Death of Kings-Hell Comes to Life

Boris Records
2017

Based in Atalanta, Georgia and active since 2009, Death of Kings is a (vintage thrash-infused) traditional heavy metal band that seems to love Motörhead as much as I do! The obvious question now is where have they been all my life? Eh, scratch that. After taking a look at the group's Facebook page it sure looks as if Death of Kings has been tearing up the scene for some time now. Apparently they have also shared the stage with the likes of Morbid Angel, D.R.I, Mastodon, Skeletonwitch, and 3 Inches of Blood. I guess the better question would be "Why am I always the last to know about groups like this?". Having made their studio debut in 2010,  Death of Kings now has two demos, two EPs, a split, and one single to it's name. For some dumb reason this 7" vinyl serves as my first introduction to these thrash-loving merchants of true heavy metal. That is an epic fail on my part so how about if I reach across the aisle and make things right? Due out on March 31st, "Hell Comes to Life" is the latest recording for this (loud & proud) band that is lead by Matt Matson (vocals/guitar). With bassist Scott Price and drummer Amos Rifkin (Spewtilator) anchoring this mean S.O.B with brute force, Death of Kings also features guitarist Matt Kilpatrick from the death metal band Cemetery Filth. This forthcoming release includes the title track and "Hell Patrol". As previously mentioned, Motörhead is a key source of inspiration, but then again so are the bands Exodus, Testament, Slayer, (early) Tank, Kreator, Destruction, (and to a lesser extent) Venom. On the second spin, "Hell Comes to Life" reaffirmed my suspicion that there was some love shown for Seattle's The Accüsed vibes, but I don't think it is intentional. It might just be something as simple as Matt Matson's vocal delivery, but I felt it all the same. Speaking of Death of Kings kick ass front-man, Matt does a stand-up job of getting right after the mic on these two tracks. His vocal style makes "Hell Comes to Life" all the more unrelenting (and dare I even say sinister?) Backed up by his (unholy) heavy metal brothers in arms, Matt Matson grabs hold of the listener and delivers a fierce & fiery sermon on hell's power to rock you from the grave! With a full-length album due out later in the year, I simply cannot wait until Matt delivers a follow-up lesson with the full blessing and support of this (heavy metal worshiping!) thrash-attack band!!

Death On Two Wheels-Death On Two Wheels

The Ghost Umbrella
2014

Self-produced and serving as the follow-up to "Separation Of Church And Fate", "Death On Two Wheels" is the sophomore release from the Atlanta rock and roll roadsters of the same same. Made up of members Trae Vedder (Vocals, Guitar) Jacob Bubacz (Lead Guitar, Vocals), Stuart Roane (Bass, Vocals), Greg Neel (Drums, Vocals) and Alec Stanley (Organ, Rhodes, Vocals) this Georgia-based act first appeared on my doorsteps by way of a free sampler. Exclusive to NoiseTrade and available by providing your e-mail address at the link below said sampler included the likes of "Look At The Sound", "Hey Amariah", "Blamed Your Friends", "Death Wolf" and "Giving It All Away". That proved to be more than enough of a tasty sampling as soon I found my way here (http://deathontwowheels.bandcamp.com/) to download the whole affair! Originally recommended for fans of band's like Foo Fighters, The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, Queens Of The Stone Age and J. Roddy Walston & The Business (seeing as this band is indebted to 70's hard rock as much as they are the whole post-grunge and modern day garage rock scene) the actually truth of the matter is this Atlanta rock and roll band is less a copy of any of the above and more a complete original notion with "Death On Two Wheels" becoming one of those rare albums where the kids (ie: my two teens) and I wholeheartedly agreed that yeah, this one flat-out rocks! But hey, considering the fact that you can download half of this album for yourself for free and essentially stream the other half at the group's bandcamp page why not just check it out for yourself? 

