalnet feeling - on the one hand, you can't help but enjoy the sheer unapologetic celebration of all things metal; but on the other, you're struck by the feeling that it's all a little contrived. Clever, certainly, but over-thought and over-blown - indeed at their most soaring Scar Symmetry's power-meets-extreme-metal sounds a little like Queensryche being raped by an angry bull. Their enthusiasm is certainly infectious, and their song-writing talents are undeniable, but anyone looking for an emotive musical statement will best search elsewhere.

binnie

05-18-2010, 03:08 PM

Iron Maiden - No Prayer For The Dying.

Where did it all go wrong? Following up 'Seventh Son For A Seventh Son' - an album which the band posited would take metal into the '90s - Maiden disproved their own prophecy by following it up with an album which was both tired and uninspired. Opting for a sound more stripped-back and consciously raw than 'Seventh....' and its predecessor 'Somewhere Back In Time', Maiden's ramshakle collection of songs felt like off-cuts from older records than a coherent album per se. Opener 'Tailgunner' possessed a strong hook, but by the time of second song 'Holy Smoke' things were already nose-diving. Little more than a collection of power-chords, the only thing less inspired than the guitar work was the lyrics - by this point, anti-religious metal songs were decidedly ubiquitous and devoid of menace or meaning. 'Bring Your Daughter (To the Slaughter)' and 'Hooks In You' saw the band hunt for pop sensibilities - but the former possessed a cringe-worthy hook and cartoon-sloch imagery which saw the band descend into self-parody; whilst the latter felt more like the Glitter Band trying to score a horror B Movie. There were certainly flashes of the days of yore. 'Mother Russia' provided a strong closer, and silly title aside 'Public Enema Number One' sported a memorable gallop. Yet this was an album which leaves the listener wanting more - more ambition, more substance and more of the bombast which made Maiden THE metal band of the previous decade. It was clear that Bruce Dickinson was tired of it all by this point - upon re-listening to turgid messes like 'The Assasin' (more melodrama than machismo) its amazing that he stayed for another record. At best, 'No Prayer For the Dying' strained to be memorable - it exists today as document of the time when traditional metal was thwarted by its subgenres, when the bands from the underground stole the centrepoint from the stalwarts of the '80s. On the evidence of 20 years ago, who would have thought that Maiden would be more energised than ever in 2010?

Jagermeister

05-20-2010, 02:40 PM

Track List
Eat me up alive
Best of me
A little too much
Look out below
Last call
Lost weekend
As good as it gets
Garden of eden
Take a big bite
Take me home
Don’t let go

I was really excited about this record coming out as I am a classic Ratt fan. Warren Demartini is one of my favorite guitar players. Also was never able to see them live back in the day. This is the original line up except for the obvious. Robin Crosby who died. He is replaced by Carlos Cavazo of Quiet Riot fame. Also missing is Juan Crousier on Bass who apparently chose not to be a part of this reunion. He is replaced by Robbie Crane. Not really replaced I guess but not original as far as I am concerned.

I give this a 4 out of 5 stars. It’s has that “Out of the Cellar” feel to it. At first I thought this was Warren filled album but the more I listen to it it’s not. Cavaso gets his licks in as well. I was never a big fan of his but no doubt he is a talented guitar player. It has that twin lead stuff in like the old days with Crosby. It’s kick ass. Well produced with decent mixing. Drums sound great and the guitars are well balanced. Vocals are good to ok on most of the tracks.

Some of my favorite tracks and why.

Lost Weekend. Start’s out driving like “Lack of Communication” as has a cool hook. All the songs have some great guitar work. So let’s just say that’s a given on every song except one I’ll mention later.

Last Call: This has RATT written all over it from start to finish. Starts out and ends with a really cool almost EVH like riff. Great tune.

Eat me Alive: This tune make you want to grab the bong and take a few hits. This has Warren all over it.

The only song that really sucks is Take me Home. It’s a ballad that makes me think of Night Ranger. Nuff said. I have not been able to listen to it all the way through. It's just a gay song.

GO BUY IT. It’s good.

binnie

05-20-2010, 02:52 PM

Jagermeister

05-20-2010, 02:54 PM

Cool review Jaggermiester - I've yet to check out that record, but the material I've heard on the radio sounds promising, and certainly a lot stronger than the stuff Motely Crue put out after their reunion.

It's good man I was real happy with it. I can't wait to see them live here in a few months.

binnie

05-20-2010, 03:13 PM

Weight. Groove. Melody. Soul. It's like those words are carved into the core of this album, the first and only release from New Orleans doom-crew Floodgate. Having already fronted one band who were ahead of their time - Exhorder - you can't help thinking that Kyle Thomas must be a little bit bitter that his talents have passed largely unnoticed in the metal world. It's all a case of timing: two years later this band would have been huge. By that point, the Sabbath reunion was in full flow, Kyuss had a cult status and a nascent Queens Of The Stone Arena were making waves. Yet Floodgate's stoner bludgeon was out of place in the mid-90s, sadly. Centred around a huge, boulder-swinging bass-heavy sound which suts sparsel behind Thomas's smokey-croon, songs like 'Shivering' and 'Before the Low Divide' are reminiscent of Corrosion Of Conformity at their most groove-laden. Introspective moment 'Whole' was Alice In Chains covering Sabbath's 'Planet Caravan'; and on 'Running On With Sodden Legs', Thomas shows us why he was so influential upon Phil Anselmo.

Thomas would re-emerge several years later in Alabama Thunderpussy, but in truth this is the best record - and certainly the strongest set of lyrics - he's ever wrapped his pipes around. Alongside Down's 'Nola', this hulking slab of sonic-bombast sat as the custodian of the essence of metal in a scene increasingly weakened by distractions in the mid-90s. A career short but sweet, but a legacy of soulful metal.

jhale667

05-20-2010, 03:20 PM

At first I thought this was Warren filled album but the more I listen to it it’s not. Cavaso gets his licks in as well. I was never a big fan of his but no doubt he is a talented guitar player. It has that twin lead stuff in like the old days with Crosby. It’s kick ass.

Fact is, Carlos is WAY better than people give him credit for. And unlike some of his peers (cough, cough), he KEEPS PROGRESSING...

He's a total bro, and Warren's a pretty cool guy, too.

Jagermeister

05-20-2010, 03:27 PM

binnie

05-20-2010, 03:28 PM

Progressing is very important - there is a reason that AC/DC haven't made a really good record for 30 years.

Jagermeister

05-20-2010, 03:30 PM

Progressing is very important - there is a reason that AC/DC haven't made a really good record for 30 years.

I don't know about that. They just all sound the same.

binnie

05-20-2010, 03:44 PM

Exactly - between 'Let There Be Rock' and 'Back In Black, whilst there was a definite AC/DC sound, they devleoped a little on each album. After that they just stuck to a formula, and consequently neve

Jagermeister

05-20-2010, 03:50 PM

Fact is, Carlos is WAY better than people give him credit for. And unlike some of his peers (cough, cough), he KEEPS PROGRESSING...

He's a total bro, and Warren's a pretty cool guy, too.

Oh and tell um I'm sorry about Take me home, the ballad but it fuckin suck balls. Only think I didn't like about that disc really. It's like where the fuck did that come from?? Who's idea was that shit? LOL

binnie

05-20-2010, 05:04 PM

Well, they wouldn't be an '80s band if they didn't include a shitty ballad to get in the chicks

binnie

05-25-2010, 03:46 PM

Deftones – Diamond Eyes

That the Deftones have been unconvincingly pigeonholed ‘Nu Metal’, ‘Emo’, ‘Screamo’ and ‘Post Hardcore’ is a testament both to a journalistic dependency on labels, and to their own brand of metallic majesty. Like Faith No More before them, the Deftones are a band which has always existed apart from contemporary metal landscapes, making music stubbornly and persistently their own. The sheer level of creativity in this band has often seen its members pull in different directions, and consequently previous outings ‘Deftones’ and ‘Saturday Wrist’ – although containing stellar songs – felt like a clutter of moments rather than a fully-formed musical statement. On ‘Diamond Eyes’, the band is once again more than the sum of its parts – more coherent and concise than its immediate predecessors, the band has produced an album of such magisterial calibre it equals their own brilliance of their heyday.

Indeed, ‘Diamond Eyes’ combines the grooving battery of 1997’s ‘Around the Fur’ with the dazzlingly epic sound-scapes of their masterpiece, ‘White Pony’. From the opening seconds of the beautiful cacophony which resonates from the title-track, the band leave listeners in no doubt that this is everything which fans could long for. Harbouring a sound structured through the contrast between the bounce and crunch of a rhythm section locked around Steven Carpenter’s punchy riffs, and Chino Moreno’s esoteric croon, which drifts over his band’s warped groove, songs like ‘Prince’ and ‘Risk’ are a logical progression of the Deftones’ quintessential sound. Indebted as much to alt-rock as to metal, this is a band which manages to be crushingly heavy and delicately melodic at the same time, presenting a range of voices without ever feeling contrived. Thus ‘Rocket’ alternates between Fugazi-esque sparseness and rich melodies firmly entrenched in ‘70s Rush; and ‘Cmnd/Ctrl’ manages to balance savagery with the ethereal, alternating between the anthemic and the perverse. This a band capable of combining the ultra-heavy ‘Royal’ and the delicately-sonorous ‘Sextape’ and ‘Beauty School’ in one musical vision – as such, ‘Diamond Eyes’ is as moving as metal is ever likely to be, oozing out of the speakers in a rush of emotion and musical tapestries so rich that they make the Cult’s ‘Love’ appear Spartan by comparison. And yet, for all the diversity of the moods they evoke, the Deftones never fall short of being powerful. Nuanced, accessible, challenging and beautifully complete, when future generation look back for the best music of the early Twenty First Century, they would do a lot worse than looking here.

Jagermeister

05-25-2010, 04:00 PM

Fact is, Carlos is WAY better than people give him credit for. And unlike some of his peers (cough, cough), he KEEPS PROGRESSING...

He's a total bro, and Warren's a pretty cool guy, too.

Have you listened to this jhale? Cause everytime I do I think about that statement. This is a damn good record. I can't get enough of it.

binnie

07-05-2010, 03:58 PM

Ozzy Osbourne – Scream

This is a unique Ozzy record for two reasons. Firstly, it is the only Ozzy record since 1991’s ‘No More Tears’ to actually live up to the hype job performed by Mistress Sharon Management – unlike every other Ozzy record of the previous 20 years, this one doesn’t suck more dick than Paris Hilton on an average Saturday night. Secondly – and far more importantly – this is the only Ozzy record not to be defined by the guitar player who lavishes his talents on it. That’s not to say that new boy Gus G doesn’t have his moments here, but rather to note that he hasn’t left his individual stamp on the Ozzy sound just as yet – largely because the songs were written before he became involved. The odd dazzling solo aside, this is a long way from his power metal day job, and there are a few moments where he sounds like a pastiche of Zakk Wylde.

However, the absence of a God-like guitar player actually makes for a stronger record, one in which the strength of Ozzy’s melodies and the craft of the songs dominates. Too often in the past both have been overshone by Zakk’s increasingly busy guitar style, but here we have an Ozzy Osbourne revitalized and re-focussed. Indeed, his vocals sound better than anyone could possibly have imagined – the ‘studio magic’ on his voice is well hidden, and thankfully he no longer sounds like a demonic incarnation of Kermit the Frog. Rather, he’s clearly having a wail of a time and is at his menacing best. Yet it’s the sheer heaviness of the material that staggers you: opener ‘Let It Die’ is six minutes of granite fury, whilst the double bass-drum blast of ‘Diggin Me Down’ is probably the heaviest solo tune Ozzy has ever penned. On the sludge of ‘Soul Sucker’ he nods to his Sabbath past, whilst ‘Fearless’, ‘Crucify’ and ‘I Want It More’ are the finest blend of Ozzy-style metal we’ve heard since ‘No Rest For the Wicked’, the latter possessed of a melody stronger than anything you thought that the double O had left. Seriously, that good.

Even the more introspective moments don’t hurt. There’s no ‘Mama I’m Getting’ Old’ or the aptly titled ‘Road To Nowhere’ here, nor is there a faux-Beatles ‘Dreamer’ tune to make us whince. The Creed-esque ‘Life Won’t Wait’ is a single in the waiting, and ‘Time’ has an oddly post-grunge feel to it – they’re no ‘Goodbye To Romance’, but you can’t have everything.

Is this the best metal record of the year? No – it’s not even the best metal record of the month. But it’s bloody good. Anyone expecting ‘Blizzard…’ or ‘Diary…’#2 will be disappointed, and rightly so. You don’t fuck as well as you did in 1981, and it’s uncharitable to expect an artist in his 60s to conjure up the vibrancy of his heyday. But judged against the last two decades of his career, this stacks up way ahead of the competition; it is also infinitely more inspired, and consistent, than the sort of records his peers are knocking out – ‘Black Ice’ is nowhere near as solid as this.

He’s Ozzy and he wants you to scream – you won’t be able to help yourself.

binnie

07-06-2010, 03:30 PM

From the vaults: Panic Channel – (One) (2006)

Essentially a side project from the rest of Jane’s Addiction when they fell out with Perry Farrell, Panic Channel released an immense debut which floated under the radar. Retaining the kinky beats and funky riffs which characterizes the kaleidoscopic metal of their mother band, PC nonetheless eschewed the more ethereal elements in favour a sound which is more direct and yet expansive. ‘Teahouse of the Spirits’ and ‘Awake’ swoon with an electric groove and sonorous melodies, the latter channelling the more epic side of Zeppelin without ever coming close to pastiche. Upon hearing the pipes of Steve Issacs you wonder why Velvet Revolver piss around so much in finding a singer with guys like this around – the versatility of his performance, from understatedly intimate (‘Lie Next To Me’) to shamen (‘Left To Lose’), is staggering, and on the introspective croon of ‘Said You’d Be’ you realize that there are still charismatic frontmen in rock. Ranging from bombastic to bruised, this is the sound which Audioslave aimed for and missed - ‘Night One’ spins from crunching to tingling on the flip of a coin, Issac’s soaring vocals offsetting Navarro’s truly epic riffing perfectly in 8 minutes of frenzied modern hard rock which promised so much for a band which disbanded too soon.

binnie

07-07-2010, 01:35 PM

Taking Dawn – Time To Burn

Imagine it’s 1990. Grunge has yet to happen and alt. rock is just that, alternative, distant, something which only those pasty kids you stuff into lockers at school listen too. You kick off your cowboy boots after a day cruising the strip and picking up make-up advice from Rikki Rocket, and you grab the new edition of RIP magazine from your bed – there on the front cover, in all of their long-haired and tight-panted glory, are the year’s hot new band: Taking Dawn. Or so this band would love to dream. In their world guitars wail over big riffs, big drums, bigger choruses and a production which is bigger still. They even wear the same leather jackets that Skid Row and Nunu Bettencourt used to wear, for they have chosen to live their lives as a tribute to the era which they so clearly love.

It’s an impressive pastiche. This might be the best album that Mike Tramp never made, featuring the sort of multi-layered vocal harmonies that Mutt Lange would be proud of - almost every song features intro and outro leads alongside a solo, as well as detailed linear credits for the plank-spanking superstar who plays them. According to their lyrics, they’re bringer the rock back: ‘Like A Revolution’, ‘Fight ‘em With Your Rock’ and ‘So Loud’ are all concerned with the rise of the Cathouse, like a skank ridden whore from the flames. These guys probably refer to Dana Strum as ‘The Bard’. Is it profound? No. But it’s sincere, and you have to respect them for that.

The problem for Taking Dawn, however, is that rock ain’t dead – it’s just moved on. This is a good record full of catchy, hook-laden metal that you could party all night too, and with songs as good as ‘Take Me Away’ they would have been huge 20 years ago. Now, however, whether intentionally or not, they have made a piece of kitsch. Taking Dawn face the same problem as Airbourne – just as the Aussies will never make an album half as good as ‘Powerage’, so whilst listening to ‘Time To Burn’ the listener can’t help thinking that they’d rather be cranking ‘Slave to the Grind.’ Maybe they should call their next album ‘Doomed to be Derivative.’

binnie

07-08-2010, 02:45 PM

Stone Temple Pilots – Stone Temple Pilots

So here it is, the record behind the soap opera that is Scott Weiland. For a band fronted by a figure who spends a sizeable chunk of his time incoherently rambling about in a condition which would be undignified for a man half of his age this is a remarkably sober record. It seems that the muse for this new found focus is older than the band itself. A glance at the floral decorated ‘V’ sign on the front cover highlights what becomes abundantly clear seconds after hitting the ‘play’ button: STP have discovered the ‘60s with relish. Kicking things off with vigour, opener ‘Between The Lines’ sounds like Cheap Trick masquerading as a British Invasion cover band, gloriously awash with saccharine melodies. The jangle of ‘Hickory Dichotomy’ and taught-rock of ‘Bagman’ see Weiland exercise his Bowie-fixation, whilst the grandiose of ‘Maver’ is the lament the Velvet Revolver never quite managed to pull off. It’s everything you’d expect: quirky lyrics, odd time signatures, slab-like riffs, and jangling percussion. And yet far from falling into the trap of many reunions of trying to recapture lost glories and merely grabbing self-parody, this is an album which looks firmly into the band’s future, hinting more firmly at the ethereal avant garde rock that they made towards the end of the ‘90s than the post grunge fury of earlier releases.

It’s not all great, however. The sub-standard ELO rip-off ‘Dare If You Dare’ is uninspired an on the frighteningly trite ‘Cinnamon’ the band manage to achieve something which they’ve never done before – they sound dull. But the duds are few and far between. There might not be anything demanding a place on a ‘Best Of’ here, but there record works as a whole, feeling more concise and focussed than previous outing ‘Shangri-la-dee-da’. This is no ego trip or cash ‘n’ grab, but a band pulling as one. It’s not great enough to make your year, but it’s certainly good enough to brighten up your summer.

binnie

07-12-2010, 02:42 PM

From the vaults: Kerbdog – On The Turn (1996)

This is Irish Grunge, but it’s long way from Seattle. Eschewing soft/heavy song dynamics in favour of more intricate crafting, and displaying a sense of melody more akin to Husker Du than Kurt Cobain, this was a dazzling record when it appeared in 1996. Painting from a palette far broader than angst, songs ‘Didn’t Even Try’ and ‘Severed’ feel like they have been lived, the sort of songs someone has invested their whole lives in, and the impassioned delivery of Cormag Battle only solidifies that impression. The staggeringly defiant ‘Pledge’ bursts with riffs that most bands would trade body parts to write, and on the web of twists and turns on ‘JJ’s Song’ the band craft an epic in 4 minutes. Songs like ‘Lesser Shelf’ and ‘Pointless’ blend metal and punk in a way skin to fellow countrymen Therapy?, but in truth Kerbdog had a resume of material infinitely superior to that band, on any other of the ‘Brit Rock’ explosion of the mid-90s – Skunk Anansie, Three Colours Red, Feeder et al may have shifted the units, but they never came closer to the raw abandon and metallic efflorescence on display here. This record may have been a hell of a ride, but Kerbdog’s journey ended prematurely – listening to it today I am reminded of the sense of incredulity I was gripped with when it was released: why do all my friends love Oasis when there’s stuff like this being made? I still couldn’t tell you. Epic, accessible, casuistic, and beautifully aggressive, this is rock music as it should be: vibrant, vicious and vivacious.

binnie

07-12-2010, 03:35 PM

From the vaults: Emanuel – Soundtrack to a Headrush (2005)

“Listen up, motherfuckers, this is that new unheard of unspoken so if you're down then get down and if you're not then get the fuck out!” That’s quite a way to start your career, and encapsulates a verve blasting through this debut record. Part emo, part screamo, part post-hardcore, in truth Emanuel pass beyond those genres, having a more bluesy, rock ‘n’ roll sensibility about them. And balls. Big balls, the sort that need a wheel-barrow to carry them around – imagine the New York Dolls mated with a rabid pitbull and you’re getting close. 35 minutes of incendiary 21st century rock’n’roll, songs like ‘Buy American Machines’ ‘The New Violence’ and ‘Hey Man’ possess a bombast which breathes life into a genre that has been limping for almost as long as it exists, and combining clever lyrics with vocal-guitar interplay makes for a record which feels very much like a seasoned band. On the swooning lament of ‘Make Tonight’ screaming is eschewed in favour of actual singing, and its impressive, a moving yet disturbing tale of lust and yearning. But at times the band is trading on enthusiasm rather than talent – ‘Hotline’ and ‘Breathe Underwater’ verge on the generic, whilst ‘Xeroxicide’ seems oddly directionless. This is not an album that will change music – but it may very well be one which kick starts a career bristling with potential.

binnie

09-16-2010, 07:39 AM

From the vaults: Rainbow - Straight Between The Eyes (1982)

Joe Lynn Turner era Rainbow was a long way from that of Ronnie James Dio, epic soundscapes being eschewed in favour of pop senibilities, and in truth this is a record more of its time than timeless. It remains undervalued, however, and should not be dismissed as AOR, even if the band do come close on 'Stone Cold.' What we have here, rather, is a solid Heavy Metal record. 'Death Alley Driver' is a straight out rocker delivered at piledriver pace which comes on like a motherfucker, even if it does suffer by comparison with 'Highway Star'; and 'Tite Squeeze' sees Richie Blackmore and Roger Glover return to the funk-soul of their Deep Purple heyday. In the annals of rock history, Joe Lynn Turner is not accorded the place he deserves as singer: a master of diction, he puts in a remarkable performance here and if his lyrics suffer from cliche, his delivery on the emotive croon of 'Tearin' Out My Heart' is world class. Blackmore, as expected, is on fire and his sultry riffs even carry filler like 'Power' and 'Rock Fever'. Drenched in a crisp and clear production, the songs suffer from a sheen which burries their blues influences far below the surface and have meant that it hasn't aged well. That being said, it deserves a place in any classic rock collection - closing with 'Eyes of Fire', awash with eastern orchestratin and the bombast of '80s rock, this was the sound of a band still fire much of fire if not quite 'Rising.'

Seshmeister

09-16-2010, 07:55 AM

binnie

09-16-2010, 07:58 AM

Give it a try, Sesh. It's a grower, rather than an instant hit. It is also much heavier than you'll be expecting.

binnie

09-16-2010, 08:09 AM

ELVIS

09-17-2010, 08:39 AM

On the strength of your review I'll go and give it a try but I'm not giving that woman any more of my money...

Without that woman there would be no Ozzy...

binnie

09-17-2010, 10:14 AM

Black Label Society - Order of the Black

Anyone expecting a deviation from the BLS sound will be sorely dissapointed by this, Zakk's 8th record. The sound is still very much between Black Sabbath and Pantera. So, its still a parada of pinch harmonics, screaching solos, piss-poor lyrics and steroid fuelled riffs over arrangements that come straight out of songwriting 101. But what separates this record from every BLS album since 'The Blessed Hellride' is the sense of fire, and the focus that has gone into its production - sure, Wylde is never going to win a Grammy for songwriting but that's not the point. The typical BLS elements have been mixed here to perfection, and the end result is metal: straight with no chaser. If this record even had sophistication in its rear view mirror it'd turn around just to go wrestle with it, and on songs as stomping as 'Crazy Horse', 'Black Sunday', 'Southerh Dissolution' and 'Riders of the Damned', Zakk delivers up some of the most bombastic moments of his career. So, this is an album a couple of notches above 'solid'. What stops it from fulfilling its grasp, however, are the piano ballads, which sound tired and kitsch. Zakk simply doesn't have the voice to pull off the like of 'Darkest Days' or 'Time Waits for No-one', a song straight out of a bin that even Desmond Childs would label 'vapid.' But when he's flying the metal flag, there's few who do it with more passion or sincerity; and even fewer who make you feel like a 14 year old air guitar player all over again.

chefcraig

09-17-2010, 10:44 AM

From the vaults: Husker Du - Flip Your Wig (1985)

This is rock'n'roll at its most primal essense, stripped of any nicieties or embellishments and drenched in conviction. Evolving from the more brutal punk of earlier releases, 'Flip Your Wig' was something of an iron fist in a velvet glove: underground fury wrapped in sacharine melodies. Many would point to 'Zen Arcade' as the pinnacle of Bob Mould's songwriting, but this gives it a run for its money. 'Divide & Conquer' is the best song that The Stiff Little Fingers never wrote; 'Hate Paper Doll' is a tune that early REM would have sold kidney's to have penned; and 'Find Me' has a buzzsaw guitar brimming with aggression. On the uncomfortavle jangle of 'Makes No Sense At All' and the lament of 'Green Eyes', vocals are burried beneath deafening guitar to give the album an uncomfortable, claustraphobic feel, and one which cannot fail to affect the listener. Sure, it was recorded on a welfare budget which makes for a barren sound, but in an increasingly bloated musical landscape of 1985 this must have sounded like rock'n'roll deconstructing itself. Mould's lyrics are witty and peppered with pithy images of the everyday, the perfect encapsulation of a band which sound as uncomprimsing today as they ever have. The Godfather of grunge? Maybe. Under-appreciated genius? Definitely.

I'm surprised you liked this album, as to most Husker Du fans it is a bit of a throw-away. A much finer and heavier album is the classic New Day Rising which was issued a mere six months earlier. Flip Your Wig is made up of left overs and half-hearted songs, and was cobbled together to satisfy the contract demand for the last record owed to the SST label. This was a water treading period for the band, who were saving their better material for the awesome major label debut of Candy Apple Grey the following year, which essentially turned them into an alternative band as opposed to a punk outfit. Of course, this set the stage for the outstanding Warehouse: Songs and Stories double album two years later, and sadly the band's ultimate demise due to drug use during the tour to support the release.

For evidence of the band's raw power in a live setting, seek out the hard to find The Living End, a document of the band's final tour. Seething with onstage tension at times, the bare bones sound (courtesy of mix desk tapes) is both menacing and positive, two words that serve to aptly sum up this amazing band.

binnie

09-19-2010, 03:53 PM

I just love Husker Du, really.

When I'm picking stuff to review, I try and pick out the black beauties and rough diamonds - what would be the point of reviewing 'Led Zep IV' or 'Blizzard of Oz': everyone's heard 'em! So, I look for the records I love others overlook.

I really don't think 'Flip Your Wig' is made of half hearted songs - in fact, I don't think Bob Mould has ever really done anything half hearted. The songs may be left overs, but then again, 'Physical Grafitti' was made up of leftovers - and that was hardly half-hearted.

