Notable Rock / Metal releases end June 2017

Cellar Darling - This is the Sound : Formed by three members of Eluvietie, a larger and more folky metal band, Cellar Darling consists of just three members; Merlin Sutter, drums, Ivo Henzi, all guitars and bass, and Anna Murphy's clean female vocals and hurdy-gurdy. The music is solid metal, the hurdy-gurdy adds a folk element and completes an original and interesting sound. The songwriting's excellent and the result is a top album.
★★★★★

Riot - Inishmore : Riot are a very long-lived band and you can hear the classic metal roots but this album has a celtic / irish theme. An interesting variety of music from good power metal to the atmospheric Danny Boy.
★★★★☆

Stone Sour - Hydrograd : The second purchase this week, SS's sixth album is an enjoyable mix of commercial and kick-ass.
★★★★★

Vintersorg - Till Fjalls Del II : Vintersorg have experimented with a variety of musical styles around themes of Scandinavian fantasy and legend. The death metal is strong in places but it gets pretty melodic too, reminding me of Kvelertak.
★★★★☆

Ye Banished Privateers - First Night Back In Port : This has been released by Napalm Records, so it's getting loads of attention from the metal press, but it's not metal at all, more folk. They're 30 musicians making an acoustic piratey riot of a sound with some rude 18th century style stuff. loads of fun.
★★★★☆

Notable recent rock and metal releases, late June 2017

I'm not sure how Alestorm's latest opus evaded the last couple of lengthy updates.  No Grave But the Sea  follows the classic 'Sunset on the Golden Age'. It took a couple of listens to overcome an initial 'meh' but I think that's down to high expectations and great albums always taking a few listens. I suppose I was listening out for more of the epic serious stuff like "Sunset..." and "Cartegena". Maybe they're being cautious about sailing too close to the sandbank of serious music, or maybe "No Grave..." is it and just takes a bit more listening. They've certainly not moved on from the fabulous stupidness of Wooden Leg; the new Fucked with an Anchor proudly takes that place and I imagine will be a great singalong. Talking of audience participation, can there be a new and improved version of 'Drink'? There is, and they've named it after the band, clearly a perfect signature tune, musically more complex with even some growled vocals in places.  All together now... (to the tune of 'we are here, to drink your beer')   "Rum, beer, quests and mead.."
(Don't bother with the deluxe version of the album - I'm not sure what the 'for dogs' tracks are all about, sounds like an amusing novelty idea that they ran with way too far.)
★★★★★

Unleash the Archers - Apex : The fourth full-length studio album in nearly ten years from the Canadian power metal band. Powerful, melodic and pretty epic in places. It rocks
★★★★☆

42 decibel - Overloaded : Early AC/DC with a bottleneck.
★★★☆☆

Jyrki69 - Helsinki Vampire : The music lacks a bit of welly but I love the voice, I love the theatricality, I love the gothic horror / vampire atmosphere.
★★★★☆

Kai Hansen - Thank you Wacken Live : Related bands include Helloween, Gamma Ray, Unisonic, Avantasia. I'm not usually a fan of live albums, but this awesome live set includes some great songs / performances and guests.
★★★★☆

Pristine - Ninja : A slightly trippier version of Halestorm maybe? Blues / rock with an excellent female vocalist who's not afraid to sing acapella and with feeling.
★★★★☆



Honourable mentions for a couple of pretty good thrash metal albums; My Regime - Deranged Patterns,  and Municipal Waste - Slime and Punishment

Notable New Rock & Metal Releases start of June 2017

I don't know what kind of sweet spot we've just hit but there are some historic releases of the last three weeks, especially Friday 2 June.

Dream Evil - SIX : This really reminds me of Judas Priest in a good way. Solid, anthematic.
★★★★☆

Adrenaline Mob - We the People : good commercial stuff, though I'm not keen on politics in music. the third studio album and with two new members, one of those replacements due to the death of the previous drummer while on tour, I imagine he'd have felt pretty triumphant about checking out in such a Spinal Tap way.
★★★☆☆

Carnivore - Carnivore : Genuine 80's metal, re-released. This sounds very close to Venom for me (a good thing, not a criticism). I was a big fan of Venom back in the day (still have the vinyl / picture discs) but I hadn't heard of this US band. It feels good to have the technology to be able to discover these missed gems now.
★★★★☆

Ezoo - Feeding the Beast : Hey, that's Graham Bonnet! It felt like Christmas had come already to have a new album featuring that legend so soon after The Book, one of my favourite albums of last year. But I have to admit that my feelings are a little more mixed after a few listens. The songwriting is as excellent as ever; I'll enjoy listening to these new songs over and over. I've not studied the lyrics, but I'm getting a feeling of darkness coming through in places. Most troubling is that Graham's vocals really aren't up to scratch. Is it his age showing in places, or was the recording rushed? Yet more recordings of Since You've Been Gone and Eyes of the World... It's always good to hear Graham trying new things with his vocal performance, and hearing what a different guitarist might bring. But the performances of those songs aren't up to the standard of the ones on The Book, and they could have been left off for me.
★★★★☆

