We Wish You a Metal Xmas...and a Headbanging New Year

Eagle
2008

Yet another collection of hard rock Christmas songs emerges just in time for the holidays. This one is a little different because instead of just one band doing one song we get a different group of musicians working together one each song. Also there seem to be more metal musicians here as a number of the other Christmas that I have heard were done by just hard rock acts. Some of the line-ups make more sense than others and some work together better than others. I thought it would easiest for me to do a song by song review so here it it.


1) We Wish You A Merry Xmas-Jeff Scott Soto,Bruce Kulick,Bob Kulick,Chris Wyse and Ray Luzier
The title track of sorts as they replace Merry with Metal on a few occasions during the chorus. The music is decent, but not particularly inspired as they seem to be just going through the paces. It's a bit of a one trick pony.



2) Run Rudolph Run-Lemmy Kilmister, Billy F. Gibbons and Dave Grohl
This song is a fine fit for the artists involved. Everyone sounds like they are having fun. They don't add a whole lot other than the change in tone to the vocals and guitar, but still a fine version.

3) Santa Claws Is Coming To Town-Alice Cooper, John 5, Billy Sheehan and Vinny Appice
What we get is a healthy of Alice Cooper's sound and humor. The music is good enough and Alice carries it the rest of the way.


4) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen-Ronnie James Dio,Tony Iommi, Rudy Sarzo and Simon Wright
Now considering that Ronnie James Dio has played with all of these people before, you would think that this would be a good song. He even tries to inject his own sound, but it comes across like he trying too hard. This song drags and it's actually kind of painful to take. This is a good example of the fact that not everyone should attempt covering a Christmas song.



5) Silver Bells-Geoff Tate, Carlos Cavazo, James Lomenzo and Ray Luzier
The band hits a few moments, but Geoff Tate seems to have just mailed in his part because they lack spirit. The band try to make this version a bit flashy and it comes across as being cheesy.



6) Little Drummer Boy-Dug Pinnick, George Lynch, Billy Sheehan and Simon Phillips
If there is one song on here that would be tough to translate to metal than it would be this one. The drums begin in basic fashion and Pinnick hits it right on with the precision vocals. What worried me was that I knew the guitars were coming and my fear was that George Lynch would lay it on too thick. He didn't though because he delivered short and subtle bursts that completely fit in. This is a strong song all the way around.


7) Santa Claus Is Back In Town-Tim " Ripper" Owens,Steve Morse,Juan Garcia,Marco Mendoza and Vinny Appice
My main interest in this song was due to the involvement of guitarists Steve Morse (Deep Purple) and Juan Garcia. The music is fine, but a bit restrained. I have never been a big fan of Tim Owens and his performance here is just okay. The range is fine, but he doesn't step up enough to elevate this song at all.


8) Silent Night-Chuck Billy,Scott Ian,Jon Donais,Chris Wyse and John Tempesta
This might be the oddest version on here because Chuck Billy sings it with a death metal vocal growl. I applaud trying something different, but I think here it results in the track being rather tedious. I liked it alright, but certainly not one of the songs that I want to re-visit.



9) Deck the Halls-Oni Logan,Craig Goldy,Tony Franklin and John Tempesta
I always liked Oni Logan in Lynch Mob and Craig Goldy when he was in Dio. Add in a solid rhythm section of veterans Franklin and Tempesta and this is a solid group. This song does sound it could have been done around 1990 because that's kind of hard rock sound that they apply to this song. It works though because this kind of a light and fun song anyways. This band manages to add their sound without changing the feel of the song too much. Good job.


10) Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer-Stephen Pearcy,Tracii Guns, Bob Kulick, Billy Sheehan and Greg Bissonette
We get David Lee Roth's original rhythm section plus two guitarists who have been slightly underrated in their long careers. The result they took a lame song and made it rock. Unfortunately it sounds like Stephen Pearcy's throat got ran over by a reindeer because he sounds awful. His voice is shot and it distracts from the splendid job that the rest of the band did on this song.


11) Rockin' Around the Xmas Tree-Joe Lynn Turner,Bruce Kulick,Bob Kulick,Rudy Sarzo and Simon Wright
This is kind of the opposite situation of the previous track. Here we get an average song musicly, but Joe Lynn Turner steps up and belts out his vocals with lots of range and feeling. The result is that Turner's vocals help this song to be better than it might have been.

12) Happy Xmas (War Is Over)-Tommy Shaw,Steve Lukather,Marco Mendoza and Kenny Aronoff
Not my favorite Christmas song and kind of a dull one to end the album on. Unfortunately this band just does a rather by the numbers version as they don't really attempt to add or bring much to it.

The end results are this is a mixed bag and most albums of this type turn out that way. It's not the best hard rock Christmas album that I had heard, but it's certainly better than several others that I have heard. The track records of the people involved are better than the end results of the songs included on this CD. Still there are several good songs here that I will likely be playing during the Christmas season.

Interview with Cry Wolf

Cry Wolf formed back in the 1980's and their popularity rose towards the end of that decade. They recorded two albums before calling it quits in the 1990's. However they once again have some plans so I recently interviewed guitarist Steve McKnight to learn more.



So what are you currently working on?

A: Tim is working on new tunes with his band, Fast Otto, a trio playing "Bluesabilly Deluxe". Tim sings and plays some cool guitar. Steve is working with Phil on acoustic songs, playing locally in LA. The group is called "McKnight". Not an ego thing; just needed a quick name, not to be confused with Brian (McKnight).That brings us to Cry Wolf. We are putting together a list of tunes that never made the coveted "second record", recording them and getting this thing rolling!



You guys had a reunion tour set in August last year. How did that go? Where did you play at?

A: We had a great show in the SF Bay Area where we are originally from, and always will be from! We had people come from New York, MidWest, even Japan! They still knew the words to the songs! It was amazing!



How did you come to the decision to reform the band?

A: I think we all felt that we had gone away and done other things musically, lived our lives, and realized we had a story to finish. I think each of us wanted this to happen (for me, I wish sooner!). We just love doing music, and getting back together feels like we're a gang again.



Tell us a little about how and when you guys first formed.You moved to LA some point early on. What prompted the move and what were the toughest parts about adjusting to life there?

A: We had Mgmt. in LA and at the time the LA scene was hot. We thought we should be right in the frying pan fighting it out with 3,000 other bands for the deal. Definitely made us stronger. We all learned what poverty feels like, not knowing where our next meals were coming from. (Hmmm gas in my tank to get to a job interview, or eat?) The constant drive to get just enough money to eat was pretty tough. At first we were in the San Fernando Valley, 11 people in a 5 Bdrm house. After about 4-6 mos. we split off into different living situations.



Now you started out going by the name Heroes. How long did that last and why the name change?

A: Tim's previous band was named Heroes, and we actually carried on for a while under that name. There was a conflict with the name, so came the name contest.



Wasn’t there a contest to pick your new band name? Whose ideas was that?

A: We were looking to jump-start a mailing list and get ourselves out there. Tim and Mgmt. may have come up with that one. Some losing names P.S. Dump your boyfriend,Bastard, Sword (a personal favorite).

How competitive was the LA scene in the mid-late 1980’s?

