Rage Against the Machine-Live At Finsbury Park DVD

Eagle Rock Entertainment
2015

When it comes to L.A.'s Rage Against the Machine there is no need for introductions. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past twenty something years* that name should ring a few bells. As one of the most famous rap metal bands out there (arguably only second to Faith No More!) Rage Against the Machine broke new ground while they broke down social barricades and crusaded for a revolution by the people and for the people. Lead singer Zack de la Rocha Released was the voice of this revolution while Tom Morello's guitar provided the necessary ammunition. Ground support came from Tim Commerford (bass, backing vocals) and Brad Wilk (drums, percussion) with the group's self-titled debut album appearing in 1992. That album changed everything and before long Rage Against the Machine was seemingly EVERYWHERE! Not to cut the history lesson short or anything, but chances are you should know the rest of the story. Just in case you don't you can head over to the Wikipedia page on them or visit the group's official website. All of which brings us to "Live At Finsbury Park". Released on October 16th on both Blu Ray and DVD, "Live At Finsbury Park" is a concert performance from Rage Against the Machine that took place on June 6th, 2010. The backstory to this concert goes a little something like this. In late 2009 a couple by the name of Jon and Tracya Morter started a campaign with the idea of there being an alternative to the usual X-Factor winner's Christmas "hit single" in the UK. With the band members themselves backing the campaign (and all proceeds of the song going to charity) the couple nominated the Rage Against the Machine track "Killing In The Name". In the end the band promised to perform a free concert in the UK if the song made it to number one. It did just that and true to their word Rage Against the Machine worked out the plans for a free concert. The event took place on June 6th, 2010 in London's Finsbury Park and this film documents that special moment in time (and in high definition at that!). While there is little in the way of bonus features, "Live At Finsbury Park" captures Rage Against the Machine at their absolute best and there's no denying that even after all these years this four-piece band can ROCK! Fueled by the the energy of audience at hand Rage Against the Machine tears through a furious set list that naturally culminates with the nominated song in question, "Killing In The Name"! Songs like "Bombtrack", "People Of The Sun" , "Bulls On Parade", "Bullet In The Head", "Guerrilla Radio", "Sleep Now In The Fire", and "Freedom" lead up to that explosive moment (the closing fury that is "Killing In The Name"!) and for Rage Against the Machine' fans this live concert would prove to be too good to be missed! Along with their own original material (which is bombastic in a live setting!) the heavy-hitting  L.A. band rolls out a solid cover of  "White Riot" and as a fan of The Clash it was great seeing Rage Against the Machine pay homage be such a legendary act! As "Live At Finsbury Park" is packed with some of Rage Against the Machine's best numbers this live DVD seems like a no-brainer for fans both young and old alike. It looks and sounds exceptional and it shows exactly why the music of Rage Against the Machine spoke on a personal level to so many people. I can't help but think that this would be a great addition to any Rage Against the Machine's collections that people have and seeing as both the DVD and Blu Ray are reasonable priced there's no reason that can't happen!  While fans might have to wait a long time for Rage Against the Machine to get around to releasing new music this live concert should help ease that pain. And it should also remind people that the struggle is still real and alive in all of us value freedom!


*If you have been hiding yourself away under a big rock somewhere for the past 20 years then you might want to take a deep breath and sit down because everything in this world has been turned upside down and inside out!

