Ministry-Adios...Puta Madres [Live]

13th Planet
2009

"Adios...Puta Madres" is a 13-track live disc featuring performances from Ministry's final world tour, "C U LaTouR 2008". This disc was recorded over the course of the band's 75-city global farewell jaunt which began on March 25, 2008 in Spokane, Washington and ended with a pair of final sell-out shows in Dublin, Ireland on July 19, 2008. The performances contained here were recorded in Serbia, Warsaw, Los Angeles, Chicago, Germany, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, to name a few. The tour was to support their killer 2007 release "The Last Sucker". Al Jourgensen has had this act going for a long time with a changing cast of supporting players. During that lengthy ride the band has gone through synth-pop, industrial chaos and thick, skull bashing metal. Much of the Ministry's more recent material and the bulk of the songs presented here fall into the last of those three categories. There's not a lot of between song banter or unnecessary build-up during these performances. Instead they charge forward with more volume than finesse, but that's the kind of approach that has always worked for them. There's plenty of bashing of former president Bush as well. That comes as no surprise since he had been the target of their last several studio albums. The sound quality is stellar as their raw brutality shines through. They don't even seem to stop for breath at any time. Honestly I wasn't that big on the Ministry in their early days. However, they have grown on me more in recent years with their massive sound and relentless attack. It many ways it's a shame that Jourgensen has decided to call it quits, but of course that is very much his prerogative. Still this live release is certainly a high note to end on if indeed this really is the end.

Tragik-Outlaw

Self Produced
2009


Back in the mid-1990's aspiring musician/songwriter Phil Vincent submitted some of his songs to the management of the Scorpions and Ozzy Osbourne in the hopes of launching his career as songwriter. Shortly thereafter he decided to take his songs and record them himself. He released his first full length solo album back in 1996. Since then he has been steadily cranking out the albums under his name as well as the bands Circular Logic and Tragik. This is the second release from Tragik and the line-up consists of Damian D’Ercole on guitars & bass, Dirk Phillips on drums & Phil Vincent on guitars, keys & vocals. The influences are fairly varied as I hear the Beatles, Journey, Extreme and Dokken. I guess I was expecting straight hard rock and was taken aback when the opener "....In the name of...." came on in all it's AOR glory. It sounded like a ballad that would have been done by Journey or Survivor back around 1982. A good song, but it struck me as odd choice of an opener for what I thought would be a rocking album. Then on comes "Two timer" which is a stunning, mid-tempo track somewhere between Dokken and Whitesnake. Much of the rest of the album is back and forth between slow and medium paced efforts. I enjoyed the bulk of the tracks even if there isn't much of a cohesive sound throughout the whole album. It's very obvious that Phil Vincent and his band play the kind of music they love and that shines through in the quality of the music. They never do a song just because they think they should do that style. Even though I may not have liked every song I can certainly acknowledge that there was a genuine feel to every song because they believe in what they are doing. That sort of approach shines through and goes a long way.

Hammered-Gut Rot

Self-produced
2009




Back around 1986-87 I thought thrash was the height of metal and I thought it would stay on top for a long time. I was obviously short sited in that judgement. However there must have been something to the music because here we are twenty plus year later and another wave of thrash acts are popping up everywhere. So is the case with Wisconsin's Hammered. They throw on their black band shirts, strap on studded bracelets and crank out the blasting thrash with a hint of crossover. They draw inspiration from Kreator, Exodus, early Metallica, Nuclear Assault, post "Dealing with it" DRI and even some bursts of Iron Maiden. Hammered haul out tight-fisted thrash of the chugging variety. This is not an entirely overly creative, but quite simply it's thrash the way it was meant to be. It's fast, spontaneous and to the point. That's a lot of what I look for in a thrash album. The guitars are sharp and cutting when needed, but there are a couple of smooth solos tossed in there as well. The vocals are kind of a barking style that served the purpose, but they are limited in range. The music sounds like they have the ability to grow, but I am not so sure that the vocals can grow to the same level. The topics presented here include war, insanity, psychotic killers and turning into zombies as the result of drinking some toxic ooze. I don't know if this reflects the idea of writing about what you know, but they seem comfortable with the material. "Gut Rut" is a simple thrash effort that gets the job done in fine, head banging fashion and hints at some potential to do even more if they push themselves.

www.myspace.com/hammeredmetal

Top five albums of 1975

Here they are.
1-Black Sabbath-Sabotage
2-Led Zeppelin-Physical Graffiti
3-Aerosmith-Toys in the attic
4-Rush-Fly by night
5-KISS-Dressed to kill

"Sabotage" is the last of the great Sabbath albums with Ozzy at the helm. It's also overlooked at times and in many ways perhaps the band's most progressive and ambitious effort. It's a shame they didn't follow up on this style. "Physical Graffiti" is Zeppelin's last really good album. "Toys in the attic" is a fantastic release and in some other years in the decade it could have been the top album. "Fly by night" was the first Rush album I heard and still one of my favorites. "Dressed to kill" is my favorite album from KISS. So another fine year. I'll have my top five for 1974 out next week.

What's coming up?

I still have a Robot Lords of Tokyo interview to post this week. Next week I hope to have out the following.

Reviews of...
Quest for fire
Ministry-Adios Putas Madres
Tragik-Outlaw
Hammered-Gut Rot
and maybe one more

Top five albums of 1975
and maybe Lesser of two evils

Clash of the album covers

It's two NWOBHM bands this time around.


Praying Mantis-Time tells no lies

Vs.