'Flip Your Wig' is no 'Zen Arcade', but it's still a great rock'n'roll record to me - I'm not as keen on the major label stuff, they lost a little something in my opinion.

Glad to have found another fan, Chef. Did you ever manage to seem 'em live?

chefcraig

09-19-2010, 03:58 PM

Glad to have found another fan, Chef. Did you ever manage to seem 'em live?

Yes, with a local band called Psycho Daisies at a place called Fireman's Hall, a joint that was little more than a community center in Fort Lauderdale, sometime in 1985!

FORD

09-19-2010, 06:34 PM

FORD

09-19-2010, 06:42 PM

chefcraig

09-19-2010, 06:53 PM

Is Grant Hart the only drummer who can actually sing while he's playing the drums. Seems that most of the drummers who they decide they want to sing (Ringo Starr/Phil Collins/Don Henley/Dave Grohl/etc) end up not doing both at the same time.

It's a pretty short list. There was the guy from Rare Earth who played drums and happened to be the lead singer, Don Brewer from Grand Funk, Levon Helm with The Band and Buddy Miles come to mind. I think the guy in The Romantics sang a couple of tunes, as well as the drummer in Triumph.

FORD

09-19-2010, 07:04 PM

Forgot about the Rare Earth guy. I actually have one of their live albums on vinyl. I don't think there's a single song under 7 minutes on it. So I guess he had lots of time to play the drums and NOT sing. :biggrin:

Pretty much everyone sang in The Band, right? Admittedly, I'm not all that familiar with Buddy Miles apart from his work with Hendrix. And Jimi was singing that.

chefcraig

09-19-2010, 07:43 PM

Pretty much everyone sang in The Band, right? Admittedly, I'm not all that familiar with Buddy Miles apart from his work with Hendrix. And Jimi was singing that.

Robbie Robertson only sang lead on a couple of songs, and Garth Hudson sang none. Miles sang lead on a few of the Band of Gypsies tracks, but I'd be willing to bet few people know that he was the singer on those California Raisins commercials, doing "Heard It Through The Grapevine".

binnie

09-20-2010, 10:54 AM

Now, you see, it's little asides like this that make me love this site!

binnie

09-21-2010, 10:55 AM

Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy

This is a cross roads album for Stone Sour, a band fronted by Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor. First impressions reveal that this is a step up from earlier releases. Not so much in terms of the quality of the songs, but in the efforts made to record them: the production here is crisp, polished and thought through, layers of guitars and vocals encasing songs. At times the effect might be to rob the band of some of the infectious energy captured on their first two records, but it also sees them move to a more commerical sound. A move that will inevitably be met with dismay by those who only heard the beast in Slipknot, and not the beauty, it should not be seen as contrived - the songs here are delivered with the passion, enthusiasm and sincerity we have come to expect. At its best - as on the rolling riff and unbridled adrenalin of 'Mission Statement' or the acoustic lament of 'Imperfect' - the added focus works with aplomb; at its worst, however, it yields songs that feel mired with over-thinking - 'Dying' and 'Hesitate' are little more than throwaway AOR for the maggot generation. A mixed bag, then, but one well worth picking up. Indeed, this is the record which will see Stone Sour enter the big league, the transition point which will see them become one of rock's big players. 'The Bitter End' is destined to be a metal classic, and 'Let's Be Honest' and 'Unfinished' are perfect slices of 21st century hard rock which contain slivers of Slipknot: a testament not to band trapped in the shadow of its frontman's past, but to the unquantifiable impact that band has had on heavy music, present even at the point of assumption. Corey sings perfectly throughout this - from lord of the underground to high priest of the mainstream? Only time will tell.

binnie

09-21-2010, 11:03 AM

Converge - Axe To Fall

As a man who has been afflicted by clinical depression, I can tell you quite candidly that Converge have managed to capture that feeling of anguished terror on this, their eigth album, which sounds like a mind slowly eating itself to inertia. If you think rock'n'roll is about having a good time, partying hard, going to strip clubs and celebrating hedonism, you flat out won't get this. If you think music, great music, is about more than that, a reflection of the human condition and something which can touch it, you will be staggered. Can you ever say you 'enjoy' Converge? Maybe that's not the right adjective, but it will affect you - like the first time you heard Swans, the first time you heard Meshuggah, this is startlingly heavy, unflinchingly sparse, and ceaslessly brutal, a total deprivation of sense which paints in countless shades of aggression before culminating in 'Cruel Bloom/Wretched World', a lament which sounds like Tom Waits being tortured. Listen at your peril: this is an album which could scare The Hulk, and will probably leave you with your kness tucked into your chest, rocking back and forth in a dark room and wondering what the point of it all is. Outstanding, and untouchable.

binnie

09-28-2010, 11:21 AM

36 Crazyfists - Collisions and Castaways

Always an above average metal band, the enjoyment yielded from 36CF's previous outings has always been the result of enthusiasm rather than originality: such is the passion and power of this band's commitment that they have traded thus far on perspiration not inspiration, a trait that has seen them become of the world's most deadly live bands. 'Collisions and Castaways' marks a step up, for there is a real sense of purpose about this recording, a purpose felt most keenly in the remarkably provacative lyrics ('Anchors' is a case in point). The songs contain little flab, boiled down to their fighting weight without feeling over thought, and on 'Trenchers' and 'Death Renames the Light' the delivery is visceral. Opener 'In the Midnights' is the past 20 years of metal in five minutes: vocals are alternatively screamed and crooned, double kick-drums predominate, and breakdowns crush all. The charred melancholy of 'Caving In Spirals' is chilling, and the Glassjaw-like creepiness of 'Mercy and Grace' makes for a career-high performance. Perhaps a more extreme affair than previous albums, the rigid production has a tendancy to rob the band of some of its natural groove. Nonetheless, it is hard not to be impressed with this record. Certainly of its time rather than timeless, there is little here that Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall or a host of other modern American metal bands don't do - what makes 'Collisions and Castaways' remarkable, then, is not its styling but its delivery, the unrelenting commitment which ensures that this release is far more powerful than much of the mainstay of Roadrunner's roster. Indeed, listening to this one is led to feel that, like Devildriver, 36CF should be a much, much bigger band. Perhaps the perspiration will finally pay off.

binnie

09-28-2010, 11:40 AM

Avenged Sevefold - Nightmare

Oozing with emotion, 'Nightmare' was recorded in the aftermath of the death of drummer Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan. But if this is a record gripped by a sense of loss, it is also one drenched in purpose, an epic album dressed in pop sensibilities. Imagine 'Use Your Illusions'-era Guns 'N' Roses with Dave Mustaine at the helm, and you're getting close: this is a band that blends a wealth of music into every single song, double drum patterns, complex arrangements, soaring guitars, piano interludes and huge riffs swirling in lengthy tracks. What has always made Avenged Sevenfold work, however, is the fact that this complexity is so accessible: these intricate structures and inter-realted parts held together by beautyfiul melodies which drive the songs forward. It also makes for much variety: the Hetfield-esque strut of the title track offset by the sheer beauty of ballads 'Fiction', 'Victim' and 'Tonight the World Dies', bravdo offset by tenderness in a real journey of an album. Mike Portnay deputizes for the Rev beautifully, his astonishing drumming overshadowed only by Synster Gates's epic guitar-playing: groove ladden riffs, Helloween like melodies and soaring guitar solos, and, most importantly, the sense of when to underplay, he is an axeman with it all. Is it perfect? No. This is a band which has remarkable talent and a paints with a broad pallet of colours. It is the template that often holds them back: too often cliches emerge, aggressive verses merging into the safety of melodic choruses. When they losen up on the second half of this album, they are startlingly good: the confidence to throw the rulebook away and embrace their own potential could quite easily see Avenged Sevenfold make the metal album of their generation; as it stands, fans will have to settle for a really, really good one. I'm sure 'The Rev' would be proud.

sonrisa salvaje

09-28-2010, 02:29 PM

I really miss Husker Du. Sadly, I never did get to see them live :(

And wouldn't you know, they're the one band that never seemed to show any interest in a reunion. I don't know if Bob Mould & Grant Hart still despise each other's guts, but probably so....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vefkvjcjNj8

I listened to Husker Du for a little while in college. I also used to listen to a band called The Hoodus Goorus (i can't even remember if i'm spelling that right). They had a record called Blow Your Cool that i used to really dig. Anyone remember them?

binnie

09-29-2010, 12:05 PM

Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons of Bad Luck

Hushed into life with 3 minutes of restrained organ, listeners are immediately aware that this is an album which belongs to another era, an era in which songs developed in their own time and pace and in which instant gratification was eschewed in favour of the slow burn. The music on this record - a 'supergroup' of members from Iron Monkey, Electric Wizard and Mogwai - feels like the moment at which the 'Summer of Love' faded into something darker. Lost in the ether, songs exist on the cusp of jams in music which is egoless, melodies and harmonies emering from waves of instrumentation before disapearing seamlessly. It's an eclectic affair: opener 'Burnt Reynolds' consisting of a choir laid over southern rock riffs, sounding like a gentle storm; and the impossibly beautiful 'Wendigo' blending guitar, celo and trumpet in a piece that is hauntingly solemn. For the most part the songs are vocal-less, dark lullabys for broken souls - although their elegance is soiled by liner notes which are somewhat pretentious, awarding each piece an explanatory blurb which often read like a self help book for a character in a Russian novel. This is a little sleepy in places, and the injection of some pace would have made what is a long album more accessible, but it is well worth persevering into these often mezmerizing pieces of progressive rock laments.

binnie

09-29-2010, 12:16 PM

Swallow the Sun - New Moon

For an album whose lyrical are so depressing - even despondent - it is a triumph that the music here manages to be inspiring, even touchingly uplifting in places. This is doom which is more than bleak, each song elegant in its drift from the speakers, both evocative and provocative; thoughtful and immediate. It is also a very complete album: becoming progessively heavier, songs like the title track and 'Servant of Sorrow' combine the ultra-heavy with the irrisitably melodic. Inobtrusive keyboards, wailing riffs and intricate guitar melodies blend seemlessly into one, birthing songs both powerful and diffuse. Indeed, the likes of 'And Heaven Cried Blood' and 'Light on the Lake (Horror Pt III)' are near faultless in their trying beauty, and exist as further proof - should it be needed - that the last 10 years has seen a high point in the history of heavy music. Surely eclipsing even the likes of Katatonia and My Dying Bride, Swallow the Sun have delivered something here which is truly innovative: inventive doom metal played with conviction and restraint. They may not have received the attention of the likes of Mastodon, but this will surely be hailed as a modern classic - many shades of melody carress the listener on a voyage from the beautiful to the harrowing.

Mr Walker

09-29-2010, 12:40 PM

It's a pretty short list. There was the guy from Rare Earth who played drums and happened to be the lead singer, Don Brewer from Grand Funk, Levon Helm with The Band and Buddy Miles come to mind. I think the guy in The Romantics sang a couple of tunes, as well as the drummer in Triumph.

Andy Sturmer from Jellyfish (if that passes for drumming)

Mushroom

09-29-2010, 05:42 PM

GreenBayLA

09-29-2010, 09:43 PM

http://music.dejkam.com/images/album/large/morcheeba/blood_like_lemonade.jpg

Good news, after a seven year absence singer Skye Edwards reunites with the Godfrey brothers to restore the original, classic lineup. After forcing her out they failed to come up with a suitable replacement and released two albums with mixed results. While Skye's solo material lacked the musical muscle of Morcheeba.

Bad news, Blood Like Lemonade is a return to form but not a powerful surge forward. The material is good but seldom great, a bit too familiar with little variance in mood or tempo from song to song (read: mellow) except the two instrumentals.

That said there is plenty to get excited about. The first single/video "Even Though" has that dreamy floating feel that makes it an instant classic. The title track is not about a vampire but a man seeking to avenge his wife's death, he drinks blood like lemonade, tasty. Other standouts include "Recipe For Disaster" addresses why there's a dead guy in her dining room and "Easier Said Than Done" on walking the band reunion tightrope. The only clunker is the droning "Self Made Man" that's at once both quirky and cliche. Overall the album presents a subtle but strong musical undercurrent that along with Skye's crystal velvet voice sweeps you away. A good first step, hopefully next time out they can expand on the theme.

indeedido

09-30-2010, 01:28 PM

binnie

09-30-2010, 05:35 PM

I would definitely agree that it sounds crisper than previous outings. Zakk is never going to write a classic, but this is a pretty decent straight-out Heavy Metal record.

binnie

10-01-2010, 11:44 AM

Buckcherry - All Night Long

You know the sort of guy who's in his late 30s or early 40s but still believes its cool to act the way he did at 21? The sort of guy who hits on girls youger than his daughter, wears a vaguely commical hat as a contrived 'cool' affectation, and comes about as close to an actual stereotype as any individual could? Now imagine a bunch of such men got together and made a record.......and here it is, album number 5 from Buckcherry. Perhaps thats unfair. This isn't a bad album, not by any means. Big choruses, sleek solos, slick production and plenty of volume. But it feels forced and contrived. 10 years ago when 'Buckcherry' and 'Timebomb' came out, listeners were in no doubt that these guys walked the walk as well as talking the talk, smoking, drinking, snorting and fucking their way around the globe. Here, I'm not sure we buy it - they might tell us 'Its A Party' 'All Night Long', but the vibe here feels like a bunch of middle aged guys let out to play by their wives on the weekend. Songs like 'These Things', 'Neve Say Never', 'Liberty' and 'Recovery' are all solid enough blues drenched Sunset Strip anthems, and in a time where goo time rock 'n' roll bands are in the minority perhaps it is uncharitable to want more from a band who believe that music was vastly superior before Kurt Cobain - but the whole thing feels unambitious. Like a familiar lay rather than a newfound fuck, this is nice but unexciting.

binnie

10-01-2010, 12:04 PM

Skunk Anansie - Wonderlustre

As a man who is deeply suspicious of 'reunion' albums, it is comforting to come across one which actually displays some hunger. After an almost 15 year hiatus, the darlings of 90s British rock/metal return with a record which is remarkably focussed, considered and powerful, if not instantly loveable. Floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee, opener 'God Loves Only You' - with its eerie verse and crushing chorus - is the perfect combination of beauty and agression which reminds us why we loved this band. Not that 'Wonderlustre' is a retro album - picking up where previous outsing 'Post Orgasmic Chill' left off, this is a much more mature affair displaying closer affinity to alt. rock that the punk/metal/ragga hybrid of their earlier incarnation. On the likes of 'The Sweetest Thing' and 'You Can't Always Do What You Want To' ambient, trippy guitar parts replace powerchors in a soundscape which is more luscious than angry. Rage, then, has been replaced by reflection. On the whole, this is delivered sincerely and works well, even if we might long for some pace to give the disc an added dimension. But in the presence of Skin's vocals, it is hard not to marvel - a voice which could cut through the hardest of hearts, the twisted melancholly of 'Talk Too Much' and 'My Love Will Fall' are delicately beautiful compositions. Perhaps oneday the band will write some world class material for her to wrap her world class pipes around - until then, this is a more than majestic return.

binnie

12-18-2010, 06:59 PM

Volbeat - Beyond Hell/ Above Heaven

Deceptively simple anthemic punk/metal from Denmark's finest. This is a LOT of fun and incredibly infectious. It is also one of the rarest things in the modern world of rock 'n' roll: a band that celebrates the joy of living. As much 1950s rockabilly as classic heavy metal, the obvious point of departure here are The Misfits, an influence clear in vocalist Michael Schon Poulson's crooned vocal style. Big riffs, subtle melodies, cool lyrics and an imagery that is very much their own, this is a band with a real sense of purpose. Songs like 'Magic Zone' and 'The Mirror And The Reaper' exhibit ultra-cool B-Movie schidcht, and the toffee sweet hooks of 'Heaven Not Hell' and 'Who They Are' will be in your head for a week. But there is much, much more than style over substance on exhibition here - 'A Better Believer' is the sort of forlorn punk that you just don't hear anymore. They are also keen to celebrate their Danish roots, with songs about Mercyful Fate and boxing champion Mikkel Kessler on display. That this never excludes listeners of non-Danish descent is a testament to the fact that Volbeat tap into that most universal of music exploits: the sheer joy of rock'n'roll. An ill-advised duet with Napalm Death's Barney Greenway aside, this is a great little record. To reach the heights of their idols, Volbeat simply need to mix up the formula a little with some variety.

binnie

12-18-2010, 07:20 PM

Deep Purple - Come Taste The Band (Reissue)

A repackaging and re-mastering of Purple's 'lost' record. With Ritchie Blackmore gone, this was a very different band: more refined and certainly not as heavy, 'Come Taste the Band' remains a blinding hard rock record. Less tempestuous, epic, or violent, the emphasis was on hooks, melodies and groove, elements which come together superbly on the funk-rock of 'Gettin' Tighter'. Tommy Bolin made his mark on Purple precisely because he didn't try to fill Blackmore's boots. He played liked he looked: slick and handsome. More tonal than centre-stage, his bluesy, funky style sat well with the direction of Hughes and Lord were moving in, leaving the song's free to showcase Coverdale's melodic croon and ear for melody. The understated rock of 'Comin' Home', 'Lady Luck' and 'I Need Love' could almost be Bad Company tunes and would sit well in any band's back catalogue, whilst the epic lament of 'You Keep On Movin' is a real gem in Purple's arsenal. It doesn't all work, however. 'Dealer', for example, is a mess of genres, and this album is no 'Rocks', or as pivotal to rock history as 'Machine Head' or 'Fireball'. But whilst certainly not the band's best record, it might nevertheless their coolest - more smooth bourbon in sound than the acid freak-out of their peak.

Disc two of this package features the album re-mixed by Kevin Shirely, a measure in keeping with other Purple reissues which have displayed a keeness for tinkering with their canon. It's interesting, but unnecessary. The real success of this reissue is rather to draw attention to the album itself and place it before a wider listenership. What impresses most is Bolin, one of rock's great 'might have beens'. The linear notes draw attention to how tumultuous this period in Purple's career was, and in many respects it's remarkable that they managed to produce any record at all, let alone one as coherent as this. With all the members of the band burned-out or strung-out, that they made music of such vibrant joy is a real testament to their talents.

78/84 guy

12-18-2010, 07:32 PM

binnie

12-18-2010, 07:37 PM

Black Sabbath - The Eternal Idol (Reissue)

Although his tenure in Sabbath is often relegated as the band's wilderness years post Ozzy and Dio, it must be remembered that Tony Martin was the band's second-longest serving singer. His era is consequently deserving of rbeing emembering. His peformance is much maligned by hardcore fans, but we must remember that his was an unenviable task. Following two of rock's most iconic singers and frontmen, the job Martin did here was admirably solid. The bombast of the band's heyday, however, was long, long gone. As would be expected from a record featuring Tony Iommi, there are riffs aplenty, the most notable being those which drive 'Hard Life To Love' and 'Lost Forever'. The title-track, in all its gothic splendor, is also much stronger than this reviewer remembers. Indeed, the problem here is not that the songs are bad - its just that they don't sparkle. There was a distinct lack of chemistry. Indeed, Sabbath at this point was not so much a band as a series of hired hands, with the birth of this album marred by a host of musicians and producers walking. The absence of vibe was exacerbated by the rigid and muddy production which overcooks many of the tunes here and leaves the band sounding like countless other groups of the era.

Its a real shame, because the second disc of this reissue, featuring the sessions done with Ray Gillen (late singer for Badlands), demonstrates what might have been. Its inclusion serves to highlight the failings of the final product. Not only did Martin copy Gillen's vocal lines very closely, he didn't posses the range, soulfullness or warmth of the latter's pipes. With Gillen at the helm, the songs feel losser, freer and more '70s in its vibe than the final cuts allowed. This reissue, then, exists not so much to highlight the strength of Sabbath's post-Dio era but to underline what might have been. It is a worthy addition to any collection.

binnie

12-18-2010, 07:40 PM

Bolin was a fantastic player. It is a shame that he isn't as well known as some of the great 70's players like Montrose or Trower. That CD is full of great tunes but Coverdale is just a bad singer. He was alot better on the Whitesnake albums. A great Bolin disc is Live At Ebbet's field 1974. He was in the Games Gang at this time. Alot of killer solos on it. Not a great recording but a must have if you love great guitar playing. Bolin was a big influence on Ed but he will never admit it. VH covered a couple of his tune's.

Agreed with the comments about Bolin. His playing is infectious.

Not too sure I'd say Coverdale was a bad singer - he's a piss-poor lyricist, for sure, and much of his material is cliche ridden. But I think the records he did with Purple and the first few Whitesnake records have some great singing on them. Soulful and husky. He's no Paul Rogers, but who is? :D

I mean, we'd all take 'Rocks' 'Machine Head' or 'Fireball' over a Coverdale record, but that doesn't mean his era isn't worth anything.

binnie

12-18-2010, 07:59 PM

Motorhead - The World Is Yours

Often dismissed for making records that 'all sound the same', it is often forgotten that developing a sound that is recognizeable within four bars is a towering achievement in itself. In Motorhead's case, however, the charge of repetition is hopelessly inaccurate. Anyone who has actually listened to any of the albums they've made this decade would be hard pushed to write them off as clones of their '80s records. Much heavier and crunchier since hiring producer Cameron Webb to work on 2004's 'Inferno', the band have been on a hell of a run, making records that really deserve to be listened too.

On tunes like 'Brotherhood of Man', with its 'Orgasmatron'-esque hulk of a riff, we are reminded that this is a band which is heavy, but not metal; visceral, but not vicious. It's rock'n'roll for sure, but gargantuan in its size, the bastard offspring of King Kong and Godzilla. 'Born to Lose' and 'Waiting For The Snake' both revolve around monster riffs which roll over the songs. 'I Know How To Die' spits a venonmous blues riff and hooky chorus, whilst 'Outlaw' and 'Devils In My Head' underscore the fact that Lemmy and co. have a knack for harnessing other-worldly heaviness to pop sensibilities. Featuring Lemmy's best set of lyrics for years, this album is also Motorhead at their most focussed. Just 10 songs in 39 minutes and no balladry, this is a purer and more condensced affair than 'Kiss of Death' or 'Motorizer', amplifying the low, dirty rumble driving the production of the latter to new heights. It all comes to together perfectly on album closer 'Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye', a tune which encapsulates Motorhead's ethos: combining humour, venom and piss 'n' vinegar in equal measure, it is at once world weary and life affirming.

This is Motorhead's 20th studio album. 35 years in, they're still hungry and focussed. No frills, no pretence, no self-indulgence, there is still plenty of fire in this band's belly. They've been on a hell of a run, never really looking back since 'Bastards' (1993) - 'The World Is Yours' is another addition to a canon of material equally as deserving of your attention as 'The Ace Of Spades'. Fuck your neighbours; fuck your ears: play it loud.

binnie

12-18-2010, 08:17 PM

The Jim Jones Revue - Burning Your House Down.

11 songs: 33 minutes. There's no bullshit here, just pure unadulterated Rock 'n' Roll. Imagine Little Richard and Chuck Berry fed through Johnny Thunder's amp. The result is a joyful menace, a snarling mess of a record ripped right off the studio floor. Pianos bang, guitars screech, and drums pulsate - this is the juice of pure abandon. Fuck all the pretenders, this might very well be THE BEST ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND ON THE PLANET! 'Dishonest John' and 'Foghorn' are finely crafted songs with ragged edges; whilst 'Premeditated' and the title track are chainsaw blues. Get in now before the whole world jumps aboard.

chefcraig

12-18-2010, 08:23 PM

Agreed with the comments about Bolin. His playing is infectious.

Not too sure I'd say Coverdale was a bad singer - he's a piss-poor lyricist, for sure, and much of his material is cliche ridden. But I think the records he did with Purple and the first few Whitesnake records have some great singing on them. Soulful and husky. He's no Paul Rogers, but who is? :D

I mean, we'd all take 'Rocks' 'Machine Head' or 'Fireball' over a Coverdale record, but that doesn't mean his era isn't worth anything.

I think ya mean In Rock there, bin. Believe it or not, when Gillan first left, the band asked Paul Rogers to sing for Purple, but he declined.

I agree with the assessment of Coverdale. His singing on those three DP albums was quite good, but the lyrics were downright boneheaded and cliche-filled in places. Glenn Hughes' singing on those records was outstanding ("This Time Around", "Gettin' Tighter"), and his voice paired with Coverdale's (as on "Sail Away" from Burn or "Lady Double Dealer" from Stormbringer) was really cool. Too bad he usually resorted to yelping and screaming onstage.

Terry

12-18-2010, 08:40 PM

I think ya mean In Rock there, bin. Believe it or not, when Gillan first left, the band asked Paul Rogers to sing for Purple, but he declined.

I agree with the assessment of Coverdale. His singing on those three DP albums was quite good, but the lyrics were downright boneheaded and cliche-filled in places. Glenn Hughes' singing on those records was outstanding ("This Time Around", "Gettin' Tighter"), and his voice paired with Coverdale's (as on "Sail Away" from Burn or "Lady Double Dealer" from Stormbringer) was really cool. Too bad he usually resorted to yelping and screaming onstage.

Paul Rogers, to me, isn't much of a singer. Never was.

Coverdale singing boneheaded, cliche-filled lyrics? Shit, the man has made a CAREER of that! GREAT rock voice, though.

Would have to agree with Hughes being utterly annoying onstage when he was a member of DP. Watching the DP MKIII 1974 California Jam show, Hughes becomes tiresome rather quickly.

chefcraig

12-18-2010, 09:17 PM

Would have to agree with Hughes being utterly annoying onstage when he was a member of DP. Watching the DP MKIII 1974 California Jam show, Hughes becomes tiresome rather quickly.

Sadly, things only got worse once Blackmore left and Bolin (and his drug problems) came on board. The band were absolutely awful live, as many of the bootleg titles from the time (Numb In Japan, In Deep Grief, Crisis What Crisis, Come Taste The End, Last Straw) and concert reviews (Melody Maker, March 12, 1976) (http://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/liverpool-76/london_review.html) attest. Here is a link to the band's final show, which by most reports was a complete disaster: The End Of Deep Purple (http://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/liverpool-76/)

WARNING: This really sucks...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNq3rNgrSYA&feature=related

lesfunk

12-18-2010, 09:29 PM

whoop!

