Album Reviews

[binnie]

Death Angel – The Dream Calls For Blood (2013)

The ‘Big 4’ of thrash may have received the status of ‘legends’, but in the 21st century it is the smaller numbers of thrash’s first generation who are putting out the best music. For Death Angel – always one of thrash’s most experimental and innovative bands – ‘The Dream Calls For Blood’ marks a late career high. Whilst their 00 reunion records were admirable if patchy, ‘Relentless Retribution’ (2011) was something of a stormer, a seething, fire-brand of a return to form. ‘Dream…’ carries the torch and then some, embracing the sheer fury and maniacal aggression of thrash’s roots in very modern dress – indeed, Jason Sureof’s production here adds some serious clout to the band’s sound without even sounding close to clinical. Put simply, this record rips your head off in a way in which a band nearly 30 years old should not be able to – it is proof that (alongside Testament), Death Angel are one of the few US thrash bands who can compete with the current crop of German and Scandinavian behemoths who sit at the top of a genre stacked deep with talent.

Always keen to experiment – 1987’s ‘Ultra Violence’ was followed by the decidedly progressive ‘Act III’ and ‘Frolic In the Park’ – Death Angel have often been accused of been too inventive for their own good. Here, they bring the thrash – dark, aggressive and relentlessly powerful thrash. Opener ‘Left For Dead’ is ‘fuck me!!’ fast, a torrent of full-tilt smashing power; ‘Caster Of Shame’ is beyond furious; and the title-track should by all rights be a metal classic – sounding like a battalion of iron-clad warriors marching in unison, this is metal at its most crushingly heavy. But Death Angel have always possessed too many songwriting chops and a sense of melody for this to be an exercise in puerile heaviness for its own sake. ‘Son Of The Morning’ and ‘Fallen’ feature some HUGE choruses – always the Achilles heel of thrash – and showcases vocalist Mark Osegueda’s talents with aplomb. It is refreshing to hear a thrash band with a singer rather than a growler, and the injection of Dio-style melodies only serves to make this music more affecting and memorable, inspiring hollering and moshing in equal measure.

But perhaps what makes ‘Dream…’ so impressive is the control which Death Angel exercise over their compositions – where so many bands do not know how to edit themselves, Death Angel serve up song after song of taut, lean and focused fury. Rob Cavestay and Ted Anguilar riff like mothers throughout, and explode in a serious of ripping solos. For a band to be THIS ambitious after this many years is very refreshing indeed – you just hope that Death Angel get the audience they deserve.

[ELVIS]

Wow...

[binnie]

Free Fall – Power & Volume (2013)

The title says it all. This is cranked up, kick-out-the-jams rock ‘n’ roll with both eyes (and ears!) focused firmly on the glories of yesteryear. Further proof that the true home of rock ‘n’ roll in 2013 is Sweden (where so many blues-drenched axe-wielders have emerged in recent years), Free Fall contribute another fine record to the cluster of Garage Rock bands currently on the up (Witchcraft, Graveyard). Sounding an awful lot like 1970 – a time where the boundary between Hard Rock and R’n’B was still very, very blurred), ‘Power & Volume’ avoids sounding little a carbon copy of the two ‘Classic Rock’ acts which most modern retro bands rip off so shamelessly: Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. Instead, we get and much wider palette of the blues-inspired first wave of modern rock. And the results are quite a treat indeed.

‘Free Fall’, for example, is the caustic R’n’B of The Who and Humble Pie; whilst the slow-burning ‘Attila’ possesses an oddly Eastern twinge which demonstrates that 1967-72 was always about waaaau more that Les Paul thunder and bluster. It is something very special indeed. ‘Love Bombing’ is the sound of raucous yoof, a sleazing and teasing slice of gristle for the soul, and ‘Midnight Vulture’ will make you feel like a badass before exploding into a seemingly spontaneous jam section powered by pure electricity. Guitar-player Matthias Barjed is equipped with more than a little of Ritchie Blackmore’s demented side, and slashes and swathes all over these songs. It’s powerful and invigorating stuff. But it’s not all world-class – ‘World Domination’ and ‘Damnation’, for example, quickly run out of ideas.

‘Retro’ is often a dirty word. It needn’t be. Free Fall serve up music that is authentic, rather than pastiche, and ‘Power & Volume’ is an album which will serve as an addition to your record collection rather than a fleeting player which serves only to remind you of the bands from whom it takes its queues. A patchy affair, certainly, but one which bleeds rock – in contrast to so much of the music made in the digital age, this is music made with warmth and rawness, and sounds like dry desert ground parched with yearning.

[Von Halen]

Binnie, I'll be interested to read your review on the FFDP Volume 2 disc. I think it's better than Volume 1.

[binnie]

Alter Bridge – Fortress (2013)

By the time you’ve gotten to the end of ‘Cry Of Achilles’ – the grand, hulking six-and-a-half minute opus which kick starts Alter Bridge’s fourth record – you know you’re listening to something special. Huge arrangements, riffs which are bigger still, and chorus which kicks in like a Tyson left-hook all signal that this is a band stepping things up in all departments. But the ‘Metal’ department has seen the largest surge. Last time out – ‘III’ (2010) – Alter Bridge served up a record packed with 4 minute anthems, a richly melodic affair which garnered not inconsiderable attention from the critics. ‘III’, then, was a helluva record – but it was a little constrained by strict adherence to traditional song structures. Here – as on Alter Bridge’s second album, ‘Blackbird’ (200) – they let it all hang out. And then some. In Mark Tremonti they have one of rock’s most under-celebrated axemen, and he serves up serpentine, taut riffs and solos with enough shred to excite, and enough melody to inspire. In Myles Kennedy they have, quite simply, the most versatile rock singer of a generation. Inject those ingredients into a record awash with expansive, buck-fucking heavy, songs and you’ve got a potential gem of a record.