Samson-Shock Tactics


***Which cover do you prefer?

LaceBlack

Self-produced
2008



This three song demo from Italy's LaceBlack play a blend of hard rock and pop with strong mid-late 80's influences. "Closed in a shell" kicks off the disc with a strong drum beat and a basic, but immediately catchy riff slides on. The vocals remind me of a cross between Joe LeSte of Bang Tango and Taime Downe of Faster Pussycat. It's steady, mesmerizing and grew on me with each listen. Probably my favorite track on the album. "New Excess Desire" comes on next and it's slightly slower, but revolves around thick melodies. The vocals are smooth and silk which is a big help in selling me on this song. The final song "Anytime" starts out with a slow intro that didn't entirely work for me because the vocals seemed a bit too breathy. Fortunately the pace picks up and the band slip into their comfort zone and ride this one out. The song might overstay it's welcome just a little, but still decent. This is more mellow than I normally like, but they know how to control every aspect of the song and get the most of what they do. It is slightly under produced, but I think that works to their advantage. The bass and drums are certainly rich and even raw to an extent. My only complaint was that all three tracks were around the same speed. I would have liked to have heard a little more variation, but hopefully that will happen once they do a full length album.



www.myspace.com/laceblackuniverse

Seance-Awakening

Pulverized
2009

Awakening indeed as this is the first album from this band since 1993. This old school thrash mixed with early death metal. Not far off from prime Kreator and Slayer. Only they do manage to blow the dust off the sound and rev up a bit as they take the sound at least closer to today's style. It took about three songs for me to really get into this, but eventually I was convinced. They place an intense style and attack their songs with all the brutality they deserve. They are not much more original more than other acts of this style going. They certainly don't play a very complicated style either. So how are the able to pull off such a blistering release? I think a large portion of the credit must go to the band's use of heavy distortion, lower tuning, severely raw vocals and some fine production work. At their best Seance manage to keep everything interesting without sacrificing their edge. They know how deliver tight choppy riffs and keep the pace going steady throughout. Most of this may have done before, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Seance have delivered a powerful album full of the kind of thrash that is playing over and over.

Maelstrom-It was predestined

Perfect Storm
2008

New York's Maelstrom have been around since the 1980's. That fits as all three tracks on this EP reach back to the days of early power metal and early thrash. All three songs sound like they could have been done around 1985. The opener "Arise" is simple, epic stomper with a mix of both high pitch and lower, rough vocals. This one reminds me of pre-major label Manowar only heavier. The production seems a little thin around the edges though. "A futile crusade" follows and the sound is thicker and much more rich. It's a mid-paced effort that's deeply influenced by the early days of power metal. The closer is "Predestined" is a full on head-banging assault. This one revolves around massive riffs and pounding beats. The solos fly in and help elevate the song as well. This is a likable if unoriginal EP. Each track is better than the one before so saving the best for last helps "It was predestined" to end on a high note. Here's hoping they get around to putting out a full length effort in the near future. I would certainly be interested in hearing what they could create when given more time to fill.

http://www.myspace.com/metalmaelstrom

Rhino-Dead Throne Monarch

Arctic
2009

Sometimes for reviews I do check other sources to help me. For this review I went to a dictionary after hearing the album a few times. I looked up the word monotony and found two entries. The first was about a lack of variation in pitch or inflection and the second meaning was about being tedious or repetitious. All of the above applies to Spain's Rhino. Normally this would seem to right up my alley. Heavy doom with thrash bits pieced woven in here and there. Undoubtedly establishing a heavy foundation was certainly high on Rhino's list of things to do on this album I am sure. It is loud, but not particularly effective. They enter into the realm of raw sludge, but they just wallow around in their riffs without building or creating much of anything. At times they remind me of Crowbar, another band who thought slow and heavy music had to be dull and tedious. Rhino have an okay grasp on initially establishing some promising tones, but they drone on without any real direction. They do manage to mix in some thrash parts throughout. The change of pace was welcomed by my ears, but it didn't really the songs a great deal. The thrash bits were okay by themselves and seemed more tacked on than anything. I gave "Dead throne monarch" several plays hoping it might take, but it actually wore on my nerves the more I heard it. My biggest gripe with this disc is that the band never really reaches out. They seem all too content to try to ride out time without ever attempting to accomplish much of anything. Indeed I don't think they accomplished much at all on this disc.

Tribulation-The Horror

Pulverized
2009

Around say 87-89 thrash metal was peaking and it was also becoming a crowded scene. It was difficult for new bands to establish themselves and get noticed amidst a growing pack of acts. Now two decades later it is probably even more difficult for up and coming thrash bands. It's an increasingly bloated scene plus these bands have to deal with being compared with all the thrash bands of the past. The task of establishing themselves doesn't seem to bother Sweden's Tribulation though. The influences are obvious as I hear Kreator, Sodom, Possessed and Morbid Angel. They don't rely too much on any one influence which is probably to their advantage in the end. Now I do have to say that the second half or so of this album was much better than the first. The first four or five songs seem to lack character. They just chugged along without a great deal of direction or intensity. After that Tribulation pick up the pace and begin to sound like they really mean it. During the second half of the album there are far more pace changes and even some fine explosive bursts. I certainly cannot say that Tribulation are one of the top thrash acts going today. They simply are not consistent or powerful enough to deserve that kind of praise. However they knocked out part of a really good album. This is definitely a band with some potential, they just need to gather everything together and be able to bring all they can to every song on the album.

Chris Laney-Pure

Metal Heaven
2009

Chris Laney is one busy man. As a producer/engineer he has worked with the likes of Candlemass, Europe, Crashdiet, Brian Robertson and others. As a musician/songwriter he has played with Randy Piper's Animal and Zan Clan in recent years. Even on this his first solo album he co-produced, co-wrote, played all guitars and sang. That's the background and I certainly liked those albums from Animal and Zan Clan, but the real question was what could Laney do on his own? It doesn't take long to realize that Mr. Laney is quite capable of putting together some high quality melodic metal. The songs here call up a variety of influences including 80's KISS, Def Leppard, 80's Alice Cooper and Animal. Perhaps what works best on this album is that it's smooth when needed, but heavy and forceful as well. Both type of parts are handled with the same amount of ease and confidence. In many ways this is an album where the sound is certainly influenced by mainly late 80's/early 90's music, but it's more active and vibrant. Laney is a fine guitarist and rips out some blistering solos as needed. He is also a surprisingly effective and even versatile vocalist as well. Since he has worked with a number of musicians, he decided to call on some guests on this release including Martin Sweet (Crashdiet), Zinny Zan (Zan Clan, Shotgun Messiah), Vic Zino (Hardcore Superstar) and others. The only complaint I had about this album is the song placement as many of the heavy songs happen early on and the albums wraps up with some more mellow tracks. Still a fine effort as Chris Laney shows he can indeed deliver some solid material of his own.

http://www.myspace.com/chrislaney

Top 5 albums of 1976

Here they are.