Terry

12-18-2010, 10:09 PM

Sadly, things only got worse once Blackmore left and Bolin (and his drug problems) came on board. The band were absolutely awful live, as many of the bootleg titles from the time (Numb In Japan, In Deep Grief, Crisis What Crisis, Come Taste The End, Last Straw) and concert reviews (Melody Maker, March 12, 1976) (http://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/liverpool-76/london_review.html) attest. Here is a link to the band's final show, which by most reports was a complete disaster: The End Of Deep Purple (http://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/liverpool-76/)

WARNING: This really sucks...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNq3rNgrSYA&feature=related

Bolin had quite a bit of talent going for him, but his fairly brief stint with DP wasn't really representative of the best he had to offer... at least not in terms of live performances, with that MKIV Japan stuff being abysmal. Had seen what little footage there was of that particular show before, and it was pretty bad...one suspects that Lord and Paice stuck around that long just for the money, while Hughes and Bolin were dulling their talents with heavy drug use...sad, really.

SunisinuS

12-19-2010, 12:01 AM

English People just do not know what to do with blues.

ThrillsNSpills

12-19-2010, 01:39 PM

binnie

12-19-2010, 07:44 PM

I think ya mean In Rock there, bin.

Doh! Yes, yes I do.

Oh man, I can't believe I fucked that up..... :D

binnie

12-19-2010, 08:07 PM

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier.

You have to admire Maiden's refusal to become a heritage act. Whilst most bands their age trot out a by-the-numbers album before touring the same old setlist, Maiden's continued commitment to push the boundaries of their sound and really tour a new album is refreshing. Listening to 'The Final Frontier', you are left in no doubt that these six guys are still very, very passionate about making music - you are also crucially aware that they are smart enough to evolve, realizing that it would be fruitless to attempt to compete with their mid-20's selves, and that the only way forward really is progression. Indeed, 'prog' really is the word here - in many ways 'The Final Frontier' is the next logical step of Dickinson-era mark II, with the songs being even more epic and expansive than at any other time in the band's career. Less metallic that 'A Matter Of Life And Death' or 'Dance Of Death', Maiden here teeter on becoming the Rush of heavy metal, making albums uniquely their own within a sound that is nonetheless unwaveringly distinct.

It's a very good record, but that shouldn't surprise us. Well written, beautifully played, and passionate. And yet, it's a difficult album to love. Part of the problem is that for all the aim here was to be progressive, that aim has been achieved at the expense of the 'edit' button. Some of the songs feel long for the sake of it: album closer 'Where The Wild Thing's Are' does not contain enough ideas to warrant 11 minutes; and the series of drum loops, riffs and doodles that make up the first 4 and a half minutes of the album sound like a bunch of middle aged men masturbating in a room. Nevertheless, when it works it really works. On songs where the band push far beyond their heavy metal roots and incorporate elements of 70s prog ('Isle of Avalon', 'Talisman' and 'Starblind' being the best examples), Maiden achieve moments of hypnotic beauty which are truly moving. Largely moving away from themes of war which had dogged previous albums, Dickinson has more scope to show the range of emotions he can command as a singer, with 'Coming Home' being a particuarly heartfelt example, and something which the band have never really attempted in the past.

It's a shame, then, that much of this ingenuity is marred by moments of mediocrity. 'The Alchemist' and 'El Dorado' are not bad songs by any means, but they do feel like vintage Maiden fodder, an attempt to placate Maiden die-hards rather than fully indulging themselves in the prog-rock record you sense they'd really like to make. The result is an album which feels unsteady and of-balance, where previous effort 'A Matter Of Life And Death' felt like a unified vision. Perhaps these uncomfortable niggles are the natural result of experimentation. They shouldn't dent our admiration for a band which refuses to rest on its laurels. Once the archetypal Heavy Metal band, Maiden have evolved into something much, much more. Prepared to challenge their fanbase as much as themselves, 'The Final Frontier' remains a fascinating journey and an absorbing listen.

binnie

12-19-2010, 08:32 PM

Parkway Drive - Deep Blue.

This is a moment in which lots of movements chrystalize into a whole. Fans of contemporary heavy music will not find anything particuarly innovative here, but Parway Drive are nevertheless separated from the pack by two things. Firstly, the sheer sincerity of the band's delivery - their is no contrived angst of trendy self-pity here, just an uncomfortable undercurrent of rage. Secondly, and more significantly, Parkway Drive have absorbed lots of elements of extreme music over the past 5 years into a unified vision: thick grooves, beatdowns, blast beats and metalcore are rolled into one ungodly beast of a sound. It is for that reason that everyone else is going to have to up their game. This Australian band have given us an album of the year candidate, and a record as vibrant and well produced as anything which the US could offer (including Lamb of God or Devildriver.)

Not a chirpy record by any means, it remains an oddly uplifting listen. The rhythms here are infectious, driving songs like 'Wreckade' and 'Sleepwalker' to allow Parway Drive to combine the best bits of extreme metal into something more accessible than their contempories. The variety in the shades of aggression is commendable. 'Pressures' is an anthem for bleak times, whilst 'Alone', with its crooked melody and jagged riff, is a truly inspired modern classic. Sure, you've heard much of this before. But Parkway Drive do it more powerfully than most: unlike most of their contempories, they are prepared to be silent virtuosos, giving them songs more energy and groove precisely because they don't overplay. It leaves the songs to exist as a collection of raw nerves. Indeed, whilst this certainly isn't for the faint hearted, it is metal at its most earnest and honest, a group of men who live for every tortured note of the music which they play. With beautiful artwork, heartfelt songs and an impassioned delivery, they really are the band who have come from nowhere to light up the centre stage this year. This is a twisted concoction of beautiful agony.

binnie

12-20-2010, 07:35 PM

From the vaults: AC/DC - Let There Be Rock (1977)

I've got to level with ya: this is the reason I'm here. It was this record - played to me by my dad at 8 years old - that hooked me on hard rock, and 20 years later I've never looked back. What has surprised me more and more over those 20 years, however, is how this record is treated by other rockers. Not ignored so much as under-appreciated, it holds a place much lower in the hearts of 'DC fans than 'Powerage', 'Highway To Hell' or 'Back In Black'. But if the latter two records are celebrated for their hits, hooks and infectious choruses, for me it is the pre-Mutt Lange records where 'DC really stood out. Have AC/DC ever sounded rawer than they do on these 8 songs? From the title-track's supercharged rawk, a clarion call to rockers everywhere; the cheeky sleeze of 'Go Down', the band's ode to fellatio and Bon Scott at his salacious best; or the sheer abandon of groupie shagging 'Whole Lot of Rosie', a song so wanton the medium really does equally the message; this is a pure unadulated joy of a record.

It is also one which contains some forgotten moments. 'Overdose', with its delicate intro and bad-boy in love lyrics, is a charmer of a song, and the wild blues of 'Bad Boy Boogie' and jagged cynicism of 'Dog Eat Dog' are tunes many bands would give their right nuts to write. Is this the superlative AC/DC record? No, but it is the most powerful. The sound of a band still growing, 'Let There Be Rock' bursts with infectious enthusiasm, drips sin, and contains Angus's finest collection of solos. Much, much more than a stepping-stone in the band's rise to world domination.

binnie

12-20-2010, 07:46 PM

Suicide Silence - No Time To Bleed

This is a 37 minute nightmare of a death metal record. Bleak, and crushingly aggressive. A twisted mesh of screams, growls, blast-beats, and schizophrenic songs wrapped around demented time changes and tortured riffs, this is extreme by any measure. And yet, what surprises most about the album's opener 'Wake Up' is how oddly catchy it is. Not hooky, but catchy. This song - with it's harrowingly sparse solo - also introduces us to how intelliegent this band is. On 'Something Inside' we are treated to a claustrophobic take on self doubt and religious affiliation, a take far beyond the generic anti-Christian sentiments of many Death Metal bands. Indeed, this is a genre in which it is easy to sound generic, but Suicide Silence make a sound very much their own. 'Lifted' is classic thrash put through a blender, whilst 'Smoke' and 'Wasted' sound like Fear Factory being tortured. This is a punishing listen, but with so much crammed into these songs it is rarely a draining one. A very good record, Suicide Silence nonetheless have a startling one in them. Learning to push their innovations would be rewarding. The sparse and harrowing instrumental '...And Then She Bleeds' - demonstrates that this is a band at its best in the slower tempos, and learning to mix such parts into their dementia would really allow this band to separate themselves from the pack.

binnie

12-20-2010, 08:05 PM

Terry

12-20-2010, 09:13 PM

Seshmeister

12-20-2010, 09:29 PM

From the vaults: The Almighty - Crank (1994)

"I've got everything that I need to be free, I've got masturbation and cable TV". Witty, weary and aggressively despondant, the throwaway charm of that lyric is typical of the attitude brimming from this album. The sound of punk and metal smashing into each other, 'Crank' combined the thoughtful, anti-establishment cynicism of the former and life-affirming, aimless rebellion of the latter in perfect measure. Whilst the bands earlier records had seen them dreaming of Sunset Strip from drizzly Scotland, things changed with 1993's 'Powertrip'. Bigger, darker and grizzlier, their sound was part Warrior Soul, part New Model Army and part Motorhead, and its crushed. 'Crank' took things a stage further. From the crushing riff of 'Wrench', the jack-hammer punk fury of 'Ultraviolent' and 'Welcome to Defiance', and cynical metallic crunch of 'Sorry For Nothing' and 'Way Beyond Belief', this was a band which combined tort riffs, poetically defiant lyrics, and vocals which were rasped and spat into a real pitbull of an album. They should have been huge - as huge as this record sounded.

I'm confused by this, I know music is subjective and so forth but I really don't get this one.

I'm listening to Wrench at the moment in case something changed in the couple of years from when I saw them and sorry but what?

Musically, melodically, rhythmically, technically, lyrically???

I wouldn't be posting this if I didn't respect your opinion and I do fear I'm just being jealous as a contemporary but I really really don't get it.

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binnie

12-21-2010, 08:15 PM

Well, music is subjective as you say.

My tastes lie with the heavier end of things, and Wrench plays straight into that. It is crushingly heavy, a I love the riff. It's pretty much a pissed off anthem of defiance isn't it? I would also add that I can't think of another band that sounds anything like that. Most of all, however, it's always been the intensity and sincerity of Warwick's delivery that sold that album for me - he always sounded like he meant it.

For me, whilst 'Blood, Fire & Love' and 'Soul Destruction' were interesting records, the band sounded like they wanted to be an American band at that point. It was only really on 'Powertrip' and 'Crank' that they evolved into something wholly their own.

binnie

12-21-2010, 08:33 PM

Tokyo Dragons - Hot Nuts (2007)

People often bemoan the absence of contemporary feel good rock bands. Well, here is one. This is a lot of fun. Punchy riffs, belting solos, 4/4 rythms and big choruses. A real retro record, even the production borrows from 1973. 'On Your Marks' sounds like a more masculine Kiss, whilst 'Keeping the Wolf from the Door' has a NWOBHM vibe about it. Thin Lizzy melodies abound, as do AC/DC riffs. The songs here are about hard times and the hard women who caused them, and the ethos is to party your troubles away - in short, it's all BIG DUMB FUN. This type of music is deceptively easy to do badly. Sure, there's not much in the way of variety, nor much finesse, and the Tokyo Dragons are a long, long way from emulating their idols. But you can't over analyze music like this: it is what it is. Come summer time, this disc would be one of your stereo's best friends.

binnie

12-21-2010, 08:45 PM

From the vaults: Firebird - Firebird (2000)

This record hearks back to primitive times. A time before metal, a time when even Zeppelin were baby legends. The vibe here is easy and tripped out, a peaceful and sombre laid back rock album which bleeds the late '60s. Hell, they even cover Steve Winwood's 'Stranger To Himself.' Hammond organs and blues riffs abound, musical experimentation and jamming are celebrated, and the whole thing sounds effortless. It is a surprise, then, to learn that this was a band fronted by former Napalm Death and Carcass man Bill Steer. His soulful vocals and rich, melodic guitar ooze over this record - this is a guy who can really play, and the understated nature of his style on this album is a long way from the more showy and loud displays typical of his Death Metal heyday. Yet this was no middle aged spread. The funk of 'One Trick Pony' and 'Torn Down' are infectious in its crisp vibrancy; and the sunburnt rock of 'Raise a Smile' is joyful in its cool. Is it perfect? No - your attention will wander due to the lack of variety. But if you're the sort of person who thought that music died when the hard rock of the '70s gave way to the indolent bombast of the '80s, then this will be right up your street. Toke up, kick back and float way.

binnie

12-22-2010, 07:05 PM

Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy

More ultra-complex power metal. Reveling in classic metal dressed in modern trimmings, fans of the band will be pleased to know that they once again deliver the goods: tight precision riffing, incredible drumming and Jeff Loomis remarkable shredding are all in evidence as expected. A couple of things separate this record from Nevermore's back catalogue, however. Firstly, Andy Sneap's mix makes their sound more crisp and powerful than in the past. Secondly, and more significantly, the band is prepared to explore its melodic side, injecting darker atmospherics into their traditional sound. The result is a little more variety than in the past, with Priest-like power ballad 'Shes Comes In Colours' injecting a surprising burst of emotion into theit ususal gun-metal grey. That's not to say they've gone soft. 'The Termination Proclamation' is rivetted with precise bludgeon, whilst 'Your Poison Throne' and 'Without Morals' wouldn't have been out place of the more recent Megadeth records. It's all powerful, heavy stuff, utterly compelling at times - on 'And the Maiden Spoke' the band show the new wave of thrash bands how speed is really done. The problem - and its one common to Nevermore records - is that it's all a little overthought. Not contrived by any means, but you never get the impression that this is a band wholly in the movement or prepared to lose themselves in expression. Warrel Dane's vocals, for example, err on the side of melodrama when he is aiming for sincere, a trait which mars otherwise inventive moments like 'The Blue Marble and the New Soul.' Like Annihilater - surely Nevermore's closest musical brethren - this is a band which, for all their grasping, will never quite attain the level of the top tier. They come close here, though, really, really close.

binnie

12-22-2010, 07:27 PM

From the vaults: Anthrax - Sound of the White Noise (1993)

The Joey Belladonna era of Anthrax may have spawned the albums regarded as 'classics', but to these ears the band always packed more of punch with John Bush at the mic. His rasping layrnx and lower range was less complicated, sitting better with the bands hulking, muscular riffage than Belladonna's siren wail. And on Bush's first record, Anthrax hit their creative peak, absorbing their influences into a whole that was utterly vibrant in its potency. An album that still stands up today, there was a real sense of purpose about the band. Progressing from 1990's 'Persistence of Time', which had seen the band eschewing their comic book schidc in favour of darker hues, producer Dave Jerden (Alice In Chains) opened the band up to darker tones. This record is a sonic treat: incredibly well produced, it nevertheless continued to capture the live feel of the band as a living, feeding beast, a feat due largely to the sheer incessantness of Charlie Benante's drumming. But it's the songwriting which really endures. Tunes like 'This Is Not An Exit' and '1000 Points of Hate' were thrash, but not as we had known it. Opener 'Potter's Field' builds around double bass-drum patterns, getting faster ans faster in a wave of torrents which crescendo; whilst the Hetfield-esque crunch of 'Only' and 'Packaged Rebellion' showed that band could write hooks as big as their riffs; and ballad 'Black Lodge' saw the band embracing a more emotive side. An album can could stand and trade with anything produced by the 'Big Four', this should have been hailed as a classic, a real landmark in metal. But history is often cruel. It was all downhill after this for Anthrax - lead guitar player Dan Spitz bailed, leaving the band to limp on incomplete; record company difficulties saw next album 'Stomp....' largely un-promoted, and crowds dwindle. It seemed that the bands career took a turn as dark as their sound.

binnie

12-23-2010, 11:31 AM

From the vaults: Slash's Snakepit - Ain't Life Grand (2000)

To call the first Slash's Snakepit album - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere - patchy would be charitable. The product of boredom rather than inspiration, it was a stop-gap project for the rest of Guns'N'Roses whilst Axl wrestled with his neurosis. Whilst certainly not as high profile, 2000's 'Ain't Life Grand' was a much more efforfescent record. The Guns bandmates and close friends were gone, and Slash had replaced them with a bunch of rock 'n' roll desparados. Much more than a bone-headed rock record, this was the work of a band: tight, ambitious and passionately delivered. Rod Jackson's crooned vocals, deeper than you'd expect from a rock singer, added tone and texture to the tunes, and Jack Douglas' production allowed the songs to crackle and fire. The harmonies and rhythms permitted the songs to pulsate with sublties, allowing the band's screaching blues licks and bittersweat songs caked in the dirt of hedonism to feel alive. Aided by the talents of Johny Griparic, this was Slash's best collection of songs since 'Appetite For Destruction', and arguably the best collection of solos he's ever laid down. Unlike most 'guitar player goes solo' records, however, he never allows the solos to overwhelm, and the songs are never excuses for fret workouts. Nor is this purely an exercise in Aerosmith-retroism. 'Shine' and 'Truth' are classic rock for the 21st century, whilst 'Life's Sweet Drug' and 'Been There Lately' are nitro blues with villainous intent. Riff smashes into riff, aggression pours into bombast, and abandon rules. It's not all testerone, however. The broken waltz of 'Back to the Moment' is a ballad of the finest order, and the big band of the title track only serves to underline that this was an album with serious intent, and one deserving of greater fan-fare than it achieved upon release. Loud, rude, dirty and mean.

binnie

01-02-2011, 06:55 PM

Bigelf - Cheat The Gallows

Weird and wonderful cinematic soundscapes from the masters of pomp rock. Imagine late '60s Brit rock, full of quirky melodrama for the sake of it, or White Zombie if they'd been obsessed with glam rather than horror. This is rock 'n' roll augmented and animated by orchestras, horns, samples and all sorts of weirdness, but welded together by huge riffs and poisonous melodies. It's all delicately balanced. The sort of pomp that T-Rex did with aplomb only more colourful in its idiosyncracies, with 'The Evils of Rock ' n' Roll' and 'The Game' sounding like Tim Burton humping Les Paul. From the rock 'n' roll circus of opener 'Greatest Show On Earth', through the Pete Townsend eerieness of 'No Parachute' this is a joyous ghost-ride of a record, and unlike anything you'll hear again. There's not a dull or wasted moment, and for all its contrived oddness this feels so beautfiully authentic.

binnie

01-15-2011, 07:33 PM

From the vaults: Guns 'N' Roses - Use Your Illusions I & II (1991)

Twenty years? Twenty fucking years! Has it really been that long since 'The Most Dangerous Band In the World' released two of the most diverse and baffling albums in rock history. In many ways, these albums marked the point at which the baddest band in rock 'n' roll became the most bloated. These records were a long, long way from the sleeze-ridden, animalistic rock 'n' roll apocalypse that was 'Appetite For Destruction' - an album which was infectious in its debauchery. If the muse of 'Appetite...' was Johnny Thunders, then on '...Illusions' it proved to be Elton John, Freddie Mercury and The Stones who were vying for inspirational control, with the band striving to be bigger if not necessarily badder.

At times, it's utterly compelling. Opener 'Right Next Door To Hell' displayed the brand of schizo punk that GNR did so perfectly: tortured blues riffs, booming drums and screaching vocals, this was the band at its angriest and most in your face. Matched by the punk/metal/Aerosmith hybrid of 'Garden of Eden' and the venom of 'Perfect Crime' this material marked a band that was sleazy, certainly, but this was a band much darker than their sunset strip peers. When coupled with the pitbull misogony of 'You Could Be Mine' (on '....II'), part of the listener feels that had the band made a single disc of material as viscious as this GNR would not only have had a much stronger legacy to their name, but might have proven that their was plenty of life left in rock 'n' roll to all of those kids who were waiting for the Seatle sound.

Sadly, however, such gems were coupled with moments of decided mediocrity. The tuneless 'Don't Damn Me' lacks charisma. Their pompous cover of Dylan's 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' only suceeds in making a shit song shitter. 'Back Off Bitch' is void of the tongue-in-cheek misogony that made much of the strip's sexism palatable, whilst 'Bad Apples' has 'B-Side' written all over it. Worst of all was 'Get In the Ring', a puerille profanity filled 'call out' to the journalists who had mis-represented the band which backfired massively: not only leaving the band looking like they were having a hissy-fit, it also features some of the most embarassing tough-guy talk you'll ever hear. The less said about the techno-wankery of 'My World', the better.

It's odd then that band could produce moments of such sophistication. 'Estranged' may be the finest composition they ever recorded. A moving and haunting lament for a relationship gone awry, it was a power-ballad without the cheese and the sign of a band more than capable of maturing into something powerfully adult. It is also, in the opinion of this reviewer, Slash's finest playing. Equally dazzling is 'Coma', 10 minutes of melodrama utterly captivating in its scope. A huge rock 'n' roll circus of a song structured around Slash's hulking riff, this is almost an opera tracing Axl's floating in and out of consciousness, and one which culminates in an adrenalin filled, scuzzy, rage-driven implosion. This was a band pushing the template of hard rock. That innovation was captured in Axl's maturation as a lyricist, tackling theme's and concepts far beyond the 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll' template.

It wasn't all a departure from the past, however. 'Bad Obsession' pre-dated 'Appetite...' and it's drugged-out debachery would have fitted perfectly on the older record. Similarly, the cold menace of 'Double Talkin' Jive' - beautifully offset by Slash's closing classical guitar solo - was the mark of a band who really didn't give a fuck, and was wholly in their element. 'Pretty Tied Up' was equally in the same vein as their 'Appetite....' era, but marked a band much more comfortable in expanding its musical pallette; and on the rolling riff of 'Locomotive', the band captured a groove that was truly nasty.

Ultimately, 'Use Your Illusions' proved to be a mis-mass. On the one hand, they are drenched in the band's potential, and contain some of their finest moments. On the other, these records were so broad in their sound-scape, so unfocussed in their direction, that they held a mirror up to the reality of the situation - the egos here were tearing the band in too many directions. 'November Rain' is everything that 'Appetite' wasn't - tepid, soft, over-cooked and pompous and in many ways it encapsulated the feel of a band who's vision result in an album so expansive that it tumbled down on its own edifice. Izzy, in particualr, sounds like he's performing on a different record. Perhaps, however, it's him that sums up the moment best: 'Once there was this rock 'n' roll band rolling down the street/ Time went by and it became a joke.'

Terry

01-15-2011, 07:50 PM

chefcraig

01-15-2011, 08:25 PM

Had both albums been pared down and condensed into one record, it would have been one killer follow-up to Appetite.

It really wouldn't have been too hard to do...

Apparently, someone at the record company agreed, so in 1998 this condensed, single CD version of the album was released.

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4/gunsbm.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/i/gunsbm.jpg/)

1. "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney) – 3:04
2. "Don't Cry" (original) (Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin) – 4:44
3. "You Ain't the First" (Izzy Stradlin) – 2:36
4. "November Rain" (Rose) – 8:57
5. "The Garden" (Rose, West Arkeen, Del James) – 5:22
* Featuring Alice Cooper
6. "Dead Horse" (Rose) – 4:17
7. "Civil War" (Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin) – 7:42
8. "14 Years" (Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin) – 4:21
9. "Yesterdays" (Axl Rose, Arkeen, James, Billy McCloud) – 3:16
10. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan) – 5:20
11. "Estranged" (Axl Rose) – 9:23
12. "Don't Cry" (alternate lyrics) (Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin) – 4:43

Little Texan

01-15-2011, 09:29 PM

'Estranged' may be the finest composition they ever recorded. A moving and haunting lament for a relationship gone awry, it was a power-ballad without the cheese and the sign of a band more than capable of maturing into something powerfully adult. It is also, in the opinion of this reviewer, Slash's finest playing.

Estranged is Guns n Roses's Stairway To Heaven, IMO...a very underrated song.

binnie

01-18-2011, 03:23 PM

The Defiled - Grave Times

Scuzzy guitars, industrial noise and double bass drums are all part of the make up of this band's heavily processed sound. Cosmetically, it's schlock rock of the Alice Cooper ilk; in reality theses goths play metal with a hint of nu - think Rob Zombie with no sense of humour. The problem is that the band think that they're being novel, when in reality their eccentricities are contrived. Strip away the production trappings and what you have here is a meat and potatos screamo band: the songs are structured around growled verses and melodic choruses. That in itself is no bad thing, but you can't help thinking they'd have made a much more satisfying record if they'd just followed their instincts - as they do on the rather excellent 'Black Death' and 'The Ill Disposed' - rather than shoe-horning in all the extras. Indeed, there is a lot going on in these songs and they feel busy, a factor which makes them hard to absorb and harder to remember. But you can't fault their delivery: this band is heavy but with a real warmth and charisma. They are also a lot more fun than they're contemporaries, and realize that you don't have to be over earnest to be really good. Simplfying things next time round might see them deliver the goods.

Terry

01-30-2011, 08:43 PM

Apparently, someone at the record company agreed, so in 1998 this condensed, single CD version of the album was released.

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4/gunsbm.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/i/gunsbm.jpg/)

1. "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney) – 3:04
2. "Don't Cry" (original) (Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin) – 4:44
3. "You Ain't the First" (Izzy Stradlin) – 2:36
4. "November Rain" (Rose) – 8:57
5. "The Garden" (Rose, West Arkeen, Del James) – 5:22
* Featuring Alice Cooper
6. "Dead Horse" (Rose) – 4:17
7. "Civil War" (Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin) – 7:42
8. "14 Years" (Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin) – 4:21
9. "Yesterdays" (Axl Rose, Arkeen, James, Billy McCloud) – 3:16
10. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan) – 5:20
11. "Estranged" (Axl Rose) – 9:23
12. "Don't Cry" (alternate lyrics) (Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin) – 4:43

Not the tracks I would have picked, but the idea is a good one.

binnie

01-31-2011, 06:04 PM

From the vaults: Thin Lizzy - Thin Lizzy (1971)

This album must have sounded odd in 1971: an irish, part funk, part folk, part rock, part hippie band. It sounds even weirder 40 years on, largely because we now know the snarling, anthemic, riff-fueled rock'n'roll monster that Thin Lizzy evolved into. In truth, its that late seventies legacy that has often left Lizzy's earlier work overlooked. But the pre- Gorham and Robertson era had its merits. No duel guitar melodies or shred fests, certainly, but plenty of the other things that made Lizzy special - melody, harmony and soul. Much of the time, those qualities are exercised on tunes which are barely heavy rock: 'Diddy Levine' is half acoustic, half funky rock, its expansive, almost meandering passages anouncing that even on their debut Lizzy would march only to their own time. The ballad 'Eire' twinkles into life, whilst the lyrical 'Honesty is No Excuse' is restrained - almost easy - in its vibe. On songs like these and opener 'The Friendly Ranger at Clontarf Castle' it is Lynott's vocal that stands out. Effortlessly mature at a young age, it is a rich, creamy voice spiced with bourbon and tenderness, a mile away from the histrionics of most rock'n'wailers. If there was anything that pointed toward the future, its 'Look What the Wind Blew In', the most hard-rockking piece here built round a chopping riff, solid groove and a Lynott vocal peppered with a roar and witticisms.