A: Fiercely competitive. 3,000 bands crammed into 2-3 city blocks all looking to be bigger, better, faster. Bands were getting signed after 1 show!!!! (Faster Pussycat comes to mind). It took us a little while, just fighting until we were selling out most of the clubs on the strip and some venues in the S.F. Bay Area.



What were you doing that got you noticed?

A: First, we really worked on our show, just making sure the harmonies were dialed and we were on fire. The "gang" reference is important. We attacked our music and the audience like a gang in a fight. Even though the music wasn't thrash-heavy, we had an intensity. We have that kind of intensity now.



You seemed to have success in Japan early on. How did that come about?

A: Our demo tape got into the hands of Kerrang and got a good review, which caught the attention of some other magazines and promoters. That lead to us working with a small promoter and put together a 10-day tour of Tokyo and Osaka, Japan as an unsigned band. I don't think any other unsigned "strip" bands did that back then. That tour led to the deal at first with Epic/ Sony in Japan, still without an American deal. 6 mos. Later we toured Japan as a "signed" band for about a month, playing outlying cities, as well as the major cities.



Who did you guys open for back in the day?

A: One of my favorite bands, Kings X!!! It was a festival in Florida, it was raining and we are jumping over sparking junction boxes! 8,000+ people singing "Pretender". Amazing!Trixter. Every Mother's Nightmare.



When and why did you break up?

The US tour for Cry Wolf ended 7 shows early with all our equipment being stolen (Thanks Houston!), our label dropping us, and our Mgmt. exiting their contract early. At that point we lost our drummer, Paul Cancilla, and tried to carry on with other drummers (Jimmy Gilmore, John Link) and we started to look for other outlets, get back in touch with our lives. So we stepped away. We were all involved in other musical stuff all throughout the "separated period".Actually, because we all cut our well-farmed hair, we lost all our mojo, and had to gain it back (kidding).



Which of your two albums do you prefer and why?

I prefer the newer stuff, just because it represents more an evolution for the music. The later stuff reflects all the heavy stuff from what happened with the band, and life in general, so the music seems to have more meaning. Although I love a lot of the songs on Crunch, I think the second round of tunes was the album we should have made. But who am I? I'm too close to the music to tell. The tunes are all like kids. How do you pick your favorite?

Why do you think grunge knocked hard rock and metal out of fashion in the early 1990’s? Was it just time for change or do you think that there were other factors at work?

A: Every "scene" runs a cycle of being at first different than what preceded it, then huge, then a sort of parody. The consumer-ism of "if a little bit of this new flavor is good, then millions of gallons of it (hairpspray!) is even better! Once saturation hits, people are looking for the alternative. It could be that the music and marketed lifestyle became excessive, so the alternative is to strip it down and have a different vibe. In both late 80s and 90s there are AMAZING songs and great musicians who came out of both eras. Nine Inch Nails is my all time favorite! I'm also partial to Alice, Tool, Bjork, Extreme, Kings X.



What were the members of you band doing after you break up?

A: Tim went on to woodshed on guitar and become a great player. He did a few solo recordings and then formed Fast Otto. Phil worked with Tim on some of his projects, and got involved in DVD authoring for film studios! He is great with website design. Steve (I) got involved in film scoring and doing some session work here and there. I got involved in computer network strategy, went back to school and finished my BS in Business Mgmt. I also have worked for the studios.



What kind of music are you listening to these days?

A: I have a pretty wide palette and go from film scores, to ambient, industrial, to death metal, to Bulgarian women's choir! I really appreciate singer-songwriters and the craft, getting involved in acoustic music. Still after the perfect song!



Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band or your music?

A: Its humbling and cool that people are interested in this era of music, and its exciting that bands from the day are not only reforming but putting out new music. We need more of that. Stay tuned for Cry Wolf. We had a little taste of it last year but will be rockin' very soon! Thanks for putting this together, Mark! Steve

http://www.myspace.com/crywolftheband

What's coming up?

It's Black Friday and if you went out shopping today then more power to you. I was watching "Jingle all the way" and even though they were last minute Christmas shoppers it still comes to mind when I think of crazy shoppers. We were not going to go out today, but then we saw a sales ad for Target where they were having selected seasons of Monk going for $13.99 a piece. So my wife braved Target at 6:00AM and said it was insane, but she came away with seasons 4 and 5 of Monk plus she didn't lose any fingers or get run over by a shopping cart. In the past the first week of December has meant I do a countdown of my top ten albums from twenty years ago and I began working on that in the fall, but I have decided not to do it this year and I probably won't do it again. It was fun for a while, but I am enjoying reviewing current albums and have so many of those to do. I will however be expanding my year end event for 2008. It will be towards the end of December and I will take a whole week and do the following:
- top 25 countdown of the best hard rock/metal albums of 2008 done in groups of five so it will take five days.
-top 5 re-issues of 2008
-top 5 demos of 2008
-5 worst albums of 2008
plus I will still be trying to squeeze in current reviews as well so one busy week of writing this month is about all I can handle.

Here is what I hope to have out this week.

Reviews of...
Dark Funeral-Attera Orbis Terrarum part 2 DVD
Ross the boss-New Metal leader
Dir En Grey-Uroboros
Underride-One of us
We wish you a metal xmas

plus
-interview with Zebulon Pike
-maybe a Clash of the album covers
and hopefully Lesser of two evils at long last

Have a great week!

Lordi-Deadache

The End
2008

Two years since the release of their last album, "The Arockalypse", Lordi return with their fourth studio album "Deadache". What we get this time around is an album with possibly less hype surrounding it although their approach has not changed all that much. They still seem to put more effort into their image than they do into their music. That's not to say that the music is bad, but it's certainly a step down from where I wish is was. This is a drippy dose of hard rock largely influenced by mid-late 1980's acts. I hear some Alice Cooper from around the time of "Constrictor" and "Raise your fist" plus some KISS, Twisted Sister and maybe even Accept. The main riffs are simple and strong and they benefit from cranking the volume up. This definitely is a more melodic album than their previous effort. The melodies are tied in well enough and the production certainly helps. However I can't help but think that they are becoming soft to some extent. If anything worked for this band on "The Arockalypse" it was the moments when their music was as monstrous as their image. Granted those moments were few and far between, but on "Deadache" the promising moments are even more rare. They growl loud and the lead riffs often kick off with some heaviness behind them, but most of the songs soon become as appetizing as stale cereal in sour milk.They are a gimmick band, but unfortunately they are quickly becoming rather mediocre. It's fun for a little while, but there just isn't enough going on to keep this cheese machine going for the duration of the album.

Five things in music that I am thankful for in 2008

Okay this is the third year that I have done this and it's always a joy to give words of praise to those who deserve it so here we go in no real order.



Metal Mind productions-Yes, I did pick them last year as well and they have earned it again. This European record label has always done a fine job with all of their re-issues and 2008 was no exception. This year saw great re-issues of album from Artillery, Lillian Axe, Slaughter (the Canadian thrash band), Dragon, Defiance, Tank and others. Now just that they re-issued them, but they often add bonus tracks and lyric booklets with bios, photos and more. Just a great label that seems to be getting even better.



