Brand New Heavies

Angel Witch – Dead Sea Scrolls

3 Inches of Blood – Leather Lord

Bangers, a couple of new releases are hitting the racks at the end of March and both promise to be excellent. First up is the new album, As Above, So Below, from the long dormant NWOBHM band, Angel Witch. Lead vocalist/guitarist Kevin Heybourne is still at the helm and still sounds great. Check out the first single, “Dead Sea Scrolls” for a taste of the intricate, classic Metal. Fantastic!

Canadian masters 3 Inches of Blood will unleash their 5^th album, Long Live Heavy Metal, on March 27 and if the lead single, “Leather Lord” is any indication, it should be killer. Check out the song below with its “Painkiller-esque” chorus. Hailz!

Far Beyond Pathetic

Metallica – Beyond Magnetic

Warner Brothers Records 2012

Muthas, following the colossal turd that was Lulu, Metallica rushed out this 4 track EP of material left over from the Death Magnetic sessions. One can envision Lars and James freaking out over the shitty sales figures for Lulu and desperately scrambling to release anything to try and salvage some of the goodwill they built up with Death Magnetic and the Big Four concerts. Mission not accomplished.

Several things become readily apparent upon listening to the EP. First, James can no longer sing with any power and his voice is reedy and thin. In fact, he sounds horribly screechy and whiny on all four tracks. Second, Lars’s drumming is still terrible and simplistic. Plonk, plonk, plonk. How did this dipshit ever manage the drumming on …And Justice For All? Baffling. Third, the band is completely out of lyrical ideas. Does anyone really give two fucks about substance abuse as a theme? We all know that you are a degenerate drunk James, but I don’t need to hear about it ALL THE FUCKING TIME! In fact, you were more interesting and creative when drunk, so crack a bottle of Jack and have a toot and get creative again.

“Hate Is A Train” blatantly rips off the riff from “Fuel,” and as a result sounds like a leftover from Reload. Vomitous. “Just A Bullet Away” has the most unintentionally hilarious lyrics with the line “Suck on the barrel, Suck on the barrel.” It’s a shame really because musically, this is quite a good track with a nice grooving riff. “Hell And Back” is probably the least annoying track, but it's still marred by James's pathetic vocals. The EP mercifully concludes with the terrible “Rebel of Babylon,” which is yet another shitty track about alcoholism. If I want a song about Babylon, I will listen to the godly “Gates of Babylon.”

On the positive side, the EP is only 4 tracks and Kirk plays some nice riffs and solos. Also, it’s only $5, but I could have paid somebody $5 to punch me in the face and the experience would have been more pleasurable.

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The Bottom Line: Save your money. For the record, Death Magnetic was the least organic-sounding album that we've ever heard here at The Metal Blog of Metal. Zero flow. Too bad really, because there were many choice riffs that could have grown into something. Beyond Magnetic is the same shit. Blargh.

But It Goes To Eleven

The Top 11 Metal Albums of 2011

Here it is Bangers, the eleven golden champions of face-ripping, ear-splitting, skull-crushing HEAVY METAL for the year of our unholy lord, 2011.

11. Megadeth – Th1rt3en

This follow up to the excellent Endgame was a bit lackluster. The album was recorded in just seven weeks and it shows. The best track on it is the thrice previously released “New World Order” but this new version is crushing. Not a bad effort but not exactly great and the album title sucks ass.

10. White Wizzard – Flying Tigers

Another great disc of bass-driven, traditional metal from this L.A. band. Half of the album is an exceptional concept about alien conquest which is explained in the well appointed CD booklet. White Wizzard are one of the best of the NWOTHM and this album cements their greatness.

9. Portrait - Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae

Fantastic Swedish traditional metal that’s heavily influenced by Mercyful Fate. Amazing guitar tone, leads and riffs dominate the album and require vigorous and sustained headbanging. This is a big step up from their first full length release in terms of quality of the songwriting and vocals.

8. Twisted Tower Dire – Make It Dark

The fifth full-length release from these North Carolina Metallers is an excellent collection of hooky, traditional Metal. This also gets the vote for best liner notes/booklet of the year.

7. Wolf – Legions Of Bastards

These Swedes unleashed another great album and a worthy successor to Ravenous. Check out “Skullcrusher,” “Full Moon Possession,” and “Tales From The Crypt” if you want to hear how traditional Metal should be done.

6. Widow – Life’s Blood

There must be something in the water in North Carolina because Life’s Blood is the best release of Widow’s career. Ripping guitars, great vocals and catchy songs demand your attention. Buy or die!

5. Cauldron – Burning Fortune

Canadian headbangers deliver another fantastic album that could have been released in 1984. These guys know how to craft mid-paced songs that are hooky as all hell. Hailz!