‘Uninvited’, for instance, is a utterly remarkable slab of power – not unhinged in its heaviness (like most modern metal), it quakes and thunders in muscular, tightly-wound structures. ‘Addicted To Pain’ injects more than a little groove into its aggression, before serving up another whip-crack of a chorus; ‘Calm the Fire’ is the sound of the band’s inner prog screaming to get out; and in flat-out metal mode (‘Cry A River’ and ‘Further Than The Sun’) they are a sizzling proposition – these are tunes that will crush arenas. What staggers most is the sheer variety. ‘Lover’, for instance, is a long way from the bombast, a take on a ballad which proves that metal can do tender without added cheese; and the 8 minute title-track is a swirling morass of music, a Zeppelin-esque epic which acts the perfect closer to a sinewy, rich and utterly compelling album.

What Alter Bridge have proven is that is possible to serve up straight-up, almost conventional, hard rock in 2013 and still surprise and delight in equal measure. By re-arranging to core components of classic rock into their own unique synthesis, ‘Fortress’ is equally familiar and surprising – and you just can’t argue with those melodies. Some will argue that it’s over-long. Others will yearn for a band drenched in a more hedonistic approach to rock ‘n’ roll (Alter Bridge must be the band least-likely to trash a hotel room), and in truth if there is a criticism to be levelled at this band it is that they are constrained by over thinking things, which makes their record feel a little hemmed-in. But ‘Fortress’ is a special record of pomp, power and utterly dazzling songs.

[binnie]

Binnie, I'll be interested to read your review on the FFDP Volume 2 disc. I think it's better than Volume 1.

It'll be January before I get around to that one - it's one my Christmas list and Mrs binnie will kill me if I buy it beforehand

[Von Halen]

It'll be January before I get around to that one - it's one my Christmas list and Mrs binnie will kill me if I buy it beforehand

Oh my. I didn't realize binnie was henpecked!

You tell her you have a job to do here at the Army!

They cover "House Of The Rising Sun".

[binnie]

Amon Amarth – Deceiver Of The Gods (2013)

If you had to name the most consistently excellent metal band of the 21st century, Amon Amarth would be up there. Over the past 15 years, these Viking enthused beardy behemoths have served up album after album of crisp and blistering melodic Death Metal which perfectly befits the pillage and power of their chosen subject matter. Rarely has extreme metal sounded so…………………….immediate, so easy to hook yourself into and let it own you. ‘Deceiver of The Gods’ makes no radical changes to the band’s sound – the big riffs, twisted melodies, and frenetic beats of Death and Black metal are still the component parts – but it features ingredients of a consistently higher quality than both ‘Surtur Rising’ (2011) and ‘Twilight of Thunder’ (2008). Even by their own lofty stands, this is quite a feast of metal.

This time round the lyrics tap into the Viking God Loki (a cruel prankster) and his role in Ragnarok (the end times). The title track features a Slayer-tinged riff, Black Metal chorus and frantic speed, and pretty much commands BANG THY HEAD! Elsewhere the band serve up groove and crushing power at mid-pace – see ‘Under Siege’ and ‘Coming of The Tide’, both of which could be future live anthems – and manage to dazzle on the savage feast of riffery which is ‘Shape Shifter’. And there are a couple of surprises here, too. The presence of ex-Candlemass singer Messiah Marcolin on ‘Hel’ is epic – slooooow and incredibly powerful, this is one of the songs of 2013 and reminds you of the feeling you had the first time that you heard metal. And the epic, Bathory-inspired, closer ‘Warriors of The North’ is simply magnificent.

Nine albums in and Amon Amarth show no signs of mailing it in. Andy Sneap’s production is, as ever, bollock heavy, and the decision to mix in loads of bass gives this metal a particularly heavy thud. ‘Deceiver Of The Gods’ is 47 minutes of power packed with hooks to kill and some devilishly juicy NWOBHM style guitar melodies – in Amon Amarth’s hands, Death Metal really can be for the mainstream of metal.

Long may they reign.

[binnie]

If anyone wants me to review any golden oldies, I will (assuming I own 'em).

Dave's Bitch - I know I still owe you a Quireboys review, I've not forgotten......

[ELVIS]

Alice Cooper - Lace and Whiskey

[binnie]

Hardcore Superstar – C’Mon Take On Me (2013)

For Sweden’s Hardcore Superstar every morning, noon and night is party central with the ghost of Johnny Thunders in residence. Here – as on every HS record – tales of bad men, worse women and times that inspire shit-eating grins are served up aplenty. It ain’t big, it certainly ain’t clever, and you’ve heard it done better before. But you can’t help but like it. The title track is a snotty take on teen abandon and comes across like an STD you’ll scratch all day. ‘One More Minute’ is as filthy as it is beautiful, and proves that this is far more than mere Crue emulation – the melodies are better, for instance. ‘Won’t Take The Blame’ is hard rock that could be on the radio, whilst ‘Long Time No See’ – with its soft/heavy structure and bittersweet lament – reminds you of Vain. Hell, even when the tunes are thinner than stretched spandex (‘Are You Gonna Cry Now’) it’s still a lot of fun. In Jocke Berry they have a vocalist who can always add a little danger to proceedings.

