The Curio Cabinet Of Metal #2

Judas Priest - Painkiller: The Sharpest Cuts

Muthas, it’s no secret that Judas Priest is my favorite band, however they’ve never been a band that issues a whole lot of promos, limited editions, picture discs, etc., unlike Iron Maiden for instance. However, Priest has issued a couple of interesting rarities over the year and I happen to have one of the stranger ones – Painkiller: The Sharpest Cuts.  Check out this thing:

It’s a CD printed to look like a toothed sawblade (a motif that the band recently revisited) and it’s on a cardboard background mocked up like the packaging of a rotary sawblade, including stating “Coarse Tooth (nonferrous metals)” and even having the hole punch at the top center to be hung on a peg board at the hardware store.  Now that’s some cool attention to detail! It also reflects the sawblade wheels of the serpent bike that the Painkiller himself was riding on the cover of the album.   

The back of the packaging has the tracklisting and a description for each song, as well as the usual promo label – “Demonstration – Not For Sale” and a list of all the Judas Priest albums put out up to that point (1990) by Columbia Records. Clearly this disc was intended to promote the Painkiller album which was released in 1990. Painkiller was much heavier and thrashier than the band’s prior couple of albums and was hailed as a triumph upon its release.  Priest was clearly highly motivated when this album was released and it was quite the scorcher.

 

Over the years, I’ve heard some criticism of Painkiller as a “thrash sellout” in the same way that Turbo was a “glam sellout” back in 1986.  I have never really agreed with that notion because most critics fail to mention/remember the atmosphere that Painkiller was recorded in.  Priest had just emerged victorious from the costly and farcical subliminal message trial brought against them by the estates of Raymond Belknap and James Vance.  The teens had both attempted suicide while listening to Judas Priest’s Stained Class album.  Belknap died immediately, but Vance lingered for three years before passing away. 

The plaintiffs’ attorney eventually claimed that there were subliminal messages on the whole album, but focused on the track “Better By You, Better Than Me” which apparently contained a backward masked message to “Do it.”  I am assuming the hapless attorney didn’t even realize this was a cover of a Spooky Tooth song.  Be that as it may, the band spent $500,000 in attorney’s fees defending themselves!  That’s enough to piss anybody off and the band were still pissed about it in 2001 when they penned the tune “Bloodsuckers” about scumbag lawyers. 

It was in this atmosphere that Priest cranked out the most aggressive album of their career.  Who can blame them?  According to Rob Halford the label was as pissed off as the band was and put out marketing taglines for Painkiller such as “The Antidote To Annihilation” and “Awesome! Backwards or forwards.”  This brings us to the back cover of Painkiller: The Sharpest Cuts which contains a couple of interesting track notes.  First, the song “Better By You, Better Than Me” says, “The Most Talked about track from the controversial Stained Class release. Listen to it! Listen to it! Listen to it!”

The other interesting note is track 10.  You can see that it’s only listed with a backward question mark and two asterisks.  What’s that all about?

Well, in another giant middle finger to the whole Belknap/Vance trial, it’s “Better By You, Better Than Me” backwards!  How awesome is that!  Clearly Priest and Columbia Records were all out of fucks to give. 

Apparently several thousand of these were pressed and a cassette version was also released.  There is one note of caution if you’d like to acquire this piece of Priest’s history – while all copies list ten tracks on the tracklisting, only some have the backwards version of “Better By You, Better Than Me.” Many copies omit the tenth track and the cassette version doesn’t seem to have ever been issued in a ten track version. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell the nine track version from the ten track versions short of putting it in a CD player. Caveat Emptor!  

One more note, I own two copies and mine have ten tracks.  Hahaha!

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I hope you enjoyed this little sliver of Judas Priest history and another installment in The Curio Cabinet Of Metal.

As Always, MAKE MINE METAL!

You're The Best Around (No, Not You, But Fourteen Albums Are)

Muthas, 2014 is in the books and once again we’ve picked the top fourteen Metal albums of the year. We’ve also picked the best live albums, best reissues, best live shows, and the biggest disappointment of the year. Read on!

The Fourteen Best Albums of 2014

2014 offered up tons of quality Heavy Metal for your listening pleasure and here are the fourteen releases that dominated our turntables, CD players and mp3 players at The Metal Blog of Metal.

Grand Magus – Triumph and Power

The Magus cranks out yet another rock solid album that is loaded with epic tunes.  Drink some mead and crank this up! Read the full review here.

