Album Reviews

[vandeleur]

Def Leppard – Def Leppard (2015)

Def Leppard fall into the category of bands who have now been shit for a lot longer than they were ever good. In part this is not their fault: like any band whose uber-hits define an era, their relevance dies with that era. But it is also the case that when this band tries to branch out from their ‘80s sound, it has never been convincing. Add in to the fact that in 2016 this band looks like a partially-melted wax-work of their 1987 selves – or, with the addition of hair dye and 40lbs, like a bunch of welders who have begun the first stage of gender-transition therapy – and the whole saga is very sorry indeed. Or, it would be if this eponymous record was not REALLY, REALLY FUCKING GOOD. Leppard has also been a pop band in heavy rock clothes, and their proud of that heritage. Reading interviews with other ageing rockers always reveals a sense of embarrassment about their musical credibility (do you really believe a 15 year old member of any 80s spandex warrior band was hooked on Muddy Waters?) but with Leppard you get no such nonsense. Grew up listening to Bolan, Mott and The Sweet and damn proud of it – that sense of joy de vive oozes out of this record. If you’re too cool for Def Leppard, the chances are you’re probably an asshole.

Opener ‘Let’s Go’ is Leppard by numbers. Powerchords, those trademark Phil Collen guitar licks, and a MASSIVE chorus – summarising a 35 year career, it is a highly appropriate way to open an eponymous record, and you will reach for the volume control. Similarly, ‘Dangerous’ is an up-tempo, no-nonesense rocker which would sit comfortably on any of the band’s first four records. But this is no nostalgia trip. ‘Man Enough’ is something of a musical departure, and it is easily the best tune here. A funky bassline (which nods to Queen) and a teasing, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, this is catchier than VD in a whorehouse. Add to that the fact that the bluesy, acoustic ‘Battle of My Own’ sounds like Marc Bolan would have done if he’d grown up in the delta, and you’ve got a band on fire. ‘Sea of Love’ is more ‘70s glam than ‘80s pomp, ‘All Time High’ leaves you feeling like you’re on one, and ‘Forever Young’ is a pocket rocket of a tune. Simply put, this is a band who knows how to write a hook. Metal and hard rock are in thrall to an awful lot of ‘retro-rock’ bands at the moment, but critics would do well to remember a bunch of dudes from Sheffield who discard better melodies than most of those bands will ever write.

There are certainly problems. 14 tunes is too many for a band of this ilk, and less is certainly more here. ‘Energized’ is a chorus in need of a song, and ‘Invincible’ is wholly unnecessary. But it is refreshing to report that although the ballads – despite being cheesier that Def Leppards’ cocks c.1985 – are actually good. ‘We Belong’ will probably get a lot of 50-somethings laid this year, and ‘Wings of An Angel’ has a hook of epic proportions. Everyone needs to be sentimental sometimes, Jim.

It’s safe to say that should the ‘I’m gonna crank some Def Leppard’ mood take you, you’re still more likely to reach for Pyromania than you are this album. But don’t over-look it. This is not an exercise in the law of diminishing returns – it is the best record Def Leppard have made in a quarter of a century.

I will probably never hear this album but your review was funny as fuck

[Seshmeister]

Def Leppard – Def Leppard (2015)

I didn't know this album was out. I'm curious about why they would make it eponymous, does that not make it much harder to find online?

I've listened to the first couple of songs and if this had come out in 1985 I would have really liked it.

There are a few bands like Van Halen who if they released a new album which was a facsimile of them of 1985 I would like, Def Leppard are not one of those bands.

I wouldn't criticise this album though, if you still like Def Leppard you will still like this. It's like when people would say Bon Jovi sold out but their first album was the poppiest of them all - you can't blame a snake for being a snake.

[binnie]

Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls (2015)

There are two ways of looking at Iron Maiden’s career since the reunion of their ‘80s line-up in 1999. The first is to see it as a celebration of musical wanderlust: a Rush-like ambition to ever expand the band’s sound into increasingly progressive, but nonetheless uniquely ‘Maiden’, soundscapes with the dial firmly set on epic. The second is to recognise that ambition, but to see vice where others celebrate virtues: a sign of a band that is increasingly indulgent, far from the bombastic metal of their heyday and in dire need of editing. For those in the latter camp, ‘The Book Of Souls’ – Maiden’s 16th studio album – will be as frustrating as the previous five reunion records. A double album which clocks in at 95 minutes, all of the things which irritate those who yearn for 1985 with nostalgia-clogged ears have been expanded and amplified. The intros are ‘too long’; the band allows itself the ‘meander’ in (over)long musical sections (a feature made more prominent this time round with much of this record being ripped straight from performances on the studio floor); and the production, which many praise as ‘raw’, is decidedly under-cooked in terms of its sonics. True to form, then, Maiden are deeply honest – they don’t really care what many of their fans think, and continue to make music simply to please themselves.