You can download the free sampler be heading here: http://noisetrade.com/deathontwowheels/death-on-two-wheels

https://www.facebook.com/deathontwowheels 

http://deathontwowheels.com/

Gunpowder Grey-Gunpowder Grey

Boris Records
2014

You've heard it all before and so have I. After all it's the same song and dance. Members from this band and then that band come together and, unlike their day jobs, make music that's more rock n' roll then anything you would expect to hear from said people in their normal bands. In this case you're looking at a (self-dubbed) "Rock n' Roll sleaze"* act from Atlanta, Ga. (we'll get to that part in a second!) that is made up of two Disfigurement members in vocalist Nate Godbee and guitarist Adam Besserer (ex-Morionor, ex-Hellgoat, ex-Jenovah, ex-Malefic) and "three local punk veterans" in Chris Heffernan (guitar and vocals), Sam Vaughan (bass) and Joey O'Brien (drummer who also performs with Biters). And true to form the various members come together to try their hand at something different. Or at least on the Disfigurement end as A) This is anything but death metal! and B) I really have no idea who these other three gentlemen are! 

Looking the part....

When you think about it though the days jobs of these gents don't add up to a stack of beans (or is it hill of beans?). Right? Even if these sort of side-projects are quickly becoming the norm Gunpowder Grey should be judged on their own merits. So, I'll park my cynicism at the door as we check out "Gunpowder Grey" together. I mean hey, I'm just as new to these Atlanta act as you are! Or I was. Having listened to this one through I know feel as if I have a pretty fair idea of what these guys are on about and, truth be told, it ain't all that bad kids! Starting up front you've got lead singer Nate Godbee and, while this guy might normally be doing the whole death metal thing, here he comes across as a more rough and ready (and not to mention lean and mean fighting machine) Axl Rose! And he works well in this capacity. As a front-man he excels on the mic and even if there are moments when his vocals make the whole affair sound like blues-punk version of Guns N' Roses the album still passes the smell test. And his band-mates? Well, there might not be a Slash anchoring this outfit, but these guys do more then a fine job of keeping up with lead singer Nate Godbee and giving his voice a nice sound to fall back on. And that sound is fairly cool in it's own right! While the group might be wearing their best "easy & sleazy" outfits they also take a stab at a more "mean" metal sound here and there. Now, the promo says that they draw their sound from Black Sabbath and Pentagram as well as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. I've just got to say that maybe you could stake a claim at the latter, but the former? Truthfully Pentagram might work (as they were not strictly doom), but I scratch my head at the idea that a band like this draws their sound from Black Sabbath. And that is exactly why you can't always trust everything you read in promos boys and girls. Sill, the other part of the equation is fine as, at the heart of this group mind you, one could likely find some N.W.O.B.H.M. influences. They would be the more hard rock side of the N.W.O.B.H.M. scene, but it would be there and reasonable enough to see that as being the case. As a compromise though let's call this act a bluesy & sleazy hard rock act with some metal hooks at their disposal. Sound fair? Don't take my word for it though. You can hear a couple of tracks that made it onto the seven-song album (albeit it slightly different forms) like "Cummin' My Way" (ha ha!) and the title cut right here:  http://gunpowdergray.bandcamp.com/. After that you can even download the album track "Cut Me Out" right here: http://puregrainaudio.com/audio/gunpowder-gray-cut-me-out-free-song-download-exclusive-world-premiere. Then you could judge for yourself what this band brings to the table. Now, as I wrap this one up it should be pointed out that on Record State Day (April 19th) Boris Records will release the group's self-titled EP on 12" purple translucent vinyl format! And yes Virgina, it looks mighty wicked if the pick below is to be believed!

One could argue that albums like this one would sound better on vinyl (being that it's eighties-tinged hard rock and all!), but we'll leave that discussion for another day! When it comes right down to it these guys do what they do and they do it right so I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't like this EP. Maybe it's not brilliant (none of the tracks really screamed out to be unfortunately), but there really isn't a clunker to be found out of the seven tracks. Instead "Gunpowder Grey" is a rock-steady release from musicians who likely have much more to offer down the road! Let's just hope they get that chance...

www.facebook.com/GunpowderGray
gunpowdergray.bandcamp.com
 borisrecords.bandcamp.com
 www.boris-records.com
www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Boris-Records/186507934792104

*Or so says their bandcamp page! In reality though Gunpowder Grey takes a more blues-based approach to their sleazy rock and roll along with the already mentioned N.W.O.B.H.M. additions.