ForChristSake-Death is But A Breath Away

Self-Release/Independent
2010

No label? No problem! In what would prove to be just the first step of many taken by this extreme metal band from Northern Ireland, the (then) five-piece band known as ForChristSake self-released their debut EP, "Death is But A Breath Away". Fronted by lead vocalist/keyboardist Guy, with all of the lyrics and music written-by the pair of Ignatios (drums & vocals) and Seraphim (guitar & vocals), this Christ-first/death metal-second act might have wore their faith on their sleeves, but, given the fact that it was being backed up by some of the most brutal and extreme metal out there, it was presented in such a fashion as to reach every corner of every pit whether in their home country or world-wide! "Heavy for Christ" is a battle-cry that I've heard, or rather have felt and laid witness to, many times over from my first "real" Christian metal concert "experience" (Deliverance w/ Sacrament) up to and including now (with Christian heavy metal and thrash at an all time high, quality-wise and availability-wise, there is no longer the tired old stigma of "this band is just a Christian version of this band, etc." that haunted it for far too many years). Still, I fail (epically!) in my attempted rummaging through my warn-out memory banks to find any Christian band as destructive on tape as this bunch! While it's not strictly death metal we are talking about with these four tracks, as there is plenty of black metal and thrash metal to be found within a release like "Death is But A Breath Away", it's probably the best starting point from which to jump when chatting about this (soon-to-be) Roxx Records act! Other then lead vocalist/keyboardist Guy the same bunch that recorded this EP appears on their recently-released full-length debut album, "Apocalyptic Visions of Divine Terror". Having heard their Roxx Records full-length debut release first though, which you can read all about at the link pasted below, it's somewhat interesting walking backwards to this short recording. But, other then the switching-up of the vocal duties between releases this is the same crushing entity that blew me away with "Apocalyptic Visions of Divine Terror". So, if you've heard their first and liked it then you'll no doubt like this EP. That's not to say that there hasn't been growth as there certainly has been. This is almost a case of addition by subtraction as I actually prefer the vocals on ForChristSake's new LP more then I do on this 2010 EP. Also, the band seems to have tightened up all of the various lose edges and made more then a few steps toward being more technically-sound. But of course that's what is supposed to happen when you grow as a band and have a few years between releases. All of which means exactly what in the end? Well, if I was going to give out an album to a fan and fellow lover of all things extreme metal (as a "Hey, have you heard this new extreme metal band from Northern Ireland yet?") I would definitely go with "Apocalyptic Visions of Divine Terror". That seems fairly obvious right? But, after letting them soak up the awesomeness of "Apocalyptic Visions of Divine Terror" I would slide them this EP in an ever-so-cool manor and say "If you thought the full-length debut from this gnarly bunch was wicked wait until you listen to this raw beast of an EP!!!!!".

http://metalmark.blogspot.com/search?q=ForChristSake-Apocalyptic+Visions+of+Divine+Terror+

Stryper-Live In Indonesia At Java Rockin' Land

MVD
2012

Christian hard rock act Stryper were filmed at this huge festival in Indonesia two years ago. It was reported that it was a last minute addition to their touring schedule, but the band and their management did what they had to for making it happen. Here we have the line-up that played on all of their well know 80's albums as bassist Tim Gaines returned in 2009 after being out of the band for a few years. The set list is also made up of mostly 80's tracks with cuts like "The Rock that makes me roll", "Loud n' clear", "Honestly". Yes, the band is still is still wearing yellow and black outfits only now they are a bit more subtle about their attire. My favorite things about Stryper are that Robert Sweet is a very solid drummer. I have heard it more in the various projects he has done with guitarist Bill Menchen, but you can hear and definitely see it in this performance with Stryper as well. I always felt that Michael Sweet and Oz Fox were a slightly overlooked guitar duo as both were competent and even impressive at times on their solos. One of the major drawbacks of Stryper for me was too many sappy, slow songs. I know that some of those were there most known hits, but they never appealed that much to me. Every hard rock act back in the day seem to have felt the need to tack on at least one power ballad, but Stryper always seemed to put more than one of their albums and for me it slowed down the momentum of their albums. Another part of Stryper that I had trouble with was how high Michael Sweet's vocals could be. He was always in tune, but at times this approach took away from the overall heaviness of their songs. Let's get into this 2010 performance. This was a huge festival and the sound and camera people do a great job of capturing the excitement of an event of such proportions. The first thing that I noticed right away was that Michael Sweet was a much more charismatic frontman than I would have thought. He is very natural and relaxed, but also engaging with the crowd. In between songs he jokes about how 80's glam bands looked and about what MTV has become. Unlike other 80's hard rocks that are now middle aged there is no attempt to act like they are still in their 20's and be the aging rocker. Instead what we get from Sweet and the rest of the band is straight forward show of solid hard rock delivered to the best of their abilities. In listening to Stryper's 80's albums I always felt the production could have been a bit more full in tone on their heavier tracks. On occasion it felt like they were playing music that but someone behind the knobs turned the music down a bit. On this show you get to here some of what you may have been missing on those studio versions for all these years. Stryper managed to act natural, look natural and play their songs about as good as I have heard them. I didn't go into this DVD expecting to be that impressed, but I was indeed impressed. Since the time this concert was filmed the band has released the very likable 2011 cover album "The Covering" and they continue to tour. I was glad to see a veteran hard rock look like they still had something left to give.

