Six albums for Halloween

I actually took off from work today so I could do stuff with my kids. However if I could dedicate my Halloween to just listening to music and needed six albums to make up my day then here are the ones I would choose and the playing order.

1)Iron Maiden-The number of the beast
My favorite Maiden album and one of their darker albums as well.

2)Black Sabbath-Vol. 4
Any of the first six Sabbath albums would work here, but for today I'll go with this one. One of if not their heaviest.

3)Electric Wizard-Come my fanatics
A big does of crazy slow, fuzzed out doom.

4)Misfits-Walk among us
A fun blast and I think it was the Misfits at their peak.

5)King Diamond-The Eye
Any of the King's first five might do, but I always took to this one a lot.

6)Slayer-Reign in blood
I would end the Halloween on a strong blast from Slayer.

***Feel free to add your own picks.

Enforcer-Into the night

Heavy Artillery
2008

The first time I heard Enforcer was last year on the "Speed kills...again" compilation on which they contributed two songs. They were signed to Heavy Artillery records and their debut was actually towards the top of my list of releases that I was most looking forward to in 2008. The opener "Black Angel" comes pounding on like early Exciter only with slightly higher vocals. Right away I know that I am going to love this album. "Mistress from hell" is on next and this is more like Raven's first few albums which is refreshing change as not enough bands acknowledge their influence on thrash. After that the influences go back and forth including a huge dose of early Iron Maiden, more Exciter, Kill 'em all era Metallica, Savage Grace and probably a few NWOBHM bands as well. One of my favorite tracks is the instrumental "City Lights" which begins like something from Iron Maiden's "Killers" and then halfway through switches to be more like something from "Piece of mind". Much of this album sounds like it could have come right out of 1983 with the blend of NWOBHM influences and early thrash bands. However, Enforcer are more than just a time capsule because they do blend styles and bring a smoothness and energy to their style. They have their own ideas and they how to weave those ideas in with their influences. This results in a spectacular blend of some of the best styles of metal's past coming together. Many of today's retro-thrash acts look only to the sounds of about 1986 and later, but Enforcer dig into the roots of the genre which happened earlier than that. I think one of my favorite aspects of this album is just their unbridled fire as they just plunge ahead and go. Personally my only complaint is that I had to wait until now for this to come out because I think originally they thought it would be out a few months ago. I will say the vocals are higher than many typical thrash bands and I think they work fine, but I can see some thrash purists not being big on them. This is a fantastic release that captures the sound and spirit of some of my favorite sounds in metal.

http://www.myspace.com/enforcerswe

Armored Assassin interview

Armored Assassin are from southern California and play old style thrash. They released their album "Damaged Youth" earlier this year. I recently had the chance to interview them and learn more.

Hello, please introduce the members of your band and tell what instrument everyone plays.

Josh Abrams - Vocals lead guitar
Justin LaPlante - Lead guitar and back up vocals
Daniel Thompson - Bass
Marc Carr - Drums

Tell us a little about the history of your band.

Josh had originally formed a band called "Plague Marine" with other musicians. In 2005 Justin joined and Marc soon followed to replace members that weren't working out. Unhappy with the band name, we went to work and decided on Armored Assassin. Daniel joined in 2007 after our former bassist quit.

Who are your musical influences?
D.R.I, Death, Razor, Possessed, Tankard, Exumer, Testament, Exodus, Attitude Adjustment as well as many others.

How is that you guys got into so many bands whose peak was like twenty or more years ago?

It is the style of music we like to listen to, therefore it is what we like to play.

I have been going through Myspace pages and seeing all these band’s friends and fliers that let me know there are a lot of bands in southern California playing old style thrash. How competitive is the scene where you are at?

It is very competitive here as far as getting shows. However, we have found that true thrash bands, that are in it for the music, don't really compete. We are supportive of one another and try to include those bands when we are able. Venues here are not very supportive of the style of music, so when you find one that is, you tend to stick to it. We are just more selective about how many shows we play so that we allow ourselves time to write new music in between.



What do you think that you are doing that is going to get you noticed?

Playing shows, selling the CD world wide and talking with fans on myspace and at shows.

In what areas do you think that your band needs to improve?

We feel at this point that there is room for improvement in all areas, and always will be. We don't have a need to be perfect, we just want to be heard and have fans enjoy the music.

You self-released your “Damaged Youth” album this year. What was the recording experience like? What has been the response to the album so far?

It was a long process. We layed down 10 tracks in 5 days. There was not a lot of room for error because we had the music to record, but money was tight. We had a great time, it was interesting and fun. We think for all we did in that time period, the album was decent. We have done really well with the CD both in the U.S and abroad.

Have you any interest from any record labels yet? How important is it to you to get signed at this point?

We wanted to be signed a while back, however we play with bands who have labels and it seems to us that unless we get a deal where they can actually help us, we don't need it. We sell our CD to distributors overseas and we sell it on myspace. There doesn't seem to be a lot of support from the labels, other than attaching a name to your band.



What are some of the best clubs that you played at so far? What’s so good about them?
Black Castle is the best to the bands. ITs a very relaxed venue and the promoter, Chris - Hate War Productions works hard to keep the scene alive. Knitting Factory and Safari Sams are both good venues for crowds. Church of the 8th Day - Dan Dismal, he has been good to us as a band, and we like playing those venues with him as the promoter.Who have you opened for so far?We have opened for Agent Steel, Heathen, Fueled by Fire, Detente, Merciless Death, M.O.D and many other local bands.

Who would you love to open for?

Tankard, Sodom, Destruction, so many would be cool.

What would be your response be to someone who said that “the young thrash bands of today are not doing anything that wasn’t already accomplished by bands in the 1980’s”?

It isn't about accomplishing anything, it is about music and playing Thrash to keep Thrash alive. This isn't about becoming a rock star, its about doing what makes you happy, and pleasing the fans.



We are rapidly getting towards the end of 2008 so what do you are some of the best albums that you have heard this year?

Mantic Ritual (formerly Meltdown), definetly came out with a kick ass album "Executioner", Merciless Death's "Realm of Terror", Bonded by Blood's "Feed the Beast".

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

Dark Angel, Nuclear Assault, Violent Force, Exodus

Death Angel or Dark Angel
Nuclear Assault or Overkill
Kreator or Violent Force
Exodus or Megadeth

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

Thanks to the fans who have supported us for the past years. Without maniacs like them, the scene would just wither away...Thanks to the supportive bands that have helped us further our music and the promoters who know our music and put us out there to be noticed!


http://www.myspace.com/armoredassassin

Closer-A darker kind of salvation

Pulverized
2008

At the end of 2005 Closer rose from the ashes of Withered, they left previous setbacks behind and decided to make a fresh start under a new name. The style used here is heavy, technical music with a mix of thrash, death, black metal and even modern metal sounds. The playing is sharp and the vocals manage to be both smooth and aggressive depending on what is needed. The pace flows nicely and they do an admirable job of blending several sounds together. Yet despite all of that I just couldn't get into the album for some reason. I went back and listened again in attempt to figure it out. The technical ability is there and the production is slick, but there just were not enough hooks to really make this album special. I can't deny that the playing is well done, but the energy level is more restrained than it needed to be. I think they would begin to get into some groove oriented parts, but then they would move on too quickly. I think they more concerned with diversity than they were with building momentum. While that's certainly their prerogative it didn't help the overall feel of the album as much as it could have. They do alright at conveying emotion but again I think they were more concerned with the technical side and that's what came across first. "A darker kind of salvation" is a decent outing, but it lacks in the areas that would cause me to want to listen to it repeatedly.

Clash of the album covers

Here you go, it is...



Halloween's Horror Fire

vs.



Hallows Eve-Tales of terror

***So which cover do you prefer?

Enforcer interview

Enforcer hail from Sweden and play a style of metal that is heavily influenced by both NWOBHM and early thrash. I recently got to interview vocalist Olof Wikstrand to find out more.

Hello, please introduce the members of your band and tell what instrument everyone plays.
Enforcer are:

Olof Wikstrand - Vocals

Tobias Lindqvist - Bass

Jonas Wikstrand - Drums

Joseph Tholl - Guitars

Adam Zaars - Guitars


Tell us a little about the history of your band.

Enforcer has been the band it is known as today since the fall of 2006. But it started about a year earlier. As you might know ENFORCER started as a one man band. I recorded some songs I’ve had in mind for a couple of years and put it out on the internet. The interest seemed huge and soon I was offered to make a 7” single and I was also offered to make a few gigs. I called on my good friend, Adam, and my brother Jonas, to help me perform live. We continued as a full band since that time and after a few line-up changes we are the band we are today. Sometime in 2007 we were offered to make a full length album and we spent the entire following winter to record it. The album is called “INTO THE NIGHT” and it is scheduled for a worldwide release November 18th.


Who are your musical influences?

We’re mostly influenced by 70s and 80s heavy metal bands like VENOM, IRON MAIDEN, DIAMOND HEAD, JUDAS PRIEST, ANGEL WITCH and such bands. We’re doing the same thing, just slightly faster.



You guys look and sound like it’s about 1984. How did you come to get into a style that peaked twenty some years ago?

Well, I guess we started out our metal carrier like any other kid, you know, listening to the big bands like IRON MAIDEN, METALLICA and such bands. But apart from most other kids who stop there, I grew a genuine interest for the music and started to explore what was beyond those bands. I searched for contemporary bands and bands that influenced these bands. I cannot understand why all these big bands can sell hundreds of thousands of tickets while for e.g. Angel Witch never would be able to pull a crowd of more than 500. It kind of scares me that people seem to stop by the big ones and their hits and not explore heavy metal any deeper.


How did you manage to get signed by Heavy Artillery?

We contributed on their compilation CD/LP ”Speed Kills.. Again” and then we just continued our cooperation.

How has your relationship with them gone so far?

It’s been great. They have really helped us a lot and we will release at least one more album together with them.

Tell us a little about your album “Into the night”.

It is basically songs in the same style as the earlier releases. We have re-recorded songs like BLACK ANGEL, EVIL ATTACKER and MISTRESS FROM HELL because we want people who don’t collect tapes and vinyls should get a chance to hear those songs too. Except from that you can expect a broader album. We have songs leaning both towards straight NWOBHM and other towards speed metal. But the concentration is still the mixture.

Wasn’t the album or the recording delayed at some point? If so then why?

It wasn’t really delayed; we were at some point just too optimistic with the recording sessions. We’ve put down almost 6 months on the recording of this one and we didn’t really expect that from the beginning!

In what areas do you think that your band needs to improve?

Of course we don’t need to improve anything musically or our stylewise. But sure, lately we’ve been more aware of improve what we say to media and the way we move on stage. We’ve worked with layouts and prints a lot too.



What are some of the best clubs that you played at so far? What’s so good about them?

That’s really hard to say. We’ve had great times both on small illegal clubs with friends and serious clubs. Even though it’s more comfortable on bigger clubs and venues, the crowd almost always lacks in that kind of places. It just doesn’t come as many people to those places as the smaller and the crowd don’t get crazy enough.

Who have you opened for so far?

We haven’t played as opening act to any big band or so yet. Most often we play with other bands in the same size as us.

Who would you love to open for?

IRON MAIDEN

What would be your response be to someone who said that “the young thrash bands of today are not doing anything that wasn’t already accomplished by bands in the 1980’s”?

I’d agree with him.



We are rapidly getting towards the end of 2008 so what do you are some of the best albums that you have heard this year

I listen to good albums everyday, but if you mean albums of 2008 I’d say the CAST IRON EP and PORTRAIT’s debut. If late 2007 counts, I’ll add NIFELHEIM – ENVOY OF LUCIFER.

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

Saxon or Tank

SAXON anytime. Haven’t listened too much on TANK while SAXON is one of my favourite bands ever.

