Lucifer's Hammer-Beyond the Omens

Shadow Kingdom Records
2016

Serving as the follow-up to the highly-acclaimed "Night Sacrifice", "Beyond The Omens" is the first full-length album from Santiago's Lucifer's Hammer. With a grand total of eight songs and a run-time that just breaks the 40 minute mark, "Beyond The Omens" is also one of 2016's BEST heavy metal releases! This Chilean' metal band's long-overdue debut album is EVERYTHING that there was to love about the gem that was 2013's "Night Sacrifice" only with better musicianship and songwriting as well as a slightly more polished feel. It's a mind-boggling mystery, but somehow the guys in Lucifer's Hammer took what was already a killer sound (and a damn fantastic style of true heavy metal!) and they made it a dozen times more lethal! And that my friends is no easy task. Not in the least! With "Night Sacrifice" I found a true heavy metal band that took it's cues from not only the "N.W.O.B.H.M. scene, but cult U.S. metal bands like Salem's Wych, Graven Image, Sinister Angel, Griffin, Warchylde, Heathen's Rage and DarkStarr!". That wicked band was young and hungry and the two members of the band (vocalist/guitarist Hades and drummer Titan) made it their mission in life to resurrect the golden greats of classic heavy metal and the N.W.O.B.H.M. movement and then pump as much fury and energy into the whole process as humanly possible. Here it is some three years later and that same strong and passionate band has really come into their own on their full-length debut. Having originally released "Night Sacrifice" in the same year in which they formed it's only naturally that this group would have grown as far as musicianship and songwriting is concerned. But the strange thing is Lucifer's Hammer almost sounds like a band that has magically been reborn. Yes, Lucifer's Hammer has grown from a two-piece band into something a bit more well-rounded and fierce. On the f**king spectacular "Beyond the Omens" lead guitars were expertly handled by one Hypnos (Sebastian Inzunza). But given that admission, "Beyond the Omens" is very much the work of one heavy metal band that lost it's extra weight and got leaner despite the added muscle! It's a case of subtraction by addition. Not that it actually matters in the end. What matters most is what an album like this one means for metal fans both young and old. In "Beyond the Omens" the metal community has another flashing sign that good old fashioned heavy metal is alive and well. This time-honored style of metal isn't going anywhere anytime soon thanks to bands like Lucifer's Hammer. And that's a good thing. Scratch that. It's a GREAT thing! A really GREAT thing!! But then again so is this album!!!

N.W.O.B.H.M. Wednesday: Salem-Dark Days

Pure Steel Records
2016

Regular visitors to Heavy Metal Time Machine should know that I am a long-time fan of the British metal band Salem. It was back in late November of 2011 that I covered this group's superb 2010 compilation, "In The Beginning...", and I followed that review up with write-ups of the 2013 EP, "X-Rated" and the group's last full-length album, "Forgotten Dreams". I've even had the honor of interviewing this legendary N.W.O.B.H.M. band so when I first heard about their brand new 11-track album here I was stoked! I'm here to today to lay down some cold hard truth for fans of Salem and that is as follows. With a due date of April 29th, "Dark Days" is not only a proper follow-up to Salem's 2013 disc "Forgotten Dreams", but it is easily  the best thing that this British band has ever laid to tape! Hell, "Dark Days" might just end up being one of my favorite hard rock/heavy metal albums of the year if not my undisputed number one!! Opening by way of the catchy-as-hell hard rocker, "Not Guilty" (Man alive I love this sick number with it's perfect mixture of  melody and metal madness!), "Dark Days" finds lead singer Simon Saxby (ex-Deep Fix) in top form and as these 11 tracks unfold he makes the case for being one of N.W.O.B.H.M.'s most underrated front man! Simon's not the only member of Salem to shine on "Dark Days" though. In fact he's just one key piece of the overall puzzle that is Salem the cult N.W.O.B.H.M. band. Guitarist Paul Macnamara and his brother in arms, Mark Allison, weave a deeply magical spell when it comes to Salem's new masterpiece. From the heavy rock/hard rock of "Not Guilty" all the way through to the powerhouse rocker "Tank"* that closes things out the technical guitar work on Salem's new album is nothing short of exquisite! The lead guitar solos are so good in fact that I found myself getting lost in the moment on more than one occasion!! Phrases like smoking hot and words like wizardly immediately spring to mind when you're talking about the six-string majesty that is Paul Macnamara & Mark Allison work on "Dark Days"! And how about the rhythm section of Salem? Can we just stop and have a little chat about bassist Adrian Jenkinson and drummer Paul Mendham (Innersylum, ex-Infobia, ex-Outland, ex-Q, ex-Rise, ex-The Hidden) for a moment? This pair adds the explanation point (!) to red hot British metal thanks to musicianship that is second to none! With the added benefit that comes from solid gold bass lines and impact is immediate drumming a band like Salem zips their merry way WAY past good hard rock/heavy metal and into the realms of the almighty epic!! Collectively-speaking, Salem is comprised of five top-tier musicians who have obviously taken the time to craft one of 2016's finest records. While I could work my way through each and every number on "Dark Days" let's just settle things right now and just say that they are ALL gems! In conclusion I'd just like you to take a moment and close your eyes for second. Now try to imagine a perfect hard & heavy platter where the likes of AC/DC, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Diamond Head, Fifth Angel, Gillian, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Maineeaxe, More (N.W.O.B.H.M. band), Praying Mantis, Rainbow, Saxon, the Scorpions, Thin Lizzy, TKO, UFO, Van Halen, and Wild Spirit all come together for the sole purpose of creating long-lasting & highly- memorable music that is as catchy as it is clever. Add in the sound and style that is all Salem and Salem alone and you're talking about the greatest that is "Dark Days"! My friends it simply does not get better than this...




"Tank"* features a collaboration with former Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton!