A Bombastic Baker’s Dozen

The Top 13 Metal Albums of 2013

 (and some other stuff)

Muthas, 2013 was yet another great year for Metal and we have picked a Baker’s Dozen of the best metal albums of the year. We’ve also picked the best live releases, best reissues, best concerts and the biggest disappointments of the year.  Read on!

The Thirteen Best Albums of 2013

2013 brought an avalanche of quality steel to abuse your tattered eardrums. These are the thirteen albums that dominated our turntables, CD players, and MP3 players at The Metal Blog of Metal. 

Enforcer – Death By Fire

Swedish speedsters Enforcer crush skulls on their third LP with a stellar mixture of U.S. Speed, NWOBHM and Scandinavian Glory Metal.  This is a very focused, all killer-no filler collection of ripping Speed Metal and at just under 40 minutes, it's the perfect length for vinyl.  Take a listen to the awesome triumvirate of “Mesmerized By Fire,” “Take Me Out of This Nightmare,” and “Crystal Suite” if you want to hear superb traditional metal done like the titans of ye olden daze.  If only Iron Maiden could conjure up something as compelling rather than being an old man prog band.

Orchid – The Mouth of Madness

The Band That Can Do No Wrong continues their dominance with their latest full length disc of 70s doom.  The Mouth of Madness is what everybody wanted 13 to sound like, which of course, it didn’t.  Orchid serves up more amazingly hooky traditional metal as if they’ve been doing this since 1971.  Damn these guys are good.  Once again, Theo Mindell’s art matches the music and adds to the overall experience - believe it or not, things like cover art and fonts matter.  You should immediately buy this platter of crushing doom mastery. 

Holy Grail – Ride The Void

California metallions Holy Grail return with an album chock full of guitar wizardry and catchy anthems.  It’s easy to see that they will be one of the modern traditional metal bands that will gain a large audience. Once again the songs are loaded with insanely tasty riffs, leads and solos, as well as a pounding bottom end and the masterful vocals of James Paul Luna. They also have an amazing work ethic and are tireless road warriors.  We managed to catch them twice this year alone in two separate cities.  Hailz to them for cranking out a disc that simply announces – WE CAME TO SHRED!

Saxon – Sacrifice

Speaking of road warriors, Saxon has released yet another album of rock hard traditional metal. This time they have returned to more of the power metal sound they had on Metalhead, rather than the midpaced material of their last album.  The result is excellent and another solid entry in their lengthy catalog. All hail the mighty Saxon! 

Hell – Curse & Chapter

Hell’s second official album is about 80% new material with a few re-recorded ancient demos.  It’s a great follow up to Human Remains and dispels any fears that Hell wouldn’t be able to put out new material to match their 80s output.  Once again they offer up a riff-packed journey through diabolically dangerous metallic landscapes. Definitely worth the coin and 

one of the best of the year. Buy it!

Night Demon – Night Demon

This is absolutely our favorite release of 2013 here at The Metal Blog of Metal.  Our opinion of the album hasn’t changed since we reviewed it here back in May.  It’s an amazing EP that showcases a superb NWOBHM sound akin to Grim Reaper, Iron Maiden and Diamond Head.  It’s a goddamn metal masterpiece in every way possible!  We eagerly await their full length LP in 2014 and it should kick much ass.  Hailz boys and thanks for a great EP!  

U.D.O. – Steelhammer

U.D.O. the band and Udo the man finally crank out an album to match the ferocity of the latest Accept releases and ditch that shitty electronic guitar sound that had marred their last couple of albums.  There are a couple of weird diversions on the album, but it is dominated by vicious, pounding steel the majority of the time. Check out our full review here. This is definitely worth adding to your U.D.O./Accept collection. 