Raven or Venom

VENOM easily. RAVEN have their good moment, but I don’t like their style and outfit. Stuff like that doesn’t really belong in heavy metal. It just makes the whole band feel unserious together with their too rockish type of heavy metal. VENOM on the other hand have everything. Evil, music, attitude and over the top songs.

Exciter or Metallica

EXCITER. I can’t really deny the impact the first METALLICA record has on me, but after that they messed it up totally. KILL ‘EM ALL is among the best albums ever, but so is VIOLENCE AND FORCE. But the difference is that EXCITER released albums that is just as good as VIOLENCE AND FORCE both after and before it.

Iron Maiden or Judas Priest

Pass

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

Heavy metal is alive. Spread the word.

http://www.myspace.com/enforcerswe


***I'll be reviewing Enforcer's "Into the night" album on Halloween.

Defiance-Void terra firma

Metal Mind
1990/2008



The Bay Area thrash scene was so active once upon a time about twenty years ago. It was a very crowded scene that a few bands emerge while others didn' t get the same amount of notice. Defiance probably some for two major reasons, one being that their debut didn't come out until 1989 when thrash was already in full swing. The second is that they sounded a lot like Testament. While that is a good sound to have, Testament had already established themselves and thus Defiance had some trouble coming up with an identity of their own. However that doesn't erase the fact that Defiance were a fine thrash band. By their second album they had obviously loosed up a little as they change the tempo and go beyond the very basic rout of their debut. The playing level is certainly more efficient this time around and they are more consistent. I am not sure that's necessarily heavier though and although this album is good they would benefited from increasing the heaviness level and there. Defiance are a fine example of Bay area thrash and they improved during their all too short first run. I actually like them better now than I did back in the late 1980's/early 1990's. I think that is because their material has aged nicely which isn't something I can say about every thrash band from back then. Metal Mind does a splendid job with the re-issue as this one includes bonus tracks and a lyrics booklet.

Halloween album covers

To celebrate the upcoming holiday we will be posting Halloween and horror related album covers over at "Whole lotta album covers".
http://albumcovers.toomanyvoices.com/blog.html
It actually started yesterday and there will be a post per day through to Halloween. So hop over there and take a look.

Tank-Power of the hunter

Metal Mind
1982/2008


The legendary New Wave of British Heavy Metal (or NWOBHM) was a movement saw a huge amount of bands pouring out around the same time. The results were generally great for fans because they had so many delightful and thrilling new sounds emerging all at once. So there were lots of choices and really a lot of material and ideas to try and soak in. Unfortunately for many of the bands there would ultimately be room for only a few of these bands to go on to greener pastures. So that meant that a number bands never received the accolades that they had hoped for. Tank would fall in this category as they had the firepower and the grit right from the start. "Power of the hunter" is their sophomore release and it was actually released the same year as their debut "Filth hounds from Hades". Tank were often compared to Motorhead and that is a fairly safe comparison. I would say pre-"Ace of spades" Motorhead would be more accurate as Tank are as much rough as they are heavy. On this album I also some early KISS as well, I think it's the raw sound and how each riff is punctuated that has me drawing that comparison. Tank also had strong groove going in the early days and that's apparent on tracks like "Walking barefoot over glass" and "Pure Hatred". The production is rough and I am sure that their sound actually benefits from the slightly fuzzy sound as it gives them a certain edge. I think this is certainly one of their better albums because the attitude and the focus is still very much intact. Metal Mind's re-issue includes three bonus tracks and a lyric booklet. It had been a long time since I last heard this album. I would not say that I could listen to every week, but Tank certainly made their contribution to the NWOBHM scene.

Cryonics-E=MCthrash

2008
Self-produced demo



One glance at the cover of plus the title had me persuaded that I needed to hear it. These guys hail may from Murrieta, California, but they sound much more like East Coast thrash bands from about 20 years ago. I hear some Anthrax, Nuclear Assault and some M.O.D. particularly in the vocal style. I do not know if it was momentum or saving their best for last, but their five song demo gets better as they go along. "Plunge to comatose", "Embrace the Evel" and "Toxic Avenger" are all simple, but tight forays of thrash. They have a sense of humor and that comes across instantly On the fourth song "Paranormal Infestation" they stretch out more change up the tempo more. It's also heavier than the three previous tracks and I was pleased to hear that. They wrap up the disc with the title track which is the longest and easily the best track on the album. The band dig into this song and have the pace changes, aggression and timing all working to their favor on this track. So the positives about this demo is that they are fairly tight, the vocals and some of their influences are different from many of the other retro-thrash acts plus they have a lot of energy and a fine sense of humor. That is a very strong foundation that they have to build on. The problems are the production and some lack of creativity. The sound is okay for a demo, but the guitar is way to far behind the drums and the vocals. I had to adjust the settings on my stereo to hear it like I wanted to. The other problem was that although decent the first three songs could have used more variation. I liked them, but if this had just included those three tracks then I would have passed them off as just another alright thrash band. However the final two tracks show much more promise and the result is that Cryonic shows some real potential and they have a few things they need to work on.


http://www.myspace.com/cryonicsthrash

What's coming up?

I took in some more horror films this week including Friday the 13th part 2 (yay), Jason X (ewww), Targets (brilliant) and Dracula's Daughter (good). Jason X looks they took a cast for a bad teen soap opera show then stuck them into a third rate futuristic setting with some flashy gear. Then they toss Jason in, but of course people from the future are just as stupid as our time because they thaw Jason out and he's go on another killing spree. Then once they chop him up, they fail to dispose of the body and he regenerates parts and becomes an even bigger, stronger killing machine. I get the impression that the writers thought up this one after a weekend of drinking and watching Friday the 13th movies, Alien and some Lost in Space episodes. Here is what I hope to have out this week.


Reviews of...
Santana-Multi-dimensional warrior
Enforcer-Into the night (likely on Halloween because it's really good)
Cryonics-E=MCthrash
Defiance-Void Terra Firma
Tank-Power of the hunter
Closer-A darker kind of salvation
and maybe one more.

Interviews with...
Enforcer
Armored Assassin

Plus a Halloween themed Clash of the album covers

***Have a great week!

Call to preserve-From isolation

Facedown
2008

Florida’s Call to preserve play a heavy brand of hardcore that at times resembles classic hardcore more than today’s hardcore or metal core. It is certainly more in the hardcore camp, but heavy enough to appeal to some metal fans as well. This is a very short album because eight of the thirteen tracks clock in at less than three minutes each. They go straight to the point though as most songs launch right in. The vocals have fewer growls than some of their peers and that helps in being able to hear and understand the message that this Christian hardcore band is trying to get across. However I think that they are more creative lyrically than they are musically. About four or five songs in it dawns on me that they seem to be running out of ideas. Not that the music is bad because in fact it is decent and their spirit is strong. Still they lack variation in their music and that fact becomes evident and on the second half of the album they seem to just be trying to hold on until time runs out. This is a shame because the vocals and lyrics are solid, but people are going to have trouble focusing if the music doesn’t do enough to keep their attention. I heard enough potential to believe that they have the playing ability to do more. They just need to work harder in the writing department.

Interview with Toxic

Toxic hail from Norway and just released a strikingly solid album called "Fear". I recently interviewed the band to find out more.

Please introduce your band members and tell what instrument you play.
Trash Hamer: Vocals, Guitar
Geir Ove Bernhoff: Guitars, Vocals
Daffy: Guitars
Rolf Lura: Bass, Organ, Cello and Double Bass
Kristian Moen: Drums

Tell us a little about the history of your band.
Toxic was founded back in May 2003.
We soon started to make our own songs.We released our debute album "Intoxicated", and made a video called "Chronos" that was broadcasted on several TV stations all over the world. It also recieved a Gold Medal in the Euro Film Festival. Toxic was signed by the UK based label "Rocksector in the spring of 2008.Their second album "Fear" was released in September 2008. This album have already received several good reviews, and the songs from that album is spinning on several radio stations around the world. So now Toxic are planning aq lot of gigs and tours, starting with a 2 week tour in the UK in October.

Who are your musical influences?
We are infuenced by band from the 70's up to today. Some bands that I would like to mention are:Led Zeppelin, System of Down, Queen, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest + many more.

I enjoyed your album “Fear”, but it took me a few tries to really get into it. How would you describe your music?
Yes, I have heard several people say that, and they've also said this: Once you'd got Toxic's CD spinning a few times, it's hard to put it away. The album is very exiting. It has a lot of variation, both from song to song and within the same song.It also has both soft beautiful parts, and really heavy ones. So it's something for any one with a taste for rock music.But there are several "straight in your face" songs on the album, that catches you immidiately. You won't get bored.

How did you come to get signed by Rocksector records? How has that relationship gone so far?
We spotted Rocksector, when we were out surfing on MySpace, looking for someone to help us booking a UK tour last year. Rocksector has done a splendid job for us.It's not so very easy to find someone to trust 100%, in this cruel business.

What are some of the songs on your album about?
Toxic do not have those "love and kiss" lyrics. The lyrics often trying to point a finger on things thatare negative in the world, like greediness and unfairness. Both the song "Greed", "Every Beating is a Lie" and "Feed my Bitch" are made with such lyrics.



Where do you get the topics for your songs?
Both from reading a lot, and from experiences in the every day life.

What are some your favorite tracks on your album? Why?
Lucifer: It's got an unique and stunning riff, and also a mystifying and diabolic part with organ and cool singing. I am the Fire: Straight in your face kick ass rock'n'roll
Tinnitus: A interesting song including a various number of cool themes. Such as Norwegian folk music,and some beautiful cello playing.



What is the music scene like in your part of Norway? Is it fairly active or not?
There is a lot of bands here in Stavanger/Norway, but the live scene ain't that good. Everyone sits on their own shelf, there ain't any cooperating at all.

Are there any great unsigned bands in your area that you would like to mention?
I would like to mention a band called "12", they're cool: http://www.myspace.com/nr12nr

You have a number of dates set up in the UK for October. Have you ever played in the UK before? What are your expectations about these dates?
We did a 8 day tour in the UK last year. The rock scene in England is much better than the Norwegian one. Our tour manager have found some good venues, and announced our tour in several medias. So I hope that there will be a good crowd turning up on our gigs.

Will you be playing in Europe or anywhere else in upcoming months?
After our upcoming 2 week UK tour in October, we're gonna do some gigs here in Norway.We also have several good contacts in the USA, that are trying to sort out an US tour for us. So, we're hoping to do a US tour next year.



What are you doing that sets your band apart from other bands playing the scene these days?I've heard from several people that we've managed to make our own unique sound. You can of course hear influences from other bands in our music, but still we have something special. We're combining melodical soft partieswith hard and groovy ones.

In what aspects do you think that need or would like to improve upon?
We'll need to get out and do a whole lotta gigs, to show the world who Toxic are.

If you could only listen to three albums over the next month then what would you pick and why?System of a Down: Any album. Their album just grows for every spin Judas Priest: Sad Wings of destiny. It's their second album and the're still got their feet on the ground.+Rob Halford sings like a God.Queen: Queen 2. It's their second album and the're still got their feet on the ground.+Freddy Mercury sings like a God.

Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band or your music?Check out our MySpace, it's worth it: www.myspace.com/toxicnorway

Artillery-Terror Squad

Metal Mind
1987/2008


When Denmark’s Artillery released their debut “Fear of tomorrow” in 1985 they were actually well ahead of the majority thrash bands of the time. They had their direction planned out plus they knew how to blend speed and heaviness into a veritable assault. Unfortunately they were slightly overlooked and the production on the debut could have been better, but it was still a classic thrash album. By 1987 the thrash scene was changing because the number of bands playing the style had multiplied a lot over just two years. Still Artillery got even better despite not getting their due. On Terror Squad they attack their material with an even greater ferocity than on the debut. If anything they are even heavier and louder plus even a little more confident. The production was certainly better this time around and that only helps with overall effect. Artillery should have been one of the leaders of the scene because they had everything together while other bands were still trying to figure it out. In my book this is a must hear album due to the thoroughly aggressive approach and the ease with which they just peel off the rapid fire bursts. There is no doubt than they had their share of influence on other bands as well. This re-issue includes eight bonus tracks including demos of “Terror Squad” and some early tracks with Carsten Lohmann handling the vocals. The quality on the bonus tracks varies from okay down to rough, but bonus tracks are always welcome. This is a true thrash masterpiece that has held up very well for being twenty-one years old.