The world doesn’t need this album – there are better straight up rock ‘n’ roll records released this year, and HS themselves have served up better ones in the past. But your day will be a bit better with ‘C’mon Take On Me’ in it.

[binnie]

Scorpion Child – Scorpion Child (2013)

‘And the winner of 2013’s album most likely to make you strut like a Rockstar is…………………….’. Scorpion Child really are love at first listen. Whilst Bigelf may remain the 21st century’s best – and most innovative – take on classic hard rock, Scorpion Child are part of a fiery gaggle of contenders to their throne. Re-assembling the elements of your record collection into one alcohol-fuelled cocktail for the ears, their take on 1968-73 is far more than Big Dumb Rawk – a little dabbled of a spacey, psychedelic vibe hear, more than a little soul there, and some r’n’b for good measure. Alongside the (obvious and obligatory) Zeppelin, you hear some of the more interesting elements of that decade – Mountain, Vanilla Fudge, Deep Purple, and more than a little bit of Kyuss, too. The result is something that just rips out of the speakers. Opener ‘Kings Highway’ shuffles and swipes its way through the blues, whilst ‘Polygon of Eyes’ is fuelled by lashing of juicy bass. BOOOOOM! ‘The Secret Spot’ is filthy that makes you happy to be a pervert, a lascivious little Bon Scott ditty you’d be more than happy to shake your ass too, and ‘Liquor’ sounds like a stoned chainsaw – it almost convinces you that a life dedicated solely to partying might actually be more than a dream. Sure, there are weaker moments (‘Into The Arms Of Ectsacy’ and ‘Paradigm’) but overall the fun factor here is brimming over the edge. In Aryn Black they have a guy who can really sing, wailing those toxic melodies in pure Joplin-esque abandon. In short, Scorpion Child are cool. Like their album cover, this sonic brew just works – instantaneous and infectious, like the music.

[IMAGE]http://metalinjection.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Scorpion-Child.jpg[/IMAGE]

[Dave's Bitch]

Binnie, did you check out The Quireboys last album?

[binnie]

Yes, I've just got around to writing a review yet

[binnie]

Monster Magnet – Last Patrol (2013)

If a definitive history of rock ‘n’ roll is ever written, perhaps Monster Magnet will finally get their dues. Surely one of the most interesting – and invigorating – bands of the past 25 years in any genre, MM have passed from the spaced-out, trippy psych rock of their early records through the cock-rock strut of their late ‘90s commercial high and out into the wilderness of their most recent years, where line-up changes and drug addiction have plagued them. Following a brace of unfocussed records they, thank fuck, back. Big time. They’ve even gone some way to re-capturing the spacey, pill-shoving orgasm of their early records – records which remain about as good as music can get.

Thus the mesh of intricate rhythms, sinewy melodies, and soundscapes drenched in references to pop culture are back, and they’re once again jammed to the point of the joyful hypnosis of an over-inflated bubblegum about to burst. Opener ‘I Live Behind the Clouds’ is a slow-building, spaced-out desert rock bohemian rhapsody; the title-track features a fucked-up, late ‘60s vibe which reminds you that although they’re known for being big dumb rock, MM were always at heart a stoner band – Queens Of The Stone Age WISH they could do this. ‘End Of Time’ sounds like the earth spinning off its orbit in the sheer abandon of the best sex EVER. In stark contrast, ‘Paradise’ is quiet, almost hushed, but devastatingly in its impact. Even ‘Three Kingfishers’, a Donovan cover (FFS!!!), is cool than Johnny Depp’s bollocks.

Dave Wyndorf is, as ever, one of rock’s most recogniseable and effective vocalists, his lascivious croon is in evidence through in all of its shit-eater glory and making the likes of ‘The Duke of Supernature’ such splendidly evil fun. ‘Last Patrol’ sees him finally emerge from the leather-panted, face fucking God of the powerchord back to his roots as a weaver of astral tapestries.

A sonic chaser of nitro-fuelled proportions.

[binnie]

So, I was going to do something special for my 500th review in this thread. But I missed it - I've now done 504.........

So maybe I will, maybe it'll just be business as usual.............

[vandeleur]

Mate no bullshit I always read your reviews and have bought many an album on your recommendation .
500 well done and keep up the good work man :-)

[binnie]

Asomvel – Knuckle Duster (2013)

To paraphrase Lemmy, rock ‘n’ roll is music for people who are chained to the 9-5: it rips their heart out and gives it back to ‘em bigger and better. England Asomvel clearly appreciate that sentiment, and, indeed, Motorhead. Especially the ‘golden era’ of Motorhead, the Lemmy-fast Eddie- Philthy Animal era of the late ‘70s/early ‘80s. ‘Knuckle Duster’ is consequently no bullshit, no frills rock ‘n’ roll played blood-red raw and peppered with the bluesy grit that made Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis so invigorating. Like Motorhead, the bass rattle with menace, the guitars scream and wail all over the songs, the powerchords thunder, and the whole record hurtles along at a speed firmly set on ‘Fight Or Fuck’.