Witch Cross – Axe To Grind

Who ever thought Witch Cross would release another album? Not us, that’s for sure.  1984’s Fit For Fight is one of the crown jewels of Danish metal, so it would be tough to follow up.  Unfortunately, original vocalist Alex “Savage” Nyborg Madsen did not take part in the reunion, but, fortunately, the band chose Kevin Moore as his replacement.  Moore is a former touring member of Oliver/Dawson Saxon, and as a result, Axe To Grind has a heavy Saxon influence.  This is straight down the middle, meat and potatoes, traditional heavy metal.  It’s nothing fancy, but it’s executed brilliantly and is very enjoyable.  Sure, it doesn’t sound like “Tears of a Clown,” but it still kicks all kinds of ass.  Pick it up!

Motorhead – Aftershock

So who thought we might never hear another Motorhead album?  Thankfully, Lemmy and the boys managed to record one hell of a great album considering Lemmy’s health problems.  Amazingly it’s much more aggressive than the somewhat lackluster The World Is Ours and there’s not a dull moment on it.  It’s probably their best since Inferno and we have you banging your head with wild abandon.  Isn’t that what you’ve come to expect from Motorhead? Damn straight it is.

Vicious Rumors – Electric Punishment

Vicious Rumors continues down the path that they forged with Razorback Killers and put out another excellent album that showcases their superb USPM sound.  Unfortunately, this album has gotten lost in the shuffle do to vocalist Brian Allen having to leave the band due to family issues. Don't let that dissuade you as there are many killer cuts on it such as “I Am The Gun,” “Electric Punishment,” and “Thirst For A Kill.”  Get it!

Black Sabbath – 13

We expected this album to be an unmitigated disaster, but, amazingly enough, it’s a good album.  Certainly the cover art is completely lazy bullshit and the album title sucks ass.  Also, the lack of Bill Ward is very noticeable and the album is another victim of shithead Rick Rubin’s loudness wars.  However, Tony Iommi’s riffs are amazing as ever, Geezer’s bass is crushing and Ozzy’s voice is acceptable.  The tracks sound like either a very good early Ozzy album, or a Dio Sabbath album with Ozzy on vocals.  13 doesn’t invoke memories of the Sabs 70s mastery (if you want that, listen to the new Orchid), but it’s not a black mark on their legacy 

either. Be sure to pick up the special edition with the track "Naivete In Black" on it, as that song is excellent.

BAT – Primitive Age (Demo)

This was a late entry to the list, but it’s very worthy of high praise.  BAT is made up of Ryan Waste from Municipal Waste and Volture, Felix Griffin of DRI fame, and Nick Poulos of Cannabis Corpse and Volture.  What we have here is greasy, dirty speed metal/thrash that pays a great amount of homage to the mighty Venom.  Waste does his best Chronos on vox and bass and the result is cranking steel fury that will please both the oldest and youngest Thrashers alike.  It might only be a demo, but it’s better than the majority of slickly produced albums that are constantly foisted upon the Metal buying public.  Go here and download it for free!  I hope they do a 7” vinyl release asap!  Total wreckage indeed!

Satan – Life Sentence

Well holy shit, this is awesome!  One usually cringes when an old NWOBHM band has a reunion and promises a return to their original sound.  Normally the result is a sub-par collection of middling garbage that fails to re-capture the magic of their early material.  That couldn’t be further from the truth with Life Sentence because it’s a face-melting collection of NWOBHM excellence.  Brian Ross sounds great and the songs will wreck your neck like it’s 1982.  This should have been the follow up to Court In The Act back in the day.  Buy this album immediately if not sooner! Damn it's good!

Live – In the Raw!  - The best live albums/DVDs

Testament – Dark Roots of Thrash

Bay Area bruisers Testament deliver a new live album/DVD that perfectly captures their current live set.  The camera work on the DVD is particularly good and it is one of the most cinematic treatments we have seen of concert footage.  The setlist is evenly split between classics and current material, but omits most of their 90s output.  Thankfully the mix is much better than the last couple of times we saw Testament live, because you can actually hear Chuck's vocals!  If you like Testament then you should definitely add this to your collection.

