Like Thunder Through The Skull

Night Demon - Darkness Remains

Century Media Records - 2017

Muthas, in my not so humble opinion, Night Demon is one of the best new wave of traditional heavy metal bands in the world right now.  Their debut EP was an unbelievably good slice of retro NWOBHM and their first LP – Curse Oh The Damned – was simply excellent.  That brings us to the present where the band is scheduled to drop their all-important second LP on April 21^st.  So, will there be a sophomore slump or another solid album of traditional metal?  Well, I was lucky enough to secure of promo of their new album – Darkness Remains – and after spinning it about fifty times, I am ready to render a verdict. 

First things first though, there’s been a lineup change since we last heard from Night Demon. Guitarist Brent Woodward has departed and he’s been replaced by Armand John Anthony who was formerly with Gygax.  Also, main man Jarvis Leatherby has been busy fronting NWOBHM legends Jaguar, playing bass in Cirith Ungol and organizing the Frost And Fire Festivals for three years running.  Did the band lose focus with the new lineup and all their various outside activities and projects?  Thankfully, the answer is a resounding no! 

Darkness Remains is a tight collection of superbly executed traditional heavy metal and it’s crammed full of great riffs, catchy choruses, hooks galore, pounding drums and good vocals. There is a slight difference from their earlier material because Armand John Anthony’s playing style is heavily influenced by Thin Lizzy and his melodic riffing permeates the whole album.  However, it’s yet another cracking album from Night Demon that rivals the best efforts of the NWOBHM. 

The band rips right out of the gate with the lead track “Welcome To The Night.”  The song starts with a creepy intro and then blasts into a faster tempo.  It’s a quintessential Night Demon cut with varied tempos, a catchy chorus, a nice solo and occult lyrics.  Check out the excellent video for it:

“Hallowed Ground” is a speedy blaster featuring a pummeling riff that will definitely get your head banging with fury. ”Maiden Hell” is a very fun and peppy track that has lyrics which are all Iron Maiden references.  This song is very infectious and Jarvis even serves up a “Scream For Me!” Very cool!

“Stranger In The Room” is a mid-paced, epic spookster that reminds me of their song “The Howling Man” for their last album. The band is particularly adept at this kind of atmospheric track.  Well done lads! “Life On The Run” is one of my favorites on the album because it features some tasty and crunchy riffage and drops some really cool nods to other metal songs/albums in the lyrics – Thundersteel, Power Games, Hand Of Doom etc…  It also drops into a nice chugging riff at the midpoint and then transitions into a cool solo. 

“Dawn Rider” cruises along on the back of a “Heaven And Hell” style galloping riff and “Black Widow” is a classic “evil woman” song that has a regal/martial opening riff that dissolves into a killer up tempo pace that makes it another favorite of mine on the album.  “On Your Own” has a pure, classic 80s opening riff, “believe in yourself” lyrics and an earworm of a gang chorus that will lodge in your brain for days. 

  

“Flight Of The Manticore” is a sprawling, mid-tempo instrumental that definitely allows Armand to strut his stuff on the guitar.  I am a sucker for good instrumentals and this one is very good.  The final track on the CD and LP is the title cut and it’s quite the departure for Night Demon. The track reminds me of Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan” because Jarvis’s vocals sound like they are done through a Leslie speaker and the overall tone of the song is very melancholy. It’s quite the epic at 5:23 minutes in length and it fades out to some strings or synths at the end.

    

The digital download of the album also features two bonus tracks – a cover of Sabbath’s “Turn Up The Night” and a cover of Queen’s “We Will Rock You (Fast Version)” which is a very cool idea!

I also need to note that the album artwork is seemingly a homage of Iron Maiden's Somewhere In Time because it features loads of Night Demon references.  There's the band's mascot Rocky from the EP cover, the Curse Of The Damned cover, the band itself, and the building is the Ventura, California city hall. I'll have to pore over the LP cover when I get the vinyl, because there's a lot I can't see in the tiny digital picture I have.  I dig it! 

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The Bottom Line: Night Demon has released another great LP with Darkness Remains and it’s well worth your hard-earned coin. I am sure this will be in my best of 2017 and you should pre-order the album at the links below if you don't want to suck at life:

Physical Media Pre-Orders and Bundles

Digital and Physical Media Pre-Orders

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!   

Stand In The Fire

           

We Want You: The Best of 2016

Muthas, 2016 has bit the dust and I’m back with a list of the best albums, live albums, reissues and album covers.  Enjoy!