H.M.P. - The Undead Hour

Self Produced
2008

H.M.P. or Heavy Metal Poetry hail from Seattle and obviously very well versed in classic style thrash. They released a full length album back in 2007 and have since followed it up with this three track EP. Since there are only three songs I will break them down individually. The opener “Torn” comes busting out of the gates with a sound that is very much like mid-80’s Slayer only with an even thicker sound at times. The guitar solo reminds more of the blazing style used by Metallica in their early days. H.M.P. approaches this song similar to a sprinter in that they launch into one fast flying burst of adrenaline. Up next is “The Undead Hour” which continues the frantic pace established in “Torn”. I heard more of an early Testament influence on this although again definitely heavier. The vocals are even more powerful this time around and the drums are tearing it up like crazy as they storm ahead. Wrapping up this album is “The Pharoah’s Curse” which is the longest track on the album as it clocks in 5:22. This song had me fooled because it started out very basic and actually remained that way for a while. Then a little before the half-way point it just busts out and plunges forward with a full head of steam. It turned out to be the most complex song on the album as well. My only complaint about this disc is that the songs tend to run together because they do not seem to know to draw the songs to an end. That is minor though because this is a great dose of frantic, head banging thrash with a good amount more power and emotion behind it. Certainly an up and coming band that is worth checking out.

http://www.myspace.com/hmpband

Clash of the album covers

Here you go, it is...



ELF-s/t


vs.



Pentagram-Show 'em how

****Which cover do you prefer?

Guillotine-Blood Money

Pulverized
2008

Guillotine were originally formed back in the mid-1990’s by Nocturnal Rites members Fredrik Mannberg and Nils Eriksson who wanted an outlet to play material that reminded them of the thrash that they grew up with. The project originally began as a two piece going by the moniker of Holocaust. However the band soon became Guillotine, a demo was recorded and eventually the full length “Under the Guillotine” was released in 1997. However Mannberg and Eriksson soon went back to their main band and Guillotine were put on the back burner. A decade later the band was revived and guitarist Daniel Sundborn and drummer Efraim Juntunen were recruited to round out the line-up. So that brings up the present and the band’s second release “Blood Money”. This release comes during a time when the thrash revival is and has been in full swing for some time. Guillotine are beyond most the up and coming bands attempting their hand at old style thrash. The reason is that this band is not trying to re-create the past, but instead they take the style and build it into a huge wall and then just go thundering ahead. The result is a very intense pounding assault on your senses as they churn out incredibly thick layered riffs with a battering ram like rhythm section behind them. There are easily traces of Slayer as well as a definite early 1990's Florida death metal sound as well. The key is that they build on their influences as they add and create an even heavier sound that rarely lets up. The vocals are strong and lean more towards a late 80's thrash sound rather than a death metal growl. Now admittedly it took Guillotine a few songs to get really warmed up on this disc. For a few songs they wander through an aggressive, but relatively simple style before really coming into their own. Then they settled in, began to manipulate and change up the pace and that is when they started to come into their own. This year has already seen more than it's share of old style thrash releases from bands all over the globe. Several plays of this disc had me convinced that Guillotine's Blood Money is one of the more impressive thrash releases of 2008.

http://www.myspace.com/guillotine2007

Ogre interview

Ogre hail from Portland, Maine and play some excellent doom with a influences from a number of clasic 1970's metal bands. I recently got to check in with them and find out more.


MM- Please introduce your band and tell what instrument you play.

WILL BROADBENT: Drums
ROSS MARKONISH: Guitar
ED CUNNINGHAM: Bass/vocals

MM-Tell us a little about the history of your band.

WILL: Ross and I were in a band before OGRE. We decided one day that the artsy stuff we were performing really wasn't us, so we decided to start a new group that would be closer to our hearts. We were both big fans of 70's rock and metal, and that's the kind of stuff that we wanted to play. We put an ad in a local paper, and Ed was the first person to reply. The chemistry was perfect, and we started writing songs. We put our stuff on the Internet, and we were able to generate a buzz. We eventually were signed by Leafhound Records from Japan. We've played lots of great shows all over, including a week long stint in Japan.

MM-Who are your musical influences?

WILL: Speaking for myself, I would say Sabbath, Deep Purple, early Van Halen, AC/DC, Maiden, Priest, Motorhead, and lots of obscure 70's rock and metal.

ROSS: Pretty much what Will said, but I'll add some doom to the list - Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Revelation are the big three for me. Cirith Ungol too. Above all, though, obscure 70s rock is where I'm coming from: Sir Lord Baltimore, Buffalo, Toad, and many many others that I won't bore you with right now.

ED: All of what Will said, some of what Ross said and I was also a huge fan of early Rush…prolly up to about Hemispheres.

ROSS: How could I forget about Rush? One of our biggest influences --- even though Will would like to ignore that fact.

MM-Your latest album “Plague of the planet” is one 37 minute song. Did you go into this knowing you were going to write one long song or did start as something else and just grow from there? What is the concept behind the song?

WILL: We knew going in that we wanted to do it as one song. I felt it was the natural next step for us, as the songs we were writing kept getting longer and longer.

ROSS: Interestingly enough, we started talking seriously about the "Epic" (as it was called long before it had a real title) right after we wrote and recorded a one-minute song for a compilation that a friend put together. We figured that, after writing our shortest song, we should go for our longest song. In my mind, this epic was originally going to be the third song in a trilogy about Colossus, a character in a couple of our songs, but it eventually mutated into a full-blown storyline incorporating not only Colossus but several other recurring characters from the OGRE songbook.

ED: We usually brainstorm and throw a lot of ideas (some incredibly stupid) around and come up with a framework we all like. Then I usually try to fit whatever’s on my mind at that point into the framework. I’d been thinking a lot about cars/driving lately and it was a challenge to meld that with the Ogre mythology.

MM-What was the recording process for the album like? Was it more or less difficult just doing one song?

WILL: I think it went surprisingly well. We played one take of it straight through from start to finish, and then we went back and re-cut the parts and fine tuned them so we were sure to get the best possible performances of each part. Maybe our great engineer Marc who cut it together would disagree, but I thought it was our smoothest recording experience thus far.

ROSS: That said, I would add that it was a bit nerve wracking, because we had to trust that all the different parts would flow seamlessly once we began the mixing process. It was sometimes hard to imagine the final product when we were cutting takes of single sections. Marc's editing expertise was essential here --- he really should be considered a fourth member of the band on this one!

ED: Yeah, Marc’s got it all over George Martin. It’s way cooler to be the 4th ogre than the 5th Beatle…Ha!

MM-So have you played this one live yet? If so then was it difficult to re-create? If not then will you attempt it at some point?

WILL: We've played it out a bunch of times as a whole, and I don't feel that it loses anything in a live setting. We might lose some of the flourishes of the recorded version, but we make up for it in raw rock energy (I think.) A lot of times we are just able to play just a chunk of it due to time constraints, and that's fun too.

ROSS: The very first time we played it live was a bit of a disaster because Ed's bass amp crapped out right in the middle of the song. Typically, that wouldn't be too much of a problem, but when it happens in the middle of a 37-minute track, it sort of ruins the flow! Since then, we've played it a bunch of times, and it's always fun. It certainly takes a lot of energy to sustain through the whole song, but it feels great when we are hitting that final chord. Best live version of "Plague"? Definitely the first night in Tokyo on our Japan tour, when Hideki from Church of Misery joined us on stage, playing synthesizer and percussion. This was one of the live highlights of my musical career!

ED: I think that WAS the highlight of my musical career…so far….



MM-I love the cover. Who drew it? Are any of your comic book fans?

WILL: I drew it, and yes, I'm a big comic fan. Other fans will probably see the influence of my hero Jack "King" Kirby with the cover artwork. Thanks for the complement!

ROSS: Will is too modest to mention this, but he drew 75% of that cover with a broken hand. And I know I'm biased here, but I think Will created one of the greatest album covers of all time with this one.

ED: yeah, you should see what else he can do with a broken hand.

ROSS: Ummm….next question, please.

MM-Do you use any vintage equipment or do anything special in the studio to help give your music an older or more 1970’s style sound?

WILL: This record was the first one in which I used my vintage Ludwig Vistalites from the 70's. I love them!

ROSS: I play a Gibson SG through a Laney amp, but none of it is vintage. I always hear about bands touting all their vintage equipment and analog this and that, but I don't think vintage necessarily translates into authentic. It's got a hell of a lot more to do with the feel of the performances and the songwriting. That said, I love Will's Vistalites too!

ED: 4001 black and white Rickenbacker…just like Geddy

MM-What are you currently working on?

ROSS: Um, not much right now. We haven't quite figured out where to go after "Plague..." but I'm sure we'll hit on something soon.

MM-Do you have any shows coming up soon?

WILL: I think we'll be taking some time off from live shows for a while.

ROSS: There's a chance (fingers crossed) that we could play a big show in 2009, but I don't want to say anything more for fear of jinxing our chances.

MM-What should someone who comes to see you live expect?

WILL: Raw, honest hard rock with lots of guitar solos!

ROSS: One thing I like about our discography is that it's pretty varied....We've got some straight up 70s riff rock, some chugging metal, some heavy doom. So, if we're in a certain mood or on a bill with certain types of bands, we can alter our set list accordingly. At the Doom or Be Doomed festivals, for example, we focused, naturally enough, on the doom side of our sound. In Portland, we tend to play our more up-tempo stuff, which usually gets the audience pretty pumped up. No matter what, though, it's going to be high energy and LOUD.

MM-Where do you get the inspiration for your song topics?

ROSS: I’ll let Ed take this one on.

ED: Well, like I said, it’s kinda what’s on my mind at the moment along with what we all talked about at the last practice. I’d been thinking a lot about cars (while I was driving) and their effect on the world. Then I found this cool story about how if you looked at the earth from space you might conclude that the automobile is the dominant life-form. Highways are like blood vessels and humans are parasites that live in these “iron cells” that flow through the veins…the highway system spreads and grows like cancer. Plus, I’ve been pretty down on religion as one of the major sources of problems in the world and wanted to know what it might be like to watch a mythology evolve. At the same time, I wanted to address the man vs. machine dichotomy and see what happened if they became one species….plus, the idea of giant robots fucking is pretty cool, too!



MM-This band has been around for almost a decade. How do you think that you have grown or progressed during that time?

WILL: Well, the longer you do something, the better you get at it, so I think we're a better band and better players then we were when we set out. I know that I don't have the same youthful energy that I did when we started, which I actually think is a good thing in terms of performing the music.

ROSS: I think our growth most clearly can be seen in two places: the studio and the live setting. I know that, personally, I used to be pretty timid on stage (probably stemming from years of gazing at my shoes in my prior band!), but now I can let loose and, at least, pretend that I'm some sort of rock god on stage (which is an absolutely ridiculous image for those who know me well). Similarly, I used to hate going into the studio and hearing every little mistake played back through headphones. Now, I think we're all a lot looser in the studio. Recording "Plague" was actually pretty fun!

MM-Are there areas where you think the band needs to improve or anything that you have yet do, but hope to accomplish at some point?

WILL: Sure, I'd love to write new music and do more stuff, but honestly, if we decided to break up tomorrow, I would feel completely fulfilled with all we've been able to do. For a band on our level, I'm really proud of our accomplishments. Anything else we do at this point would be gravy.