Overkill – White Devil Armory

The Wrecking Crew delivers another stellar Thrash opus. Read the full review here.

Judas Priest – Redeemer of Souls

The Priest is back!  An unexpectedly good album that manages to overcome a weird mix.  Check out the full review here.

Orange Goblin – Back From The Abyss

A bludgeoning masterpiece of burly, manly, beardy Metal!  Orange Goblin serves up a disc that may just be best of their career.  If we gave out a best of the year, this may have been it.  So damn good! BUY, BUY, BUY!!!

The Dagger – The Dagger

Sweden strikes again with an album that’s full of excellent 70s style Metal.  Imagine a tasty brew composed mostly of Rainbow and sprinkled liberally with Thin Lizzy, and Judas Priest.  It’s a very impressive album especially considering ¾ of the band is composed of former members of Dismember.  Highly recommended!

Striker – City of Gold

The first of three awesome Canadian releases in our best of 2014. Striker’s third album is a smashing combo of Speed Metal and Traditional Metal.  The band they most recall is the godly Vicious Rumors.  All of their albums are excellent and this is as good a place as any to start.  Buy or die! 

Midnight Malice – Proving Grounds

Canadian band number two on our list crushed 2014 with a killer Traditional Metal disc that is hooky as all hell.  They completely delivered the goods after being mostly silent since their 2010 demo Pray For Death.  The only negative is they advertise this as a CD on their website, but it’s actually a CDR.  That’s kind of shitty, but the quality of the music more than offsets this minor disappointment.  If you dig Riot and other good Traditional Metal bands you need to add this to your collection post-haste.

Bullet – Storm of Blades

If you don’t know about Bullet by now here’s their obvious description - take one part Accept and one part AC/DC and mix in a metric shit-ton of fun.   Storm of Blades is a focused and blistering offering, and it's a definite step up from the average Full Pull.  Don’t miss this one.  Killer Anvil-esque album cover too! 

Skull Fist – Chasing The Dream

The last of our Canadian trio, Skull Fist brought out their best album yet in 2014.  They cranked back on Jackie Slaughter’s insane vocals a tiny bit, but kept the excellent songwriting and hooks.  Some complain that his vocals are (possibly?) auto-tuned, but we didn’t because the album kicks all kinds of ass.  Hail Canada! 

Stallion – Rise and Ride

German bangers Stallion’s first full album is a cool combo of Heavy Metal, Speed Metal and a bit of a Sleaze Metal edge.  Fun. Fun. Fun.  They completely embrace the early 80s Heavy Metal aesthetic  of songwriting and fashion.  Tiger stripes and bandanas ahoy!  They even have a song called “Wild Stallions.”  Party on dudes!

Primal Fear – Delivering The Black

Something of a comeback for these Power Metal veterans, with great songs and a real sense of urgency to the writing.  Read the full review here.

Grave Digger – Return of the Reaper

Speaking of Germany, these stalwarts have brought out a killer album that’s NOT a concept album!  Hooray!  It’s a pummeling platter of muscular Power Metal.  Also, the album cover is amazing.  Highly recommended!

Stone Dagger – The Siege of Jerusalem

A little bit of cheating here, but were adding this to our 2014 list because the original 2013 release was very limited to a few cassettes and it didn't get a wide release until 2014.  This two-tracker recalls all of the best of the NWOBHM and is an absolute must buy.  Go get this now. Seriously.  NOW!

Wolf – Devil Seed

Wolf are one of the bands that kicked off the whole NWOTHM movement way back in 1999 and they are still going strong today.  They always seem to get lost in the shuffle, but Devil Seed is another great addition to their legacy of high quality Traditional Metal.  It’s definitely worth your coin if you dig music that doesn’t suck.  

Live – After Death! – The Best Live Albums of 2014

Satan – Trail Of Fire – Live In North American

Documenting NWOBHM legends Satan’s first tour of North America, Trail Of Fire is a very good set of classics that will please any fan of the band or the genre. The band sounds great with Brian Ross's vocals being just as good now as their were way back in the 80s.  The crowds are very excited to hear them which makes this a really special live album.  Pick it up.

Whitesnake – Live In ’84 – Back To The Bone

Here’s a song for ya!! This is a deluxe CD + DVD package that showcases Whitesnake’s killer 1984 lineup at Super-Rock Japan.  Also included are several other live tracks from the same time period as well as Jon Lord’s final show with the band.  This is Whitesnake at their peak with John Sykes before 1987’s “Whitesnake” album.  Just get it.