Dio – Finding The Sacred Heart – Live In Philly 1986

This CD/DVD features Dio at the height of their popularity with their massive stage show featuring lasers, knights in plate armor and a huge, animatronic dragon.  The band sounds great and Ronnie is in fine voice.  Viewing the DVD is a somewhat melancholy experience because it will remind you that the Man On The Silver Mountain has taken his final bow, but seeing him at his ferocious best helps take your mind off of it.  Long Live Rock n Roll!

Iron Maiden – Maiden England ‘88

Another in a long line of Maiden archival releases that really illustrates that Maiden knows how to make money like Gene Simmons.  What you get is the legendary Maiden England ’88 show on CD/DVD that showcases Maiden on the cusp of slipping into disarray, but still at their peak. They still sounded great at this point and Seventh Son was a decent enough album, but mediocrity was waiting in the wings.  The second disc of the DVD is especially nice because it features part 3 of the history of Iron Maiden as well as the long out of print 12 Wasted Years documentary.  

Best Reissues

2013 featured several excellent reissues that were long awaited in the Metal world.

Heretic – From The Vault…Tortured and Broken

Finally!!!  Metal Blade Records released this excellent box set that includes the Torture Knows No Boundary EP, the Breaking Point LP along with tons of bonus tracks and a DVD!  It’s well worth the cost for the EP alone, which had never officially been released on CD. Grab this one before it goes out of print!

Jag Panzer – Tyrants, Ample Destruction, Shadow Thief, Dissident Alliance

We never thought there would be official reissues of Jag Panzer’s early catalog due to disagreements between former guitarist Joey Tafolla and the rest of the band.  Somehow that was all worked out and not only do we get these reissues, but Joey is back in the band!  You can pitch your shitty bootlegs in the trash and snap up these reissues from High Roller Records in a variety of formats – CD, colored Vinyl, Picture Disc and even a luxurious Picture Disc box set.  All the releases have been nicely remastered with loads of bonus tracks and restored artwork.  Buy or die!

Y&T – Earthquake: The A&M Years 1981-1985

This is a very nice 4 disc box set with the best output form San Francisco legends Y&T.  The set includes the Earthquake, Black Tiger, Meanstreak, In Rock We Trust, and Down For The Count studio albums along with the Open Fire and BBC Friday Rock Show live albums.  This release showcases Y&T at the peak of their careers and is fairly cheap as well.  If you don’t already own these albums, you should definitely buy this and enjoy the hard rocking excellence of a band that should have been huge. 

Witch Cross – All That’s Fit For Fighting

This superb 3CD/1 DVD box set essentially purges the vaults of everything Witch Cross did before their new album Axe To Grind.  You get the ultra-classic Fit For Fight along with all their 80s demos and, amazingly enough, a DVD of a live show and music videos(!) that had never seen the light of day.  It’s all wrapped up in a very nice, thick, flip top box with a magnetic closure.  Truly an exceptional release and a must have for fans of classic Metal.

Best Concerts

Metal Alliance Tour – 4/7/13 Cincinnati, Ohio

Great package tour featuring, Anthrax, Exodus, Municipal Waste, High On Fire and Holy Grail ripping it up for 5 hours!  All the bands sounded great and it was a real treat to get our copies of Among The Living and Worship Music signed.  The only complaint was that Holy Grail didn’t have a very long set as it would have been nice to hear more from them.

Orange Goblin/Holy Grail/ Lazer Wulf – 10/26/13 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The mighty Orange Goblin tore it up on Halloween weekend in the Steel City.  They played an energetic set featuring songs from most of their albums.  It was their second swing through town in just 6 months and they did not disappoint.  Holy Grail once again was excellent and proved that they should be making the step up to headliner soon.  

Biggest Disappointments

Ghost – Infestissumam

It’s become fashionable to hate on Ghost because of all the coverage they get in the music press, but the problem with their new album doesn’t have anything to do with hype.  The real problem is Infestissumam is mostly boring and forgettable.  The album sounds pleasant enough, but nothing really sticks in the memory after the album is done.  In fact, the If You Have Ghost EP is more interesting and it consists of cover songs.  Try working on some more memorable hooks guys and better luck next time.

Newsted – Heavy Metal Music

We really wanted to like this album and it pains us to have to write this.  Jason is a great guy and his enthusiasm for his new band  and metal is obvious.  Unfortunately, Heavy Metal Music is rather bland and generic and Jason's vocals leave much to be desired.  The whole album sounds like a heavy/alt record that would have been released in 1994. Blah. Also, what’s with all the stupid song titles like “Soldierhead,” “Ampossible,” “Kindevillusion,” and “Futureality?”  Stop that shit Jason, it's goofy.  Here’s hoping that his next album is killer.

Have a great 2014, and, as always, MAKE MINE METAL!

It's Going Down Tonight

Gypsyhawk – Revelry & Resilience

Metal Blade Records – 2012       

Muthas, how many of you love Thin Lizzy and miss their brand of soulful, street-wise rock and roll?  The answer should be all of you!  Well Phil Lynott is long gone but there is a band from So-Cal that’s keeping that style of music alive and well in 2012 – Gypsyhawk.  The band has just released their excellent second album, Revelry & Resilience, on which they have taken that Lizzy sound, along with other great ideas from the 70s and 80s, and the result is a head-banging, toe-tapping triumph! 

Gypsyhawk is fronted by bass player Eric Harris, who is also in Huntress, and was formerly in Holy Grail and Skeletonwitch.  Harris has a rough and ready vocal style that matches the classic rock influenced cuts perfectly.  The songs frequently feature those snakey, intertwining, twin lead guitars that were a hallmark of Thin Lizzy.  Check out the tracks “Frostwyrm” and “The Fields” for a taste of that Lizzy sound. 

We are not saying that Gypsyhawk is some Thin Lizzy rip-off band, but rather that they drank deep of the heady brew offered up by Phil and the boys, and they allow this influence to show.  Lyrically, the album features songs about fantasy, science, science fiction, and plain old rockin’.  “Overloaded” is one of those  tracks that blasts the listener's face off with a sweet-ass anthem about living in the now.  Hells yes! 

The band ares obviously huge fans of George R.R. Martin's fiction, with many songs about his fantasy series, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” AKA “Game of Thrones.”  The first single, “Hedgeking” is one of those cuts that is infectious, heavy and must be played repeatedly.  Check out the kickass video for it below:

Other highlights include the speedy "State Lines," the crunchy "Galaxy Rise," and an ode to the Buckeye State "1345." The album wraps up, appropriately enough, with a cover of Rick Derringer’s “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” and is a fine interpretation of that rip-roaring 70s anthem.  Hop in your van with a barbarian painted on the side, lay some rubber down the highway, and blast this album at top volume!  Ditch your black/death/disco/nu/symphonic/operatic/hipster horseshit and listen to some real damn music!

__________________________________________________

The Bottom Line:  If you like classic rock, Heavy Metal, Thin Lizzy or music that doesn’t sound like shit, then you should definitely run out and grab Revelry & Resilience.  Also, Gypsyhawk will be out on tour this fall with The Sword which is a hell of a pairing -- two rock solid bands that understand how to lay it down 70s style.  Get a ticket to the tour if you can, and buy these guys a beer.

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!

                

God Rest Ye Merry Metalheads

Holy Grail – Season’s Bleedings

Prosthetic Records - 2011

Bangers, the Holidays are upon us and Holy Grail has a cool little gift for all you good (or more likely, bad) Metalheads. Season’s Bleedings is a 7” vinyl EP containing two cover songs - “No Presents For Christmas” (originally by King Diamond) and “Kill The King” (originally by Rainbow). Both tracks are superb, with James Paul Luna effortlessly pulling off vocals from both King Diamond and Ronnie James Dio. The band sounds electrifying, with Eli Santana and Alex Lee ripping it up on guitar and Blake Mount and Tyler Meahl holding down the bottom end.

In addition to the 7” vinyl release, Season’s Bleedings is also available as a four track digital download. The two additional tracks are also covers – Judas Priest’s “Exciter” and Accept’s “Fast As A Shark.” Both of these songs were previously available only on the CD version of the Improper Burial EP. Again, the band does a fantastic job on both with the Priest cover being particularly crushing.