The Best Albums of 2016

Bat – Wings Of Chains

Do you like greasy, dirty, raw thrash metal that sounds like Motorhead + Venom + Warfare?  If so, you will love this LP.  I previously reviewed their demo and this picks right up where that left off with a refreshing and fun blast of speedball metal.  Another great band from Ryan Waste.  Check out “Primitive Age.”  Raw future indeed!

Diamond Head – Diamond Head

Well what do you know? After releasing a couple of crappy albums that didn’t reflect their classic sound, Diamond Head comes roaring back with a cracking album that is replete with good songs.  Thankfully, the vocalist – Rasmus Bon Andersen – sounds a lot like Sean Harris, and Brian Tatler has penned some great songs. Check out “Bones.”

Grand Magus – Sword Songs

It seems that Grand Magus wanted to answer some of the complaints about their last album being too “epic” because Swords Songs is a return to more straight ahead, faster material.  It’s a very good album that features many anthemic cuts that will be sure to get your head banging.  Check out “Forged In Fire – Crowned In Iron.”

Gygax – Critical Hits

Arising from the ashes of the now sadly defunct Gypsyhawk is the excellent Gygax which play a tasty selection of heavy-70s metal that is heavily influenced by Thin Lizzy. Sinewy, twisting dual guitar leads are everywhere and the songs are catchy as all hell.  Oh, the splatter vinyl is quite simply the most stunning I have ever seen. Check out “Draw Breath.”

Metal Church – XI

The long awaited return of Mike Howe did not disappoint in the slightest!  XI is a phenomenal album that is one of the better comeback albums in the history Metaldom.  It’s great to hear Mike’s powerful voice ladled on top of choice power/thrash compositions once more.  The songs are excellent and Metal Church are back to reclaim their rightful throne!  Check out “Killing YourTime.”

Testament – Brotherhood Of The Snake

If you’ve liked the previous two Testament albums you will love this one.  It’s in the same vein as Formation and Dark Roots – Chuck Billy roaring over a superb rhythm section and great guitars.  There’s lots of thrashing to be heard here and several of the songs form a sort of concept album about lizard people?(!) The songs are heavy and catchy with several memorable choruses that will worm their way into your brain. (It’s probably because of unholy influence of the lizard people.)  Check out “Stronghold.”

Striker – Stand In The Fire

Fun! Fun! Fun!  Striker once again unleash an album that is just damn fun and high energy!  These guys know how to craft great power metal in the vein of Vicious Rumors or Leatherwolf and the cuts are full of great hooks.  The songs are very upbeat and positive and are sure to lift your spirits.  More people should be talking about these Canadians, so get out there and buy this album.  Check out “Too Late.”

Metal Massacre 14

A compilation in a best of list?  You’re damn right!  Metal Blade has finally released a worthy follow up to their classic 80s series of compilations by focusing on lesser- known traditional metal bands on small or independent labels.  If you are a fan of the NWOTHM many of these names will be familiar to you, but there are several gems here by Stone Dagger, Savage Master, Crypt Sermon, Gatekeeper and others.  Check out “The Demented Force” by Assassin’s Blade.  Buy or die!

Megadeth – Dystopia

Maybe the album of the year.  Full review here.  It’s so much better than the other Big Four releases it’s not even close.  What about Metallica you say?  It was a big pile of meh.  Not list worthy. 

  

Eternal Champion – The Armor Of Ire

Sweet Odin’s Raven this is good!  I’ve had a hard time listening to anything else for the last three months.  Eternal Champion is from Austin, Texas but they may as well have been born in the Hyborian Age because their music is a virtual soundtrack for Conan and Kull.  This is the way epic metal should be done – songs with fantasy based lyrics and killer music.  Thick, pummeling rhythms abound and the songs are very catchy.  I have nothing to criticize here – the artwork is great and there’s even a map included!  Album of the year?  Sure, why the hell not?  Check out “I Am The Hammer” and buy this album you knaves!

The Best Live Album

Dirkschneider – Live – Back To The Roots

Good old Udo is back with a live set of Accept classics and some not so classics to close the books on the Accept stage of his career.  Udo sounds great here and so does his backing band, and he even pulls out some tunes that haven’t been played in years - when was the last time you got to hear “Monsterman” or “T.V. War” live? Pick this up and you’ll be able to compare it to the soon-to-be-released Restless and Live from Accept. Check out "Breaker."