Born Again – The Best Reissues of 2014

Revered – Reverend EP, World Won’t Miss You, Play God, Live EP

Divebomb Records deluxe reissues of the entire Reverend Caroline Records catalog.  These are mandatory for any Metal Church fan or fans of Power Thrash in general.  Get ‘em before their gone.

Picture – Picture 1, Heavy Metal Ears, Diamond Dreamer, Eternal Dark

Divebomb Records strikes again with four albums from the Netherlands own Picture!  Superb Traditional Heavy Metal that will please fans of 70s and early 80s Judas Priest.  Pitch those shitty Greek bootlegs and pick these deluxe editions up.  Great stuff!

S.A. Slayer – Prepare To Die, Go For The Throat

Finally!  A legit 2 on 1 reissue of the legendary “other Slayer” from San Antonio, Texas.  This is from the excellent Polish label Skol Records and is very nicely done – just like all of their reissues.  Buy!

Satan’s Host – Metal From Hell, Midnight Wind

It’s another excellent, finally legit reissue from the good folks at Skol Records. Get this and see where it all began for Leviathan Thisiren and company way back in 1986.  By the hands of the devil indeed!

Black Conventicles – The Best Concerts of 2014

Metal Church – March 7^th, The Rex Theater, Pittsburgh, PA

A great set of classics and very little new material from Metal Church on a Friday night in the Steel City.  They were filming a concert video so we actually got to hear “Start The Fire” and “Ton of Bricks” twice back to back!  Very cool.  Unfortunately, this proved to be the last tour with Ronny Munroe, as he left the band shortly thereafter.  Here’s hoping they can continue with another vocalist before they lose the momentum built up from their return. 

Black Label Society/Down – May 15^th, Stage A.E., Pittsburgh, PA

It was nice to see BLS, but the real attraction was finally getting to see Down and Phil Anselmo.  Phil and the boys belted out a great set of Down classics and left us wanting more.  This is the fourth or fifth time that we’ve seen BLS and Zakk always delivers his guitar hero antics with style and flash.  A fun time was had by all.

Primal Fear – May 24^th, The Altar Bar, Pittsburgh, PA

It was quite unexpected when Primal Fear announced a United States tour and that it would be hitting Pittsburgh.  Seeing as this was their second-to-last show in the States, their performance was excellent and they band was tight as hell.  They delivered song after song of top-notch German Power Metal to the faithful that ventured out that night.  It was a damn good set that showcased a band thats far from running in the dust.  Hailz!

King Diamond – October 19^th, Stage A.E., Pittsburgh, PA

It was a definite treat seeing the revitalized King Diamond and his theatrical stage show of evil awesomeness right before Halloween!  It was pure chance that had him book a show here in the Steel City, and everyone there was glad to see him back in action.  Here’s hoping that more tours and albums follow.  A new Mercyful Fate album and tour would be great too!

Message In Blood – The Best Album Cover of 2014

Grave Digger – Return of the Reaper

Now that’s an awesome cover!  The Grim Reaper, a graveyard, fire, a casket, and ravens all presented as if they are coming right at you as they bust out of the graveyard.  Sweet! Looks exceptionally good on vinyl.

The System Has Failed – The Biggest Disappointments of 2014

Sebastian Bach – Give ‘Em Hell

We keep waiting for Baz to unleash a worthy follow up to the smoking Angel Down and he’s never gotten close.  The album sounds uninspired and his vocals are weirdly strained on much of the material.  WTF?  Also, the album cover is an abomination. Boo!!!!  Get Metal Mike Chlasciak back and write some better material.  We'll be waiting. 

Accept – Blind Fury

It’s a pile of meh.  Full review here.

The 124^th Annual The Metal Blog of Metal 

Comeback Of The Year Award

Chromium Dioxide Magazine

If you don’t read this Canadian Metal ‘zine I pity your shallow, colorless existence.  It’s packed full of hilarity, Metal, VHS bargain bin treasures, and everything else the 1990 version of me thought was great. Main men Philthy Chromium and Dave Slimer hadn’t been able to put out an issue since 2011 due to various fires, health scares, and other shittiness, but now they are back for the attack!  Buy it here and know what it is to live life to the fullest as a man should do.  Hoist a midnight champagne with me in celebration!  Cheers! 

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Have a great 2015 and as always, MAKE MINE METAL!