The thing is, you’d expect this level of shameless emulation to just make you want to go and listen to ‘Head or some other NWOBHM heroes who shared their bravura approach to music – but I’ve been playing the shit out of this record. Bands like this are not in the business of looking for Ivor Novello awards, they’re all about the feel – and ‘Knuckle Duster’ feels feckin’ great. ‘Dead Set On Livin’ kicks off with loads of bass attack, bounce and rumble; ‘Sheep In Wolf’s Clothing’ reeks of the bar-room brawl it narrates; and ‘Waster’ has a dinosaur like heaviness to its weighty thud. So simple, but it makes you wanna scream. It’s the little things that raise those evil grins – the riff to ‘Final Hour’ is just…………….nasty.

The feel here is reminiscent of the first two albums of another band of British badasses: The Almighty. Loud, rude, dirty and mean, the title is perfect for this rough ‘n’ ready, warts and all man music. There’s nothing hear you not heard ten thousand times before, but something the punch-line is sweetened by the teasing anticipation which comes with familiarity.

[binnie]

Philip H Anselmo & The Illegals – Walk Through Exits Only (2013)

This is what music sounds like when it’s wielded as a weapon. You’d think that Phil Anselmo would be resting on his laurels by now – he’s a multi-millionaire, he re-defined Heavy Metal in Pantera, and in Down he continues to release near perfect heaviness with one of the best bands on the planet – but this, his first solo record, is ridiculously intense. I don’t care what Scandinavian crass-core EP only release you’ve heard this year: Anselmo is more angry. Sounding far closer to the short-sharp hardcore of Superjoint Ritual than either of his two better known groups, ‘Walk…..’ filters all of the most extreme aspect of metal and punk from the past thirty years – you’ll hear Crass, Discharge, early Napalm Death levels of extremity here as these fractured songs lurch and spasm from riff to evil riff, grinding out something new every 4 bars. The aesthetic is sheer musical terrorism – it’s not for everyone, but if you give yourself over to it this will be one of the very best album you will ever hear. THAT good.

Opener ‘Music Media Is My Whore’ blasts things off. Lyrically, it’s Anselmo at his angry best. Musically, it’s instruments being tortured. ‘Betrayed’ is social commentary done very well, whilst ‘Bedroom Destroyer’ is the sheer awesomeness of aggression of a swirling morass of hatred. It. Just. Keeps. Coming. ‘Usurper Bastard’s Rant’ is fuck off heavy, a hardcore-fuelled beatdown of truly vicious proportions. If you never thought you’d hear music that captured the sheer adrenalin fuelled rage of the early Rollins Band albums, think again – this album is something beyond anger, it’s wounded, vulnerable…..seething. Fuck anything you’ve heard this year, Phil is back. As he spews himself on the title track: ‘A comeback doesn’t come gently…it’s as ugly as ugly is….made of hedonist handcuffs…crushing weight……nemesis accusing…and kills love outright’. Proceed with caution.

[binnie]

Cathedral – The Last Spire (2013)

After 23 years of sonic mastery, this is the final album from British doom metal uber-Gods Cathedral. And they’ve signed-off with a blinder. As ever, the sound here is metal cut straight from the bone for those who love it rare – the timeless sound of Sabbath, St Vitus, Trouble and Candlemass bass-heavy, lo-end rumbling, dinosaur heavy music completely devoid of over-playing. Just a bunch of guys hammering out epic songs. And, as ever, Gaz Jennings serves up riff after staggering riff: no-one has ever been so unheralded, and the riffs here are savage, brilliant, crushingly simple and served up through a tone which just owns with every touch. The tone – and theme – is funereal, proof that Cathedral are doomsters with a sense of humour, but the macabre is oddly uplifting when delivered through songs that are this perfectly crafted.

Unlike most of the doom bands who they inspired, Cathedral recognised that there has to be more to this music than mere Sabbath-worship. Thus whilst 11 mintue opener ‘Pallbearers’ certainly reeks of Sabbath-laden doom tones, it’s also apparent the prog, the darker side of psychedelia and folk are all heavily present in the fuzzy sonic brew which makes up this morass of metal. ‘Cathedral Of Doom’ features some decidedly fuzzed-out Deep Purple tones and swings like rhino balls; whilst ‘Infestation of Grey Death’ sees psychedelic folk tear itself from the bowels of howling funereal doom. ‘An Observation’ is spacey, oozey prog which manages to be warm and eerie in equal measure and is a testament to just how good Cathedral are as songwriters – if Sabbath had continued down the ‘Sabotage’/’Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ line, they may have sounded like this. On the orgy of guitar that is ‘Tower Of Silence’, however, it’s back to basics: heavier than King Kong’s first dump of the day placed on top of the Deathstar.

All that remains to be said is: thank-you for the metal, boys. You’ve died to give us one of your – and 2013’s – very best.

[binnie]

binnie's Best of 2013:

1) Carcass - Surgical Steel
(Death Metal legends return and serve up something which was simply dazzling - this one is an instant classic)

2) Phillip H Anselmo & The Illegals - Walk Through Exits Only
(A legend who lives up to his own status - challenging, terrifying and as angry as music can be)

3) Voivod - Target Earth
(Inventive, progressive without being long-winded, and heavy in Voivod's own unique way)

4) Clutch - Earth Rocker
(They're seemingly incapable of making a bad record - this is Clutch at their most direct, foot-to-the-floor best. They are their own genre, and it's impossible to imagine anyone not loving this album)

5) TRC - Nation
('Crossover' usually = shit. In this case, it equals = genius. Angry, concrete-bred urban-fused metal. Nothing got played more on my Ipod this year).