The band have produced a short promo sampler for the EP which you can check out below:

___________________________________________________________

The Bottom Line: Season’s Bleedings is a great little collector’s item from Holy Grail, and it would really liven up the Christmas festivities with the family. You need to hurry up if you want to get the vinyl version because it’s strictly limited to only 250 red and 250 green copies worldwide. How festive! The Metal Blog Of Metal already has one of each in the vaults.

As Always, MAKE MINE METAL.

Flying High Again

White Wizzard - Flying Tigers

Earache Records 2011

Bangers, one of the leaders of the NWOTHM is back with their second full length release and the question is did they succumb to the dreaded sophomore album slump or did they rise to the occasion. The Metal Blog of Metal is happy to report that White Wizzard’s new album Flying Tigers is even better than their superb first album Over The Top. The band has kept their core sound intact but has added some progressive elements to make one of the best albums of 2011.

Once again Jon Leon has written all the songs and plays all the guitars and bass on the album. Wyatt “Screaming Demon” Anderson is still on vocals and Giovanni Durst is back on drums. It should be noted that Anderson does not tour with the band and as a result, Mikey Gremio (formerly of Cellador) is the touring vocalist. I had the good fortune to see White Wizzard on tour this summer and Gremio does a great job with both the James Paul Luna tracks as well as the Wyatt Anderson material. He also works the crowd well and goes to great lengths to get the audience involved in the show. The picture belows shows yours truly (the bearded fellow with the super-awesome Acccept shirt) with the touring lineup of White Wizzard.

The new album, Flying Tigers, is composed of two parts with the first six tracks being thematically unrelated and the last six tracks are tied together by the same concept. Prior to the release of Flying Tigers, Jon Leon had mentioned in interviews that he was listening to a lot of Rush and my guess is he wanted to emulate 2112’s suite of seven songs. I admit that I had trepidation about the concept tracks before I heard them because I can’t stand concept albums. I find them to be turgid affairs full of crap tracks and end up being masturbatory wastes of time. Luckily White Wizzard knows both Metal and how to craft a killer album that maintains the listener’s interest.

The album kicks into gear with “Fight To The Death” which is a fast burner of a track with a message or fighting for what you believe in and never giving up. Next up is “West L.A. Nights” which is an ode to rocking in the City of Angels and hanging out at the Rainbow Bar and Grill. “Starchild” is not about Paul Stanley but is the first single from the album and it’s a ballad. Now don’t let this worry you as it’s a ballad in the tradition of Iron Maiden’s “Children Of The Damned” or Judas Priest’s “Beyond The Realms Of Death.” I really dig this song as it starts out slowly but builds to a fantastic climax by its end. I salute White Wizzard for having the balls to release a ballad as their first single. Check it out for yourself below:

The title track is a speedy number about the 1^st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force who fought against the Imperial Japanese in 1941-1942. “Night Train To Tokyo” is about a Japanese lady and is chock full of superb bass work and hooks galore. The non-concept portion of the album wraps up with “Night Stalker” which is an excellent track that would have been right at home on Killers with its cranking delivery.

The next six tracks are all linked conceptually with lyrics that involve Atlantis, ancient aliens, demons, The New World Order, warfare and a star man’s son. What’s it all about? I have no idea really as my promo copy has no lyrics but frankly, it doesn’t matter as each track is excellent and could stand on it’s own. That is high praise for concept albums which usually have tons of filler tracks as transitions in the storyline. White Wizzard have successfully crafted a concept suite that holds the listeners attention the entire time. My favorite cut off of the last album was the epic “Iron Goddess of Vengeance” and these six tracks remind of that song writ large.

Iron Maiden should listen to Flying Tigers for tips on how to craft another progressive album that is not a total snooze-fest (cough – The Final Frontier – cough.) We are served riff after tasty riff with varied tempos, shredding solos, a thundering bass and killer vocals. I can’t imagine that this is a Metal fan on earth that won’t like this album as it is pure metallic excellence with not one filler track. I never reach for the skip button in the car which is a real test of an album for me. It flows well with a superb mixture of the progressive and the aggressive.

