Elvenking-Two tragedy poets ...and a caravan of weird figures

AFM
2008



Italian act Elevenking have bounced around styles including folk metal, power metal and now they come back to folk music with a little metal tossed in. This album feels more like an album of extras than a real studio effort. There are acoustic versions of previously released songs "The Wanderer" and "The Winter Wake". That's not so bad, but covering Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" is a bad idea and Elvenking give us an absolutely atrocious version that will leave a bad taste with you for hours after it ends.They sound like they spent a few too many hours at a renaissance fair. Okay, they are tight and upbeat. Those two aspects help this to move along well enough. The main question in my mind is who will this appeal to? Folk metal fans? I doubt it or least not for most fans of that sub-genre. The reason is there simply isn't enough metal to these songs. To me good folk metal should include both styles and my preference would be for it to be heavier on the metal side. Maybe people who love the folk aspect will flock to it. I just kept hoping for some kind edge to work it's way into the mix. Unfortunately that didn't happen enough. The overuse of gang choruses wore on me after a while as well. Elvenking sort of had my interest for a song or two, but then they persisted in going down the same road without enough variance. In the end "Two tragedy poets" is just too light and repetitious for my liking.

Enforcer-Into the night

Heavy Artillery
2008

The first time I heard Enforcer was last year on the "Speed kills...again" compilation on which they contributed two songs. They were signed to Heavy Artillery records and their debut was actually towards the top of my list of releases that I was most looking forward to in 2008. The opener "Black Angel" comes pounding on like early Exciter only with slightly higher vocals. Right away I know that I am going to love this album. "Mistress from hell" is on next and this is more like Raven's first few albums which is refreshing change as not enough bands acknowledge their influence on thrash. After that the influences go back and forth including a huge dose of early Iron Maiden, more Exciter, Kill 'em all era Metallica, Savage Grace and probably a few NWOBHM bands as well. One of my favorite tracks is the instrumental "City Lights" which begins like something from Iron Maiden's "Killers" and then halfway through switches to be more like something from "Piece of mind". Much of this album sounds like it could have come right out of 1983 with the blend of NWOBHM influences and early thrash bands. However, Enforcer are more than just a time capsule because they do blend styles and bring a smoothness and energy to their style. They have their own ideas and they how to weave those ideas in with their influences. This results in a spectacular blend of some of the best styles of metal's past coming together. Many of today's retro-thrash acts look only to the sounds of about 1986 and later, but Enforcer dig into the roots of the genre which happened earlier than that. I think one of my favorite aspects of this album is just their unbridled fire as they just plunge ahead and go. Personally my only complaint is that I had to wait until now for this to come out because I think originally they thought it would be out a few months ago. I will say the vocals are higher than many typical thrash bands and I think they work fine, but I can see some thrash purists not being big on them. This is a fantastic release that captures the sound and spirit of some of my favorite sounds in metal.

http://www.myspace.com/enforcerswe

Automan.ca-Pocket Change

Unkle Dunk
2008

One of if not the most influential and copied bands in hard rock history is without a doubt AC/DC. Many acts have copied them over the years with various degrees of success. This band features former Killer Dwarfs drummer turned singer Darrell Millar at the helm. Well, Automan.ca surprise me with their subtlety because they tackle a basic straight forward rock sound a bit differently. Most bands who subscribe to this style of hard rock tend to hit it fast and tie things up rather quickly. They guys take their time and milk the grooves for all they are worth and it’s a gamble, but it works more times than not. The eight tracks here are listed are broken down with half listed as being “side one” and the other half of course listed as belonging to “side two”. I am not sure if this was done because they are vinyl enthusiasts or because they thought the two halves were musically different from one another. They are not exactly re-inventing the wheel here, but they do manage to lead us an enjoyable ride through some raw and easy to like hard rock tunes. They could have taken a few more gambles perhaps it does feel a little safe at times. Yet the major strength of this band is that they can take a simple song structure and spread it out where it feels very complete and they manage to sustain their energy through the entire length of the track. I don’t think this a particularly easy task, but they seem to have the skill and patience to pull it off. Automan.ca manage to thrive on the simplicity of their music rather than be limited by it, the end result is a very decent album.