Sacred Oath-World on fire

Angel Thorne
201/2012

Even though Sacred Oath have recorded more album since their reunion than they did in their first run in the 80's it seems like their debut is the point that I measure all of their other work by. That's because their debut really was that good. However "World on fire" is certainly my favorite album after the debut. The style isn't that far off from any of their other albums. They still like Maiden, early Queensyrche, 80's Crimson Glory and others. However they have expanded their writing a bit and tried to open up their playing even more. The production is slick, but not so much that it robs them of any heaviness. Many of the songs here manage to incoporate more pace changes than they have in the past. That is the main reason why this album stands out above some of their others. The standout tracks for me were "Sweet Agony", "Front Line" and "Drums of war". Sacred Oath are  band that for me have never missed on an album and that's considering the almost two decade gap between the first two albums and several line-up changes. Definitely a band that others could take some lessons from.

Exciter-Death Machine

Massacre
2012

Exciter were one the first bands to really get the thrash scene rolling and one of the first thrash bands I got into. This album was originally released in 2010. It's the most recent effort from Exciter now it gets a North American release. This is the second release with this band line-up. They reach back to the formula that dominated most of their classic releases of the 1980's. They throw out a bunch straight froward thrashers like "Dungeon Descendants", "Razor in your back" and "Hellfire" that will remind you some extent of the kind of songs that they did so well years ago. However they are not totally limited to one speed as "Power and domination" and "Demented Prisoner" show what they can do with a slower pace. With all the young bands trying to recreate old thrash it's refreshing to see a veteran act (although with just one member from the classic line-up) do the style right. The good news is they old nothing back because most of it just raw thrash complete with rough production values that actually work very well with the music. Most of this album sounds it could have been in the mid to late 1980's. The down side is you have heard this style before and while good it doesn't do a whole lot new and it's probably not an album you will be reaching for every day. Still it has enough explosive songs to keep the interest of an old school thrash band. Obviously this line-up can still crank it out and hopefully they unleash another album at some point in the near future.

Stone Axe-II : Deluxe Edition

Ripple

2012

It's only been about two years since this album came out, but as with Stone Axe's debut the people at Ripple music decided to release a Deluxe Edition. The Deluxe Edition contains the Stone Axe II album of the first disc and a second disc of songs released elsewhere over recent years. I'll tackled the first disc to begin with. As I said this originally came out in 2010 and I heard it, loved it and reviewed it in that order. However I honestly had not listened to it probably at eight months. So this Deluxe Edition gave me an excuse to hear the album again. Truthfully I realized that I liked this album even better than I thought. Tony Reed's band don't just copy or relay late 60's-early 70's hard rock/metal. No, they embrace the sound and they manage to embody not just the notes and beats of that style, but rather the soul that was present in the best bands of that time. Not an easy task and many bands today are influenced by acts from that era, but not everyone can really absorb that style and then create their own masterpieces. However Stone Axe certainly can and while their debut was amazing this album was even tighter and a little heavier. The second disc is full of songs that were originally on split albums, compilations and other assorted releases. I have a few of them before, but most were new to my ears so it was almost like getting a whole albums worth of new material from Stone Axe. The quality of the songs on disc two are just as stunning as on their other albums. I never quite know what to expect from Deluxe or special editions of albums, but this album was quite spectacular. Only thing is now my appetite has been wet for more Stone Axe material.

