Album Reviews


Review: Crowbar – The Serpent Only Lies

By | |
2 Comments

14370359_1390185477678157_1289321436013096927_n

The definition of Crowbar in the music world is… HEAVY. The New Orleans sludge masters have consistently put out one heavy record after another. The band has the best possible chemistry among band mates and it shows in their music. Crowbar recently welcomed bassist Todd “Sexy T” Strange back into the fold. Along with his thundering bass lines Todd brings with him his experience from within the band in its earliest days. A few years ago, founder and vocalist/guitarist Kirk Windstein decided to step away from his side project Down and put all his focus on Crowbar. That focus has been a complete success that can be heard on their last release ‘Symmetry In Black‘ and again on the upcoming album ‘The Serpent Only Lies‘ which is set to release on October 28th via eOne Music. Crowbar has become quite iconic. Recently, Metallica released their cover art for their new album and it has a close resemblance to Crowbar’s 1998 release ‘Odd Fellows Rest‘. However, no ones music can mimic the sound of Crowbar. Their sound resonates with metalheads near and far, and there is NONE HEAVIER.

crowbar_theserpentonlylies_cover

Continue reading →

Sacred Steel Continues Their Legacy With “Heavy Metal Sacrifice”

By | |
Comments Off on Sacred Steel Continues Their Legacy With “Heavy Metal Sacrifice”

Sacred Steel is:

Gerrit P. Mutz – Vocals
Jens Sonnenberg – Guitar
Jonas Khalil – Guitar
Kai Schindelar – Bass
Mathias Straub – Drums

8032622210828-300-dpi-1500x1500px

Germany’s traditional, European Metal icon, Sacred Steel is set to unleash their eleventh, highly anticipated album, Heavy Metal Sacrifice on the Cruz Del Sur Music label October 14, 2016 as they celebrate twenty years of kicking teeth in. With a sound that vacillates somewhere between pure, NWOBHM and early Thrash at a time when we are seeing a resurgence in the popularity of both, Sacred Steel is assured continued success with Heavy Metal Sacrifice. In all honesty, I don’t give a damn how popular it is (although I sincerely wish them all the success in the world!), because good music is good music; Heavy Metal Sacrifice kicks some serious ass and they pride themselves on being trend neutral as reflected by their motto: “SACRED STEEL is a trademark in the metal scene: all METAL with its own attitude, never everybody’s darling – and damn proud of it!”

Continue reading →

Review: Gatecreeper “Sonoran Depravation”

By | |
Comments Off on Review: Gatecreeper “Sonoran Depravation”

gatecreeper-cover

If you’re looking for some catchy doom tinged death that jumps like a crack head on fire right out of the gate, the Gatecreeper‘s “Sonoran Depravation” on Relapse Records is the perfect album for you. GC have a heavy ass, nasty mix of older Entombed and Obituary with some hellacious melodic passages all accompanied by a John Tardy bred with a bull mastiff of a vocalist. This is “balls out, fuck the technicality, fuck genres, let’s play us some death metal” style shit.

gatecreeper-vocalist

Continue reading →

Review Of Opeth’s Epic New Release: “Sorceress”

By | |
Comments Off on Review Of Opeth’s Epic New Release: “Sorceress”

Opeth is:

Mikael Åkerfeldt – Vocals/Guitars

Martin Mendez – Bass

Martin Axenrot – Drums

Fredrik Åkesson – Guitars

Joakim Svalberg – Keys

opeth_sorceress_promocover_revised

We are approached by promoters to review new albums all the time. When we were asked if we were interested in reviewing Opeth’s Sorceress that is due out Friday, September 30th, 2016, what were we supposed to say? Is it even legal to tell Opeth “no”? Of course we are interested in the new Opeth album! Please send it along, thank you very much! Couldn’t wait to hear what one of my favorite bands had in store this time around and I have to tell you, it is nothing short of breathtaking! My only hope is that I give Sorceress its due, so let’s move forward with the review…

Continue reading →

Review Of Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper: Walking In The Shadows

By | |
Comments Off on Review Of Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper: Walking In The Shadows

Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper is:

Steve Grimmett – vocals

Ian Nash – Guitars

Mart Trail – Bass

Paul White – Drums

Album Cover Artwork.indd

After a twenty-nine year hiatus, Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper is back with a vengeance as they prepare to release Walking in the Shadows on September 23rd, 2016 on Dissonance Productions, whom they recently signed on with. This has been highly anticipated for almost a year now and we just recently secured a copy for review. Here’s what I found…

Continue reading →

Review Of Italian Powerhouse Icy Steel: “Through The Ashes”

By | |
Comments Off on Review Of Italian Powerhouse Icy Steel: “Through The Ashes”

Icy Steel is:

Stefano “Icy Warrior” Galeano – Guitars and Vocals

Pietro Bianco – Guitars

Flavio “Athanor F.D.H.”Fancellu – Drums

Carlo Serra – Bass

cover_icy-steel_through-the-ashes

Traditional and Power Metal fans definitely have something to look forward to on September 23rd when Icy Steel releases Through the Ashes on Germany’s Pure Steel Record label September 23rd, 2016. Spanning two physical disks, thirteen songs and sitting right at an hour, Icy Steel deliver a solid album that will thrill the Metal purist while having a broad enough sound to engage and entertain the new legion of fans recognizing just how right the founders of our genre have had it for over thirty years now.

Continue reading →

REVIEW: Knocked Loose “Laugh Tracks”

By | |
Comments Off on REVIEW: Knocked Loose “Laugh Tracks”

knocked-loose-cover-art

If you want to talk about an album that will put you back on your heels, slap the taste out of your mouth, and stomp a mud hole in your ass then walk it dry, then you need to be talking about Knocked Loose‘s debut LP “Laugh Tracks“. Oldham County, Kentucky’s Knocked Loose have been impressing and causing random acts of violence for the past few years with the “Pop Culture” EP in 2014 and a split with Damaged Goods in 2015. Continue reading →

Review Of Allegaeon’s “Proponent For Sentience”

By | |
2 Comments

Allegaeon is:

Riley McShane: Vocals
Greg Burgess: Guitar
Michael Stancel: Guitar
Corey Archuleta: Bass
Brandon Park: Drums

allegaeon-proponent-for-sentience-3000x3000

Being a huge fan of Technical Death Metal, I have been listening to Allegaeon since they released Fragments of Form and Function back in 2010. Simply awestruck. I continued to follow them through Formshifter in 2012 and Elements of the Infinite in 2014 as they progressively pushed the bounds of their craft. Their playing and songwriting abilities appear to have no limit. When given the opportunity to review Proponent For Sentience, due out September 23rd, 2016, I immediately got dibs before someone else snatched it from grasp. Thank goodness, because Proponent For Sentience is devastatingly good!

Continue reading →

Album Review: THUNDERBIRD “Heavyweight”

By | |
Comments Off on Album Review: THUNDERBIRD “Heavyweight”

 

13667779_850728085060996_2829726008132019771_o

Hailing from the great white north THUNDERBIRD has a refreshing sound that harkens back to the glory days of hard rock music with a spirit out of the 70’s and 80’s.  They have the a rhythmic feel that would make any AC/DC fan happy.  But amazingly they pair it with vocals that are very comparable to the legendary PAUL STANLEY of KISS.  Originally formed in 2003 the band consists of Marc Lafrance (Vocals), Rod Coogan (Guitar), Kelly Stodola (Drums) also Tim Rath and Rob Becker (Bass). The group disbanded after their 2006 release “What’s The Word?”.  A decade later the rockers are back with vengeance supporting their all new 2016 release “Heavyweight”.  Continue reading →

REVIEW: In Death… “The Devil Speaks”

By | |
Comments Off on REVIEW: In Death… “The Devil Speaks”

logo-red I’m no stranger to the Australian Metal scene that has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past few years. From the ungodly slams of Disentomb, to the chugging breakdowns of Thy Art Is Murder, to even the melodies of The Amity Affliction, Australia has been churning out some seriously good metal over the past decade or so. Continue reading →