ROSS: Playing Japan pretty much was tops for me. It's gonna be hard to beat that experience, but as Will said, I would love to keep writing new music and playing gigs. It would be great to make it to Europe sometime in the near future.

ED: If we got the call to go to Europe or back to Japan, I’d drop what I was doing immediately. It was mind blowing over there.

MM-Obviously you like a number of older bands, pioneers in the field. What do you think of the metal/hard rock in general these days? What current bands do you like?

WILL: In terms of some of the newer bands, I like GRAND MAGUS, GATES OF SLUMBER, BIBLE OF THE DEVIL, TOURTURED SPIRIT, HOUR OF 13 and Phil Swanson's other bands. I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch, but those are the ones that immediately came to mind. There are also a bunch of groups in our hometown of Portland, ME that I'm really into: HATCHETFACE AND THE VIPERS, ELDEMUR KRIMM, BIG COFFIN HUNTERS, PIGBOAT, GHOSTHUNTER, OCEAN, CONIFER and a bunch of others. They're all on the Internet, so check 'em out!

ROSS: Ever since we played the first Doom or Be Doomed festival, it has pretty much been about the Maryland/DC/VA scene for me. John Brenner of AGAINST NATURE/REVELATION fame has become a real good friend of mine since then, and he continually inspires me with what he is able to accomplish with those bands and his label Bland Hand Records. Also, bands such as VALKYRIE, EARTHRIDE, and ORODRUIN are producing some of the best heavy music right now. And, of course, there are the two Japanese bands we played with on our tour: CHURCH OF MISERY (pretty much the heaviest band I've ever seen) and ETERNAL ELYSIUM (absolutely fantastic heavy-space-stoner-doom).

ED: This is kinda lame, but I don’t purposefully listen to much music anymore. It’s loud enough in my head. That being said, I’ve heard most of the above and there’s good stuff in all of it.


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

Electric Wizard or Witchcraft
WILL: ELECTRIC WIZARD. One of the heaviest bands ever.

ROSS: I'll go with WITCHCRAFT, pretty much on the strength of their debut. I wasn't a fan of the 2nd album, but I've been digging THE ALCHEMIST. EW's first two albums are absolutely killer, but they lost me sometime after SUPERCOVEN. Sometimes, their songs just drone on for too long! (And, yes, I see the irony of that statement coming from someone who just put out a 37-minute song!)

Bang or Sir Lord Baltimore

WILL: SLB all the way! BANG is great, but pretty erratic. Nothing they ever did comes close to SIR LORD BALTIMORE's "Kingdom Come" album.

ROSS: I'm with Will on this one. "Kingdom Come" is one of my favorite albums of all time.

Cirith Ungol or Saint Vitus

WILL: Very tough, but I would have to give the edge to VITUS. They pretty much define doom metal for me.

ROSS: Goddamn you for this one! Still, it's gotta be VITUS, even though I've been on an UNGOL kick lately. VITUS = DOOM.

Black Sabbath or Pentagram

WILL: I love PENTAGRAM, but nothing will ever eclipse the influence that SABBATH has had on my life, so that's what my answer is!

ROSS: I may listen to PENTAGRAM more these days, but that's probably because every note of the entire Ozzy-era SABBATH catalog has been absorbed into each cell of my body. So, to answer your question: SABBATH, of course.

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

ROSS: We're pretty proud of what we've been able to accomplish over the past 9 years, and most of it can be credited to those who support the underground metal scene. So, I'd just like to say thanks to all the websites, zines, blogs, radio stations, and fans around the world who have supported OGRE over the years.

WILL: Thanks for the support, Mark!
ED: Ditto, thanks man

http://www.myspace.com/ogre

Randy Piper's Animal-Virus

Locomotive
2008



Former WASP guitarist Randy Piper returns with his band's latest which was produced by the band's other guitarist Chris Laney. As the opener "Cardiac Arrest" comes barrelling on it's easy to see that Piper is still sticking to a similar style that WASP used way back in their early days. In fact a good portion of "Virus" contains a similar sound to "The Last Command" album and that is just fine with me. Vocalist Rich Lewis reminds me of a cross between Blackie Lawless and Ronnie James Dio. Some of the more mid-paced songs also show a Dio influence in the music with a sound reminiscent of the "Sacred Heart" album. The biggest surprise here might be their decision to cover the "Zombie" by the Cramberries. However they handle the challenge very well and transform into a solid metal tune. To my ears the major difference between Piper's current band and WASP is that Animal use melodies more often and this approach certainly helps a great deal. The writing and playing are extremely tight and focused throughout the ten tracks on the album. The band takes a very direct approach as they charge into many of their songs. This album reminds me of an album that could have been done in the mid to late 1980's although that's certainly not to say that it is dated. Actually it's a solid slice of 80's style metal that comes during a year that is lacking those kind of albums. Good to see Randy Piper and his band hitting their stride and this disc will be getting a lot of spins in my player during the upcoming weeks.

http://www.myspace.com/randypipersanimal

Xystus-Equilibrio

Sensory
2008

Progressive rock band Xystus formed back in 1999 and in 2004 they released “Receiving Tomorrow” and “Surreal” followed in 2006. After that the band contacted the Utrechtsch Studenten, the oldest symphony orchestra in The Netherlands. The result of this collaboration resulted is the rock opera Equilibrio. Conceived as both an actual stage production and a studio recording, Equilibrio was performed to four sold out audiences in July 2008 – over 4,000 people witnessed the opera. Over 130 people were involved in making this production which about a year and a half to put together. Normally this sounds exactly like the kind of project that I would hate. These massive productions that try to blend metal with classical and or musical styles normally have me believing that they would be overblown and inevitably dull. Fortunately Xystus did something right, in fact they did a lot to ensure the success of the is project. This is a musical with five vocalists, three male and two female. All five singers are very good with Epica singer Simone Simons being the top stand out. The music blends classical and metal although with far more of the former. The playing is top notch, but the best aspect of the music is that the two styles work to complement each other. Both styles are of equal importance and the music is tight enough that they balance each other. I would have liked to have heard more metal at times and I think that it would have helped, but the music undoubtedly works as is. Okay, so they got the vocals and music accomplished in fine form plus the production is splendid, but what about portraying emotion? Oftentimes large productions and even progressive metal get so wrapped up in time changes and swirling pieces around that they lose site of the emotion of music. Again not the case here, the emotion is easily portrayed and wrapped in the vocals and music. All the above aspects result in a warm and vibrant presentation that gives the listener a lot, but not too much to soak in. Granted this is not a CD that I could listen to everyday because I would have to be in a certain mood for it. Still it's an ambitious effort that everyone involved should be proud of.

What's coming up?

Alright I was watching more bad monster movies this week including She Demons (pictured above) and The Beast of Yucca Flats. She Demons has a group of Americans getting ship wrecked on an island in the Pacific only to find Nazi soldiers doing experiments where they turning women into monsters. It's goofy, but in enjoyable enough to take. The Beast of Yucca Flats on the otherhand is truly one of the worst films ever made. It's under an hour long and feels every bit of two hours. Tor Johnson plays a scientist(!) who takes in the after effects of an H-Bomb and thus becomes a savage who goes around throwing men around and licking women's hair. That's the best part of the movie because the worst part is that there is no dialog because it's all done with a very boring narration going over the "action" and many stock footage scenes. It's like a nature show and some twisted attempt at a Twilight Zone episode all rolled into a cheap and boring attempt to be a monster film.

This week I hope I have some CDs that I am certainly looking for ward to reviewing. I am still keeping my ears open for bands that will make my top 25 album list for 2008. Here is what I hope to have out this week.

Reviews of...
Artillery-Terror Squad (re-issue)
Randy Piper's Animal-Virus
Call to Preserve-From isolation
Guillotine-Blood Money
H.M.P-The Undead Hour
Santana-Multi-Dimensional Warrior

Interviews with...
Toxic
Ogre

and I might post a Lesser of two evils if I can get to it.

***Have a great week!

Gojira-The way of all flesh

Prosthetic
2008

Gojira is the Japanese word for Godzilla if you were wondering. A French band with a Japanese name might certainly be different and the band’s music stands out as well. Much like the giant monster they are named after, Gojira triumphantly stop their way forward only they do with an arsenal of death, thrash and hardcore here on their fourth album. The overall pace is certainly familiar, but their down tuned sound helps to define their style. Although they incorporate several well-known styles they are difficult to pin down because like moving target they just always seem to stay in motion. The band seems to have an ceaseless supply of tremor inducing riffs and rattling, odd sounds. The song structures are remarkably tight and they have a good idea of to sustain song, but I did feel like they missed some chances to insert a few more melodies and movements at various points. Gojira are easily distancing themselves from a whole pack of these days just due to their willingness to blend several different sounds at once. They frequently manage to make use of repeated riffs as a positive feature. Normally that approach would mean being repetitious in a negative sense, but Gojira manages to turn it into the backbone for many of their songs and it advances the overall feel. The difference is likely that this band knows how to use and manipulate layers of sound to their advantage. I did get a definite feeling that the album was a little too long. I think we all could of benefited from it being a song or two shorter. Gojira are certainly a band who have come into their own in recent years.

F5-The Reckoning

OarFin
2008

F5 includes former Megadeth members Dave Ellefson and Jimmy DeGrasso. The inclusion of those two brought certain expectations at least on my part. My hopes were that it be both heavy and diverse, but also be well done technically. Did they fulfill all those expectations? Unfortunately the answer they did not fulfill them to my complete satisfaction.The overall sound of F5 combines modern metal, thrash and progressive metal elements. There were some parts that reminded me of mid-1990’s Megadeth only more complex and some moments that actually reminded me of Dream Theater. Okay, they are fairly diverse and this is perhaps the strongest aspect about this band. I am not sure all the pieces fit completely when they attempted blending multiples styles in a song. The styles were strong by themselves though and most the songs flow along well enough. The album was not as heavy as I hoped and that is my biggest complaint about this album. The production is low and that steals the sound of some edge plus the band seems too hesitant to break out of their shell despite having many opportunities to do so. The melodies are mostly strong and that helps, but the hooks are often either drab or just lacking sharpness. I really liked the vocals as the range was solid and consistent throughout. There is no doubt about the potential playing ability of this band and there are some fine moments on the album. While it is above average I still could not shake the impression that they held back much more than they needed to. I also got a sense that they tried adding some modern metal sounds and they did not sound very comfortable on these parts. The result of those parts gave a few songs an uneven feel. It was an alright album, but not what I hoped for and I certainly believe that this band is capable of doing something far better.

Cowboy Prostitutes-Swingin’ at the fences

Nicotine
2008


Oh, look it’s a glam band with a raunchy name from where else? Yeah, Sweden of course where of the glam bands seem to be pouring out in droves these days. Yet it took of about a minute or so into the opening track “Rock ‘n roll jail” for me to realize that this band were not content to just be part of the pack, but they were going to move to front and help lead the charge. This band obviously puts much more of an emphasis on their music then on their image and I mean that as the highest compliment. They give a good kick in the face with the energy of the Skid Row, follow it up with some sleazy Faster Pussycat style vocals and top it off with cocky swagger of early 70’s Rolling Stones. That is where they are coming from and that is exactly what they bring to this wild ride. It’s not entirely original yet it’s so easy to get sucked in by their spirit. You can easily put a finger on what the Cowboy Prostitutes are doing yet it’s so addictive that you instantly want more. Fortunately they keep feeding it to you with catchy, head bobbers like “Dancing on my grave” and “Mr. Two Timing”. It could have done with a little less piano because it did cut down on the edge that some of their songs could have had. Now I really expected 2008 to be a banner year for glam, but I was wrong because there have not been enough good albums. However the Cowboy Prostitutes can take pride in the fact that along with Leaded Fuel they have released one of the two great glam albums of 2008.

http://www.myspace.com/cowboyprostitutes

Interview with Chains

Chains are a hard rock band from Sweden who highly influenced by 1980's hard rock and they have been working hard playing in their area's scene. I recently got to check in with lead guitarist Gabby to find out more.