The Ferrymen - The Ferrymen : From one absolute legend to a younger virtuoso. The Ferrymen is an all-star line-up featuring Ronnie Romero with Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear and Allen/Lande). I'm a big fan of the Lords of Black recordings (also featuring Romero) and he seems to suggest that he's more excited by this project. He's certainly channelling Dio as much as ever and musically this album is excellent.  Outstanding song is 'Ferrymen' and I guess it's no accident that the band takes its name from the song.
★★★★★

Jorn - Life on Death Road : What a week for legendary singers. Apparently Jorn didn't want to make 'just another album' and this certainly isn't. I wasn't a fan of his last 'hard rock covers' album but this album of new material is on another level.
★★★★☆

Radiation Romeos - Radiation Romeos : I'm not sure what to make of this, the cover image suggests something harder but it's melodic stuff. I'm thinking it'll grow with time.
★★★☆☆

Secret Sphere - the Nature of Time : This is definitely softer stuff, touching on AOR, but I really like it all the same, and bonus points for the excellent artwork (even if it does rip off Dali...)
★★★☆☆

Tengger Cavalry - Die on my Ride : This band reminds me of one of my favourite bands, Kvelertak. Similar in that the music is great, pretty melodic but the vocals are far from melodic. In this case we're talking Mongolian throat-singing. This and other folky influences make a very interesting and appealing listen.
★★★★☆

Unleash the Archers - Apex : solid power metal riffage and clean female vocals, embellished with the odd growl. Goes a bit epic in places.
★★★★☆

Steve Grimmett - Personal Crisis : Is it a personal crisis? Because I do care. Steve's recent Grim Reaper album, Walking in the Shadows (under the name of Steve Grimmet's Grim Reaper) did maintain that classic 80's metal feel. There's a different sound to this album, interesting songwriting, a more solid sound. This doesn't appear to be due to membership, the members all appear to have been part of the SGGR band for that last album. No midlife crisis here, great stuff.
★★★★☆

Cloven Hoof - Who Mourns for the Morning Star? : Appropriate that this should come right after Steve Grimmett. Cloven Hoof were a NWOBHM / black metal band. There are long breaks in their story, and changes of personnel and style to power metal. I'm definitely hearing Maiden in the epic Bannockburn, in the vocals and music, as well as the epic topic.
★★★★☆

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow - Live in Birmingham 2016 : A collection of classic songs, Rainbow and Purple with the legendary guitar of Mr Blackmore, vocal talent of Ronnie Romero and Jens Johansson on organ. For me it lacks oomph, Ronnie Romero certainly belts it out, but musically some of the songs that should kick ass sound a little too laid back.
★★★☆☆

Walpyrgus - Walpyrgus Nights : Good proper old-fashioned upbeat heavy metal with great vocals and melodies, great guitar solos. Excellent songwriting, variations of tempo and rhythm (even within the songs) to add to the interest. The horror / Lovecraft etc influences make a great album even better. Performances and sound are top-notch. Solid five-stars and purchased.
★★★★★

Iced Earth - Incorruptible : I've certainly been looking forward to this one. Is it their best album to date or am I just becoming more of a fan? Style ranges from the Sabaton-esque Clear the Way (Dec 13th 1862) to Seven Headed Whore which sounds like Testament with added Rob Halford screams.
★★★★★




Honourable mentions to Great White - Full Circle, White Skull - Will of the Strong, Nickelback - Feed the Machine, Royal Blood - How Did We Get So Dark?

New Rock Metal releases - catching up, April and May 2017

I've been really bad at writing posts here over the last couple of months. I'm not under the illusion that anyone is waiting with baited breath for my next post but I like to have a complete record of my thoughts here for the end-of-year listing.

I'll try and catch up a bit here with some of the most bodacious new releases for April and May.

Harlott - Extinction : Wow, proper thrash metal similar to veterans Testament and another recent discovery, Terrifier. In fact, really sounding like Testament in places. If 'And Darkness Brings the Light' popped up by random play, I'd easily mistake it for something from Brotherhood of the Snake. I don't mean that in anything but a positive way. The more excellent music like this, the better.
★★★★★

Deep Purple - infinite : It's deep purple, very purpley and very Gillanny. Excellent, though I think it's a grower; I was a little nonplussed at first but it's grabbing me more with every listen. Is it as good as Perfect Strangers? I don't think so, but then I've not listened to it as many times as PS. Yet.
★★★★☆

Trollfest - Helluva : Who doesn't have troll-based fantasies? Just me then?  This is real feel-good music, jolly tunes with good hooks, the obligatory growly vocals and lyrics and titles in 'trollspeak' which seems to be a mix of English, German and their native Norwegian. And animal noises. A bit of theatre with music is great.
★★★★☆

