Burning Metal

Rockaway Drive – We Live

Independent – 2012

Muthas, I’m not normally in the habit of reviewing three year old albums, but I was listening to an episode of the always awesome Rock And Metal Combat Podcast, and cohost Ian Wadley recommended a band by the name of Rockaway Drive.  He played a couple of their songs and I was completely blown away by the quality of the cuts.  I immediately began searching for information on them and I found their Facebook page and ReverbNation account.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate any of their CDs for sale, and there only appeared to be a couple of their tracks for sale as downloads.  I then contacted the band and they quickly responded with information and a link to their whole album on Youtube. Thanks guys!  

Rockaway Drive is from the same city that’s home to half of my family - Louisville, Kentucky - and they play rock solid, traditional heavy metal.  In fact, if their debut album We Live had been released back in 1984, it would slot right in with other U.S. Power Metal like Shok Paris, Ded Engine, Breaker, and Riot. There’s a ton of mid-80s Judas Priest to many of these songs too, which is always a good thing.   

We Live features ten tracks and is 39 minutes long, which is the perfect length for an album – not so much material that you lose interest, but rather they leave you wanting more.  The songs themselves are mostly straight-up traditional metal with tasteful guitars and a solid rhythm section.  There are a couple of slightly more commercial tracks, and by that I mean commercial for 1984 because they sure as aren’t commercial for 2015!  The vocalist on the album is very good and he sounds like one part Rhett Forrester, one part Harry Conklin, with a dash of Midnight and a pinch of Mandy Lion’s rough edge.  Basically, he’s got the perfect voice for this type of material – melodic with a rough edge.  

Check out the songs “We Live” and “Black Witch” which are great examples of what they do.  In fact, just listen to the whole album below:

The band was nice enough to provide me with the following bio which should answer most of your questions: 

“Rockaway Drive was formed in August of 2009 with one goal in mind and that was to bring back the sounds of 70s and 80s Heavy Metal. In the six years of the band’s existence they have played countless local shows in the Louisville, KY area, and they have opened for such acts as Metal Legends Accept, Quiet Riot, and most recently, Sanctuary.  They released their debut album, We Live in 2012 to much critical acclaim.  Over the years there have been a few line-up changes and other challenges, but the band continues to march forward!  The current line-up are led by the twin axe attack of Mick Watkins and Wes Rogers, vocalist Dani O’Dea, bassist Brad Rogers and drummer Nigel Paul.  They are currently writing material for their sophomore release and aiming for a 2016 release date.”

Also, check out the following live videos featuring the current lineup:

I am looking forward to their new album and I hope they make We Live available in its entirety either digitally or in a physical format.  Pro tip - a Bandcamp page is always a good way to sell some downloads and merch!

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The Bottom Line: Do you like U.S.P.M. and traditional heavy metal and do you like supporting independent bands?  If so, check out Rockaway Drive and throw them some coin when their new album is released.  I know I will. 

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!

From Utah They Came With Iron And Fire

Visigoth – The Revenant King

Metal Blade Records – 2015

Muthas, have you gotten your fill of music about swords, sorcery, warriors, battles, wizards, mammoths, brotherhood, Hyperborea, necromancers, and vengeance? Of course you haven’t!  Who has?  Well, we are all in luck because Visigoth from Salt Lake City, Utah has delivered an album chock full of epic, glory-filled Metal!  To give you an idea of where they are coming from musically, they did a cover of an Omen song on their 2010 demo, and their new album features a ripping cover of Manilla Road’s “Necropolis!”  They have taken these classic sounds and have built their mighty sonic monolith, The Revenant King, on top of it and the result is a kick-ass masterpiece. 

The album is composed of eight original songs and the aforementioned cover tune with a total running time of just over one hour.  Normally we would complain of a seemingly bloated length, but there are absolutely no boring cuts and, as a result, the album actually feels much shorter.  Every original song is a multi-part epic that takes the listener on a sonic adventure to the mythical realms of yore.  Tracks one through four and nine are all new material, and tracks five through eight are re-recordings of demos or EP cuts and the Manilla Road cover. 

The musicianship is top notch with excellent and tasteful guitar work, crunchy bass, booming drums and the superb vocals of Jake Rogers.  In fact, his vocals are what set this album apart from most other Epic Metal bands. The vocals in many Epic Metal albums are marred in some way - weird sounding, nasal, harsh, etc... and make those albums less enjoyable as a result.  That’s not the case here because Jake’s vocals are powerful and have a nice touch of grit that toughens up the band’s sound.  This isn’t some puffy-shirted, rapier-wielding, foppish warbling.  No sir, these vocals are clad in chainmail and wield a battle axe!  Hail and kill!