http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2010/04/stone-axe-2.html

http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2010/06/stone-axe-interview.html

Witchaven-Terrorstorm

Metalhit
2011

This is actually a re-issue of an album that originally came out in early 2010. This version comes with new cover art. Formed in 2006 South California's Witchaven are old style thrash with some tinges of early black and death metal tossed in. The most obvious influences are Show no mercy-era Slayer and Kreator around 86-86. Almost every song starts with some tightly wound swirling riffs with the drums pumping hard to keep up. Instead of Tom Araya type growls we get an approach that's closer to several German thrash bands back in the early days of the style. The whole album reaches back to about 84-85 and doesn't try to go beyond that time period. The energy level is high and that helps to a certain extent. The problem here is that most of the songs were around two or three minutes yet I still felt myself growing bored all too quickly. I have been listening to old style thrash well since it was new and not old. So for a band playing this style to really impress me and draw me in they are going to have reach out a little and do more than just re-hash their influences. This is a little better than a lot of bands playing retro-thrash these days. I could imagine them possible being pretty entertaining live due to the energy. Yet on "Terrorstorm" they are above average, but a bit too routine to really make an impression. You have heard this before many times over before.

The Tards-Guillotine

Self-produced

2010

Hailing from Kansas City The Tards are a 4 piece metal act from Kansas City, Missouri formed in 2004. Musically they are very much influenced by early thrash. I hear some early Metallica and Megadeth, but the biggest influence is definitely Anthrax. As far that goes they actually on several sounds throughout Anthrax's career. Some times they go for the throat and on other songs they are a bit more subtle. Due to that second part it took me a few times to warm up to every song, but I did. The vocals of Keegan Smith are far more different than the style that usually goes with this type of old school thrash. He has a very deep, raspy voice and you have to really focus sometimes to understand all of the lyrics. Plus he frequently barks rather than sings which isn't my favorite style. The band are followers of a galloping style of thrash, but they sure know how to control them and keep the momentum moving forward. I was impressed by their patience and attention to detail as they build up the steam on their songs. "Revolution Revolver" is probably my favorite track. At almost ten minutes long it's a heavy epic packed with tons of riffs and some of their most impressive moments fall in this song. This album is a decent outing with powerful edges all around.

Panzer Bastard-Centurion

Patac
2010

Boston's Panzar Bastard offer upa five song EP comprised of three originals and two covers. Both are Celtic Frost covers. The first is the backbreaking "The Usurper" which is a fine representitive of where Celtic Frost was in their early days. Panzaer Bastard handle it well as they retain the deep, heavy grooves, but manage to blend in their own sound as well. The other cover is "I won't dance" from 1987's "Into the pandemonium". One of my favorite Frost songs. They do an even better job handling this cover and it's tougher task as well. This song has a delicate set-up to it and a heavy handed approach would cause it to lose it's feel. These guys understand that and do it justice. Nowonto the originals. No surprise aat all there is a Celtic Frost influence to their originals although there is also some thrash and hardcore sounds blended in as well. I love the thick, angry vocals and the focused sound. The title track is perhaps my favorite of the three originals with it's twisted riffs and fantastic sense of control. Impressive EP and I can't wait to see what they do once they release a full length album.