Lizzy made many mistakes here: there are too many ideas, something which lessens the whole. Brian Downey - later one of rock's most astute drummers - over fills hopelessly much of the time, and the jammed, instinctual style so typical of the era did not suit the Lizzy boys well. But you have to admire the ambition, if this was the sound of a band reaching but not quite taking hold. But the embers on genius on display here are worthy of being cherished. This is certainly not one of the records that Lizzy will be remembered for - but that is not to say that is not worth remembering.

binnie

01-31-2011, 06:18 PM

Saint Jude - Diary of a Soul Fiend

They say that the Black Crowes are shuttin' up shop - welcome to your new favourite store. This is rhythm and blues with bounce, groove and soul, a fluid and bittersweet blues which could warm to cockles on any day. The sound of a band on the run, a band who have earned everything they have - you can almost smell every toilet they've played and feel the pain of playing to half filled bars. The vibe is crusty, the songs warn in and charismatic, perfectly crafted but delivered without polish. Singer Lynne Jackaman is part Janis, part Stevie and part Ann, and these songs pulsate around her voice, a voice which is filled with the longing that keeps us alive. 'Down and Out' is an acoustic lament oozing with emotion, whilst 'Parallel Life' and 'Southern Belles' are rock tunes which really celebrate the joy of being here and in the now. Great music is something we feel as much as hear - and here is a band that will make you shake your ass, drown your sorrows and cry your eyes out in the space on an album.

Seshmeister

01-31-2011, 10:45 PM

Had both albums been pared down and condensed into one record, it would have been one killer follow-up to Appetite.

It really wouldn't have been too hard to do, as both releases contained a significant amount of tunes that , if not quite filler, were half-realized song ideas that were stylistically different solely for the sake of being different. These tunes would have perhaps been best served being left off the release and worked on a bit more.

I suppose considering the runaway success of Appetite the fact that their next proper studio release (am putting Lies to one side as more of a time-marking venture) ended up being so bloated and confused wasn't all that shocking. GnR as a band basically behaved like most poor people do when they win the lottery, in that they went off the deep end.

There's good stuff to be found on both releases. However, neither of them have the start-to-finish excellence that Appetite did. The Illusions albums are only excellent in spots, and much of that I put down to the band just overindulging while simultaneously disintegrating into the Axl Rose Show, coupled with a record company that wasn't gonna say no to anything [ GnR ] wanted to do.

I agree but in hindsight they did the right thing for themselves.

I don't know the figures involved but most bands make little from their first album and even one that sold in the numbers that Appetite did probably wouldn't set you up for life especially if you have some expensive bad habits. The band was never going to last more than a few years so it did make sense to throw as much out there as quick as possible before it all fell to bits. If they had held back most of those songs they would either never have been recorded or they would be all over the internet at this point anyway effectively royalty free.

That said there is a fair amount of shit on those albums, enough to stop me listening to them more than a dozen or so times. I thought You Could be Mine was pretty average too as the first single; arguably not good enough to even make a filler on Appetite. Back then though I was going through a less settled lifestyle so I only had them on cassette tape which didn't work so well having to fuck around fast forwarding through utter garbage like Get In the Ring. Nowadays you would just delete out the shit. Actually now I think about it I may go back and have a listen... :)

ace diamond

02-01-2011, 02:33 AM

Is Grant Hart the only drummer who can actually sing while he's playing the drums. Seems that most of the drummers who they decide they want to sing (Ringo Starr/Phil Collins/Don Henley/Dave Grohl/etc) end up not doing both at the same time.

peter criss of kiss on "black diamond", "hooligan", "baby driver", "nothin' to lose", and several other kiss klassicks!
or how about roger taylor from queen on "i'm in love with my car"?

binnie

02-01-2011, 10:59 AM

I agree but in hindsight they did the right thing for themselves.

I don't know the figures involved but most bands make little from their first album and even one that sold in the numbers that Appetite did probably wouldn't set you up for life especially if you have some expensive bad habits. The band was never going to last more than a few years so it did make sense to throw as much out there as quick as possible before it all fell to bits. If they had held back most of those songs they would either never have been recorded or they would be all over the internet at this point anyway effectively royalty free.

That said there is a fair amount of shit on those albums, enough to stop me listening to them more than a dozen or so times. I thought You Could be Mine was pretty average too as the first single; arguably not good enough to even make a filler on Appetite. Back then though I was going through a less settled lifestyle so I only had them on cassette tape which didn't work so well having to fuck around fast forwarding through utter garbage like Get In the Ring. Nowadays you would just delete out the shit. Actually now I think about it I may go back and have a listen... :)

'You Could Be Mine' average? It's so visceral, the sort of plain nasty music that Guns did so well.

ace diamond

02-02-2011, 02:03 AM

'You Could Be Mine' average? It's so visceral, the sort of plain nasty music that Guns did so well.
"With your bitchslap rappin' and your cocaine tongue, you get nothin' done......darlin', you could be mine!"
great fucking line right there!

binnie

02-15-2011, 04:40 PM

Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here

Anathema are a band of many sounds. Beginning life on the cusp of death metal, they have passed through gothic soundscapes into the warmer hues of folk drenched rock. Never really achieving commercial success (despite critical acclaim), they are a band which deserve to be treasured by more metalheads - the antithesis of banality, of trend driven gimmicks, they are a band for whom every note counts. Indeed, in many respects this is everything that metal is traditionally not: intimate, vulnerable and understated, Anathema are all the more powerful for it. They consciously shy-away from the histrionics and let the songs do the talking. And talk they do - poetic, delicate songs shimmer on the breath of longing and the pangs of memory. This is music you feel as much as hear. 'Thin Air' is a heartfelt love song, tender and beautiful in its yearning - devoid of anything saccarhine, the swirling loops of guitar which engulf theis song are captivating and heark back to a time where bands prided themselves of producing crafted songs rather than simply being progressive. The quietly epic 'A Single Mistake' washes over the listener, ascending to a simply glorious riff at its close; 'Universal' is symphonic, culminating in a swirl of chords and riffage which is almost as powerful as music can be. Porcupine tree's Steve Wilson has done a remarksable job on the mix, leaving ballad 'Dreaming Light' gently kissed with orchestration where it could easily have been played up and sentimental. Sombre and sparse, Anathema will certainly not be for everyone - but it is a cold person who not be moved by this.

binnie

02-15-2011, 04:57 PM

From the vaults: Judas Priest - Point of Entry (1981)

Sandwiched between two classics - 'British Steel' and 'Screaming For Vengeance' - this is an album that has not faired well in fans' affections. Possessing neither the metallic grandeur of '...Steel' or the aggression 'Screaming...' it is an album in need of an identity. Indeed, it is not so much that the songs here are weak, it is that they don't gell into an album, which leaves the record feeling purposeless - a problem exaccerbated by the rather timid production. Despite all of this, there are certainly some gems here: 'Solar Angels', with its choppy guitar riff and twisted vocal line, is unlike any other Priest tune; 'Desert Plains' features one of Halford's most emotive vocal, a performance which gives the song a delicate, almost brooding quality; and 'Turning Circles' is drenched in bluesy tones more in keeping with '70s Priest than then slicker beast they evolved into in the '80s. There are certainly some bannana skins - 'Hot Rockin' and 'You Say Yes' try to capture a party-hard vibe that the band never mananged to pull off convincingly, and sit uncomfortably alongside the anthemic 'Heading out To The Highway', whilst 'Don't Go' is light on ideas. It's a confused, often restrained affair, but beneath the problems lie a cluster of remarkable songs which remind us how inventive Priest could be at their best.

binnie

02-26-2011, 06:52 PM

Meshuggah - Obzen (2008)

It is difficult to describe Meshuggah to someone who has never heard them. 'Epileptic' is the only term I can think of: their songs contort, spasm and seizure; frantic and frenetic, they also gripping, tort, and exercise an impossible hold. Gargantuan downtuned riffs are layered over the oddest time signatures conceivable, whilst lyrics about man's dislocation in the post-modern world are roared over the top. They exist, therefore, as something of a paradox: a band which is at once fiercely intelligent and bludgeoningly brutal, they are certainly one to be avoided by people who think that music exists to soothe.

Essentially, all of the developments in extreme metal - thrash, death, grind - are processed through jazz arrangements, an approach perfectly captured here on 'The Spiteful Snake'. But for all of the ferocity, there is remarkable variety in Meshuggah's approach. Opener 'Combustion', for example, is heavily indebted to thrash, whilst 'Electric Red' is a slower, more discordant beating of a song. Indeed, despite taking an approach to songwriting which is barren of hooks, sentiment or warmth, there are some moments of pure beauty here. Combining this with their status as one of the heaviest bands ever to have existed - 'Bleed' sounds like Wagner jamming on Sepultura - is a staggering achievement, and even those who don't enjoy Meshuggah would have to respect them. 'Obzen' takes the band into a more song-based approach than previous two records 'I' and 'Catch-33', which saw them at their most expansive. Purists would probably not rank it alongside their masterpieces - 'Chaosphere' and 'Destroy, Erase, Rewind' - but any standard, Meshuggah continue to push the boundaries not just of metal, but of music more generally.

binnie

03-01-2011, 01:15 PM

From the vaults: Alabama Thunderpussy - Fulton Hill (2004)

It is - without question - the greatest band name EVER. Anyone thinking that it is a moniker for a band of light-hearted party rockers will quickly find themselves deafened, however, by this heady mix of earthy stoner, doom and Southern rock. This is primitive, anvil beaten metal which exists as the antithesis of today's digitally manipulated high production 'rock' music. At almost 70 minutes, the mesh of wailing guitars, concrete mixer bass and raw vocals is an intense and daunting listen, and you can't help thinking that some editing with the principle of 'less is more' would have strengthed the whole ('Infested' and 'Alone Again' feel half-formed.) But there is plenty to love here. Opening instrumental 'Such Is Life' is an ominous swampy brew which quickly gives way to 'R.R.C.C's' amphetemine driven Molly Hatchet menace. 'Lunar Eclipse' is heavy sludge, southern rock filtered through Sabbath and for much of the time the 'live' fell of the production adds to the sense of snarling, gnarly songs so raw they are almost jammed out. And yet, its an oddly imbalanced affair. 'Do Not' - an acoustic lament - and 'Three Stars' - a heartfelt ode to sadness - seem out of place with all of the muscularity on display, and seem to be indicative of a band which , whilst oozing with ideas, was still struggling to find itself. Strangely enough, however, it is these idiosyncracies which make this work - when the band ironed the creases out of its sound on their much more conventional follow up ('Open Fire') they delivered a much more prosaic affair. Raw worked for them: as straight-forward as it is sincere, this is an album bubbling with imperfections and littered with gems.

binnie

03-01-2011, 02:39 PM

Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg

If Wolfmother’s debut record was built on Zeppelin, then ‘Cosmic Egg’ has been erected on more diverse influences, albeit ones that are limited to the 1970s. Here we get warts and all stoner rock, expansive spacey meanderings, and shades of prog. This record got kicked all over the place upon its release, perhaps because in the wake of The White Stripes and the 1000 copyists who followed the industry were growing weary of retro-rock. It’s a long way from the bombast of their debut, and you get a sense that Andrew Stockdale may have been taken himself a little too seriously – driving for epic on ‘Violence of the Sun’, we are presented with a spaced-out rumble which sounds like something dying. Slowly. ‘White Feather’ aims for Bowie but only succeeds in hitting awkward. There is also plenty of rubble cluttering up the bigger ideas: ‘Far Away’ is 2D and ‘New Moon Rising’ is, for all the effects, pedestrian. But there are some staggering moments here. ’10,000 Feet’ is sci-fi space-rock with a crushing riff, channelling the spirit of the late ‘60s with an air of glorious pomp. The prog-leanings of the title-track is captivating, whilst the epic vocal and pretty arrangement of ‘In The Morning’ leaves you wishing that more bands would make rock ‘n’ roll like this. You’ve got to hope that this is a transition record – it may not rawk as hard as their debut, and much of the experimentation here is in desperate need of direction, but Wolfmother can sustain the symphonic weight of their most captivating moments, they might just make an album which proves the critics wrong.

binnie

03-01-2011, 02:41 PM

Audrey Horne – Audrey Horne

Album no. 3 for these Norweigan post-grungers. For a band comprising of former members of Enslaved and Gorgoroth, it is odd to find them so at home delivering music of a more melodic ilk, and this self-titled effort doesn’t diverge too far from their traditional formula of Alice In Chains meeting the heavier end of Soundgarden. On full tilt, they have always been a hulking leviathan of a band – crooned vocals sweep over layers of chunky, fat riffs in a richly melodic sound that is both dense and accessible. Godsmack would kill to sound this good. There is much to love here: the jilted refrain of ‘Firehouse’, with its sinewy guitars, channels Sabbath-Bloody-Sabbath; the razor sharp riffage of ‘Blaze of Ashes’ is the sort of classic rock UFO would be proud of; and ‘Charon’ is the brooding sound that Ozzy has been searching for since the mid-90s. In this respect, Audrey Horne deliver the goods. The problem here, however, is that they’ve lost their je ne sais qua. Their first two records – ‘Le Fol’ and ‘No Hey Banda’ – were notable for being adventurous: progressive interludes made the songs twist and writhe, injecting sparkle into what could so easily have been just another post-grunge band wallowing in self-pity. On this album, however, they’ve stripped the songs back – the result may be a more direct affair, but is also more prosaic. That’s a real shame, because Audrey Horne have long been one of rock’s best kept secrets. Here, they’ve passed from a sprawling, tortured Life Of Agony to become a more muted, conservative Velvet Revolver. Shame.

binnie

03-01-2011, 03:00 PM

From the vaults: Every Time I Die – The Big Dirty (2007)

“Our orbits are collapsing upon themselves. We’re retreating into the vogue where we’re sucking the blood from the necks of guitars” (Depressionista.)

Fucking hell! That’s quite a lyric, and one typical of this motley crew of misfits who stand apart from their peers for a number of reasons: passion, fun and spirit. In a world awash with emo-platitudes and metalcore washouts, it is utterly refreshing to blast a record that is 36 minutes of rock ’n’ roll battery, and to experience a band who understands that to make a record that is fun need not mean sacrificing depth or emotion. This really is how rock ‘n’ roll should sound in the 21st century. Part metal, part punk, part hardcore and dipped in southern rock, ETID play like this is the last moment they’ll ever be able to. Sounding somewhere between Sick Of It All at their most bruising and a more fun Bronx, this is music played with passion, devoid of frills and unflinchingly articulate. ‘No Son Of Mine’ is built around 2 jabbing riffs and a myriad of time changes, whilst ‘Leatherneck’ channels Glassjaw at their most vulnerable. That’s quite a contrast of styles, but ones which ETID make quintessentially their own. For all the brutality of ‘Rendez-Voodoo’ and ‘Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Battery’, or the wrenching fury of ‘A Gentleman’s Sport’, we get the pure piss ‘n’ vinegar rock ‘n’ roll of ‘Werewolf.’ The songs here could be so easily be a disaster: gripped with ADHD, they flip over, twist around and spasm in and out of shape, and it is a testament to the band’s song-writing abilities that they hold all of the ideas and energies on display here together in huge hooks and choruses. They’re angry, but accessible; intelligent, but direct. Where so much heavy music today prides itself on painting only from a palette of grey, ETID make music that is technicolour. They are uplifting and life-affirming in a bleak age of despair. We NEED bands like this.

binnie

03-03-2011, 01:31 PM

From tha vaults: Entombed - Wolverine Blues (1993)

Regarded as a classic by some, and loathed by others, it is hard to think of a metal record as divisive as 'Wolverine Blues.' For death metal purists, the Swede's movement away from landmark records 'Left Hand Path' and 'Clandestine' was treasonous. Those records had already spawned a sub-genre filled with copyists, however, and perhaps Entombed felt it was better to transcend death metal than repeat it. The result is a record which sounds somewhat like a jam session involving the MC5 and Chuck Schuldiner. Injcting punk and rock 'n' roll into into a foundation of extreme metal, 'Wolverine Blues' is crushingly heavy, very aggressive, but remains lots of FUN. 'Eyemaster' opens with drag-race simplicity, blasting rumbling riffs which were as indebted to doom as they were death. 'Heaven's Die' featuring some truly evil riffs and smashes Slayer into the Misfits, whilst 'Demon' is pure dirty, bass assault. This is a record dripping in blusesy tones and switching from sinister to savage - not overcomplicated for the sake of it (as much death metal can be), '..Blues' oozes groove. 'Contempt', for example, sprawls and swells around a series of riffs like a great blues band jamming about something dark and malevolent. Wolverine Blues? There has rarely been a more fitting moniker. Beg, steel or borrow.

binnie

03-07-2011, 05:27 PM

From the vaults: Gilby Clarke - Pawn Shop Guitars (1994)

This was not a great record. Not by any means. It was, however, an interesting one, and one which contained some interesting moments. Very much a solo affair rather than a 'band' effort, with each song featuring a host of sunset strip misfits and bored Gunners killing time whilst the ginger one pissed time away. As such, it is a disjointed record in desperate need of identity: 'Shut Up' is ramshackle cow punk; 'Tijuana Jail' is an attempt at Social Distortion, and comes across more like a jam. For all the pick 'n' mix rock 'n' roll on display here, however, there is plenty to admire: opener 'Cure Me....Or Kill Me' is a sleazy blues built around a crunchy riff, taken up a notch or ten by Slash's subdued licks; and 'Skin & Bones' is a punky take on Americana with Stonesy leanings, demonstrative of Clarke's skills as a songwriter. These skills are most evident, however on the albums take on alt. rock: the twisted power-ballad 'Black' is pure Goo Goo Dolls, all jaded and broken, whilst 'Johanna's Chopper' sounds like the upper end of American indie. Here, it seems, was the sound that Motley Crue would strive for a few years later. 'Pawnshop Guitars', then, is worth exploring, even if it is a difficult record to love. It could have been so much more, however, if Clarke had had the sense to hire a singer - the songs are limited by his limitations as both a singer and a lyricist. That's a shame, as if we learn anything from this album it is how expressive he is as a player.

binnie

03-07-2011, 05:49 PM

Fiction: Dark Tranquility - Fiction (2007)

Dark Tranquility are one of extreme metal's most reliable bands, as well as the most accessible. Their sound is wholly unique - thrash and death metal riffage are overlaid with gothic electronic and piano, and Mokael Staine tops it all off which some mid-range gutteral vocals. There is nothing contrived about them: the songs are boiled down, with no fat or ego present. This make the sound direct and brutal, a vibrant darkenss which oozes with the confidence of a band who know how good they are. 'Terminus' and 'Blind At Heart' are far more twisted than anything the new wave of thrash bands could turn out, whilst the brutality of 'Empty One' effortlessly gives way to a passage of almost pious piano led lament. It is these flourished that make this music so emotive, so human: 'Icipher' is slower, crunchier and overlaid with orchestration and piano, complexities offset by sparse vocals. The best modern metal bands tends of hail from Sweden or Scandanavia, and Dark Tranquility are no exception. Injecting the typical Gothenberg sound with nuance and intelligence, their lyrics are far beyond the ceaseless and inane anger of most metal bands, and the confidence they exude in combining meaty riffs, taut guitar, and the tonal atmospherics of electronica is utterly refreshing. When it all comes together on epic closer 'The Mundane and the Magic', they achieve a sound which is at once monstrously heavy and impossibly beautiful. That is quite something.

binnie

03-15-2011, 07:17 PM

Brijitte West & the Desperate Hopefuls - Eponymous

Clocking in at just over 30 minutes, this a record set to run in old skool time. But it's not retro. By that, I mean it's not punk rock 'n' roll for the sake of mindless emulation, or in an attempt to recreate the past for its own merits. Rather, it's a record built around great songs. Simple as that. 'Mess of Myself', 'It's Not My Fault', 'Bleeding Heart' are perfect pop rock, but in a fucked up way. A heavy Johnny Thunders and Ramones influence pervades, as it does with so many bands, but the result is not plagarism of pedestrian. Sparse production allows for a human quality and openness in the songs, which breathe and pulsate, and the lyrics are drenched in simple and poignant imagery and an angry, defiant and world-weary outlook. 'Bitter & Twisted' has an understated country feel which renders it soft but sharp, and 'How To Be Good' (featuring Jesse Malin) is the sort of broken blues that grunge should have sounded like. All of this renders Brijitte West a cut above the sunset strip retro wannabe artists who pass for good time rock 'n' roll these days.

binnie

03-15-2011, 07:29 PM

From the vaults: Rob Zombie - Hellybilly Deluxe (1998)

A minor classic from the Alice Cooper of the digital age. The subtitle - '13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International' - says it all, for in true Zombie fashion this is a record resplendent with B-Movie cool, comic book imagery and pop culture vocabulary. It's a heady brew of fat riffs, industrial ambiences, techno beats and bass blasts which are the perfect vehicle for Rob's rhythmic vocal delivery, and the result is a lot of fun which really shouldn't be over-analysed. 'Dragula' is a crusty anthem, whilst 'Demonoid Phenomenon' and 'Meet the Creeper' are monstrously heavy. But its not all bluster: 'Spookshow Baby' is a mangled power ballad, and 'Superbeast' is pure gothic pop. At it's best - like most Rob Zombie records - this is a carnival of the bizarre with Beelezebub on the decks. There is a lot of filler, however, in the form of musical interludes. Moreover, with so many flavours floating around it can be overbearing 'The Ballad of Resurrection and Rosa the whore' feels like a series of disconected and partly digested ideas. These reservations aside though, 'HellyBilly Deluxe' is a fine example of rock 'n' roll at its most celebratory: pure schlock rock horroe kitsch for the damned!

binnie

03-19-2011, 07:25 PM

Devildriver -Beast

For all of their indebtedness to modern and extreme forms of the genre, in many respects Devildriver are a heavy metal band in the classical sense of the term. They are heavy, intense, but FUN. Their songs are not overthought or clever for the sake of being so, and on tunes like 'Bring the Fight (To the Floor)' and 'Hardened' we find little in the way of subtle introspection or a nuanced comment on the human condition, but rather the positive application of anger, which was always what metal was about. Many modern American metal bands could learn much from this approach. Indeed, for all the aggression, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and upligting experience. Opener 'Dead To Rights' is a frantic melee of riffs and time changes weighed down by punishing grooves and a huge chorus; and 'Shitlist' is as anthemic a blast of modern metal as you are likely to find. In many ways these songs epitomize the album as a whole: Devildriver absorb much of the inventiveness of extreme metal and make it palletable and accessible without weakening it. That's quite an achievement, and on moments like the Pantera-charged 'Blur' the sheer direct power of 'You Make Me Sick' the results are captivating. Following the success of their previous two records - 'Last Kind Words' (2007) and 'Pray For Villains' (2009) - the band are now on a three album run, but have succeeded in upping their game here by injecting some variety into the maddness. The slower, and often more melodic, pieces like 'Talons Out (Teeth Sharpened)' and 'Crowns of Creation' add shades to the darkness and make for a wholly more human quality to the band's sound. Where 'Pray For Villains' opted for directness and embraced a punk-like simplicity at times, 'Beast' demonstrates the band's musicianship, with duel solos resplendent and the God-like drumming of John Broecklin rampant throughout.

Mirror, mirror on the walll, whose the most metal of them all? Lamb of God? Machine Head? Chimara? Devildriver must surely now sit in the big leagues of modern US metal bands. Long may they reign.

binnie

03-25-2011, 07:05 AM

Crowbar - Sever The Wicked Hand

Imagine the weight of a Deathstar. Throw in a couple of blue wales, add a solar system or two, and you're still nowhere near the sheer bowel moving heaviness of Crowbar. When Kirk Weinstein hits his first riff, astronomers have shown that the earth's orbit is altered - seriously, it's true.

Like all other Crowbar records, 'Sever....' still sounds like Black Sabbath being tortured by The Melvins. There is a renenwed sense of purpose, and a more stripped down sound, this time around, however. Opener 'Isolation (Desperation)' has the sonic crunch and snarl not really seen since Crowbar's 'Broken Glass' era in the mid'90s and is undoubtedly the best song Weinstein has penned since the finer moments on 'Odd Fellows Rest'. His vocals sound much better now they're no longer drenched in studio magic, and his fractured larynx delivers those treacle like melodies with particular richness here, most noticeably on 'Let Me Mourn'. The power is, frankly, daunting: 'Liquid Sky & The Cold Black Earth' has a soul rumbling pressence, and 'The Cemetry Angels' crushes with riff after riff. Crowbar albums are often patchy affairs, and 'Protectors of the Shrine' does feel a little like filler, but overall this is their most focussed record for some time. Perhaps that is due to Weinstein's sobriety. The ambition is noble and noticeable - 'As I Become One' is expansive, loose, and experimental, and demonstrates that their is far, far more to this band than an endless possession of heavy riffs.

Crowbar have long been one of metal's best kept secrets. They combine impossible heaviness with an uncomplicated approach that is infectious, and prove that you don't have to be extreme or tuneless to be powerful. This record is a stellar addition to their catalogue: it's no match for 'Odd Fellows Rest', 'Equilibrium' or their debut, but it deserves to last the test of time.