The Best Reissues

Banshee – Cry In The Night + Race Against Time

Divebomb Records thankfully released the debut EP and LP from Banshee with beautiful remastering and a nice, thick booklet.  This is top notch USPM that was mostly lost in the shuffle back in the day and deserves to be heard by the metal faithful.  Definitely pick up this absolute gem of a two CD set.  Check out “We Want You.”

Skol Records NWOBHM CD Replica Single Series

Great idea from Skol Records and Bart Gabriel to release these cd replicas of NWOBHM singles.  Each CD has the original cover art and tracks from the vinyl singles, and they haven’t picked totally obvious singles either - who thought Hellrazer would ever be reissued for instance?  I hope they continue with this series in the future!

The Biggest Disappointment

Anthrax – For All Kings

What a mess.  I had high hopes, but they crapped the bed.  Full review here.

The Best Album Cover

Megadeth – Dystopia

Robot Samurai Vic Rattlehead in a dystopian future? Yes please!  Stunning cover art for an excellent album.  Kudos!

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That’s it muthas! Thanks for reading and I’ll see you back here in 2017.

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!

Killers Are Ready

Enforcer - From Beyond

Nuclear Blast Records - 2015

Muthas, Swedish metallers Enforcer are back with their fourth album, From Beyond, and it's a blazing 42 minutes of 100% pure, unadulterated, chromium steel. 2013's Death By Fire was great, and this new album is definitely its equal, if not even better! It’s rock-solid and all of the songs are top notch, which makes it a great companion to Death By Fire. There are loads of balls-out speed metal tracks mixed with heavy doses of traditional metal, and that's a winning combination in my book. 

From Beyond features mostly speedier cuts, as it to be expected from Enforcer, but it does have a couple of longer, epic tracks that are very good.  Frankly, there aren't any bad songs on the album at all.  It's clear that Enforcer knows how to write excellent songs, and one of their strengths is their choruses - they are total earworms!  Some bands struggle with this, but Enforcer's choruses will be stuck in your head long after you're done listening to the album. Also, the album is very well sequenced and is the perfect length for vinyl - all of which is conducive to a great listening experience.

"Destroyer" is the absolutely ripping opening cut and it's also the lead single and video.  Check it out below:

"Undying Evil" is the second track and it's another freewheel burner with an anthemic chorus and lyrics about vampires.  Check out the video for this bloodthirsty killer of a tune:

"One With Fire" and “Hell Will Follow” are examples of the killer, balls out, speedsters that have become a staple of Enforcer albums. Once again, the band has included an excellent instrumental - "Hungry They Will Come" - and it's positioned perfectly at the midpoint of the proceedings.  I love that Enforcer has a real appreciation for meaty instrumentals, as they've become something of a lost art since their 80s heyday.  Well done lads. "Below The Slumber" and "Mask Of Red Death" are the two longer, epic tracks and they are both very good.  They ably showcase another aspect of the band's excellent songwriting skills.  Would you like to hear some sweet, dual-guitar Maidenisms without ploughing through a 92 minute, two CD monstrosity? If the answer is yes, you should definitely check out the guitar noodling on “The Banshee.” 

  

In other news, Enforcer is releasing their first live album – Live By Fire – on November 20th and they are embarking on a co-headling tour of the States with Warbringer, Cauldron, and Exmortus.  Here are the dates:

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The Bottom Line: From Beyond is a great follow-up to Death By Fire and is well worth picking up if you are a fan of Traditional Metal, Speed Metal or plain old good music.  Enforcer proves once again why they are the cream of crop of the NWOTHM.  Highly recommended!

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!

Satan’s Serenade

Night Demon

 Live In The Steel City

Muthas, have you ever seen a band that not only commands the stage, but demands your attention?  That’s what Night Demon did in a tiny club in Pittsburgh on Tuesday June 6^th.  They blazed through a high energy set of absolutely killer tunes as if they were playing in front of a crowd of thousands. Their relentless assault reminded me of when I saw Motorhead for the first time and they absolutely blew me away.

Did they waste any time with pointless chit-chat and rambling nonsense in between songs?  Fuck no.  They played song after song with barely a pause in between.  Night Demon was the physical embodiment of "all killer, no filler!" They didn’t let the lack of monitors affect them in any way - they simply played like they were on stage at Wacken Open Air instead of Gooski’s bar.  They even used a smoke machine and a light show to great effect! When was the last time you saw a band do that in a tiny bar?!

 If you aren’t already aware, they also have a mascot – Rocky – who comes out during the song “The Chalice” – and interacts with the crowd.  It’s hilarious and badass at the same time, and is a great example of Night Demon’s determination to entertain their fans.  In another bid to be fan-friendly, the band keeps merch prices low - $15 shirts – and they offer a great variety of items. When was the last time you saw a tour program and for a mere $8!  They also sell a couple of different patches, a baseball hat, CDs and vinyl – all for great prices.