Welcome To My World Of Steel

Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls

Epic Records – 2014

Muthas, the Priest is back! It’s been six long years since the disappointing, turgid mess that was Nostradamus.  In the interim founding member K.K. Downing retired and was replaced by Richie Faulkner. With the loss of one third of the Halford/Tipton/Downing triumvirate would it be possible for Redeemer of Souls to live up to the rest of the Judas Priest catalog?  Believe it or not, it actually does.  This is a damn fine return to form for the band that personifies Heavy Metal. 

Sadly, it takes several listens to get into Redeemer of Souls because of a couple of a few odd choices that the band has made.  Firstly, the mix on this album is garbage.  The guitars are buried in the mix and Halford’s vocals are pushed way up front.  This robs many of the cuts of power and makes them a bit inaccessible upon the first few listens.  Secondly, the sequencing of the album is poor because the first several tracks are nowhere near the best and lack the immediate hooky-ness that can really kick-start an album.  A remix and a re-sequencing would do wonders for Redeemer of Souls. Finally, this is a very long album with the standard version having 13 tracks and the deluxe edition featuring a bonus disc with an additional five songs.  Eighteen tracks is essentially two albums worth of material and is a huge amount of music to digest in a single sitting.

Those criticisms aside, this is probably the best album Priest has released since Painkiller.  Once you get past the okay “Dragonaught” and the ho-hum title track, the album really kicks into gear with “Halls of Valhalla” which should have been the album opener and first single.  “Sword of Damocles,” ”Battle Cry,” and “Metalizer,” are all excellent, speedy cuts. “March of the Damned” is the second single while having a modern sound is a total earworm.  I defy anyone not to get into the amazing riff that is all over this track. “Hell & Back” sounds like it could have been from 1978 and “Cold Blooded” could have been on Screaming For Vengeance.  This album is packed with quality songs throughout. Unfortunately, the album ends with the “Beginning of the End” which is a crap ballad and it should have been left off the album.

The bonus disc features five tracks, four of which are equal to, or better than, the material on the standard album. “Snakebite” is a catchy, sassy, commercial track that recalls the British Steel era.  “Tears of Blood” is a fantastic, emotional song that builds to a great ending, and is the best track of all of the eighteen cuts!  This should have been the centerpiece of the standard album.  “Creatures” is a classic Priest “monster” song like “Nightcrawler” and is damn good.  “Bring It On” is decent and sounds like it was written in the late 70s/early 80s.  Unfortunately, “Never Forget” ends the bonus disc - it’s a horrid, treacly ballad.  Vomitous.

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The Bottom Line:

The mighty Judas Priest has cranked out an excellent album that is overstuffed with metallic goodness.  The Deluxe Edition is worth the coin, and will provide you with hours of quality listens.  So get out there and get it if you haven’t already. 

As always, MAKE MINE METAL! 

The World Is A Manacled Place

Judas Priest – Screaming For Vengeance Special 30^th Anniversary Edition

Sony Records – 2012

Hellions, 30 years ago the mighty Judas Priest released one of the defining albums of their career - Screaming For Vengeance.  To celebrate this momentous occasion the LP has been re-released in a special edition package that includes the remastered album with 6 bonus tracks and a DVD.  Today the album is considered a classic of the genre but it must be remembered that Screaming For Vengeance represented a course correction for Priest after the failure of the previous album, Point Of Entry. The band had attempted a more commercial direction on Point Of Entry, but the result was lackluster, with half the cuts being good and the other half being crap.  It would be considered Priest’s worst album if not for the execrable Turbo from 1986.  

Screaming managed to both solidify the band’s reputation as Metal royalty and also firmly established the leather and studs visual imagery for every other Metal band to follow.  Many a cow regretted the inner sleeve of the album which featured a picture of the band in full leather regalia bedazzled with a zillion studs.  All hail the glorious days before irony ruined music! 

Fully half of the songs from the album are still featured in the live set today with “The Hellion” and “Electric Eye” being the eternal openers on almost every tour.  The title track was a Speed Metal assault before Speed Metal even existed and was the band’s heaviest song to that point.  It’s a searing blast of shrieking awesomeness that is the sonic equivalent of the Hellion featured on the legendary album cover.  “Riding On The Wind” is another classic that both Priest and the Halford band play with regularity.  The most popular song of Priest’s career, “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” is a masterpiece of anthemic Metal that espouses the perfect Heavy Metal ethos of success at all costs.  Some may say that the song is too simple and played out but they are fucking idiots.  You know you want to pump your fist and bang your head every time you hear it.  