None Fuckin' Heavier.

binnie

03-25-2011, 07:19 AM

Romeo Must Die - Hardship's In Season

This is the debut record from a band formed from the ashes of Stampin' Ground, the epically aggressive, biblically heavy UK hardcore noisemongers. It is something of a surprise, then, to hear that it opens with an acoustic - yes, an acoustic - guitar. It announces a record that, whilst combining some of the brutality of Stamin' Ground, is more melodic and expressive in its scope. The band have described the sound as 'Murder-pop-thrash-core', but they're clearly taking the piss, as there's no such artifice here, just finely crafted songs saturated with emotion. 'Breathing Fire' is an anthem in waiting. 'Let Them Hate' is pure hardcore rage pulverizing the listener through a series of slicing, tort riffs and sandpaper vocals. Sounds generic? Far from it, for what separates RMD from the pack is that their songs are memorable. 'Time...the Great Vivisector' is looser, a neck-snapping swirl of power chords and crunching riffage and time changes which descends into a melodic mid-section reminiscent of early Mastodon. The thrashing bruiser 'Survivor Club' recalls Strife and features some seriously warped guitar pieces, whilst 'Better Off Dead' is Prong-like staccato bombast with a hulk of a chorus. 13 songs maybe a little overkill, but it is indicative of the ambition, and talent, on display here: in a genre in which it is easy to sound generic, it is utterly refreshing to discover a band at once unique and charismatic. UK metal bands often fold all too quickly. Let us hope that RMD do not go the way of Earthrone 9, Iron Monkey or......Stampin' Ground.

binnie

03-25-2011, 09:23 AM

Darkest Hour - The Eternal Return (2009)

Darket Hour are a band who have carved out a place for themselves in the metal scene which is semi-legendary, and have gradually moved away from their metalcore roots. On 'The Eternal Return' they have stamped a sound which is essentially melodic death metal sprinkled with hardcore: stomping drums are overlaid with crisp guitar riffs, furious vocals and dark melodies. Everything is sharp, fast and crisp in tone, and it blasts out of the speakers at a Blitzkrieg pace. It doesn't feel as coherent as an album as 2007's 'Deliver Us', and much of the nuanced of earlier works - such as progressive interludes and slower tempos - have been eschewed here. But that's not the real problem here. The issue is, rather, that there are a thousand bands like this. DH maybe one of the best, but their impact is diminished by the scope of the field. So, despite the fact that 'No God' - the heaviest song here - is the sort of song which might put them in the big leagues of metal's frontrunners, the momentum is lost by moments of startling mediocrity like 'Bitter' and 'Blessed Infection'. Moreover, despite the fact that 'A Distorted Utopia' and 'Into The Grey' are classy and clever, and that on tunes like 'Death Worship', 'Transcendence' and 'Devolution of the Flesh' the band manage to weld extreme metal to melodies and time signatures that are genuinely catchy, it doesn't really matter. Why? Because it's all tinkling with a formula so familiar it is difficult to find it exciting. That's before we get to the paradoxical lyrics: promoting thinking for oneself in a world which in nonetheless hopeless.

Don't get me wrong: DH are a hell of a band, and this will knock you against the wall if you play it loud enough. But will you remember it? Will you play it in 10 years time? It's doubtful. Bands like this are essentially engaged in a cult of At The Gates worship, and should you really want to be inspired checking out that band, Dark Tranquility, or early albums by The Haunted would be a much wiser move. what 'The Eternal Return' actually marks is an impasse for American metal - it is very, very good, but it is also constrained by the existing paradigm. Taking some chances is the way forward. Perhaps DH will be the band to do it: the soloing on 'Tides' or 'A Distorted Utopia' shows how adept they are as musicians, but the genre needs to expand lest it stagnate.

binnie

03-25-2011, 11:23 AM

Accept - Blood of the Nations

This really is how to return with a BANG. Pretty much what you'd expect from Accept this is anthemic metal played without a trace of overcomplication. From the moment 'Beat The Bastards' kicks in, you know what you're going to get: slicing, raw riffage and songs which crackle with energy and - crucially - FUN. Somewhere along the way metal lots that sense of fun, but it's here in bucketloads. Indeed, on 'Teutonic Terror', it even boarders onto the plain silly. Accept deliver their classic sound through a series of cathy anthems like 'Rolling Thunder' and 'Locked & Loaded', but that is not to say that this is a conscioulsy 'retro' album or one oozing with nostalgia. Far from it. Accept feel driven here, and their ambition makes for a far more welcome 'come back' record than anything Judas Priest have managed to conjure. Andy Sneep's crisp and ripped production strips the band's sound back and gives the songs a 'live' feel, and the band demonstrate time and time again that chugga-chugga riffage really is the best thing to headbang too (see 'Shades of Death' in particular.) It's a life affiriming listen which reminds you why you loved metal in the first place - hell, they even throw in a power ballad ('Kills The Pain') which, like every stab at sentiment recorded by an '80s metal band, is sentimental only in a moronic, drunken kind of way. It's done with such charisma, however, that you can't help but love it.

This is certainly a life-affirming slab of power chords, but it is also a long record. At 13 songs and 70 minutes, you can't help but feel that the 'edit' button might have made the whole more powerful for being shorter. But, asking Accept to tone down the overkill is to ask too much. 'Blood of The Nations' is a great return. Anyone who thinks that they couldn't do it without Udo is in for a shock - new guy Mark Tornillo's raspy vocals are a perfect foil for Wolf Hoffman and Frank Herman's gritty guitar tones. It is Herman and Hoffman who are the hero's here, cementing just how underrated they are in metal's history: not only inspiring thrash metal (and consequently indirectly spawning much modern metal as we know it) their lead work is expemplary for its power and their ability not to overcomplicate the songs. In short, 'Blood of the Nations' is a record which you should take to your Metal Heart.

binnie

03-25-2011, 12:29 PM

From the vaults: UFO - Mechanix (1982)

UFO must rank as one of the most underrated hard rock bands ever. Given that I can think of few bands who've written so many winning songs, I regard that as a travesty. It is doubly tragic, however, when what little attention the band does receive centres almost wholly on the Michael Schenker years. They made some classic records with Schenker, who dazzled throughout his tenure in their ranks. But Mogg and Way wrote songs strong enough to survive without guitar hystrionics and, I would suggest, in many ways the band worked better as a group once mad Mikkey had gone.

As case in point in 'Mechanix', UFO's 10th record and the first to feature Paul Chapman on guitar. This era of UFO was not as showy or as in your face as the '70s incarnation, but it had plenty to offer. The vibrancy of the songs here is dazzling. The band adopted a Springsteen-esque approach to arrangements and allow the songs to carry their energy in tangents and interludes, with wave after wave of guitar and keyboards making a sound that is truly energizing and invigorating for the listener. Neil Carter's keyboards never dominate, but act in a tonal capacity to complement the songs, much like the more prevalent backing vocals here. Opener 'The Writer' is a sharp and grooving rocker, the foil for the more expansive closer 'Dreaming' in which the band sounds like a rock 'n' roll orchestra washing over the listener in a sound that is truly cinematic. 'Terri' is a heartfelt ballad, featuring a beautiful vocal from Mogg, and on 'Back Into My Life' the band create something somewhere between Joe Cocker and John Taylor. I am trying to avoid using the term 'mature' to label the vibe here, because it makes this record sound dull. 'Mechanix' was more about class than bombast, however. The out and out rock 'n' roll fury might have been gone; but it was replaced by a texture and nuance which ultimately enchanced the band's sound.

binnie

03-25-2011, 04:30 PM

From the vaults: Chimaira - Resurrection (2007)

Of their five records, this (no. 4) is Chimaira's strongest. It is a case of triumphing in the face of adversity: in search of new band members - and a new label - Chimaira came back with a sense of purpose, and a point to prove. The result is a multi-layered modern metal record. The songs shift seamlessly from fast to slow, intense to epic, with a sense of fluidity and without a cluttered feeling. The term 'metalcore' is inappropriate. Chimara weld death metal, thrash and hardcore together, and are never over reliant on the breakdown like so many of their peers. Whilst previous self-titled album had felt over-thought and laboured, you get the sense of a band enjoying themselves here: more aggressive but also more precise, the band are happy to show off a little, soloing away in almost every song. Sure, it's far from perfect: 'Killing The Beast' and 'End It All', for example, are moments of treading water. But when it's good, it's really good. The title track is precise and powerful, whilst 'Needle' is thrash-tastic and 'Worthless' alternates from speed to mid-paced mosher. But it's the inventiveness that surprises. Despite the generic metal title, 'No Reason To Live' is a stab at social commentary, and 'Flame' tackles the subject of rape with startling rawness. That sense of progression is felt most clearly on 'Six', a nine minute epic which is Maiden-esque in its grandiose. This, combined with the keyboard driven and black metal tinged closer 'Empire', show what talent Chimaira possess. The problem with such diversity, however, is that it makes you wonder what band Chimaira want to be. This is certainly more focussed than their earlier records, but it smacks of a band trying to please everyone - they needn't be so apologetic.

Chimaira might never make a classic record. That's fine, as few bands do. They might never be your favourite band, or displace Lamb of God from the top of metal's pyramid (for American bands at least.) But they would be a worthy addition to anyone's record collection.

binnie

04-01-2011, 06:37 PM

Helmet - Seeing Eye Dog

Album number 7 from Paige Hamilton's riff-laden alternative beast. There is no radical departure in sound here: we still get venomous, punchy riffs blasted over a crunchy rythm section. But that's not to say that there aren't a few surprises. Firstly, this is a lot more 'hooky' than we might expect from Helmet: kind of like being smacked in the mouth and crooned too at the same time. The decision to explore melody pays rewards. 'In Person' owes much to Foo Fighters power-pop rock, and 'LA Water' is reminiscent of Everclear at their ennui driven best (it also reminds me a little of Hamilton's Ghandi project.) Also encouraging is Page's decision to test himself as a singer, and here he alternates from shades of Billy Corgan to Andy Cairns (Therapy?). His limitations may be revealed on an otherwise explosive cover to The Beatles 'And Your Bird Can Sing', but the singing here is, for the most part, warm and crisp. Opener 'So Long' has a punky Cheap Trick vibe about it and reminds me of Helmet in their 'Aftertaste' era; the title track is packed with monstrously heavy riffs; and 'Welcome To Angiers' and 'She's Lost' show some real ambition, in all of their discordant glory.

There's a lot to love here. Sure, its no 'Betty' or 'Meantime', but it was never going to be. Since being reformed, Helmet have been less of a band and more of a Page Hamilton solo outing. Henry Bogdan and John Stanier were one of rock's best rhythym sections, twisting and melding songs to make Helmet sound truly bestial. Without them, something has always been missing. On 'Size Matters', the distance from the band of old was glaring. Here, however, it is less so. Finally, Helmet sound like a band. This is no perfect record, but it is what Helmet have always been: concise, powerful, impossibly heavy, and truly unique.

binnie

04-02-2011, 09:15 AM

From the vaults: Megadeth 'So Far, So Good, So What?'

The runt of the litter in the eyes of many, this record is often seen as a stepping stone between breakthrough album 'Peace Sellls.....But Who's Buying?' (1986) and what many consider to be Mustaine's finest moment, 1990s 'Rust In Peace.' Sure, its not on a par with those two undeniable metal classics. It is, however, a chronically underrated record. People say that the new line-up (featuring Jeff Young on lead guitar and Chuck Behler on drums) didn't have as much chemistry as the Menza/Friedman or Samuelson/Polland lineup, and they're correct. People said that the production was muddy and darkened the whole record, and they're right. And when people said that by clocking in at just 34 minutes and including a cover song this was the sign of a band in turmoil, they were right again. But, this is an album which reeks of one thing which Megadeth albums have often lacked: emotion. For all of its imperfections, it is actually more human than much of the band's back catalogue.

What sets this record in the Megadeth canon is actually the limitation of one of its players: Chuck Behler. His uncomplicated, punk-driven drumming was a long, long war from Gar Samuelson's jazz-infused style, which had allowed songs to spin and mutate almost at will into something gargantuan. Many bemoan the absence of that fluid snap here, but it actually creates its own aesthetic. The guitars are brought more to the forefront, and the rigid approach to playing actually adds the whole record a gritty vibe. Indeed, songs like 'Hook In Mouth' - an intelligently cynical slice of vitriol levelled at the PMRC which should have become a 'Deth anthem - and '502' - a brutally furious assault which deployed technical playing and melody in a very interesting ways - were given much of their bite and power by Behler's delivery. Indeed, that understated performance might be what makes 'In My Darkest Hour' so cuttingly powerful. Mustaine achieved here a matuirty which most metal bands never get close to: not only is the composition breathtaking, the lyrics (which deal with love gone awry) are poignant and powerful.

Indeed, there was much here that pushed the envelope of what metal could be. They may have been surpassed since, but songs like 'Set The World Afire' were as technical as metal got in '88. This ode to nuclear warfare is structured around a series of haunting riffs which twist and spit, whilst the vocal trickery on the chorus made this tune truly dark and haunting. Erupting into something truly epic as Mustaine yells 'NO SURVIVORS!!!' you realize just how long ago 1988 was: the nuclear threat feels so much less immediate 23 years later. Equally ambitious was 'Mary Jane'. This disturbing tune could be about withcraft, or it could be about pot-driven halluncinations. Either way, it is truly unique: haunting melodies prove that Mustaine is writing truly beautiful music, and a series of off-kilter guitar licks make this a mezmorizing composition which is one of a kind in metal.

It's not a perfect record, of course. The production really does rob the songs of power. Moreover, Jeff Young - whilst an adept guitar player - doesn't dazzle here like so many other axemen in Megadeth have. Perhaps its the relative lack of shredding that has rendered 'So Far, So Good, So What' the overlooked record. It may not be as precise, or as heavy, or as fast as Megadeth's other albums, but it is easily their angriest and perhaps most sincere record. The variety of the songwriting here is startling, especially when you consider that most of the bands peers made records governed by one-dimensional speed alone. Mustaine is a hell of a talent, and metal should be proud to have him.

binnie

04-02-2011, 10:47 AM

From the vaults: Dio - Killing the Dragon (2002)

This is something of a gem in Dio's back catalogue, and marked a return to reform of sorts. From the 'Dream Evil' era onwards Dio had become progressively slower and darker, and by the time of the sludgy (and frankly cumbsy) 'Angry Machines' it was clear that things had to change. The sci-fi concept album 'Magica' was certainly an ambitious (and nobel) failure, but it was 'Killing the Dragon' two years later that really saw Dio give the fans something they actually wanted: stripped back, good time hard rock/ heavy metal with the fun-o-meter on 10. There is plenty to explore here. The title track opens the record with a Maiden like gallop and sees Dio's vocals in fine form. 'Along Came A Spider' is typical of the tunes here is being noticeably more up-tempo than much of Dio's latter-day output, it's snakebite riff adding plenty of menace to proceedings. The more shinny 'Push' takes this template but adds a contemporary twist, whilst 'Throw Away Children' is an epic, dark fantasy and contains some of Dio's best lyrics - it really is a dark horse in his body of work.

Sure, there are some tunes that back-fire. 'Rock 'N' Roll' is a blatent 'Kashmir' rip-off which stagnates, and the likes' of 'Scream' and 'Guilty' are little more than meat and potatoes metal (that latter sounding like the ugly sister of 'Breathe' from 'Last In Line'.) But these are not enough to de-rail the album. Fans of old school metal will undoubtedly love this album, which sees Dio, Bain and new guitar player Doug Aldrich in fine form - the latter shreds like a monster throughout, but his work on 'Better In the Dark' and 'Throw Away Children' is particularly noteable. This is a record any artist would be proud of - to retain this kind of fire into your 60s really is something.

R.I.P

binnie

04-02-2011, 12:11 PM

Oceansize - Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up

This band should be as big as their sound. Instead, however, they have decided to call it a day after this, their third record. That is a true shame, because you can't help thinking that Oceansize are a sort of 'Jeff Buckley' moment: an artist that everyone will cite as an influence 20 years down the line but who couldn't get arrested in his own time. Punchier than earlier releases 'SPWTBFU' is still staggering in its ambition. The sound here is majestic and cinematic in its scope and pregnant with immense possibilites, like the universe yawning at the birth of a new day. Imagine stoner rock overlaid with symphonic melodies, or a sound that conjures up Queens of the Stone Age copulating with Sonic Youth. This is heavy but not abbrasive. Rather, there has always been a warmth to Oceansize, their music acts like an all embracing cocoon for the listener, warm, welcoming and sumptuous despite being haunting. Opener 'Part Cardiac' is crushing, whilst 'A Penny's Weight' and 'Ransom' are hushed and fragile. Rock, strings and electronic merge into on glittering skyline on songs like 'Oscar Acceptance Speech', which moves from glacial beatuy to volcanic fury effortlessly, and the epic 8 and a half minutes of piano led 'Silent/Transparent' is truly transcendent, closing in a glorious crescendo. What separates Oceansize from the post-prog pack is that the manage to be spaced out and experimental whilst being accessible and devoid of pretension. That's an incredible achievement and on the explosive 'Superimposer' - which sounds like the thundering of an angry God - you really wish that more bands made rock 'n' roll as vital as this. A genuinely forward-looking musical statement.

binnie

04-02-2011, 12:37 PM

Whitesnake - Forevermore

A solid effort from DC and co. which is bound to make you smile. Building on the good work laid down by this line-up on 'Good To Be Bad', this time round they have gelled together more closely and the whole record feels more like the product of a band. Do I need to tell you what this sounds like? Big choruses, flashy solos and songs about broken and battered love all served up with a dollop of cheese and a whole lot of fun. As sophisticated as a chainsaw, and about as subtle.

Opener 'Steal Your Heart Away' has the bluesy, funky vibe of early Whitesnake but its played through the sheen of the '1987' era. 'Love Will Set You Free' has a rattlesnake of a riff and 'Tell Me How' is an anthem in the making if they add it to the setlist. DC's voice is not what it once was, but it still suits the music - a little raspier than 20 years ago, and a little lower, he nonetheless brings a (not so) quiet cool to proceedings and is the perfect foil for the sizzling solos of Doug Aldrich, who is a bluesman on hyperdrive. All of this is fine and dandy, but hardly essential. These songs - as good as they are - hardly add anything to the band's legacy. But some of those on the record's second half certainly do: 'Dogs In the Street' (Aldrich's centrpiece) is a marvellous rocker, and 'Whipping Boy Blues' is a bombastic take on blues rock. Perhaps most impressive, however, is the title track - a delicate ballad which culminates in a Zeppelin-esque stomp, could it be argued that this is the most beautiful song DC has ever recorded?

There is certainly filler on this album (what Whitesnake record doesn't have some?) 'Easier Said Than Done' is a formulaic ballad, and 'One of These Days' delves dangerously close to Chris Rea territory (ARRRGH!) But they don't taint the impact of the whole. Thanks largely to the rhythm section of Brian Tinchy and Michael Devin, 'Forevermore' grooves like a motherfucker. It is no 'Lovehunter' or 'Ready & Willing' but it is a damn fine rock 'n' roll record which will brighten up your summer no end.

binnie

04-03-2011, 06:39 AM

binnie

04-03-2011, 07:06 AM

The Haunted - Unseen

You've got admire The Haunted, even if its increasingly difficult to enjoy their music. Formed from ashes of legendary death metal band At The Gates, The Haunted began life in the late '90s making albums which would make most of the 'new wave' of thrash bands run for cover. Consequently, the contemporary metal sound has been flooded with bands trying to match their early work, and coming up short. The Haunted have always been aware of the law of diminishing marginal returns, and began to evolve from their original sound with 'The Dead Eye' two albums ago. This resulted in a back lash branding the band as traitors to their roots. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course - those roots were founded on integrity, and whilst it may have been a departure in sound no-one could deny that 'The Dead Eye' was made with sincerity by a band which makes music only to follow their own hearts.

And so it is with 'Unseen', album no. 7. The level of experimentation here is impressive, but because of this the record doesn't gell together. Peter Dowling's ability so many different styles of rock is admirably and impressive, and the fact that he's spoken out so vehemntly about the state of modern metal means that its doubtful that he gives a shit whether critics think this is any good. But the diversity here dillutes the whole. Opener 'Never Better' is a chugger possessed of a very melodic chorus and some Nine Inch Nails inspired interludes; second track 'No Ghost' is a southern rock boogie a la Clutch; and third tune 'Catch 22' is angular alt. rock. That's a difficult yarn to follow. And it keeps writhing around. 'Motionless' features post-hardcore vocals, and 'All Ends Well' starts out tinged with Queens of The Stone Age and evolves into something close to Alice In Chains. All of these songs are well written, but it is the sound of band that no longer knows what they want to be. They do offer us a gem, however: closer 'Done' is a mid-paced bruiser reminiscent of mid-90s Skinlab and conjures up an image of a tank going into battle.

Perhaps that drive to expand and explore is more admirable than putting out a carbon copy of their debut every couple of years. Perhaps not. What is holding The Haunted back though is that they are thinking too much, making music with their heads rather than their instincts. Perhaps album number 8 could be called 'Cerebral'.

Terry

04-03-2011, 10:16 PM

From the vaults: Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin (1986)

There was so much untapped potential on this album which - despite many fans deeming it the double OO's worst effort - actually became his biggest seller. The mid 80s was the point at which Ozzy began to become a self-parody, the point at which he began to conform to the comic book villain image that the popular press had of him. As a result, style began to overtake substance, and some of the magic of the earlier records (I include 'Bark At The Moon' in that) was lost. Listening too it now, the enjoyment comes from a sense of nostalgia rather than an appreciation of timeless music. Some of the tunes here were shot-through with the sunset strip sound which was making record companies so many $$$ in the mid-80s: 'Never Know Why', with its cod metal chorus, sounds like a rip off of Twisted Sister's 'I Wanna Rock'; and, despite possessing a cool riff, 'Lightning Strikes' possess a Bon Jovi melody and lyrics which could have been written by Brett Michaels ('Rockin' All Night' for fucks sake!) Its not the disaster that many pan it as, however. The title track has a crushing riff and might be the heaviest thing ever to appear on an Ozzy record. 'Secret Loser' - whilst certainly a sign of the times - has an immense riff and a infectious energy. Two of the strongest tunes, however, suffer by being so dated to the time in which they were created: the first, 'Killer of Giants', is Ozzy's musing on the insanity of nuclear war and is a brooding and dark tune featuring some great guitar work; the second, 'Shot In The Dark', is pure pop metal in the '80s mould. They were both good songs in their day, but they are limited by their timeliness - one by its subject matter, the other by its sound.

And perhaps that's the real story here. 'Blizzard...' and 'Diary..' are timeless heavy metal records that tap into the essence of what makes that genre so appealing. 'The Ultimate Sin' is no bad record, it is just one rooted firmly to its place in time both in the songwriting and production. The stale, rigid sound and loud drums do nothing to help the songs here, and rythym section robs them of much of their potential (Phil Soussan should have been shot for the pedestrian playing here.) Jake E Lee is, unquestionably, the most overlooked person in the Ozzy Osbourne story (shut up Bob Daisey fans!) The solos here are all dazzling, and some of the riffs are epic - 'Never' and 'Thank God For the Bomb', for example, are both songs which waste some of his work.

This is not quintessentially Ozzy; nor is it a great album. That does not mean, however, that it should be overlooked. There are a handful of gems here which might have stood the test of time better if Ozzy had included them in his setlist in the intervening years.

Pretty spot-on review there.

I recall listening to this album quite a bit in the first couple of months after it came out, then not bothering with it for years. Unlike, say, No Rest For The Wicked, this album didn't really sit with me any better later on when I gave it another listen.

I'd certainly agree it is a product of the times rather than timeless. Yes, the title track is good and Lee comes up with assorted riffs here and there that are imaginative. Overall, though, the effort is lyrically slight (one wonders how much involvement Daisley had with the songwriting process on this one vs. No rest For The Wicked; not as much, I suspect, which would explain the rather generic verses and choruses). There really doesn't seem to be much in the way of purpose or ambition driving the songs, and the whole affair comes across as something undertaken to satisfy a recording contract and provide a reason to hit the road (back in the days when a new album was a prerequisite to toruing) more than anything else.

I suppose considering the relative excellence of Ozzy's 1980s output the opinion that The Ultimate Sin is the weakest release of that period doesn't necessarily mean it is a total slog from start to finish. However, the passage of time since hasn't made it sound any better to these ears, either.

Seshmeister

04-03-2011, 10:38 PM

My understanding was that Daisley just did the lyrics on this one(apart from Shot in the Dark).

As ever Terry has the same music taste as me. I would quibble with some of the things in the review but that is maybe more to do with my memories of it rather than how it sounds now.

I've posted before that I was really disappointed with this album. Ozzy was my favourite band at the time and not only is it miles away from the first 2 in quality, I don't think it's any where near as good as BATM.

It should be called 'Lets quickly throw something out because we have to'.

I think what annoys me about it most is that it was just fucking lazy and the people involved underachieved.

I bet if they were honest they would all admit that.

A little anal sidenote on the guitar solo's.

Jake E Lee was an extraordinary guitarist but on this album I think he had made up his mind to try and develop a unique personal style in his soloing based on a difficult technique he had come up with kind of breaking up chord arpeggios barring with his index finger. Any new attempt to be original is to be applauded but unfortunately it just wasn't very exciting or interesting to watch.

Compare

with

binnie

04-04-2011, 04:49 AM

I think that's a bit harsh, Sesh.

Sure, it's not a great album as I said, but it's not a complete disaster. Rather than lazziness, I think the issue might have been them not really being a band, just a set of hired guns who didn't necessarily gell. Jake E Lee's contributions were pretty damn good, IMO. It's just that no one came up with any cool arrangements/melodies for his riffs.

Terry

04-04-2011, 10:45 AM

binnie is spot on with the hired guns analogy, although I'd also agree with Sesh that there is a difference between what Lee was doing solo-wise on BATM vs. Ultimate Sin. Perhaps easier for a guitarist to hear than a non-playing fan...put it this way: just take the BATM title track and Lee's solos, particularly the outro. Flashy to be sure, but above all memorable. I can't think of one solo on Sin that was really memorable. I do recall reading a GW article around the time Sin was released when Lee was discussing his technique in detail, and the solos on Sin seem to be servicing said technique rather than the technique being used to craft anything that had any resonance.

binnie

04-04-2011, 11:18 AM

That all changed with Badlands though. Maybe Lee was getting bored working with Ozzy in 1986...

hambon4lif

04-04-2011, 11:53 AM

Fuck Ron Nevison! He completely destroys everything he gets his hands on. The way he mixes the drums is a crime. Instead of having that crisp smack of the drums that should be in your face, he softens them to the point where they sound like they're coming from another room. And that signature keyboard sound that's in the background of everything he's ever produced is downright nauseating. It doesn't matter who he works with (KISS, Heart, Ozzy, etc.) or what material you give him, he'll mutilate it and turn it into some cheesy Giorgio Moroder-sounding disco crap. I can't figure out why any rock band would hire this guy or let him put his treatment on their music, he has no rock sensibilties whatsoever.

I can't see any producer who could've helped Ultimate Sin or given it any life because most of it is total shit, but to hand it over to Ron Nevison is a fucking sacrifice.

binnie

04-04-2011, 03:58 PM

It's not shit, its just average.

If you want shit, listen to Ozzmosis - fucking clusterfuck.

binnie

04-08-2011, 01:15 PM

From the vaults: Sepultura - Roorback (2003).