Rock and roll children by Michael LeFevre

2010


Rock and Roll Children is the first novel from Michael LeFevre Michael D. LeFevre although he has published articles and book reviews in the “Times Education Supplement.” Most of Rock and Roll Children is based on his experiences during the 1980’s. The 80's were certainly the golden era of metal in many people's minds including mine. It was great time to be a fan of the music because there was so much material coming out and many great bands hit their peak during the decade. LeFevre's book follows friends Frankie, Bob, Rick and Jeff through the mid late 80's with an emphasis on their love of many different metal acts of the day. Concerts are a major focus of the story and in the introduction LeFevre states that he attended all but three of the concerts mentioned in the book. So he recalls some personal experiences for those parts of the book. The concerts mentioned are many and include a number of top acts of the day including Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio and many others. I am actually jealous of the author for getting to see so many great acts of the time. Fans of metal who were living for the music back then will be able to relate to being so excited over these bands and the albums that are mentioned as well those who were fortunate enough to hear the Metalshop show on the radio back in the day. However there are some real problems with "Rock and roll children". It's a very slow read because of several reasons. There is some build-up for every concert the friends attend and the first few times this happens I even felt kind excited. Then they get to the concert and it just reads like a bare bones account. These should major events in the book and they tend to lack the kind of description and detail that would build them up. After each concert was mentioned I felt an empty feeling like there just wasn't enough going on. The same empty feeling hangs over the characters ever more so. They are enjoying the music and following these bands, but it's all rather flat with pages and pages of he did this and he did that. I just never felt attached or very interested in the characters. There is no doubt that the author was a fan because his love of the music comes through right away, but the characters and the story just have the depth to sustain one's interest for 400 and some pages. I think if these entries had been written say in a blog form with each concert being an entry and more details had been provided then I may have been far more interested. The author has real memories and hopefully he keeps writing and working at expanding his ideas and developing his style. As it was this was a tough read to get through.

Encore-Out the window

Thundercage
2011



When I was a teenager I was just getting into listening to metal and hard rock. Some teenagers do more than just listen to it as they are actually inspired to pick up their instruments and have a go an channeling their influences. That happens a lot as I am sure almost every high or even middle school has kids that make a go out of forming a band playing in their garages or basements. However some even get past that point. Such is the case with Ohio's Encore who have shared a stage with Lou Gramm, The Last Vegas, Bullet Boys and others. Vocalist Chase Beaire is 11 years old while his brother/guitarist Riley is 15. Rounding out the line-up are bassist Paris Stewart and Scott Cain played drums on the album, but their touring drummer is Trevor Baker. Opener "Simon Says" has a late 70's KISS vibe and I knew right away these guys had certainly been putting in some practice because they are tight. "Playing with fire" has a strong bluesy groove pushing it along. "Born to rock" is on third and here's why I begin to see some cracks in the armor. Any track with the rock can be tough to pull off. So many bands do it and it's easy to just sound cheesy if you can't pull it off and this song is rather typical aside from decent guitar solos. It just seemed rather uninspired. Next up is the six minute plus title track and it's an ambitious undertaking that's hit than miss. It's the first slow song on here and they maintain the pace well. Some of the hooks are slightly off, but they bounce back nicely and keep it going. Plus once again Riley Beaire pulls off a quick, but inspired solo. They get right back on track with "Time wounds" which is the heaviest track so far and somehow reminds me of Aerosmith meeting Pentagram oh around 1976. It's short, but to the point. "Bon Voyage" has young Chase Beaire reaching beyond his talent level a bit for the first time on the album. The music is alright on this AC/DC inspired tune, but the direction on this one seems a little lost and they kind of meander through it way more than they should have. "Loud n' Proud" has Encore moving back to an 80's sound with a simple beat, but they keep control of this solid rocker and even through a Spinal Tap reference into the lyrics. "Round we go" is a ballad of sorts and it's really quite average. It begins alright, there just enough going on to keep it going for the five minute plus running time. Next is "Going blind" that has a 70's Aerosmith meets Guns n' Roses and revolves around a basic but thick riff. "Drift Away" is a very G n' R inspired ballad and easily one of the better songs on the album because they sound so comfortable with this style. Closer "Heavy Load" comes on and it's a steady, but laid back mid-tempo tune. It's a simple style, but as with "Drift Away" they sound very comfortable and confident on it. There is no doubt that this young band has some talent and for being 11 Chase Beaire is very impressive plus his brother Riley has a a solid handle on while kind of riffs are needed at the right moment. They also do a good job of channeling their musical influences and the production was good. I would like to see them maybe put more of their own ideas into the music and I think that they could stand to grow as song writers. I also believe that these two skills can come with practice and experience. So hopefully they stick at it and I will be very interested to see how they progress because they are already off to a fine start.


