The New Year seemed to be a bit of a fallow period. Then at the end of the month came a couple of old-school thrash metal albums to save the day, along with an avalanche of other great releases. It was as if no-one wanted to release anything straight after Christmas, which may have been the case.
The first really exciting release (and purchase) was from an unsigned band, available for streaming and purchase on Bandcamp (which incidentally is a great place to discover new bands).
Terrifier - Weapons of Thrash Destruction : Excellent production and songwriting, it's up there with the big 5 for me (I'm including Testament there). Any comparisons with Testament may not be coincidental. They admittedly admire Testament, and could the last track 'Sect of the Serpent' be a tribute to the veteran thrashers? If anything the vocals are a little screamy for me but that's just a matter of taste.
★★★★★
The next really inspiring release was from a familiar name -
Kreator - Gods of Violence : These guys go back to the early days of thrash, I recognise the name & logo but I can't say that I've followed them over the years. Once again, outstanding riffage and songwriting. It's so good to hear excellent guitar solos, really creative stuff rather than widdling. I can see this being near the top of my fave albums of the year.
★★★★★
Jack Russell's Great White - He Saw It Comin' : Another name from the 80's, a bit of hard rock in case you need a break from all the thrash. A really good album with vocals as brilliant as ever.
★★★★☆
Burning Point - The Blaze : This double-pedal-bass-drum power metal with powerful clean vocals is a style I really like and this is an album I've listened to again and again. I don't know what it is about the Scandinavians that makes their metal output so good.
★★★★☆
Nightmare - Dead Sun : Although this has something of an up-to-date sound about it, the band go back a long way. Experience always seems to tell in the quality of performance and writing. A good solid 4, this one, and I can feel it becoming a 5 after more listens. Excellent artwork always counts with me, and once again an exploding sphere on the cover seems to be a marker for great music within.
★★★★☆
Deathless Legacy - Dance with the Devils : I don't know why this band don't get more recognition, maybe the twisted / horror / theatrical style isn't to everyone's taste as it is to mine. I'm not sure yet whether this album is quite up to the previous album The Gathering, but they're one of my favourite bands, this is great and it was an immediate purchase, making it a 5.
★★★★★
Xandria - Theater of Dimensions : Full-on epic symphonic metal. German band with a few albums under their belts. Once again, great cover artwork.
★★★★☆
An honourable mention too for
Stephen Pearcy - Smash, Pearcy trading under his own name rather than Ratt, but still with that old sound - maybe a little dirtier, which works for me. Good stuff if, like me, you're a child of the 80s.
And also for
Borealis - World of Silence MMXVII : Interestingly, a re-recording of a debut 2008 album. It's a powerful metal sound, with "progressive elements". Maybe I'm getting old but I find that more complexity in music makes it more interesting. I'll certainly be listening to this some more.