6) Bronx - IV
(Honest, inspiring and beuatifully crafted hardcore which is as good as music can be. Four albums, four classics, no bullshit)

7) The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Has to Be The Killer
(Dazzlingly inventive, as always; unreletingly aggressive, as always; and like nothing else on planet earth, as always. 15 years in and they're as good as ever and still charting the course which all other extreme/avant guarde metal bands will follow)

8) Tesseract - Altered State
(Proof that ultra-technical music can be soulful and drenched in beauty)

9) Church Of Misery - Thy Kingdom Scum
(The best doom album of the year, is quite a year for doom releases. Can you handle the heaviness?)

10) Cathedral - The Last Spire
(The second best doom album of the year from the best Doom Metal band of all time. Worship the riffs)

11) Suffocation - Pinnacle of Bedlam
(Death Metal legends on legendary form. My neck is still recovering)

12) Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
(Beautiful, crushingly heavy, and typically emotive - 'Phantom Limb' might be the song of the year)

13) Kveltertak - Meir
(No metal bands sounds like this - more really should. A tsunami of prog/metal/punk brilliance in one big fun package)

14) Asomvel - Knuckle Duster
(Shit eater grins all round. The jack on the rocks of hard rock

15) Scorpion Child - Scorpion Child
(The very best 'Classic Rock' release of the year. They should be huge - their songs certainly are. As good as all of your favourite records)

16) Amon Amarth - Deceiver of The Gods
(A return to form from the most accessible - and fun - Death Metal band on the planet)

17) Alter Bridge - Fortress
(Stunning heavy metal - proving that 'traditional' doesn't have to = uninspired)

18) Death Angel - The Dreams Calls For Blood
(A real killer of a record. Thrash as thrash should be and, in a bumper year, the strongest of the year for that genre)

19) Trivium - Vengence Falls
(Trivium on focussed kill mode)

20) Motorhead - Aftershock
(Yet another late-career classic for Lemmy and co. Sounds like Motorhead - fuck all the pretenders)

21) Killswitch Engage - Disarm The Discent
(Metalcore legends return and serve up an album as good as their first - not a second wasted on an album that defines the sound of mainstream metal in 2013)

22) Bleed From Within - Uprising
(Ouch! Brutal, modern metal with song-craft in abundance)

23) Monster Magnet - Last Patrol
(The best stoner album of the year? You betch. Queens of the who?)

24) Mudhoney - Vanishing Point

25) Destruction - Spiritual Genocide
(Mosh till you break stuff)

[binnie]

Malevolence – Reign Of Suffering (2013)

What is it with Sheffield? The number of killer metal bands – of all types – emerging from the Steel City in recent years is simply staggering. Malevolence add to that list. And damn this is a good record – a straight for the jugular, as metal as they come record. Forging metal and hardcore together, of course, is no new thing – but these guys don’t just sound like some cheap Hatebreed rip off (unlike so many bands who do this), you can hear the legacy of bands like Strife and The Cro Mags here, too. ‘Reign…’ is mega-aggressive, but it comes with some serious groove and tunes that make this music so much more than just a short, sharp passing whoosh of……………………….malevolence.

Oh, and they have riffs. In fact, axemen Josh Baines and Konan Hall are quite a revelation, rolling the whole spectrum of metal into their arsenal – often there are blusey licks on the end of this hewn-from-granite riffs which remind you ever so slightly of Lamb Of God’s tastiness. It’s mosh-tastic, whirlwind of rage kind of stuff, and on ‘Serpents Chokehold’ they don’t really sound like anyone else. When they pull things back a little on ‘Turn To Stone’ – which I can only describe as a kind of gothic, stoner-doom – they are quite, quite beautiful, too. Like Crowbar in their rare, trippy moments.

This is a new spin on something you thought you know. Watch this space: these boys could be game-changers.

[binnie]

Monster Truck – Furiosity (2013)

If ever a band’s name captured its sound, Monster Truck is it – a V8 powered, king of the hill, bigger is better, turbo-charged hard rock assault. Essentially, ‘Furiosity’ sounds like the 1970s played through the oozy vibes of the best of ‘90s stoner rock, blusey licks, bassey kicks and more tunes than you can wiggle your dick at. It’s heavy shit, but its got hooks to kill and it’ll certainly make you hollar. Far more than just another Big Dumb Rock record, Monster Truck know how to make their tunes swing – the songs here breathe and pulsate – and the likes of ‘Sweet Mountain River’ and ‘The Lion’ really are up there with the best of the current bounty of good-times hard rock bands.

If you found the last Queens Of The Stone Age album a little too subdued and indirect, this could be the record for you. Shit eater grins all round.

[binnie]

The Quireboys – Beautiful Curse (2013)

In a sense, every Quireboys record is the best record that the Rolling Stones never made. A ramshackle bluesy rock ‘n’ roll which celebrates life in all of its gritty glory, guitar licks kiss and tease off each other as the whole band sits on the very back of the beat, sizzling with a more than slightly inebriated cool. ‘Too Much Of a Good Thing’ settles into a groove and rolls, sounding like the Mississippi Delta of the early ‘40s, and you know exactly what ‘Homewreckers and Heartbreakers’ sounds like from the title alone. ‘Don’t Fight It’ is understated and stripped back in a Joe Cocker-like take on the blues, whilst ‘Mother Mary’ shows that even though they’re greying, the Quireboys have found a more sombre way of singing the bad boy blues.

