Heavy Metal Christmas albums

I wrote a very short post on metal Christmas songs a few years ago, but it gets a lot of hits around this time of year. Here it is if you have never read it before.

http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2006/12/metal-christmas-songs.html

Doing a Christmas song on an album is one things, but doing a whole album devoted to the holiday is another thing entirely in my opinion. While I don't a problem with doing one Christmas song on an album, I do tend to frown on a whole album on the theme. Not for dislike of the topic, but partially because most of these type of albums fall flat and because I think in some cases the artists' time could be better spent working on some original material.

Now there are different types of metal Christmas album which normally end with different results and most of them are bad.




Trans-Siberian Orchestra are probably the first name that pops if you are forced to think of metal Christmas music. Obviously the most popular of this kind if only because they are only ones who have done the most releases of this type of music. The holiday season rolls around and this project pops out another album and it shows up at Wal-mart, indie record stores and everyone in between. Now I think they are often seen as being a serious act. To me the results are mixed. Okay, they can play and some of the music works, but about half of it is often dry and pretentious. To me the big question on this act is did this need to be done? I really don't think the metal or music community would have lost anything had this project not existed. That's not a slam, but just a rather obvious observation.

Aside from TSO the other sort of popular approach for Holiday music is veteran hard rock bands either as a whole or in one time projects covering traditional Christmas songs. Twisted Sister had a surprise hit doing this a few years ago with what was essentially a joke album, but it fit with in their personality. Unfortunately other acts like Helix tried to do a whole album of holiday favorites with far less enjoyable results.



Then you get the compilation albums that might have a band doing one song or maybe a group pulled together to do just one song for this album. These tend be like the tribute albums that have been so common over the last fifteen or so years. Meaning that they are normally mixed bags with a few good songs, a few horrible ones and a number that fall somewhere in between.



Who do these albums appeal to? Are there really that many hard rock/metal fans that just get that holiday cheer feeling and they want to Jingle Bells done by their favorite hair band? Possibly, but more than likely it's people who like certain acts to the point where they will listen to them sing anything. That last idea is sad to imagine, but I guess that happens.

***Feel free to ad your thoughts on hard rock/metal Christmas music.

Witchmaster-Trucizna

Ibex Moon
2009

This is the fifth full-length from Poland’s Witchmaster. They play largely war themed old style death metal. That's nothing new as a number of other bands subscribe to that same approach. To be honest the playing is raw at best and even sloppy at times. Still they manage to tap in to the essence of early death/thrash/black/noise metal ala early Venom and Hellhammmer. They make those fuzz wrapped riffs the center of their songs and the rest seems to fall in place. This band pushes primitive blasts forward and compliments them with soared throat vocals and heavy rhythms. Perhaps Witchmaster do mix up the pace fairly often. That helps to keep everything interesting and it helps to set them ahead of other acts I have heard who try to take a page straight out this style of 1980's early extreme metal. They break no real ground and they don't even get much past say 1986 for their influences yet I immediately liked this album on the first play. I thought I would find more holes on repeated plays due to the lack of originality of the material, but no I actually enjoyed it even more. They have taken the essences of their early bands, but added more change-ups and their songs have a catchiness that is almost automatic.
A surprisingly good effort.

D.O.A.-Kings of punk, hockey and beer

Sudden Death
2009

Canadian punk rock legends D.O.A have already released a studio album and a DVD in the last year and a half, but now the also throw out this kind of theme oriented compilation. It's made up of previously released tracks from Win the battle, Loggerheads, Northern Avenger and even one from Joey Keithley's solo album Band of rebels. That makes up about 3/4 of the album and also there are two previously unreleased songs and a pair of new ones recorded this year. So as the title implies we do get some drinking related songs like Beer liberation army and Cocktail from hell. Of course they throw out even more songs about their favorite sport as we get a version of Tom Connors' Hockey song and DOA's 2008 song the blazing Donnybrook. I guess a lot of the rest falls under just the punk rock heading of the title. I have thought of DOA's songs about being more about anarchy and anti-establishment than being about their favorite past times. Then against the bulk of the songs here are from more recent albums so I guess their interests and topics of focus have changed a little over the years. No matter what they talk about in their songs I think that this legendary band has always done what they wanted to do and that means a great deal. They always manage to get themselves fired up and just go at it. That approach has been a large part about what appeals to me about them. I am not sure if there was a great need for this collection, but they did toss in some tracks we have never heard before. Perhaps more than anything I enjoyed this disc even though I had heard the majority of it before. It doesn't represent necessarily the best of DOA, but the songs do represent the spirit of why DOA have been able to keep going for so long.

