Shining-Black Jazz

Indie
2009



Shining's "Black Jazz" isn't particularly black in the sense of being dark because it's largely upbeat and it's not exactly jazz in any traditional sense. What we have here is layers of frenzied sounds covered with synths and over-the-top electronics. It's loud without being heavy and they don't really to build and depth. Instead the sounds just push and fly forward, but not in any particular pattern. While multi-layered noise can be good, I think it needs a focus or something that will draw me in. I can certainly embrace off the wall music if there is some hook or a point that really grabs. This is more like video game music gone wild as it's all over the place. I wasn't expecting an easy listen, but I was hoping for some moments where this band would extabish something that would make me want to hear more. That just didn't happen enough. Instead they just ramble on without a real plan and the songs tend to stop rather than come to any fitting end. I admire their desire to bring numerous sounds and tones to the table, but their sense of order or lack of order just failed to make me care about this album.

Thinking about Ratt

I was thinking about Ratt over the last day or two partly due to the new album coming out at some point and partly due to that post I wrote yesterday. My history with Ratt like many people starts in 1984 with "Out of the cellar". I immediately took to it and it is certainly the band's best album and still holds up pretty well today. I heard their 1983 self-titled EP the same year and that one also holds up too for what it is. Along with the likes of Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister and a few others they were one of the first "current" bands I got into. "Invasion of your privacy" followed with much more hype in 1985 and I bought it right away, but it's still an album that's just decent to me. I tend to play it maybe once a year in hope that it will click, but it's overall decent. I think my interest in Ratt began dropping after this in large part due to moving on to heavier bands like Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Exciter and others. I did hear "Dancing undercover" right around when it came out even though I did not buy it right away. It struck me as having a stronger groove to it than did Invasion so it was one of the few hard rock releases I was spinning in between a strong diet of thrash that I was consuming in the fall/winter of 1986. Time passed and I don't even think I knew about "Reach for the sky" coming out in 1988 until several months after it's release. Again I was deeper into the heavy stuff like thrash, early death metal, hardcore, crossover and whatever other noise was coming down the pike at the moment. I did hear it and thought it was on the level of Invasion with a few stand-outs and few alright songs. By 1990 I was turning back towards some more hard rock and "Detonator" just hit me at the right time because I played the crap out it for months. Looking back it doesn't stand out as well now in fact it's certainly dated even more so than some of the other discs. After that things faded fast for the band. They released a best of and then broke up. I got married and moved back to Maryland in 1999 so with all that going I wasn't listening to a lot of music at the time let alone a band I hadn't been into for almost a decade, but Ratt released their reunion of sorts in the form of another self-titled disc. Consistancy had certainly been their greatest attribute during their first run, but they could not carry that into this album because it's falls flat with a miserable thud. There is maybe one good song, two or three average ones and a bunch of clutter. It's barely worth the buck I paid for it from the bargain bin.
Since that point they have been a mainstay of touring during the summer and releasing nothing. Until now as the new disc is coming soon. So my expectations? Well, they have been touring regularly and Pearcy and DeMartini are in it so that helps plus they were once a very steady band. That's the positives. The downside includes the fact that the last album stunk like a truck full of rotten eggs on a hot day and Stephen Pearcy's voice has always been a question mark although that could compensated for in the production room. I am slightly interested in it, but not enough to pay money for it new and I may be a bit jaded, but I would be surprised if it is better than average.

What's coming up?

I found season one of Charles in Charge at Big Lots for $8 last night. To answer your questions yes, I shop at Big Lots frequently and yes I am likely one of the few people who liked Charles in Charge. However, the topic here starts with Charles in charge. There was an episode where the sci-fi/video game loving geeky kid Douglas was wearing a white Ratt shirt, the one with the Ratt with the wires in it's head on the front and "Ratt 'n roll" on the back. This show was from 1984 and the shirt was from that year too. I am always looking for metal and hard rock shirts in movies and TV shows. It's always good to spot one too. Do you have any favorites that you have spotted in any shows or movies?

Here is what I hope to have out this week.
Reviews of...

A hero a fake-Let oceans lie
Shining-Black Jazz
Tekhton-Alluvial

Clash of the album covers

Lesser of two evils-Poison vs. Warrant

***Have a great week.

Forcentury-Vanguard

Self-produced
2009



The world of power metal always seems full of bands that sound very much like. To these ears it is often difficult for an act to distinguish themselves in this field because so many bands just settle in to a formula and fail to push beyond that level. The result is that frequently I hear a band of this style and if they are good it's hard to remember them later on because so many acts do the same thing that has been done. That being said, Denmark's Forcentury go that extra mile on their debut to get noticed in a crowded field. Now usually I get nervous when I see a metal band with six members because that frequently means that a full time keyboard player is in the line-up. However in this case it's a plus because the keyboards are used in moderation and actually add some texture to the band's approach. They use a twin guitar attack to their advantage as they toss in hints of classic Maiden and Helloween into their layered and frenzied assault. As a whole Forcentury favor smooth melodies and classic style metal riffing over pomp and flourished, but they do include all of the above at different moments of "Vanguard". They rely on the basic power metal formula a little more than perhaps they needed to, but it rarely lasts for long as they frequently change gears and easily manage to incorporate enough different sounds to really make this a spectacular album. Definitely worth checking out.