Journey-Here's a band who was on their third singer in just over a year and it had been some time since they did a very good album. Yet they reached down and knocked out their best album since 1983's "Frontiers". In a year where a number of other big name veteren acts fialed, Journey stepped up and put out a fine album.



BNR Metal pages-I have been visiting their site long before I started my blog. I still stop by often to look at new entries and I frequently go there to check dates, album titles and band members for reviews I am doing. A few months ago a reader sent me a song hoping I could identify it or them and I couldn't, but I told them to contact BNR and sure enough they were able to give him an answer. Great site and a great resource.
http://www.bnrmetal.com/v2/main.php



Universal Music and everyone who worked on Iron Maiden's Live After Death DVD-I was just happy that this was coming to DVD. However then it came out and a huge pile extras on top of the remarkable 1985 concert. Amazing job by all involved.



Randy Piper's Animal-Guitarist Randy Piper was in WASP for their first two albums and while those are classic that was well over twenty years again. Now I never heard 2006's "Violent new breed" from this band, but it got good reviews. However I didn't have high expectations for this album because Randy Piper hadn't done that much in a long time. Yet their new release "Virus' is killer old style metal with Piper playing like a madman and he put together a good band around him.

There you go, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Rush-Snakes and arrows live DVD

ZOE/Rounder
2008



Let's see, I guess I should preface this review with a couple admissions on my part so you know where I stand. I am a long time Rush fan, but it's also been a long time since I have been very thrilled with their studio efforts. Last year's Snakes and arrows was no exception as I anticipated it's release and it had some moments, but it was quickly filed away on the back shelves on my collection and it has not seen the light of day in some time. Their playing is still there, but they were once so vibrant and loose and now everything seems far more stiff and even stodgy. Like they have gotten old (okay, they have) and they have taken their sound and us with them. However here is their chance to redeem themselves to some extent in this massive DVD set taken from two performances in Rotterdam, Holland back in October of 2007. The stage for this performance was huge and the crowd are about ready to burst as the show starts. The band does not disappoint, they seem to rise to the occasion and layers of dust seem to have been shaken off. The skill, the energy and the obvious joy they have in playing this music is still very much evident. Admittedly it took me a little time to come around, but they are still masters of their trade or at least they are on stage. Some older bands seem to wander around or be swallowed by such a large stage, but Rush come across like kids who have been inside for far too long being set free to play outside on a sunny day. They make the most of the space and time and pull the crowd along for the ride. Now I would have liked to have heard them perform some more older material as my favorite time in their career was 1975-1981. Still we get some at least some tracks out of the later part of that period sprinkled throughout. Obviously they still have the charm and the touch to their music as they once again work their magic. Some parts are just slightly smoothed out some, but I guess that's just a result of such a large production. The camerawork on this DVD is extraordinary as they manage to take in everything, but also they avoid the fast cuts that too many other live DVDs include. This is certainly a must have for Rush fans as there is much here to enjoy.

Dragon-Sacrifice

Metal Mind
1994/2008

Following "Scream of Death" Dragon decided to end their partnership with MMP. They felt that they had achieved everything we could while working with them. However,cancelling unfulfilled recording contracts brings about some harsh consequences. For two years the band was unable to release their new material. They also lacked live performances and during the whole year of 1992 they played only 5 shows. The band's fourth full-length album "Sacrifice" was mostly written in 1991 and 1992, but it would be two more years until it was recorded and even then it was initially released on cassette only. Dragon were certainly not the luckiest band in the world with their numerous line-up changes and label problems. However despite all of those problems and the long wait "Sacrifice" is probably their most ambitious and probably even their tightest album. It's less ferocious than the previous albums, but far more stylish and technically more adventurous. I do get a sense of it being a bit front heavy as the strongest and heaviest tracks happen early on and the mid-tempo entries finish out most of the second half of the album. That doesn't take away from the ideas that went into this release though. The band obviously had a vision for this album and they released in fine form despite it being against popular death/thrash trends of the time. Although I definitely think that "Sacrifice" would have gotten far more attention had it been released when it was written back around 1992. This re-issue includes one bonus track and a lyric booklet. I definitely find this to be the band's most interesting album and it's one where I may continue to find more parts of it that I enjoy. It's just a shame that the road wasn't smoother for Dragon because their career may have been even longer had they had made different decisions and had some breaks.

Dragon-Horde of Gog

Metal Mind
1988/2008

Poland's Dragon would eventually be one of the scene's pioneers in death metal. They formed in 1984 and went through some line-up changes before settling down and recording their debut "Horde of Gog" in 1988. Humble beginnings indeed as the quality of this album are of demo quality at best. The music finds Dragon playing a style that's much more thrash than death metal. However they tear into their material with frenzied abandon. The drums are particularly chaotic as they throw traditional structure to the wind and just crash ahead. The playing is somewhat primitive even for 1988, but it has a sense charm just due their crazed enthusiasm. The structure is loose and even a little messy in parts yet they never get bogged down or too far off track. The playing as a whole isn't terribly skilled, but it's more hit than miss just due to the amount of aggression they pump into it. In many ways this is a more brutal effort than the two albums than would follow. In fact hearing this album makes me wonder what their music would have sounded like had they followed this style more closely. This re-issue of the album includes 9 bonus tracks taken from the Polish language version of the LP. The booklet includes lyrics, a band biography and several early photos of the band. Not an essential release perhaps, but definitely a good dose of old-style, pulverizing thrash.

V-Project-New Machine

DMV
2008



David Vaccaro played all of the guitars, bass, keyboards, programmed the drum machine and he sang on about half of the tracks. Not completely a one man show though as he brought in Robin McAuley (MSG, Survivor) to sing on the other songs. This is blues based hard rock with a heavy Aerosmith influence from both the late 1970's and the late 1980's plus some Zeppelin style grooves as well. Robin McAuley was a good choice for this style of material and I have always enjoyed his vocals on the many projects that he has been part of. Vaccaro likely grew up on equal doses of hard rock and AOR because those are the predominant styles here. There are times where Vaccaro could have opened things up and taken a few more chances. However there are far more times where hearing the songs is like a pair of old comfortable shows. On several occasions the songs touch upon a familiar yet pleasing approach. Perhaps Vaccaro did these songs as much for himself as did for fans, but that's okay too. At least he tackled a style he obviously loved and shows through in much of the material. Two of my favorite songs are the middle-eastern influenced "You Don't Care" and the instrumental "Desert Run" and both some attempt at reaching out and trying break format a little bit. So "New Machine" is really a solid release and obviously a labor of love from Dave Vaccaro.

Viking Skull-Doom, gloom, heartache and whiskey

Powerage
2008

Viking Skull have been in existence for around five years and they have a few releases out. I love the band name and this album title plus the combination had me thinking this was going to be rough and aggressive punch in the face style of album. Unfortunately it's not that powerful so it's more like a slightly hard punch to the shoulder I guess as they hit some, but it's off target as well. The press release says they draw deeply on a mix of Black Sabbath, AC/DC, WASP, Motorhead, The Who, KISS and Thin Lizzy. These releases normally exaggerate a little and this one is no exception as the only one of the above that can be heard much is Black Sabbath. It would be far more surprising if a doom/stoner act didn't have a heavy Sabbath influence. Viking Skull try at times to march in the battle, but they tend to bogged down by too many layers of repetition. That can work to some extent, but grabbing one riff holding on for the duration seems to always be Plan A for these guys and I am sure that they really have a Plan B. They remind me of Sabbath bloody sabbath era Black Sabbath as interpreted by Fireball Ministry only with a less keen sense of timing. I get the impression that this band might do very well live though. The ideas are not exactly flowing like wine here, but they do seem excited enough at times and they can some good hooks on occasion. The new Viking Skull isn't going to bowl anyone over, but it's a worth listen and I might pull it out every once in a while and give it a spin.