And, at its best, what truly unique, inspiring and idiosyncratic music this is. The playing – as you would expect – is superb. The trademark gallops are served up with aplomb, the three-part guitar harmonies are of the highest order and under Nicko McBain’s helmship the band turn on a sixpence. This is exceptionally complex, but it never feels less than human or emotionless, and that is quite a skill. Opener ‘If Eternity Should Fail’ begins with Bruce’s voice – eerie and inspiring in equal measure – before kicking into one of the heaviest tunes this band has ever recorded. A far superior opener to those on the last 3 records, the hook is superb and 40 years into their career Maiden still sound vital. The epic ‘The Red and the Black’ is dazzling: the ‘whoa-oh-oh’ chorus will irritate some as lazy, but the musicianship here is stunning as the song passes through movement after movement of crushingly heavy metal. The title track shifts from delicate refrain to gargantuan riff and is the sort of mid-paced Maiden behemoth that used to terrify you as a kid: heavy, but losing none of the melodic complexity which makes this band so compelling, it gallops away to end the first disc on a glorious high.

It is a shame, then, that the highs are diluted by moments of mediocrity. If the past three Maiden records needed an edit, ‘The Book of Souls’ would have certainly benefitted from a more brutal inclusion criteria. Part of the problem here is that the song-writing has been more democratic than previously, with Steve Harris releasing some of his iron grip after a series of personal problems. This is welcome in some sense – it adds variety – but unwelcome in others – the variety of styles makes the disc feel unfocussed. The ‘theme’ – Mayan/Atzec – is only very loose indeed; and while this band has teased us with going all-out-prog for the past decade or so, the decision to include a handful of tunes to satisfy the diehards has the habit of spoiling the whole by making it unbalanced. ‘Death Or Glory’ is Maiden-by-numbers; ‘When the River Runs Deep’ is so quick that the vocal line trips over itself; and ‘Speed of Light’, while a metal anthem, seems out of place of an album as musically expansive as this. Indeed, when presented with the 18-minute, Dickinson-penned ‘Empire of the Clouds’ – a sprawling epic about a suitably epic subject (the tragic crash of the R101 airship on its maiden voyage to France in 1930) - you get the sense that with a little more focus and courage, Maiden could be making provocative albums rather than merely provoking ones.

All criticism of Iron Maiden should come with the caveat that what they do is always very good. ‘The Book of Souls’ is no exception: the band are victims of their own success and the high expectations which accompany it, and their refusal to rest on their laurels is highly commendable. You do wish that they’d sit back and look at the whole however. 95 minutes is too much music to take in, and if the whole had been cut to the cream of the crop, a 70 minutes album would have been more powerful as a result. In 2016, Maiden at their full prog is the most satisfying; at their most metallic they are now least sincere.

[binnie]

Angra – Secret Garden (2015)

They may be called Angra, but they’re not very angry. At least not by the standards of 21st century metal. ‘Thoughtful’ might be a better adjective; ‘statuesque’ another. This band reminds me an awful lot of the golden-era of Queensryche: they can really play, they have great a great ear for melody, and what they produced deserves considerable admiration. But it’s not going to make you want to break stuff – you’re more likely to sit back and appreciate it. This is largely because Angra’s music is very considered rather than performative. Kiko Loureiro (also the current Megadeth axeman) can really play, and he serves up lots of guitarmaggedon; but with the keyboards and neoclassical leanings this band has more in common with Rainbow that they do much of the contemporary metal scene – vocalist Rafael Bettencourt has certainly copied straight out of the book of Dio wail. None of this is a bad thing, of course. But Rainbow really fucking rawked. Angra impress, but they are lacking somewhat in the passion stakes.