Great Van Fleet - Black Smoke Rising : Firmly in the rock camp, bluesy, southern, and with soaring vocals that sound just like Robert Plant. This is a debut EP, they've had some commercial success, which is not surprising.
★★★★☆

Incubus - 8 : I put Incubus in the same pigeon-hole, that I can't find a name for, as bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Lost Prophets  and Pearl Jam. For Rock this is heavy in places, a bit pop at times but a little leftfield and odd in places. All good.
★★★☆☆

Night Demon - Darkness Remains : It's always such a joy to hear a band that takes you back to teenage years. Night Demon really remind me of a no-nonsense 80's metal band I loved called Chariot. This second album contains some excellent material plus a couple of great covers. Excellent work.
★★★★★

MindMaze - Resolve : Power metal leaning a little towards progressive, excellent clean female vocals with great melodies and songwriting. A very strong album, the third from MM. Reminding me a little of Helion Prime. A possible five with a few more listens.
★★★★☆

Ayreon - The Source : full-on conceptual progressive power metal. The story is of a race condemned to destruction by a computer they'd created, and their escape to another world. This album only forms part of a bigger story. There's a large variation in the music,  eg various vocalists, some folk and some operatic styles coming in at times, which keeps the whole thing fresh and interesting.
★★★★☆

Seven Kingdoms - Decennium : I'm not a GOT fan but I am a Seven Kingdoms fan. Powerful metal, great clean female vocals. I'm not sure that this is as good as the previous release but I'll reserve judgement until I've heard this more times.
★★★★☆

WolfPakk - Wolves Reign : They certainly do. Wait - is that Biff Byford? It is! Another supergroup (which really seems to be a thing now). Actually, more like two guys, Mark Sweeney and Michael Voss with a large number of guests also including Steve Grimmett and Chris Holmes.
★★★★☆

Ghost Bath - StarMourner : It's really difficult to categorise this music. As the spiky way they write their name indicates, their music can be noisy and the vocals screamy, but I've put the album in an 'ambient' playlist. The music is pretty melodic at times (reminding me of Kvelertak) and pretty chilled at other times. It's mostly instrumental and pretty easy on the ear but with some screams going on sometimes which I don't find too disturbing. Have I just described 'post-black metal'? Because that's what their 'genre' on Encyclopaedia Metallum says. It's going to get a lot of listens late at night.
★★★★☆

Tumourboy - Damaged System : Getting extra marks for the leader's excellent name; Jacob Demonskull, good old-fashioned thrash metal. Vocals and guitar solos need to mature a little.
★★★☆☆

Trial (swe) - Motherless : I can find little about the band, but love the style. It's heavy metal, a little quirky with occult themes in the lyrics. Hence some comparisons with King Diamond and Mercyful Fate who are neighbours of theirs.
★★★★☆

Rammstein - Live in Paris : (album and video) The film is very difficult to watch, it's an unusual style, moving very rapidly, with some weird effects added (Till with lizard eyes and forked tongue?) It feels like a hyperactive music video rather than live concert. Musically it is an excellent performance, excellent set.
★★★★★

Papa Roach - Crooked Teeth : Quite different from previous albums, a little less of the 'nu' and rap, possibly why I love it so much. Great rock, great hooks.
★★★★☆


Honourable mentions:
SnakeCharmer - Second Skin, Cryonic Temple - Into the Glorious Battle, SinHeresY - Domino,

Exploding spheres

Have you noticed that an exploding sphere on the cover of an album is a good indicator of good content within?

I started to notice it with the first couple in this list, and I'm going to keep adding as I spot more.


Vicious Rumors - Concussion Protocol :

Paradox - Pangea :

A dying sun from Nightmare - Dead Sun :  

Another quality record and similar cover from The Unity:

This is a two-for-one. Vulcain have made new recordings of all of the songs from their 1984 album, Rock 'n' Roll Secours. The new album contains all of the original recordings as well as the new ones. The album cover has been reworked too, here are both.

Titanium play melodic metal. Atomic number 22 was released in Sep 2016

Groundbreaker also play melodic rock of the most bland AOR kind, slightly at odds with the earth-shattering design of the 2018 self-titled album's cover.

Satan's Hallow - debut self-titled album

I love it so much when I come across something of this standard among the unsigned bands on Bandcamp.

It's proper old-school heavy metal, NWOBHM or whatever you want to call it. And done so well, with a good variation in style, light and shade. The vocals are clean, female with screams and sustains. The guitar solos are meaningful with some great back-and-forth handovers. Some of the riffs are twin-lead a la Priest / Maiden. That's not a comparison made lightly, the quality of the songwriting is excellent.

The sound of the recording is warm and homely and reminds me of some of my smaller-label vinyl from the 80s, which I love.

Absolutely outstanding stuff, blowing away some of the recent big-label releases, and I love the fact that with an independent artist, more of your money goes to the people who deserve it.

Buy a copy for your granny, as TommyVance used to say.

★★★★★

https://satanshallow.bandcamp.com/album/satans-hallow

Notable New Rock and Metal Releases, January 2017

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.