MM-Tell us a little about the history of your band.
Gabby-The band started out in Martin's basement in 2003. From day one, We agreed to lay down every last bit of energy to expand and grow as a band. The years past quickly and with loads of gigs and rehearsals every week, We managed to find a steady sound that defines what Chains is all about.Chains is here to stay !

MM-What are you currently working on?
Gabby-At the moment We're getting ready to record our next Ep, which will be available sometime in October. Apart from that, we're just writing new material and playing gigs.

MM-Who are some of your musical influences?
Gabby-That's what is so interesting about Chains. Everybody contributes with their own influenced style. Add them all up, and You have the magical world of Chains!Some of our main influences are: Def Leppard, Firehouse, TNT, Whitesnake.



MM-What is your band doing that's going to get you noticed ahead of other bands?
Gabby-Well first of all, We're highly skilled musicians and every show we do is unique. We take the music very seriously.There are a lot of bands that just do it for the fame, but we love what we do and want to share it with the whole world!

MM-Have you any interest from any record labels yet? How important is it to you to get signed at this point?
Gabby-Getting signed by a record label is not one of our highest priorities right now. We're focusing more on gigs and reaching out to more people.You have done several demos so far.

MM-What's next for you if you don't get signed soon? Would you work on another demo or have you ever considered doing aself-released album?
Gabby-Like I said earlier, We're recording a EP in September. There are plans for recording a self-released Cd, but when this will happen is hard to say at the moment.

MM-What is the music scene like in your part of Sweden? Is it fairly competitive?
Gabby-There are A LOT of bands in our area so yes, there's a little sense of competition in the air, but everybody treats each other with respect and try to help each other.

MM-What are some of your songs about? Where do you get the ideas for your songs?
Gabby-Most of our songs are based around love and it's reality. Martin writes most of the lyrics.



MM-Who have you opened for? Have you played outside of you home country yet?
Gabby-I suppose the biggest band we've opened for is Crazy Lixx, a famous Swedish band.We are also opening for Gypsy Pistoleros (us) in November, which we're looking forward to.We've done some gigs in Germany and Italy as well.

MM-What have been some of your most memorable shows so far?
Gabby-The most amazing show was at KB in our hometown. The audience we're great and we had an awesome time performing.

MM-What should someone who comes to see you live expect?
Gabby-An arousing experience and an extraordinary live performance that will knock your socks off !!Every show is epic.

MM-Where do you hope to be five years from now?
Gabby-All around the globe, performing in front of awesome people.



MM-If you could only listen to three albums over the next month then what would you pick and why?
Gabby-Def Leppard - Hysteria: It's just magic! Great songs and an outstanding sound. Ozzy Osbourne - No more tears: One of Ozzy's best albums and Zakk Wylde is better than ever. Dream Theater - Images and words: Pure genius! A perfect balance between musicality and soul. Love it!

MM-What do you think about the current hard rock/metal scene in general thesedays? Is it improving or not? Why?
Gabby-It's been better, obviously.. But still there are alot of awesome old bands and a few new ones to.I think the Rock scene is on it's way up again and hopefully Chains will be a big part of it!Is there anything else that you would like to say about your band?Just keep on listening to our music and hopefully we'll come to your town soon!For more info and booking, visit us at http://www.myspace.com/chainsband or
http://www.myspace.com/madisonrawks. (Manager's site) A website is in the works and will be released very soon.

Clash of the album covers

Okay, it is....


High on fire-The art of self defense

Vs.


Sleep-Sleep's Holy Mountain

***So which cover do you prefer?

Helix-Heavy Mental Christmas

2008

Wow, Christmas music already? Here I am just getting my Halloween decorations out. I wonder if two years ago that Twisted Sister knew the impact that their Christmas album would have? I mean it hasn’t exactly been an outpouring, but hard rock and Christmas songs have been coming together on albums with a great frequency over the last few years. This is the band’s 12th full length studio release and it features Helix versions of nine songs plus one new song. Essentially I approached this album as I would any cover album because despite the holiday motif it is still cover album. My rule of thumb on cover albums and cover songs is that a band should remain somewhat loyal to the original, but they need to put some of their own sound into it as well or else it is not worth doing. Now if this album was some kind of school assignment then it might get a fine grade because vocalist Brian Vollmer still has a strong voice and he sounds comfortable on most of the songs. The music is tight, clear and concise plus they benefit from some considerably decent production values. The problem is that rock ‘n roll isn’t about hitting every note correctly. While Helix have all their ducks in a row as far as doing note by note translations they forgot about adding in personality and making any attempt to really make these songs their versions. I never questioned the playing on this album yet almost every song sounds like some band who was hired to play “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer”, “Jingle Bell Rock”, “A wonderful Christmas time” and others for some tv Christmas special where they are essentially background music. That’s how these versions come across to me, they didn’t put enough of their own style into it and the songs just become rather mundane backdrops. Now the one new song they wrote “Christmas time is here again” closes the album and finally the band sounds very excited and motivated. You can tell they enjoyed this one and they loosened up and dove into it. Helix diehards will likely run after this album, but for everyone else you are better off pulling out one of their past albums or just wait for the next studio effort.

Rose Tattoo-Blood Brothers (Special Tour Edition)

2008
SPV


Long running Aussie rock band Rose Tattoo actually released "Blood Brothers" last year, but this is the tour edition which includes the CD plus a live DVD presenting the band's performance at the Wacken festival back in 2006. So let's have at the CD first, I always admired these guys for their ability to create just rough and dirty real gritty rock without a lot of flash. They have always been compared to AC/DC and they do sound like earlier AC/DC although obviously Rose Tattoo have stayed closer to their roots which is a good thing in this case. Once again they show their worth on this album with tracks like the rough and tumble "Black eyed bruiser", the no-nonsense rocker "Man about town" and "Slipping Away" which revolves around my favorite riff on the album. This band has had times where they didn't exist and they have had band members pass away. So it hasn't been an easy road for these guys yet they have persevered and have managed to soldier forth and stay genuine to the type of music they been playing over thirty years ago. Rose Tattoo thrive on putting out the kind of solid rock music that is so easy to get into. Still in a scene where so many bands try to sound and look like the real deal, it's readily apparent that Rose Tattoo are the real thing and it seems to come rather easy for them as well.
The live DVD included here has the band sounding strong on a major stage and the DVD helps make this a very worthwhile set.

Forever Slave-Tales for bad girls

Wacken
2008

I can’t say that I was exactly sure what to expect from this album and after the first play I still wasn’t sure. So I pressed on and after a few more plays everything began to take shape. This is supposed to be gothic metal of some type, but it’s not particularly good gothic metal or all that good at all. They come at it with big keyboards and slicked up production yet below that is a distinct lack of melodies, hooks and range. The music does make an attempt to be moderately heavy and direct at times. That’s slightly respectable yet the riffs are often too repetitious or else they try to stretch the song on for longer than they should. Either way it results in boredom for the listener and a lot of head scratching as to why they thought that minimal effort was going to yield anything other than minimal results. Vocalist Lady Angellyca is a model and I hope she is far more capable at that position than she is as a singer. The production helps to prop her voice up, but despite the assistance she is still very obviously lacking in range. Her voice is just rather sweet and although that’s okay it doesn’t particularly lend itself to the style they are attempting to pull off. She actually struggles more at conveying emotion than does her band. The larger problem with that is that this style gives more time and focus to the vocals which is all well and good if the singer can deliver, but unfortunately Lady Agellyca just delivers up a stale showing that does little to help her band’s cause. In the end this just feels like a project where they had an idea what they wanted to accomplish, but they lacked the skills to pull it off.

Vamps 'N Gypsies interview

I first heard Vamps 'n Gypsies earlier this year on their ‘Wine Stains and Smashed Glass’ EP which is still getting played fairly often in my CD player. I recently got to interview them to learn more.



MM-Hello, please introduce the members of your band.


Vocals - Nikki


Lead Guitar - Stubio Henandez Lopez


Guitar - Flash Danny


Bass - Rich Elson


Drums - Jay 'The Big Dog'


MM-Tell us a little about how and when you formed.

Danny: Nikki wanted to start a band and I was the only one drunk enough to accept her offer.

Nikki: I come from a musical family and I've been singing for as long as I can remember! In 2003 I finally got to start a band! I had the name Vamps and Gypsies since school and I knew Danny from clubs where I used to hang out and he looked like Michael from the lost boys and I thought 'right, I'll have him' and the rest went on from there!



Rich: I met Danny when he gate crashed a house party I was having….his display of trying to crush ice by diving on top of it was so impressive that I thought I’d hang out with him more often! I bumped into him and Nikki at a club one night, started talking bands and if I’d be interested in playing bass for them. I went round to Danny’s place a few days later and listened to the 2 of them run through a couple of tracks and thought ‘Hell Yeah! I gotta get me some of this!’. The other 2 took a bit more time to find….after various line up’s we decided to call in some friends of Danny’s. Stubio had played with Danny in another band before, so we drafted him in and tried out some drummers…lots of drummers! Jay came along one night whilst we where trying out this one particular drummer, just to hang out and have a few beers, and we persuaded him to give the drums a bash. It’s not like he hadn’t done it before…more that he’d sold his kit and given up on playing! The next day Nikki made him go and get a kit…..and the rest as they say is history!Jay: I wasn't happy about being dragged away from my mistress at4am by some long haired rockers…..


MM-So what are you currently up to?

Nikki: …. watching Ghostbusters!

Danny: Just looking at getting a Video done cos we haven't done one yet and it's about time we started hassling TV. It'd be a shame to let such unquenchable beauty not be seen by everyone.

Rich: We’ve just recorded a live set and are hopefully going to release a few of the tracks on a new EP…with a couple of new studio tracks to go with it! Nothing finalised just yet, but that’s the way we tend to work….no organisation, just do it! Hoping to go back out on the road again soon, but with time pressing on this year is looking like a non starter! We’ve been taking it easy this year on the gig’s front, trying to play less often but at better dates. We spent the last 2 years gigging every week in every little venue we could….costing us loads of money and quite often the place was half empty! It’s not our fault….we’d love to play every day of the week, but the venues don’t like you doing to many shows in the same area, and if we kept doing things the way we where people would stop booking us for the bigger shows!

MM-Who are your musical influences?

Rich: I think it’s best if we all drop some names in here….we all like so many different bands it’s kinda difficult to name just a few! Maiden, GnR, Velvet Revolver, Rainbow, Bowie, Queen, Blondie, The Clash, AC/DC….etc,etc!

Nikki: Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Toto, Richard Marx, Fleetwood Mac, Motley Crue,Pat Benatar, Kate Bush, The Darkness, David Bowie, Bon Jovi....

Danny: I love punk bands like the Queers and Screeching Weasel, Rancid, Rocket from the Crypt, The misfits and blend that with pop rock like Belinda Carlisle and Roxette with the touch of Bryan Adams and my favourite band of all time time Terrorvision! But I could go on for days.

Jay: Backyard Babies, Rancid, Motley Crue, Skid Row, and a wild one Dropkick Murphy's

Stubio: LIT are my biggest musical influence, and I love AC/DC and loads of stuff no-one would expect that creeps in when none of the other guys are looking.


MM-What has been the response to your ‘Wine Stains and Smashed Glass’ EP so far?

Jay: Well its made us millions so can't complain haha

Nikki: Not too sure, people seem to like it. But then, most people are weird anyway!


Danny: It's got a wider style of songs on there compared to the first, but put it with the 1st EP and you've got a near perfect album!

Stubio: It's all been good, but it's been a bit hesitant from reviewers etc! A lot of people that we gave the cd to when it was finished STILL haven't put goddamn reviews up, and they all deserve to burn in hell. Maybe they just haven't got anything nice to say, and they don't want to get beaten up next time we see them? Honestly, I don't care about them, getting reviews is good and all, but you don't make cds for the reviewers, you make them for people that like your band, and those are the important people to me, and they are the people that are loving the cd!