1-Rainbow-Rising
2-Rush-2112
3-Judas Priest-Sad wings of destiny
4-Aerosmith-Rocks
5-KISS-Rock and roll over

Wow, what a year. The top four here were seriously all considerations for the top spot. It really was that close. The best album of Ronnie Dio's career, Rush's best album and Aerosmith's best album all came out in the same year. Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper and Deep Purple all released weak albums, but it didn't matter because there were plenty of other fine releases coming out.

***I'll have the top 5 albums list for 1975 out next week.

What's coming up?

Okay, I am falling behind in my reviews so I need to catch and knock them out this week. Here is what I hope to have out.

Reviews of...
Rhino-Dead Throne Monarch
MaelStrom-It was Predestined
Chris Laney-Pure
Laceblack
Seance-Awakening of the gods
Septicflesh-Communion
Tribulation-The Horror

Plus...
Clash of the album covers
Top 5 albums of 1976
Interview with the Robot Lords of Tokyo

I don't know if I can get all of those reviews done, but I'll try.

Kylesa-Static Tensions

Prosthetic
2009



The latest release from Savannah, Georgia' Kylesa is one those albums that is chock full of sounds and energy. They don't tease their listeners with much build-up and they certainly don't waste time. They might very well get lumped into the doom metal pile for lack of a better label. That's not entirely accurate because their music is heavier and thicker than your typical doom outfit. Now the pace is slow and dripping with gobs of sludge. One of the best aspects of this band are the spine rattling heavy beats that flow throughout. I suppose that's easier to produce when you have two drummers going at it. The guitar has more layers of fuzz and distortion rapped around their sound. Undoubtedly this adds texture and gives the music a dark and brooding feel at times. However there are times where I found myself adjusting the setting on my stereo because the vocals were being covered by the guitars. So the sound did keep some tracks from being as distinct as they could have been. Kylesa are fairly aggressive in their approach and that comes through naturally. I did the feeling that some of songs were too similar in their sound. That might also go along with my above point about the lack of distinction on some songs. Yet Kylesa still bring a lot to this release. They go at it strong and are not afraid to hold back. Now every song works, but they have developed their own sound and that's very important. Even though I had some minor problems with it I think this disc will appeal to a fairly broad audience and it might be the breakthrough release for this band.

Lesser of two evils

The one hit wonder. It's a term that's been around for some time. Bands of a certain style and their labels push and hope for a hit to spark their sales and their career. If they get a hit that helps, but if they never get another hit then they might be left with the above label. I knew that I wanted to do a Lesser of two evils on this so I just had to come up with contestants. Right away Autograph came to mind for their one hit "Turn up the radio". Autograph rose quickly as they formed one year, the next they were opening for Van Halen and then signed to RCA. The debut "Sign in please" came out and they had a hit single shortly after that. Unfortunately one hit doesn't always mean the band is on easy street. Autograph did two more albums in the 80's with less success and no hit singles before calling it quits by the end of the decade. The problem here was I struggled to think of another one hit wonder. I mentioned it to my friend Bob Vinyl and he said "what about KIX?". The reason I hadn't thought about KIX was probably because they are from my area so the radio stations would play two or three songs from each of their albums. However they only had one real high charting hit which was "Don't close your eyes". KIX travelled a different road from Autograph, a slower road in some ways. It took them three years to get signed, but it was with a major. Their debut came out in 1981 and they followed with releases in 1983 and 1985. They sold enough to stay on the label, but still a rather minimally know band except for here in the mid-Atlantic area. Then on their forth release "Blow my fuse" in 1988 they finally had a hit. Indeed it helped them finally get some national attention, but it didn't exactly catapult their career. They had some more releases and then went their separate ways in the 90's, but still get together for a few shows every year. Enough on the history lesson lets check these two albums out and see what we have.

Autograph-Sign in please

vs.

Kix-Blow my fuse

Vocals

Steve "Plunk" Plunkett for Autograph taking on Steve Whiteman for KIX. Plunkett has a horrible nickname reminiscent of Bobby "the blotz" Blotzer from Ratt, but he's not a bad singer. Somewhere between David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar at times. He handles the material alright, but he also has a tendency to glide and not push enough. Steve Whiteman has a nasal often robotic voice. Yet it's distinct and it's the one part of KIX that set them apart. Much like Stephen Peacry of Ratt he's not a great out and out singer, but his voice helps to define his band and give them at least a little personality. Plunkett tows the line, but is a little faceless in his performance.

Point to KIX

Guitars

The Autograph pair is Steve Lynch and Steve "Plunk" Plunkett taking on Ronnie "10/10" Younkins and Brian "Damage" Forsythe. What in the world was going on with all the idiotic nicknames? They must have been drunk when they thought those up. Anyway Autograph's guitars are basic and somewhere between hard rock and AOR. They benefit from decent production, but get covered by too much keyboards at times. KIX became more AC/DC on this album and it's like early 80's AC/DC which is neither creative or entertaining. These two guys with the limp nicknames are still no Angus Young. The tone is bland and the riffs are predictable.

Point to Autograph

Rhythm section

Autograph has Randy Rand bass and Keni "Richetti" Richards on drums going against Donnie Purnell on bass and Jimmy "Choclate" Chalfant on drums. These guys must not have any good friends because friends don't let friends use ridiculously stupid nicknames. Anyways, as you probably know you can't really hear the bass on either album. No surprise there so it looks like it is up to the drummers. Jimmy Chalfant at times sounds like he just playing one long drum beat and they just stuck three or four songs around it. Seriously he's playing the same dried out parts several times over. Keni Richards is bland too, but the production helps and he does mix things up some. So....


Point to Autograph

Originality/Production

Autograph sound a little like Sammy Hagar at times. KIX sound like second rate AC/DC at times and occasionally they sound like they did on their earlier albums for whatever that is worth. The production on Autograph made the mistake of putting the keyboards too much in the foreground at times. However everything sounds well enough. The production on the KIX album was done by Tom Werman who among others did "Shout at the devil" (amazing) and "Girls, girls, girls" (stinko). The production is unfortunately closer to that of the forth Motley Crue album. Which means it's high on gloss and low on substance. It's far too thin on most of the instruments.