www.myspace.com/forcentury

Magic eraser

I believe I did this topic years ago, but I don't recall my answer. Anyways the scenario is you have a magic eraser and you can erase one hard rock or metal album by any one band. Now it won't effect the future it just eliminates that one album and the rest of history plays out like normal.
I would without a doubt pick Cold Lake by Celtic Frost. It would eliminate the one black mark on and an otherwise good career.


***What would you pick?

Edge of forever-Another Paradise

7Hard
2010

Italy's Edge of forever return stronger than ever with their third release "Another Paradise" which is also their first album in over five years. Keyboardist Alessandro Del Vecchio has now stepped up to the microphone and replaced Bob Harris although Harris does contribute some backing vocals on this album. So the band is now officially a four piece, but that does not cut down on the power of the band. They still present a forceful brand of melodic hard rock. The vocals are truly the focus as most songs cut in quickly and Del Vecchio procedes to lead the way through twisting melodies. His voice is versatile and steady as he helps lay down the foundation for these songs. The majority of the material has me thinking of the likes of Journey, Whitesnake, Dokken, Alias and other AOR/melodic hard rock leaders from twenty or so years ago. Many of the songs are primarily slow, but the band does enough to swith up the pace with some heavier passages and soaring keyboards. In fact the album was going along great until their cover of Irene Cara's "What a Feeling" from dance movie Flashdance. I think was ill-advised choice as even a good band like Edge of forever could not hope to transform that limp piece of pulp into anything respectable. After that I felt like they lost some momentum, but they convinced me enough as they got back on track and finished the album well. This band has a lot of talent and it's not just playing because they are always fantastic at arrangements as well. Bad cover song aside, this is the first really good album I have hard this year.

Battle of the bands

It's a battle of east vs. west today.

Overkill

vs.

Testament

Overkill emerged from the New York/New Jersey area in the early 80's and slowly built a following. They released an EP and an album on Megaforce before signing to a major. Their popularity increased hitting a peak around the late 80's very early 90's. They are still going on releasing an album every other year and touring regularly.
Testament started as Legacy in the Bay area scene. They rose through the ranks and changed names and singers. They were signed to a major label for their debut and climbed in popularity peaking around 1990. They pushed on through the rest of the 90's with line-up and style changes. The last decade has seen them come and go and come again with a few albums and some major supporting slots on tours.

***Which band do you prefer?

Clash of the album covers

The choices are...




Morbid Angel-Blessed are the sick


vs.



Slayer-Reign in blood



***Which cover do you prefer?

Orchid-Through the devil's doorway

the Church Within
2009



San Francisco's Orchid have released a debut that was easy for me to identify what was going on, but it was far tougher for me to gather my thoughts together about it. It took about five seconds of "Into the sun" for me to realize that this band obviously bow before the altar of Black Sabbath and embrace that sound and channel it into the four tracks here. To pin it down further I would say these songs are most like Volume. 4 due to the heaviness level. Beyond just the direct influence to the creators of doom Orchid also aim to achieve an authentic 1970's sound. In addition to Sabbath they have obviously enjoyed a diet that included the likes of Deep Purple, Blue Cheer, Cream and others. It's no doubt that these guys loved that sound from 35-40 years ago so much that they have made it their focus with fuzzed out riffs crackling through at a pace similar to a snail pulling a brick. The foundation of their focus is simple and you heard the style before, but there is something so genuine above their approach that it's to buy into what they cranking out. "Son of Misery" was probably the track I enjoyed most of the four and it's the one where they spread their wings a little. They tried to expand the sound as they really concentrated on getting beyond just a simple riff. Orchid's disc isn't going to break a lot of barriers nor are they trying to. It's really just early sounding metal with splashes of classic rock binding the whole thing together. This was familiar in style, but easy to enjoy.