__________________________________________________

The Bottom Line: Flying Tigers is an amazing slab of pure steel and is another superb release from White Wizzard. I encourage everyone to go out and buy this release when it hits the racks in the United States and if you are in Europe get it now because it’s already out. Jon Leon and crew once again have earned our support so back these defenders of the faith with your hard earned coin.

As always, MAKE MINE METAL.

Swedish Skull Crushers

Wolf – Legions Of Bastards

Century Media – 2011

My fellow Heavy Metal enthusiasts, I am sure you are aware of the New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal (NWOTHM.) The NWOTHM tag is essentially a marketing gimmick that was invented by Earache Records in 2009 to categorize all the up and coming traditional metal bands. Bands such as Cauldron, Portrait, White Wizzard, Holy Grail, Armour, Volture, Enforcer, and Skull Fist were all lumped together in the NWOTHM whether they considered themselves part of this group or not.

Long before these bands were put axe to the wax other traditional metal bands soldiered on such as Twisted Tower Dire, Cage, and Widow. Another band that has been playing rib crunching, spine cracking, traditional Metal for years is Wolf from Orebro, Sweden. Imagine the galloping music of Iron Maiden melded with the high pitched vocals of King Diamond and you’ll have a fairly good idea of the band’s sound.

Wolf has been putting out consistently great albums since the release of their eponymous debut in 2000. Their 2004 release Evil Star is a favorite of The Metal Blog Of Metal, the title track a crushing sledge of metallic greatness. Unfortunately, their 2006 follow up The Black Flame, was a letdown with too many average tracks and poor sequencing which resulted in most of the excellent cuts being at the end of the album. Wolf quickly recovered in 2009 with the fantastic Ravenous which featured the superb tracks “Speed On,” “Hail Caesar,” and “Voodoo.”

This year Wolf has blessed the Metal world with Legions Of Bastards and it’s a cracking album of pure chromium plated steel. Picking right up where the last album left off, the band offers up 11 tracks on vinyl, 12 on digital download and standard CD, and 13 on the deluxe digipak CD. Wolf has in no way back loaded this disc; the album kicks off with three hooky burners in “Vicious Companions,” “Skull Crusher,” and “Full Moon Possession.” Any of these three cuts would make a great lead single or video but right now all I can find online is a live performance of “Skull Crusher.” Check it out:

“Jeckyll and Hyde” is a longer multi-tempo track with crushing riffs and a very cool chorus. “Absinthe” is a tribute to everyone’s favorite extract of wormwood, and it will have you banging your head at the 1:40 minute mark. “Tales From The Crypt” is the album's epic centerpiece and features such jolly lyrics as “Tomorrow is just another word for misery.” It’s another fantastic song with noodly Maiden guitar parts. “Nocturnal Rites” starts with an intro similar to either “E5150” or “The Dark” by Black Sabbath and then develops into a mid-paced grinder with sweet, sweet gang vocals in the choruses.

It’s at this point that the album hits a bit of a snag due to poor sequencing. On the digital download and CD the songs “Road To Hell” and “False Preacher” are back to back and both have the same lyrical content – the perils of organized religion. The tracks are actually separated on the vinyl and the album flows much better as a result. Wolf should have followed the vinyl sequencing in other formats or ditched one of these tracks and used it as a bonus song on different versions.

“Hope To Die” is another fast song with strong solos and riffs and lyrics about spooky rituals and the occult. The last track on the vinyl and standard CD is “K-141 Kursk” and deals with the accidental sinking of a Russian submarine and the subsequent death of all hands on board. It’s a decent song but it has a particularly effective outro as the song fades and all that can be heard is a mournful sonar ping. It conjures up visions of doomed submariners waiting to die in the dark as their vessel takes on water.