www.myspace.com/automanca

Stoner Rider-Three legs of trouble

Trustkill
2007

“Come on and let up, we’re on the road to nowhere”. Thus starts “Rush Hour” the opening track on Stone Rider’s release and while I think this album was a trip, it certainly didn’t go nowhere. I am not sure exactly what I was expecting here from this band, but I think they delivered quite a bit. They brought out bits of AC/DC, Guns and Roses plus some definite thick old, fuzzed out 70’s style riffage as well. Stone Rider tends to jab a bit more with numerous mid-level type hooks rather than going for the big knock out punch. I think that approach suits them because there is very little gliding here as plenty of songs see the band working steadily to maintain the momentum throughout. The most important aspect of that approach is that makes seem really tight as a whole. They keep pumping out rhythms and ideas while working steadily to stay in motion. It’s a bit of a deceptively busy album because not many of their parts are particularly that involved by them, but the many little bits and attention to detail make the songs feel very filling in the end. The only real complaint I had was I would have like to seen a little more energy at times because towards the end there were a few songs that just felt like they were being a little too careful. Stone Rider have put forth an album that has them sounding very comfortable with what they are doing and they deliver in giving fans a whole lot to soak in.

Zebrahead-Phoenix

Icon MES
2008


Bringing many styles to the table can be fantastic providing of course that you know how to use the different sounds and can provide some time of balance. If someone had told me that a band could put together an album that includes elements of pop/punk/hard rock/rap and have it be riveting and exciting then I would have told them that they needed to come in out of the sun because it was effecting their brain. However, Zebrahead manage to encompass all of those sounds and shoot them into a frantic blend that stirs them all up and shoots out all the best parts for us to rapidly absorb. The music and vocals just bounce about relying on equal parts of strong melodies and pure energy. Zebrahead walk the balance beam between heavy and catchy and manage to stand up straight the whole way as they deliver both sounds in equal and effective amounts. Now I must admit that oftentimes a powerpop style makes me cringe because some bands who follow that style are really just watering down punk rock. Zebrahead on the other hand bring the best aspects of powerpop because slap down the smooth hooks and instantly likable choruses. That might even be enough, but they are obviously not satisfied with just one approach so we get some edgy hard rock and some rap vocals that manage to be genuine enough. There's a moment or two where they get a little repetitious, but they are near brilliant for about 95% of the album. Far better and more diverse than I was expecting as they just managed to offer up lots of ideas and then weave them together to make the whole even stronger than the parts.

Cult of Luna-Eternal Kingdom

Earache
2008

Sweden's eight piece band Cult of Luna encompass many styles as they take various parts of doom, death, progressive and others into their sound. Perhaps they fall into that post-metal category like Isis and Neurosis and others yet Cult of Luna's material is far more appealing to me. On Eternal Kingdom they slowly and I mean very slowly create emotional landscapes comprised of music, sounds and noises. The pace is plodding at times and the music can be repetitive yet the moods even the ones that make my nightmares seem tame are stunning. Other bands playing a similar style seem to live by a thick, textured feel and I think Cult of Luna have a more singular sound that allows the listener to really soak in each little part that they are churning out. Many of the parts they play might be simple by themselves yet the tones, pitches and arrangements help to turn something basic into something very rich. Sometimes the songs come out in a hazy trickle and sometimes they are cranked out with spine rattling heaviness. Yet just about every song had me waiting in anticipation for what was coming next. Now, despite everything I love about their music I have always struggled to deal with the vocals and they are not a great deal different here than in the past. Granted they are somewhat few and far between as the music takes most of the running time. Yet the vocals are just gruff at best and flavorless at their worst, either way they do more to distract than they do to enhance the overall sound. Slightly irritating vocals aside, this is still an album that is as dynamic as it is interesting.

http://www.myspace.com/cultofluna

Griffen-Linked in eternity

Self-produced
2008

This five song demo from Sweden’s Griffen seems deeply embedded in a mid-late 1980’s melodic metal and hard rock. I heard some early Queensryche, Dio, Rising Force and maybe even a touch of Pretty Maids mixed in different songs. They obviously are very much focused and that comes through in their sound as they are certainly very tight in many aspects of their playing. They manage to be fairly heavy, melodic at times and show a decent amount of technical flair to boot. One of the most important things they are doing though may be that they have a good degree of balance. They are not playing an overpowering style, but they certainly have enough going consistently to be interesting. The vocals are strong and the music flows along fairly well plus they mix up their direction enough on each song. I wish they would have had a few more heavier parts because they handled that well when they used that style, but I think they would have been even better with a slightly heavier edge mixed in a little more. The production is certainly first rate and I think their sound certainly benefits from this. Still I liked every song, they have a great deal to offer and Griffen are cranking out some solid classic style metal.