Coming under the tag of ‘Power Metal’ – which is essentially thrash – the aggression + heavy dollops of cheese – Angra’s music is very sonorous (these tunes will get in your head) but a little bookish (but they’re unlikely to move you). You could sing ‘Black Hearted Soul’ all day, for example. It’s all done terribly well and is coupled to genuine songs rather than just excellent playing. ‘Final Light’, for instance, sound like Dream Theater without all the needless frippery; and the sinewy and delicate ‘Storm of Emotions’ edges towards modern prog – this is a ‘metal’ band which can paint in shades other than gun-metal grey, and their cover of The Police’s ‘Synchronicity II’ shows their dexterity. This can be impressive. Although not a million miles away from musical theatre, the title track is taken up several notches by the majesty of guest vocals from Simone Simons. At their most metallic – ‘Crushing Room’ (which features guest vocals from Doro Pesch) – the band is least convincing.

‘Secret Garden’ is a good album by any measure. You can’t help but be impressed. Like anything which engages the head rather than the balls, however, its hold is somewhat limited as a result.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Metallica – Load (1996)

‘They cut their hair. It’s a shit record’. So ran the critical reaction to ‘Load’, Metallica’s sixth record. Aside from the illogical statement of causation (hair = musical talent), few expressions of exasperation have ever been so revealing about the inner-workings of a community. At the heart of metal lies a paradox: ‘we’re free spirits, outsiders, and rebels’ the choir begins ‘but if you break our rules, you’re out of the club’. Few genres are more conservative or place more expectation on how a band should look and sound. Consequently, ‘Load’ was dismissed before many fans and critics had even hit play: the non-metal short hair was bad enough; the acid-stained whore-house photos from Anton Corbijyn were beyond provocative. Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett may have just about got away with looking like The Pimp Twins in the mid-90s, but no-one wanted to see James Hetfield in make-up. That way flicking the nutsack of metal’s ultra-machismo.

Listening to ‘Load’ two decades on, it’s hard to imagine why this caused such an unholy shitstorm for a number of reasons. First (and most important) it’s actually a very good album; second, we’re now so used to Metallica throwing us curve balls that simply opting to be a Rock Band rather than a Metal Band doesn’t really seems that offensive; and third despite the fact it shifted a bazillion copies, this period is largely forgotten by band and audience alike (only two songs from this era – ‘Fuel’ and ‘The Memory Remains’ – regularly feature in the band’s setlists over the past 15 years, and they are both from ‘Reload’, not this album). The third factor is the most disconcerting because although it hurt when Metallica told us they wanted to be seen as ‘more than’ a metal band, ‘Load’ should be seen as a testament to the fact that as songwriters they certainly ARE more than just another metal band. This was a creative statement, not a commercial one. It was the sound of a band who had been on the road for 4 years after ‘The Black Album’ and were sick of their own limitations as they hammered out night after pulverising night of metal; not the sound of a band who thought ‘this will increase our market share’.

This is often misunderstood: although ‘Load’ is much easier on the ears than any Metallica album to this point, it wasn’t a commercial record. The musical roots here are pure ‘70s hard rock – Thin Lizzy, Skynrd, Blues Oyster Cult – not the grunge or post-grunge of the mid-90s. Alice In Chains, Nirvana or Pearl Jam ‘Load’ was not. The band may have been bored of metal, and may have feared simply making ‘The Black Album 2’ (which would have been the real sell out), but those negatives were pushed into creativity. It is a pattern which has marked the last two decades of their career: success has allowed them a creative wanderlust, and that wanderlust has frustrated and disappointed their fanbase over and over again. Call that obtuse, but it’s certainly not the greedy Ulrich gene it is often characterised as. There is something noble about it, too. Nothing says ‘fuck you’ like a band which does what it wants. What could be more Metal?

All the nobility in the world can’t hide the fact that ‘Load’ had more than a few blemishes. Creativity often leads of a loss of focus, and that is certainly true here. The band was presumably now too chummy with producer Bob Rock for the latter to tell them that a substantial proportion of the tunes on ‘Load’ (and an even larger proportion on ‘Reload’) were filler. As has been the case since, Metallica no longer knew how to edit themselves and much of the 70 + minutes here could have been cut to make something more rounded and satisfying. Cool guitar tones aside, ‘Ronnie’ was a dismal attempt at da bloooos; ‘The Cure’, ‘2X4’, ‘The Thorn Within’ and ‘Oh, Poor Twisted Me’ sound half-formed and don’t evolve beyond musical sketches – they’re not awful, but they are moments of mediocrity which dilute the whole.

