Thunder Tribe-War Chant

Nightmare / Sony / R.E.D.
2013

Am I the only one who just loves that album art? How could I even try to resist "War Chant" with a cover like that! It more or less has a 80's heavy metal air to it so when I saw it I had to know if the music tucked away inside would compliment that choice cover. For the most part it actually does. When it comes to the five piece act Thunder Tribe, who are said to hail from Metalville USA! (otherwise known as Kentucky), here we find a band that isn't content to just knock out the same old same old heavy metal. This group has a lot to offer on "War Chant" which may or may not be their debut album. It's hard to tell when it comes to this 11 track release as they don't spell it out as such (being their debut album), but then again they don't list any other albums online. While I can't be sure of what album this is I can at least be confident in the knowledge that Thunder Tribe has a different take on rock/heavy metal that really works. Their Facebook page mentions how Thunder Tribe has covered everyone from Boston to Pantera live (crazy cool!) and their influences seem to run from Black Sabbath to The Beatles. Classic rock by way of melodic heavy metal and progressive/power metal is the best way to describe this bunch that features the near operatic vocals of Michael Duncan. Of course vocals like that give way to a sound not at all unlike bands like Savatage, Queensrÿche and Crimson Glory, but when you have guitarists like Ronnie Duncan and Rick Sargent on hand anything can happen! Listen closely and you'll pick up on so many other bands/influences in Thunder Tribe's sound like Alice In Chains Kiss, Triumph, Sweet, Led Zeppelin, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Genesis, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Tesla, Dokken, Extreme, Journey, B.O.C., Jimi Hendrix, Dio, Black Sabbath and even Kansas! Sure it sounds crazy and that's because it is! A band like this shouldn't work out. It should be a royal mess right? And yet it isn't. The group, which also features Tom Dawson (bass) and Chad Osborne (drums), has essentially perfected a new take on modern rock and modern metal. They've done this by burying their heads deep into the history books of rock and metal and applying everything they learned on these 11 tracks! Guitar rock solos hang around while melodic metal dances in the moonlight! You get near Metallica like riffs doing the tango with 70's prog rock! The heavy appeal of early grunge meets up with 60's pop and they share a cold pitcher of beer! It's all of that and more and you know what? It's moments like this that make me appreciate this gig of mine all the more. For someone like me, who loves all things rock (incl. pop rock) and heavy metal (incl. pop metal), this is just epic awesomeness. An album like this really picks me up and pulls me through those moments when everything and everyone (music-wise) just starts to blur together. While it might not be a brilliant piece of work, "War Chant" is still one album that I'd like to add to my personal CD collection as it's just such a fun and classy release!

 
www.facebook.com/thundertribe
www.reverbnation.com/thundertribe
 

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Maxxxwell Carlisle‏-Full Metal Thunder EP

Power Dungeon Music

2013

When it comes to rock, hard rock and heavy metal (as well as crossover, thrash, death and countless other genres) the city of L.A. is a well known and highly respected hotbed of talent. When you look at the list of who's who (band-wise) you see names like Armored Saint, Suicidal Tendencies, Dark Angel, Dokken,  Mötley Crüe and Guns N' Roses. The thing is that's only the tip of the iceberg as those were just a few of the names that came to mind as I was preparing to write this review. With that being said, we're now going to want to add hot-shot* guitarist/competitive bodybuilder Maxxxwell Carlisle to the list. In addition to having his own band, which (incidentally) has also released 2 full-length albums, 2 singles and one additional EP,  the very talented Maxxxwell has also spent time as a touring guitarist in Deathriders (The thrash band lead by former Anthrax vocalist Neil Turbon) and is now a member of  L.A.'s Hellion. When you take into consideration that neoclassical/shred guitarist Maxxxwell Carlisle has also worked with Michael Angelo Batio (Nitro), Tina Guo (Solo artist and Cirque du Soleil / Michael Jackson Tour), Ethan Brosh (Angels of Babylon), Nita Strauss (The Iron Maidens and Femme Fatale), Simon Wright (Dio, AC/DC) and Bjorn Englen (Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony Macalpine) then it's even more impressive that he has found the time to have his own, self-named heavy metal band! And what a band it is! Falling just shy of 30 minutes, this 6-track EP is chock full of wicked shred solos that sit snugly atop a cool combination of straight-up heavy metal and U.S. arena metal! With a new vocalist on hand (Michael Yancy) and guest guitar solos by Nita Strauss (The Iron Maidens) and Rick Renstrom (Rob Rock, Mistheria) this EP offers just the right blend of shred-your-ass-off  guitar solos and in-your-face-heavy metal riffs as to appeal to both the shred crowd and fans of traditional heavy metal. In addition to Carlisle and new lead vocalist Yancy you've got the rhythm section of bassist Frank Mullis and drummer Anton Peterson. Now, as to whether or not Frank Mullis actually played base on this EP? Well, that's a good question. Especially as the Metal Archives lists Maxxxwell Carlisle's instruments of choice as being lead guitars, keyboards (supposedly from 2007-present) and, you guessed it, bass guitar! Whatever the case may be, in now way, shape or form does it impact this album's strong heavy metal vibe or it's epic sense of energy! In a way I admit that I was reminded of Kane Robert's (Former member of Alice Cooper's touring band) solo career when I listened to this EP,  but Maxxxwell Carlisle seems as if he's much more of a straight-laced metal musician then Cooper's former guitarist. And, even if guys like Chris Impellitteri and Yngwie Malmsteen are among some of Maxxxwell's influences, this band, or even just this EP, isn't a over-blown indulgence of neoclassical nonsense. And let's be thankful for that my friends. There is nothing worse in this world than what I like to call "musical masturbation". This band doesn't blow it's wad with run-away guitar solos that are slick enough in concept, but lack anything resembling emotion. Often times its those kind of stylish solos than ruin guitar rock and make me want to stuff dynamite in my ears, light the fuse and have my head explode. I'd sooner lose my head then come close to going bat-shit crazy over long, over-drawn neoclassical crap that doesn't even come close to being enjoyable! Thank the maker then that our man Maxxxwell has enough sense to rein his playing on this full-tilt heavy metal boogie of an EP and skip the over-inflated guitar solos. Instead this EP  shows how you can play with style and still rock the socks off of your intended audience! This one comes with my stamp of approval and I just might have to do a rewind and check out some of his other materiel!  

