This week's unsigned discovery - HumanasH - Reborn from the Ashes

I'm not sure whether I can call Italian band HumanasH 'unsigned' as my purchase was from Jolly Roger Records, but hey, that sounds a bit piratey and unofficial.

The tags 'mercyful fate' and 'king diamond' caught my eye, so I was braced for some soaring and diving vocals but I guess those tags refer to the general genre and the theatricality of the music.

From the titles, the album appears conceptual. The intro features atmospheric clean guitars an ominous rhythm and a gruff spoken intro from guest and influencer Steve Sylvester.

The production is excellent, the sound very clear, especially after purchase and receiving the full quality files. The music is old-school heavy metal, not quite thrash but leaning in that direction. The themes is horror / black metal. As I write this, three tracks are available but if you pre-order the album (from 4.99 Euro) you get those tracks now, with the other three to follow on 17 Nov.

Because it's always good to see the band (especially when they have Italian good looks) there's a video below. You can listen to all the available tracks (and buy for a very good price) on bandcamp:
https://jolly-roger-records.bandcamp.com/album/humanash-reborn-from-the-ashes

This week's unsigned discovery - Sons of Lioth

I love listening to new stuff on bandcamp, it's probably the hunter/gatherer instinct. It's so rewarding when you find a gem. And you don't often have to hunt very far to find an unsigned band playing music that competes with the week's best commercial releases.

Today's discovery is Belgian band Sons of Lioth. The music covers diverse topics from lighthearted sci-fi to more serious swords and dragons. The style is pretty consistent though. They cite Priest, AC/DC and Maiden as influences and that gives you the feel.

The next and more sad discovery is that the band have decided to call it a day.

All four of their releases are available online for reasonably small amounts of cash. I chose the cover of Large Hadron Spider for this post because I love the artwork and the pun.

https://sonsoflioth.bandcamp.com

Notable New Rock and Metal Releases, Aug-Sept 2017

Venom Inc. - Avé : It seems pretty common for bands to split and then both halves wanting to use the name. Tank is a notable one - Algy Ward's project and with the Mick Tucker/Cliff Evans fork have both used the name Tank on their albums. More often one of the breakaways clearly has the rights to use the name and the other has to use a variation and that's the case with Venom Inc. although this band includes Mantas and Abaddon, two thirds of the classic lineup. The vocalist is Demolition Man, who was I believe vocalist of the official Venom for a while. All of that aside, this is an amazing album, it doesn't have Cronos' vocals but it does have a lot of the style of the classic albums. An outstanding album of this year.
★★★★★

Sons of Crom - The Black Tower : Difficult to pigeonhole, the quality of the performance (particularly vocals) varies as much as the style. But there's something really enjoyable here. It's just two guys and it feels very honest.

Janet Gardner - Janet Gardner : Female-fronted dirty rock'n'roll / metal.
★★★☆☆

Eluveitie - Evocation II : A continuation of the Evocation project, more folk than metal with this one. But that's something I love and so I'm including it here.
★★★☆☆

Portrait - Burn the World : Merciful Fate-style fun. This one is probably more original and less MF-copying than their previous records. One of my favourites this week.
★★★★★

Crimfall - Amain : There are folk and symphonic elements here, clean operatic singing and growly stuff. I think that variety helps to make this such an amazing listen. But great songwriting and some great sounds are at its core. This is a real favourite.
★★★★☆

Bobaflex - Eloquent Demons : Groovy, a bit melodic. Great cover of Pink Floyd's Hey You.
★★★★☆

Korpiklaani - Live at Masters of Rock : This rests nicely between folk metal and troll-type stuff, loads of fun.
★★★★☆

Arch Enemy - Will to Power : Obviously going to be a commercial success. Much is being made of the 'clean vocal' track (Reason to Believe) which you'll love if you enjoy a good power ballad. The 'War Eternal' formula is obvious in a few tracks. Album sounds pretty epic in places.
★★★★★

Stallion - From the Dead : for lovers of NWOBHM / early thrash who don't mind a bit of dodgy production. It sounds like something from the Ebony studio, a particular love of mine.
★★★★☆

Motörhead - Under Cöver : The 'Heroes' cover was unveiled at Wacken, along with the fact that Lemmy wanted it included on Bad Medicine. Sympathy For The Devil was included on that album and it was a great choice if they only had room for one cover. A number of these have been released before, but make a great album when collected together. It's an amazing thing, if a little unsettling, to be seeing a Motörhead album in the new releases.
★★★★★

Epica - The Solace System : I gather that these few tracks didn't fit on the last album, so there are no surprises, but this EP is incredibly epic.
★★★★★

Notable New Rock and Metal releases, Aug 2017

Is it a coincidence that two of the major names with releases this week are on the Wacken 2017 line-up? Probably not. Both are magnificent and have pressed my buttons.