But the gems are the sound of a band in kill mode. ‘King Nothing’ was never going to win any genius awards, but it was a crushing display of ultra heavy blues rock. First single ‘Until It Sleeps’ sounded like a musical departure in a superficial sense, but actually employed the soft/heavy power-ballad formula that the band had employed since 1984 – an eerie, jagged song which showcased Hetfield’s maturity as a lyricist, this nodded to Soundgarden but had more balls than anything coming out of Seattle. ‘Wasting My Hate’ is furious and as testosterone charged as anything than band had done to this point: it may have been less ‘metallic’ but, like much of ‘Load’, that didn’t make it any the less heavy. Best of all was the 9 minute plus ‘The Outlaw Torn’, a sprawling, roaring paean to the unforgiven which was jack-hammer is jack-hammer heavy, propelled by a cut-throat riff and a hook that could part the atom. It is one of the finest songs Metallica has ever written.

‘Load’ also managed to widen this band’s emotional range. Rather than mere aggression, here we get a band playing with warmth, regret, laments and sadness. This is exemplified by the country-tinged moments here, which is where Hetfield feels and sounds most comfortable and natural. ‘Bleeding Me’ is epic in a way that only Metallica do: crawling and often low on dynamics, the vocal ensures that the main body of the song is never short of captivating before giving way to a hulking riff in the coda. Here they still sounded like the Four Horsemen, but they’d come for your soul dressed in Stetsons and bullet-belts, not on clouds of fire. Conversely, ‘Hero Of the Day’ was as poppy as the band has ever been. Another beautifully crafted song, this was Metallica injecting range into their furious brand on aggression. Few rock bands in the ‘90s had songs to match Hetfield on his best day and for that reason, ‘Load’ really should be better remembered and more highly revered.

If Metallica are only to be judged on how ‘Metal’ they are, then ‘Load’ can only be seen as a failure. Such a narrow criteria seems ridiculous, however. This album – like every album since – has been an artistic statement by this band, who have never self-consciously chased a bandwagon. Judged purely on the quality of its songs – rather than on what those songs were ‘supposed’ to be – ‘Load’ can only be viewed as a success, a great album, if not quite a great ‘Metallica’ album.

[binnie]

Deftones – Gore (2016)

Deftones have been on a creative high in recent years. ‘Gore’ continues that high, but in an unexpected way. Where ‘Diamond Eyes’ (2009) and ‘Koi Yoi Nokan’ (2012) were Deftones at their most anthemic and bombastic – all massive riffs, groove and bounce – ‘Gore’ sees the band at its most introspective, angular and challenging. Darker and less up-tempo than the band have been in the ‘00s – perhaps in reaction to the death of bassist Chi Cheng – this album rewards repeated listens. Rumours circulated that guitarist Stephen Carpenter was hostile during the recording process, and he is certainly less prevalent in the band’s sound that usual. The upside to this loss of immediacy in the band’s sound, however, is that the tones and soundscapes created by Chino Moreno’s impassioned vocals have far more space to absorb the listener. This makes ‘Gore’ an affecting – and often uncomfortable – listen.

Opener ‘Prayers/Triangles’ is a long way from the crushing wall of riffs you expect from Deftones. Esoteric soundscapes and spacey melodies open the record in a subdued, but nonetheless enveloping, manner. While undoubtedly heavy, ‘Acid Hologram’ is (like many Deftones tunes) a long way from the aesthetic we would normally associate with ‘Metal’ – less macho, more vulnerable, this song showcases what it is that makes Deftones so unique and captivating: the ability to write songs that are at once wilfully angular and earworms. This is no easy listen, sonically or emotionally. The title track and ‘LMIRL’ are the delicate sound of thunder: switching from quiet sections to pure fury, here the band employs a range of dynamics and tones richer than they have employed since ‘White Pony’ (2001). This will divide fans, but the result is a sound as huge as it is challenging. You can’t help but marvel at it, whatever your opinion. ‘Geometric Headdress’, for example, is a dark tale of attraction and repulsion being propelled by desire set to a series of quirky rhythms and melodies: here is a band that can make you think and dance in the same instance.

In the hands of Matt Hyde’s stripped-down production these songs feel raw and the band more human. They may have lost sonic bluster, but they’ve gained power. ‘Xenon’, for example, benefits from the lack of complication and could have been on the band’s debut ‘Adrenaline’ (1995); and ‘Heads/Wires’ is from the vinyl era, a song with so much space that it feels lively and dynamic, a performance not a recording.

This is a captivating and challenging record, but it is not an immediate one. For that reason, it will split fans and critics alike. No one can doubt Deftones creative integrity, however. They have a habit of turning right when straight ahead would have been the logical choice. That single-mindedness and commitment to their art is perhaps what makes them so unique. ‘Metal’ has never really fitted them as a label, and you can easily imagine much of their material being palatable to those on the edgier ends of inide and alt.rock. Two decades in and they’re still full of surprises and remain one of heavy music’s most vibrant forces.

