Devil's Dare-Demonstration 2016

Self-Release/Independent 
2016

"Demonstration 2016" is the first studio recording from Boston hard rock/heavy metal band Devil's Dare. It was released on March 29th and this instant-classic EP features four vintage-sounding songs with the best of the bunch being the last cut, "Into the Sky". Even though the notes say "Demonstration 2016" was laid to tape sometime between 2015 and 2016 the actual music on Devil's Dare's debut comes across as if it could have been recorded at the start of the eighties! As far as influences go you're looking at everything from the (early) N.W.O.B.H.M. scene to eighties underground metal as well as classic seventies hard rock bands like Rainbow and Deep Purple. Whether this is a full-tile band or a one and done project is anyone's guess, but simply going by the fact that this EP comes from Chris Corry (Magic Circle, Mentally Challenged, Mind Eraser, No Tolerance, Prisoner Abuse, Put to Death, Soul Swallower, Stoner Dagger, World War 4, ex-Death Evocation) I'd sadly have to lean towards the latter. Ultimately only time will tell, but if Chris Corry just so happens to read this review then I'd like to say "PLEASE make Devil's Dare the real deal!". This four-track EP is so good, but at the end of the day it leaves you wanting more! Simply put, "Demonstration 2016" is one of the BEST examples of vintage-inspired hard rock/heavy metal out there and I know I'm not the only one that would like to see a full range of products from multi-colored Devil's Dare LPs to tee-shirts! Devil's Dare is that good and so is this demo....

Seth-Seth (2CD Complete Discography)

Minotauro Records
2014

Straight up front class I've just got to say that this review is long overdue. And the reasoning behind that early morning admission reads a little something like this. As deep and expansive as this career retrospective is for Boston's Seth the actual music in question here is twice as explosive and captivating! Frankly-speaking there is far too much (top-of-the-shelf) hard rock and heavy metal here to cover in one sitting! Or if you will, "Seth" is one of those rare treats where you could write a full-pledged article on the band and still not even scratch the service as far as just what it is about these rockers that made them so great! And yet the band name Seth remains largely unheard of which is absolutely criminal! I was only a year old in 1974 and yet there was Boston's Seth, lead by the incredible voice of guitarist (occasional bassist/keyboardist) Gerald "Gerry" Stafford, starting out of the gate on a pathway towards personal glory. Yes, there were covers likely to be found in the band's initial start, but cover tracks merged with original compositions and over time a band like Seth covered an unreal amount of territory. Seventies hard rock mixed with progressive rock and the blues plowed headlong into the emerging N.W.O.B.H.M. sound. There was commercial rock and even folk with every new avenue bearing the fruits of their labors! For Seth it was seemingly all too easy as the strong songwriting and catchy melodies found on this 2CD set suggest. Covering everything the band did from the seventies to modern day, with the 2014 recording of "The Abbey of Thelema" posting proof-positive that a band like Seth never runs dry when it comes to top-tier material(!), "Seth" is jam-packed with material with each CD here filled to maximum capacity! With their self-titled LP from 1980 opening up this wonderful set I was hooked from the very start and left wondering out loud who it was that a group like this wasn't a bigger threat to eighties rock radio? Along with unreleased singles, demos, live material, home recordings and rehearsal tapes it's all here on this expansive set with Minotauro offering these Boston rockers the royal treatment! You'll find the band's history covered in the booklet as you find out more about not just band founder/chief songwriter Gerry Stafford, but fellow bandmates (and talented musicians in their own right!) Rich Santapaga (bass, synthesizer, and vocals) and Dom Marrtignetti (drums, percussion, and vocals). The mini LP gatefold Japanese-style paper-sleeve packaging holds a nice poster featuring colorful live shots of the band in action and thanks to the extra polishing that fantastic album received "Seth" rolls out of your speakers in grand fashion! I've provided a link below with the full track listing, but suffice to say  there's very little about this 2CD career-spanning collection not to like! For this sadly-forgotten band this double CD release is a start, but really Seth deserves all the high-praise and recognition that they can get! For fans of 70's hard rock, (light) metal and prog I simply cannot recommend this package enough! This Boston band ruled the local scene in the late 70s and early 80s and this magnificent 2 CD set helps show you exactly why that was and why you should not only care about Seth, but be vocally loud about their contributions to hard rock and progressive rock! On sale now for the incredible low price of only $16.90 (it's worth it's weight in gold if you ask me!!!!) you can now hold a piece of history in your own hands by heading here: http://www.minotaurorecords.com/#!cds/cnec And (as promised) for those who might want to check out this sweet set's full track listing in advance (and why not as it packs a real punch!) I suggest going right here: http://www.minotaurorecords.com/#!product/prd2/3279545621/seth-2-cd-complete-discography

PS: While there really is too much in the way of material here to cover in advance I would like to add the following note. Musically-speaking there is strong material here that would appeal to fans of Rush as well as fans of Kiss, Judas Priest and even Diamond Head! Seth were nothing short of masters when it came time to crafting heavy rocking songs and they covered so much ground that this 2CD set should easily appeal to just about everyone who values real rock and guitar-oriented hard rock. Any band that can move this easily between clean hard rock and complex progressive rock is worth investing time in and in a day and age where everything retro is suddenly hip a trio like Seth should be on the tip of every one's tongues!