http://www.myspace.com/griffentheband

TAB the band-Long Weekend

Professor Vegas
2008

This power trio have only been around since early 2007, but you wouldn’t know it by the manner in which they attack their songs. It took all of about oh a minute into the swirling, screaming opener “Backseat Lover” for me to realize that this band was going to be bringing some serious garage rock my way. Indeed they keep it coming with an attack that has some basis in classic Rolling Stones, the WHO and early Aerosmith. Yet they take those influences and twist them in with a massive spinning array of charged up blues, bouncing funk, grinding guitars and deep pounding beats. They don’t really give you time to catch your breath as the tracks are short and too the point because they don’t waste time on unnecessary build-up. The style is very much based on late 1960’s-early 1970’s music primarily garage rock and classic rock. However TAB the band inject that particular sound with a healthy dose of adrenaline as they all the soul and fire that was good about this type of music and they thrust it out there with pure grit and surging grooves. I am fond of the production too particularly on the drums because they catch all the little echoes and nuances in a sound that’s almost like being in the same room hearing them be played. My only real gripe is that the whole album seemed to go by too fast and it left me wanting more.

http://www.myspace.com/tabtheband

TONA-1000

SKCNS
2008

TONA hail from Serbia and claim influences from punk, metal and other sources. The album is released for SKC NS, a regional government sponsored label that aims to promote alternative culture in Serbia. I can hear different musical genres in their sound here and there although it varies. Sometimes the styles are blended and sometimes one will jump out as being more evident than the others. In many ways they remind me of late 80's early 90's hard rock only with a stronger groove and heavier. One thing a lot of hard rock bands lacked back then was a really solid rhythm section that wasn't afraid to be heard. With TONA we get that and the strong rhythm section gives many of their songs a definite backbone to rely on. The vocals are a little hit and miss for me as they fit at times, but were perhaps a little dry and slightly flat on other songs. The guitars were largely where they should be, certainly varied enough although they could have come up in the mix a little at times. However that would be more of a production issue than a performance problem. They do a decent job of mixing up styles and largely keep things fairly interesting with pace changes and having different bits thrown in at unexpected places. I know very little about the music scene in Serbia, but these guys get some gigs because they have the kind of layered sound and enough talent that makes me think they could cut loose live. Overall a decent stab at laying down their influences and expanding on ideas as well.

http://www.myspace.com/tonaband

War of ages-Arise and conquer

Facedown
2008

Back in the mid-80's there was a point where the worlds of hardcore punk and metal (largely thrash) seemed very distant from each other in the minds of some. Yet to others the two were not that distant as both were fast, heavy and aggressive. Very briefly there in the mid to later part of that decade the crossover stage occurred when some bands like C.O.C., DRI, Agnostic Front and others attempted to combine hardcore and metal with various results. In recent years there are more bands who combine metal and hardcore yet again the styles of the combinations vary as do the results. To my ears Pennsylvania's War of Ages are one of the better bands combining these styles. The "to the point" vocals and no nonsense attitude are very much in keeping with the traditional hardcore style. The music is a more metal and actually fairly technical and involved as well. The sounds falls somewhere between metalcore and melodic death metal. What I like most about this band is that no matter what they are doing they still manage to propel everything they do forward like a massive machine. This band likes both styles of music and they wear both badges proudly without trying to hide or sugar coat any sounds as too many other bands do. They have an agenda and they plunge forward doing absolutely as much as they can with their time and skill. "Arise and conquer" sees War of ages easily displaying emotion as the music and vocals are very direct in what they are trying to accomplish. If I had to attach one word to describe this album then it would be "honest" because the entire album comes across as just being such a truly genuine effort in every manner and way possible.

www.myspace.com/warofages

Sound and Fury

Rebel Youth
2008



The 1970's was in many ways such a great decade for music partially because of the energy and the attitudes, but also because so much had yet to be musicly. So you had a number of bands hitting upon new ideas and exploring new avenues. Thirty some years later it's often difficult for a band to copy the music of the 1970's and have it seem fresh or particularly engaging. That seems to be what Toronto's Sound and Fury are up against on their self-titled debut. The 70's hard rock influences are obvious and abundant plus there are some punk influences as well although they are a bit more spread out. There are several tracks where they manage to tap into a fairly fresh approach on old ideas just due to a whirlwind arrangement and acting they really mean what they are tryingto accomplish. However all too often the sound just kind of dissolves into sounding rather like run throughs of AC/DC style rock with very little style or ideas of their own. Besides AC/DC I can hear some Ted Nugent, Ramones and other influences mixed in on certain songs. It just seemed like the explosive songs were few and far between which is a shame because they handled them well. The impression I gathered that were content to put sit back and glide through a bit too many run of the mill style songs that really lacked the personality that their best songs contained. The production was very strong and they laid out some good ideas, but in a crowded field the album overall didn't quite do enough to really grab my attention.