[binnie]

From the Vaults: Overkill – From the Underground and Below (1997)

The mid-90s was a weird time for metal. Grunge had come and gone, turning the world of heavy music on its arse as a result; thrash metal had petered out; traditional metal was sneered at as its pioneering bands entered their 40s; and two new genres – Industrial and Nu Metal – were making music that was heavy, but very different in its aesthetics, from the metal that had gone before. As a result of this weirdness, a lot of established bands tried new things. Many of these new things involved wearing sweat pants – instead of denim and leather –which looked ridiculous. Writing songs about child abuse and/or nondescript ‘pain’ was also common, which in retrospect was just as contrived as songs about demons and dragons (and a fuck of a lot less fun to listen to). Now filed under ‘experimentation’ (when remembered at all) the records from this period actually sound aimless, the result of bands desperately trying to cling onto their record contracts by staying relevant.

Overkill were also experimenting in 1997. This band are the US equivalent of Saxon: a very important and pioneering band now overlooked and underappreciated despite clocking up latter day gems. ‘From…’ certainly featured some attempts at catching the zeitgeist: the record was mixed by Colin Richardson, the producer behind two of the period’s biggest new bands – Machine Head and Fear Factory; the band tried to write more introspective lyrics in places (most of which fall flat); and the band photos and artwork just look plain odd (self consciously un-metal but decidedly ‘non-metal’). At this point, Megadeth had decided they were a rock band, Anthrax were trying to sound like Helmet, and Metallica were wearing make-up and trying to boogie, so thrash veterans like Overkill having a crisis of confidence is understandable. You can almost hear the conversation with the record company which result in the awful Korn-y ‘Half Past Dead’.

But ‘From….’ is not a record to consign to the ‘failed experimentation’ folder (read: bargain bin) of the period. Despite the signs of the times, it is a motherfucker of a metal record. Opener ‘It Lives’ is the most calculated cut here. The tones and pinch harmonics were an attempt to garner some Machine Head-style success. ‘See Me’ was also thrash-meets-industrial – the pulsing guitars were pure Ministry or White Zombie – but it was still sandpaper-to-the-face aggression. And that is what ultimately what marks this record out as an odd sort of triumph – even dressed in new clothes, Bobby Blitz still sounded, and felt, like he always had done – an East Coast pitbull hellbent on wrecking your neck! ‘F.U.C.T’ is the headbutt-to-the-nose Overkill thrash that this band made them name on, with a tar sticky chorus to boot. Even when the band tries different ways of being heavy, it has the same attitude. ‘I’m Alright’ and ‘The Rip N Tear’ are the sound which Anthrax was reaching for (and missing) in the same period – classic rock played through concrete guitar tones – and although not what you’d expect from Overkill, the riffs just own you. ‘Long Time Dyin’ – which is a blusier brand of thrash – is equally compelling and propelled by an equally big, thick, slab of riffage.

‘From the Underground and Below’ is not Overkill’s finest hour. But it is a monster of a record in places. As you’d expect (and again the Saxon comparison is important) it is delivered with the sort of gusto and metallic bombast which makes it compelling. Not every experiment here works, but those that did produced some black beauties and forgotten gems. It feels like Overkill, even if it doesn’t necessarily sound like them – and feel is the most important element of any band worth its salt.

[binnie]

Five Finger Death Punch – Got Your Six (2015)

A cursory listen to FFDP reveals three things. First, this is band of men who are hard. Rock hard. They pose with weapons in the album photos (hard). They write hooks about using those weapons - ‘Click-clack, reload’ on ‘No Sudden Movement’ - (hard). They grimace for no apparent reason (hard). And – whisper it like the kid from Jerry Maguire – they say ‘fuck’ a lot (24 times in final song, the potty-mouthed Priest-esque anthem ‘Boots and Blood’). Second, they are angry. Really, really angry. What they are angry about is not clear, however. Lots ‘yous’ and ‘thems’ appear in the lyrics – it appears that what makes them most angry is ill-defined and non-specific targets, like ‘the world’ and ‘society’. RAAAAARRRR. Third, and finally, this band is smart. This where we have to remove our sarcastic trousers and get serious. FFDP are a smart band: they have their eyes of being one of metal’s premier acts – an arena stomping, festival heading, angry-for-no-apparent-reason slice of capitalism – and they have made record after record of carefully designed albums to achieve that status.