Point to Autograph

Who rocks more?

It's not that these bands don't rock. Well, actually I guess it's that they do not rock enough for my liking. These two bands are a little better than some of the other acts that have been on here before. The problems with Autograph are too much keyboards, the guitars don't make themselves known enough and the band plays it very safe. On the plus side they are fairly tight and the production helps. KIX struggle because they copy a known band plus they lack energy and fire. I was almost ready to call this one a tie. Then I thought that since these bands were picked for being one hit wonders that I would let the hits serve as a tiebreaker. "Turn up the radio" isn't nearly as good as I once thought. However when I hear "Don't close your eyes" I want to turn off the radio.


Point to Autograph


So Autograph take it 4-1. Going into this one I thought KIX would take it. The more I listened to their album the less I liked it.


**I'll be back soon with another one of these.

Good news, bad news

The bad news is that this is the only post I will get to today.The good news is I will out a Lesser of two evils tomorrow so come back.

Crown the lost-Blind Faith Loyalty

Cruz Del Sur
2009



This is the sophomore effort from Pittsburgh's Crown the lost. According to their Myspace page they have spent around a year writing this album. They label themselves as thrash and I am sure many reviewers will give them label as well. However there is definitely and air of progressive metal down below the surface of their songs. Oh, it's sped up certainly, but hear can't help noticing some parts that remind me of early Crimson Glory. There are also some shades of the type of swirling riffs that had me thinking of early King Diamond and Solitude Aeturnus. They begin almost every song with a strong burst and oftentimes the first 10-15 seconds are the most powerful part of each song. Inevitably they travel down some more complicated avenues though. You do have to focus some to keep up with all that is going on. I appreciate the speed and the amount of riffs, but I was left feeling hollow at times. The reason for that is that they don't always incorporate the level of heaviness that I think their material could use. It's as if the ideas were started, but there just is not enough meat on the material to really sustain it. I think the apparent lack of that edge is the difference between being good and just being decent. This album falls in that second category.



www.myspace.com/crownthelostmetal

Black Math Horseman-Wylt

TeePee
2009

If I were judging music solely by band titles then prior to cracking open the case I figured this LA based act was to be heavy and the songs would be lengthy. Low and behold they turned out to be both yet a whole lot more as well. If I had to describe the Black Math Horseman in one word then the first one that pops into my mind is deceptive. In their music at first seems very basic as they focus on very simple and often singular sounds. Yet like some sort of sonic quicksand their music pulls you in and before you know it you are enveloped by sound. There is so much more to this band then there appears to be. They rely greatly on tones and repetition. That sounds easy, but the tones are rich and thick as molasses. The band uses repetition on numerous riffs on every song yet it never gets old because they how to serve it up. They know how to milk the nuances from every tiny part. Like the band name they ride through dark, shadow passages hitting a gallop when needed and slowing the motion down when called for as well. If there is one thing that sets this band apart it's that they don't push too hard. They are content to let the music flow and eventually it take on a life of it's own. Now this kind of subtle drone isn't for everyone, it can be tedious at first and some songs do blend together a little. Yet in the proper mood, this is an album where the band really pulled out as much as possible out of everything they did on this album.

www.myspace.com/blackmathhorseman

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.


Dragonforce-Valley of the damned

Vs.

Hammerfall-Renegade

***Which cover do you prefer?

Nasty Idols-Boys Town

Metal Heaven
2009


In recent years we have of course been overwhelmed by the number of glam acts that have popped up in Sweden. Yet here we have Nasty Idols a band who formed over twenty years ago when most glam bands were swarming around LA. They managed to knock out five albums between 1989 and 1995 before calling it a day. However a few years ago the band reformed. Now they hit us with a release that should make fans and younger bands alike stand up and take notice. This pure sleaze glam with lots of volume and attitude. A simple formula for sure, but one that is guaranteed to work if the band pushes hard enough. Nasty Idols call on the sounds of Motley Crue, Hanoi Rocks, Tigertailz and even draw from youngsters like Crashdiet as well. The vocals are rough and gritty when needed upon and melodic when they have to be. The music is basic hard rock, but it contains enough and hooks to make an impression. If there is a downside it's just that the band sometime fall prey to being too repetitive with some of the choruses on a couple of songs. That's a minor complaint because really this is the first really good hard rock album of the year and I would be very surprised it does not make top ten albums of 2009.

Top five albums of 1977

Here they are.

1-AC/DC-Let there be rock
2-Judas Priest-Sin after sin
3-Rush-Farewell to kings
4-Tie: Scorpions-Taken by force and Motorhead-s/t
5-KISS-Lovegun

A number of good albums for sure as there is one tie and I unfortunately had to leave the Nuge and Thin Lizzy off in a tight battle for the final spot. However no real great albums as "Let there be rock" is solid, but probably the band's third best album and "Sin after sin" is Priest's third or forth best of the decade. Still a fine year that saw several bands improving.

My list for 1976 will be up next week.

Severed Ways

SEVERED WAYS
The Norse Discovery of America

American, Tony Stone wrote, directed and edited and acted in “Severed Ways”. This is a film that is set in 1007 A.D. and it begins with two Viking scouts being left behind as they see a beach littered with their dead fellow explorers. The others were killed in a skirmish with "Skrealings," the Viking name for Indians. The focus of the film then becomes the survival and search for a way home that the two explorers now face. The film is subtle yet dark as we follow the pair of Vikings through their new surroundings. The locations vary from suitable to breathtaking as we are treated to a nice array of outcroppings, waterfalls and more. The dialog is minimal and we see much more of the duties and chores that these two go through in the daily life. Lots of wood chopping, building fires, killing animals for food and even wiping their read ends with leaves. Obviously establishing a feel of authenticity was paramount to the makers of the film and I applaud that. There seem to be a somewhat loose commentary on religion as well during the parts where we witness different reactions towards life from the Vikings and from the monks that they encounter towards the middle of the film. The film is very slow at times and that is certainly deliberate because the film is about small aspects of this situation rather than quickly building characters or setting the tone for any particular event. For the most part I think that the approach of the film works although it certainly requires some patience on the part of the viewer. Now the parts filmed by a handheld camera and the heavy metal bits played between scenes really didn't help the film. Despite my position as a metal fan I felt that those parts slightly undermined what Mr. Stone was trying to accomplish. The Viking headbanging scene was particularly way out of place. I think that film moved along well enough and kept my interest. However I think there are some moments where the actors come out of character a little and the film could have been trimmed some. Still I found it to be both interesting and different for a film about Vikings. I certainly see the potential that the filmmaker has as well.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1062965/

What's coming up?

