Death Or Glory:
The Best of 2015
Muthas, 2015 has bit the dust and I’m back with a list of
all the best, and some of the worst albums, EPs, concerts, reissues and album
covers. Enjoy!
Thunder &
Lightning - The Best Albums of 2015
2015 seemed to be a slower year for releases, but there were
several excellent albums that grabbed my attention. Here’s the best of them:
Black Trip – Shadowline
This is a great sophomore release from these Swedish
purveyors of tasty, melodic, heavy 70s style hard rock. They sure do love Thin Lizzy which makes them all right in my book. Check out “Berlin Model 32” for a rollicking
good time.
Visigoth – The Revenant King
Crushing and bruising their way into my ironclad heart is
the debut LP from Salt Lake City’s own Visigoth. Full review here.
Venom – From The Very Depths
Cronos and crew roar back to life with a solid and
unexpectedly good album of signature latter day Venom. Full review
here.
Raven – ExtermiNation
NWOBHM stalwarts, Raven,
have crafted a superb album that easily eclipses their last couple of
albums. The LP is chock full of their
“athletic rock” stylings, and harkens back to their first three albums. Check
out the excellent “Fight.”
Armored Saint – Win Hands Down
The new album completely wipes the floor with their weak
sauce last album and has energy and inspiration to spare. The fire in the belly is palpable here as
these traditional metal stalwarts offer up an album of blistering guitar work
and amazing vocals. At least seven of
the cuts are classics and this is definitely their best album since Symbol of Salvation. Guitars, guitars, guitars everywhere!!!!
Check out “An Exercise In Debauchery.”
Sorcerer – In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross
I can’t blame you if you’ve never heard of Sorcerer, because they had only
released two demos and then faded into obscurity over twenty years ago. They reformed in 2010 and this year they
cranked out this spectacular album of epic doom metal. If you like Tony Martin era Black Sabbath you will love this. Each track is like a pounding anvil of doom
straight to the skull! Check out “TheDark Tower Of The Sorcerer” for an idea of how good this album is.
Satan – Atom By Atom
Yet another superb album from these NWOBHM merchants. Check out the full review here.
Saxon – Battering Ram
Cleary, Saxon can
do no wrong. They are rivalled only by Motorhead and Overkill when it comes to only releasing excellent and consistent
albums in the last 25 years. On Battering Ram, the band offers up an
album that is full of top-notch power metal sprinkled with rock solid
traditional metal. Damn this is
good. Check out the title track.
Ram – Svbversvm
Whatever Sweden is doing to encourage excellent metal, they
are doing it right because Ram has
released the best album of their career.
I like their entire discography, but this LP displays loads of Screaming For Vengence era Priest-ish style and very memorable songs. I can’t recommend this one enough! Please buy it and support this type of
traditional metal. Check out “Enslaver”
and you’ll understand my effusive praise.
Night Demon – Curse Of The Damned
What can I say about Night
Demon’s first LP that I haven’t already said in the full review here? Not much, other than to tell you that it’s
easily one of the best traditional metal albums released in the last 25
years. Buy or die!
Enforcer – From Beyond
Damn Enforcer is
good. They always deliver and this year
is no different. Check out my full
review here.
Motorhead – Bad Magic
I am writing this shortly after Lemmy slipped this mortal
coil for the great mead hall in the sky and it’s nearly impossible to overstate
just how important he was to heavy music of the past 40
years. He always delivered the
goods. Always. No faltering.
No trend hopping. No “return to
form” because he never was out of form. No comeback because he never left. This album is no different. Sure, he might sound a bit threadbare, but he
was 69 when he recorded this and on his last legs. Guess what?
Bad Magic is better than 99%
of the bullshit that most magazines, blogs, writers, journos and other idiots
drone on and on about. Was there ever an
album that was as much of a goodbye as this one? The lyrics are full of farewells and no
regrets. It’s a biography of a life of
no bullshit and no compromises. Check
out the lyrics to “Thunder & Lightning” which tell you all you ever need to
know about Lemmy and Motorhead:
I always wanted
the scream in the night
I always wanted
the noise and the light
Standing on the
stage the thrill never fades
The ultimate rage,
raving and fighting
Maybe you’ll
shake, maybe you’ll break
You’ll never
escape, thunder and lightning
One Short Life –
The Best EPs of 2015
Orchid – Sign Of The Witch
Surprise! Orchid’s
back with another great EP. Of
course they are. Check out the full
review here.
Denner / Shermann - Satan's Tomb
This is a killer little EP that features the always amazing
Michael Denner and Hank Shermann ripping it up with solos and riffs galore. On top of that, the EP features the stellar
vocals of Sean Peck who also fronts Cage
and Death Dealer. This blows Force of Evil out of the water and it's very good, old school power
metal. A full length LP is supposed to follow
in 2016. Check out “Satan’s Tomb.”