‘Got Your Six’ is no different. The songs – as mentioned – are angry. But they’re only angry for 3 minutes (hello, radio chance of radio play) and with big, pop-infused hooks (hello, spotty, my-parents-don’t-understand-me audience). Those songs have also been written according to a formula: look at what metal’s biggest acts (Slipknot, Korn, Disturbed, Killswitch Engage) do; work out how to do it; do it; increase the number of ‘fucks’. Cynicism aside, this is the makes of a skilled band – creatively redundant ‘Got Your Six’ may be, but FFDP the business is going places.

If approached seriously, this leaves a cheap aftertaste in the mouth. But sometimes you’ve just got to get over yourself. FFDP are not Opeth. They’re not trying to be Opeth. If you take ‘Got Your Six’ for what it is – a carefully packed piece of metal for the mainstream – you can’t help but enjoy it. The opening – and title – track sounds an awful lot like ‘Iowa’-era Slipknot with the scary taken out: 2 minutes 30 of bouncy metallic fun. ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ is essentially a massive pop song, Katy Perry with heavy guitar (and added ‘fucks’). This is meant as a compliment – hooks aren’t easy to write, and being a gateway band is important (how many people who love Megadeth first got their rock buzz from Poison?) Pop sensibilities help to ease 13 year olds into the metal fold. ‘Wash It All Away’ is pure teen angst (give up on family, society, democracy, and so on) – when you strip away the angry lyrics however, the music could be mid-80s Scorpions. A chugging guitar here, a shiny hook there. Tunes you can whistle, and songs that will stick in your head like shit to a blanket.

‘Got Your Six’ is not a good album. But it is an enjoyable one, and fun is sometimes underrated.

[binnie]

From the Vaults: Candlemass – King of the Grey Island (2007)

Comebacks are a difficult thing to get right. If you deviate from your trademark sound, you annoy and frustrate your fans. If you replicate it, you sound irrelevant and never quite as exciting as you did on the records which made you a ‘legend’. Swedish doom-pioneers Candlemass have made a series of very, very good metal albums since reuniting in the 00s. ‘King…..’ is one of those albums. It deserves a wider audience.

Following on from ‘From the 13th Sun’ – their first comeback record – Candlemass simplified things and opted for a crisper, more straightforward approach. New vocalist Robert Lowe was part Dio and part Hetfield, and in his hands these songs simply soar. The songs were more concise, and even when longer had clearer focal points. The template was more clearly Sabbath – unsurprising given that this is doom, but the Candlemass of the past had never been mere emulators. The benefits of this are that the songs stick in the ears and are more immediate – opener ‘Emperor of the Void’ is a symphony of everything which makes metal great; and ‘Devil’s Seed’ is pure head-banging abandon. The downside is that this straighter, less atmospheric approach is that for all the quality of the material, Candlemass lost something of the feeling which made them tick. It’s the ‘comeback’ catch-22 striking again.

But focussing on what is missing instead of what is there can only lead to disappointment. The truth of the matter is that ‘King…’ featured some stunning slabs of epic, hook-laden doom metal. ‘Of Stars & Smoke’ is Rainbow on lots and lots of steroids. ‘Embracing the Styx’ is up there with the very best that 21st century doom can offer. ‘Destroyer’ is so heavy its presence lumbers and hulks, music which exists on its own terms and in its own world. And if you don’t like the sheer thud and power of ‘Clearsight’ you don’t like metal: this is a song heavier than the Himalayas.

It may not be the golden days, but that doesn’t mean that records can’t shine.

[binnie]

Rival Sons – Hollow Bones (2016)

It is undeniable that Rival Sons sounds like ’67-’72, but labelling them ‘Retro Rock’ doesn’t really do this band justice. This is far more than mere copyism or rose-tinted nostalgia: Rival Sons make records which are as authentic, emotive and genuine as the 50 year old era in which their sound belongs. Put simply, ‘Hollow Bones’ is 38 minutes of rock ‘n’ roll heaven, an album which alternatively shuffles, shakes and blusters its way out of the speakers. Less style over substance than The White Stripes, less meandering than The Black Crowes, Rival Sons showcases a very restrained display of chops in favour of allowing the songs to do the hard work for them.