First off it's my daughter's fifth birthday so happy birthday to her! For like six months she has been asking that her birthday cake be an alien with three eyes. So my wife is going to attempt to make that cake today. I still have a review of Severed Ways to write and that should be out tomorrow. Here is what I hope to have out next week.

Reviews of...
Black Math Horseman-Wyllt
Crown the lost-Blind Faith Loyalty
Sigh-Imaginary Sonicscape
Nasty Idols-Boys Town

plus...
Clash of the albums covers
Top five albums of 1977

Within the ruins-Creature

Victory
2009

If I am holding my head in my hands then it means one of the following.

1)I am tired.
2)My kids have been rough today.
3)I just heard an album that managed to be tremendously bad on several levels and thus proved to be excruciating for me to make it through the entire disc.

If you guessed number three then you are indeed correct. If a band plays a style of heavy music then they should actually be heavy. Unfortunately Within the ruins didn't get that memo or else they chose to ignore it. This is metal core of the most generic variety. More metal than hardcore I guess, but that's irrelevant as they really do not bring out the best of either style. Every track starts with brief, moderately fast bursts that are the best few seconds of each song for whatever that is worth. Actually it's a good thing they had those parts or I may not have known when one song ended and another began. On almost every song they rather quickly settle into a dull glide, with thin squealing guitars and forgettable clicking drum beats leading the way.
Within the ruins managed to make an album without being heavy enough or engaging and they saved us from having to deal with any hooks or fire as well. Congratulations, it's a tough task, but this band did a full length album that manages to be almost a complete waste of time. I say almost because at least the songs did seem mercifully short so I thank them for that.

The Answer-Everyday Demons

The END
2009



This is probably one of the most aniticipated and hyped releases of the early part of 2009. Ireland's The Answer stir up some straight forward blues rock that brings to mind Zeppelin, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy and Cream. They are big on melodies and guitar driven rock along the lines of what arena bands were doing back in the 70's. There is undoubtedly a smoothness and a strong flow to their music. The Answer try to evoke the powerful feel and massive rock sound of their influences. Many people seem to be bowing down before this band like they are a second coming of well whatever classic rock gods you happen to hear. I just can't help but feel like I am looking at one of those puzzles where there are just a few differences between the two pictures and you try to pick them out. At first you are not sure what's different, but after a while you can spot it and then you know that something isn't quite right. That's how I felt after my first listen of this album. Initially everything seems in order, but upon further inspection there is something missing. Much of this feeling comes from the fact that The Answer are more polished than I wish they were. They prop themselves up as retro-classic rock act and I like the songs, but it's more imitation than anything else. I just can't help but feel that they are playing with some skill, but not a great deal of passion. That shows through and it makes a difference. This is a decent release for sure, nothing that special. Maybe it will come in time for this band, but the Answer are not there yet.

The Eruptors-Microwave Massacre

Fixing a Hole
2009

If you thought music had gotten too calm and dull then rejoice because the Eruptors have returned to pull from the pits of boredom. Okay, granted these guys were not and still are not pursuing anything that has not been explored in music, but in this case that doesn't matter.
What we have here is a "limited edition compilation of rarities, EP and album tracks". At least that's what it says on their Myspace page. It's a fast moving, heavy sucker chock full of churning riffs and healthy doses of fun and nonsense. This is a chaotic monster that reminds me of a mix of Motorhead, A.O.D, New Bomb Turks, early Angry Samoans and other crazy stuff. It didn't even matter that I had heard a few of these songs before because the tracks just ran me over and kept charging on. They don't hesitate very often as they very sure of where they are heading and they just go. With song titles like "Whoregazm" and "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" you know this isn't going to be rocket science. However if you want to hear about zombies, aliens and the like then you are in the right place for that and more. I only have one real complaint about this album. There are times when the Erupters bring some psycho surf guitars into play and quite honestly I wish they would do that more often because really know to handle it and work it in. All in all this is just more good times with a band who knows to deliver high octane, metal/punk/garage rock madness.

www.myspace.com/eruptors

The Rattlebones-Ready to bite

Suisa
2008



You can't always judge an album by the cover. However as I took this out of it's envelope I couldn't help but think that this one was going to be 80's style glam. That was my expert diagnosis based on the band name and cover art. Of course I was pretty much wrong. The opener "Sister Sinister" does have a dirty, sleaze sound reminiscent of Faster Pussycat only with a more modern twist. That's about it for the 80's glam sound. After the opener Switzerland's The Rattlebones pull us along on a trip back in time. We are treated to a large slab of mid-late 70's hard rock. Think Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and Ted Nugent for starters. Just smooth grooves and thick, juicy riffs similar to a time when music was more important than image. One of my favorites is "Broken Bottle" which comes towards the end of the album. The slow and controlled grooves had me thinking of Aerosmith around 1974. There is a slightly laid back feel to much of the material on this disc. That works for me because it gives me a chance to try and absorb all that the band is trying to accomplish. My only concern would be how they will get noticed when they rely so heavily on their influences. Coming into your own can always be tough for bands who wear their influences on their sleeves. However the most important thing is that the Rattlebones just simply rock. So hopefully everything else will just fall into place for them.

www.myspace.com/thefuckingrattlebones

Top five albums of 1978

1-Van Halen-s/t
2-Judas Priest-Hell bent for leather
3-AC/DC-Powerage
4-Rainbow-Long live rock and roll
5-Judas Priest-Stained Class

Van Halen's debut was quite likely the most important hard rock release of the second half of the 70's. Judas Priest began to chance and come into their own even more. Rainbow released their last good album. Overall a fine year.

