Sardonis II out soon

I don't normally post press releases, but I'll post this one because I am a fan of theirs and they asked nicely. Here you go...

 

SardoniS - 'II' out soon.

Belgian two man army SardoniS signs with Hammerheart for the release of its second album. The new album - aptly titled 'II' - offers 7 hammers of instrumental heaviness in the brutal, grooving tradition of the band but is more uptempo, divers and more metal than the debut. 'II' will be available on CD, limited LP and digital download on June 18th 2012.

You can pre-order now through http://sardonis.bigcartel.com

On tour in June;

11/06 London (w/ Acid King + Saint Vitus)

12/06 Manchester (w/ Acid King + Saint Vitus)

13/06 Bristol (w/ Acid King + Saint Vitus)

14/06 Arnhem (w/ Acid King)

15/06 Luik (w/ Acid King)

More info via www.sardonis666.be

 

Happy Halloween!

What's coming up?

For this coming week we hope to have out reviews of albums from For All We Know, Karma to burn, Gernotshagen, Manifest, Panzerchrist, In solitude, Nether Regions and more. Also we'll have Clash of the album covers, Heavy metal Thunderdome, NWOBHM Wednesday and more.

What's coming up?

This week we'll aim for having out reviews of Echtra,Ruled By Reason,Pegazus, The Tards,Panzer Bastard,Scale the summit,Phobia and more.Plus an interview with The Approach & The Execution, Forgotten Gems, Top of the heap, Heay Metal Thunderdome and Clash of the album covers.

What's coming up?

The weather was certainly nicer here this week with definite hints of Spring. The events going on Japan are indeed scary and we need to keep them in our prayers in this difficult time.

This week the reviews will include albums from Warfield,Underride, Omision, Thinning the herd, Witchrist, Phobia,Lekamen Illusionen Kallet, the Sin-Atra project and more.
Plus Forgotten Gems and Clash of the album covers.

Super Bowl XLV

Congratulations to the Packers for winning the Super Bowl!

What's coming up?

Hoping to have to out a Marcie Free interview plus reviews of the latest from Helloween, Dark Black and Ross the Boss in the next few days. Next week I'll have out reviews of the latest from Bison BC and Earthride plus Clash of the album covers, Battle of the bands, Five things in metal I am thankful for and the big turkey award.

Have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving and metal

Thanksgiving is coming up next week and for this site I have two traditions for the holiday. Back in 2006 I begin doing two posts with the positive being five things in metal that I am thankful for. I have given this honor to bands,individuals, record labels, forms of technology just anything I am thankful that is metal or music related from the past year. The negative is I give out one Big Turkey of the year award. Pretty self- explanatory, it goes to a person, band, event or anything that I think was the top joke or lame item from metal for the past year. The past big turkey award winners are as follows.

2006-Axl Rose
2007-Rocklahoma
2008-Judas Priest
2009-Lita Ford

So I am thinking hard about these awards and will likely post both the day before Thanksgiving. So stop back to find out who wins.

Let the games begin

December is not far and that means the top 25 albums of 2010 list. Which means I actually begin listening to contenders now in order to narrow them down and have it done in two months. I stay open to end of the year releases that be worthy of adding in, but now I am making a stack of possibilities and I'll be playing some back to back for comparison. It's also a fun, but often tough process.

What's coming up?

I am sick right now and trying to get over it. Hope to have reviews of the latest from Terry Brock and Tony Harnell out over the weekend. Theb next week I'll shoot for reviews of the latest from Valdur, Dirty Skirty and two Darkness re-issues plus Clash of the album covers and Battle of the bands.
***Have a great week!

What's coming up?

Reviews for the coming week.
Methusalem-Unite and conquer
Canvas Solaris-Irradiance
Bronz-Carried by the storm
Mehida-The eminent storm

plus...
Clash of the album covers and another topic or two once I think up what in the world that might be.