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.


Angus-Warrior of the world

vs.


Ross the boss-New metal leader

**Which cover do you prefer?

What's coming up?

Thanksgiving was a good day overall. My mother had a spell recently, but she is doing much better. So we had fun, enjoyed some great food and the Broncos finally won again.

I survived Black Friday yesterday and got what I set out grab which was some cheap DVDs, a $5 Barbie doll and big pack of Hot Wheels cars. I didn't even lose any fingers or limbs in the process. This was the first time I ever ventured out shopping for this event. It was even crazier that I had expected. Some people are sane enough, but others just act like they are out of their heads.

I am beginning to sort out my top 25 albums of 2009. I will have that list out in a few weeks.
Here is what I hope to have out this week

Reviews of...
Strike Twice-s/t
Witchmaster-Trucizna
DOA-Kings of punk, hockey and beer

Clash of the album covers or two

and maybe one other topic if I can get to it.

**Have a great week

Slik Helvetica-Hafnium

Screamin' Mimi
2009

Pennsylvania trio Slik Helvetica return with their third release. I remember thinking their self-titled debut was a decent but slightly unoriginal classic style metal. Their 2007 EP "KK 5" impressed me much more with a heavier go for the throat approach that even included some early thrash sounds tossed in. So my expectations was that their new release "Hafnium" would pick up where the EP left off. Unfortunately like their previous release this is something of a mixed bag in both influences and results. There are some tracks that fall in around the level of early 80's Accept and Judas Priest, but then others have more of the glam sound close to the likes of Motley Crue. Those are the better tracks and most of those comprise the first half of the album. The rest of the album varies between songs with definite 90's influences and some others that just kind of sit there. There are several songs on here that are some of the best that this band has done. However there are just as mnay that don't really seem fit or serve much purpose other than taking up space. The other two albums although slightly different from each other had much more of a choesive feel than Hafnium does. This album feels more like a collection of loose odds and ends taken from different times and projects rather than being all from the same artist. That might be alright I liked all the songs which I don't. After "KK5" I really felt this band was making progress, but despite several good songs they now sound kind of lost. Maybe next time.

Slayer-World Painted Blood

American

2009


So what was the top album by a veteren act that I was looking forward to most in 2009? Heaven and Hell? If I was then I was let down by the end product. Megadeth? Actually I still have not gotten around to hearing that one yet. KISS? Oh, please. Slayer's new one was definitely one of my most anticpated releases of this year. Aside than 1990's rather dull "Seasons in the abyss" Slayer have a rather impressive run of solid albums. Although I think all of the more recent releases have been good rather great and to find their last truly spectacular album you would have to go all the way back to "South of Heaven" in 1988. By this point we know what to expect from Slayer which is largely straight ahead pounding at your skull. True to form, "World painted blood" provides much in the way of straight shooting thrash. In fact they spend a great deal of time concentration on a slightly stripped down approach that has sounding more chaotic than they have in some time. The guitars are unrelenting, the rhythm section is thick and chunky with Lombardo's drums constantly coming across like three guys playing as one. Now I did think that Tom Araya's voice has a little edge over the years as there is a certain dry quality in his growl that hasn't been there. That's just age though because all things considered he still sounds great. The main aspect of this album that struck me as different is that the band attacks first and slows down, but still they driving yet they bring just a few melodies here and there. Now to you diehard, old school Slayer fans don't faint over this because it works. It's down in a subtle manner and it's slight in the whole scheme of things, but these parts add a depth that's been missing from the past few albums. If those parts were not there then "World painted blood" would sound a lot more like just a combination of past ideas. Instead it's sounds like classic Slayer taken to a different level. Not a level that is far from where they have been for years, but they are definitely building and moving forward. That's what sets Slayer apart from many other long running thrash bands the fact that they don't just chew up what they putting out years ago, but instead they find tiny ways to keep the machine going without upsetting the great work they have already created. I am sure this is a great album, but it definitely comes to that level than any other effort they have done in some time. So turn it up and prepare to have your blood boil and your head ripped off.