Titan-Steps

Self-produced

2009

The picture of Sweden's Titan shows them with plenty of hair gel, puffy clothes and sunglasses that were all popular back in the mid-1980's. So I was none to surprised when I switched this one on and was rewarded with the powerful smooth melodies of top notch AOR. The average of the band members is 18 which means they were all born after the prime of American style AOR. So they missed the days when this style was first in constant rotation on the airwaves. Yet they have obviously discovered, embraced and perfected that sound. The six tracks here are certainly influenced by the likes of Journey, Toto and Survivor. So much so that this EP sounds like it could have done between 1983 and 1984. The keyboards are smooth, the vocals are instantly likable and they have an amazing amount of control. The drum sound could have been touch heavier in the mix as I had to strain some to hear it. Now they are not exactly doing anything new or contributing any parts that were not done during AOR's prime. Yet they handle the style well and they play a lively form of the genre that focuses on the best parts of this type of music. I am anxious to see what they can do on a full length album. Hopefully we do not have to wait to long to find out.

What's coming up?

Just trying to make it through another week. Looking forward to the weekend and the Championship games for sure. As for music I finally got around to hearing Megadeth's End Game and Sonic Boom from KISS. Sonic Boom is better than I figured, but about 13 years too late for me to really care. It's alright, but very much forced. If they wanted to "get back to their roots" as the catchprase goes then they should have done it some time ago. End Game is as solid as the previous Megadeth release. Nothing new, but tight and to the point.

As for what I will be reviewing this week it will be these (hopefully)...
Orchid-Through the devil's doorway
Edge of forever-Another paradise
Titan-Steps
Forcentury-Vanguard
and maybe that Voivod DVD if I can get around to listening to it.

and
Clash of the album covers

***Have a great week!

Lord of the grave-Raunacht

the Church Within
2009

This album just shouts doom right from the start. Strike that. It actually oozes classic doom in slow gobs that Switzerland's Lord of the grave pull off and offer up to us a little at atime. The guitar riffs are ever so carefully plucked and come through in all their fuzzed out glory. This is the kind of overwhelming sludge that makes you feel like you are sealed in a room and the sound are just coming from everywhere and they immediately take you over. That's what the is band does best. They play basic sludge similar to Electri Wizard, Acid King, Black Cobra and Dopesmoker-era Sleep. The know who to create and maintain a very deliberate pace. The band also have a strong grasp of to piece together a sound that is so thick that you have to listen very closely in order to absorb all that is being pushed in your direction. Every song is a beast with it's own personality. This whole album is what real doom should be. It's raw, slow and heavy as a load of bricks. On top of that these guys can do some slick change-ups and rip in some solos that do enough to let you there is more to this trio that just one straight ahead direction. Unlike a lot of bands of this styel I think I really could listen to this disc at given time. They really have enough doing on that I could and will reach for it often. So do yourself a favor, corner this monster and give it a try.

Battle of the bands

Back in 2006 (I think) I ran a monthly feature called Battle of the bands. I would just toss two bands out and ask which you liked better. I decided to revive the idea and do it this year as a monthly segment. Only I'll try to offer up a little on each band and then you can chime in for which band you prefer. This month it is....





Budgie

Vs.




Pentagram


Budgie hail from Wales and started churning out their brand of heavy progressive, quirky music four decades ago. They lasted until the early 80's before breaking up. Then towards the end of that decade Metallica covered two of their songs and a new generation of fans were introduced to them. They reformed a while back and continue to tour. The band has gone through some line-up changes and several sound changes over the years.

Pentagram hail from Virginia and also started out in the early 1970's, but only released a few singles in the 70's. They broke up and reformed in the 1980's (notice a trend beginning) then started releasing albums. They went through more periods of break-ups and reforming with a lot of different members. They very much influenced the doom movement. A lot of their older songs from the 70's have been released on recent collections and they have re-corded a number of them over the years.

***So which band do you prefer? Feel free to add why you chose that band if you like.

Bloody Mary-We rock, you suck

Self-produced
2009

For some reason this disc was no clicking me on the first play. I got about three tracks when I amde that realization. However I knew that it might have more to do with the fact that I been listening to heavier releases right before it. So I sat it aside and came back to it. The second time around I took to it right away. From the cover and band name I was expecting a more hair metal style perhaps, but this is more traditional hard rock mixed with some classic rock leanings. Think London Quiredoys mixed with Aerosmith for starters. The riffs are simple, but they pile them on and keep them coming steady. This reminds me of an album that could come out around 1990 yet it avoids many of the traps that too many bands of that time fell into. Blood Mary prop up some huge melodies, but they never allow their songs to get swallowed in sap or become bogged down as they keep the grooves coming. They get into a few ballads, but again they never let it get too sugary. Instead they pull it off as smooth as can be and have you remembering it for some time after it ends. Overall this is blues rock that is very catchy and well played. The lyrics are at times cliche, but the band knows how to keep moving and the make up for that shortcoming. The production could have been slightly thicker in spots too. Still a fine release and I am glad that I gave it a second chance or else I would have been missing out. I almost forgot to add that I love the album title. It's bold, funny and while I don't think that I suck I do have to agree that Blood Mary live up to their part of the claim.