This was the third album from the Sepultura era known as 'Max-less'. Even Sepultura stallwarts would have to admit that once principle songwriter and vocalist Max Cavalera left in 1996, Sepultura were never the same band. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't any value to their output in the intervening years. Whilst 'Against' (1998) and 'Nation' (2001) saw the band mixing tribal rhythms, hardcore and thrash in a mish-mash of songs, on 'Roorback' Sepultura 2.0 began to gell. This was certainly not the sound the band which had created thrash materpieces 'Schizophrenia', 'Beneath the Remains' or 'Arise', nor was it the band who produced the discordant and metal-boundary-stretching 'Chaos AD' and 'Roots.' Indeed, if anything Sepultura had ceased to be leaders and opted to become followers, and the sound here is heavily indebted to both hardcore and the 'nu' brand of metal. Slower, more thoughtful, and more inclined to experiment with melody, it automatically alienated those fans who rank their metal according to how fast and aggressive it is. But, realizing that they could not compete with their former selves, Sepultura made an album which, for all of its highs and lows, was well worthy of a look.

As with previous effort 'Nation', much here is centred around Derreck Green's voice, and sees the band explore soft/heavy dynamics in a manner akin to many 'nu' metal bands. The results are mixed. 'Urge' buzzes and jangles, disturbing the listener into feeling the emotion on display; whilst ballad 'Bottomed Out', with its oddly Deftones sounding heavier moments, is more proficient than profound. Elsewhere, we gets some serious slabs of groove. 'More of the Same', with its Korn(y) riff and spoken interludes, is reminiscent of Spineshank; and the thunderessly heavy 'Godless' possess some odd rhythms and short, Sonic Youth inspired riffs. But it's perhaps at their most simple that 'Roorback' is most effective: the hardcore fury of songs like 'The Rift', 'Corrupted' and 'Leech', and the vitriol of 'Activist', make for a powerful and passionate disaply of aggression, and you can't think that Sepultura would have had a much easier ride if they'd re-invented themselves as a hardcore band rather than experimenting so boldy. Is any of it particuarly memorable? Not really, but it works well as catharsis. It is 'Apes Of God' which really shines though: underlining Iggor Cavalera's position as one of the best ever drummers in rock, its bouncy, discordant riff and pulverising rhythms make for an under-appreciated anthem.

Let's be clear; no one would hail this as an under-valued classic. But it is worthy of exploration, and marked the point at which Sepultura began to feel like a band again, whether or not you liked their new sound or not. The absence of Max from these songs is glaring, however. The record was originally issued with an EP of covers, and when you compare the album with the sheer energy that Sepultura can produce when given decent songs, the difference is glaring. From the crushing take on Jane's Addiction's 'Mountain Song', the apocalyptic romp through Hellhammer's 'Messiah' or epic reinvention of trip-hop master's Massive Attack's 'Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos' (which sounds like God having angry make-up sex), the EP serves to remind you of how vital Sepultura were. Hell, on 'Bullet the Blue Sky', they even make U2 sound like they have a pair.

binnie

04-08-2011, 03:14 PM

From the vaults: Love/Hate - Wasted in America (1992)

'Something's gone wrong with the TV generation......'

Oh, what could have been. Towards the tail end of '80s metal, there were a handful of really ballsy, bluesy bands that had the potential to put some fire back into a genre that was becoming increasingly poppy and flacid: alongside Badlands, Raging Slab and Salty Dog were Love/Hate, whose debut record 'Blackout in the Red Room' erupted from the speakers like a pitbull on heat. These bands might have hailed a return to substance for the strip, but grunge willed it not to be. Love/Hate continued to release great records regardless, however. Whilst on 'Blackout....' they sounded raw, ragged and dirty, like Faster Pussycat with songs, 'Wasted In America' was a more considered and powerful record. Part hard rock, part punk, funk and alternica, Love/Hate's music was a sonic stew of jagged riffs and swirling rhythm's topped off with Jizzy Pearl's raspy voice. The title track - a rant about broken America - kicks things off sounding like a more muscular Jane's Addiction on speed, whilst the gloriously dirty 'Miss America' and 'Cream' hold up a mirror to '80s excess before grinning straight back at it. Love/Hate were a band who proved that LA had some bite and some balls, that the Poisons and Warrants of the world were far from as good as it got in the early '90s: there is no overblown powerballad or airbrushed Slaughter induced 'hard rock' here: just a gritty, Johnny Cash inspired and outlaw driven 'Don't Fuck With Me' and the jilted riff and epic chorus of forgotten anthem 'Tranquilizer'. This was a band which sounded like no-one else, and possessed considerable variety. 'Yucca Man' was pure bombast, a raucous, sandpaper vocal and blistered guitar; whilst 'Don't Be Afraid' was delicate song indebted to the Cure and early U2. Love/Hate sit squarely in the 'should have been huge' category.

Sure, there are duds. The melody on 'Social Sidewinder' doesn't work, and 'Times Up' is more a sign of the times than the band's own. This remains a lost classic, however, and proof that Love/Hate were about more than their debut record. In fact, I would suggest that 'Wasted In America' was both more ambitious and conistent than 'Blackout...' and perhaps the true statement of what this band was all about. Beg, steal, or borrow.

binnie

04-08-2011, 03:56 PM

From the vaults: Saxon - The Inner Sanctum (2007)

Like Motorhead, despite possessing some the band's best material Saxon's latter-day output is chronically overlooked. They'be been on something of a run since 'Unleash the Beast' (1997) and, like 'Lionheart' (2004), 'The Inner Sanctum' is the best of that era of good-tinme heavy fucking metal.

That's not to say it's a throwback record. Opener 'State of Grace' takes back from the European power metal scene as much as Saxon gave to it. Drenched in melodies and hyperfast double-bass drums, its a modernization of a classic form. Brooding ballad 'Red Star Falling' (about the end of communism) sees Biff Byford at his best, and is as fine a performance of epic metal majesty you'll ever hear. But, its when they simplfy things that Saxon are at their best. Energetic and invigorating, 'Let Me Feel Your Power' is pure Painkiller-era Priest; whilst 'I've Got To Rock (To Stay Alive)' is an honest, unpretentious metal anthem which a band of this age has absolutely no right to be able to pen. People often bemoan this music for being unsophisticated, but whilst putting a big chorus and some power chords together sounds simple, on 'Going Nowhere Fast', Saxon prove that no one does it better. This is pure fun, and even the most reserved person would have to headbang. Saxon heark back to a time when metal wasn't all about ernest overkill but entertainment and celebrating life - on this album's epic moment, 'Attila The Hun', they deliver up a slice of riff-tastic melodrama which is the chrystalization of everything joyous about Heavy Metal.

Still think that Saxon were only about 'Strong Arm Of The Law', 'Denim & Leather' and 'Wheels of Steel'? Think again.

binnie

04-09-2011, 07:23 PM

Architects - The Here & Now.

This lattest offering from rising British stars sees them taking a gamble, trying to broaden their sound for a wider audience without 'selling out.' Architects have the maturity to realize that competing to be the biggest, fastest and loudest is ultimately sefl-defeating because it limits the scope which a band can adopt. The range of musical styles on offer is admirably wide, taking in metal, prog, emo and even ambient influences. Certainly less full on than earlier releases, it is still a record with plenty of weight and power, and sees the band grow as songwriters. You might describe the sound as poast-hardcore meets prog. 'Day In Day Out' - featuring some remarkable drumming from Dan Searle - is anthemic, featuring sprawling arrangements which snap the song around almost frenetically; and 'Delete Rewind' is built around some odd time signatures and slashing riffs interspersed with some classic hardcore interludes. What separates this band from the pack is their capacity to couple fury with memorability: songs like 'The Blues' and 'Stay Young Forever' merge speed, aggression and melody and point to a band who might one day deliver something special. Sure, there are moments of conventionality here: 'Heartburn' is a twee love song, and 'Learn To Live' enters territory which Alexisonfire do much better. This might very well see them emerge from the underground into chart bothering territory. the songs are well written, well structured and boom from the speakers courtesy of Steve Evetts crisp, thudding production. But is it exciting? Not so much: it feels over-thought, even a little over-cooked, and is consequently a couple of notches short of classic. They may very well get there one day though.

binnie

04-09-2011, 07:57 PM

From the vaults: Faith No More - Album of the Year (1997)

The end of the road for FNM was met with awful reviews upon its release and has been held in an ambivalent regard by fans since. Not as quirky or ambitious as earlier releases, it retains that vital element which set FNM apart: the sound here is completely unclassifiable and is reminiscent of no-one else. Much of the reason for the record's 'dark horse' status, I would suggest, lies in the fact that it is not as guitar driven as earlier albums: John Hudson didn't seem to gell with the other members to the extent that Jim Martin had. But the songs here were stellar. Opener 'Collision' bleeds from the speakers, a pulsating bass line overlaid with fiesty punk; 'Naked In Front of The Computer' is a vicious oft-kilter take on internet pornography; and 'Ashes To Ashes' - with its immense riff and howling chorus - maybe see FNM at their most conventional, but it also sees them at their most powerful. It is perhaps the detours away from the metallic which prove most rewarding, however. The synth heavy 'Stripsearch' is a song of dark, delicate beauty featuring one of Patton's purest vocals; 'She Loves Me Not' is a heartfelt take on Mo-town; and 'Mouth to Mouth', with its funk rock and carnical organ, is the musical equivalent of a cynical cackle. So far, so FNM: unpredictable, visceral and gloriously out-of-step with everyone else. On forgotten tunes like 'Pristina', a broken ballad about the conflict in Yugoslavia which is almost structureless but impossibly beautiful, the band attain a truly transcendent level of playing. 'Last Cup Of Sorrow' is pure spasmodic punk, and sees Patton alternating from soring melodies to scatting the lyrics - this really is his album.

More mature and restrained than earlier releases, and also noticeably darker, this is a long way from the street punk/funk of 'We Care A Lot', or the invigorating electric acid trip of 'Angel Dust', but 'Album of The Year' does not deserve to be overlooked. Listening to it today, you can't help being sad that FNM aren't here to give us some more genre defying battery. Indeed, 'Paths of Glory' sounds - rather appropriately - like a helpless lament for something dying.

binnie

04-18-2011, 06:04 PM

From the vaults: Pearl Jam - Vitalogy (1994)

The third album from grunge's biggest band saw them dangling their old success over a naked flame and tempting fate to burn it. For all of its failings, this was music on the edge, raw and unbroken. Less riff-driven than the stadium straddling rock behemoth of debut 'Ten' and the monstrous rush of adrenaline of 'Vs', the sound was smaller and less meaty and driven through with references to alt. rock kings like Husker Du. The change is clear from the second that 'Last Exit' noodles into life, anouncing the band's rather nonchalent, even resentful, take on fame. There are some moments of trite self-indulgence here, most clearly in closer 'Hey foxymprphandlemama, that's me', 7 minutes of unpleasant distorition and effects which rapes the name of funk, and the accordion led and otherwise aimless 'Bugs'. But the good largely outweighs the bad: the delicate 'Nothingman' is shimmering folk caressing naked vulnerability, and 'Better Man' is shattered take on the power ballad. At the album's more intense moments, 'Corduroy' is awash with jangly guitars and a huge chorus, and 'Not For You' is a blast of grinding chords offset by trippy interludes.

This was the beginning of Pearl Jam existing solely for Pearl Jam: not playing the game in any way, touring where they wanted to tour, and consciously avoiding pop melodies as though penning a hit was a blow to credibility. Spitting in the face of fame cuts opinion down the middle: for some, it is the action of a bunch of petulent, ungrateful, flannel-clad primadonnas; for others, an expression of artistic freedom and a commitment to integrity. Which ever way you view it though, you can't denying that deliberately de-railing a multi-platinum status run takes some big balls, and that commands admiration, whatvever the musical results. Indeed, in many respects Pearl Jame have always been easier to admire than love. The lyrical hopelessness and unbridled anger here is projected outward rather than as a commanding form of introspection - that makes Eddie Vedder a somewhat sullen and uncharismatic figure, almost the anti-Jim Morrison. He'd probably like that.

FORD

04-18-2011, 07:02 PM

"Better Man" was actually a song Vedder wrote and performed with his old band Bad Radio in the 80's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pco5t4ljIiY

Seshmeister

04-18-2011, 07:25 PM

From the vaults: Love/Hate - Wasted in America (1992)
Beg, steal, or borrow.

Or just download for free from their website http://www.lovehate.com/

My fave album from the 1990s.

binnie

04-19-2011, 08:39 AM

Wow! That's a big, big statement. I wouldn't go that far, but as you can see I do think that it is chronically underrated. Probably Love/Hate's best, IMO.

binnie

04-19-2011, 08:40 AM

"Better Man" was actually a song Vedder wrote and performed with his old band Bad Radio in the 80's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pco5t4ljIiY

Cheers, I didn't know that. I often listen to the first three Pearl Jam records to remind myself that, before they crawled up their own asses, they were a damn fine band.

binnie

04-22-2011, 07:23 PM

From the vaults: Motley Crue - Motley Crue (1994)

Singers are the hardest band members to replace. The voice is not only the most identifiable element of a band's sound, it is also often the one that carries their attitude. Consequently, when John Corrobi replaced Vince Neil in Motley Crue during the mid-90s, they sounded like another band. With added rhythm guitar they were heavier, darker and, as a result of Corrobi's smokey, raspy voice, blusier. The bleached blonde party hard sensibilities left with Vince, and this record was a long way from the arena straddling, face fucking pomp of the band's '80s bombast. From the moment that the gargantuan drums and boulder size riff of 'Power To The music' kicks in, you know this is an altogether different Crue: greasier, more metallic, and striving to be more mature. Is it a good Crue record? No. Is it a good stand alone record? Absolutely.

Sure the odd choice of imagery and artwork felt like a contrived attempt at re-invention; sure, it was too damn long; and, sure, on balance it was probably more Corrabi's record than it was Crue's. But songs like 'Hooligan's Holiday' - which slithers from the gutter like broken ambition - are how rock 'n' roll should have sounded in the '90s. 'til Death Do us Part' is a monster of a power-ballad which sounds something like Zeppelin humping Stone Temple Pilots, whilst, converesely, 'Loveshine' is a restrained and beautiful piece of americana. You can't deny that the band were striving for something new here. Sure, 'Smoke The Sky' was meat and potatoes rock; and the faux Alice In Chains melodies of 'Uncle Jack' didn't come off. But there is a lot to like here, even if you do have to forgo your assumptions of what Motley Crue 'should' sound like in order to do so. Certainly the last interesting record they made and - I would suggest - the one which contains the least amount of filler.

binnie

04-23-2011, 06:45 PM

Children of Bodom - Relentless Reckless Forever

Album no. 7 from Finland's metal masters will have you grinning like a cat that not only got the cream, but some tasty feline pussy too! Sampling every aspect of metal's illustrious and varied history from death to glam, COB have always been an entry level band for those looking to delve into a more extreme form of music: welding heaviness with pop sensibilities, they ride the listener through their particular brand of hyperactive madness with a sense of pure joy. This is metal which is aggressive, but not oppressive; heavy, but not harrowing. With Matt Hyde's crisp and crunchy production and that fact that - in contrast to their previous two studio outings - there's not much fat or filler here, we have a very good piece of modern metal.

'Not My Funeral' is pure power metal. Think Helloween for the 21st century. Hyperactive riffs switch and twist the song around in a sound which dabbles in keyboards and melodic vocal lines. The band have always been at their best when playing fast and things are no different this time out: 'Ugly' is a ghoolish tune which arrives with neck-snapping pace and dazzling energy, and 'Northpole Throwdown' is music to crash your car too. The standout feature of the band has always been the epic guitar work of Alex Laiho and Roope Latvala (check out 'Pussy Fott Miss Suicide' and 'Shovel Knockout'.) They cement their status here as the Downing and Tipton of modern metal.

Are there many classic songs here? Probably not. But 'Relentless Reckless Forever' works as an album and - like COB's earliest work - we might still be talking about it a decade down the line. Bang thy head.

binnie

06-06-2011, 06:24 PM

From the vaults: Garbage - Version 2.0

Garbage were one those bands who never really fitted in: not Brit Pop, not post-grunge, and not out and out rock, their heady brew of scuzzy guitars, samples and the saccarine-menace of Shirley Manson's vocals made for a danceable but oddly dark slice of industrial pop. Despite the unique nature of the music, it was really Manson's voice that sold it: sexy, menacing, vulnerable and honest, for all the production sheen, her emotion shone through. Whether its the fractured beauty and glistening saddness of 'Medication', the lush siren-call of alt.rock perfection of 'Push It', the stomp of 'Wicked Ways' or the twisted, nasty slab of a love song which is 'I think I'm Paranoid', her uncluttered and under-cooked vocal sticks it to ya. Sure, not everything here has aged well - the clunky electronica of 'Harmony In My Head' and 'Dumb' sound their age, for example - but this is still the sound of a band skewing the left-of-field into the centre ground. Pop darkness from Butch Vig anyone?

binnie

06-06-2011, 06:36 PM

Annihilator - Annilhator

Album number 246 from Jeff Waters and his revolving crew of metal junkies builds on the momentum of decent records they've put out inthe past decade or so, but its heavier and more aggressive. In fact, if truth be told this is one hell of a metal record that should have been hyped to hell but runs the risk of falling by the wayside. In many respects, the same could be said of Annihilator's entire career: they say Megadeth 's 'Rust In Peace' was ground zero for speed metal, but Annihilators 'Alice In Hell' might be a better place to start. Like Overkill, it seems that Jeff Waters might never get the respect he deserves.

Opener 'The trend' allows 2 minutes of riffage before we even hear a vocal and is essentially a thrash-tastic piece of speed metal with a bitchin' hook. It sets the scene for the rest of the disc: the playing here is exceptional, huliking Hetfield riffs and technically dazzling - but eviscerating - solos boom out of the speakers. 'Ther Other Side'; is anthemic, and deserves to be a live stalwart; 'Payback' is crushing; and on '25 Seconds' the band give us a slab of 21st century metal in all of its disjointed, screamy, atmospheric glory. With all this on show, we can almost forgive the rather clunky version of Van Halen's 'Romeo's Delight'.

In the past, Waters has often been guilty of over-thinking songs and records rather than just playing 'em. This is none stop balls out metal. Forget Forbidden, Forget Death Angel, forget Kreator and forgewhat's left of Exodus: the thrash revival starts here mothertruckers!

binnie

06-14-2011, 05:23 PM

Sylosis - Edge of the Earth

This is something special. Really, really special. It may be as good a slab of 21st century metal as you're likely to hear: aggressive, passionate, technically flabbergasting, progressive and yet flat our rocking, these guys have really cooked up something.............special. In Josh Middleton we may have the next metal guitar hero (the new Mustaine?): smokingly fast, precise riffage, dazzling solos and thoughtful, stirring tonal work allow this record to soar well above the oh-so-angry run of the mill metal. There is a maelstrom of stlyes here. The bedrock is progressive thrash for sure, but we also get hardcore vocals, medolic interludes, complex arrangements and emotive, thoughtful lyrics. Whether its the slow burn of the seething and symphonic opener 'Procession', the 'fuck me!' riffage of 'Kingdom of Solitude', the sheer biblical fury of 'Dystopia' or the masterful, elegant and sinewey birth of 'Empyreal', the quality here is staggering. It's the songs the sparkle - just when you thought extreme metal was getting cluttered, stale and cliched, Sylosis point the way forward, combining the progression of Mastodon and Gojira with the immediate face-melting power of old school metal.

What stops this record short of being a classic, however, is its length: 72 minutes makes for a punishing listen with music of this intensity, and you can't help thinking that editing a few of the tunes would have made the whole more impactful ('Sands of Time', for example, is much closer to peers like Chimera than anything else here). You can forgive them wanting to show off, though. When you can write something as bollock-achingly brilliant as 'A Serpent's Tongue' - perhaps the most conventional, and concise, tune here - then you would wail about it too. Not an easy listen, but an important one. All hail the new kings!!!!

binnie

06-14-2011, 05:32 PM

Trap Them - Darker Handicraft

A black cover. 11 mat black pages. A single phrase in white letters - 'where there is no light, there is chaos'. Rarely has artwork summarized an aesthetic so clinically. Trap Them deliver 31 punishing minutes of sheer damage. Part of you will be tucked into a corner of the room, knees up to your chest, willing it to stop; the rest will be yearning for more; and ALL of you will react, because music can rarely make you feel so alive and so desperate.

Hardcore with no pretense, no scense and no gimmicky chain-gang choruses and breakdowns, this is epic. Bass-heavy and driven by tort guitar riffage, this is a more muscular sound than you might expect from something so immersed in punk. Brian Izzi is something of a genius on guitar - the sheer pressence of his pneumatic playing and dark, burnt tones is frankly staggering and makes Trap Them sound evil. Check out 'Evictionaries' is you don't believe me. 'The Facts' and 'Slumcult and Gather' sound like Entombed on speed; and there simply are no superlatives to describe how downright nasty 'Damage Prose' is. Even when they slow the pace they stagger - 'Drag the Wounds Eternal' is a disjointed, pulsating harpy hovering over the room in which you listen to it.

This is the best record I've heard in 2011 so far.

binnie

06-15-2011, 06:18 PM

The King Blues - Punk & Poetry

This is a remarkable piece of work for 2 reasons. Firstly, it features songs written with charisma, bite and irony about subjects that matter: the recession, broken Britain, pornography, feminism and fatherhood. It does so in an intelligent and frank manner, in a manner we haven't really seen since Ian Dury. Secondly, this is a British punk album through and through - gritty, grimey, blunt, uncomfortable and hostile - but one which eschews the trappings of nostaliga and limitations of emulation in favour of a unique sound spiced with the ethos of The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and Sham 69, if not their methods. Take 'Shooting Fascists': a typical subject for classic punk fodder, played on........................................a ukuele. Talk about over-turning expectations! And so it is with the rest of this record. There are loud guitars, but they are mixed with reggae, dub, trip hop and pure pop. The references range from The Prodigy at their most nihilistic to Prince to Rage Against The Machine. This really is 'urban' music in an its grit and drizzle. It is also dazzlingly ambitious.

Vocalist Johnny 'Itch' Fox - with London working class swagger - could surely be the voice of a disenfranchised generation. You'd much rather your 15 year old kid was listening to something as expressive and provacative as this rather than that chap called Kanye. 3 albums in prove that this young guy is no one-trick poney. Angry, but not despondant, the songs always come first here. 'We Are Fucking Angry', 'The Future's Not What It Used To Be' and 'Shampoo' are remarkable achivements - concise, curiously understated, and containing their anger within a sense of melody and bounce. It's a little over-polished in places, which robs some of the songs of their bite, but The King Blues really do deserve to be a phenomenon.

binnie

06-20-2011, 05:36 PM

From the vaults: Hatebreed - The Rise of Brutality (2003)

'Every drop of blood
Every bitter tear
Every bead of sweat
I Live for this.'

Pretty much sums it up. You'll hear bands with better songs, better playing, and with a damn sight more to say. But rarely will you hear one with more passion. Hatebreed's brand of metal and hardcore is based around 2 minute songs ripped to their fighting weight and void of flab. Unlike the wealth of 'metalcore' which followed, there are no preening melodic verses and oh-so-wearisome breakdowns here. This is music devoid of affectation: gang vocals, simple riffs, simple beats and simple ideas stripped back to their essence and played with balls. Finese? Forget about it - these are guys who live for the music and rarely get paid, guys who are fans first and rock stars second.

If you had to distill Hatebreed to their essence, you'd find that they were about overcoming, about the positive application of aggression, not whiny angst. With the rumble of 'Doomsayer', the vitriol of 'Facing What Consumes You' and brutality of 'Confide in No One', what we have here is something which is crushing but ultimately uplifiting. Equally enjoyable for fans of Devildriver as well as the Cro Mags, this is the sound of a band on fire: it's just a shame that so many bands ripped the balls out of the welding of metal and hardcore.

binnie

06-20-2011, 05:53 PM

From the vaults: The Cult - Love (1985)

Listening to 'Brother Wolf, Sister Moon' you have to wonder why anyone bothered to get into hair metal in the '80s. That tune is more moving in its subtelty that 1000 power ballads. Where most '80s bands were staccato, the Cult swayed and floated freely, assaulting the listener with a rich texture of glorious chords, riffs and dark, pulsating melodies. It's unapologetically flamboyant stuff, and a soaring middle finger to the post-punk snobbery rife in the UK at the time. Take the delicate power of 'Nirvana', a tune which welds the sexual urges of late '60s blues rock with the esotericness of The Cure and spices it with eastern influences; the timeless 'She Sells Sanctuary', a glorious, howling lament of entrapment and temptation; or the acid-fuelled pulse of 'Love', which is the aural equivalent of being engulfed by a bursting sun. It's welding of Doors-esque psychedelia and Zeppelin-fuelled riffery with the post-punk and new wave arrangements of the early '80s is almost symphonic in places, most noticeably on the efforvescent ballad 'Revolution' or the beautiful closer 'Black Angel'. What The Cult achieved here is substance without pretense, depth without being over-bearing.

It's a long way from the albums for which The Cult are best known: the pure, stripped down abandon of 'Electric' and the pomp rock grandiose of 'Sonic Temple'. In my opinion, however, The Cult were always at their most powerful when at their most ethereal. Beautiful, dark, shimmering and sonorous - and in the age of Bon Jovi, too.

sadaist

06-20-2011, 06:51 PM

From the vaults: The Cult - Love (1985)

Excellent.

The Cult was that one band that metal heads & new wavers both were listening to. They were above being put in any specific category or genre. So fucking talented. It's not something I can listen to every day for a year like a VH album, but it's definitely time to dust those cd's off. Thanks Binn!

binnie

06-21-2011, 05:33 PM

From the vaults: Exhorder - The Law (1992)

Popular wisdom suggests that the first wave of a musical genre is generally substantially better than those that follow. Exhorder offer one of history's exceptions. This 3rd wave thrash band released two classic - and I mean CLASSIC - albums: 'Slaughter In The Vatican' and 'The Law'. They stand up there with the likes of Testament, Death Angel, Exodus or Forbidden. What Exhorder added was a burst of new ideas, and a variety on the classic sound. The guitar sound here is rich and muscular, with plenty of bottom end to beef-up the sound; and Kyle Thomas's groove-ridden, soulful vocals have since been hugely influential - you can tell Phil Anselmo was listening.