Steel Assassin-In hellfire forged

2009


In recnet years there is always been at least one release of real solid no-frills kind of classic metal. Here we are closing in on the end of 2009 and there hadn't been an album of that style that really stuck with me so far this year. That was until very recently when this release from Steel Assassin came out. I can't exactly call it an all new release as most of it is made up of re-recorded version of demo tracks that were originally done in 1984 and 1985. However it's new to me and probably new to a number of other listeners. Even though much of it was written 24-25 years ago it still comes across as being fresh today. The only new entry is the final track "Breakout At St. Lo" that the band says is a preview of the upcoming album entitled "Metal of Honor." The influences are scattered and include Armored Saint, Iron Maiden, Jag Panzer, early Helstar and Judas Priest. Steel Assassin's sound is founded on a killer duel guitar attack that is based on heavy rhythms and stellar harmonies. The vocals are forceful and cutting. The rhythm section bashes away leading the drive. Every song is easy to like even the first time around. Then they just get even more enjoyable with each additional play. These guys play the kind of fist pumping metal that gets the blood flowing. Their reason for re-recording the songs is likely so they could showcase the vocals of their current singer and sharpen up these oldies, but goodies. Mission accomplished on that last point for sure. This album shows that this band has the chops to still get it done and it wets my appetitie for the next chapter in Steel Assassin's career which will hopefully be released soon.

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.


Omen-Battle Cry

vs.


Savatage-Hall of the mountain king

***Which cover do you prefer?

Big Turkey Award

The Big Turkey Award for 2009 goes to Lita Ford. It's not like Lita Ford's "prime" was that special to begin with. However I did have some admiration for her due to the decision to be happy with being a parent and choosing not to try some comeback like every other act who was around in the 80's-early 90's. When I first heard she was going to play at Rocklahoma in 2009 I figured a comeback album was inevitable. I didn't have expectations of it being worthwhile, but she and her husband former Nitro vocalist Jim Gillette managed to put out a recording that's far worse than anything I ever could have dreamed of. The music is light industrial ramblings, but it's all generic at best. The vocals have effects piled on top of them and lack any personality whatsoever. Add to that the lyrics try to be kinky and come across as awkward and unpleasant. So this was an easy decision indeed.

Here is a list of the past Big Turkey award recipients in case you were wondering.
2006-Axl Rose
2007-Rocklahoma
2008-Judas Priest

What's coming up?

I will be busy with class stuff until Saturday night so probably nothing new until Sunday. However here is what I hope to have out next week.

Reviews...
Slayer-World Painted Blood
Steel Assassin-In hellfire forged
Pelican-What we all come to need


The forth annual Heavy Metal Time Machine Big Turkey Award will also be given out this week.

Plus...
Clash of the album covers

Felony-Helltown Hotel

Eonian
2009

I admit that I never heard of Felony before a few months ago, but there are couple pages in the booklet of this collection that tells their tale. They formed back in 1989 in Indianapolis and knocked an EP a year later. Some problems arose and the band changed members and got back to recording a few years later. The songs from the EP open this disc and they are very much influenced by Theater of Pain era Motley Crue. There is a slight groove to some of the songs, but quite honestly you have probably a dozen bands that sound like this. Still it's above average as they try hard to make it work. The other ten tracks were recorded in 1993 and 1994. For these songs there is a definite shift away from the old hair metal as they attempt to put more of a raw sound to their songs. Quite honestly it's hit and miss with some songs benefiting from the heaviness while others have the band sounding awkward. Felony benefit from not being too watered down and the rhythm section isn't bad, but it's easy to say why they never got very far. This is very typical run of the mill hard rock for the time and they may have been a year or two behind with what they were trying to create on these songs. Just an okay band, but Eonian records does another fine job of putting out a rarity and the packaging helps.