What's coming up?

I was watching a lot of F-troop episodes this week plus I saw the movie Hooper for the first time in years. It's a fun movie with about the world of stunt people and it has a fine supporting cast. I got some CDs with 2009 release dates on them. It was the upcoming solo album from Ross the boss and the new Sinner album.

Here is what I hope to have out this coming week.

Reviews of...
Rush-Live Snakes and Arrows DVD
V-Project-New Machine
Viking Skull-Doom, gloom, heartache and whiskey
Dragon-Sacrifice and Horde of Gog (Hopefully on the same day)
Lordi-Deadache
Dark Funeral-Attera Orbis Terrarum Part 2 DVD

Interview with Cry Wolf

-plus on Thanksgiving day stop by for my annual "Big Turkey of the year award" and five things in music that I am thankful for.

***Have a great week.

Sammy Hagar-Cosmic Universal Fashion

Roadrunner
2008



Sammy Hagar has had a long and varied career. Of course he really hit the big time in some ways when he replaced David Lee Roth in Van Halen. However I always thought his greatest moments were during that first Montrose album and some of his solo releases like VOA. Through it all he has always been fairly consistent as a singer and he established his own vocal style a quite some time ago and has building upon it over the years. So I wasn't sure what to expect from him some thirty-five plus years into his career. This album certainly does not a cohesive feel to it, but that's okay. The title track pops on and it's a slightly surprising approach as the style of choice here is light industrial. However don't get sold on style because Sammy hops around through much of the album. "Loud" like it could have been about twenty some years. Then you get a decent rendition of the Beastie Boys' "Fight for your right to party" which of course was originally done twenty plus years ago. He tries his hand at different styles, but never gets too far away from his comfort zone. That approach results in an album that's safe, but enjoyable enough. Perhaps not his best or most creative work, but he obviously had fun making it and that shines through in the majority of the songs.

Tank-Honour and blood

Metal Mind
1984/2008



Tank were plugging along as they released their fourth album "Honour and blood". Not too much had changed as they were grinding forward playing the same slightly bare bones style of metal that defined their previous three releases. Having a slightly underproduced sound had been part of their trademark as well in 82-83, but the sound this time around is quite a bit sharper. Maybe they were even a little heavier particularly on tracks like "The war drags on" and "When all hell freezes over". However other songs don't fair as well like their awkward cover "Chain of fools" and the "W.M.L.A." which wanders around for far too long and features some bland vocals. The main strength of Tank was always their gritty attitude and their straight forward approach and other than a few moments all of that is still very much in place. The closer "Kill" might be my favorite track on this album as it plows onward with plenty of ripping riffs peeling off left and right. Obviously they believed in the sound that they started with so they stuck to their guns. Unfortunately much of the metal world around them was changing by 1984. Like a number of the hopefuls of the NWOBHM they were being left behind because they didn't try to progress. Most of the songs are solid and stand up even well today, but they are even a little dated by 1984 standards. I think this was the first album where the cracks in Tank's armor were starting to show. Metal Mind does their usual fine job with this re-release as it includes a bonus track and a nice lyric booklet.

Elder-s/t

Meteor City
2008


This is the first official full-length release from Boston's Elder and it's heavy-duty monster for sure. My initial response that it reminds me a lof Sleep's Holy Mountain. Perhaps it's more like an album that would have followed had Sleep became heavier and gone a more progressive route. I dare say that Elder have a greater knack for subtlety than Sleep and they be a little less self-aware as well. From the opening notes of "White Walls" I could feel my self being sucked in by the thick, dark sludge being created. They take a basic approach to their music, but that works wonders as they just dip down low and start hammering out the skull-crunching rhythms. Each track just seems to get better as Elder summon up slabs of Sabbath style doom and when needed they call forth some fuzzed out type grooves reminiscent of early Electric Wizard. Yes, indeed this album is a virtual doom paradise that roughly grabs you and drags you ever so slowly down a dark and winding path. Each song has it's own personality the band seem to gain momentum as the move along. The riffs are mainly slow and deliberate, but you can feel parts multiplying as they move along and become more and more comfortable with what they are constructing. Everything is very deliberate, but they have a strong grasp on how to create and manipulate these massive grooves. This year hasn't had as many good doom albums as I was hoping for, but the Elder's self-titled release does a lot to fill that gap.



http://www.myspace.com/beholdtheelder

Interview with Maxine Petrucci

Guitarist Maxine Petrucci has played Madam X and other acts. I recently got to check in with to find more about her past and what she is currently up to.


MM-So what are you currently working on?


MP-I'm currently rehearsing with my band to do live shows here in the Metro Detroit area to promote my new record entitled 'Don't Hate Me'.

MM-How old were you when you started playing guitar? What or who motivated you to want to play?



MP-I was 12 years old. My father bought me a guitar for my birthday and I started taking guitar lessons. My dad loved classical guitar and the famous country guitar player 'Roy Clark', and he hoped that I would play like that. Growing up in Detroit Rock City, I was exposed to serious rock music and I knew that was my destiny!



MM-Now I believe you come from a musical family, right? Did you play any other instruments when you were growing up?



MP-I started playing flute first in 5th grade. I was performing symphonic music through out my school years.



MM-Did you and your sister Roxy start playing in bands together as soon as you started playing instruments?



MP-We played in the symphonic bands during the day and had our rock band stuff at night.



MM-So were you any bands before Madam X? If so then what were the band names and what was the music like?


MP-We were in an all girl band with 2 other jammin' sisters Denise and Laura LaTourelle in a band called 'Pantagruel' a name that came from a band we loved called 'Gentle Giant'. At that time we did covers from Queen, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath etc. After that we formed a band called 'Black Lace' with 2 guys and we played rock covers too and started to write originals.


MM-How and when did Madam X form?


MP-We formed Madam X in 1982 with Chris Doliber on bass and Jamie Groesjian on lead vocals and we decided to do some dates on the east coast and while we were in playing a club in Long Island a band called Cheetah opened for us and we were so blown away hearing Bret Kaiser sing and perform and we knew he was our match and he felt the same about us and the rest is history.

MM-What do you remember about writing and recording “We reserve the right”?

MP-It was really exciting cuz we were signed by Jet Records who also had Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Lita, and ELO. So we figured we really made it, we were so young and dumb and listened to everything they told us to do, which they rushed us recording that album and told us what kind of songs they wanted us to write, that's called artist control. If we were able to do what we wanted, it would have been heavier and not rushed. I did all that guitar work in three days, Roxy did her drums in 2 days.



MM-Now in Madam X all of you had huge hair and the wild glam look. Did each of you just form your own look or did you discuss how the band should look as a whole?