The Deluxe edition CD features the track “6 Steps” which was the bonus track on the Japanese edition of Ravenous. It’s a mid-paced number with a crunchy guitar tone that lyrically is reminiscent of Maiden’s “Fear Of The Dark.” Both the Deluxe CD and the digital download end with a cover of Metal Church’s “Method To Your Madness.” Wolf is particularly adept at cover songs, and in the past has produced excellent covers of Mercyful Fate, Blue Oyster Cult, Slayer and The Ramones songs. “Method To Your Madness” is no exception and is well worth the listen.

If you can’t decide which version of the album to purchase, I suggest the vinyl because not only do you get a nice piece red vinyl, but you also get the Deluxe Edition of the CD tucked into one of the gatefolds. That’s a very cool way for labels to entice people to purchase vinyl. You can see the pictures of this version at the top of this review.

___________________________________________

The Bottom Line: Wolf once again delivers the Metal with Legions Of Bastards and they deserve your support. They were NWOTHM long before the NWOTHM was cool so go out there and buy something from them. Here’s hoping that some day they make it to the States for a tour.

As always, MAKE MINE METAL.

Iron Gods of Vengeance

White Wizzard - Over The Top

Earache Records – 2010

The first thing you notice when dropping the needle on White Wizzard’s Over The Top is the galloping bass of Jon Leon thundering up front like Steve Harris circa ’82. Leon is the main man behind White Wizzard and as such writes all the songs and lyrics and performs almost all of the lead, rhythm, and bass guitars in the studio.

White Wizzard was formed in 2007 in Los Angeles, California and released their debut EP White Wizzard in 2008 which was re-released in 2009 as High Speed GTO. The EP featured a completely different line up than Over The Top and included future Holy Grail founders James Paul Luna, James J. Larue and Tyler Meahl. The ever popular “creative differences” led to Luna, Larue and Meahl to leave amid not a little bit of rancor.

Jon Leon regrouped and recruited a completely new lineup for Over The Top. The most notable addition is vocalist Wyatt “Screaming Demon” Anderson who sings in a powerful, clear voice and in some songs sounds much like Mike Howe of Heretic and Metal Church. Wyatt’s vocal abilities help White Wizzard to sound like equal parts Judas Priest circa British Steel and Iron Maiden before 1986. This is a potent combination that most metal bands back in the mid-80’s were striving to achieve and White Wizzard has managed to blend these two influences perfectly.

Over The Top features such up-tempo anthems as “Over The Top,” “40 Deuces,” “High Roller,” “Live Free Or Die,” and “Death Race.” In case you weren’t sure whether or not Jon Leon is a Iron Maiden fan or not, just take a listen to the cut “Strike Of The Viper” which has the line, “Can you feel the strike of the Viper, 6 6 6.” Number of the beast, strike of the viper, either works for The Metal Blog Of Metal. All of these tracks feature lyrical themes about such metal topics as: taking risks, having wings of steel, fighting it out Road Warrior style in a dystopian future, freedom, and muscle cars.

The lead single from the album is “Over The Top” and the band made a hilarious video for it. Leon clearly understands the 1980’s metal video esthetic as it features a ghost town, two dueling wizards, hot chicks, a Pontiac GTO and the band rocking in the middle of nowhere. Follow the viewing of it with W.A.S.P.’s “Wild Child” as a chaser.

Somewhat unexpected are the two epic tracks, “Iron Goddess of Vengeance” and “White Wizzard” which both clock in at seven plus minutes. “Iron Goddess of Vengeance” is a personal favorite that starts off with ominous chanting and proceeds to build to a furious climax as the Iron Goddess reclaims her crown from Satan himself. The track is pure vanadium and is the center piece of the album with its progressive structure and superb songwriting. “White Wizzard” is the final track and tells the tale of dueling wizards and a dragon which, as Ronnie James Dio would tell you from his throne in Valhalla, is what metal is all about.