MM-Have you written any new material recently?

Nikki: We're always writing. I've got song buzzing round my head 24/7!

Stubio: Tons, I'm a songwriter, its not something you ever really stop doing! What

is nice now, is as a band, we are able to write much more together, where as for a couple of years, its been ‘I wrote this music’ and then I've had to teach it to everyone, now we've written from scratch as a band, which is very cool. The songwriting has become almost effortless now everyone is chipping in.

Danny: We've got a backlog of about 30 which we never got round to finishing…..


MM-Have you had any interested from any record labels yet?

Jay: Ask Rich he usually looses the information!

Rich: Not important ones anyway! We’ve spoken to a few people, but nothing really seriously….nobodies come up and offered us what we think we need! We want to record an album, go on tour, do some cool videos…stuff that costs serious money!


Stubio: We're a strange band, cause we're not metal, and we're not punk or emo and we're not sleeze and generally can't be put into a nice little industry labelled pigeon hole, so we have to do that old fashioned thing of winning people over with our ACTUAL music, which is risky for fast money corporate types who want ‘the next blah blah’ because we¹re not the next anything, we're the first Vamps n Gypsies theirs ever been, and the only one their will ever be.

MM-How important is to you to get signed at this point?

Jay: Nothing I'd rather do more......... well apart from doing a sky dive naked with no parachute whilst taking drugs and watching a stripper erm all the same time preferably.

Stubio: It depends, to me, anything that gets our songs and music into the public eye would be awesome, and signing a decent deal would be amazing, but we want it done properly, we don't want to pay some two bit net geek with a website and a ‘label’ our cash to do as much for us as we could do for ourselves. There’s so much bullshit flying around these days its getting dangerous to smile. I only want to sign a deal where we don't get fucked over, don't have to pay our own money to sign and we get some ACTUAL exposure for our music, REAL tour support, and somebody with some weight behind them fighting in our corner for us, you know????

Rich: It’s not the end of the world if we don’t….if we can make enough money to live off doing this full time, then I don’t see it as a negative point not having a label. But obviously a label can open many more doors than we can by ourselves!


MM-What is your band doing that sets you apart from other acts going to today?


Danny: Insulting interviewers! You knob faced, poo licking, snot picking, anal discharging, granny shagging gay stain!

Rich: Sorry about Danny…he gets a little bored after awhile!

Nikki: Well, I used to think it was cool that we we're different but now it's proving to be more of a problem as we are so different because people just don't know how to categorise us and people need that as music has to be so pre-packaged nowadays.


Stubio: We are authentic. We¹ll look you in the eye and you'll know we're not faking it. We write awesome songs that transcend genre and age groups and come into a genre of their own.

Jay: We've got the hooks in our songs. You go away singing them...


MM-What is the club scene like in your area? Any fantastic unsigned bands in your area that we should know about?

Nikki: Us of course!

Danny: Honestly I never go to local clubs anymore. All the new music coming out was just so bollocks it was making me mad just being in there! It was turning into a fucking fashion show! Who could dance the 'coolest' or who could have the most piercings. I always love rock cos it was so dumb! You get pissed with your mates and jump around like a dick head and who'd give a fuck what you did and what you wore. So fuck 'em! I am a dick head and proud!


Jay: A few good ones King Lizard, Disarm, Drugdealer Cheerleader but a lot of crap ones.....


Stubio: The club scene and music scene in my area is so small as to be almost nonexistent. There are a few pubs with live music, but usually they will only book boring covers band, and that's no way forward. With a few exceptions, low level live music promotion has killed off any scene here. Lazy promoters will book nine bands in one night that are all different and bring five people each who all fuck off when they've finished playing and its shit. There are a few exceptions to this, ‘Nervous endings’ are this awesome band I know that head up group of metal bands in my area that have clawed their way tooth and nail into making their own scene in the few places that are good enough to put on decent unsigned original bands. When Vamps started gigging we just went to London! On our adopted scene around London, my favourite band would be King Lizard, they are all wankers and I hate them,but they're a great band ;-P

Rich: London has some really cool venues, just they never seem to be able to pull a regular decent crowd….there’s not one specific place that everyone goes to hang out or see bands, there’s too much choice if anything! It’s nice to have an option when your heading out, but the scene would be so much stronger if it was just 1 or 2 shit hot venues who put on descent music every night of the week! A band I saw totally by accident one night…Heavens Basement, go check’em out…kicked ass!

MM-What should someone who comes to see you live expect? Do you play any cover songs live?
Jay: Wild and rawkus rock n Roll of and a Welshman in a cowboy hat.

Nikki: No, we fucking don't we play our own. Don't come to our shows if your expecting to see some shit like Coldplay or whatever fashionable indie bollocks that's sucking the life outta rock n roll! we're as far from that as you could possibly imagine!


Danny: Why play someone else’s songs when we can write better?


Stubio: Sweat and blood and spit- a good show, that's the bottom line. All we expect from you is an open mind and a few empty pints and we'll have an awesome time together!

MM-What do you think of the rock music scene in general today? Is it getting better or worse? What would help it?

Stubio: Bit of a broad question that! I could rant and rave (and probably have done already) but basically I'lll cut it to this.The rock scene needs Vamps n Gypsies to lead it into this next decade. All the bands from the last decade that were vital and awesome are either disappeared or lining their pockets writing making watered down versions of the music they used to make. They don¹t deserve to be where they are anymore. Kill the head, and the body will die, or replace the head with a new one, and the body will thrive. I think I speak for all of Vamps n Gypsies when I say, WE ARE READY.

MM-If you could only listen to three different albums over the next month then what would you pick?


Nikki: my Him box set!

Danny: Never get bored of 'Out come the Wolves' by Ranicid, Amy McDonald and 'RFTC'by Rocket from the Crypt. And the new Offspring album when I finally get it!

Jay: Transplants - Transplants,Pennywise - land of the free,Far from finished - living the fallout.
Stubio: Lit-atomic, AC/DC- Back in black, Alkaline Trio- From here to infirmary

Rich: High School Musical Soundtrack!We are a little over halfway through 2008.

MM-Do you feel like you have accomplished a lot so far this year? What do you hope to do in the remaining months of the year?


Nikki: Cut down on the booze!

Stubio: 2008 has gone so fast it's stupid, and well, I feel like I've wasted most of it to be honest! Spending too much time at work and not enough time out with the band, touring and shit. That's the trouble with being unsigned and actually poor, very little buck and their fore very little bang! We can't buy our way onto support slots, pay to play anywhere and we can't pay for publicity. Everyone always says this is a business about who you know, and we don't know anyone! Having said that we have been working hard, as we’ve always been! We've been all over the place gigging, released a new cd and just recorded a live album so it’s not that we haven't been busy, but my expectations are Far greater than where we are now with everything! I want to do this full time, all over the world!


Rich: This year has been quiet in comparison to the last few….we’re trying a different tac so to speak! Gigging every week is easy, what we wanted to do was play a better sort of gig….a gig that would get us noticed by more people! I’d really love to get back out on the road again, but with time ticking away this year is prob not going to happen! We’ve got plans….just not finalized!


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


Nikki: I'd just like to say ain’t we great and ain’t we wasted!



Rich: If you’ve read this far then we’ve obviously caught your imagination……go listen to us on myspace etc. Come to a show and get fucked up with us!


Stubio: I don't know you, the person that's reading this, but I’m guessing you've read a lot of shit, said by a lot of people in your time. You've read it all, seen it all, heard it all and you know better, right? Wrong. Forget what you think you know and check out Vamps n Gypsies, come and watch us live or hear our music on our website or myspace. We are ready to take on the world, one person like you at a time!


http://www.myspace.com/vampsngypsies

vampsngypsies.com

What's coming up?

Well, it's October and before I had kids that meant watching like a horror movie a day every single day of the month and probably even more the week of Halloween. Now with kids and a tighter schedule I have to push to maybe see a couple per week if I am lucky. I did manage to take watch some 50's cheese fests in the forms of "Earth vs. the spider" and "The Alligator People" this past week. "Earth vs. the spider (also known as just "The spider") is one of the better giant creature goes beserk type creations that was cranked out by filmmaker Bert I. Gordon and it earns some points for having the spider getting revived by rock 'n roll. Gordon spent the better part of three decades making such clunkers as the truly ridiculous "Food of the gods", the pathetic "Beginning of the end" and not so amazing "The Amazing Colossal Man". "The Alligator people" is a rather blah story about a man transforming into you guessed it an alligator. However some decent performances and locations help it out. Anyway I have yet to listen to all of the CDs that I am committing to review yet the ones that I have heard make me think this week will be like "trick or treat" for me. Some of the ones I will be reviewing will be considered for my top 25 albums of 2008 here in two months. Some of the other ones I will be reviewing will be considered for use as coasters for my drink. Here is what I hope to get done this week.

Reviews of:
Forever Slave-Tales for bad girls
Gojira-The way of all flesh
F5-The Reckoning
Cowboy Prostitutes-Swingin' at the fences
Rose Tattoo-Blood Brothers
Helix-Heavy Mental Christmas
Xystus-Equlibrio

Interviews with:
Toxic
Chains

and either a Lesser of two evils or Clash of the album covers.

Suspyre-When time fades

Sensory
2008

I got this disc a few weeks ago and it went into the stack of "need to reviewed" for a while. I don’t know if it’s the slightly dark fragmented artwork or the swirling logo, but for whatever reason I had it in my head that these guys were going to be a death metal band of some sorts. When I grabbed the disc to give it a spin I saw what label they were on and knew that I been wrong about their style because I now figured that they were going to be progressive metal. Indeed it took all just a little while or so into the opening track “Possession/The Negative” to realize that I was in for a fantastic ride through some well-crafted progressive metal. Certainly this band easily displays a confident and adventurous take as they shift and swirl through passages with some seriously spectacular technical skills. Right away a number of tracks remind me of Dream Theater with the way they hit very precision guided moments and just as quickly speed off into these brain numbing tangents. Although it’s certainly safe to say they are a little heavier than Dream Theater. Even though they wear their progressive badge proudly and delve into some jazz there is still a definite air of metal all throughout the proceedings here. They do an excellent job of weaving and connecting all of the pieces and their proficiency with the strong structures really gives the music a great deal of texture. The only hang-up I have is that they are not doing a whole lot that's new, despite how well played it is there is still a constant sense of having been here before. Perhaps that's minor in the face of the fact that almost everything they are doing is stunning and enjoyable.

Crimson Orchid-A chosen path

Crimson Orchid-A chosen path
Self-produced
2008

This is the third album from Crimson Orchid who hail from Baltimore, Maryland. Their music has relied on more than their fair share of contrasts and I am sure that is all part of their overall design. “A chosen path” sees the band becoming even more ambitious in the attempts to widen the scope of their sound. They have never been ones to limit themselves to just one style as this time around they bring elements of death, thrash, rap and others into their swirling arsenal. I think that as a whole that this album takes more risks than does their “Nightmares and Fairy Tales” album. I think they bide their time a little more and seem to have a bit more control. Yet the results are that while it’s more versatile certainly the overall impact wasn’t quite as strong as I was hoping for. There are some moments where they bring the hammer down and really bring out the kind of force I think that they intended. However there just seem to be a lot of moments where the more aggressive parts are held at bay by them perhaps trying to do a bit too much. Still their emotion and belief in their lyric has and still is very evidently real because it consistently shines through no matter once. I think the attempt here is commendable and they have certainly progressed some, but there are a number of occasions where the music seems spread a little too thin. I think there were times where everything could benefit from being more compact and direct. My hope is that they keep striving forward and concentrate on harnessing their ideas and perhaps focus a bit more the next time around.

http://www.myspace.com/crimsonorchidband

Interview with Betsy Bitch

Betsy Bitch has been in the music business for some time and she did several releases on Metal Blade back in the 1980's. She is back at it again and I recently got to interview her to learn more.