http://www.myspace.com/soundandfuryrocks

Neuraxis-The thin line between

Prosthetic
2008



Montreal’s Neuraxis play a fairly technical, semi melodic brand of death metal that seems to thrive more on smoothness than on actual aggression. They do rattle off at a rather rapid fire pace as they oftentimes just soar into their songs with little build-up. I think their approach of launching into most of the tracks helps to just pull your attention straight in to what they are attempting to accomplish. Melodies make up a big part of the material here and they handle them with a good deal of finesse. I didn’t take to the album immediately because I think that some of the heaviness that could have been present is slightly lost beneath the gloss of the overall sound. I think they may have benefited from some sharper cuts and hooks because there were a number of times where it feels a bit one dimensional. They do let loose a few times and with spine jarring moments that were both slightly surprising and certainly welcome. It just seemed there were too many times where they kind of glided into a rather limited sound array of sounds and I could just feel the indifference rising inside me. The drums seemed more focused on speed than on actual heaviness and the difference left a few songs sounding a bit hollow. The vocals were also a bit repetitive and began to drone on at times without any real emotion or change in pitch. I like their control of the pace, but the details within the songs vary from fair to good. A decent release, but not as heavy or dynamic as I would have liked it to be.

http://www.myspace.com/neuraxis

Exmortus-In hatreds flame

Heavy Artillery
2008

New York based label Heavy Artillery are a label I have been rooting for because they are relatively small, fairly new and they really seem enthusiastic about what they are doing. Avenger of blood, Merciless Death and Phantom Witch have all released albums on this label so far and all are above average, but all rather routine entries in the retro-thrash movement. LA's Exmortus are perhaps the first real legitimately interesting band to emerge under the Heavy Artillery label. These guys come across as technical death metal if that genre had been fleshed out around 1990 instead of later than that. That's not to say it's dated but rather that it's more thrash oriented than many of today's acts who fall under the technical death metal flag. The approach here sounds like Slayer mixed with early death metal like Obituary and Deicide with swirls of Iron Maiden, Helloween and some early Yngwie Malmsteen mixed in. Somehow the way the heavy riffs whip around reminds me of New Jersey's often overlooked Whiplash as well. Okay, this approach has been done before and much like the thrash revival they are highly influenced by older acts. However, how they mix the influences is the difference because the type of bands they are influenced by are more varied and so is their general approach. Add on top of that the fact that they have several songs where they are just downright brutal with how they attack their songs and you have a band with some legitimate potential. Now they also hit upon some rather standard tracks as well and they need to flesh out some of their ideas a little more. Yet there's no doubt that Exmortus are digging deeper than a lot of the younger thrash bands emerging today who are completely content to just imitate the ideas of two or three bands whose peak happened before 1991. No, I think this band has managed to do enough to move beyond a simple category and their riff heavy, real metal driven style has helped to make an impression. Most of their songs are about battles and war and on "In hatreds flame" they spend a great deal of time sounding like they are tearing into battle with a bone shattering ferocity. What they do from here is up to them, but I am certainly anxious to see where they go from here. This is actually a re-release that includes eleven tracks as the original only had seven and was released last year.


http://www.myspace.com/exmortus

Shame Club-Come on

Small Stone
2008



St. Louis based Shame Club seem to approach their music like the last 33 years or so never happened. Being on the label they are on and due to popular trends this band might get the stoner rock label slapped on them, but that wouldn't really be fair. This is pure late 60's-early 70's hard hitting rock that never stops. The influences are plenty including The Who, Mountain, Hendrix, Thin Lizzy, early Aerosmith and ZZtop. Yet despite the numerous influences the songs themselves still seem remarkably fresh and vibrant. My best guess is that they just this style so much that they passionately rip and tear into every little nook and cranny of their material. There are a number of bands playing early 70's influenced hard rock or metal yet most them seem more like tributes because they follow one or two bands so closely without leaving a trace of themselves. Shame Club mix and stir the styles and their almost frantic approach to the pace and the stellar jams sets them apart. The way they attack their music reminds me of of a live show in the 70's where there's a bit of an over the top, impromptu jam powered performance. After absorbing "Come on" I felt like I had finished a feast that was full of a great of variety, yet instead of feeling stuffed I felt the desire for more. This is a splendid and completely satisfying display of real early style hard rock.