Age of evil-Get Dead

Self-produced
2009

Age of evil offer up an EP consisting of two originals, two covers and two live tracks. The two originals "Cruel intentions" and the title track are both reminiscent of mid-80's classic style metal early speed metal. "Cruel Intentions" has a solid chugging riff going, but the chorus drags it down some. Still a good slab of 80's inspired metal although they do follow somewhat along of the lines of more modern acts like Avenged Sevenfold. The title track is even better with a grittier riff surging along and and raw vocals complementing the sound. Now when I first saw that they were covering Skidrow's "Slave to the grind" and Judas Priest's"The Hellion/Electric Eye" I thought they might be in over their heads. They prove me wrong as they have a fine handle on the Skid Row cover and even toss in their own ideas to boot. The Priest cover has AOE going at it with with a tight-fisted, chunky sound that compliments the original. Finishing out the album are live versions "Eye For An Eye" and "Glimpse Of Light". Both are simple, but have a strong spirit behind them. Sometimes EPs and particularly ones with cover songs come across as not having enough substance to them. However I think AOE manage to give a good showing of their potential with just these six songs.

Halford-Winter Songs

Metal God
2009

If there is one holiday that would seem to lend itself to metal it would be Halloween due to monsters, darkness and such as those topics often end up in metal songs. One holiday that doesn't seem to lend itself to metal is Christmas. Perhaps that was until TSO found a market in mixing metal with Christmas music. Although I would their output was mixed at best as far as quality goes. Then a few years ago Twisted Sister made a go at what was essentially a joke heavy metal Christmas album, but again it found an audience. So in the last couple of years there have been even more metal and hard rock bands attempting to cash in on a holiday that is already over-commercialized to begin with. So now Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford revives the Halford band name and attempts to crank out some holiday tinged tunes. The opener "Get into the spirit" had me thinking this might work out. Granted it sounds just like most other Halford tunes only with slightly holiday tinged lyrics. The next songs are traditional Christmas fare with "We Three Kings" and "Oh Come O Come Emanuel". I guess I would rather hear Halford sing these than any other metal singer, but really they are just alright versions. Next up is "Winter Song" which was originally done by Sara Bareilles. It's surprisingly spectacular with lush piano and acoustic guitars backing up Halford who hasn't this powerful in several years. "What Child Is This?’ is on next and it's above average and the band cuts loose a little more. The two tracks are "Christmas For Everyone" and "I Don’t Care" should be lumped together because are more pop oriented and neither works. Although "I don't care" is just weak, but "Christmas for everyone" is downright painful to tolerate. Fortunately "Light of the world" comes on helps my mood greatly towards this album. Another ballad and Halford's voice fits it perfectly. He seems to just glide through many of the other tracks, but when he cares enough he can still deliver as evidenced here. The album wraps up with two traditional Christmas songs "Oh Holy Night" and "Come All Ye Faithful". The first is just rather flat and I felt myself waiting for it to end. "Come all ye faithful" turns out a little better as Rob manages to elevate it with some solid vocals. All in all it's a mixed bag. To put it into a holiday perspective it's better than getting underwear and socks under the tree, but not nearly good as getting a race track or a football. There are some good tracks, some bad ones and a number of average tracks. I do kind of wish Halford had revived this band with an album full of originals more suited to the albums they did earlier this decade. Instead he decided to slap the name on a novelty album.

Five things in metal that I am thankful for

I think this is the third or forth year I have done this. Five things in metal that I am thankful for this year in no real order.

Metal Mind Records-Okay, these guys have made my list every year and with great re-issues of albums from Satan, Maltese Falcon, Acid Drinkers, Turbo and more they easily make the list again.

UFO-Their label was going under, Pete Way was having health problems and this veteran band probably had other things going against them too. They still put out a fine album in "The Visitor". Always good to see a veteran band dig down like that.

Admiral Browning-I never would have thought a band from not far from my area would put out one of the best albums of 2009. This instrumental doom/stoner act have done just that.