It was a great night and everyone in the band was gracious enough to sign CDs, vinyl, tour programs, etc.  Jarvis, Brent and Dusty are very approachable and more than wiling to chat with the fans.  Be sure to ask Dusty about the Ultimate Warrior and don’t forget to get Andrew Bansal’s (aka Rocky) autograph!  Also, check out Andrew’s awesome website – Metal Assault. 

Here's the setlist:

Screams In The Night

Full Speed Ahead

Heavy Metal Heat

Lightning To The Nations (Diamond Head cover)

The Howling Man

Curse Of The Damned

Livin’ Dangerous

Mastermind

Ritual

Road Racin’ (Riot cover) (Dedicated to yours truly!)

Ancient Evil

Satan

The Chalice

Save Me Now

Axe Crazy (Jaguar cover)

Night Demon

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  The Bottom Line:  Go see them and buy some damn merch!  These guys are more than deserving of your ducats.  Also, you’d better go see them now before they are in limousines and jets, stylin’ and profilin’! You can find their tour dates here: http://nightdemon.net/tour

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!

Heavy Metal Heat

Night Demon – Curse Of The Damned

Century Media Records – 2015

Muthas, how many times have you loved a band’s first release, particularly an EP, only to have their subsequent full length follow-up completely suck?  You know the story - a big label gets ahold of the band and grinds all the sharp edges off their previously gritty sound, or the band doesn’t have much good material beyond what they put on the EP.  That brings us to the first full length LP by Night Demon and this time nobody’s going to disappointed!  Curse Of The Damned kicks all sorts of ass and picks right up where the EP left off!  No letdown here! No sir, no way!

If you’re not familiar with Night Demon just imagine the best NWOBHM band playing melodic, hooky Metal with loads of conviction and sincerity.  This isn’t some cynical ploy by some corporation to make a few bucks based on the resurgence of Traditional Metal.  Rather, it’s the product of a band completely dedicated to the DIY ethos of the NWOBHM.  These guys mean it and live it like few bands do anymore.  They are tireless roaddogs and seem willing to play anywhere, anytime no matter how big or small the crowds are.  From European festivals to basement parties in an old house, these guys are out there laying it down.  That’s as Metal as it gets!  But how's the damn LP sound you ask?  Well read on my friend.

The album is crammed full of killer speedballs like “Screams In The Night,” "Run For Your Life," and “Full Speed Ahead,” but also features a couple of longer songs such as “The Howling Man” and “Save Me Now.”  Both of those tracks are excellent but “The Howling Man” is the epic centerpiece of the album with a very cool intro.  Lyrically it’s based on an old Twilight Zone episode of the same name that deals with a man imprisoned in a church.  Spoiler Alert – he’s Satan and it's probably better for all parties if he's kept locked up. Trust me on this one.

The hard rockin’ “Heavy Metal Heat” is a rollicking cut that celebrates both the Metal fans and the bands out there crushing skulls for a living.  Call it cliché but we can’t get enough of songs that extol the glories of Metal and rocking in general.  “Livin’ Dangerous” is another complete party of a tune that  is sure to get any crowd going.  “Curse Of The Damned” is the first single and is an amazing track that initially reminds of “The Zoo” by the Scorpions and then plunges headlong into even more excellence.  Check out a live version below:

Musically the band is tight as hell and their songwriting is top notch.  Jarvis Leatherby’s vocals are excellent and fit the music like a glove.  At some points, he reminds me of Zeeb Parkes of Witchfinder General – particularly during the chorus of “Satan”- but he’s got his own style and displays it magnificently.  His bass playing is very good as well and it’s mixed upfront as it should be.  Brent Woodward’s guitar playing is great and always serves the song - he plays with subtlety or flash depending on what is required.  The drumming by Dustin Squires is also exemplary and helps tie every song together perfectly.  Night Demon is the very definition of a power trio!

Curse Of The Damned will be available in several formats – CD, Vinyl and digital download.  The Vinyl features a cover of Riot’s “Road Racin’” and the download has that cover as well as a re-recording of the song “The Chalice” from their EP.  Century Media has several pre-order packages available and the band is offering an exclusive vinyl edition and a die hard bundle.  You can order that here.