And what songs they are. ‘Hollow Bones pt, 1’ owes far more to vintage soul and gospel than it does Page/Plant (the normal source of Classic Rock plagiarism). This is a song which shows that there is something of the shaman about this band – a raw blend of melody, bass and rhythm that hooks you into their world. Less heavy than the band’s previous two records – Scott Holiday’s guitar is less violent, and more tonal, in its presence – ‘Hollow Bones’ showcases a wider range of the band’s talents. The free-flow jam of ‘Black Coffee’, for instance, switches from proto-metal to a rip-riding Jerry Lee Lewis style romp. ‘Tied Up’ is a raucous, soulful blues which owes more to Creedence than it does to Sabbath (who the band are touring with a present). ‘Thundering Voices’ sounds like the hippies discovered funk and are hugging the shit out of it, and acoustic closer ‘All That I Want’ is a vulnerable, honest and delicate display of majestic songwriting.

In vocalist Jay Buchanan Rival Sons has a man who can rival anyone in the past 50 years of music. There’s a touch of Steve Marriot about him. Yes, that good. You sense, however, that Rival Sons will never be as big as those bands whom they love. This is not for want of talent, but for want of a zeitgeist. What made the classic bands classic wasn’t just a common blues derivation. It was existing at a particular moment in time. Rival Sons may very well be able to trade punches with some of music’s legends, but in a world where rock ‘n’ roll is not part of the status quo they will never have the same impact. And that is a crying shame.

[Etienne]

[binnie]

Grand Magus – Sword Songs (2016)

They wear denim and leather and they have beards. And they sound exactly like they look. Sweden’s Grand Magus serve up Heavy Metal of the most metallic variety with the utmost conviction and zero melodrama. ‘Sword Songs’ – album no 8 – takes us headfirst into a world where guitars chug, choruses are bellowed, songs are largely about warriors and Vikings are thrown in for good measure. Metal as power and Metal as escapism: see ‘Varangen’, “We are warriors, defenders of steel”. If you don’t get it, you will hate ‘Sword Songs’; if you do you will love it. Played with glee and with Dio in every pore of their being, this is an absolute joy of a record to listen to.

Grand Magus have two bonafide modern classics to their name: ‘Iron Will’ and ‘Hammer of The North’. On those records, Grand Magus came within a hair’s breath of Bathory, Priest and Maiden. ‘Sword Songs’ is not in that league, but it is a very, very good record. It is easy to be condescending to what is traditional, but it would be wrong to treat it with contempt. Songs like ‘Born For Battle’ and ‘Forged In Iron – Crowned In Steel’ may contain little that hasn’t been done before, but they are a metal head’s wet dream. No flab, no frills, no meandering: this simply delivers the goods from start to finish.

Bang Thy Head!

[binnie]

Anthrax – For All Kings (2016)

Anthrax were always The Smallest One of The Big Four. ‘For All Kings’, however, proves that in 2016 they are the band making the best music of the Bay Area’s big bruisers. Simply put, this is a giant of a heavy metal record. ‘Worship Music’ (2013) was a very good record, but much of it had been written without Joey Bellandonna – who returned to the fold in 2010 – in mind. This time out everything feels more complete, and with Joey’s voice in mind Charlie Bennante has penned songs which are both more epic in scope and which stretch the bounds of what you might usually associate with Anthrax. There are certainly moments here that you would call ‘thrash metal’ – the Armageddon riffage of opener ‘You Gotta Believe’ and the savagery of ‘Zero Tolerance’ both tap into this band’s heritage – but this is no nostalgia trip or an attempt to emulate the glory days. Instead, ‘For All Kings’ is a metal record made very much for Anthrax 2016.

The songs are often stunning, packed with nuances which raise the good to the great. ‘Monster At the End’ is a classic at first listen, a big, fat riff and a huge chorus combining to make something instantly anthemic. Similarly, ‘Breathing Lightning’ is very much a song, not a macho metal workout, and the riffs and hooks have far more power than a mere exercise in brutality would. That’s not to say that this is not a heavy record, as ‘Suzerain’ (which should have been named ‘The Riff That Kills All Others’) and the impossibly muscular ‘Defend/Avenge’ demonstrate. It is just that it is so much more than merely heavy. On the 8 minute epic ‘Blood Eagle Wings’ the band taps into Dio, Maiden and Priest without ever sounding irrelevant to the 21st century, and Joey lays down a frankly astonishing vocal.

Anthrax 2016 is a great band on great form and with plenty to say, and ‘For All Kings’ is about as good as metal gets.