Gypsy Pistoleros-Hotel De La Muerte

Bad Reputation

2009

I put this in my top 25 albums of last year and played it repeatedly, but perhaps because I had become so familar with the songs I thought that I had already reviewed this EP from the Gypsy Pistoleros. However it recently dawned on my that I got all caught up in enoying this disc and forgot all about reviewing which of course was the reason I was sent a copy. Okay, I became a fan of these guys about thirty seconds into "Wild, beautiful, damned" back in 2007. I was immediately drawn by the cross of glam, punk and flamenco sounds blended together. Two years and a number of line-up changes later the band's sound is a little less varied, but surprisingly tighter. There are still raw edges and some interesting touches in between, but the hard rock sound rises above the other styles. The Pistoleros are sounding far more proficient than ever and the grooves come churning and turning often on these songs. Now I kind of wish flamenco touches were more prominent this time around. However they are so good at what they are doing that I can't fault them too much. The band's personality and exuberance shine through even more than ever. Enjoyable hard rock to me has always been about having a good time and this band nails that vibe instantly. Even though the flamenco and punks sounds have decreased this time around they are still the most interesting glam act going today hands down.

Clash of the album covers

It is...


Death-Spiritual Healing

vs.


Sanctuary-Refuge Denied

***Which cover do you prefer?

Invection-Demented Perception

Stormspell
2009



The thrash re-surgence or comeback or whatever you want to label it has been in full swing for some time. Like any revival there are bands that are worth hearing and some that are not. It was about ten seconds into Invection's opener "Cranial Abyss" for me to know that I was going to enjoy this EP. It was also instantly apparent that these guys love Slayer particularly around the time of "Reign in blood" and "South of heaven". There are a few cleaner moments that reminded me of early Testament as well. Okay, they are creating a lot new I aknowledge that. Much like Warbringer what they lack in originality they more than make-up for with sheer fury and energy. It's almost old school thrash that has been given a hyper make-over. They just rip in and roll with the screaming riffs in a chaotic charge. In fact during the first five tracks the only downtime is the short space between tracks. The closer "Controlled Insanity" is one song where they show some variation of pace. It begins with a winding passage although it still feels like they are a dog on it's leash pulling to get free and waiting to attack. Eventually they do attack, but the song as whole shows they are not just a one trick pony. No don't me wrong, the fast songs kill. Still it's good to see a little growth to show they be moving beyond just being a simple retro-thrash band. After hearing so many by the numbers thrash releases in recent years I am always glad to open my ears to a band who is going to bring all they can.

Dream Death-Journey into mystery

I am pretty sure it was around Christmas of 1987 that I bought this one on cassette. Now keep in mind at this time I was living on a steady diet of thrash, hardcore and crossover so just mainly fast stuff. That was true for most of the time between about 1986 an 1989. That night I wanted to buy something I hadn't heard before and I settled on Pittsburgh's Dream Death just because they were on New Renaissance. They were home of thrash acts I liked then including Executioner, Blood Feast and At War. I got the cassette home, stuck into the player and plopped into my bed waiting for the speed to overpower me. Wait, this wasn't thrash, it was heavy but not fast enough. The vocals were rough, but not as harsh as what I was used to. My immediate response was that I had wasted my money on something that wasn't thrash and therefore I was not going to listen to it. Yes, my tasted really were even more limited back then and they have not opened up all that much over the years. I was living for stuff like Slayer, Kreator, Sodom, Death, Dark Angel and the like. Anyways over the next year or so I played it every once in a while and liked it some. Part of that was because my appreciation for doom was growing although that genre was really kind of small back then. Then maybe around late 88/early 89 my Dream Death tape snapped. Quite honestly I forgot all about this band until a few years ago when I stumbled upon a review of it referring to it as a classic. I searched around and discovered that others felt the same way. Another quick search showed that "Journey into mystery" had now come out on CD. Every once in a while I would take a look and see how much it was going for, but I never bought it. Then a few weeks ago I came upon and auction ending soon and picked it up for around $7. When I got it was actually different, but better than I remembered. A number of the songs were of a heaviness pace level comparable to early Celtic Frost. The vocals were cleaner than that though. The music did at times dip to a slower pace too, but they always held on to this heavy barrage of tight, chugging riffs. The production was also well above the normal New Renaissance records' standard. Normally many albums I heard and liked back in the 80's and then heard again in recent years after a long gap tended to sound not as heavy or fast as I remembered them. However I really missed out on this one. Classic? That's not a label I like to throw around easily. I will say that this is a darn good metal album for the time and it holds up well. They probably were slightly ahead of their time and I am sure that a number of doom bands who popped up over the last say twenty years have heard this one and been influenced by it.

What's coming up?