Certainly less hard hitting that their early ‘90s heyday, the songs are arguably richer for being allowed to breathe a little. Spike’s well whiskeyed larynx still sounds like the cackle at the end of a dirty joke, and Guy Griffin and Paul Guerin’s guitars slither and slide their gentle magic all over these tunes. Not a record to get the party started, ‘Beautiful Curse’ is the perfect post-midnight beast to wind it down.

[cadaverdog]

You certainly put in the effort doing all these reviews. Do you have a list of personal favorites of all time as well? My musical tastes are more mainstream. Mainly limited to bands that get airplay on album or classic rock stations. Physical Graffiti tops my list.

[SunisinuS]

The Quireboys – Beautiful Curse (2013)

In a sense, every Quireboys record is the best record that the Rolling Stones never made. A ramshackle bluesy rock ‘n’ roll which celebrates life in all of its gritty glory, guitar licks kiss and tease off each other as the whole band sits on the very back of the beat, sizzling with a more than slightly inebriated cool. ‘Too Much Of a Good Thing’ settles into a groove and rolls, sounding like the Mississippi Delta of the early ‘40s, and you know exactly what ‘Homewreckers and Heartbreakers’ sounds like from the title alone. ‘Don’t Fight It’ is understated and stripped back in a Joe Cocker-like take on the blues, whilst ‘Mother Mary’ shows that even though they’re greying, the Quireboys have found a more sombre way of singing the bad boy blues.

Certainly less hard hitting that their early ‘90s heyday, the songs are arguably richer for being allowed to breathe a little. Spike’s well whiskeyed larynx still sounds like the cackle at the end of a dirty joke, and Guy Griffin and Paul Guerin’s guitars slither and slide their gentle magic all over these tunes. Not a record to get the party started, ‘Beautiful Curse’ is the perfect post-midnight beast to wind it down.

Would you provide a link to one that you have studied? Even though the internet still spells....would be nice to see which out of the Dewey Decimal System you are sustaining.

[binnie]

You certainly put in the effort doing all these reviews. Do you have a list of personal favorites of all time as well? My musical tastes are more mainstream. Mainly limited to bands that get airplay on album or classic rock stations. Physical Graffiti tops my list.

I was thinking about doing a personal favourites list/review section, but I'm not sure if it's a bit self-indulgent (even more so than this thread in general!)

[cadaverdog]

I was thinking about doing a personal favourites list/review section, but I'm not sure if it's a bit self-indulgent (even more so than this thread in general!)

I'm sure there's another thread about favorite albums here somewhere. The search function works sometimes I think. You're giving your opinion about what you like and dislike here anyway. I was just curious what a person less closed minded about rock and roll listens to nowdays. I listen to the music of my youth. 60's, 70's and some of the 80's stuff mainly.

[binnie]

Would you provide a link to one that you have studied? Even though the internet still spells....would be nice to see which out of the Dewey Decimal System you are sustaining.

Not sure I understand what you're asking me here.

[binnie]

Mothership – Mothership (2013)

Whilst critics and fans alike often celebrate innovation and originality over meat ‘n’ potatoes when it comes to music, you have to admit that sometimes you just can’t beat a juicy steak and fries. You’d also have to admit that just as there are an awful lot of things you can cook with meat and potatoes, there is equally a lot of music you can make by tinkering around with the hallmarks of ‘70s hard rock. If ever a band has questioned the equation of ‘meat and potatoes’ with ‘prosaic’ Mothership are that band. Their sound is at once prog, stoner, Sabbath and Lizzy – crusty in places, down and dirty in others, straddling astral planes in places, and always sounding like the sun going down, this is a very pure form of heavy music served up on a bed of damn fine riffs and even finer grooves. A three-piece from Texas, Mothership sound so damn good they make you want to jack it all in, buy a muscle car and just drive: the smile on your face matched by the glare of the sun blaring off your hood. Never afraid to march to the beat of their own drum and just jam, the perennial slacker vibe which cruises through this glorious beast of a record only makes it cooler.

Buy it. And pray for a long summer.

[binnie]

Napalm Death – Utilitarian (2012)

You don’t listen to extreme metal – you feel it. For some bands, adjectives don’t really come close to capturing the sound – or the experience – of the music: in Napalm Death’s case, ‘heavy’, ‘aggressive’, ‘intense’ and ‘brutal’ are merely the starting point of a description to a sound that is beyond music. Pioneers of extremity for over 25 years, Birmingham’s grindcore legends took what Discharge did in the early ‘80s and blasted into the stratosphere. Few bands have been so innovative, so relentlessly dedicated to the cause of pushing boundaries at the expense of commercial success, and so persistently politically provocative. There are a million bands who are brutal for the sake of it, but they’re as contrived as any teeny-bopper pop act. Napalm use extremity as a weapon of social commentary, and it’s precisely the sort of music that should be made in an era when the UK is being choked by a cruel and repressive Conservative government. You may not like it: but you’ll damn well have to acknowledge that this is an expression of artisitc purity.

On ‘Utilitarian’, Napalm sound as heavy – and metallic – as they have in years. The whole spectrum of the ouvre – which takes in grindcore, thrash, death metal and hardcore – is on display. ‘Errors In the Signals’ is this band at its most terrifyingly furious, short, sharp, stabbing bursts of rage spasm out of the speakers before the song develops into some serious groove. ‘Everyday Pox’ bears a passing resemblance to the bloody pulp that used to be your face, whilst ‘Wolf I Need’ has the sort of apocalyptic chorus that Killing Joke do to such a claustrophobic effect. There are many, many high points here, and it’s not all unpalatable: ‘Analysis Paralysis’ is a great song by anyone’s standards. Not that Napalm Death are ever likely to win an Ivor Novello award, even if they are perhaps the most important British band of the past generation. Bar none.