***I'll have the list for 1977 up next week.

Clash of the album covers

Here you go...


The Rods -Wild Dogs

vs.


Rock Goddess-Anthology


***Which cover do you prefer?

What's coming up?

My son has been on a Speed Racer kick lately. That's fine by me though as I used to watch Speed Racer in re-runs when I was like 5 or 6 and I loved it. So now the Metalboy pushes himself around the house on his little Fisher Price car yelling "Go Speed Racer Go!" at the top of his lungs. Here is what I hope to have out this week.

Reviews of...
The Eruptors-Microwave Massacre
The Rattle Bones-Ready to bite
Within the ruins-Creature
The Answer-Everyday Demons
Severed Ways (a movie review)

Plus...
Clash of the album covers
and
the top five albums of 1978

***Have a great week!

Lesser of two evils

Putting bad albums to good use.

Sometimes they come back. Actually in the last decade or so many 80's bands have come back whether we wanted them to or not. Actually the bands in question today had some high points or a point back in the 1980's. Ratt were actually one of the more consistent hard rock bands of that decade. They were never truly great or groundbreaking, but every album from 1983-1990 was at least good or better. The band broke up in the early 90's after line-up changes, lack of albums sales and other factors finally took their toll on the band. King Kobra were a different story of sorts. They were founded by veteran drummer Carmine Appice (Cactus, Vanilla Fudge and many others) and originally featured guitarist Earl Slick. However some changes were made and the band did manage to land on a major label. They released a fine, but overlooked debut "Ready to strike" in 1985. Then followed it up the next year with "Thrill of a lifetime" which unfortunately saw the band heading in a more AOR direction. The band then fell on rough times as they got booted from their label and then several line-up changes ensued including basssist Johnny Rod going to WASP and other members left to form the Bullet Boys. The band came back with a very different line-up on the 1988 release King Kobra 3 which was a hit and miss affair at best. After that they decided to call it a day as band members went off to other projects.


Time passed, the stars lined up a certain way and these old geezers needed money so they came back. Ratt would return with three original members as they went to a single guitar approach and they brought in former Vince Neil bassist Robbie Crane to round out the line-up. King Kobra includes Appice, some limited playing by former member Mick Sweda and several new members plus some guests.

Here we go.

King Kobra-Hollywood Trash

vs.

Ratt-s/t

Vocalist

I actually had to skip this section and come back because I knew it would be tough. Kelly Keeling (Baton Rouge, Blue Murder) is up for King Kobra. He has always had a good voice as far he has range and can handle different styles, but he lacks distinction and the ability to really display emotion in his voice. He goes through the motions fine, but nothing stands out and he is only as good as the song he sings. Pearcy was known even in the 80's for not having the strongest voice in the world to say the least. If anything it's even a little thinner on this album. However, he has a distinct sound and that makes a difference. His voice is very much a part of who Ratt were. So a an off day for Pearcy is better than an on day for Keeling.

Point to Ratt

Guitarist

Warren DeMartini is up for Ratt taking on Kelly Keeling, Mick Sweda, Steve Fister and guest C.C. Deville. First up King Kobra deserve to be docked for bringing in Deville even though it's in a limited guest roll. I mean if you need his help then you really should not be making an album in the first place. Despite the fact that Sweda has been a competent guitarist in his other bands, most of the work for King Kobra is generic at best and underdone and dull at worst. They sound more like some run of the mill band noodling around in the basement or like the kind of poodle-haired bar band that probably existed back around 1989 in every little town. DeMartini was always Ratt's best player. He is none too spectacular this time around, but there are a few sharp hooks on occasion.

Point to Ratt


Rhythm section

For Ratt it's drummer Bobby Blotzer and bassist Robbie Crane going against Carmine Appice on drums and Kelly Keeling wearing his third hat as bass player. Bobby Blotzer has always been the definition of run of the mill as far as hard rock drummers go. What you can expect from a guy whose nickname is "the blotz"? He is however helped out by some decent production. Robbie Crane is probably just as good as former Ratt bassist Juan Crocier and I really can't hear that either guy made that much of a contribution. On the King Kobra side Kelly Keeling can be heard on occasion and not a bad tone from his bass either. Carmine Appice is no doubt an above average drummer. Yet on a few songs the drum sound is thin and clunky like he is playing down the hall from where the microphones were. Then for most of the album the sound is worked out and he does well enough. There are several parts he handles with ease that I am sure Blotzer could not play at all.

Point to King Kobra


Originality/production

The first thing I think about when I got to this column on originality was the fact that this is the second self-titled album for Ratt as their first EP was also self-titled. However that fact should not reflect on their music. Ratt could have picked up where they left off in the early 90's and it might have worked. Instead they tried to become more serious. They didn't have the writing ability for that to work. instead they lost the best aspect of Ratt which was that they were a fun band when they were on. This is just tedious. King Kobra is even worse though. This is bland, faceless hard rock with a few weak attempts to be slightly modern. The production for Ratt is okay, slightly light yet alright. The production on King Kobra varies like the songs were done at different times. Some are adequate and other times it's so thin that they sound more like rough demos.

Point to Ratt



Who rocks more?

Oh, it's time to take a deep breath and try to figure this out. This category is like figuring out the Rubik's cube. That is if the Rubik's cube involved piles of lame music that made me cringe when I heard it. Okay, maybe it's not that much like the Rubik's Cube except it is tough to figure out. Neither band really rocks, that's obvious. Both tried too hard to do something different than they did in their past and both failed. However Ratt stayed closer to their roots and they did have one really good song on this album which is one more than King Kobra had.

Point to Ratt




Despite putting out the worst album of their career Ratt still take this one 4-1. Reunion albums tend to fail more often than they succeed. Many bands seem to fall into the trap of "oh, we need to be hip to the current trends". So many times you get some old geezers trying to sound modern and they fall on their faces because it's not natural and it's probably not what long time fans want. In this case, despite struggling Ratt do sound a little like their old selves. However this isn't much about King Kobra that links this album to their previous releases. They could have called it "Carmine and the mustaches" or "Hasbeens and neverweres" or whatever and it meant as much as calling themselves King Kobra. Appice had the right to use the name, but it's really just the band in name only. To their credit the King Kobra disc does include two bonus tracks which are demos from the 80's and they are the best songs on the album, but I didn't feel it was fair to include bonus tracks in this contest since they were from a different time and with different band line-ups.