Slayer-I still need to tie my ideas together and get a review out of World Painted Blood. Still I know it's good. While Slayer have never strayed far from the sound they set up in the 80's they have at least have been very consistent. Metallica went way off, Megadeth strayed for years and Anthrax disappeared and were not very relevant when they did reappear, but Slayer have remained as a solid, long running force and influence in metal.

Iron Maiden, Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen and everyone involved with making Flight 666-We all know how great Maiden are, but this movie shows what this band means to fans across the globe. It shows the band as the fine musicians they are, but it also shows the work and effort that went in to making a tour of this magnitude work. Of course the live clips and interviews with the fans are fantastic. A great film all the way around.

So there you go. I still have a big turkey award for 2009 to give out at some point. As it stands right now the nominees are Rocklahoma 2009, Lita Ford and Wal-mart exclusives (sorry, didn't hear the newest Queensryche or else I am sure they would make this list).

Thin Lizzy-Are you ready?

Eagle Rock
2009

This concert was filmed in Lorely, Germany in 1981 for the German TV series Rockpalast. The set includes a whopping nineteen tracks and runs just a little under two hours. From the moment they take the stage cranking out "Are you ready?" you can tell they are in control. The set is actually very spread out with songs from a number of different albums. They only performed one tack from from Renegade which is kind of surprising as it was the album they were touring to support at the time. I was a little surprised that "Cowboy Song" and "The boys are back in town" are played towards the middle. However it all works out and "Emerald" may have been a slightly surprising choice for the closing track, but it's brilliantly played. Nonetheless Thin Lizzy are steady as they churn out song after song. One of my favorite things about this band was just how most of their songs just so familiar after absorbing just a few notes. I have always found their music to be comfortable in a way and that's great feeling to just be able to automatically take to so many songs. Phil Lynott seems cheerful and partakes in occasional banter between songs. Scott Gorham and Snowy White tow the line and work off of each other. Drummer Brian Downey has his arms flailing as he brings out non-stop beats. Due to the fact that it was recorded for TV almost thirty years ago the picture quality is slightly fuzzy and has some lines, but it's still decent enough. The sound quality is very sharp and consistent. A fine presentation that quickly reminded me why I liked this band so much.

What's coming up?

Hope to have reviews of ...
Thin Lizzy-Are you ready? DVD
Slayer-World painted blood
and maybe one other out this week

I have a lot of homework this week so that may be the most I get to. I am also going to start working on narrowing down albums from this year so I can prepare top 25 albums of 2009 list and have that up in about five weeks.

Take care!

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.


Seputura-Chaos A.D.

VS.


Testament-Low

Which cover do you choose?

Sgt Roxx-Weapon of Miss Distraction

Eonian
2009

Sometimes eBay can be a place for people with more money than sense. So on result from that mentality is that some people pay hundreds of dollars for rare hair metal CDs. One such disc has been Push n' Squeeze an EP from Chicago's Sgt Roxx. It has been fetching high dollars even earlier this year. Well, Eonian records has paid it easier on the wallets of people who want to Sgt. Roxx, but did't want to shell a few hundred books for a CD. This disc includes a remixed version of the songs from Push n' Squeeze plus another 14 songs. All the tracks were done between 1990 and 1994. Despite the quantity of songs, the real question still remains is it any good? Believe it or not the answer is mainly yes. Now these guys were a lost gem, because there are very of those. However I think it's reasonable to say that Sgt. Roxx were better than many of the bands that were getting signed to major labels around 1990. They remind me a lot of Ratt only with less raspy vocals and a stronger rhythm section. They certainly are not going to overwhelm anyone with grooves or power, but they play a tight catchy style of glam that is highly influenced by 80's Sunset Strip bands. If I had heard them back in 1990 I would have been into them for sure. This disc also includes a band biography and photos in the booklet. A fine job by Eonian records in putting this together.