MP-We all naturally had tons of hair and by the way we all still do, only Bret cut his but he's still got a full head of hair. Only Roxy and I did the glam thing cuz that's what girls do, Chris looked monstery and Bret was forced by Jet to die his hair half black and half blond and dress glam, and Bret was pissed and really fought that but Jet got there way. We liked Bret's new look though he didn't.



MM-What was it like being in a band with your sister? What were the best parts about it and were the most difficult aspects about that kind of situation?



MP-It wasn't anything new to us cuz we always played together like school band, duets, trios,etc., so it felt natural. The most difficult parts are when we would get mad at each for whatever the reason was and we would fight like I punched her once on stage, and verbal fights cuz we knew we could do that to each other and still be sisters forever.



MM-How did you meet Sebastian Bach and how did you come to get him in Madam X? What was he like to work with?



MP-After Madam X with Bret Kaiser and my sister Roxy broke up, The bass player Chris and I decided to reform the band and a agent friend of ours from Toronto told us about a potential great singer and sent us his promo pak and we thought he definitely looked great but we needed to hear him live so we went to Toronto and picked him up, brought him to Detroit and started trying to mold him into a great singer and performer which that put us through serious hell with his personality and attitude, and I don't even know where we as a band got anything positive from that experience, maybe Skid Row can tell you more about that trippie experience. Sebastian seems to have humbled some in his older years and we've exchanged some emails and he's been real cool to me, so I don't have any hard feelings and wish him the best.

MM-Madam X was on Jet records for your one album. Were you dropped by Jet or was it just a one album deal?

MP-It was a 5 album deal, again how dumb of us to sign a 5 album deal. Jet went out of business do to some kind of tax crap that Don Arden was going through.



MM-Did you ever get any other label interest after? If so then who and why were you not able to get signed?



MP-We had broken up shortly after, and that's when Sebastian joined the band and we were trying to get our shit together before we were to showcase the band to any label.

MM-What were you doing in the 1990’s?

MP-We did a Madam X reunion with original members at the Roxy in Hollywood, we were great but nobody really cared, The Seattle scene was breaking at that time.



MM-You came into a scene that was hugely dominated by men. Is it easier for women to break into today as compared to when you were starting out? If so then why do you think that is?



MP-It's easier if you crotch pop like Madonna, Britney, and Aguelera. As far as metal and hard rock go, girls have to really be able to play and be believable at what they do cuz rockers are hard core and unforgiving and don't care about gender. You got to be real and believable!



MM-What have you not accomplished in your music career that you still hope to achieve?


MP-I just want to make great music. I don't even know the definition of 'making it' anymore, all these bands I talk to are obsessed with getting a record deal. Now with technology as it is, you can cut a killer record in your own basement. Who needs an advance for making a record, they forget you have to pay that back. I gave myself my own record deal and I think I have a great record now and I'll make sure my next one will be at another level of greatness.

MM-What kind of music are you listening to these days?



MP-Been listening to 60's and 70's music cuz the bands were all different from one another and had talent and great songs! Also they don't have that covered up digital hissy sound on there mixes.

MM-Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band or your music?

MP-Please be patient about my playing live cuz it took me some time to find the right bassist to play my music. We're rehearsing and will be playing shows here in the metro Detroit area real soon. I don't have any wild tour support so I have to stay local. Check out my new killer CD entitled 'Don't Hate Me' and you can buy it at http://www.maxattacks.com/, http://cdbaby.com/, and http://www.amazon.com/ and check me out at http://www.myspace.com/maxinepetrucci

Thanx for your support and keepin metal alive!

ARMOURY RECORDS WISHES YOU A METAL XMAS

ARMOURY RECORDS WISHES YOU A METAL XMAS
~And A Headbanging New Year~
New York, NY—

On October 14, Armoury Records, distributed by Eagle Rock Entertainment, released one mighty molten metal blast of good CD cheer: We Wish You A Metal Xmas And A Headbanging New Year [pre-book date September 24, Retail Sales Price $15.98]. It’s an all-star assemblage as members of such great hard rock bands as Foo Fighters, Queensryche, Dio, Alice Cooper, ZZ Top, Dokken, KISS, L.A. Guns, Marilyn Manson, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, King’s X, Judas Priest, Anthrax, Ratt, Styx, Toto, Shadows Fall and more all jam out together on some of the most beloved holiday songs of all time (including “Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer”).. The kick is in the chemistry between the musicians as members of different bands perform together on the material to create a one-of-a-kind listening experience! Motorhead’s Lemmy, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, for instance, team up on “Run Rudolph Run,” a song popularized by Chuck Berry. This is just one of 12 such irresistible pairings. “This is a metal CD you will want to listen to all year round,” says Wendy Dio, who put the project together with Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen. “It has been a very exciting and exhausting project, but we have managed to get an allstar cast together.” Ironically, the hardest person to get was Dio himself as he doesn’t sing Christmas songs. Wendy hounded him for days, finally getting him to listen to Kulick’s arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” Dio liked it, added a few bits, recorded it at Kulick’s studio, and got Tony Iommi to add his signature guitar sound. The result is a very Sabbath Christmas song. Rounding out the circle of familiar characters on this track are Dio bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Simon Wright. “The Metal Xmas album was a great opportunity to pay homage to my least favorite holiday,” says Dio, “and what a lineup of musicians to do it with! The arrangements of the classic noel songs are fresh and heavy with rock’n’roll, and the performances are equally classic. It’s a magical way to change your holiday listening.”

Track Listing
1) We Wish You A Merry Xmas (Jeff Scott Soto / Bruce Kulick / Bob Kulick / Chris Wyse / Ray Luzier)
2) Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Alice Cooper / John 5 / Billy Sheehan / Vinny Appice)
3) Run Rudolph Run (Lemmy / Billy F. Gibbons / Dave Grohl)
4) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Ronnie James Dio / Tony Iommi / Rudy Sarzo / Simon Wright)
5) Little Drummer Boy (Dug Pinnick / George Lynch / Billy Sheehan / Simon Phillips)
6) Santa Claus Is Back In Town (Tim “Ripper” Owens / Steve Morse / Juan Garcia / Marco Mendoza / Vinny Appice)
7) Silent Night (Chuck Billy / Scott Ian / Jon Donais / Chris Wyse / John Tempesta)
8) Silver Bells (Geoff Tate / Carlos Cavazo / James Lomenzo / Ray Luzier)
9) Deck the Halls (Oni Logan / Craig Goldy / Tony Franklin / John Tempesta)
10) Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer (Stephen Pearcy / Tracii Guns / Bob Kulick / Billy Sheehan / Greg Bissonette)
11) Rocking Around the Xmas Tree (Joe Lynn Turner / Bruce Kulick / Bob Kulick / Rudy Sarzo / Simon Wright)
12) Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Tommy Shaw / Steve Lukather / Marco Mendoza / Kenny Aronoff)

Eagle Rock Entertainment develops, acquires and produces music programming for a wide range of notable and high profile artists, which the company distributes on a worldwide basis. Eagle Rock Entertainment, Eagle Vision and Eagle Eye Media are wholly owned divisions of Eagle Rock Group, LTD.