***Be back soon with another one of these.

Interview with Impaler

It's hard to believe that Impaler have been around for over 25 years. It seems like only yesterday that their albums were released and the band was getting some notice for their horror inspired metal. Indeed they are still going strong, recording and playing shows. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing vocalist Bill Lindsey.

MM-Hello, please introduce the members of you band and what instrument everyone plays.

BL-Hailz! I'm Bill Lindsey-vocals, Tom Croxton-drums, Commander Court Hawley-bass, Mike Torok-guitar, Kyle Skogquist-guitar, Dr. Corpse-backing vocals and mayhem

MM-What are you currently working on?

BL-We are doing pre-production on a concept disc called Cryptozoology. We hope to get it out by Halloween 2009. It is our first release to have a total concept behind it. Each song will be a bout a different creature of Cryptozoology. We even have a Bigfoot trilogy!!

MM-Your band has been around for over 25 years now. Tell us a little about how the band formed.

BL-I formed Impaler along with Mike and Court back in the spring of 1983. We were all into doing an all original metal band, which was unheard of around here at that time. We all had a vision of a theatrical presentation and a high energy stage performance.

MM-Who are your musical influences?

BL-Alice Cooper, early Kiss and Aerosmith, Plasmatics, Van Halen, Sabbath and Ozzy, Venom and Motorhead to name a few.

MM-Back in the mid-1980’s your albums “Rise of the Mutants” and “If We Had Brains ... We'd Be Dangerous” were pointed out Tipper Gore and the PMRC as being offensive. What do remember about this incident and what do you think about the PMRC’s reactions to your albums?

BL-I thought it was very exciting and kind of funny at the time. I thought it was great exposer for a young band on an independent label! We were lumped in with Motley Crue and Twisted Sister! It was great for us...we ended up on a lot of local T.V. and radio to defend our position.

MM-Was it free publicity? Do you know if your albums sold more due to getting mentioned by the PMRC?

BL-Exactly! Kids heard that Impaler is bad for you and they run out and buy it! I know Combat had to re-press it at least 5 times that I'm aware of....maybe even more.



MM-One of your albums I believe appeared briefly in a scene from the 1986 film “Trick or treat”. How did that come about?

BL-Yes, Rise Of The Mutants was used in a scene in the movie. I did not even know it was going to be used. At the time we were on the road in Texas and kids were coming up to us at the show and saying the album cover is in that new movie "Trick or Treat" I knew about the movie because I had read about Ozzy and Gene Simmons being in it. But Combat and Impaler were not on good terms by that time so they didn't bother to mention it to us!

MM-There were no releases from Impaler between 1989 and 1996. Did the band still exist during that period? If so then why no albums? If not then why did you break up and why did you reform?

BL-We put out Wake Up Screaming in 1990 and played our last show with that line up in January 1991. We had agreed to take a break from Impaler. Some of us had just bought homes and had babies. I had a side project in mind that I wanted to explore. We never called it a break up...more of a break.We got back together for a couple shows in 1993 and 1994 but no other members wanted to pursue Impaler other than me at that time so I reformed with some friends from various local bands in 1994/1995 to record a demo and then the cd Undead Things. Over the years Mike and Court have come back to the band.

MM-You must be huge horror movie fans. What are some of your favorites?

BL-Horror! YES!! That is hard because we love so many...horror movies were a great inspiration for Impaler lyricly and visually! I really love the old Universal classics like Frankenstein,Dracula,Wolfman etc...I also love 70's horror like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Exorcist. There are great movies from every era though.

MM-Including DVDs you guys have released more material this decade than in the 80’s and 90’s combined. Why is that?

BL-I guess we know more about what we are doing! HA! We got with a label called Root Of All Evil that really believed in Impaler. Earl Root(R.I.P. Earl passed in the spring 2008) was a big fan and supporter of Impaler and made sure we were getting our stuff out on a regular basis. Plus we got out on the road more and spread the word around a little better than in the late 80's/early 90's. When Earl started getting sick he couldn't keep up with label stuff. He needed to concentrate on his health. At that point we started working with MVD out of PA. They are cool people who have released a CD and DVD for Impaler. So we just keep rolling along, doing our thing.



MM-What are some of the more memorable shows that you have played?

BL-The trip to Europe this past summer was AMAZING! We played two big outdoor festivals in Germany(Hell's Pleasure and Headbanger Open Air) plus some club dates as well. We met so many cool people and the shows were awesome. In Europe they are all about the METAL! They treated us very well and we had a great time!

MM-What kind of props and set do you currently use in your stage show?

BL-We have so many things that we rotate stage shows depending on what venue we are playing. We have a butcher shop/abbatior set up, a freakshow stage and a graveyard stage...the graveyard is the biggest set we have..it's pretty elaborate.

MM-Are there any retired props that you no longer use live?

BL-Oh yeah, we had a cage I would break out of. We also had two big upright standing coffins that the guitar player and bass player would come out of at the begining of the show. Plus many retired severed heads...just to name a few.

MM-Have you had a prop not work or go wrong on stage?

BL-One time the cage wasn't put together properly and when I kicked the door open all four sides fell down!! It was pretty funny! We had a crazy roadie that use to over fill flash pots too! No casualties luckily!!!

MM-How do you keep yourself motivated to keep doing music and shows after having been in the game for so many years?

BL-All of us are music fans and we are still inspired everyday by Rock and Metal music new and old! It is still so much fun to play in this band with these guys. We have a BLAST and I think it shows! It's what makes our shows so over the top!



MM-Pick the band from each of the following pairs that you prefer and tell why you picked them.
BL-
Gwar or White Zombie-
White Zombie! I liked more of their songs...but GWAR is cool too.

Twisted Sister or WASP-
Early on both bands were great! We got to play with both bands over the past few years.