[Etienne]

Allan Holdsworth - Wardenclyffe Tower (1992)



AllMusic Review by Daniel Gioffre

This 1992 release features Holdsworth in conversation with usual compatriots Jimmy Johnson, Chad Wackerman, and Gary Husband. Keyboards are provided not only by Steve Hunt, but also by both Wackerman and Husband. Husband in particular demonstrates that his facility on the keyboards is equal to his skill on the drums. Despite the all-star cast of characters, there are certain peculiarities to Wardenclyffe Tower that prevent it from being numbered among Holdsworth's best work. One very obvious oddity is the strange and ill-advised ending to the opener, "5 to 10," which concludes with a toilet flushing and an annoying voice-over. Mistakes in judgment aside, there is something formless about this album, something that blurs the tracks together in a meaningless way. Holdsworth has always been more of a distinctive than a strong composer, and the batch of tunes that he contributes here is not very compelling. The title track, with its power-chord verse, and his collaboration with singer Naomi Star, "Against the Clock," are his strongest moments. The presence of Hunt's "Dodgy Boat" helps but it is not enough to elevate this album to the level of Holdsworth's past successes. This is not to say that there is not meaningful music on Wardenclyffe Tower, because there is. "Against the Clock," which features not only Star's voice but also the drums of Vinnie Colaiuta, is one such success. Holdsworth makes use of the SynthAxe guitar synthesizer on several tracks on Wardenclyffe Tower, the most effective use of which is here, where his solo emerges from empty space in a constantly accelerating fashion, like a boulder rolling down a hill (although Holdsworth's ascending line sets forth the impossible scenario of falling upwards). All in all, however, there is a lack of dynamic movement in the soloists and the compositions in general. Of value to Holdsworth completists, but not of much interest to casual fans.

Source: http://www.allmusic.com/album/warden...r-mw0000097636

[binnie]

Gojira – Magma (2016)

Gojira are perhaps the best metal band of their generation. Heavy, but with a knack for hooks, intelligent without ever losing immediacy, and in-tune with metal’s past without being constrained by the slavish worship of tradition, over the course of 3 superlative releases – ‘From Mars to Sirius’ (2005), ‘The Way of All Flesh’ (2008) and ‘L’Enfant Savage’ (2012) – this is a band which have carved their own path and made music of spellbinding immediacy. ‘Magma’ – album no. 6 – sees the band at a cross-roads. Do they continue to walk the path well-trodden or try new paths? Much like Mastodon several years earlier, this is an album which sees Gojira polish their rough edges, simplify their sound somewhat, and put their melodic tendencies to the forefront. Unlike Mastodon, however, Gojira still sound very, very convincing when they are not trying to be the heaviest matter in the universe.

‘Magama’ is not a sell-out record. The may be less blisteringly heavy than the band’s past three releases, but you can’t really imagine much of this getting prime-time rotation. The sense you get when listening to this record is that things have softened somewhat for artistic reasons: the lyrics frequently touch on the loss of the Duplantier brother’s mother, and the sombre, more melancholic feel of the album seems genuinely result from that. This, then, is not an ‘up’ album, despite its simpler approach. Nor is it an instant record in a way that earlier Gojira albums are – there are subtleties and nuances at work, and the songs are very much ear-worms. Where in the past Gojira had a tendency to go all-out all of the time, here the dynamics are subtler. There are lashing of Killing Joke-style atmospherics at work, and this makes some of these songs more moving than metal-staccato usually allows. Joel Duplantier’s use of clean vocals adds to this, making these songs touching and elevating them above much of metal’s middle-ground.

But don’t be fooled into thinking that Gojira have ditch their cornerstones of their sound. The polyrhythms, eerie melodies, and crunching bottom-end are all still there in droves. And the riffs are typically mighty – this is a band that can compete with the Mustaines, Hetfields, Dimebags and Tipton/Downings in that area. ‘The Cell’ has a riff which could level blocks; ‘Silvera’ is a twisted rhythmic assault which combines complexity with catchiness; and ‘The Shooting Star’ features a dinosaur heavy riff which captures all that this album is about – less frenetic than in the past, more sparse in approach, but still utterly mesmerising. There is little here that doesn’t sparkle.

Many have already hailed ‘Magma’ as the metal album of the year. I’m not so convinced. It feels like a transition record, the sound of a band in transition between their ultra-metal phase and whatever will come next. Whatever you think about Gojira, however, they are one of those handful of bands – like Meshuggah, early-Mastodon and Faith No More – who don’t lend themselves to easy categorisation; the sort of band where the memory of the first listen is ingrained in the memory. ‘Magma’ is certainly a noble addition to that legacy, even if it doesn’t quite reach the status of classic. A beautiful, moving musical statement.