Alice Cooper - Paranormal : I've always preferred the earlier stuff - 18, Elected, Billion Dollar Babies, Under My Wheels etc. I'm so into this album because it is just good solid straightforward stuff. I love it.
★★★★★

Cage the Elephant - Unpeeled : I'm not generally a fan of live albums, and CTE aren't the kind of band that I'd usually give much listening time to (2000's indie rock) but there's something about this album that's had me putting it on more than a couple of times. Specifically, I think it's the lyrics. I don't usually pay much attention to lyrics but there's something a little haunting about some of these songs.
★★★☆☆

Jackyl - 25 : This is what I'm talkin' about. I was so excited to see a new Jackyl album in the new releases. If the songs sound pretty familiar then that's because it's a compilation, a celebration of their 25-year anniversary. It's a little disappointing not to hear new material (other than a live track and a cover) but hey. It's a collection of their best songs complete with chainsaw solos. Excellent.

★★★★☆

Shadowside - Shades of Humanity : As clean-vocal power metal goes, this is an enjoyable listen.

★★★☆☆

Shaman's Harvest - Red Hands Black Deeds : A lighter listen, but musically excellent. There are some bluesy / slide elements but it's much more than that.

★★★☆☆

Accept - The Rise of Chaos : Undoubtedly one of the top albums of the year. For me they put on an outstanding performance at Wacken. What makes a memorable performance? A big name isn't enough, neither is performing classics that everyone knows and loves. If last weekend's experience is anything to go by, pumping out fantastic new material and performing it all extremely well with an accomplished confidence is a large part of the formula. I've never been fond of Udo's voice before now. Has it matured? Am I hearing it in a new context with some great new songs?
★★★★★

Seven Spires - Solveig : I am loving this. It's female-fronted, somewhere between power and epic. Adrienne Cowan uses her voice magnificently, ranging from a clean head sound to shouted to growled. The music has a symphonic sound, with theatricality (eg fairground sounds in 'Cabaret'). The purchases this week are mounting up a bit.

★★★★★

As usual, all of the new Rock and Metal releases that I find that meet my criteria go into the New Rock and Metal Releases playlist.  I've also recently begun a new playlist called 'Radio Shiela' into which I put my favourite track (or two) from my favourite new albums each week. 

The most notable New Rock and Metal Releases, July 2017

It's funny how things go in phases; there were some real stonkers in the last couple of posts but the last few weeks have been a definite lull (unless I've missed all the great stuff - let me know.)

Here's the cream of July's crop, a couple very nearly making a 5.

Blind Guardian - Live Beyond the Spheres : As a rule I'm not keen on live albums. Sometimes a performance is a gem and makes the album really special but I think this is only true in a few cases. You can have way too much audience participation / singalong / chanting and this has too much for me. Musically it's great, but I think I'd rather turn to the studio albums.
★★★☆☆

Discipline - Captives of the Wine Dark Sea : Apparently Discipline have been together since the 80s. Their music is very much in the progressive rock camp, some of it sounding 70s. This is quite varied, verging on the commercial in places (Here There is No Soul) and verging on the beautifully unhinged in others ('S').
★★★★☆

Limbonic Art - Spectre Abysm : This is more extreme than my usual tastes would allow, but there's something about this. Maybe it's a little more melodic than such deathy stuff would usually be, or maybe there's something in the sound that appeals to me, but it's had a few listens now and so qualifies for...
★★★☆☆

Michael Monroe - The Best : I've been aware of Hanoi Rocks and MM but I can't say I've ever been a fan. That's to say I've not bought the records, I've certainly enjoyed what I've heard. Glam rock is real feelgood music. Some tracks really rock, particularly 'Get On' which stirs my rockabilly teen self.
★★★★☆

Bloodclot - Up in Arms : Shouty and punked up in a way I like. One for when you're in a raucous mood.
★★★★☆

Bloody Hammers - The Horrific Case of Bloody Hammers : I have to give this one some stars simply for the cover,  being a big fan of old horror films.
★★★☆☆

Edguy - Monuments : Again the excellent cover promises more than the album delivers. It's a kind of melodic metal which is excellent musically but just fails to move.
★★★☆☆

Kissin' Dynamite : If you're a fan of KD or the more melodic metal  then this is pretty good as live albums go.
★★★☆☆

Europe - The Final Countdown Live :  Included because they're Europe and responsible for a very memorable chart-topper which we loved as teenagers (if only because something that rocked was in the charts) and have become heartily sick of in the ensuing 30 years. This is all too singalong for me
★★★☆☆

Ritual - In This Moment : Finally something really interesting! I like the theatricality. Some of the more modern elements in the music are a little new for this stick-in-the-mud, but the whole atmosphere is engaging and the angry passion is stirring.
★★★★☆

Mr Big - Defying Gravity : This sounds incredibly familiar. They have had some chart success (including a no 1 in many countries, as referred to rather nostalgically in one of these songs).  But on top of that, it's the kind of music that sounds familiar the first time you hear it. A cross between Aerosmith and Thunder. Really enjoyable stuff - takes you back two or three decades even though they're new songs.
★★★★☆

Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence : Again listed here because of who they are. I will always have room in my collection for NIN but at first listen this isn't outstanding. 'Less Than' is growing on me, maybe the rest will too.
★★★☆☆

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