Wizardry-s/t

Self-produced
2009

From the band name, moniker and cover art my first thought about Brooklyn's Wizardry was that they would be a doom band. The opening instrumental "Nigh Invincible" supported that idea as it's a long winding passage along the medium slow pace. It's just quirky enough to be interesting. After this the style changes and the pace picks up with "Drink from the chalice" There is much more of a NWOBHM with an early Iron Maiden sound to the guitars. After this they wander around with style with various influences including some more early Maiden, Mercyful Fate, early Queensryche and even Pentagram. Although they rarely blend influences as one song will sound like one band and the next like someone else. Their sound and even the production makes this album seem like it could have been between 1983 and 1985. That's not to say it's dated because they are active enough to keep the music appealing. There are a couple of songs that limp along with not quite enough direction. All of the songs have a magic/witchcraft themese which didn't bother me, but it may not appeal to everyone. As a whole this album's slightly stripped down sound and classic metal sound hit with me. It took a couple of plays for me to really get into it, but it did click. They take time building up a precense in their songs, but it's an approach that Wizardry are skilled. This one will likely be in my stereo for a while and I will probably continue to find more reasons for enjoying it.



www.myspace.com/wizardrylives

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.


Possessed-Seven Churches

vs.

Venom-Possessed

***Which cover do you prefer?

Update

Hello,
I have been busy with school work and regular work. Then the images on my blog went down last week because the person that designed it for me hasn't used her account in months. So I switched it over to a plain design. I don't know if I will be writing much soon, but there are some CDs I would like to review. I have been listening to the new Slayer a lot and should review that. I also still have to do the new Rammstein. Got a package from hard rock re-issue label Eonian last week with some goodies including Sgt. Roxx so I may review some of those as well. I also got one from a band called Wizardry who I am still trying to figure out. So if I can get some time I may review a few of these, but the reviews will be few and far between until the end of the semester. I will likely try to do five things in metal I am thankful for and the big turkey of 2009 award in a week or so. May get to a Clash of the album covers this week maybe even tonight as time allows.
Thanks,
Mark

Clash of the album covers

Here are two new covers to choose from.


KISS-Sonic Boom

vs.


WASP-Babylon

***Which cover do you prefer?

Greensleeves-The elephant truth

Self-produced
2009


Brazil's Greensleeves were founded in 1993 and they have persevered and evolved on their way to creating this disc. Now they are liked to be lumped under the progressive or progressive- metal label and that might be the most appropriate category if I were forced to choose one. However they bring more to this album as there is classic metal, melodic metal, melodic rock and even thrash. What's more is the fact they are quite competent at all of the above forms. To top it all off they can slap these styles together that may seem like pieces of a puzzle that don't fit, but they manage to make the parts fit. The results is 70 minutes of very honest and intriguing metal that busts ahead and takes your attention along with it. Not every part is going to be accessible to everyone, but there is a lot to enjoy. The album has a concept to it based on a poem by John Godfrey Saxe. The lyrics follow the life of a man in a coma and put in parts from the poem. The idea adds to the slightly offbeat approach of the album. If there is a complaint it's that although they mix up the pace and styles they don't always change the tones as much as I was expecting. Still there is certainly more than enough here to please fans of this genre.

Blaze Bayley-The night that will not die

Blaze Bayley recordings
2009

I reviewed the CD version of this a few months ago and quite honestly I was blown away by that. The DVD was filmed on December 13, 2008 at Z7 in Pratteln, Switzerland. I never thought Blaze was a great fit in Iron Maiden, but that was as much the band as his was him. However it's very clear that he has written better material after Maiden than he did with them. He also found his own niche and recruited an absolutely fantastic band. This set consists mainly of Blaze's solo material although there are a few tunes from his brief stint in Maiden tossed as well. The venue looks packed and the fans are completely into what is going on here and no wonder because the band comes on like a storm and never lets up. The between songs banter is kept to a minimum with Bayley normally just saying the song title and then they rip into the next song. The exception being before the final song when he talks about fans needing to know how to use their own camera before taking a picture and stating that he will be in the back signing autographs and then off to the bar for drinks with anyone that wanted to go with him. The band is relentless and extremely tight as they just weave and pound their way through every song. I obviously missed out by not keeping up with all the solo albums from Blaze because the material is very heavy and catchy. Bayley himself sounds great and it is remarkable to think that this was recording no long after his wife's death. However he kept marching on doing what he started which his credit. The sound and visual quality are rich and exactly what they should be. This live DVD and the recently released CD have certainly made a believer out of me and I am looking forward to Blaze's next outing.