Ice Nine Kills-The Predator Becomes The Prey

Outerloop/Fearless Records
2014

Formed in 2006 by high school friends Spencer Charnas (lead vocals) and Jeremy Schwartz (guitar and vocals), with the original moniker of Ice Nine being swapped out just prior to the release of the group's debut album, "Last Chance to Make Amends", Ice Nine Kills are a Boston-based melodic hardcore/post-hardcore/metalcore band whose musical exploration/evolution has been, if nothing else, "interesting". From start (2006's "Last Chance to Make Amends") to finish, with the 11-track "The Predator Becomes The Prey" serving as home plate, Ice Nine Kills' transition could best be summed up with a Grateful Dead line: "Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it's been". Early on the band rolled out the pop-punk/emo rock wagon and custom fitted it (by all accounts) with post-hardcore and ska! Thankfully things changed for the better and by the time the group had released the follow-up to "Last Chance to Make Amends", which would be 2007's well-received EP, "The Burning", the band's sound has been greatly-improved with welcomed-arrival of (more straight-forward) hardcore and metallic riffs. Onward the band would prowl and in 2009, after guitarist/co-founder Jeremy Schwartz left the band after having (reportedly) had enough of life lived on the road (thus leaving lead vocalist Spencer Charnas as the sole original member), members of Rochester-based post-hardcore band Remember Tomorrow were recruited to fill out the line-up. Evidently this had the effect of driving Ice Nine Kills, or if you will their sound, further down the rabbit hole of all that is melodic hardcore/post-hardcore because we have on "The Predator Becomes The Prey" is anything but emo and/or pop-punk! Spencer, now credited with vocals and screams, with Justin "JD" DeBlieck (guitars, screams), Justin Morrow (bass) and Conor Sullivan (drums) rounding out the current version of Ice Kill Nine, furiously takes hold of the reins on opener "The Power Is Belief" and never once looks back! With the benefit of a proper-production and the effective interplay that comes by way of Spencer and JD's shared "vocals", and not to mention DeBlieck's well-timed and refreshing metallic solos (something not often seen in post-hardcore/melodic-hardcore albums like this one especially when metalcore gets added to the equation) the picture that is painted when it comes to "The Predator Becomes The Prey" is one of reflection (the previously released benefit single, "The Product of Hate", was a response to the horrific tragedy that was for the Boston marathon bombing) and outright intensity ("The Power In Belief" and "Let's Bury The Hatchet...In Your Head" are just the first two numbers of this nearly 40 minute long release and the way in which they force-feed HUGE metallic riffs and ear-shattering screams down upon the listener is nothing short of CHAOTIC and DESTRUCTIVE!). Along the way tracks like "The Coffin Is Moving", "The Fastest Way To A Girl's Heart Is Through Her Ribcage" (love the tile there guys!), "Jonathan", "What I Never Learned in Study Hall" (featuring very cool guest vocals from former Woe, Is Me front-man/current Issues lead vocalist Tyler Carter) and the previously-released single "Connect The Cuts" keep the energy flowing until "My Life In Two" fulfills this band's obligation to lay waste to everything and everyone in their path with emotionally-empowering rock! Yes, just like any melodic hardcore band worth it's two cents the band slows things down when needed and they do an excellent job at showcases their humanity (as evident by the lyrical narrative of this album) even amongst all of the album's utter-most heavy moments. Still, albums like this one (if there are any ones I mean as this is remarkable fresh!) are meant to be played LOUD and enjoyed for the emotional-release that they give off. Obviously that first part (playing this one LOUD!!!!) is optional, but that second part about releasing ones pent-up emotions? Well, I wouldn't think that would be much of a choice! For a band like Ice Nine Kills, who live in the shadows of the great Boston hardcore scene, this is an album that SHOULD serve as a real door-opener. Other then the album's relentless use of screams there is more then enough of a HEAVY edge about this one to appeal to thrashers out there especially as there is no shortage of metallic solos. Let me put it another way. I would be really surprised if  three or four years down the road (that is provided this shaky world of ours survives that long!) we didn't look back upon "The Predator Becomes The Prey" as the album that broke this Boston-based collective into the mainstream. Yes, it is that strong, both musically and lyrically, and, even if you've never given much thought to post-hardcore and/or melodic hardcore, this is one of those album's that I enthusiastically endorse! It appears as if my best-off list for 2014 is already growing pretty long and we are not even out of January!