No Sleep At All – The
Best Live Album of 2015
Enforcer – Live By
Fire
Not content with having one of the best studio albums of the
year, Enforcer have released the
best live album of the year – Live By
Fire. If you haven’t heard anything
from the band this is as good as any place to start because this is a virtual
greatest hits set. The band sounds great
as they blast through sixteen tracks live from the Kytarro Clue in Athens,
Greece. The CD version of the album also
include a cracking DVD featuring nine songs live from Japan. Finally, all versions of the release have a
bonus 3 track EP – Speak The Tongue Of
Heathen Gods – included to further add more bang for the buck for the fan. Check out the ripping “Scream Of The Savage.”
Dancing On Your
Grave - The Best Reissues of 2015
Wargasm – Why Play Around?
Finally an official reissue of the debut from Boston’s Wargasm! This album has been bootlegged for years, and
now we get a real reissue with great sound and nice packaging. If you are a fan of Motorhead and especially Tank
this will be right down your alley. This
is a definite must buy! Check out their
classic “Revenge.”
Shok Paris – Steel And Starlight (The Auburn Sessions)
Hello Cleveland!
Auburn Records has thankfully released their version of this 1987 USPM classic! This reissue features a completely different
mix from the I.R.S. Records release, the original running order and a host of
bonus tracks. The band sounds great on this and Vic Hix’s vocals are stellar as
always. His soulful, passionate tone
added so much to Shok Paris and set
them apart from their contemporaries. Check out their all time great cut “Tokye Rose.”
I’m So Bad (Baby I
Don’t Care) – The Biggest Disappointments of 2015
The Sword – High Country
I love The Sword
and I was looking forward to their new album.
Unfortunately, High Country
sounds like an album by a band that's rushed and confused. They can’t seem decide what they want do or sound like, and as a result the album never really gels. Also fifteen tracks is about five
too many and the album needs some judicious trimming. Nothing stuck with me after
repeated listens and quickly faded from my playlists. Oh well, maybe the next release will be more
focused.
Panzer – Send Them All To Hell
Who didn’t think a band featuring Schmier from Destruction and Herman Frank and Stefan
Schwarzmann of Accept wouldn’t be
great? Well, it wasn’t. The album did absolutely nothing for me and
is lacking any real hooks. It also got
lost in the early January release shuffle here in the United States. Maybe things will get better on the next LP.
We’re Artists!
We’re Sensitive As Shit! – The Best Album Cover of 2015
Panzer’s album
may have been a pile of meh, but their album cover is kick ass! A giant panzer! Flamethrowers! Fire! Skulls!
Apocalyptic visions! Count me in
with those visuals. Well done Gyula Havancsak.
Your artwork is everything a heavy metal cover should be. Hail and Kill!
Stone Deaf In The
USA – The Best Concerts of 2015
Night Demon – June 6th,
Gooski’s, Pittsburgh PA
Night Demon killed it in a tiny Pittsburgh club for a small
group of hardcore fans. Check out the full review and setlist here.
Overkill – September 21st,
Altar Bar, Pittsburgh PA
I hadn’t seen Overkill
since the Relixiv tour back in 2005, and thankfully they hadn’t missed a step in the
intervening decade. They were a
well-oiled machine and played an excellent set of classics and newer material
that had the pit going all night. I was
nursing a cold, but even I was singing along at the top of my lungs. I hope to see them again in the near future!
Saxon/Armored Saint –
September 17th, Altar Bar, Pittsburgh PA
Saxon hadn’t
played Pittsburgh since 1983 and Armored
Saint had never played Pittsburgh so this was destined to be a special
night. The Altar Bar was completely full
and the crowd was electric. This might
have been the most enthusiastic crowd I have ever been in. Armored
Saint seemed stunned by the thunderous response they received from the crowd
and they were in fine form. I hope they
come back to the Steel City soon. I
haven’t seen Saxon since 1998(!) and
they were amazing. The crowd was
euphoric and sang along to every song.
The band even took requests because they had been absent from Pittsburgh
for so long. God damn it was great. It’s nights like these that remind me why I
put up with all the bullshit of going to a live show. There’s nothing better than being in a crowd that’s
completely at one with a band’s performance – totally chill inducing.
Y&T – May 5th,
Altar Bar, Pittsburgh PA
Finally! Y&T is one of my all-time favorite
bands and I own their entire discography, but I had never managed to see
them. Thankfully, I have now and they
more than delivered. Dave Meniketti
still sounds great and his playing is superb.
The band was in great form and they had a great rapport with the
audience. Thanks for the great show and
I hope to see you again!
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