http://www.myspace.com/shameclub

Sarasin A.D. - Daggers, Lust, Disgust

Self-produced
2008

Sarasin A.D. (known simply as Sarasin in North America are a hard rock band of veteran musicians. Vocalist Phil Naro has contributed writing for Coney Hatch, Peter Chriss, Lee Aaron and others. The opener "In America" comes on sounding like a cross between AC/DC and Fastway with a decent enough groove going. The second track "No sensation" sounded like an early Iron Maiden riff turned into a hard rock song, not as killer as Maiden of course yet a decent track. So right away they pull from different influences and that trend continues throughout the album. Unfortunately these were likely the two best songs on the entire album. Despite the different band influences, these guys pull from two general styles. One is hard rock from say around 1982-1986 and the other is some more modern heavy rock sounds. The modern sounds don't work very well for this guys because it's slightly toned down and they sound uncomfortable doing it like they feel they have to do it rather than doing it by choice. The hard rock tracks (other than the first two) are alright, but just rather lackluster and you likely heard a whole lot more talented bands playing the same thing with a lot more fire over twenty years ago. It's okay to be inspired by a sound from the past, but you have to either add something of your own or really be on fire. Even die hard fans of this era don't or shouldn't want to hear second rate material played in a lukewarm fashion. All in all we get a rather average album here that really doesn't do enough to trigger any really emotions good or bad.

Means-To keep me from sinking

Facedown
2008

Means play a style of hardcore with some metal flavoring sprinkled in and they would not exactly fall in the category of metalcore. The music and the vocals are a bit more clean than typical metalcore styled bands. I get somewhat turned off by modern hardcore bands that think noise and growling through gritted teeth serves as hardcore. These guys are easily more technically competent than a number of other hardcore acts. Technical skills only go so far, but fortunately these are decent songs writers and the arrangements take advantage of their playing abilities. They are also fairly adept at conveying some emotion which is something I think a number of today's hardcore bands struggle with. The vocals contain some surprisingly smooth as silk melodies at times. This was a little startling at first, but I think this works because the music changes to fit along with it and the move along together. The only thing about this album that didn't quite convince me were the occasional growling vocals. They were not used a huge amount, but they came across as being a bit forced and didn't quite mesh with the rest of the song. Means play with enough conviction and talent to really keep you hanging onto what they are trying to accomplish here.

http://www.myspace.com/means_music

Iron Maiden and the new wave of British Heavy Metal

Sexy Intellectual
2008

This documentary introduces the roots and origins in metal and then tells the story of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal from it’s start around the mid-1970’s up until around 1981. They rely largely on interviews with journalists, various insiders and musicians including former Iron Maiden members Paul Di’anno and Dennis Stratton, Brian Tatler of Diamdhead, Rob Weir of Tygers of Pan Tang and others from the scene. As the title indicates Iron Maiden get more focus than the other bands so you get a great deal of early history on the band plus various opinions on why the band was able to succeed. There is also a decent amount of time spent talking about other scene leaders Def Leppard and Saxon as well as second tier bands Tygers of Pan Tang, Samson, Diamond Head, Girlschool and Praying Mantis. There are a number of parts of live clips and stills shown in the film as well. What I liked about the film was that they allowed the participants to tell their stories and give their views no matter what instead of using clips to give one particular view. I like how they tied in the punk rock scene early on and some of the people interviewed expressed the theory that the punk rock scene may have delayed the NWOBHM scene but that it also empowered those bands because they saw the punk rock bands using a DIY style of promotion and followed that example. I also felt that most of the people here were honest and it was refreshing to hear views that it was a movement like any others in that there were good bands and there were second rate acts as well. Now it still didn’t help me to understand why people in the UK didn’t accept High –N- Dry or Pyromania, but they embraced Hysteria, but I guess that’s a question for another day. However being that I am from the states I enjoyed the views of this scene from people who lived in the area at the time. I have long realized the importance of this scene, but not having lived there I never thought of the community aspect of the movement at least during the early years. They didn’t cover some bands I love such as Raven and Venom, but perhaps it helped the film to be more concise by just focusing on a few bands. The only real downside is that is clocks in at two hours and thirty seven minutes which is fairly long for a music film with just a very limited amount of music. If you love the topic then you may easily sit through the whole thing, but others might have to take it over the course of a little at a time.