I am actually up to date for this week for what I hoped to do. That doesn't mean I have to settle for the minimum though. So I will have something out about Dream Death's Journey into mystery soon. I got a copy recently and had not heard it in close to twenty years. In addition to that I'll be reviewing CDs from Bloody Mary, Gypsy Pistoleros, Shining and I think I have some stuff from Ibex Moon that I should get to and maybe even the latest Voivod DVD if I can get around to viewing it. Might have a clash of the album covers out this weekend and maybe another next week as well. So enjoy the playoffs and keep checking back to see what I am up to.

Orpheus-s/t

Self-produced
2009

Norway's Orpheus claim their influences include In Flames, Guns 'N Roses and Iron Maiden. I can hear all those bands at various points on their self-titled debut. I would also add in Metallica to that list as I hear their sound stirred in here are certain points as well. There is little doubt that the band have some skills. There are some fine solos and some powerful rhythms. They even manage to find a balance at times between soaring melodies and hard hitting riffs. Vocalist Ingrid Galadriel goes from smooth as silk melodies to piercing shrieks without missing a beat. Her range and consistancy are the band's greatest strengths. She also helps to elevate some average material to being far more intersting than it could have been. Of course I am more into their songs that have the Maiden riffs going just because that appeals to me and I think it's the sound they handled the best here. Although I think they did admirable job of varying the sound and they pulled most of the songs favorbly. There were two aspects of this that I had problems with. First is that the mix on several songs is light in places. Certainly more the production than the playing, but there were definite moments where the sound was too light and it robbed the band of some of the power that should have and could have been present. The other point that they rely on the influences a bit too much. Other than the vocals I don't think they push enough to establish their own sound. Still this is mainly a positive release and I look forward to hearing what they come up with in the future.

Dawnrider-Two

Ragingplanet
2009


Portugual's Dawnrider are not the kind of band that hit you with a full on frontal assault or at least not all at once. They believe in inching towards you a few steps at time. Despite the slow and deliberate pacing they still carry a massive amount of power. Dawnrider sound like a band who began their musical education back in the 1970's with the slow and heavy inventors Black Sabbath and Pentagram and Dawnrider figured out the heaviness needed. Then they worked their way into the 1980's absorbing traits from more abstract sludge pushers like Witchfinder General and Saint Vitus. Then they wound their way into the 1990's and inhaled and retained the massive sound and snail like movements of bands like Sleep and early Electric Wizard. Maybe they did or didn't discover those sounds in that order. No matter the course they still somehow absorbed various influences and tied them together into an approach that will slowly seep into your pores and overcome you. Not content with just copying others Dawnrider weave in their fair share of melodies into the mix. Now they may not sit well with all doom fans, but to these ears it adds an extra element that provides some real texture to their songs. There are a few moments that sit rather move forward, but they are few and far between. Dawnrider's "Two" is an album that pleased me immediately and I hearing more that I like about it the more I spin the disc.

Midnight Priest-Rainha Da Magia Negra

Stormspell
2009

I put the album title from Portugual's Midnight Priest into Babelfish and it came up as "Queen of the black magic". That makes sense as the cover would go along with that title. This album is sung entirely in Portuguese which was a little startling at first, but I quickly got into where this band was coming from. They wear their influences on their sleeve and they have an obvious love for early Iron Maiden, Judas Prest, Mercyful Fate, Saxon, Thin Lizzy and a few other NWOBHM acts. The album clocks at just under half an hour so all of the songs are relatively brief, but they cut to the chase and get immediately into the meat of each song. Okay it's not that original, but it's still very well played. They how to create and maintain some fantastic duel guitar attacks, the vocals are rough and help build up the intensity of each song. The production values are tight and boost this album right away. This is a celebration of early-mid 80's classic style metal and all that was good about it. If someone had told me this was a lost classic from 1984 rather a release from 2009 then I would have been inclined to believe the, However that doesn't diminish the fact that this is an exciting venture into classic metal. To their credit Midnight Priest do manage to mix their influences on a few songs and the results are impressive. It would be great to see the band do more of that and try to expand on what they began here. Certainly a release that is going to appeal to old style metal fans.

Clash of the album covers

Some doom offerings for you to choose from today. It is...



Candlemass-Death, magic, doom

vs.


Witchcraft-s/t



***Which cover do you prefer?

This will be the first I have pitted two EPs against one another in this category. These two bands are also likely the most obscure acts to be featured in this segment as well. Antix's EP can be found on eBay at any given time on vinyl for a few bucks. They played on the Sunset Strip scene for at least five years and did a single three years after this EP with a much different line-up. Still not that much is known about them considering how long and where they played plus some of the connections they had. Their EP was produced by Don Dokken and Jeff Pilson plus they were on the label of Great White's manager. Toy Roz also played in the LA area and their album can be found at almost any given time on eBay if you have more money than sense. Far less seems to be known about them except judging by the cover they liked big hair, bad outfits and like Antix believed that misspelling their band name was the key to success. Let's get past the hair spray and spandex and see what other horrors await.