What Exhorder realized is that speed doesn't necessarily equal power. Mixing extremes of tempos (death-defyingly fast with skull-numbingly slow) added dexterity and crunch to the songs and is a pattern which so many bands have emulated in subsequent years (most noticeably Machine Head, who have perfected it). With so much groove, power and crunch, comparrisons with Pantera are obvious. Exhorder certainly didn't have the songs to punch with that band; nor did they have the guitar pyrotechnics; but - as the likes of '(Cadence of) The Dirge' demonstrated - they did have the power. The heaviness here is oppressive. Opener 'Soul Searching' is bestial and savage, and could trade blows with anything any heavy band have put out in the last 20 years; and the leaden cover of Sabbath's 'Into The Void' is the sound of heavy being re-defined. In 1992 this was the sound of a game being upped. Metallica had taken metal into the mainstream; Megadeth were intent on making it more technical; and Anthrax were evolving away from their thrash roots. With Exodus, Forbidden, Death Angel and Possessed all having produced their best work, the unbriddled fury which had characterized thrash metal was in danger of passing. Exhorder played a significant role in keeping metal uncomplicated and powerful, and as a watershed album this remains pivotal.

Perhaps 'The Law' was not as complete a record as 'Slaughter....' In truth, their are too many ideas - both musically and lyrically - in some of these songs, a fact which prevents them gelling as compositions. But when it all comes together, like on the title cut or 'Unforgiven', it is quite special. Meat and potatoes metal subject matter such as anti-religion and corrupt society are considered in the lyrics, but they sit alongside other subjects - namely morality and mortality - which show a band striving to push boundaries. Sometimes Thomas reaches for profound and grabs purple, but the ambition is admirable. Kyle Thomas might be metal's forgotten man. Alongside Exhorder, he handled vocals in another chronically underrated band: Floodgate. Both deserve your attention.

binnie

06-21-2011, 05:54 PM

Sodom - War and Pieces.

The latest album from Germany's other great metal band proves two things: firstly, that some old bands really can recapture former glories; and, secondly, that Germans do have a sense of humour - the band's website is www.sodomized.info!

What makes Sodom great is that they don't overcomplicate anything. They don't make music to dazzle technicians. They make it to kick your head in! This arises from a 3 piece sound, with power coming in slabs of thick, chunky riffage, power chords, and bass driven rumble. The opening title cut is classic thrash spiced with melody and a subtle sense of groove. 'Hellfire' and 'Storm Raging On' hammer along with a furious intensity, whilst 'Through Toxic Veins' alternates from the melodic and intricate to flat out slamming metal and 'God Bless You' is part power-ballad, and part anthem. The vocals here work well - not growled or grunted - but not sung either, they fit in perfectly with Sodom's empowering and grizzly aesthetic. They serve to add a sense of continuity to the compositions.

What surprises most is the quantity of the quality. There are no duds here - 'Nothing Counts More Than Blood', 'Styptic Parasite', 'Feigned Death Throes' - this album just does not let up. A second disc of a live performance from the Wacken festival in 2007 serves to show that this new record stands up to Sodom's classic record. In this sense 'War and Pieces' goes some way to diminish the sense of disappointment which has greated the 'thrash revival' of recent years. These old dogs still have plenty of bite.

rocking ron

06-21-2011, 07:23 PM

Does anyone hear the new SAXON cd named CALL TO ARMS ????

This British NWOBHM-band with frontman Biff Byford came up this month with their 20st?? studio album.

They also have a lot of live and best of.. albums in their catalogue.

Call to Arms do have that 80's vibe, when you listen to this it reminds you a little to some albums they've made in the 80's like Denim & Leather, Crusader and Destiny!!

Including this cd you get a 2nd disc (cd) with live stuff from their first show ever at Donington 1980!!!!

As good as begin 80's with the albums "Wheels of Steel" and their best one ever "Strong Arm of the Law" it will never gets again but "Call to Arms" is a fair Saxon album

and will not disapoint the die hard Saxon fan!!

Saxon is a real live band, I saw them in 1981 for the first time and totally I think 5 or 6 times. Also met the band after a show during a 'meet and greet'!!

Best songs on CALL TO ARMS : Hammer of the Gods - Back in '79 - Call to Arms.

Note : the song 'Back in '79' do have background-vocals from 60 or 70 Saxon fans!!!!

binnie

06-22-2011, 03:46 PM

That's good to know Ron, as I've just bought 'Call To Arms'. I've not listened to it yet, but I'm looking forward to it now!

rocking ron

06-22-2011, 05:22 PM

Please let me know if you like this one, and when you've got interest in bootlegs from this band just let me know 'cause I have over 40 'boots' ( cd's & dvd's ) from this great band!!

"And the bands played on"!!!

binnie

06-22-2011, 05:58 PM

Black Breath - Heavy Breathing

Purified metal. Nothing more. Nothing less. Black Breath sound like a cross between The Entombed's death 'n' roll and DRI's hardcore thrash hybrid. A blitzkrieg of dark, early thrash is welded to steel girder riffs forged in hell by some behemoth and propped up by bowel-churning bass lines. The essence here is Venom, Motorhead and The Cro-Mags. It is a LOT of fun, and it's primitive and primal - this is metal not for the naval-gazing techno-geeks, but those who like it raw and dirty. Sure, it sounds like it was recorded in a bunker. But that adds to the atmosphere. As does the fact that they're not taking themselves too seriously: songs about cartoon Satanism, the undead and oral sex with a witch take you back to a time when Mercyful Fate were cool. Most importantly, however, is the fact that Black Breath sound like a BAND: a tight, powerful, unit intent on smashing and wrecking. With songs as good as the stupidly heavy 'I Am Beyond' and 'Black Sin (Spit on the Cross)', anyone in their wake should be scared.

binnie

06-22-2011, 06:18 PM

From the vaults: Mudhoney - Under a Billion Suns (2006)

This, in my opinion, is the secret gem in Mudhoney's back catalogue. When the shuffling beats, horns, sombre guitar and downbeat psychedelia of 'Where Is The Future' welcome you into this wearisome journey of lost love, broken ambition and stoner dystopia, you know we're a long way from the power-riffing, free-flowing heaviness of 'Superfuzz Big Muff', the album that broke Mudhoney to the grunge generation. Sure, the appeal isn't as immediate - but growth is the signature of a great band.

The songs here have menace without machismo; power without pomposity. The sound is spare, honest and crackling with dirtworn sincerity. The edges are blunt, but there is an edge - a dark, carefree edge - nonetheless. The songs are perfectly composed around near perfect conceits. 'I Saw The Light' is a perfect example:

'You went down like a nuclear bomb
I saw a flash and bang you were gone

I saw the Light
I saw the Light
It devoured the sky, burned out my eyes
I saw the light

We leveled cities for miles around
Making love on the smoldering ground

Like radiation, love lingers on
Long after the damage is done'

A simple metaphor. But dazzling in its power - when combined with the disenchanted blues which makes up the song's music, the effect is yearning, like someone drowning in air. 'It Is Us' is '50s rock with pschoville menace and claustrophobic impact. 'Endless Yesterday' is a wonderfully understated, heart-wrenching balladry; whilst, converesly, 'Lets Drop In' provides the kind of loose chaos that evokes the early Alice Cooper Band at its most fractured. This is quite a collection of songs: heavy, and emotive, but also dark. Thus the humour on 'Hard On For War' - in which an old patriot explains that his warmongering ways are just a cloak to leave the young girls free of young guys ('Its Our patriotic duty to make love tonight). Genius.

Mudhoney have been heavier. They've rocked harder. And they've made more influential albums. But they've rarely been more perfect.

binnie

06-27-2011, 05:32 PM

From the vaults: The Scorpions - Love At First Sting (1984)

In terms of success, the Scorpions were probably at their pinnacle on this record, but for me it is the point at which they began to lose their mojo. The point at which their sound became Americanized (read: simplified and overplayed) and more 'hooky' - traits which proved disastrous for Saxon, but which ultimately worked wonder for The Scorps bank accounts. It's a good record for its time, no question. 'Big City Nights' and 'Bad Boys Running' both feature punchy riffs, plenty of guitar hystrionics and the sort of choruses big enough to smash themselves into your cranium. So far, so '80s. Hell, we even have the 'classic' 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' a song fist-chompingly awful in its cringe-worthy ode to blow jobs: sure, it's a lot of fun, but what separates bone-headed (geddit?) moments like this from truly great rock 'n' roll debauchery is subtlety and tease (its the difference, say, between Bon Scott and Brian Johnson).

In the over-production of the time, the dirty, rough 'n' ready, rock 'n' roll piledrivers which made up 'Virgin Killer', 'Blackout' and 'Lovedrive' were long gone. There are some glorious moments, however: 'I'M Leaving You' is infectious in its Cheap Trick melodies; 'Still Loving You' is a power ballad with feel rather than saccahirine sentimentality; and 'Coming Home' alternates from heartfelt to hedonistic on the spin of a dime. It's just a shame that these songs are packaged alongside blatent filler like 'The Same Thrill' (rampant but aimless) and 'As Soon As the Good Time Roll' (in which ideas are stretched thinner than spandex).

The Scorpions are - no arguements please - one the greatest hard rock bands. I don't think we realize how much we'll miss them when they're gone. But, just like Judas Priest, it's the albums they made on the way up the mountain that contain their best work, not the ones which sold the most or scorred them the most chicks. 'Love At First Sting' is very much of its time, rather than timeless. It takes you back to a time when rock 'n' roll was about fun, pure and unadulterated. But it also leaves you curiously unsatisfied - you want bite, rather than sting. You also want a shot at the girl on the cover.

binnie

06-27-2011, 05:47 PM

From the vaults: Diamond Head - Death & Progress (1993)

Few bands have been so influential and sold few records. Few have also been given more second chances. We all know about Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield and Dave Mustaine. But it might argued that, in reality, their fanboy obsession with Diamond Head has given the band a larger place on metal history than they really deserve. No-one could fail to be impressed with the 'White Album' and 'Borrowed Time', but DH sure burned out quickly after that. 'Death & Progress' is a case in point. It's not that there's anything fundamentally wrong with these songs. Indeed, for the most part they're well produced, well written, well played and, well, solid. It's just that they're not exciting. They plod and don't seem to contain any sense of yearning. You get the sense of a band experimenting - with sounds, with tones and textures, with the boundaries of what it was acceptable for rock to be in the 'grunge' era - but at heart, this is fundamentally conservative. We get a lot of Deep Purple. And not good Deep Purple. The fat, pony-tailed, chino wearing mid-80s Deep Purple. A lesson in choosing your muses carefully.

Its starts off well though. 'Starcrossed (Lovers Of the Night)' is easily the best thing here. Somewhere between Judas Priest and Led Zepp, its epic vocal and sleazy riff remind you why you loved this band in the first place. There are some interesting moments, too. 'Truckin' - depsite a rather purple set of lyrics - is expansive, open and poweful. But there are also moments of crippling mediocricy. 'I Can't Help Myself' is preening and pretentious blues rock that would have sat happily alongside Inxs or The Spin Doctors; and 'Calling Your Name (the Light)' and 'Run' try to combine Robert Plant's esotericness with Bon Jovi's hookiness. At that about sums it up. Like the band's previous outing - 'Canterbury', in which they had tried to marry prog and pop - 'Death & Progress' is the sound of a band which doesn't know what it wants to be.

In one respect though, you've got to respect DH for making it. In 1993 when the bands that idolized them were selling millions of records, it would have been easy for DH to have made a ballsy, but ultimately contrived, metal record. It would have been the obvious - and probably the sensible - thing to do. But, they opted to make the record that was inside them. It's just a shame that they weren't all pulling in the same direction; and that their second bite at the cherry came too late. For, in spite of everything, this is ultimately the sound of a band which sounded old. Plenty of death, but not a lot of progress.

rocking ron

06-27-2011, 07:19 PM

The Scorpions are a great band, I've 'followed' them from the LP - 'BLACKOUT' (1980) and the album LOVE AT FIRST STING is also a classic one I think but BLACKOUT is my most

favourite 'Scorps' album!!

I also like their LIVE album "WORLD WIDE LIVE" and the studio album SAVAGE AMUSEMENTS (1988) , yeah I know... very very commercial, (too) soft etc.. but it takes you back

to those 'funny' eighties and put a smile on your face :)

And what they did very well was making ballads, a few of them became big hits everywhere on the planet and made them famouse!!

I don't like those songs at all and only listen to their 'heavy' stuff!!! :killer:

binnie

06-28-2011, 04:06 AM

World Wide Live is a great, great album.

rocking ron

06-28-2011, 04:22 PM

World Wide Live is a great, great album.

Yes it is for sure a very good album!!

From Diamond Head I only know the first album 'Lightning to the Nations' what was a typycal NWOBHM-album , at that time it sounded great but when you listen too it now it sounds a little 'poor' because of the ( thin ) production!!

binnie

06-28-2011, 05:13 PM

There's no denying that the first two Diamond Head albums were pivotal releases for Heavy Metal. They've not aged well, though.

binnie

06-28-2011, 05:23 PM

From the vaults: Pig Iron - The Paths of Glory (2007)

The name says it all. These tunes are raw, thickset, and HEAVY, taking shape amidst the rubble of jamming. Voracious vocals sit over big Sabbath and Kyuss riffs which rumble with the distant thunder of a forgery. Somewhere low down here Budgie and the Edgar Broughton band are burried, scrambling around to gather their component parts. Sure, its nothing you haven't heard before. Indeed, Pig Iron are from the Saxon school of sophistication: brawn beats up subtlety; power kicks the shit out of pinnache. This is cave man metal for homo erectus, a primitive war lord bellowing to the troops of the metal present to take forth the standard. Black Label Society would kill to sound this vibrant. It's glorious in its limitaions. Despite the ill-advised Skynrdisms of 'Lord Kill The Pain', the free form exploration of the limits of riffs which make up '....And the Bodies Fall' (a behemoth 'n' roll), 'Another Mule' and 'Son Of A Bitch' (a twisted blues assault) deserve your attention.

binnie

06-28-2011, 05:36 PM

Soulfly - Omen

Where so much metal looks for power in dazzling complexity, Max Cavalera finds it in blunt force trauma. 'Omen' - album no. 7 from his post Sepultura band - eschews the world music and tribal dabblings of Soulfly's history in favour of some straight ahead, uncluttered and uncomplicated free flowing riffed out fury. Opener 'Bloodbath & Beyond' sums it up: punk rock fury smashing into Maiden-esque melodies as Max's gutteral yelps soar over the top.

It's a patchy affair, mind. Moments of pure brilliance are tempered with those of flabby mediocrity unworthy of the name Cavalera. The school boy gore of 'Jeffrey Dahmer' and 'Off With Their Heads' feel rushed and undercooked. Despite its unimaginative title and subject matter (Nostradamus), however, 'Mega Doom' is a brutal composition of riffage and time changes; and what 'Lethal Injection' lacks in lyrical subtelty it makes up for in the power of its composition. Cavalera here re-discovers the furious rage of his youth. 'Great Depression' could have been on Sepultura's 'Beneath The Remains', whilst 'Rise of The Fallen' (featuring Dillinger Escape Plan's Greg Puciato ripping up the vocals) possesses and immense groove and a huge, Killing Joke-esque chorus. Like Sepultura or Soulfly at their best, 'Omen' captures the essence of Discharge smashing into Motorhead - 'Vulture Culture' and 'Kingdom' are cases in point.

Is it a classic? Probably not. Is it Max's best work? Not by a long, long way. But it reminds us of what Max Cavalera has given to metal over the past 25 years. Has anyone done more to open it up? Whether it be knocking the Anglo-American bias off kilter, injecting a furious sense of politics and protest into the fold, the utilization of unconventional rhythms, or the smashing of hardcore into metal, Cavalera has always been a delight to listen to in what ever form he chooses to 'fuck shit up'.

binnie

07-04-2011, 05:59 PM

Saxon - Call To Arms.

There's a case to be made that the albums which NWOBHM bands are making 30 years after their heyday are - if not the most important - then certainly most consistent of their careers. Saxon make that case as strongly here as they have done on 'Lionheart' and 'Into The Labyrinth'. They do it, however, with a different approach. Gone are the hystrionics, the modern metal twists and the 'heavier than everything' approach to songwriting. In their place is a more hard rock, anthemic and hook orientated style of song craft and it works in their favour. This album recalls a time when metal was fun. Slippery, snakebite riffs, big chrouses, defiant lyrics and screeching solos all add up to make a heady brew of anthems which just keep on coming: 'Surviving Against the Odds', 'Chasing the Bullet'. 'Ballad of a Working Man'......it's relentless. The more epic touches like 'Mist of Avalon' (about King Arthur) recal '747 (Strangers In the Night)', and act as proof that Saxon have a hookier, romantic and even (dare we say it) whimsical side. 'When Doomsday Comes', by way of contrast, is a near perfect piece of polished power metal. Biff's vocals have developed a rasp with age, which only adds to their charm, and the whole record has a vintage feel without ever slipping into sentimental. Sure, 'Afterburner' is shit, but it wouldn't be a Saxon record without a dud.......

BANG THY HEAD!

rocking ron

07-08-2011, 06:50 PM

Call to Arms is a good Saxon album like
I've said before !!:baaa:

But for me personally the 3 best Saxon albums are still : STRONG ARM OF THE LAW = DENIM & LEATHER = POWER & THE GLORY

and ofcourse Crusader was a nice album what means that they've had their highlights from beginning till half time 80's !!!

But I hope they will go on 4 many years and "never surrender":sign0011:

binnie

07-11-2011, 12:33 PM

You rate 'Power & Glory' over 'Wheels of Steel'?

rocking ron

07-13-2011, 06:57 PM

Wheels of Steel is also a killer album and I almost forgot how many good songs it contains ( and they still play live ) and having less 'fillers' then P & the G !!

But the song Power & the Glory is still my all-time favourite Saxon one and I like the production/sound more on this album and have seen them live during that tour so maybe this is the reason that P & the G has more impact for me personally but okay, I give both a 9 on a scale from 10:baaa:

binnie

07-14-2011, 03:40 PM

Michael Monroe – Sensory Overdrive
With a band featuring Steve Conte (New York Dolls), Sami Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks) and Ginger (The Wildhearts), this was always going to be cooler than John Travolta’s favourite dancing shoes. And cool it is. An arsenal of Ginger-penned songs sparkle with pop-rock genius. Uncluttered with ego and frills, the ingredients are few and perfectly balanced: fuck-off riffs, silky choruses and performances which sizzle and crackle with all the fire of ageing desperadoes kicking the crap out of the last chance saloon. Jack Douglas’s raw production plays to the power of that simplicity, and he’s extracted the best vocal performance from Monroe since Hanoi’s glory days – THAT voice is punkier, raspier in its tones, with Monroe barking the lyrics and eschewing the more effeminate end of his delivery. ‘Got Blood’ is a furious rock ‘n’ roller cooked in eternal piss ‘n’ vinegar; ‘Later Won’t Wait’ is Cheap Trick in a bar brawl; and ‘78’ has an old-skool punk bite which only guys who couldn’t give a flying fuck whether you take ‘em or leave ‘em could pull off. But it’s the opening and closing tracks which really kill: ‘Trick of the Wrist’ – with its bulldozer bass and slippery chorus – is the grizzly swansong of an ageing rock God; and mixing Lemmy with Monroe on ‘Debauchery on a Fine Art’ is like tattooing BADASS on your forehead and breaking anyone who gets in your way. You’ll not here a more fun record this year.

binnie

07-14-2011, 03:57 PM

More on the way.

I'm re-listening to something right now which is fucking incredible.

rocking ron

07-14-2011, 08:13 PM

Is "Sensory Overdrive" a better one than "Not fakin' it" and "Life gets you dirty" in your opinion ???

I love that (cover)song he did with Axl Rose (G'n'R) from the "Spaghetti Incident"album : ÁIN'T IT FUN'', and ofcourse some stuff he did with Hanoi Rocks!!!:)

hotsummerknight

07-15-2011, 12:32 PM

There's no denying that the first two Diamond Head albums were pivotal releases for Heavy Metal. They've not aged well, though.

i disagree .. "Living on .. Borrowed Time" still sounds great. It's been more or less a permanent fixture in my car's cd changer the last few months.

binnie

07-15-2011, 01:32 PM

Is "Sensory Overdrive" a better one than "Not fakin' it" and "Life gets you dirty" in your opinion ???

Yes. It's more consistent and flat out rocks harder.

binnie

07-15-2011, 01:35 PM

i disagree .. "Living on .. Borrowed Time" still sounds great. It's been more or less a permanent fixture in my car's cd changer the last few months.

Like I said, they were good albums. Important albums. But they sound chronically dated today - the production is ropey at best.

I'm a big DH fan - I saw them last weekend. But there's the myth around them which claims that they should have been huge and misfortune got in the way. I think that's crap - the reason that Maiden. Motorhead and other '80s bands got bigger is largely because they were better. If Lars Ulrich hadn;t been a big DH fan, they'd be little more than a footnote these days - although they made some very, very good music, they've been elevated to greatness by the attention lavished on them by Metallica.

rocking ron

07-15-2011, 05:43 PM

I agree bands like Maiden, Motorhead etc are better than Diamond Head but it has also to do with a little luck, I mean good producer,management, support act of 'big'bands , festivals and time period ,

especially 'time period' for example when David Lee Roth had brought out the album "A little ain't enough" in 1989 instead of 1991 with grunge upcoming it would have been a million-seller!!!

But..if....:luck:

binnie

07-15-2011, 07:15 PM

Hate Eternal – Phoenix Amongst The Ashes

You can’t headbang to this. You probably couldn’t mosh to it. And you CERTAINLY couldn’t dance to it. There is little in the way of constant rhythm in this sensory deprivation. Hate Eternal are the musical equivalent of a black hole, punishing the listener and destroying emotions. And yet, their music is utterly compelling, existing for extremity’s sake and plundering the depths of humanity’s darkness without puerile glorification. This is death metal of the most brutal variety. But Hate Eternal show how divergent that genre can be: ‘Thorns of Acacia’ harks to death metal’s heritage, sampling Bathory, Possessed and Morbid Angel in an epic of collage of riffs and relentless aggression; whilst ‘Haunting Abound’ is discordant, based around short, pulverising riffs and oft-kilter time signatures which make for a viscous, swampy sound – both are a stark contrast to ‘The Eternal Ruler’, which cuts through the air at an unnerving speed. Powerful, bleak and desperate, this is a claustrophobic listen – the blast beat frenzy of ‘The Arts of Redemption’ is punishing, but it is the title track, which sounds like a song ingesting itself, where you realize the dark genius at work here.
At 41 minutes, Hate Eternal are clearly aware that this music is overbearing. It’s an impressively confident deliverer of extremity. Not a paradigm shifter, but a near perfect slab of death metal with the genre’s 25 year history in mind and its future in sight. Where so many reach for dazzling complexity and polish away their power, or diminish the shock value of their music with a relentless gore fetish, Hate Eternal here make a calculated, yet raw, barrage of brutality which never veers close to the ridiculous.

binnie

07-15-2011, 07:16 PM

From the vaults: Iron Maiden – Somewhere in Time (1986)

This has always been the ‘odd’ album in Maiden’s catalogue. A much more ‘up’ album than what had come before, and featuring not only synths but a curiously light-weight guitar sound in places, ‘Somewhere….’ was in many ways an album of its time. In hindsight, Maiden’s urge to mix things up a little is understandable. Following the relentless album-tour-album cycle – which had culminated in the epic world tour for the ‘Powerslave’ record – you can see how an artist would like to avoid repeating themselves, and how success could encourage the ego to let the creative juices flow.

The result is a rather odd collection of songs, rather than an album. Moments of genius are interspersed with mediocrity. ‘Sea Of Madness’, with its awkward twists and turns, sounds like a pop song wrestling to escape a metal bag; and ‘Deja-Vu’ sounds like a Maiden covers band who decided to write their own material. But there are some moments on true inspiration, mostly thanks to Adrian Smith: ‘Wasted Years’ is simpler (and consequently more powerful) than much of Maiden’s catalogue, a hookier song which sees heavy metal preaching to the lost around an infectious guitar melody. ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ is an emotive piece which uses delicate synths to create a subdued vibe around this tale of a brooding outlaw. ‘Caught Somewhere In Time’ is also something of a lost classic: featuring Maiden in full gallop, its glorious hook and chunky riff kicks the album off with a nod to the band’s own heritage. Beautiful.

The sad thing is that the other tunes just don’t gell with these compositions. There is nothing much wrong with Harris’s ‘Alexander The Great’. Its epic narrative and monstrous heaviosity are very Maiden, but its feels cumbersome and out of place, a ghost from Maiden’s past in a record which was reaching towards their future. Perhaps this level of individual band members penning tunes was a sign of the beginning of the end, a sign of artists pulling in different directions. Whatever the case, the result was an album that was far from the Maiden of the early ‘80s: no more the behemoth bellowing metal, the mood was more celebratory of their iconic status (even the artwork referenced their illustrious career) as they experimented with pastures poppy. This was the sound of a band in the twilight of their prime, and perhaps lacking the focus of their ride to the top.

binnie

07-16-2011, 01:23 PM

From the vaults: Biohazard – Urban Discipline (1992)

Years before Evan Seinfeld married a porn star; years before nu metal welded metal and hip hop in a more trite and annoying manner; and years before they all started to look like a pack of faded gigolos, Biohazard were a sheer powerhouse of a band, and one which roared. The kids playing in the chalk outline of a murder victim on the cover artwork say it all – this was ‘urban’ music in the true sense of the word, broken, wounded and angry. Biohazard’s songs sacrificed form for content and sounded as sophisticated as the concrete on which they were reared. Hardcore, metal, gang vocals and hulking riffs smash together in a sound that does not let up: pure warts ‘n’ all blue-collar music from the school of hard knocks and broken teeth.

‘Black & White and Red All Over’ is a tsunami, the classic title-track is riotous, and ‘We’re Only Gonna Die’ is a glorious punk hyped up on steroids. 20 years on, the stench of nu metal has tainted any amalgam of metal and hip hop – but the sheer cry of desperation and end of the line frustration in the likes of ‘Punishment’ has an appeal which in universal rather than exclusive to the Bronx. Sure, it’s undercooked here and there, and overlong. But Biohazard were a lot more than we remember them for.

binnie

07-16-2011, 01:23 PM

From the vaults: Face Down – The Twisted Rule the Wicked (1997)

This record was a world away from the sounds which ruled heavy music in the mid-90s. Bass-heavy, rawkier, and blending shades on industrial and thrash, Face Down were a long way from the emerging strains of nu metal, and in many ways were pushing the boundary a lot more than Pantera or Sepultura, both of whom were riding high at the time. The result was a powerhouse: the misanthropic lyrical fodder which makes up most metal records given a sense of pure joyous abandon by the crushing, tank-like battery of the band beneath it. The one-guitar line-up allowing for looseness amidst the staccato sea of their peers.