MM-I know that you have your band going again. Who else is in the current line-up and where did you find them?

BB-My current line up is as follows:
Betsy Bitch (of course)
Robby Settles - drums (original BITCH drummer)
Steve Kara - lead and rhythm guitar
Steve Gaines - bass
Jay Dean - lead and rhythm guitar

Robby, as I said, has been with BITCH since it's formation, Steve Gaines has been a long-time friend and was in Abbatoir back in the day, Jay Dean and I used to go to high school together (!), and Steve Kara is a friend of Jay's and that's how I met him (phenomenal guitar player).


MM-So where have you been playing? What has been the response to you shows so far?

BB-After we played The Bang Your Head Festival in Germany (awesome experience...we played with Dio, Twisted Sister, Dokken, Y&T, Thin Lizzy....the list of legendary bands goes on and on), that's when I put this new line-up together. We played some local shows just to get the feeling of playing live together and the response was quite good. We performed mostly vintage-BITCH material and people were saying they had never heard it sound so good. Since then, we have been focusing on recording our new release and not playing gigs too much.


MM-Have you been writing any new music? If so then how does it compare to your older material?

BB-The new release is all-new killer material. It's still heavy, but the songs are much better and the musicianship is far more superior than in the past.

MM-What were some of the first albums that you really got into?

BB-My favorite albums from way-back-when that inspired me were "Love It To Death"/Alice Cooper...."Cheap Trick"/Cheap Trick (their first release)....."Ziggy Stardust"/David Bowie....."British Steel"/Judas Priest....and pretty much all of the earlier Alice and Cheap Trick releases. That's the "short list"..there are many more.


MM-How old were you when you started singing in bands? Were you in any bands before Bitch?

BB-I was about 19 when I got into my first "garage band" (we didn't even have a name)...then a couple of years after that, I joined a band called "The Boxboys". We started out rock & roll/kinda' new-wave, and then they eventually changed it into a ska band. We had a couple of releases, one of which was on the soundtrack to a movie. In the long run though, ska just wasn't my style of music so I sort of fled that situation.



MM-This is probably the question you have heard all the time, but why did you pick the name Bitch?

BB-My original guitarist, David Carruth, and Robby (my drummer) already had the name picked out before they met me. They originally had it in mind for it to be an all male line-up. But after they met me and I auditioned, we all figured what better name for a band with a female front-person. And I was all for it due the fact that I was inspired by Alice Cooper...I was totally into the concept of not only fronting a band, but playing the role of "Betsy Bitch" as well.

MM-What do you remember about the early days of Bitch? Was it tough to get signed? How did you break through?

BB-The early days of Bitch bring back fond memories...writing our first songs....rehearsing every weekend wherein those rehearsals would sort of turn into a party/showcase kind of thing with friends and family hanging out at the studio watching us play. The metal scene in L.A. was pretty happening back then. We had some awesome gigs...played with Metallica, Slayer, Wasp, Ratt, Great White. It was tons of fun. It wasn't difficult for us to get signed at all. Brian Slagel was a good friend and he was just starting up Metal Blade at that time. He put us on the first several "Metal Massacre" compilation releases, and then we were his first full-band release after that.


MM-What was the LA club scene like in the early-mid 1980’s? Was it insanely competitive? What were you doing that helped get you noticed?

BB-The L.A. club scene at that time was awesome. You could go out and either play a gig, or see a band any night of the week (not just weekends) and the clubs would be packed! Yeh - there were alot of bands, but I wouldn't necessarily call it competitive...we were all kind of enjoying playing with one another. The Sunset Strip was always a party too...bands all up and down The Strip handing out flyers...you didn't even necessarily have to go into a club to have a good time...The Strip was a party in and of itself. I guess what made BITCH stand out and get noticed was that we were the first leather and studs/metal band with a female out front playing a character. We had all our bondage gear on stage...I'd come out with my whip...we even had a gimmick where I would coax my "Slave" out of a box. He'd come out all macho and leathered-out and by the end of the bit I reduced him to a cowering servant hanging onto my leg. We have it on video...Classic!!


MM-On the cover of “Be my slave” you have all of the chains, whips and stuff. Did you use any of those kinds of props live?

BB-Sorry I jumped the gun, but I did answer that in the last question. Yeh - I'm a big fan of using props as a front person. I believe that if you're gonna play live, you gotta give the audience a visual kick in the ass, as well as kicking them in the ass with the music.


MM-Why the name change to Betsy for the 1988 album? Did you consider it a solo album?

BB-The name change was just an experiment to see if not using the band name of BITCH might afford us a little more commercial affordability. Back then, the "B-word" was a little more taboo than it is nowadays, so we thought that might have been impeding our success abit. In the long run, it made no difference, so we went back to the original and better name of BITCH. However, the "Betsy" release is my favorite in terms of material, performance and production.



MM-Your last album was in 1989. Do you get out of music after that or were you still trying to make a go of it into the 1990’s?

BB-None of us ever got out of music. BITCH just kinda' took a bit of a hiatus when the whole grunge thing started to become more prevalent. We will did different things....I re-formed BITCH with temporary members just to play some gigs...I was also in an all-female band for a short time called "Sister Strange". Another thing I did in the interim was help friends' bands out in the studio occasionally, such as my duet with Lizzy Borden on "Don't Touch Me There". Ya know...just kept busy.


MM-Let’s say someone came up to you and had never heard your music, but could only afford one album. Which one would you recommend and why?

BB-Even though releases such as "Be My Slave" are more representative of what BITCH was all about, I always recommend the "Betsy" release because that's the one I feel most confident about. I like pretty much all of the songs on it, my voice is in peak form, and the production is superior.

MM-What do you think about the hard rock/metal scene these days? Is it growing, dying or what?

BB-I like the fact that "everything old is new again". The hard rock metal's back...the hair metal is back...nostalgia is a good thing! When you come right down to it, those types of music never truly went out.



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

BB-I still listen to a lot of the old stuff. Some of the newer bands I recently got into were The Darkness, Oasis, Foo Fighters....but I still love to listen to my old Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Whitesnake, Sabbath, Priest, etc.

MM-Pick the band from each of the following pairs that you prefer and tell why you picked that band.
BB-
Lizzy Borden or WASP

Wasp had better material.

Motley Crue or Ratt

Motley Crue...more interesting on stage and better overall material.

Aerosmith or Alice Cooper

DUH!!! Alice is my hero (I have a tattoo of him on my left bicep...Me & Alice = together forever!)

Alice Cooper or KISS

Double-DUH!!!! (although I have been to my fair share of KISS concerts and "Kiss Alive" got more than a few hundred spins on my turntable)

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

BB-We have a website in the works, but until then - stay tuned to http://www.myspace.com/bitchmetal for future developments on the upcoming release, and all-things-BITCH. I also wanted to thank everyone for their support and ongoing interest in the band. You haven't heard the last of this Bitch...not by a longshot!

Clash of the album covers

Your choices are:



Death Angel-The Ultra Violence

vs.


Nuclear Assault-Survive

***Which cover do you prefer?

The Clash-Live at Shea Stadium

Sony Legacy
2008

This show was recorded back on October 13th, 1982, when the Clash opened for the Who at New York's Shea Stadium on a rainy day as stated towards the beginning of the show. The Clash were riding on the success of their “Combat Rock” album plus the singles "Rock The Casbah" and "Should I Stay Or Should I Go." History tells us that ultimately the band were not far from some changes that would start to really shake-up and eventually lead to this band’s end. However you certainly wouldn’t know that from hearing this show. The Clash were very much a huge part of the punk rock movement that rose up in the mid-1970’s. By the early 1980’s music was rapidly changing once again and the Clash seemed to be at the forefront of these changes as well. Their music was a little smoother, but their attitude and dedication to their fans were still there plus they seemed to have gotten even tighter in their approach. There seems to almost be a sense of urgency to their approach here and I don’t know if that was due to the weather, anticipation or maybe it was ignited by the initial cat calls from the WHO fans. Whatever the motivation, the band seems spurred on from the get go as they plunge straight into their set. They never really let up and they crank out “London Calling”, “Police on my back”, “Magnificent Seven” and more with a relentless amount of energy. Some of their songs were more ambitious than others, but they seem handle everything they set their mind to and they seemed to get better as the night went along. This show has long been bootlegged and sought by collectors. Joe Strummer reportedly discovered these tapes during a house move so now we get an official release which allows us enjoy to enjoy the ferocity, diversity and instantly catchy approach of the Clash.

Detente-History 1

Cognitive Records/MVD
2008

This disc contains the original four-song demo from Detente plus the demo from the post-Detente band Catalepsy. The original Detente four-song demo was recorded in 1985 and it's very much in the thrash genre of the time yet it's also different as well. So many early thrash bands of the times just went and blasted forward with their music, but there is a bit more of a sense of control even on this demo. They would build up parts and then use blasts of thrash as needed to add to the texture of the whole sound. Vocalist Dawn Crosby had those searing vocals that could make your hair stand on end and immediately draw your focus in to her. Catalepsy featured the Detente songwriting duo of Steve Hochheiser and Ross Robinson as well as Machine Head's Dave McClain on drums. Some critics hailed Catalepsy as one of the first progressive thrash Bands and as the natural evolution of Detente. The sound from Catalepsy is indeed not terribly far removed from Detente although they definitely take more risks and stretch things out a bit. Catalepsy are somewhat more refined and it works on slightly different levels. The song quality is good enough, but a little fuzzy and low in parts on all of the songs. The insert is very brief with a family tree type of thing telling where each member came from and where they went. Since a version of this band is still around I was actually hoping for some more notes or information on these recordings because the description from the label has more than the booklet does. Still a decent collection of demos from two related and slightly overlooked bands.

Armored Assassin-Damaged Youth

Self-produced
2008


The thrash resurgence of recent years has risen from a few scattered bands into an actual scene in some places. Just like twenty some odd years ago it seems that southern California is once again a hotbed for thrash band activity. Armored Assassin are yet another entry in this increasingly crowded revival and they have been going at it for two years now. Like most of the others bands attempting this style the sound is here could very well have done around 1987 or 88. The prime influences I hear are Violent Force, early Metallica and late 1980's DRI although the overall sound on this album is fairly varied as they do a decent job of mixing up the pace. Largely what we get here is a slab of down and dirty thrash with some 8o's hardcore blasts woven in as well. That last part certainly helps this band to sound at least slightly different from the pack and it's also refreshing as many of today's thrash bands seem to just go straight down the metal trail and forget about the raw speed and heaviness of hardcore bands of the 1980's. Most of the tracks conjured up here are of a straight-up, go for the throat style that relies on just solid blasts of aggression. They avoid having much build-up and just fire directly forward without wasting any time. Their approach also tends to sacrifice some tightness for a more spontaneous sound and that actually turns out very well for them. The production is slightly raw and that seems to contribute to the album having a rough and gritty feel which works well with this sound. Armored Assassin also carry with them a sense of humor on several songs and that's great because the scene needs a few bands who are content to show some character as opposed to just forging along with nothing but grim looks. With the current scene being what it is I think they may have to take a few more chances in order to really get noticed. All in all "Damaged Youth" is a likable album that is easy to get into, the band calls up some of the better elements of the thrash style from two decades ago and present it with a good dose on enthusiastic fire.

http://www.myspace.com/armoredassassin

Zebulon Pike-Intransience

Unfortunate
2008

When I was in college there was this one building with a long winding staircase in the middle of the room. I never got tired of going up that staircase because of it's unique structure and you could stop halfway up and be rewarded by viewing the building from an angle that a more traditional staircase would not have been able to provide. Minneapolis based instrumental band Zebulon Pike brought to my mind memories of that staircase as I absorbed the three tracks that comprise their third album "Intransience". They have folded in aspects of heavy fuzzed out doom, stark bursts of progressive rock as well as pieces of just classic style metal, avant garde and other forms. The results are quite phenomenal as they work like architects with unlimited resources in constructing the three tracks presented here. Zebulon Pike have the technical ability to easily push and pull the music to and fro and keep everything winding and flowing through moody plus even explosive passages. However despite the obvious talent they never get bogged down by trying to be showy or attempting to squeeze in too much. This is the kind of album where about two minutes into the opener "Mirrors of blessed miracles" I just leaned my body back into the chair, closed my eyes and let the heavy yet soothing sounds just envelop me. It only got better from there as they seamlessly shifted around bringing so many pulses and bursts of heavy and emotionally charged moments that all manage to form a whole like a juggler easily keeping three very different items constantly going at the same time. Zebulon Pike's greatest feat here might just be that they are deceptively complicated because although they lure you in with some basic parts they quickly know when to start maneuvering the music. You become so focused on each individual movement that sometimes it's easy to forget all that they are doing. So when you step back and take in the album as a whole then you realize that it's even spectacular then it at first appeared.

http://www.myspace.com/zebpike

What's coming up?