Earache offers the album in the following formats:

• Standard CD
• Limited Edition CD with bonus disc featuring the cover songs “Gates of Gehanna” by Cloven Hoof and “Heading Out To The Highway” by Judas Priest.
• Standard Vinyl
• Vinyl Picture Disc
• Digital Download

____________________________________________________________

The Bottom Line: If you like your metal traditional and fun Over The Top is exactly what you are looking for. Is it revolutionary in any way? No, but then again, I don’ t think it was meant to be revolutionary but rather it was meant to be a pure expression of early 80's metal. As the band have mentioned in interviews, Metal should be about fun and this is certainly a fun album. It has excellent songwriting, playing, and vocals and displays a purity that many bands fail to achieve in our irony saturated world. Definitely pick it up and check them out on tour this summer and fall.

As always, MAKE MINE METAL.

Ultimate Power Vultures

Holy Grail - Crisis In Utopia

Prosthetic Records – 2010

It seldom happens that an unknown band becomes one of your favorites on the strength of their first album. It’s even rarer that an unknown metal band playing straight down the pocket, traditional, old school, fists in the air metal becomes one of your favorites in 2011. Such is the case with Holy Grail here at The Metal Blog Of Metal.

Formed by three former members of White Wizzard in 2008, the band released the Improper Burial EP in 2009 and then followed that up with their full length debut album Crisis In Utopia the following year. Crisis In Utopia features 11 tracks, two of which were previously released on Improper Burial. Holy Grail successfully blend equal parts traditional metal and shred guitar with a dash of death metal backing vocals to create a superb album.

Don’t let the mention of death metal scare you off - the backing vocals on a couple tracks are of the harsher variety and that’s it. In fact, vocalist James Paul Luna sings in a clear, strong voice throughout the album. He has incredible range and sings with power and balls as should be the norm in metal. Luna has no trouble hitting the high notes and will at times have some nice grit in his voice in the low end. He is an excellent front man and really helps to put Crisis In Utopia over the top.

The other secret weapon in the band’s arsenal is Eli Santana on guitars and backing vocals. Santana frequently mentions Racer X in interviews as an inspiration and one can really hear that influence in the songs. He shreds all over this album like Paul Gilbert of Racer X. Now don't think this is some guitar wank-fest with notes-a-flyin' everywhere, but rather tasteful playing that compliments and enhances every track. Imagine Dio with Yngwie from Steeler playing and that should give you an idea of the Luna/Sanata combination.

Each track is a standout really so it’s extremely difficult to pick a favorite but lead single ”My Last Attack” is very, very good and incredibly infectious. The video for the track really captures the live experience at a Holy Grail show.

Lyrically, this is a traditional metal album. You aren’t going to have to listen to some jackass whining about how nobody loves him and he needs a hug. It’s about war, Vikings, the Apocalypse, succeeding against incredible odds, the supernatural and yes, ULTIMATE POWER VULTURES!!!!! Not just regular power vultures mind you but fucking ULTIMATE POWER VULTURES! No false metal here, no sir. Practically every song is anthemic, horns up metal of the highest quality. Think Painkiller, Balls To The Wall, Kill ‘Em All, etc…

Crisis In Utopia is just a superb album of traditional metal that is fun to listen to and great to sing along with in the car. That's the real test of any album for me, does it make repeated trips into my car CD player? In the case of the present album, I listened to it over and over during the 5 hour trip from the Queen City to the Steel City. If you can do that with an album, you know it's something special. In fact, the album has yet to leave my daily play list, it's that good. If there was ever a band and an album to lead metal into the next decade, this is it. Buy or die.

Prosthetic Records offers the album in several formats:

• CD
• Vinyl in various colors - clear (see pic above), black, white, black mix
• iTunes and Amazon digital download

__________________________________________

The Bottom Line: You should be buying this album now. As in right now. Stop reading this blog and buy this damn album already. You should be supporting this band with your cash monies. We need more bands like this in Metal. Holy Grail are also constantly on tour so definitely check them out live. The Metal Blog Of Metal had the good fortune of seeing them with Cauldron and the show was incredible. They are as good live as they are on wax and the show was a whopping $8. Go see them and buy some merch damn it!

As always, MAKE MINE METAL.