With its stop-start riff, ‘Self Appointed God’ is reminiscent of White Zombie, whilst ‘Waste’ hints at Prong. ‘Slender Messiah’ is a lost ‘90s classic, its blustering riffage and drum battery making a wall of sound which blasts from the speakers. There is a lot to love here: ‘Dead Breed’, ‘Cleansweep’ and ‘For Your Misery’ are all rolling-thunder metal which glory in leaving their edges rough where many of Face Down’s Scandinavian peers revel in being over precise.

In truth, the songs lack the nuances of 1994’s ‘Mindfield’ (the band’s masterpiece). And it’s true that there are some clunkers – on ‘Life Relentless’, for example, Marco Aro appears to be singing a different song to the one his band are playing. But it you’re seeking out a metal assault which is utterly aggressive without ever being oppressive, then you’d do a lot worse than starting your search here.

binnie

07-18-2011, 06:38 PM

Revoker – Revenge For The Ruthless

As metal has become more extreme, it has also become more earnest. The ‘worth’ of a band in many modern circles is often judged not only by how far they steer away from conventional ‘pop’ song structures and length, but also by how emotionally impactful they are and how seriously they take ennui. And that, in many ways, is fine – indeed, progression is essential to evolution.

Revoker don’t know anything about ennui, however. Mention it to them, and they’d probably think that it was an exotic brand of vodka they’d yet to try. What makes this album so refreshing is how much FUN it is. This is metal the way it used to be. Not in the way it sounds – they’re hardly consciously ‘retro’ – but in its ethos. Revoker want to make you fight or fuck, and they’re not apologizing for it. What you get are big drums, big riffs, powerchords, and clean vocals belted out. They also understand that at its heart, metal is a little bit silly. Indeed, they have a song about ‘Psychoville’ (‘I think I’m going schizophrenic’) and many more about mindless sex, drugs and violence. It’s a pure collection of clichés. Witness the following lyrics: ‘I gamble every day/ With a bottle of whiskey, what more can I say’. Not a lot, apparently. They’ve certainly not got the gift of the gab when it comes to the ladies: ‘You’re in my scope and I know you’re easy/ I wanna have some fun/ Unzip my pride/ Hold on and enjoy the ride.’ It’s not Bon Scott, is it?

But looking at metal for finesse is like looking at OJ for sincerity. Sure, by any objective standards the songs here are not great. But it doesn’t matter, because they’re delivered with such attitude, such a lust for life, that their appeal is timeless. They’ve an ear for an anthem - ‘Stay Down’ and ‘All Rise’ will be in your head all day – and an ability to incite fist pumping and head banging at will. This is what makes metal universal: that sense of defiance. Thus ‘Don’t Want It’, an ode to the resentment felt by any school leaver in a dead-end job who’ll do anything to stop being an automaton. Coupled with the likes of ‘Thief’ and ‘Time To Die’, they have quite an arsenal of metal seeped in Ozzy, Saxon, Skid Row and Drowning Pool references.

All that, and they’re from Wales. Brilliant.

binnie

07-19-2011, 05:31 PM

Feed the Rhino – Mr. Red Eye

Displaying a sound which mixes stoner rock’s heaviness with post-hardcore’s schizophrenic song structures makes for a tremendous weight on this debut record. The influence of Every Time I Die’s balls-out rock ‘n’ roll approach to hardcore – bottom-heavy, big riffs, and tempos which switch and skitter along time-signatures far outside the conventional – is pervasive, but Feed the Rhino are not a copy-cat band. At full tilt, they sound like gang warfare. But it’s when they mix vehemence with softer hues that they really sizzle. The tonal guitar work on ‘Rotten Apples’ is proof that there is more to this band than indolent anger, ‘Empty Mirrors’ is a haunting tale of broken love, and ‘No-Where Lane’ is delivered in a whispered, sombre manner. The lyrics are provocative and powerful (see ‘The Butchers’ and ‘One For the Ponces’), even if they shouted vocal style actually robs the words of some of their potency. Punchy and powerful, visceral and venomous, Feed the Rhino speed through most of this 36 minutes on full charge and wounded. Impressive as this debut is, it’s those more restrained moments that really show the potential for growth.

binnie

07-21-2011, 04:57 AM

More on the way.

I'm re-listening to something right now which is fucking incredible.

And here it is

__________________

Tesseract – One

This is easily one of the best debut albums I’ve ever heard: so focussed, so unique, and so clear in what the band wants to be. Its heavy, Jim, but not as we know it – crushingly, gut-wrenchingly heavy, a heaviness which amplified by the emotional weight of the music behind it. Soft/heavy dynamics rule the roost here: slabs of Messhuggah-esque 7 string angular riffage butcher the space between the speakers and your ears, before giving way to softer, more ambient sounds as an atmospheric backdrop. A heroic rhythm-section of Jamie Postones and Amos Williams deliver pulsating drums and oft-kilter rhythms to power this forward, and the whole thing is topped-off with sonorous, other-worldly vocals.

Sounds impenetrable doesn’t it? What makes all of this complexity work, however, is the sheer quality of the songs. There’s little in the way of egotistical show-casing here – Tesseract play as a band, and the whole always comes first. ‘Nascent’, for example, features some pulverizing riffs off-set by sombre vocals and ambient interludes, yet it never feels fractured or contrived, largely because Tesseract have such a strong sense of their own aesthetic, and aesthetic which on ‘Lament’ becomes an assault on the emotions as well as the senses. People are calling this ‘Djent’, but that’s just a silly label. It’s Cure-meets-Meshuggah-meets-Deftones style is beyond innovative, and conjures up a schizophrenic version of Tool. But like many great – truly great – bands, Tesseract are beyond classification. Is it metal? Its heavy, certainly, and packing riffs you’d die to write. But it also surprises you in a way that metal often doesn’t. ‘April’, for example, is an uncomfortable take on obsession, a thinking-man’s ‘Sex Type Thing’. Few bands can roar and whisper quite so competently and movingly.

It’s a dense work which rewards persistent listening. It’s not been created to party too, or for disposable listening and radio play – it exists for on its own, expansive terms with no commercial compromises. And yet, it compels you to listen. When we’re treated to work of this calibre and inventiveness, you know that heavy music is in safe hands. They could be game-changers.

binnie

07-21-2011, 10:44 AM

From the vaults: Brides of Destruction – Here Come the Brides (2004)

This debut record from a band featuring Nikki Sixx and Traci Guns was the sound of multiple personalities wrestling to steer the ship. It’s one of those records that you own and love even if you recognize that it is fundamentally flawed. It does, however, contain a couple of absolute gems. None more so than opener ‘Shut The Fuck Up’ – who can’t identify with that? A out-and-out punk rock song, this was the sound of LA humping The Sex Pistols whilst Johnny Thunders conducted, a real cocktail of bent nails and broken glass built around a pile-driver riff and some tasty ‘Whoa-oh-ay-oh’ gang vocals. Add in a host of other fucked up little rock ‘n’ roll songs – ‘2x Dead’, ‘Brace Yourself’ and ‘I Don’t Care’ – and you’ve got a good time record which makes you want to fight and fuck. Possibly at the same time.

It’s a shame, then, that the band diluted the impact by adding some softer options. There’s nothing much wrong with ‘Revolution’ or ‘Natural Born Killers’ as stand along tracks, but their pop-rock soundscapes seem oddly out of place here – more puppy than pitbull. Yeah, it’s not ‘LAMF’, but some of the songs here will kick your ass all week and twice on Sunday. With so much potential, it’s a shame that Sixx and Guns couldn’t keep it together.

binnie

07-21-2011, 10:45 AM

From the vaults: Anthrax – State of Euphoria (1988)

Album number 4 from the runt of the litter of ‘The Big 4’ saw Anthrax coming off a brace of thrash metal classics – 1985’s ‘Spreading the Disease’ and 1987’s ‘Among the Living’ – brimming with confidence but eager not to rest on their laurels. Indeed, there was a conscious effort here to develop, an effort which must be commended. The flaw was that the band couldn’t decide which way that development should go and tried to balance more straight-forward heavy metal tunes with forays into the realms of progressive thrash steered by Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’. The result of that confusion is a record full of songs which stand well on their own, but which don’t necessarily gell together into an album.

Despite this, however, ‘State of Euphoria’ has been unduly written out of metal history. Listening to it 23 years later, you’re surprised by its power and ambition. Indeed, we must remember that Megadeth’s record of the same year – ‘So Far, So Good, So What’ – was a far less complicated and ambitious affair. Opening with a cello, ‘Be All, End All’ is the strongest tune here and saw Anthrax mingle their speed metal chops with Sabbath power and atmospherics into something altogether darker than on previous releases. The equally epic ‘Who Cares Wins’ is equally powerful: although lyrically it is a rather clumsy attempt at social commentary, the music is as heavy as it comes and features a tumultuous mid-section and soaring solo which is, well…..euphoric! ‘Make Me Laugh’ – a rather trite take on the passé subject of TV evangelism – is equally a lost mosh-tastic classic built around a characteristically punchy riff and Bellandonna wail. This is vintage ‘thrax, rather than ‘thrax by numbers. And, of course, we have Trust cover ‘Anti-Social’. Oddly out-of-place amidst the more sprawling pieces, it’s punk-esque ethos does get to the heart of what separated Anthrax from their thrash peers: inviting the listener to participate, it is anthemic in a way that most speed metal couldn’t be.

But then we’re presented with some attempts at more conventional metal which feel like strangers here. ‘Misery Loves Company’ and ‘Schism’ are not ‘filler’, but they do dilute the whole. ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’ blended punk and metal very closely, if not convincingly, in a style which would soon be perfected by Suicidal Tendencies. And it’s here that – for all the bravery of Anthrax’s attempts at growth – you realize that they were floundering rather than sprawling. ‘Now It’s Dark’, for example, has one of the strongest hooks they ever wrote and screams ‘single’: but a ‘single’ to what? This album? It’s too distinct from the more progressive, mid-tempo thrash that the band was aiming for.

Ultimately, what we have is a B- album with some A+ tracks. Anthrax would get the progression right two years later in Bellandona’s swansong ,‘The Persistence of Time’: a much darker, heavier and powerful record packed with compositional maturity which they didn’t quite nail here. But writing ‘State of Euphoria’ out of its rightful place in metal history is a mistake. It was Anthrax – not Megadeth or Annihilator – who followed Metallica’s lead to make thrash more than just a speed contest. In that sense, then, ‘State of Euphoria’ has some nobility in its missing of the mark.

hotsummerknight

07-21-2011, 11:56 AM

From the vaults: Anthrax – State of Euphoria (1988)

Album number 4 ...

Excellent review. This brings back some memories ... been a while since I listened to this album. Just put it on and it still sounds good. To me, this is the last of the good Anthrax albums, third best to Among the Living and Spreading the Disease. Fistful of Metal is also an underrated classic that I'd rate even with Euphoria. Anyways, I disagree that P.O.T. was the best of the Belladonna era. Everything Anthrax has done after Euphoria was simply atrocious. I think that P.O.T. is complete shit, but then again I think Balance is VH's masterpiece second to Fair Warning so my opinion means nothing on this board.

You pretty much nailed what I've always thought of Anthrax in comparison to what Metallica was doing at the time but not too long after this, all of these guys - Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, etc - all struggled with identity issues and the whole genre turned to complete shit. If these bands kept their directions intact around this time period, there would have likely been a few more gems produced until grunge took over the music landscape from quite a few of these bands.

I've been reading your reviews on here, great stuff. Looking forwards to more.

binnie

07-21-2011, 12:02 PM

Slaves To Gravity – Underwaterouterspace

Is it metal? Is it post-grunge? No: it’s a bloody good rock band, plain and simple. Well, not quite plain and simple. These boys are deceptive. Despite the huge hooks and catchy choruses, this is not straight forward ‘pop’ album: they cram a lot of music into 3 minutes, in a sound that is both slick and thick. That sound – full, gutsy and, in places, huge – can be credited to producer-extraordinaire Bob Marlette, who has done much to whip the fat out of these songs to make them tighter, beefier and incessantly hook-laden.

Moving on from the rather more raw sound on the excellent debut ‘Scatter the Crow’, Slaves To Gravity have clearly made a conscious decision to aim for a wider market. There’s no problem with that, as they’re still doing it with great tunes. ‘Honesty’ sounds almost like a more muscular Kings of Leon or The Killers and possess the sort of bounciness and swirling melody guitar lines you might expect from the more mainstream rock bands doing the rounds in 2011. ‘Silence Now’ is also the sort of ballad that wouldn’t be out of place on MTV. With these kinds of songs in their arsenal, they deserve our attention. ‘She’s Got Big Plans’ similarly offsets its hard rock foundations with a little U2 quirkiness and Manic Street Preachers pop-punkery, and does so to a glorious sonorous effect. These are the kinds of songs many bands would love to write – not light-weight, but not aggressively heavy for its own sake, either. That’s not to say that there’s no bite here. ‘Dumb’ sounds like a latter-day Stone Temple Pilots tune (and is better than anything on their last record), whilst ‘Lily Liver’ and ‘Last Ignition’ possess a grungy crunch in their riffage, and ‘Misery Pills’ collapse bollock-heavy bluesy guitars into ambient interludes. That a young band has absorbed so much of rock history and are capable of processing it in 4 minute songs is quite an achievement.

But, for all of that talent, there’s something stopping the elevator getting to the top floor. These songs are beautifully written, but perhaps a little over crafted: calculated or contrived is too far, but they don’t invite the listen in, they don’t make you feel as much as they would with a few rough edges and a little rawness. It’s only on closer – the under-stated and heartfelt – ‘This Time It’s Terminal’ that we really see the elite league in Slave To Gravity’s view.

binnie

07-21-2011, 12:14 PM

Excellent review. This brings back some memories ... been a while since I listened to this album. Just put it on and it still sounds good. To me, this is the last of the good Anthrax albums, third best to Among the Living and Spreading the Disease. Fistful of Metal is also an underrated classic that I'd rate even with Euphoria. Anyways, I disagree that P.O.T. was the best of the Belladonna era. Everything Anthrax has done after Euphoria was simply atrocious. I think that P.O.T. is complete shit, but then again I think Balance is VH's masterpiece second to Fair Warning so my opinion means nothing on this board.

You pretty much nailed what I've always thought of Anthrax in comparison to what Metallica was doing at the time but not too long after this, all of these guys - Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, etc - all struggled with identity issues and the whole genre turned to complete shit. If these bands kept their directions intact around this time period, there would have likely been a few more gems produced until grunge took over the music landscape from quite a few of these bands.

I've been reading your reviews on here, great stuff. Looking forwards to more.

Cheers man. Glad you like 'em. There's somewhere between 100-150 now, so plenty to get through!

Glad I've found someone who thinks that 'State....' is underrated. To clarify: I do think that 'Persistence...' is a more complete realization of the progression of the sound they were striving for on 'State...' but I don't think it's the best of the Bellandona era. I'd have to say that's a toss up between 'Spreading the Disease' and 'Among The Living' both of which are sensational.

That being said, I actually like Anthrax as they darkened their sound a little. To my ears their first record with John Bush 'Sound of the White Noise' is the best record they ever made and showed where thrash might have gone in the '90s if it hadn't died. I except that I'm in the minority in prefering Bush over Belladonna, but to me his raspier and deeper voice fitted their punchy, pit-bull stlye of riffing better than Bellandonna's wail. The record they made recording Bellandonna-era tunes with Bush - 'The Greater of Two Evils' - demonstrates that I think. As for 'Sound of The White Noise' (which I reviewed in here), 'Only', 'Room For One More', 'Potters Field' just great, great tunes. And REALLY heavy.

I think you're alone in hailing 'Balance' as a masterpiece, but each their own. If you hear something I don't, that's great for you.

hotsummerknight

07-21-2011, 12:20 PM

I can see what you mean on P.O.T., never thought of what they were doing on that album in that way. It makes sense.

Even thought it's with Bush, I do enjoy the Greater of Two Evils as a refreshing take on the songs I used to bang my head to 20+ years ago. I just cant get into any of the material they wrote with Bush. I like your taste though, so I'll give White Noise another listen ... its been a long time since I heard that one.

binnie

07-21-2011, 12:32 PM

From the vaults: In Flames – Clayman (2000)

This record harks back to a time when Sweden’s In Flames were hailed as one of the bands whose updated brand of heaviness – steeped in European power-metal but served-up with a Motorhead level of testicle fortitude – was going to send Nu Metal running for the hills with its tail between its baggy-trouser wearing legs. That didn’t happen: Nu Metal died-of-death and In Flames have since continued to baffle their hardcore fanbase by making music which marches to the beat of their own – clumsy – drum.

But at the turn of the millennium THEY KICKED ASS. Simple as that. Opener ‘Bullet Ride’ is a case in point. Take a classic rock riff and smash it into thrash metal, douse the subsequent song in gothic melodies and play it like a Rhino whose just been kicked in the nuts. The result is something of an update on a timeless recipe: HEAVY FUCKING METAL. Bjorn Gelotte and Jesper Strombled are axemen-extraordinaire, but as a team they are far more than the sum of their parts, laying down epic riffage, sonorous melodies and soaring solos with aplomb. This record also dates to the point before Andes Faiden believed that he could sing, and his growling delivery here is not quite death metal, but angry enough to take the songs up a notch.

What made In Flames so good, however, was their understanding that an album is more than just 10 good songs. It needs variety to work, especially in a genre as easy to make generic as thrash metal. Consequently, they pepper this record with variation. ‘Pinball Map’ riots along with an epic gallop into a punch-the-air chorus. ‘Another Day In Quicksand’ has some sharp and crisp hooks, ‘….As The Future Repeats Today’ is built around some tasty stop-start rhythms, and ‘Square Nothing’ owes as much to Type O Negative and Nine Inch Nails as it does Maiden. And it is that variety that makes an album this dark and this heavy a cut above the rest. Keeping the listener on their toes, it compels them to enter In Flames’s world.

It could be argued that In Flames have never made a signature album, ‘Clayman’ is not perfect by any means. Slightly over-long, the ‘edit’ button would have improved the whole. ‘Brush & Dust Away’, ‘Satellites and Astronauts’ and ‘Lesser’ are all wonderful slabs of metal assault, but losing one or two of them might have made this a more rounded affair. You’ll probably be too busy headbanging to notice though……

binnie

07-22-2011, 10:43 AM

From the vaults: Black Sabbath – Technical Ecstasy (1976)

The title says it all: this was the sound of a band experimenting, a band embracing technology and change in order to push forward. And as so often happens in rock ‘n’ roll, change confounds the expectation of fans, leaving the reputation of a record marred by disappointment. Album number 7 from Ozzy-era Sabbath is often lumped in with its successor – 1978’s ‘Never Say Die’ – as the mark of a band in terminal decline. But just because we know Ozzy was fired/jumped ship in the subsequent years, we shouldn’t assume that the changing direction here was the sound of a band in its death throes.

Far from it, in fact. There was plenty of life in Sabbath here, who consciously dabbled in more progressive arrangements and structures – not to mentions synths and keyboards – which bands like Queen and Yes had incorporated so effectively during the same period. As such, ‘Technical Ecstasy’ is in many respects the outgrowth of the more expansive and colourful sound which the band had begun to adopt with ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ and ‘Sabotage’. That it was certainly a long way from the first 4 records – hailed by many, quite rightly, as sacrosanct in the history of metal – should not blinker our ears to its qualities. No longer was the pummeling, ungodly heaviness of Tony Iommi’s guitar the driving force of the band, and no longer was the vibe dour, dark and melancholic. Sabbath was now a success, and it had changed their music, most noticeably in the lyrics: gone are the occult and warmongering, to be replaced with a more ‘up’ feel. It must be admitted that they lost something distinctive about their oeuvre in the process, and at times here bordered the realms of cheese and cliché.

There is much that rewards the listener here. ‘She’s Gone’ is easily the best ballad they ever penned. It’s haunting and dark beauty are driven by the contrast between Iommi’s delicate acoustic serenade and Ozzy’s wonderfully emotive vocal. By way of contrast, ‘Dirty Women’ – the album’s closer – is a behemoth of a song, and as close to vintage Sabbath as we get here. ‘You Won’t Change Me’ is a real lost classic. Built around arrangements which evoke Queen and The Who at their most expansive it feels like a more adventurous ‘Spiral Architect’ or ‘Killing Yourself To live’ (both from ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’), and sees Ozzy’s subdued vocal offset by Iommi’s free-flowing and euphoric soloing over an arrangement in which organ and piano are prominent. Even ‘Gypsy’ – a rather trite tale of seduction into the dark arts – has its merits. Eschewing verse-chorus-verse structures in favour of something more free-form, the song swirls around multiple parts and features chunky riffs, soulful vocals and tribal beats. If it ultimately feels a little chaotic, such novelty must be viewed as a noble failure: this was a band with too many ideas, not one in lethargy.

The weaker tunes also reap dividends. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor’ and ‘All Moving Pieces’ are solid slabs of hard rock delivered with gusto, and far from the undercooked turkeys which would clutter up ‘Never Say Die’. It’s only real the trite-poppery of the Bill Ward sung ‘It’s Alright’ – whose Merseybeat vibe was more in tune with 1966 than 1976 – that Sabbath approach the turgid. The layers of musical wankery that this piano led piece was buried in do little to detract from the fact that drummers should rarely sing. Ringo moments aside, however, ‘Technical Ecstasy’ is quite an album. It’s certainly not of the dinosaur-bollock heavy variety which they have become synonymous with; nor is it as dark, powerful and pervasively influential as those first four records – indeed, it might be said that in turning to synths and progressive arrangements for the first time in their careers Sabbath were following trends, rather than setting them. But it IS the sound of a band on fire, a band striving to escape its own legend and push into new eras with something to say. ‘Technical Ecstasy’ is no lost ‘classic’ – but it is an album which merits re-discovery.

chefcraig

07-22-2011, 11:06 AM

binnie

07-22-2011, 11:13 AM

From the vaults: Exodus – Bonded By Blood (1985)

‘Bang your head against the stage/ The Metal takes its price…..’

Silly? Perhaps. Moronic? Only for the uninitiated. The lyric sums up the ethos and aesthetic at work here: this was music which was about more than just entertainment, music that is felt, even, in some cases, lived, by the fans. It epitomized what thrash was all about: hunting down and killing the poseurs and tearing down the divide between band and fans as far as possible. Thrash bands were full of the everymen – they were us. In its early stages, there was a bond, a unity with their followers which the stars of sunset strip consciously rejected in favour of looking down from Mount Olympus. As a feeling, as a lifestyle, it compelled you to react: love or hate, mosh or leave. No compromise.

Exodus was a hugely influential band. Their early albums shaped metal – in all of its guises – in a way as profound of any of the ‘Big 4’. Indeed, in 1985 the distance between those bands and the Bay Area’s finest was not as gaping as it is 25 years later: although Megadeth and Metallica had both begun to weld their power to a maturity in composition which the others could never emulate, the difference between Exodus and Anthrax and Slayer was slim, and ‘Bonded By Blood’ is arguably superior to anything those bands had released by that point. Indeed the opening salvo of the title-track and ‘Exodus’ is a forceful and visceral as on any metal record ever recorded, bar none: and there’s no let up from there on. Context is everything. By this point in time, Ozzy was floundering creatively, Maiden had just peaked, Priest were about to rush off into a synth-led hell, and The Scorpions were prodding softer territories. The kids wanted their metal anthems – pure and unadulterated – and Exodus had ‘em and then some. ‘And Then There Were None’, ‘A Lesson In Violence’, ‘Piranha’ and the neck-snapping ‘Strike of the Beast’ were harder, heavier and more relentless, and existed of a real statement of intent, a glorious fist in the face to the old guard.

Picking out great riffs here is like picking out good looking girls at a fashion show: they’re everywhere. The listener is owned by the mid-range crunch – the hypnotic effect of relentless staccato-riffing at full tilt – and compelled to headbang, to lose it, to receive their lesson in violence. Exodus, like the other thrash bands, had taken the European formula for heavy metal – clever time changes, twin guitar assaults and soaring melodies – and Americanized it: i.e. simplified it and made it more powerful. There was no flab in these songs, which lunge forward primed to their fighting weight. Taken objectively, the lyrics are dire, a brash and naïve collection of comic book gore, violence and bravado which an adolescent could pen. But you can’t take them on their own merits as they’re part of the ‘fuck you’ ethos, the attitude. Combined with the warts ‘n’ all performance – in which every bum note, vocal blow out and error is kept in to add to the maelstrom – and the muddy production, you’re left with something strengthened by its imperfections. For all the lack of sophistication, few records can match it for its vehemence, its violence and its power.

Metal has certainly become more technical than this, and more sophisticated. In many avenues it’s become more extreme, and brutal, too. Moreover, with modern production, it has also become more cinematic in sound, more expansive and defined in its sound. But it’s never been heavier. 1985-1990 remains the benchmark for sheer weight and clout, the era when metal packed its biggest punches without quarter.

binnie

07-22-2011, 11:18 AM

Terrific point about Sabotage being the spring board for more experimentation. The track "Am I Going Insane (Radio)" is the start of the "Merseybeat" influence you brought up, and if you examine the song closely enough, it really turns out to be the great-lost Yardbirds single of 1965. No, I'm not kidding. Listen to the tune with your eyes closed (and ears open), and tell me it wouldn't fit in perfectly somewhere in between "Mister, You're A Better Man Than I" and "Over, Under, Sideways, Down".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nK508xZ5Fs

Ha! Well, I'll be damned. I think you're right.

I imagine Iommi is a Jeff Beck/ Eric Clapton devotee, so perhaps the link?

I was considering doing a review of 'Sabbotage' (as I think it really is Sabbth's masterpiece), but given it already has hallowed status I didn't think that there's much point as I doubt I've much to say that hasn't been said before. For all the reverence for Sabbath amongst METALHEADS, however, it annoys me beyond belief how far they can be written of by rock fans in general. With stuff as bold and experimental as 'I Am Going Insane' (and most of 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath') their influence on rock, as much as metal, is overlooked. To my ears, anyway.