Boston-Life, Love & Hope

Frontiers Records
2013

It's funny, but literally one day after I first sat down to listen to the mp3's for "Life, Love & Hope" for my review a CD copy of the album showed up in my mail. How very strange that is I must say. Very strange indeed. Possibly not as strange as the musical direction of Boston's latest release, but strange nonetheless. 
So anyway, this is Boston's sixth studio album overall and their first new release in some 11 years. It's the first one since 2002's "Corporate America" from which several cuts have been taken. Those tracks include "Didn't Mean To Fall In Love", "Someone" and "You Gave Up On Love". So technically-speaking this isn't an entirely "new" release, but eight out of eleven isn't all that bad right? Then again seeing as there is/was a Best Buy version that offered the bonus track "Te Quiero Mia" (which is a re-arrangement of "I Had a Good Time" with a Spanish chorus) it does seem as if there should have been more new material from the band's sole-driving force these days, Tom Scholz. That's right, these days it's just Tom Scholz calling all the shots for Boston and in addition to arranging the music at hand and playing the majority of the instruments on "Life, Love & Hope" he also engineered and produced the band's latest release. As he's always been his own biggest critic (or is it worst enemy?) everything about "Life, Love & Hope" falls on him whether it's good things like the Brad Delp-lead "Didn't Mean To Fall In Love" (Which reminded me in parts of Dire Straits while it also retains a little bit of the trademark Boston sound of old!) or bad things like the tiring "Love Got Away" which finds Tom looking to go at it almost completely alone. Not the strongest vocalist, Tom is better served when he steps away from the mic and let's other people sing lead like David Victor (opener "Heaven on Earth", which also features Louis St. August of Mass fame, shines with the combination of David's mic work and Schotz's guitar playing) and the late great Brad Delp ("Someone 2.0" and the oddly arranged "Sail Away").  Meanwhile the album also features lead vocals from Tommy DeCarlo (yes) who sounds good on the title cut and one Kimberley Dahme (eh, no!) whose voice seems to drag down every track she's involved with! Sorry if that sounds like a harsh criticism, but she takes what might otherwise be decent AOR numbers ("Sail Away" and "If You Were In Love") and turns them into atrocious elevator music! Those are the type of songs which drive normal people to the brink of madness where jumping in front of a moving train seems like a better option then having to endure mindless drivel! And speaking of mindless, one does have to wonder if Tom took a leave from his senses in regards to the album's use of drum machines! I'm sorry, but for a band like Boston, which the promo material rightly points out has been staple of U.S. Classic Rock Radio thanks to such gems as "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Smokin'", "Don't Look Back" and "Amanda", to ditch the use of a live drummer for a piece of digital technology is wrong on so many levels! You would think that there has to be at least one session drummer out there who could have meet Tom's expectations right? So why use a cheap-sounding drum machine then? Why I ask??? Tom, if for some reason you actually read this, listen my friend. The music of Boston (especially your first two albums) was classic rock in it's finest. Even on "Third Stage" (which saw the arrival of drum samples) it was still high-quality rock and roll. So why change all of that? Even if Boston did evolve, which I am trying not to fault them for as many bands change the course of their music over the years to keep themselves fresh and feeling invigorated, taking away the use of live drums cheapened what could have still been pretty solid-sounding AOR. Unfortunately though the drum machines utilized on Boston's latest release stick out like sore thumb and, along with the off-kilter female vocals of Miss Kimberley, make a lot of this release sound remarkably weak and limp! So, while Tom Scholz is trying to steady the boat on one hand with his classic rock skills (again, check out this album's opener which find Tom's guitar playing rekindling some of the magic of Boston of old!) the rest of the vessel is taking on water at an alarming rate due to all the holes (bad drum machines and backing vocals) that have been drilled there with Tom's other hand! It's counterproductive to say the least! Even if you were able to make your way past the fact that this sappy album has five, yes count them folks, five tracks total (!) with the word "love" in them you would still have a heck of a time getting past some of the major flaws of "Life, Love & Hope"! And I'm not even going to start on the production side of things either! It's sad to listen to a release like this and then realize that despite being over 10 years in the making it still sounds as if it was hastily put together with little thought other then the option of re-using previous album tracks as well as (seemingly from the sounds of things) leftover/filler tracks from abandoned projects! Given the fact there are more rejects here then real rockers there's no way I could rightly justify this one to Boston fans or for that matter regular AOR fans!