http://www.myspace.com/encorerocks

Cold Blue Rebels-Blood, guts n' rock and roll

Self-produced
2010

As a huge fan of Halloween and horror movies I get little down when my favorite holiday is past and next October is a long ways off. If someone can combine horror and music well I like that just as well and that kind of music frequently helps me make it through the year. Fortunately a few bands seemed to be at least partially guided by this mentality as well. So what we have here is a psychobilly band formed from members of glam/punk bands. Cold Blue Rebels feature Mickey Finn on lead vocals and harmonica from Jetboy, guitarist Joe Normal and upright bass player Danny Dangerous from the purple-haired band The Zeros, and drummer Spazz Draztik from Glamour Punks. The band brings their love of classic rock, rockabilly and punk rock plus as an added bonus it's all wrapped up in a horror theme. Some times I get apprehensive when I see a "supergroup" of sorts form and try a different style of music. Not that I am against musicians spreading their wings, but frequently this approach doesn't work out. Fortunately in this case the results are impressive. Imagine the Stray Cats colliding with the Ramones and the Misfits on a dark and stormy night near your local graveyard and that's a fair starting point. "Cold, blue and beautiful" establishes the bouncing groove that guides many of their songs. It's fueled by a toe-tapping beat and you'll be singing the chorus the first time you hear the song. Not to be a one trick pony "Hellblock 13" has a stronger early Misfits vibe pushed in with a skull nodding rockabilly gallop. The band proves their ability to handle slower tracks as well with the infectiously smooth sounds of the tale of a women who is live,dead then undead in the not quite a love song that is "Worm hole hooker". One of my favorites on the album is "Pumpkin King" which comes a cross as a Halloween type anthem that you could listen to year around. The juicy harmonica bits on that songs make make this big thumping monster even better. Seriously every song here is solid and what's more it's great fun. Their live shows are supposed to contain coffins, ghoulish girl dancers and lots of zombie make-up and blood. Their energy on this album has me thinking they would be even better live. So dig 'em up (pun intended) and check 'em out.


http://www.myspace.com/coldbluerebels

http://www.coldbluerebels.com/

Sanktuary-Black Magic Brew

Self-produced
2010

This four song EP comes from Sanktuary who are based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. These guys have me thinking that they have spent quite a few hours sitting around in a basement or garage with an old turntable cranking out the likes Iron Maiden, early Slayer, Exodus, Omen and others. Opener "Beasts of lore" is a tight riffed galloping ride complimented by raw vocals and wild guitar solos. If anything this song gets stronger as it goes along. "Waking the dead" has a similar early thrash type feel, but a bit more of a melody blended in as well. They take their time building up the mood and their patience pays off. This is a real blood pumpin' kind of song that will have you nodding your head along the way. Although I was hoping for this song to explode on a few occasions and it never quite did. The title track is up next and again we get classic metal with a slight speed metal touch thrown in around the edges. Clocking in a little under seven minutes this is the longest track on the album. Although it could have been a little tighter down the stretch I did enjoy the solos and the rhythms in the last third of the song. Closer "Dark Logic" is perhaps the heaviest and fastest of the four tracks on the album. They saved the best for last as this aggressive slab of metal is a great way to end this likable effort. Now I love the energy and their effort in fitting in as much as they can into their songs. The downside would be the production is slightly dull at times, but that should easy to correct. Also the vocals lacked the punch I was hoping for on a few moments. I think both of these complaints could be fixed in the future. Overall an impressive EP full of old style fist pumping metal.