Lessdress-Dumblondes

Sun City
2008

Lessdress hailed from Poland and were playing a style of hard rock that was very similar to what was popular over in the states at the same time. "Dumblondes" was originally released as a cassette only release back in 1989 and it was rare even in their own country. The good people at Sun City Records were able to seek out and and get the rights to this one. Then they re-mastered it and quite honestly the production values are very high. Lessdress play a fairly guitar heavy and surprisingly tight style of semi-sleaze/glam rock. The influences are somewhat varied because the guitars are relatively heavy, but the vocals have large, smooth melodies plus there are keyboards scattered throughout. I would say that I hear Def Leppard, Roxx Gang, Shotgun Messiah and maybe even Bon Jovi sprinkled throughout. The tracks here are very much designed to have you singing along and generally they work on that level. Although I prefer their songs that rely as much on the guitar because many of the many riffs are certainly above average for this type of music. They obviously knew how to mix up the tempos and sounds enough to maintain a fair amount of interest and that sets them apart a little for this kind of music. Unfortunately like every other hard rock band going at this time Lessdress felt obligated to churn out a ballad. The result is five minute plus slug paced piece of pulp called "Strange kind of friend" which turns out to be the only weak track on this album. Would these guys have made it if they had gotten on an American record label back then? I am not sure, but they have enough variety to their songs that I can safely say that they were better than a number of bands who did land major label deals back in 1989. They come across as being more just competent that out and out exciting, but the music world can use both kinds of bands. Overall another nice find by Sun City of a fairly rare slab of energetic hard rock.

http://www.suncityrecords.com/main.php

Night Ranger-Hole in the sun

VH-1 Classic
2008



Back in the 1980's Night Ranger were always a band that to me were not quite heavy enough to be hard rock nor were they really catchy enough to be very good AOR. They had a few good songs, but largely they just seem to create some rather bland pop music that would seem rather dated by the time the 1990's rolled around. Still I was willing to check this one out and see if maybe time and the other projects that the band members had been in had perhaps had an impact on how they would approach another Night Ranger outing. They do for the most part manage to shake off the over processed and sometimes wimpy sound that plagued them two decades ago. That's not to say that they adopted a perfect sound on this album though. Honestly it's a relatively varied album as far as the different styles that the band tackled. The worst songs are a few that find them falling into the trap of sounding like old men trying to be cool with beats and vocals that sound both outdated and out of place coming from this band. That's maybe 1/4 of the album, but the rest of the material is a bit more solid and a tad more genuine. There are some solid rockers here and then some slower tracks that manage to avoid being sappy and the strength of the arrangements keeps them afloat. The album as a whole comes across as somewhat uneven in the end. I think that's because the members have done so many other projects over the years that when they came together the results are an album of rock songs than a Night Ranger album. So fans of their other material may find it to be a little different, but I found it to be more lively and overall more appealing. I would say they gave an admirable effort with slightly above average results. This album has twelve songs plus very mediocre acoustic versions of "Don't tell me you love me" and "Sister Christian" that are listed as bonus tracks.

http://www.myspace.com/nightranger

Pelvic Fury- Non-Euclidean Nightmare

2008
Self-produced

I wasn’t completely sure what to expect here, but I am always sufficiently please when an album is better than I hope. Pelvis Thrust hail from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and started out in 2001. They have gone through some line-up changes and have now released Npn-Euclidean nightmare. Pelvic Fury play a rather frantic style of thrash with some strong progressive metal bursts woven into the mix. Right from the start this album just busts open with an explosion of sounds which are almost difficult to keep up with. Once my ears adjusted then I just sit back and soak in the sounds that were being thrown and grinded out. These guys have the technical know how in abundance and they keep pushing forward bringing a rather intense display that just keeps flowing no matter how many pace changes they throw in. The vocals are about as brutal as the music is tight and despite the contrast I think the results are very impressive. I think this an album that I enjoy more with each play because there is so much taking place here that you can’t it all in with just one play. Yet with repeated plays I was noticing more impressive parts that I didn’t catch the first or even second time around.

http://www.myspace.com/pelvicfury