Clash of the album covers

This times it is.....


Faster Pussycat-Wake me when it's over

vs.


Tigertailz-Bezerk


***Which cover do you prefer?

Fiftywatthead-Fogcutter

Signed by force
2008



On some occasions you can actually tell what a band will sound like just by the band name and/or album title. Here we have Fiftywatthead from Canada so the moniker sounds large and heavy. The album title they chose is "Fogcutter" which to me sounds powerful and even a little mysterious. All of the above are definitely characteristic of this album, but they only begin to describe this massive monster that Fiftywatthead have unleashed. The opener "Whiteout" came flying out my speakers as it launched a battering assault on my eardrums. It's a noisy, rambler of a song that makes no apologies as just pushes and punches forward. It reminds me some of Mastodon, but a little less chaotic. However the opener doesn't define the album because after that the pace slows down, but it doesn't let up. They pull into heavy waters and they begin a slow and rough journey that churns around with steely precision. Fiftywatthead churn ahead cranking out massive chunky riffs for us to take in. When I listen to many of the songs served up here I imagine being in a valley and viewing rock slides coming down from mountains on both sides only in slow motion. This band manages to hit near deafening levels of heaviness and have you begging for more. The final track "Thunder" reminds me of a similar style to "Whiteout", but most of the six tracks in between are far more doom based. There is a lot to soak in on this album so when you do just make sure you sit back, give it room and let the voyage begin.

http://www.myspace.com/fiftywatthead

The Answer-Never too late

The End
2008

Ireland's The Answer are about set to become a household name on this side of the Atlantic as they get ready to open for AC/DC on their current tour. The band released "Rise" in 2006 and immediately gained a great deal of notice in the UK. They have released this four track EP to initiate U.S. audiences to their music and likely to tide fans over until their next full length comes out in 2009. The Answer play blues based hard rock with a 1970's influence being immediately evident in their style. Obviously they love Led Zeppelin a lot and their music echoes a similar approach. The title track of this EP is from Rise and it's a good introduction to the band for those that missed the album's original release. The second track “Highwater Or Hell” from the forthcoming second album. The slow, blues soaked "The Doctor” previously appeared on the two disc bonus version of "Rise". The EP ends with an inspired live version of “Come Follow Me” that was recorded in Japan. Now they have their chops down and they definitely sound like a band who is ready to bring their act to the big stage. Are they doing anything new and different? Not really, but they do very well at playing this type of hard rock and they bring a great deal of excitement with them.

Cyanide 4-Complex

Self-produced
2008

Cyanide 4 are a glam outfit from Athens, Greece who at times remind me of some bands from Sweden and Crashdiet are the main one that come to mind. Cyanide 4 have the older hard rock style down, but there is bit more pop and polish to the sound as well. The first three songs are all of the mid-tempo variety. The opener "Hide in the shadow" opens with a big groove and they bring in some catchy melodies as well. Next is "Bad Love Parade" which is a quite a bit heavier and it has kind of a Motley Crue by way of Crashdiet sound. Still they show a good control of the pace and the vocals are even better here than on the opener. "Temptation failed" blasts on with a slightly offbeat riff that drew my attention in right away. This is the best played song on the album and also the one where I think Cyanide 4 show the most hints of defining their own sound. The closer is a "Cyanide" which has the band slowing things down at first, but it soon becomes heavier. This one reminds me some of Loud 'N Nasty and maybe even early LA Guns. Again they do a fine job of managing the pace on this song. The playing and the vocals are certainly strong plus they bring a healthy dose of attitude to the mix. They also have the ability to really bring out the big hooks in their songs. The only real problem I see is that in the crowded glam field of today these are going to have to find a way to really define their own sound in order to rise above the pack. "Temptation failed" certainly showed that they have the talent and ideas to move to the next level. I know that this band has not been around for very long, but they are certainly on their way to potentially promising career.

http://www.myspace.com/cyani4de

Blackrain-License to thrill

Thundering
2008

One thing about 2008 is that there has been a greater outpouring of glam releases from countries other than Sweden. Blackrain are from France and their roots go back to 2002 when vocalist/guitarist Swan and guitarist Max 2 begin playing covers of Motley Crue, WASP and others. They went through some bassplayers and drummers before landing a solid line-up. A few months I heard a three song sampler from Blackrain and as it turns out those songs are the first three tracks on this album. So it wasn't until track four that I got to hear something that was new to my ears. This is a big, fun slab of 1980's influenced glam/sleaze rock. The sound has a definite early Motley Crue sound and I hear some LA Guns, WASP and others as well. They are big on anthems and group choruses and they use those very well to their advantage. Granted that describes a lot of younger bands who have bitten by the 80's glam bug, but they guys are a little better than a number of other young glam acts. The guitarists are definitely capable of propelling the music beyond the usual fluff that many glam bands settle for. Swan has a slightly higher voice than some other vocalists, but it works because he knows how to use and it is just different enough to help set them apart. However I will say that songs like "Party War" and "Kill 'em all" appealed to more than some of the other songs just because it's Blackrain getting away from just their influences and trying to strike out on their own some. "Kill 'em all" particularly shows the real potential of this band. It's a rocker that clocks in around 5:20 in length and it's the heaviest track on the album. I think this album is grower and it's already grown on me. Yet for others who didn't have the benefit of hearing their "Innocent Rosie" EP; you may have to give it a few plays before it sinks in. Certainly an album that appealed to me and here's hoping that Blackrain keep pushing and progressing.

http://www.myspace.com/blackfuckinrain

Blackie Wilcox-Such a shame

Self-produced
2008

Taking a risk or a gamble can be a good thing, but knowing your limitations can be helpful as well. Such as recording an album can be a bit of a risk and if you don't have the talent to pull it off then it seems a bit silly. That's close to what we have in this situation. Well, let's go with the positives first because this isn't without some merits. The guitars remind me of Alice Cooper perhaps mainly around the time of Constrictor from 1986. Every song starts out with a decent riff and most are mid-tempo, but fairly heavy. Also the production overall on the disc is alright. The guitars could have come up some, but not bad for a self-produced album. Unfortunately now we have a serious reality check and it's time to face the unpleasant parts of this release. The vocals are, well they're bad and I mean bad in the sense that they should have known better. It's like someone went to a bar on karaoke night and after too many drinks they got up and started trying to be a hard rock singer. Only instead of sleeping it off and going back to the day job lead singer Aaron Morales decided to record it. For some reason the vocals seem to get all of the attention because once they start the guitars get pushed too far into the background. There also needed to be more variation in the music because it is very repetitious. That's a shame because if there is any potential to this project then it's definitely in the guitars. The overall sound tries to be kind of like a sleaze glam style maybe a little like Diamond Rexx, but even rougher. I am not saying that Blackie Wilcox should not have recorded this. However they probably should have recorded it for themselves and then worked to improve on this material before sending it out to the public. Granted they just formed this year so here's hoping they spend more time on working the bugs out before their next release.

http://www.myspace.com/blackiewilcox

What's coming up?