No Sunday metal funnies today

No Sunday metal funnies today I am afraid. I was sick most of the week and very busy at work so i didn't have the time to prepare something like I wanted. So instead of rushing something in I will instead skip this week, but be back with a double helping of funnies next week so come bakc for that.

Short update and snowed in play list

Still no computer and we were snowed in from Tuesday afternoon until today as we got hit by the second blizzard in less than a week. I am not back to work until Tuesday so I am just stopping by to clean up e-mails and check in. I hope to get a new computer soon and have some reviews next week.

Snowed in play list for the last few days
In between entertaining the kids with books, movies, card games, coloring books and other stuff I did find time to listen to a few things.

Slough Feg-Atavism
I didn't take to this immediately, but it has grown on me. A bit more direct and even simplified, but as a whole it works very well.
Slough Feg-Sly Stack grows
Double disc of demos and live material. The first disc is early and very, very raw in the production department. The second disc is far closer to the quality we know this band for. Good set though.

Robin Brock-Monsters
I will have a proper review on this soon. Pop/hard rock in a very early-mid 80's style. Strong vocals help it a lot.

Heathen-The evolution of chaos
I didn't know this was coming put until it showed up in my mail box. Pretty cool so far. I need to give it another spin or two before I can put together a review.

Mercyful Fate-Return of the vampire
Not always big on early demo collections, but I bought this one when it first came out and took to it right away. You can really hear the potential and the talent.

I won't be back with another post until at least Tuesday. Have a happy valentines and stay warm. I passed a gas station where a poet obviously works because their sign said "give from the heart, buy roses at Jiffy Mart". Take care and I will be back soon.

Technical difficulties

Okay, I have to get a new computer at some point which means I will be doing these during my lunch break which means there may be less posts until I get a new computer. Also for some reason the work computer won't let me put images in. So for now the reviews won't have pics, but I'll got back and add them once I get a new computer. Until then stick with me I do have quite a few interesting releases to review.

Merry Christmas!

Have a great holiday. I'll be back to writing on Saturday.

-Metal Mark

Update

Hello,
I have been busy with school work and regular work. Then the images on my blog went down last week because the person that designed it for me hasn't used her account in months. So I switched it over to a plain design. I don't know if I will be writing much soon, but there are some CDs I would like to review. I have been listening to the new Slayer a lot and should review that. I also still have to do the new Rammstein. Got a package from hard rock re-issue label Eonian last week with some goodies including Sgt. Roxx so I may review some of those as well. I also got one from a band called Wizardry who I am still trying to figure out. So if I can get some time I may review a few of these, but the reviews will be few and far between until the end of the semester. I will likely try to do five things in metal I am thankful for and the big turkey of 2009 award in a week or so. May get to a Clash of the album covers this week maybe even tonight as time allows.
Thanks,
Mark

Four

Today is Father's Day of course. It is also my parent's 46th wedding anniversary. It is also the forth anniversary of my blog. Which means I have been churning out reviews, interviews and other foolish for quite some time. Thank you for reading andfor your comments.

ARMOURY RECORDS WISHES YOU A METAL XMAS

ARMOURY RECORDS WISHES YOU A METAL XMAS
~And A Headbanging New Year~
New York, NY—