http://www.myspace.com/sanktuaryslays

Razorwyre-Coming out

Self-produced
2010

The number of bands playing 80's style metal seems to me like it has tripled over just the last say 3-4 years. I for one don't mind that at all. Not only are they plenty of these kind of bands springing up, but they coming from plenty of different countries. The band in question this time around is Razorwyre who hail from New Zealand. Their EP is a trip back in time to oh about 1984. Back in the days when mid paced was melting together with early thrash. Think of a mix of Iron Maiden style riffs paired the occasional bursts of Exciter and top that off with the raw quality of LA's Witch, the energy of Anvil and the power of Accept. Got it? Well, that's a fair starting place for where this band is coming from and what lack in originality they make up for in enthusiasm Now the lyrics are total cheese, but this music manages to pull you in instantly that their high cheese content will be pushed to the back of your mind. The guitars gallop along in fine form with the rhythm section thundering forward as well. Vocalist Z Chylde has a fair range and knows to use it. His approach with his change up from hitch pitched attacks to a clean early thrash style is what makes the final track "Suspiria" my favorite on the album. The biggest gripe I may have is the production. On some songs the slightly fuzzed up sound gives the guitar a retro-feel that works, but on other songs I was adjusting the volume and straining to hear the drums. So hopefully they will have a more consistent production to their music on the next go around. Still this real fist pumping metal that's worth a listen and I can't wait until they get around to giving us a full length effort.

http://www.myspace.com/razorwyreband

Weedeater-Jason the dragon

Southern Lord
2010

It’s been four years since the since last album from North Carolina’s Weedeater and in between 2007 and now they have toured a lot and suffered some injuries.In fact the injuries to the band members delayed the release of Jason the dragon by several months. Now it's a New Year, the bad luck of 2010 is behind Weedeater and most importantly there new release is upon us. Vocalist/bassist Dixie Dave leads the charge with his low rumbling vocals. The new album includes a variety of styles. We get full on doses of gritty sludge like Hammerhandle and the even thicker Mancoon. The oddly title Turkey Warlock will you down into a swirling pit of fuzzed out misery. We also get some change ups like the off kilter twang of Palms of opium. We even get treated to a spine-rattling drum instrumental in the form of March of the bipolar bear. Most of the tracks are relatively short, but the variety of this album definitely me feeling like I was getting massive doses of thick and edgy musical assaults. In fact this was one of those albums I took to right away and once the album finished I felt compelled to listen to it again right away. That was an urge that I followed several times while figuring out this review. Indeed it has been a long wait since the last album, but obviously it was worth it as Jason the dragon certainly delivers.

Death-Live in Japan 1995

XXL Media
DVD
2010


This concert was filmed in Tokyo for television back in 1995. Chuck Schuldiner's band was touring in support of their outstanding "Symbolic" album and they present 13 tracks. The visual quality isn't the greatest as the band often just wrapped in fuzzy hues of various colors. The camera angles are limited, but steady. I guess I have to take their word for it that this show is filmed in Tokyo because we never get to see the crowd except the backs of some heads in the dark. The sound quality however is quite decent and consistent. Schuldiner himself comes across as rather between songs and he keeps the banter to a minimum mostly just saying thank you and announcing song titles. Then when the songs begin he goes through a Jekyll and Hyde transformation as he becomes this seething, growling metal monster. The band as a whole are extremely tight, but Schuldiner is undoubtedly the center of attention as his hands are all over his guitar as he rips and tears out chunky riffs while belting out some beastly vocals. Death were not just one of the originators of the death metal sound because unlike a number of bands Death progressed over the years. They not only defined the death metal sound, but pushed the boundaries of the genre as well. This show is a testament to that fact as they knock out simple straight forward killers and more complex musical assaults as well. Just a few of the highlights include Crystal Mountain, Flattening of emotions, Empty Words and Open Casket. Really all the songs are tremendous. Definitely a DVD worth checking out.

Acelsia-Quietude

Self-produced
2010

Norway's Acelsia formed in 2007 and have knocked out several demos and been including on a few compilations before knocking out this EP. They are a female fronted gothic metal band that attempt to splice in various musical styles into their sound. I played this disc several times trying to be fair so let's throw the positives out there first. The music does actually make an attempt to blend in various styles including hard rock, classic metal, power metal and even doom metal. Considering three of the four songs are under five minutes in length this band really manages to fit several styles into fairly brief periods of time. For the most part the music is interesting at least it is during the times there are not vocals. Okay now for the parts that I couldn't take on this album. Outside of the quick riffs early in all of the songs and the overall decent solos, the rest of the music is bland when the vocals are going on. Any energy seems to dip down as they settle for a mid-tempo style that drifts along with the vocals. A bit of a letdown on every song. The vocals themselves revolve around soprano female vocals which dominate most of the time and belching grunts which pop up occasion too. The main vocals are in tune and I hate to say I have heard this style before, but I have and with far more emotion. While not bad these vocals do little to elevate the mood or build on the energy I felt early in many of the songs. Even worse is the completely unnecessary growing style which actually served to annoy and distract me. Any mood that was established was thrown off track when these growls came on. "Quiteude" is definitely an album with some real moments, but most are in the music so I hope they keep building from there and possibly evaluate what is and isn't working on their music.