This post comes about 12 hours later than I had hoped because my phone lines were done for some reason that is still unknown to me, but they are working again so that's good. I have been watching the show above over the last few days since I found season three for $14.95 at Wal-mart. I never get tired of seeing the Skipper getting something heavy dropped on his toes by Gilligan. This week I hope to have the following out.

Reviews 0f...
Detente-History 1
Armored Assassin-Damaged Youth
Suspyre-When time fades
Zebulon Pike-Intransience
Crimson Orchid-A chosen path


Interviews with....
Vamps and Gypsies
Betsy (of Bitch)

and perhaps either a Clash of the album covers or Lesser of two evils.

Have a great week!

Johnny Burning-Get up, Get Loose, Get off

Street Symphonies
2008

In recent years Sweden has become a hot bed of sorts for producing glam/sleaze bands, but even more recently Italy has been producing some bands that are playing that style as well. Johnny Burning are one such act and they had been working at honing their craft for a few years and now have their debut disc out. Like many other artists following this path they sound for the most part like a mixture of Motley Crue, Skid Row, Guns –n- Roses and a few others. The part of this band that took me off guard was the vocals of Manuel. They took me off guard because they were high, very high, way up there like Vince Neil on helium. Now he did bring it down some on later tracks and when he goes for the more mid-range parts he does alright. However it’s just that his voice is really high most of the time and it’s hard to summon up any grit or real hard hitting rock moments with this kind of vocal approach. The music perhaps is more consistent, but I would say that they have quite a few mediocre moments where the music just doesn’t due enough to reel anyone in. On maybe half of the songs the music steps up and push out some decent twists and hooks. After multiple plays I was left knowing they had some potential, but they also have a lot of holes and just too many moments where they are just going through the paces.

http://www.myspace.com/jburning

AC/DC-No Bull:The Director's cut

Columbia/CMV
1996/2008

This concert was filmed on the Ballbreaker tour at a bullfighting arena in Madrid, Spain back in 1996. Now I will have to admit that I have never seen the original release of this DVD and this completely due to the fact that almost every review I read mentioned that it had poor sound quality. Apparently some people involved with the film were not entirely satisfied with the original results either as they have now re-edited the film and remixed the sound for this Director's Cut version. So the show opens with a giant wrecking ball knocking down a prop wall which results a huge wave of cheers form the crowd and the band emerges to start off with "Black in black". The set includes a few songs from the "Ballbreaker" album, but the huge majority of the material is comprised of Bon Scott-era tracks and several off of the 1980 "Back in black" album of course. Not a lot of surprises in the set list, but at this point in their career they were beyond creating anything that new so the fans were largely clamoring for greatest hits and the band obliged. The sound quality is really just okay as the band sounds a little low and the vocals can't always be heard like they should. The picture is of fairly high standard as well, although maybe a little grainy at times. I did however think that the camera worked very well in keeping up with the action, not too many really quick cuts and it contained enough scenes of the audience. Although AC/DC give us a lot of their classics and the fans are really into it, I still got the impression that the band was running a little sluggish throughout the show. Yes, I know they were not exactly spring chickens then, but they seemed far more energetic on the Stiff Upper Lip DVD that was filmed like half a decade later. Angus goes through his standard routine and is soaked in sweat before long yet the fire seems a bit subdued throughout their entire set. So really it's a fair enough DVD and die hard AC/DC fans will likely be into, but not exactly the best AC/DC DVD that I have seen.

Boneshaker interview

Boneshaker hail from France and play a real straight up style of hard rock. I recently had the chance to interview bassplayer LaHuche to find out more.

MM-Hello, please introduce your band and tell us what instrument you play.


LaHuche-My name is LaHuche , and I play bass in BONESHAKER. We are a Pure WILD-ROCK band from the south west of france , since more than 2 years.....


MM-Tell us a little about how you formed and your band history.


Coming from different kind of music styles ( punk , rock , heavy-thrash ) BONESHAKER are just a wild band of friends who loves ROCK’N’ROLL……..
LaHuche ( bass-Les Destropouillaves ) , Steph ( Drums-doc Zydeco ) , Bob ( guitar – Stormblast,Punsihment Divine ) Nico ( guitar-Les Destropouillaves ) and Crhis ( vocals-S.B.E. , Radio Rebel ) are the first musicians of the band .
After some covers of AC/DC , the band decided to make their own music ! Pure Wild Rock like AC/DC , Nashville Pussy and all sort of Wild Rock Band…….
June 2006 , Steph leave the band to play with OKPLOIDE and Jojel arrives , comin from Ten Against One !!!
After some good shows , the band recorded their first CD… 7 tracks with 4 compos and 3 live AC/DC covers…..

MM-What are you currently working on?

Personally , I'm working for an engineering company !!!



MM-Have you had interest from any record labels yet? How important is it to you to get signed at this point?

At the beginning , we make our first CD alone , and now we're in contact with pervade production here in France for our next coming album !!! a label is important if you want to grow up !!!

MM-Who have you played with live so far? What have been some of you more memorable shows so far?
Without any doubt the Montalivet festival .... we played 2 days , Friday and Saturday
On Friday , Steve from American Dog jam with us (on Sin-city from AC/DC ) and the Saturday we open for us , they are so cool and we luv how they rock !!!!!

MM-What should someone who comes to see you live expect?
Wildness !!!!!

MM-Where do you hope to be three years from now?

One CD more , and a tour in the US !!!!!!

MM-What is the hard rock/metal scene like in your area of France ? Are there any great unsigned bands there that we should know about?

Like in all other countries , there's a lot of good bands !! Here in Pau they are more punk or hardcore...but generally there's a revival of heavy rock and hard rock band in France , we really expect to be in the course ......

MM-Have you played outside of you home country yet?

No for this moment , we're in contact with band in Spain , but we really expect to come to play in the US , I have a lot of contact in California and Mexico .....

MM-What bands would you love to open for?

Definitiely NASHVILLE PUSSY , but also JACKYL , PETERPAN SPEED ROCK and top of the top MOTORHEAD ....lol.....



MM-What do you think that your band is doing that is going to set you apart and get you noticed?

Our energy , our passion , our music simply !!!!!

MM-What are some of your favorite albums of 2008 so far?

AMERICAN DOG :Hard On The Road

TESTAMENT :The formation of damnation

MOTLEY CRUE : Saints of L.A.

MOTORHEAD : Motorizer

STONERIDER : Three legs of trouble

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

Ratt or Twisted Sister
Twisted sister

Van Halen or Aerosmith
Van halen

AC/DC or KISS
AC/DC

Motley Crue or Guns and Roses
Motley Crue

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

Listen to us !!!!! Thanx for your help and all you do for helping bands ; your passion of music is very important for us with you we fly to US !!!!! Cheers from France. Stay Wild LaHuche



http://www.myspace.com/boneshaker64

Glyder-Weather the storm

True Talent
2008

Ireland’s Glyder have released a five track EP that sees them testing the waters and creating perhaps a bit more of their own personality in their music. They still have every a certain classic rock flavor, but there is a broader range on these tracks. Certainly they once again tap into those subtle nuances in their music that sometimes deceptively help really create such at atmosphere. Despite wearing their influences on their sleeves, there is little doubt about the confidence and the presence that Glyder bring in full force to their presentation. I am not sure that there a great deal of rhyme or reason behind these songs being collected together because a few of them are quite a bit varied in style. My guess is they are putting out this EP to give fans something until they get around to doing the next full length. Despite the lack of continuity, Glyder once again offer up strong vocals, solid hooks and catchy creations. All of that adds up to five more classic rock styled tracks that I know that I will be listening to repeatedly over the next few months.

Those who bring torture-Tank Gasmask Ammo

Pulverized
2008

The cover, band name and title had me imagining this album would be very to the point and brutal. Was I right? Well, I wasn’t far off as these guys from Sweden play a fairly traditional brand of death metal with chunks of perhaps 90’s grind core blended together to create a rather tight blend. As one might gather from the album title and song titles like “Riders on the mushroomcloud” and “Radiation blessed”, there is a definite war theme running throughout the album. Like machine gun fire they spit out riffs and furiously steady drum beats without pausing or taking a breath. The first few tracks seem a bit more limited or at least this occurred to me in retrospect after I took in the entire album. It almost seem like the band gets more comfortable as the go along. Toward the beginning everything is a little tense and limited in their presentation, but after a while they seem to settle in more. Once they hit this comfort zone they shift speeds with greater regularity and the band begins to control the pace instead of vice versa. The vocals are fairly typical of this genre, but good enough although on a few songs they seem a little low in the mix. As good as it is; I think they could have even been a little more aggressive and taken even more chances. Still “Tank Gasmask Ammo” has sufficient power and ideas to make it worth seeking out.

http://www.myspace.com/twbtt

First day flashback number two

Corrosion of conformity-Animosity

Several years before Pepper Keenan arrived and drug this band into stoner rock mediocrity they were actually at the top of the crossover heap. Crossover? For those who were not into the music at the time, this was a rather brief movement in the mid/late 80's where bands combined punk (usually hardcore) with metal (usually thrash). COC's debut "Eye for an eye" was a brief and noisy effort with only a few hints of what the band might be capable of. However by 1985 the band was down to a trio with bass player Mike Dean picking up the vocal duties. I think many people have different views on which line-up and album is COC's best. For me it's definitely this line-up and this album. Dean spews forth those throat searing lines and pounds ferociously as hit bass while Reed Mullin hammers at the drums while changing the beat at a moments notice. I still have no idea why this band ever thought they needed a second guitarist. The proof I need for that thought is how Woody Weatherman just flies through lighting fast riffs giving each song it's own personality. This is just an incredible album from a band who were at the top of their game at this point.

First day flashback number one

Lizzy Borden-Love you to pieces

This 1985 release was the band's first LP and the follow-up to their 1984 EP "Give 'em the axe". As good as "Give 'em the axe' was they definitely grew a great deal on this album. The music was more complex and layered plus Lizzy's vocals got more of a workout as a well. Along with band's like WASP and Detroit's Halloween, Lizzy Borden were one of those bands who had a glam image but the sound was more metal than glam. The distinctive vocals, horror type lyrics and the whole image help set these guys apart. On top of that they could really play and just rip it up plus they knew how to mix heavy with melodic. I think around 86-87 hard rock and metal changed some and being metal began to change as thrash became more popular. Also being hard rock or glam suddenly became more focused on ballads and trying to score a radio hit. The bands that were in between those styles like Lizzy and WASP got kind of lost, ignored or they forced to change their approach. Kind of sad because between 1984 and 1986 this band was really putting out some prime material. However they may have the last laugh to some extent as their material still holds well today and they knocked out a killer album last year.