On October 14, Armoury Records, distributed by Eagle Rock Entertainment, released one mighty molten metal blast of good CD cheer: We Wish You A Metal Xmas And A Headbanging New Year [pre-book date September 24, Retail Sales Price $15.98]. It’s an all-star assemblage as members of such great hard rock bands as Foo Fighters, Queensryche, Dio, Alice Cooper, ZZ Top, Dokken, KISS, L.A. Guns, Marilyn Manson, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, King’s X, Judas Priest, Anthrax, Ratt, Styx, Toto, Shadows Fall and more all jam out together on some of the most beloved holiday songs of all time (including “Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer”).. The kick is in the chemistry between the musicians as members of different bands perform together on the material to create a one-of-a-kind listening experience! Motorhead’s Lemmy, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, for instance, team up on “Run Rudolph Run,” a song popularized by Chuck Berry. This is just one of 12 such irresistible pairings. “This is a metal CD you will want to listen to all year round,” says Wendy Dio, who put the project together with Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen. “It has been a very exciting and exhausting project, but we have managed to get an allstar cast together.” Ironically, the hardest person to get was Dio himself as he doesn’t sing Christmas songs. Wendy hounded him for days, finally getting him to listen to Kulick’s arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” Dio liked it, added a few bits, recorded it at Kulick’s studio, and got Tony Iommi to add his signature guitar sound. The result is a very Sabbath Christmas song. Rounding out the circle of familiar characters on this track are Dio bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Simon Wright. “The Metal Xmas album was a great opportunity to pay homage to my least favorite holiday,” says Dio, “and what a lineup of musicians to do it with! The arrangements of the classic noel songs are fresh and heavy with rock’n’roll, and the performances are equally classic. It’s a magical way to change your holiday listening.”

Track Listing
1) We Wish You A Merry Xmas (Jeff Scott Soto / Bruce Kulick / Bob Kulick / Chris Wyse / Ray Luzier)
2) Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Alice Cooper / John 5 / Billy Sheehan / Vinny Appice)
3) Run Rudolph Run (Lemmy / Billy F. Gibbons / Dave Grohl)
4) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Ronnie James Dio / Tony Iommi / Rudy Sarzo / Simon Wright)
5) Little Drummer Boy (Dug Pinnick / George Lynch / Billy Sheehan / Simon Phillips)
6) Santa Claus Is Back In Town (Tim “Ripper” Owens / Steve Morse / Juan Garcia / Marco Mendoza / Vinny Appice)
7) Silent Night (Chuck Billy / Scott Ian / Jon Donais / Chris Wyse / John Tempesta)
8) Silver Bells (Geoff Tate / Carlos Cavazo / James Lomenzo / Ray Luzier)
9) Deck the Halls (Oni Logan / Craig Goldy / Tony Franklin / John Tempesta)
10) Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer (Stephen Pearcy / Tracii Guns / Bob Kulick / Billy Sheehan / Greg Bissonette)
11) Rocking Around the Xmas Tree (Joe Lynn Turner / Bruce Kulick / Bob Kulick / Rudy Sarzo / Simon Wright)
12) Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Tommy Shaw / Steve Lukather / Marco Mendoza / Kenny Aronoff)

Eagle Rock Entertainment develops, acquires and produces music programming for a wide range of notable and high profile artists, which the company distributes on a worldwide basis. Eagle Rock Entertainment, Eagle Vision and Eagle Eye Media are wholly owned divisions of Eagle Rock Group, LTD.

What's coming up?

It's been a fairly average week and I have been plugging away at trying to keep up with reviews and everything. Here is what I hope to have out this week.

Reviews of...
Wild Machine-demo
Daylight Dies-Lost to the living
Steel Assassin-War of the eight saints
Blackberry Smoke-New Honky Tonk Bootlegs
Iced Earth-The crucible of man
Cream Pie-Dirty Job
Star Wars-The Clone Wars soundtrack (okay, it's not metal, but I received a copy so I am reviewing it)

Interview with...
Michale Graves
***This is the only interview I currently have in, but I have several out so I'll post another if one comes in this week.

plus...
Clash of the album covers

***Have a great week.

What's coming up?

Let's see this past week saw Brett Favre go to the Jets, John Edwards admitted to an affair and I am still trying to crank out reviews, interviews and occasional other topics. I hope to have out the following this week.

Interviews with...
Warpath
Grave Robber

Reviews of...
Artillery-Fear of tomorrow re-issue
Zebrahead-Phoenix
Reflection-When shadows fall
Omni-Ghosts
X-Terra-Wolves

and maybe another.

Plus either a Lesser of two evils or the Crossover post I have been hoping to get around to for the last eight months.

***Enjoy the week!