Antix-Get up, get happy (1984)

vs.


Toy Roz-s/t (1988)

Vocalist

It's Greg Clewley for Antix taking on Toy Roz vocalist Christopher Brian Kent. Kent like many other LA frontmen of the time believed in the Dave Lee Roth school of names, but unfortunately he believed in the Bret Michaels method of vocals. In fact Kent tries a bit too hard to push with the slightly nasal whining style that dominated much of the Sunset Strip in the second half of the 1980's. His vocals are hit at miss at best and about thirty seconds to each song you will likely be rolling your eyes and "saying I have heard this kind of stuff many times before". The backing vocals actually work slightly better. Clewley does a reasonable job of handling the better songs well and perhaps even elevating the weaker songs just a little. His voice is limited, but smooth enough.

Point to Antix

Guitars

Jace White is on for Antix going against Randy Giulliani of Toy Roz. Both guys subscribed to the minimal/don't make waves type of guitar of style so much that I was forced to listen to both albums again because I forgot many of the guitar parts after one play. They both deserve to lose points for making me hear these albums again. I was also still left thinking that the guitars on both albums just sit in the background for much of the time. They were never killing my eardrums of horrible noise, but instead they play rather faceless, bland leads which may be worse than noise. The only memory that really stands out was a couple of smooth notes on Giulliani's solos.

Point to Toy Roz

Rhythm section

Bassist BJ Norris and drummer Ian Evans from Antix go against bassist Robby Wilson and drummer Robin Combs of Toy Roz. This is usually the section where I have to put my ear to the speakers to figure this one out because glam/hair bands of the day often wanted to hide the rhythm section and most of the time they should have because their guys didn't have clue. This time around it's a little better. Much of that may be due to above average production on both albums. Both drummers have some idea of what rhythm is and they keep it going the best they can. I can hear the bass some on both, but Norris gets a few more chops in and does enough not to make the band regret letting him be heard.

Point to Antix

Originality/Production

As usual originality didn't factor in much with either of these acts because if it did they would not be here in the first place. Antix might be more original, but that doesn't mean that what they did needed to be or should have ever been done. Their sound is scattered as there are a couple of alright hard rock songs and then some poppy sounding tracks that don't sound completely fleshed out. Toy Roz are maybe a little less annoying at times, but even less original. They sound like hard rock of the time with a strong leaning towards Poison and maybe Ratt which isn't going get them a whole lot of respect. The production on both albums is actually quite fine, but

Point to Toy Roz.


Who rocks more?

This was a particularly tough decision and not totally because both bands struggle to rock although that was a factor. Toy Roz manage to be consistent enough to keep the pace going somewhat and never hit a total clunker, but they never manage to get beyond watered down, uninspired glam either. Antix are much more all over the board. They have a song or two that may stink worse than anything on Toy Roz's album, but they have one or two that are are above any of Toy Roz's six songs although it's all lightweight fare. Consistency isn't that important if you are just managing to do just enough that you don't embarrass yourself. Actually the first time I heard Antix was when their song "Daze gone by" was on Hit Parader's "The Wild Bunch" cassette only compilation. I liked that song and it's on this album and it's still above average. There is also another song here that isn't half bad. So...

Point to Antix

Antix scores a 3-2 victory over Toy Roz. Just because these were EPs doesn't mean their rottenness didn't rip at my tastes and senses because they did. In fact is wasn't much better taking on fewer songs. I guess that goes along with the idea that garbage stinks no matter how big the pile. Both bands did show some life here and there. Still it's easy to why neither band got very far. Toy Roz were just trying to imitate what was big in hope that some label would pick them and try to cash it despite their lack of originality. Antix's problem stem more from confusion about musical style. They dress like a hard rock band, they have a few hard rock songs too. Then they had some poppy almost sappy moments and several songs that sound like they recorded them before they actually finished writing them. To make things harder on themselves they called their album "Get up, get happy". That sounds a kid's music CD for three year olds. Of course fans of metal bands of the day like Maiden and Priest would have avoided an album with that title. Even fans of more glam leaning acts in 1984 like Motley Crue and Twisted Sister probably would skipped past this album just because of the title too. I guess Antix didn't get the memo about at least trying to seem cool. The creppy little jester holding their band name might scare people away too. There is an import version of this album with a slightly different band picture, different logo and black rather than blue border.
Interesting to note that I wrote a post about Antix a few years ago and it has gotten a number of comments and it gets multiple hits every week. There isn't that much known about them, but apparently a lot of people are interested enough to look them up on the Internet fairly regularly.
http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

***I'll be back with another segment of Lesser of two evils.

What's coming up?