I watched Forbidden Planet several times this week. Great film, truly the best science fiction film of the 1950's and probably better than any sci-fi film after it until Planet of the apes came along over a decade later. Just great sets for the time, a good story, the acting worked and that eerie electronic soundtrack just set it off. It's been a busy week at work and didn't quite get everything done that I wanted to here this week so some things are being carried over. I don't theme weeks here anymore because I have new CDs review and I just have to do them when they come in. However as it turned out I have a lot of glam stuff for you this week. Three of the seven reviews are glam bands (Black Rain, Cyanide 4 and Blackie Wilcox) plus an interview with former Madam X guitarist Maxine Petrucci and she certainly did and still does have a glam look. So the Clash of the album covers will likely be between two glam covers just to make feel like at least a half week of glam here at my blog.

Reviews of....
Cyanide 4-Complex
Black Rain-License to thrill
The Answer-Never too late
Tank-Honour and blood (re-issue)
Fiftywatthead-Fogcutter
Blackie Wilcox-Such a shame
Sammy Hagar-Cosmic Universal Fashion

Interview with Maxine Petrucci

Clash of the album covers

Lesser of two evils between Lita Ford and the Cycle sluts from hell might happen if I can find time.

Have a great week!

Los Difuntos-s/t

Nickel and Dime

2008



East LA' Los Difuntos formed back in 2003 and put out their first EP "Born' raised and passed away" back in 2006. The EP was on Rancid records and they toured supporting Rancid at that time. Not too surprisingly Rancid are one of the main influences that I hear on this album. Only these guys are more diverse than a number of others bands. In addition to Rancid I also hear some definite traces of Tiger Army at least before they lost their edge. These guys are not the greatest technical players around and they sure aren't the most original either. However their spirit is high and they sail through songs like their tails were on fire. Certainly this is punk rock, but the range is broad as we get some rambling 50's style jams, blazing rockabilly spurts and then they venture into 90's pop-punk as well. They don't combine a lot of style within a song, but it's more a case of one style per song. However they sure are capable of handling of the styles that they tackle with equal amounts of fire and enthusiasm. I wasn't sure what to expect from the cover, but I am sure that the music here far exceeds any expectations that I may have had.
It's light and easy in some ways, but more than anything it's just a fun listen.

Flu.ID-iots

Exile on Mainstream
2008



Germany's Flu.ID released a few 10 inch records and they all sold out. So they decided to re-mix, re-master and slide in some electronic interludes into the product. The band also put in some bonus tracks for good measure. They might just be oddball enough to get the experimental label slapped on them, but that wouldn't be my opinion. The styles here include hardcore, death metal and all kind of chirps, squeaks and other spare parts tacked onto this somewhat misshapen monster. While I was listening to this album I kept thinking about how in high school every school would have a kid a would come in looking or behaving differently. If they did it because it was they really wanted to do then they really were cool or at least respected to some extent. Then you would have a kid would do something they thought was "unique". Unfortunately they didn't do it because it came natural, but instead they did it because they just wanted everyone to think they were cool. Well this album falls into that second category. It's not bad, but it certainly seems forced and nothing seems to come natural for them. The odd noises and tempos seem more awkward than anything else. I can almost picture them in the studio saying "oh, we have been playing the heavy parts for a while now it's time to put something weird in". The playing is fine, but the arrangements just fall flat more times than not. Flu.ID are capable of hitting on some real moments, but you have to wade through far too many tedious and dull patches to get to the gems.

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.


KIX-Hot Wire


vs.

White Lion-Big Game


***Which cover do you prefer?

Interview with Blackberry Smoke

Blackberry Smoke hail from Atlanta, Georgia and play a killer brand of Southern Rock. I recently had the chance to interview them and find out more.

MM-Please introduce the members of your band and tell what instrument you play.Tell us a little about the history of your band.

Charlie Starr: vocals, guitar
Paul Jackson: guitar, vocals
Richard Turner: bass, vocals
Brit Turner: drums

Atlanta based Blackberry Smoke continues to grow into the premiere Southern Rock band of America. Over the last 12 months they have shared the stage with ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Shooter Jennings, Cross Canadian Ragweed and countless others. The band has recently finished recording their sophomore effort “Little Piece Of Dixie” with legendary producer Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts) and engineer Justin Niebank, to be released in early 2009.

MM-You have a lot tour dates lined up from now through January. How exciting is that? What are your expectations of the tour?

GREAT! We are always excited to get on the road and see every nook and cranny of this great country we call AMERICA!



MM-How has the economy or gas prices been effecting your band?

Well we have taken beer off of our rider and asked for 40 oz. bottles of unleaded.

MM-Your latest release “New Honkytonk Bootlegs” is quite a bit different from your previous album. Tell us about it. The sound album had a retro type sound to it. Was this intentional? Did you use any vintage equipment in the recording?

We have always been big fans of old country music. this was a chance to kick back and let it come out. We even went as far as to record the song, "the only thing she left behind", with one microphone just like the old days. I think with the fiddle and steel it captured a sound we grew up loving.

MM-You had some gear stolen back in 2007. How did that happen? Did you recover any of it?

Never recovered. We know who stole it and he is locked up in a Chino , California prison serving some time for another offense. he will surely go to a special kind of hell for stealing our shit.

MM-What is the music like in Atlanta these days? Who are some of the best bands there that people may not be aware of?

There is a lot of rap and other types of r & b music in Atlanta... but the artist that pops in my mind is Zach Brown. He is a good ol hardworking road dog like the rest of us.

MM-Have you written any new material?

Yes, we have an EP out entitled, LITTLE PICE OF DIXIE - EP. The full length will be out in march of '09.



MM-What are some of the most memorable shows that you have played so far? SKYNYRD at the SMIRNOFF AMPHITHEATER in DALLAS in front of 20,000. and most recently every show on the ZZ TOP in your face tour 2008 HAS been AMAZING!

MM-Since 2008 is drawing to a close what are some of the best albums that you have heard so far this year?

AC/DC black ice! other than that I don't listen to much past 1979.

MM-Where do you hope that your band will be at five years from now?

Carved on the other side of MOUNT RUSHMORE.



MM-Pick the band from each of the following pairs that prefer and tell why you picked them.

Jackyl or Black Crowes
SORRY ITS A DRAW

The Allman Brothers or Molly Hatchet
SORRY ITS A DRAW

Aerosmith or Rolling Stones
SORRY ITS A DRAW

Lynyrd Skynard or ZZtop
SORRY ITS A DRAW

Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band?