Alice Cooper or KISS-
Alice Cooper is the originator! Kiss would have been a lot different if it wasn't for Alice. Both bands had a big influence on Impaler but in my opinion Alice is the man!! Other guys in my band might say different.

MM-Do you have any regrets in your music career or is there anything that you wished you had done differently?

BL-Only one, in that I put too much faith in Combat Records. I thought they were looking out for us and that was not the case(only a couple guys there were really doing stuff for the band)...if I had known I would have bought ads for us and done more self promo...but I was only in my early 20's and I didn't really know what to expect at that time.

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

BL-I always want to say THANKS to the people who support us by buying our shit and coming out to the shows!Thanks to you for the interview and support!! Come see us live you won't be disappointed!! Hailz and Rock ON!!!!

Hunted-Alone

demo
2008

The Hunted hail from Cardiff, Wales and this demo includes one track recorded in 2007 and two that were done in 2008. With just three songs I think the most effective way of going about this is just to break it down song by song. "Impaled" is up first and it has about 10-12 second intro with a solid riff and then launches or rather stumbles into the bulk of the song. The sound at first is unfortunately clunky in both musical approach and production. Once the vocals kick in they settle down some, but never really get into a groove. The sound is somewhat like early progressive metal ala Queensryche and Crimson Glory plus a little like Virgin Steele. The vocals are strong, but the music just never solidifies enough to really help. Consider the first track a test run perhaps because "Shadows" is up next with a slow and smooth beginning. This song also reminds me of early Queensryche with maybe some shades of Maiden as well. The production is still thin, but the playing is far more organize. They actually manage to hit their hooks with greater ease this time around. The vocals of Chris G. fare even better on this track as well. "The silence of minds" is the oldest track here (2007), but it's my favorite of the three. This track demonstrates the bands strength of really building some momentum and going with it. Unfortunately I think that once again the production keeps the guitars from being as meaty as they could and should be. Still a good showing and a nice note to end on. The vocals are generally on and the musical ability was there for the majority of the time. I think they need to tighten up some, work on song structure and hopefully their next effort will have better production values. Still worth checking out.


www.myspace.com/huntedrock

Kommandant-Stormlegion

Planet Metal
2008

There are occasions where an album can start out promising, but then the potential can quickly fade if the band doesn’t do enough to expand on their sound. That’s about how I felt during the course of this album from Chicago’s Kommandant. The cover is of a simple design and the music is also of a similar simple design. It’s a serving of early thrash/death/black metal with all of the basic components, but not a whole lot more. I hear some early Kreator, Sodom, Venom and others as prime influences. Kommandant play fast, fairly heavy thrash without a great deal of variation. The vocals are raw and fit in just fine although there is no effort to push or attempt to do more than the basics. The production is slightly fuzzy and very similar to mid-80’s underground thrash releases. That approach very much complements the music. The first almost half of “Stormlegion” had me hanging in there. This is very much the type of music I was enjoying twenty plus years ago as a I wore out cassettes, yes cassettes from those early thrash bands. My problem with this release was that about halfway through I knew where this was going and they made no attempt to doing anything that their influences didn’t accomplish two decades ago. Their lack of creativity actually made the album feel long even though it clocks in at under forty minutes. Fans of old style thrash who just love any display of that style might be interested. However for those looking for more, I would say that Kommandant have just served up a rather routine album of re-hashed ideas.

Idols are dead-Mean

Scarlet/SPV
2008

I have heard a number of promising bands from Italy in recent months. Mostly glam bands though. Idols are dead hail from Italy play a style of metal that would likely be described as modern although with some definite classic metal influences. They are not too far removed from bands such as Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet for my valentine. There are heavy on including soaring melodies and they really do have a strong sense of how get the most of those melodies. There are definitely some classic metal influences here as well. I hear Metallica and Judas Priest for starters. They must be fans of Guns and Roses too because they knock out a cover of "It's so easy" although it's just a fair version at best. Idols are dead play a tight style and they give a good attempt at fusing heavy, blood pumping riffs with some pop sensibilities. The results are hit and miss though, but certainly more on the positive side. There is no doubt that they understand the importance of creating a powerful song structure. They know how to organize all their piece and mainly do a fine job of maintaining a strong flow through the entire song. Also they try to mix up styles some and that works in keep the interest level relatively high. The biggest shortcoming I hear is the same one I notice in a number of modern metal bands. That is the fact that they just can't let go and plunge forth with a full head of steam. Anything that is kind of heavy still seems like it's held in check by either slick production or a fear of disturbing the overall feel of the song. Whether it's apprehension or not, this choice not to go full throttle has me thinking they like playing heavy metal band more than they want to be a real metal band. That may sound harsh, but that's how it makes me feel. Still there is a lot here to enjoy and they are on the right track. If they just keep pushing forward and let loose a little more often then they may really be a band to watch for in the future.

www.idolsaredead.com

Wino-Punctuated Equilibrium

Southern Lord
2009

Guitarist/vocalist Scott "Wino" Weinrich has spent nearly thirty years almost establishing himself as one of the leaders in doom/psychedelic/stoner type music. His work with Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Spirit Caravan and Hidden Hand has helped to him to build quite an impressive resume. He always seemed to be a very busy person as he continually has at least one project going on at any given time. This time around he recruited Clutch drummer Jean Paul Gaster and Rezin’s Jon Blank on bass to round out the line-up. The music here goes back in time a bit more than some of Wino's more recent projects. This blues based metal with strong grooves and heavy doses of doom tossed in. If you think Saint Vitus, Pentagram and Deep Purple then you have a pretty good idea of where he is coming from. The riffs are often thick and deep although the pace ranges from drizzles of sludge to brisk yet heavy bursts. The rhythm section is tight as they provide a fine backbone for the music. The riffs are huge on numerous occasions and swift and to the point when needed as well. There are some instrumentals on here that really allow the band to spread their wings and really stick some meaty chunks of music into the mix. For those who are familiar with Wino's other bands then this album isn't going to be all that surprising. Yet it should satisfy his fans with all that it delivers.

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.

KISS-Alive!


vs.

Scorpions-Tokyo Tapes


**Which cover do you prefer?