First I want to wish a happy 4th birthday to my son, a happy 76th birthday to my dad and happy birthday to BobVinyl whose age is somewhere in between those other two. I will Lesser of two evils out later today or Sunday. Then reviews of the new ones from Dawnrider, Midnight Priest and one other review. Also a Clash of the album covers and maybe one more topic. Have a great week and enjoy the playoffs!

Lucid Wake-Tomorrow's Fading

Self-produced
2009

I remember these guys when they were Pelvic Fury as I reviewed their full length "Non-Euclidian nightmare" back in the first half of 2008. They may have changed the band name, but much of the sound is similar. The major component of their soundis old style thrash, but they weave in shades of heavy progressive runs as well. Those two parts are similar to where this band was as Pelvic Fury. What has changed is that they have added more death metal elements with some coming in bursts pushed into the music and the vocals try to take that approach at times too. The first item that stood out for me about the three tracks her was the drum sound because it's right on the funny. Basic perhaps, but aggessive as needed with a bruising sound and a great deal of consistancy. Next up would be the guitar rhythms which are also consistant and tight with strong tones. The guitar leads are not quite as smooth. Part of it was the production as they seemed lost in the overall mix a few times. Also these guys were trying to do a lot of quick pace and style changes, but the leads didn't handle all of these changes so smoothly. The weakest part of this band is unfortunately the vocals. As above they try to go with the style changes. During the thrash parts the vocals are fine, but during more chaotic musical parts the vocals sound flat at best and shrill at worst. For the most part all three tracks had enough to convince me that this is a talented band that just needs to work a little more on discovering what they can and cannot handle. Still worth checking out.

The mood

I listen to a lot of albums and a lot of different bands, but in the last say ten or fifteen years I have noticed that there are bands that I can listen to at any time and other bands where i have to be in the mood to listen to them. It's not just a matter of liking one more than the other because there are some bands who fall in the second category who are some of my favorite bands of all time.

Here are five that come to mind that I can listen to at any time.


Iron Maiden-Excluding the crappy 90's stuff I could listen to most of the other ones at any given time. I take to the m automaticly and always have.

Van Halen (Roth-era of course)-One of the first I ever got still holds well to my ears. It's largely upbeat and the grooves still sound strong.

Motorhead-Other than a few albums, most of theirs are albums I can turn on, crank up and get my blood going.

Hanoi Rocks-About twnty years ago I would have add them in the other category due to the odd paces and mixed sounds. Now I listen to them frequently for the same reasons.

WASP-I have my favorite albums, but since 1984 I have been listening to them fairly regularly without a break.

Five bands I like, but have to be in a certain mood to want to hear them.

Rush-Used to listen to them all the time, but now I really have to be in the mood to want to hear them even their best material.

Pentagram-I love doom and old 70's sludge, but I have to be in a patient, kind of low -key mood for this band.

Megadeth-I used to listen to them all the time from about 86-90. I still like them, but have to be in a rare mood to listen to them particularly a whole album.

Helloween-Another band I listened to a lot for a long time. The best power metal band around and like all power metal I can only take it in small doses these days.

Ozzy-I don't know if it's his overexposure in recent years as an idiot or the almost twenty years of worthless albums. Whatever the reason I have to really be in the mood to listen to even his best stuff yet I definitely admit he did a few very good albums.

Black Breath-Razor to oblivion

Southern Lord
2009

I have heard good albums that were basic in nature. I have also heard plenty of albums that combine different styles with great results. However it's not all that often that a band can do both of the above and make it look easy. Yet that is exactly what this band does on this EP. Imagine taking the full throttle grit of Motorhead, the sludge of Black Sabbath, the raw energy of Discharge, the volume of early Entombed and then stirring all of those together into meaty mix and then dumping it out with a fuzzy and thick production. That's a start for what is going on here. However that description doesn't quite do them justice. Black Breath take a lot of different sounds and melt them into a brutal attack. The results is solid kick in the head that had me addicted right away. They are not exactly adding a lot that's new. Yet it's the method of twisting their influences together that works to their advantage because you feel like you are getting a lot all at one. Indeed you are as Black Breath manage to assault the senses within seconds and pull you down into their own hard world where the massive riffs and overwhelming beats overtake you. I wish it was a full length as it did seem to end quick, but my solution was to play it again and again.