We love what we do and we hope you do too!

http://www.myspace.com/blackberrysmoke

Skull Hammer-Fear the truth

Self-produced
2008



Skull Hammer hail from Framingham, Massachusetts and formed just last year. This four song EP doesn't quite fall into just one category. It has metal with elements of classic metal, thrash and a few other sub-genres all stirred into the pot. There is definitely a late 1980's feel to their approach due to the raw stripped down sound. If this was 1987 then I could definitely see Skull Hammer being on New Renaissance records. Something about their approach has me thinking of bands like Kublai Khan, At War and some others. I hear some early Anthrax and Nuclear Assault in Skull Hammer's sound although they have as many mid-tempo parts as they do thrash pieces. The sound is crunchy and I think the slightly dull guitar actually helps give their sound that old school underground metal sound. These guys are a little different from the huge pack of retro-thrash bands that are out in abundance today. Skull Hammer know how to vary the pace and style more than many of those other bands. Even on just four songs I can really hear the potential that they have. I do have just two complaints about the disc. The first is that the drums are at times too loud in the mix particularly on the first song. The other is just that the whole disc seemed to be over too quickly. I liked every song, but they have the talent to add more to their songs and we would all benefit from it. If you liked underground metal from the late 1980's then this disc might be right up your alley.



http://www.myspace.com/skullhammertheband

X-World/5-New Universal Order

Locomotive/AFM
2008

This supergroup of sorts includes vocalist Nils K. Rue (Pagan's Mind), bassist Magnus Rosen (Hammerfall), guitarists Andy LaRocque (King Diamond), Reeves Garels (Tin Machine, David Bowie) and rounding out the line-up is drummer Big Swede. Rosen called this "heavy metal for the year 3005". Well, if that is true then would metal won't be progressing a whole lot in the next 900+ years. Reeves throws in some spacey guitar parts here and there and there are some light industrial beats going on intermittently. Plus there are various and chirps that I guess are supposed to make us believe we are on a spaceship or something. Instead most of these "futuristic" bits do not add to the sound as they tend to just not be enough to effective. There is no doubt about the talent brought together here. I am interested in any project involving Andy LaRocque and he certainly delivers. I think the overall sound here is something like Queensryche with better guitar solos, but with a lot of unnecessary parts thrown in. I mean the future/space theme is fine as an idea. However I never got a sense that they completely commit to that idea. Instead it's like they have this light progressive metal sound which is fine yet they tacked on these odd parts in the hopes of making it different. Unfortunately those parts tend to be distracting and even pointless in the whole scheme of things. Maybe this idea could have worked had the spacey parts and metal parts complimented one another, but that's not what occurred here.

http://www.myspace.com/xworld5

Tank-This means war

Metal Mind
1983/2008



By 1983 Tank were still stomping ahead and this time Ward and the Brabbs brothers recruited a second guitar player in Mick Tucker. The metal scene in general may have been changing some, but "This means war" saw Tank sticking wholeheartedly to the same style of their previous releases. They continued to crank out unpolished and raw metal tunes like "Hot lead, cold steel", "Laughing in the face of death" and "Just like something from hell". In fact this album sounds a little under produced as I listen to it now. That sound might be very well in line with Tank's attitude and approach as their early material wasn't too much different from Motorhead.
This is simple, but pleasing metal that is very easy to get into and it's fun. The formula is fairly basic, but they know how to pull it off. I think that there is no doubt that their earlier albums were their best work. However in retrospect it is very possible that Tank's failure to become one of the NWOBHM bands to move on to the next level may have very well been due to the fact that they did not try to progress at all. Sure, I like the music and all, but metal was branching out by 1983 and bands were trying new things. I think Tank got left behind to some extent, but needless to say they are still a solid entry from the NWOBHM movement. This re-issue includes three bonus tracks plus a lyric booklet that even includes the cover art from the French version of this album.

What's coming up?

I have been watching a number of DVDs of past shows as I always do. Greg the bunny, Monk and F-Troop topped my list this past week. I actually got out and voted this week, but I normally pass on voting. My wife got my 4 year old daughter this red shirt at a consignment shop the other day. My daughter tried on the shirt and said "Daddy, I can drink fruit punch and if I spill some on my shirt then no one will even notice". It's good to know that my wisdom has been passed on to my offspring. Anyways I hope to have the following out this week.

Reviews of...
Tank-This means war (re-issue)
Flu.ID-Iots
Skull Hammer-Fear the truth
Los Difuntos-s/t
X/World/5-New universal order
Sammy Hagar-Cosmic Universal Fashion

Interview with Blackberry Smoke

Clash of the album covers

and maybe a Lesser of two evils between Lita Ford and the Cycle sluts from hell.

***Have a great week!

Santana-Multi-dimensional warrior

Legacy
2008

Santana (the man) has almost unbelievably been working at his legendary career for about four decades. This two disc set includes songs all picked by Carlos Santana himself. Now he has of course released other collections, but this one isn’t a “greatest hits” exactly because we get a few more rare tracks. Santana has also re-recorded several key musical passages and adding new guitar parts. So this is certainly more of a personal collection due to the amount of involvement that Carlos has had. This set is split into two themed discs with the first being vocal tracks and the second being instrumental. This set primarily concentrates on his work from the 80s and 90s with a just a sprinkling 1970s gems. Over the years Santana and his guitar have wound their way through pop, jazz, latino funk and other styles. This is a decent collection that offers a good introduction to his work, but it really only scratches the surface of his whole career. Santana journeyed through a wide variety of styles, but he still always had that unmistakable knack for producing rich tones and pulling so much out of every note. I like the collection, but I get a sense that's it mainly geared towards younger fans due to the selection of more recent material. That's fine since he did have a comeback of sorts within the last decade. However it doesn't really do Justice to his entire career. Still this is a solid set that gives the listener at least a decent idea of the talent of Carlos Santana.

Benediction-Killing Music

Locomotive
2008

British Death metal act Benediction have been around since 1989 and now they return with their seventh album which is also their first release in seven years. Veteran drummer Nick Barker replaces Neil Hutton, but the rest of the line-up is the same as it's been for over a decade. On "Killing Music" they don't try to get fancy or incorporate a whole lot of new elements into the mix. Instead it's aggressive and unrelenting old style death metal not far off from the Florida death metal style that was so big in the early 1990's. The production values have gotten better over the years and I think that this band is tighter than they were years ago. There is absolutely no wasted time or space on this album. Every moment is dedicated towards keeping the wheels in motion and creating waves of grinding, smashing music. I love the overall tone of the music as they manage to keep everything deep and heavy, but still maintain some clarity so you hear all the nuances of what they are doing. In addition to twelve originals they also perform two cover songs. One of my favorite tracks on their album is their rendition of "Seeing through my eyes" which was originally done by Broken Bones. This was such a heavy song for it's time and Benediction capture that raw crunch of the original and add their deep layered sound to make it even more brutal. Fans of Benediction and old school death metal should easily embrace "Killing music". There are no real surprises or any new elements on this album, but instead they just tear through the material and that certainly works for me.

Pro-Pain-No end in sight

Regain
2008


I didn't start listening to much hardcore music until about 86-87, but I immediately loved the passion, spirit and good, hard-hitting nature of this style. Music changed a lot in the 1990's, but some bands still followed their own path and influences. Pro-Pain started out in the early 1990's doing what they wanted which was playing a bone-crunching, unapologetic form of real hardcore. It's hard to believe that they are now on their 11th album because time really has flown by. They certainly have not strayed far from their roots over the years though. The passing trends of the last decade and a half have not swayed this band's approach. This is still angry, fist-clenching , the technical skill is perhaps a little more advanced now and there are a few more melodies this times around. They still hammer away and they still sing about standing up and fighting for what you believe in. This band is still a bulldozer that knows to plow ahead and still keep it interesting. They have managed to stay consistent over the years and now they have even managed to add some diversity to their sound. Some purists and longtime fans might cringe at the idea of changes, but really the changes here are slight and they give the band an even more well-rounded sound. This is certainly another strong chapter in Pro-Pain's history.