At the tail end of 2013, Napalm Death teamed up with artist Keith Harrison. The latter had created an exhibition of an experimental, scultpural sound-system which the band would destroy by forcing it to implode as they played through it. Harrison built a wooden sound system with speakers filled with liquid clay and allowed it to solidify. As the band played, the raw-energy of the sound produced reverberated inside the clay, causing it to slowly crack, disintegrate and explode, changing the music as it does – the point was to show the power of sound and the energy it has to destroy. The volume, by all accounts, was sickeningly painful. Manowar? Pah! This was also the perfect demonstration of extremity as an art form. To truly get music like this, you have to stop focusing on form – don’t try to make sense of Napalm, just give yourself over to them.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Judas Priest – Turbo Lover (1986)

File this one under ‘Albums That Should Not Be’. The band pictures should have been the first warning – Judas Priest here look like a cross between Duran Duran and Mad Max in a drag bar. For five guys who by 1986 were in the mid-30s, that is a bad look. But it is indicative of a record which was, in truth, the sound of a band trying to get ‘on trend’ with the AOR and arena rock of the mid ‘80s; and desperately trying to cash-in on the more image-driven, wham-bam-thank-you-mam sound of the MTV rock era. Was it a clusterfuck? Well, perhaps that’s a bit too harsh – but it did mark the point at which Judas Priest began to disappear simply because they ceased to be as distinctive as they’d once been. If you sound like everyone else, you fade into the pack.

The problem wasn’t that this was too ‘pop’ and not enough ‘metal’. Priest had already dabbled with pop in the ‘80s – the ‘Point Of Entry’ record was a case in point, as was ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’’. On this record, that pop aspect was turned up at the expense of Priest’s founding principals: ripping solos, crunching riffs and piercing vocals. This was a fat-free Priest; and it was also a confused one. ‘Turbo’ was a mish mash of lots of musical styles. ‘Locked In’ has the sheen of an AOR anthem, which sounds a bit like WASP (with talent); whilst (the awful) ‘Private Property’ is more in line with the preening, polished sound of a come-backing Alice and Ozzy; and ‘Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days’ (admittedly one of the better written tunes here), is a Sunset Strip derivative akin to the boutique rock that Kiss were shitting out in the mid ‘80s. Confused? Yes. But the bigger offense was that none of this sounded evil or menacing. Old dudes singing about nasty parents (‘Parental Guidance’) is just tragic, and even when Priest did tried to placate their older fans (‘Rock You All Around The World’) it sounds like a by-the-numbers parody.

Inane lyrics about boy-meets-girl and the all-conquering power of rock are beneath Halford: this is the aural equivalent of catching your Dad fucking the family dog. Perhaps the worst moment here is the synth-heavy ‘Out In The Cold’. Imagine some old men from Birmingham attempting to be smouldering – this ain’t no Huey Lewis show, boys. The synths work to far better effect on ‘Turbo Lover’, which, regardless of what you think of it, is a well-written song drenched in clever dynamics. As camp as this tune is, it sounds like BIG ROCK should a year before Def Leppard’s ‘Hysteria’ made the guitar/synth forumla such a dollar-magnet.
It’s hard to fathom why Priest decided to take this route in 1986. Given that previous album – 1984’s ‘Defenders Of The Faith’ – had seen perhaps the greatest collection of metal they released in the ‘80s, you have to wonder why they didn’t continue to walk that path. Perhaps the Sunset $ really was all conquering.

[binnie]

The Defiled – Daggers (2013)

Well, this is a lot of fun. Britain’s The Defiled essentially take the meat ‘n’ potatoes parts of modern metal and spice it up with synths, pop dynamics and more than a little nod to the fun side of goth. ‘Daggers’ consequently references Marilyn Manson and early Slipknot as well as more traditional metal, and is equally capable of filling dance floors as it is mosh pits. ‘As I Drown’ is awash with a crusty bounce made to whip festival crowds into a fury; whilst the whoosh of music which is ‘Sleeper’ sounds like a simplified Strapping Young Lad – yep, THAT good. Elsewhere ‘Unspoken’ and ‘Fragments Of Hope’ walk the same middle-ground metallic beatdown that Devildriver have long perfected, and ‘Infected’ has radio hit hooks – here is a British band that does big dynamics far better than Asking Alexandria. Unlike so many bands who incorporate electronica, the Avd’s programming enhances the tunes and never dilutes the heaviness. When anchored to Jason Suercof’s superbly excellent production – the sound here is scuzzy, rather than pro-tools perfect, and sounds raw and rancid in places – it all combines for one helluva party. The Defiled are not going to change the face of modern metal. Nor are they going to change your life. But they may very well brighten up your day.

[binnie]

Sabaton – Carolus Rex (2012)

Most Power Metal sounds like a liquified chedder whirlpool. Built upon the component parts of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Helloween – high vocals, major key melodies, and lots of duel guitar harmonies – it is, generally, all of metal’s cliches played without the slightest hint of a tongue in the cheek. Thank heavens, then, for Sweden’s Sabaton. Yes, they have faux medieval uniforms; and, yes, they only have one lyrical theme (war); and, yes, their approach to musical development is straight out of the book of AC/DC. But they’re always a lot of fun, and over the past decade they’ve barely put a foot wrong.