Mean Streak-Metal Slave

2009

I kept thinking of the Y&T album "Mean Streak" as I prepared to play this disc. These guys are from Sweden which has been a glam hot bed in recent years and these guys are from Sweden so I was wondering if it would glam. It didn't long for me to realize that this isn't glam. No sir it is classic metal with a melodic edge. Think back to a simpler time about twenty four-twenty five years when metal could have teeth, but still manage to be instantly infectious with cathy choruses that would be in your mind for the rest of the week. That's the school this band is coming from. The influences include Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio, Accept and early Queensryche. Their method is direct and the playing is tight as can be. The range is decent as they go from medium-fast pounding to slower tempo and back in good fashion. It appeals to me because it's the type of metal I grem up with so there is a certain familiarity about that drew me in right away. In fact I played it three times straight even though the first play convinced me of how good it was. The production is fantastic as everything is brought to the surface for the listener to soak in. If there is one problem about this band it may be that my sounding a lot like more established bands they don't do a lot towards establishing their own sound or personality. However they have the talent and the sound to make an impression now and that is more than enough for me.

Clash of the album covers

Here you go.



Accept-Predator


vs.



UDO-Mastercutor


***Which cover do you prefer?

Golden Turd Award for 1990

I always like to explain what this award is. It's not a worst album award, but more a combination of being bad and disappointing in some way. I have given one a year for each of the years of the 1980's and now am on to another decade. Now when I was thinking about the award for 1990 I first thought it would be Slayer and they put out a poor album in 1990 for certain. However the disappointment factor had me thinking that Iron Maiden was the more likely choice here. Slayer were coming off of two great albums and two good ones before that. However Iron Maiden had done seven albums in the 80's and I think five were great and the other two were very good plus they did the greatest live metal album of the 80's and maybe ever. So for them to put out an album like No prayer for the dying was stunning. "Hooks in you" and "Bring your daughter to the slaughter" are painful while several other songs come across as filler. Even the epic "Mother Russia" is corny and forced which is something that Maiden had never been not even for a minute in the 80's. Unfortunately the 90's was going to get even worse for Maiden and their fans. Although the band has certainly turned it around this decade.

Top ten hard rock/metal albums of 1990

Kind of a strange year for hard rock and metal. Lots of hard rock/hair band releases coming out, but not a lot of good ones. Thrash was was seeing something of a split with a number of major labels bands becoming more accessible while death metal was continuing to rise as it's own entity. My list for this year has altered greatly over the years several albums have fallen a few places while others have come up in the rankings. Here you go.



10-Celtic Frost-Vanity/Nemisis
A good bounce back after Cold Lake.

9-King Diamond-The eye
This album has actually grown on me over the years.

8-Tigertailz-Bezerk
The only hard rock album to make my top ten list.

7-Judas Priest-Painkiller
People either hate it or love it. I think it was a well need burst of energy for this band.

6-Kreator-Coma of souls
Their last really good album for some time.

5-Prong-Beg to differ
They finally figured out their direction.

4-Artillery-By inheritance
They were good on the previous two outings, but they stretched out for this one.

3-Anthrax-Persistance of time
A slight change in direction helped a lot.

2-Megadeth-Rust in piece

Their best album.

1-Steve Vai-Passion and warfare
Simply amazing effort.

UDO-Dominator

AFM
2009



Probably the first time I heard Accept was probably well over 25 years ago when I heard "Fast as a shark" on a late night metal radio show. The first thing that hit was the speed of the song as I not heard anything that fast at the time. The next thing that hit was me was Udo Dirkschneider's voice. Honestly wasn't too sure of what to make of it because I had certainly never heard anything like this growl before. Indeed his voice grew on me over the next few years as I became an Accept fan. I was sad to see him part from the band, but have followed his solo career on and off over the years. The music on Dominator is nothing new or unexpected as it's mostly medium fast and not a whole different from what Udo (the singer) has tackled in the past. However it's not all just stuck in the past because the music is certainly polished enough to come across as being fairly fresh. Now the real focus is of course the vocals and it's easy to tell that Udo's voice has aged quite well. He has retained his distinctivly rough, gravel type voice and he still knows how to wield it as well. This is classic style metal about as good as it can be played. The go straight ahead and the lyrics are pretty much the same old things, but they hit at with a great deal of steam and determination. Sometimes it's alright to be predictable if what you are playing is this good. "Dominator" certainly manages to be one of the better real metal albums of 2009.

What's coming up?

I still have a Lesser of two evils to write. After that I hope to have reviews of...
Black Breath-Razor to oblivion
UDO-Dominator
Mean Streak-Metal Slave

Clash of the album covers

One of the projects I wanted to do when I started this blog in 2005 was to go back and re-examine and put out my top ten album list for the year that was twenty years ago. So back then I did 1985 and so on with each year. Now I move out of the 80's and on to 1990 so next week I will have my top ten albums of 1990 plus the Golden Turd award for the year. It was kind of a strange year. Major labels were signing up hard rock bands left and right, but that doesn't mean all those bands were good. A number of thrash bands from the 80's seemed to be slowing down. A couple of long time bands put out some clunkers. Still there were a few surprises. I considered two instrumental albums for my list and a couple of veteren bands went in new directions.

***Have a great week!