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The Bottom Line:   Curse Of The Damned is all killer no filler, as we old people used to say back in the days of yore.  It’s well worth your coin and I urge all fans of the NWOBHM, Traditional Metal, or just good music in general to go out and buy it.  Don’t suck at life – support Night Demon and their mission to take over the world one listener at a time.  BUY IT!!!!

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!

Metal Is On The Rise!

Night Demon – Night Demon

Independent Release – 2012

Muthas, every once in a great while, a new band blasts onto the scene from seemingly nowhere and vaults to the head of the pack. Such is the case with Night Demon and their eponymous debut EP. This all-killer, no-filler thirteen minutes and fifty-five seconds of pure steel, is the best EP we’ve heard in ages. It’s not just The Metal Blog of Metal that thinks this, because Night Demon has already been invited to play the Keep It True festival! They have only released four songs in their entire career, and they are already playing KIT! 

Also, Night Demon is only a three piece band with Jarvis Leatherby on vox/bass, Brent Woodward on guitar and John Crerar on drums. Woodward rips it up on the guitar, Crerar is pounding away like Thunderstick and Jarvis sounds like Sean Harris. Fucking amazing power trio!

So what does this EP sound like? Quite simply, it sounds like the best NWOBHM record that you’ve never heard. Upon hearing this gem, you would swear that this was released in 1980 on Neat Records, and not an independent release in 2012 by a band from Ventura, California. Imagine Diamond Head, Grim Reaper, and D’ianno-era Maiden all mixed together and you can get an idea of the awesomeness. 

The EP kicks off with the blasting rip-ride of “Night Demon” where the band declares that they are coming to destroy your town with the power of Metal. Yes, please. “The Chalice” is a mid-paced, epic track with a tasty, grinding guitar tone. “Ancient Evil” is a galloping cut that recalls the excellence of  Grim Reaper and features lyrics about Cthulhu.  Hell yes!  “The Ritual” closes out the EP with searing guitar riffs, pummeling drums and more superb vocals from Leatherby. 

The band actually has a video for “Night Demon” on YouTube. Check it out below:

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The Bottom Line: This EP kicks ass, and you should buy it. Right now you can download it from Night Demon’s website: http://nightdemon.net/fr_demonslair.cfm  If you need a physical release, the good folks at Shadow Kingdom Records are putting out the EP on CD with remastered sound on 08/06/2013.  Also, the EP is being released on vinyl by Reinig Records and cassette(!) by 7^th Pact Records. What you should do right now is buy the $5 download as well as a $12 shirt, so the band can continue producing top notch Metal. Don’t be a shitheel.

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:

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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.

Widow's Peak

Widow – Life’s Blood

Pure Steel Records – 2011

Listen up Muthas! The year 2011 will certainly be remembered as one of the strongest years for Metal. There have been many excellent releases, especially in the genre of traditional Metal. One such release is the newest album from North Carolina’s Widow. Their latest disc, Life’s Blood, is loaded to the gills with superbly crafted songs. Life’s Blood is clearly the band’s best output to date and this is due, in no small part, to the elimination of the multiple vocal styles that they employed on prior albums.

Widow had previously used three different vocalists, including a female singer, and a harsher, almost Black Metal vocalist on choruses. This really didn’t meld that well with the traditional Metal on their albums and was the one factor that held them back from having truly great releases. Thankfully, they have eschewed the harsh vocals on the current album, with John E. Wooten IV singing in a clean, mid-range style throughout. The band is also down to a three piece, instead of a 37 piece with 17 different vocalists.

Life’s Blood is composed of nothing but fantastic cuts with not one crap song to be found anywhere. This is a varied album that features fast tracks like “Lady Twilight,” “Take Hold Of The Night,” and “I Scream For The Ice Queen,” as well as mid-paced songs like “In Dreams” and even the ballad, “Another Fallen Angel.” Widow clearly understand that it’s perfectly acceptable and even desirable to vary the pace of the songs on a Metal album. They also grasp that it’s paramount to have memorable songs loaded up with hooks to hold the listener’s attention. Not once did any of these tracks just blend together into a forgettable lump as so often happens with many other albums.

Widow have produced a promo trailer for the record and it’s a sampler of the excellent Metal contained in Life’s Blood. Check it out below:

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The Bottom Line: Life’s Blood is one of the best albums of 2011 and certainly the best of Widow’s career. The songs are perfectly executed and chock full of tasty riffs and memorable, anthemic lyrics. The Metal Blog Of Metal gives this album its highest recommendation. Run out and snap this up Hellions, because you will not be disappointed.

As always, MAKE MINE METAL.