*In this case "hot-shot" is a more then fitting term and it is nothing but a compliment as Maxxxwell's guitar playing is superb! 

Nitro-Lethal Dose

Skol Records
2013

The long wait for Nitro fans is finally over! After some 29 years, during which time fans, friends and family of Pennsylvania's Nitro never gave up hope, 1984's "Lethal + II" LP is FINALLY getting a proper CD release! All I can say is that it's about time! When I first covered Pennsylvania' traditional heavy metal act Nitro back in early June of 2012, which was part of my "Forgotten Gems" series in which I covered their excellent "Lethal + II" LP,  I mentioned that "This is another release that I would love to see get a proper re-issue with pictures, history, lyrics, etc.". At the time I honestly can say that I had no idea just how self-prophesying those words would be! Here it is 2013 and yes, after all these years, the good folks at Skol Records are re-releasing "Lethal + II" in grand fashion! Before we get to all of that though let's rewind a bit. When the band originally released a 10" EP titled "Lethal" in 1982 (thanks to financial backing from drummer Tim Wilson's father) they began a long journey that would first lead them  to a deal with Mausoleum Records, who would end up re-releasing "Lethal" in 1984 as "Lethal + II" (so titled because of the addition of 2 bonus tracks), then to the release of their first new music in years (the 2013 single "Uranium" which is not a part of this collection, but can be found on iTunes, etc,) and then finally to this well-deserved deal with Skol Records. As I've already covered "Lethal + II" in great detail (which you can read in the link below) I'll just say that this anthology CD is worth buying just for those 7 original tracks. As I have both the original LP of "Lethal + II" and the (rather plain and skimpy) CDR re-release of "Lethal + II" I can honestly say that this new CD version, in no small part thanks to the excellent re-master job from Bart Gabriel (owner of Skol Records), is the best of the bunch. This is how I always imagine that "Lethal + II" would sound. Everything is crystal clear and the band's straight-up traditional heavy metal sound just rolls out of the speakers like it owns the world. So yes, I would suggest this limited-edition re-release just for the updated sound of their original material. Here's the thing though. Not only does the "Lethal Dose" CD include all 7-tracks from the original 10" and 12", but it also comes with 9 previously unreleased studio tracks that were originally recorded by Nitro back in the 80s! As these additional 9 tracks were early outtakes/demos they are not as smooth or as polished as the material on "Lethal" or "Lethal + II". In fact they were not finished so these demos and outtakes, which do have a overall rougher quality about, are mostly suited for die hard fans of Nitro. In some instances you can actually hear lead vocalist Dana Confer yell out "one take" as the group works their way through cuts that were slated to appear on the follow-up to "Lethal"/"Lethal + II". If these cuts are to be believed then Nitro's next album, which had the working title of "Volatile Activity", would have been more in tune with the music of the day. While Nitro always strove to rock out their way and their way only, which, at least on the "Lethal" releases, meant hard and heavy metal (early on band's sound seemed to draw from the likes of AC/DC, Riot, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, solo Ozzy, Kiss and more along that line of thought), some of this material sounds kind of toned down. Moving beyond the obvious implications that come from these tracks being unfinished and/or outtakes, which means it's a bit hard to get a grasp on the full direction that this group was headed, it does seem as if their next album might have been slightly more "mainstream" in nature. In essence it's more, shall we say, in keeping in touch with the likes of Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Whitesnake, Europe (before the release of that God-awful "The Final Countdown"), Ratt, Alcatrazz, and other similar rock-based/hair-teased bands. That being said it's not all like that, as there are a couple of heavy metal neck snappers hidden amongst these bonus cuts, and it's not like Nitro was suddenly going to be dressing or playing the part of some Hollywood hair metal band. No, Nitro was still Nitro just as they are still Nitro today. Even more so some of the bonus cuts that do suggest a more melodic outlook are quite good and come packed with a lot of promise. There's little sense in covering all nine of these cuts so I'll just say that among these bonus cuts I particularly liked the heavy rocker "Saddle Sore" while my least favorite was "All For Love". That's just my two cents and other people might walk away with a different take on these tracks. That's fine. In the end "Lethal Dose" is still a must-have for not only fans of Nitro, but also fans of  80's hard rock and heavy metal in general. With it's nice packaging this is one re-release that I highly recommend! With a sweet booklet that features not only a brief history of the band, but also comes with lyrics and pictures this is the ultimate way to hear the original and real Nitro! Be aware that this CD is a limited-run though. There are only 500 copies so don't sleep on this anthology as it's simply too good to pass up folks. To pick up your own copy of this excellent compilation be sure to head over to Skol Records and you can find out more about Nitro at the group's Facebook page (both links below).
http://www.skolrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/usanitro?ref=br_tf
http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2012/06/forgotten-gems-nitro-lethal-ii.html