The opening track, “The Revenant King,” is excellent and is a perfect showcase of what Visigoth is all about.  It’s over eight minutes of Epic Metal that tells the tale of a king slain by treacherous bastards and how he exacts his revenge from beyond the grave.  Spoiler Alert – their flesh is rended from their bones! The band has released a super-cheesy and, therefore, super-awesome video that fits the music perfectly.  Check it out:

I could detail each track, but there’s really no need because every one of them is excellent - from the kickass opener to the nearly ten minute closer “From The Arcane Mists of Prophecy.”  Are you still not sure you want to buy this?  Check out the track “Mammoth Rider” and admit you need to buy this asap!

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The Bottom Line:  This is a stunning collection of Epic Metal with U.S. Power Metal touches and burly vocals.  Crom’s teeth man! Stop being a treacherous dog, join the Iron Brotherhood and buy the damn thing!  

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!

Yarrr!! Here there be Metal!

Dammaj – Mutiny

Par Records, Roadrunner Records – 1986

Skol Records – 2012

Blood and Iron Records - 2012

Muthas, there are some bands that release one killer LP or EP, and then fade away into obscurity without ever being heard from again.  Some prime examples of this are Witchkiller, Taist of Iron, Dark Age, Saigon, and Wizz. The best band to only release one LP is definitely Dammaj with their 1986 classic, Mutiny.  Dammaj was a California five piece who played tough as nails U.S. power metal which was loaded with a crushing bottom-end, ripping guitars and the excellent vocals of Greg Hill. Something unique about the band was that the guitarists and bassist were all brothers, and that helped make them tight as all hell.  The brothers really lock down on a groove or riff and exploit it to its fullest. 

One other reason why this album is an all time favorite of The Metal Blog of Metal is the absolutely molten mix.  If one didn’t know better, you would think this was an Ebony Records release because the drums sound like 75mm pack howitzers, the bass is pounding up front, and the guitars sound like buzzing ripsaws.  Fucking amazing! The engineer on the album was none other than Jim Morris of the famous Morrisound Studios in Tampa.  Morris and producer Dan Johnson did a hell of a job honing this album to razor sharpness!

 Mutiny was originally released on Par Records in the U.S. and Roadrunner in Europe, but the album was only on vinyl and never made it to a CD issue.  Unfortunately, the platter was very difficult to find and, as a result, was all but forgotten by the world except for a few diehard metalheads. There have been CD bootlegs of the album floating around for years, but the sound wasn’t the greatest and the booklet was a joke. 

Luckily, Skol Records has remastered and re-released Mutiny with five bonus tracks, complete lyrics and a booklet stuffed with photos. In addition to Skol Records, Blood and Iron Records has released the album on vinyl with four bonus tracks and a poster.  Hell yes!  It’s about damn time Dammaj get the recognition they so richly deserve.

Mutiny features grinding guitars, a crushing bass, pounding drums, and the Rhett Forrester-like vocals of Greg Hill.  In fact, Dammaj clearly knew how to mine the same rich ore that Riot used to craft their potent brand of Metal.  The band serves up the galloping “Leather Master,” the titanic title cut “Mutiny,” and the epic “Gladiator.”  Frankly, all the tracks are phenomenal, being both hooky and heavy, which is something many Metal bands can’t pull off without slipping into complete shit. Check out this fan made video for the title track below:

As longtime readers of The Metal Blog of Metal will know, we here are fans of not just the music on an album but the album artwork as well.  Mutiny features a pre-irony age doozy of an album cover with a pirate hanging from some rigging clutching a guitar.  Not just any old guitar, but a guitar that is either being struck by lightning, or shooting lightning up to Valhalla.  Either way, Thor would be thrilled because that shit is Metal as fuck. When yours truly got this album way back in ’86, I thought Dammaj was a Florida band because of the pirate, the Morrisound production and being on Par records like Floridian labelmates Savatage.  Pirate trickery knows no bounds!

You can order Mutiny from Shadow Kingdom Records, or directly from the band through their Facebook page. 

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The Bottom Line:  Mutiny is an amazing piece of classic U.S. Power Metal and deserves a place in every self-respecting Metalheads' collection.  Buy this immediately, and if you are lucky enough to be out on the west coast, catch Dammaj live as they are playing shows again!  

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!