‘Carlous Rex’ – their 6th album – is easily one of their very best. Based around the emergence of the Swedish empire between 1613-1718, this is a metallic treatment of history handled with passion and respect. In places, it is even quite powerful. Musically, everything chugs along at an eminently singable pace – these are tunes to pound your fist and chug beer too (military regalia is optional). The soaring power ballad ‘Lifetime Of War’ may not translate all that well once it leaves mainland Europe, but if you don’t enjoy ‘Killing Ground’ and ‘Poltava’ you don’t like metal. ‘1648’, ‘Lion From The North’ and the elemental Manowar-esque metal of ‘The Carolean’s Prayer’ are affecting simply because they tap straight into the heritage of metal. Sure, sometimes it sounds like anything after 1987 never happened, but by the same token it’s a long way from parody.

Sabaton are on the verge of becoming a cottage industry. For those looking for metal that’s not overly frenetic and ultra aggressive, this is an album for you. Now, where’s my chainmail……….

[binnie]

Havok – Unnatural Selection (2013)

Album number three from Colorado thrashers Havok is a mightily meaty proposition. There has been a considerable thrash revival in the last decade or so, with very mixed results – some bands do little more than venture down nostalgia lane, serving up albums that plagarise the period 1985-88 to a contrived degree, even consciously making their records sound like they have a shitty, concrete bunker ‘80s production; some take the progressive and technical elements of thrash into the hemisphere; and others simply take the core ingredients of the genre and serve up gigantic slabs of power. Havok are decidedly in the third camp – ‘Unnatural Selection’ is a defiant, 21st century thrash record, but it’s definitely a record concerned with power rather than precision.

Ultimately, never over-cooking these songs makes the whole more powerful and each individual tune more memorable. The hallmarks of thrash are all here – the double bass drums, the incredible speed, the crunching rifffs, the seering solos, and…………….the inability to write a chorus(!) – and its served up on a bedrock of beefy and crisp production (the mix by Terry Date proving, once again, that he is a master of this sort of music). ‘Give Me Liberty….Or Give Me Death’ is pure riff-o-rama; ‘Under The Gun’ is simple but crushingly heavy; ‘Waste Of Life’ is a mid-paced bruiser; and ‘I Am The State’ is everything that’s great about Heavy Metal. There are certainly some filler moments (the cover of Sabbath’s ‘Children Of The Grave’, for instance), but overall this is quite a record – the perfect balance of punk spark and Heavy Metal pomp which made the early years of thrash so irresistibly good, friendly, violent fun.

You could argue that this has little to do with the state of metal in 2014, that it’s backward looking and uninventive. But it’s certainly no nostalgia trip. What it is is a timeless display of thrash metal with the full power of a modern production.

BANG THEY HEAD!

[ELVIS]

The synths work to far better effect on ‘Turbo Lover’, which, regardless of what you think of it, is a well-written song drenched in clever dynamics.

I heard it all...

[binnie]

I think it is a well written song. Not what I want from Priest, but well written nevertheless.

Given the rest of the stuff on that album, the dynamics stand out on 'Turbo Lover'.

[binnie]

Satan – Life Sentence (2013)

‘Life Sentence’ is proof that you should never judge the contents of a record by its band’s image. ‘Satan’ is an appaullingly silly name; and the inner-sleeve photos for the band members makes them look life 5 dads about to dance at a wedding. But this is a remarkable record. The sort of Heavy Metal record you could quite easily fall in love with.
Put simply, it sounds like NWOBHM in 1983. Far from cod Satanism, these are tunes written with a finely tuned balance of raw power and sophistication. Formed in 1979 and having a not inconsiderable role to play in NWOBHM, the band released a series of largely unheralded albums in the ‘80s before reforming several years ago. In the wake of Helll’s rejuventation at the hands of uber-producer Andy Sneep, it seems the NWOBHM bug may be with us. But this is no quick cash in. The songs bristle with the enthusiasm which those bands of the early ‘80s so captivating – think of the energy that crackled out of those early albums by Iron Maiden, Angel Witch and Praying Mantis. The sound here is metal before thrash changed the game forever: freer in form than today and still having half a foot in the blues, this is a licks-first record on which guitar players Steve Ramsey and Russ Tippins play like absolute motherfuckers. Like Hell, the drama and chill of ‘Life Sentence’ is quite impressive – had history been more generous to these two bands, either could have been a British Mercyful Fate.

‘Time To Die’ is a face-ripping opener. On ‘Incantations’ and ‘Testimony’ the quintessential hooks and melodies which make the galloping forms of metal very, very loveable are heavily in evidence, and fans of D’ianno-era Maiden will lap up the cacophany of serpentine riffs that is ‘Cenotaph’ with gusto. The quality here is very impressive indeed: ‘Twenty Twenty Five’, for example, captures the ambitions of those NWOBHM bands perfectly – more than just full-tilt metal, here is a band with the chops to create arrangements that make things sound epic.

If you love the metal of the ‘80s, you need to hear these songs. The last five years has brought us a wave of twenty-something bands desperately trying to sound like this – none of them even comes close to Satan.

[ELVIS]

Dang...

Your review had me interested...

Then I heard Twenty Twenty Five...

Comparing this satanic crap with 1983 Maiden is a joke, right ??

[binnie]

I'd say there's a lot of the first two Maiden records in there, and a whole lot of Angel Witch and Diamond Head, too.

It's not really Satanic - most of the lyrics have very little interest in the occult. It's just a really free, riffy metal record.