What's coming up?

The New Year is almost upon us so I'll jump ahead and wish a Happy New Year to everyone! Hopefully it will be a good year for music as well.
Coming up this week we are aiming for reviews of the latest from Wino, Weedeater, Bruce Lamont,Damned Things, Acelsia, Axe Battler and Votum plus maybe one more. Also there will be Forgotten Gems on Europe and Malice and Clash of the album covers.

***Have a great week!

Faanefjell-Trollmasj

Mayhem
2010

Faanefjell is a Norwegian mountain and the story goes that trolls were driven away by people building their houses and churches. That lead to a battle over the land between the trolls and humans as both groups thought they had rights to the land. So Trollmarsj is the story of the mountain, humans, priests, fights and the march of the two trolls, Grimtroll and Sørtroll. The music is a combination of black, folk and symphonic metal. All three styles are frequently pushed together in the telling of this story. The album also features guest appearances by Cato Arghamon (Trail of Tears, Dimension F3H, Cutthroat, Lucid Fear), Ronny Thorsen (Trail of Tears), Frank Ørland (ex-Scariot, ex-Harm), Daniel Sandén-Varg (Odd Nordstoga) and Audun Grønnestad (Imperia, Angel). Largely it's a two man band carrying out their vision on this concept album. This is certainly and involved album that requires the listener to really focus in on what is transpiring. The idea behind the storytelling element appeals to me, but the gruff black metal vocals oftentimes make it difficult to understand the events taking place. So I frequentlty felt left with just the music to set the mood. Fortunately on that level there was enough to pull me in. The music has a wide range of styles and the blend is rough, but I think that is intentional to show the conflict between the warring parties. The music maintains a certain power and beauty at the same time. Not an album I could to listen to every day, but I see myself listening to this one a few more times this winter.

Best and worst album covers of 2010

Ah, album covers I still love to look at them. That's not to say they are all good, but I still spend time looking at album covers and it's good to know there are still some fine covers coming out. Let's look at the not so good or bad if you will.

Here are a couple for the could have been better category.


Yeah, it's Eddie, but if a Maiden cover doesn't strike you as being cool right away then something is wrong.



The Helloween logog looks good, but the main image is like a steampunk version of a blender blade. It's okay, but not really front cover worthy.


Davie Rock Feinstein's cover is just totally bland. How much thought really went into this cover?

And...

Lethal Saint's cover is going for a DIY/early thrash cover kind of look, but it comes across as more of a "sketch on a book cover by a bored 8th grader" kind of look.



And finally...

Yngwie in his normal "I am wanker see me pose" stance. There are worse Yngwie covers, but once again this is no good.


Let's look at some of the covers that I really liked.

First some typical ideas done in likable ways.


Yeah, it's a skull and like 30% of all metal albums seem to have them slapped on their covers. I like the cover of Earthride's latest. The backgrounds colors and the blending of the object work for me.


Okay, it's a tough warrior with a weapon and we see plenty of those all over metal covers every year, but I really took to Immaculate's album cover. I only wish the music had been as good as the cover...it wasn't though.

Some different ones...


Intronaut's latest is an odd, but catchy cover.


Dawnbringer's latest uses only a few colors, but I love the depth and the mood they create.

And finally...



The Rocketchief cover plays on a definite nostalgia angle, but I loved it the first time I saw it.


***There you go. Feel free to add what covers from 2010 you liked or didn't like.