There are some forgotten gems on the album as well, such as the excellent “Bloodstone,” the brooding “Fever,” and the tongue-firmly-in-cheek ode to bondage “Pain and Pleasure.”  “(Take These) Chains" was an example of the band using an outside songwriter to try and capture a larger audience with a power ballad.  It’s a decent song and worth a listen if you want to explore some deeper Judas Priest cuts.  The album closer, “Devil’s Child,” is a swaggering and pulsing treat that became a live favorite for years to come.

In addition to the album proper, there are 6 bonus tracks, 5 of which are live.  In fact, 60% of the album is represented in live cuts and they are all excellent. There is also the unreleased track, “Prisoner Of Your Eyes,” which was initially released as a bonus track on the 2001 remastered version of Screaming.  A quick note for audiophiles: the album is the same as the 2001 remaster and as such some will find it to sound very compressed.  Most people won’t notice the difference, but if you are a discerning listener with a nice stereo you can tell that the bottom end is overly loud. If you are hoping that this is a new remaster, you are shit out of luck.

The DVD is the real highlight of this package as it is the first official release of Priest’s US Festival performance from May 29, 1983.  The DVD is of decent quality, but the source tape does have the usual limitations considering its age.  Also, this is not a modern production with multiple HD cameras, cranes and jump cuts.  It’s a simple affair with mostly band shots, but that actually helps the presentation, as it really feels like a spontaneous live show and not some choreographed and soulless modern production.  If you weren’t one of the lucky 350,000 headbangers that saw the band that day you can now get the full experience on an official release and not a crappy 60th generation bootleg.  Check out the promo video below to get a taste of the DVD:

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The Bottom Line:  Screaming For Vengeance is an all time Heavy Metal classic that must be in your collection.  If you already have it, the live tracks are a nice addition, but the DVD pushes this into must buy territory.  Snap this up and take a trip back to the days when Judas Priest were at the pinnacle of the Metal world.

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!

Lay Down Your Soul To The Gods Rock ‘N Roll

3 Inches of Blood – Long Live Heavy Metal

Century Media Records - 2012

Bangers: Canadian Metal masters 3 Inches of Blood are back with their latest album Long Live Heavy Metal and it’s a triumph! As the title suggests, the album celebrates Metal in all its glory with pummeling tracks of pure brilliance. 3IOB’s songwriting has grown by leaps and bounds on this album with the band employing multiple tempos and styles of Metal. This is a natural progression from their previous album, Here Waits Thy Doom, which displayed more variety than previous efforts. Further, this is the second album without Jamie Hooper as co-vocalist and as a result, there are far fewer harsh vocals than on prior albums. This is always a good thing in the not so humble opinion of The Metal Blog of Metal.

What really sets Long Live Heavy Metal apart from previous albums is the way the band has skillfully blended their signature speedy Metal with more melodic parts. They’ve also loaded the songs up with a ton of hooks which makes this album one you will listen to over and over again. Check out the chorus in “Leather Lord” which reminds The Metal Blog of Metal of Judas Priest’s “Painkiller,” or “Dark Messenger” which is chock full of Maiden-esque, noodly guitar. The centerpiece is 3IOB’s tribute to Ronnie James Dio, “Look Out,” which is a superb track that has an excellent organ solo a la Rainbow. Check out "Leather Lord" below:

“4000 Torches” is infectious with a killer chorus that demands to be shouted at the top of your lungs. 3IOB offers up a track about Canada’s national pastime – hockey – with “Leave It On The Ice,” which rips off your face with its furious, Speed Metal attack. “Metal Woman” warns of a lady who's a “demon in the sack” which sounds less like a warning and more like a recommendation. “Men of Fortune” is an epic, seven-and-a-half minute track that features loads of melody and clean vocals. It’s the biggest departure for the band to date. Finally there are two instrumentals on the album – “Chief and the Blade,” which features a mandolin and a flute, and “One for the Ditch” which also has a mandolin and an organ. Normally instrumentals are skipped here at The Metal Blog of Metal but these are excellent and fit seamlessly into the album.

In keeping with the theme of celebrating all that is Metal, the album has a cover reminiscent of Venom’s At War With Satan. It’s very well done and the exterior is lettered in all gold ink, which is a very cool touch that looks great on the vinyl and digipak. The interior is presented as if it were an ancient tome with complete lyrics. It’s always nice when a band goes the extra mile in the presentation of their work. Hailz!

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The Bottom Line: Three Inches of Blood have released an excellent album with loads of variety, melody and hook. They have really stepped up their game with Long Live Heavy Metal and let’s hope the music buying public goes out and snaps this one up. Get out there and see them on tour and buy the album!

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!