Wargasm-Satan Stole My Lunch Money (Deluxe Expanded Edition)

YAAG
2013

Back in 1988 Boston, Massachusetts-based trio Wargasm, which was made up of bassist/vocalist Bob Mayo and (twin?) brothers Barry & Rich Spillberg (drums and guitar respectively), made the scene thanks to one sensational slab of thrash metal goodness. With the 25th anniversary of that album, which for the uniformed amongst you was Wargasm's classic debut album "Why Play Around?", now staring us in the face it would be nice to get a well-deserved deluxe copy of said album on CD right? Well, unfortunately the rights to the said album remain in some sort of limbo so the band did the next best thing and ended up gathering  all of their mid-eighties demos ("Satan Stole My Lunch Money," "Your Dog's Teeth," "Gasm It," and "Spirit In Decay.") for this 11 track (digital-only) release. On "Satan Stole My Lunch Money (Deluxe Expanded Edition)" you're treated to the same kind (wonderful) crushing thrash metal that was on display the group's killer full-length debut "Why Play Around?". As I have "Why Play Around?" on vinyl I can confidently say that if you dug that album as much as I do then you will love this collection! Amazing as it may sound the material on "Satan Stole My Lunch Money (Deluxe Expanded Edition)" still comes across as fresh which is really something when you stop and consider the fact that these 11 tracks were taken directly from original cassette demos which, believe it or not kiddos, were 20-25 years old! Crazy right? And yet all it takes is one listen for yourself and you'll hear what I'm talking about. Even after all this time the 11 tracks here showcase a band that should have been bigger. This is classic (read: TIMELESS!!!!!) thrash metal from a trio of musicians who embraced the music of the time and pulled off no stops in order to give their fans real metal! Even if it's a bummer that "Why Play Around?" will probably never get it's proper treatment (which is really stupid as it would be a GUARANTEED hot seller as a deluxe CD re-release!) this collection is a real treat for fans of this legendary Boston thrash act. This great collection of demos (which sound more like professional studio recordings) is available on iTunes and is obviously a must for Wargasm fans as well as those of you who out there (both young and old) who appreciate the glory of old-school thrash metal!

Ramming Speed-Doomed To Destroy, Destined To Die

Prosthetic
2013 

Representing Boston, Massachusetts we have the 5-piece act known as Ramming Speed. If you looked at that name and the album art above and said "Now, I betcha that's a full-tilt, boogie-down thrashaholic band right there" then give yourself a golden star! Formed back in 2005 (and originally going by the moniker Despotic Robot) this Boston act owes more to Bay Area thrash (Testament, Megadeth, Exodus, Possessed, Death Angel, etc.) and New York metal (Anthrax, Carnivore, S.O.D., etc.) then anything else. Well, that's not completely true as there might also be a splinter of N.W.O.B.H.M. to be found within this act (It's more along the lines of groups like Avenger, Raven and Venom) and then there's the grindcore influences. Yeah, there's some grindcore. Its not overly prominent, but you can still pick-up on some Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death and Carcass love within these tracks. While all of these different sounds smashed together could have easily ended up as a bloody mess the opposite is true. All of these different pieces fall into place rather nicely and serve to give this act a real D.I.Y. flavor. Or at least when it comes to the music on this LP as the production, which captures the essence of what this 5-piece act is thrashing on about, is much more then some bargain basement quality recording! Rather the recording, which took place at GodCity Studios (With Kurt Ballou (Converge, Kvelertak, Black Breath) sitting behind the producers chair), fits with the music rather splendidly like a well-loved pair of (bloodied) doc martins on a heavy metal thrasher! In addition to it's damn near perfect production job, Brad Boatwright (Sleep, High on Fire, SUNN O))),Tragedy) did a killer job of mastering this (pit-worthy) album over at AudioSiege. So, from one end to the other, everything just keeps busy working together on this heavy platter and the end result is a real, flesh and blood album with that D.I.Y. vibe. And frankly that's what works best about Ramming Speed-that D.I.Y metal mentality! It might not be new or anything fancy when you have bands that draw from everyone from Motörhead to D.R.I. to Slayer, but when it's done with integrity, and yes, an eye locked on both pleasure and perfection, it's a real blast for the listener. Ramming Speed are the kind of band you could easily listen to and feel at home with. Even more, whenever you're in the mood to blow off some serious steam this one custom suites your need for destruction and carnage! In other words you can chill out this LP while you thrash out all thanks to this Boston-based metal act! Bottom line here is this: Ramming Speed rock out with a D.I.Y. outlook and, after you're done getting your brain blasted off by some bone crushing thrashcore, what you end up with in the end is a monster of a LP titled "Doomed To Destroy, Destined To Die"! Without skimping on this review anymore there's not much more to the picture then that...although that's enough for today's scene I'd argue!