4. Saxon – Call To Arms

Biff and the boys unleash an amazing album that easily competes with the masterpieces from their early catalog. The album flows beautifully with nothing but excellent cuts and should be in every Metalhead’s collection.

3. Anthrax – Worship Music

Quite possibly the strongest Metal comeback album of all time. Anthrax released their best album since 1993 much to the shock of the Metal community as they had been written off as irrelevant for years. Joey slips into the songs seamlessly, the writing is focused and the band is tight. Welcome back guys, you’ve been missed.

2. Orchid – Capricorn

One of The Metal Blog Of Metal' favorite bands, the first full length album from San Francisco’s Orchid continues the excellence displayed on the band’s earlier EP, Through The Devils Doorway. Everything is perfect on this release, from the creamy guitar tone, the superb vocals, booming bass, eclectic drumming and the beautifully appointed double-gatefold CD packaging. Orchid have crafted not just one of the best Doom Metal releases of all time, but one of the best Metal releases of the past decade. Just buy the damn thing already.

1. Vicious Rumors – Razorback Killers

Killer! VR finally found the lead singer they have been searching for since the untimely demise of Carl Albert in 1995. New vocalist Brian Allen is a perfect fit and Geoff Thorpe takes full advantage of Allen’s vocal abilities. The songs are white-hot, molten slabs of Metal perfection which demand the listener throw up the horns like a maniac. It’s great to see a long suffering band achieve greatness after soldiering on in obscurity for years. Buy this immediately!

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.

Disturbing The Priest

Reverend - Reverend

Caroline Records 1989

Bangers: back in June, The Metal Blog of Metal reviewed Heretic’s 1988 album Breaking Point, and in that review we pointed out that Heretic, Metal Church, and Reverend were all tied together by common personnel. When David Wayne left Metal Church, his replacement was Mike Howe from Heretic. Wayne decided to form his own band, and recruited three members of Heretic! In essence, Metal Church and Heretic swapped lead singers, which has to be a first in the world of Metal.

Reverend kicked off their recording career in 1989 with the superb Reverend EP. The EP consists of four tracks of excellent power-thrash with David Wayne’s gritty, powerful vocals and riffs a-plenty. This is primo, crunchy Metal of the highest order. We here at The Metal Blog Of Metal consider this EP to be the best release of Reverend’s career.

The EP roars to life with “Power of Persuasion” which chugs along like a Sherman tank with Lemmy at the wheel. Wayne’s vocals are fantastic as he hits plenty of high notes effortlessly. Lyrically, the song explores the corruption of politicians. Chris Goss of Masters of Reality appears on the song but the liner notes don’t say what he did on the track. “Dimensional Confusion” grinds along at mid-pace with staccato riffs and more of Wayne’s commanding vocals. The quirky, stop-start structure of this cut is very cool and the guitar solo is superb.

The third track, “Wretched Excess,” is a molten slab of power-thrash, featuring an absolutely ripping solo. This song is the thrashiest of the four and is very reminiscent of something that Overkill would have cranked out in the 90s. The final cut is “The Ritual” - it’s the best song on the EP, and thus is the best song that Reverend ever put out. It's five minutes and 41 seconds of Metal perfection that even the mighty Metal Church had difficulty achieving. Truly this is an epic track with Wayne really stretching his vocals when he sings “there’s nothing left sacred.” Amazing. Check it out below:

Unfortunately, Caroline Records has never reissued this disc and it’s very hard to locate. In fact, this EP is the most expensive item in The Metal Blog Of Metal's vaults with a per track cost of $12.50! However, the EP is now available for download on iTunes for a mere $3.96, which is clearly preferable to $50.

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The Bottom Line: If you like Heretic and Metal Church, you will love the Reverend EP, so track it down or download it. You won’t be disappointed.

As always, MAKE MINE METAL.

Delivering The Goods

Judas Priest – Single Cuts Box Set, The Chosen Few, Single Cuts

Metallians, no one can dispute that Judas Priest is the living embodiment of HEAVY METAL. They forged the template that legions of bands have followed – a charismatic front man with incredible vocal range; screaming twin lead guitars; thundering bass player; crushing drummer - with all members decked out in studs and leather. Priest has been gracing the grateful Metal world with pure steel all the way back to 1969. The band is as old, if not older, than the genre of Metal itself and has been releasing metal albums since their 1974 debut Rocka Rolla.

One would think that with a 40+ year history, the band would have a plethora of unreleased material including demos, b-sides and bonus tracks, but actually they have very little left over. Judas Priest is renowned for being very efficient in the studio; most tracks get used on the album. In fact, most of the band's unreleased material has its roots in the Turbo recording sessions when the initial plan was to release a double album entitled Twin Turbo. This was scrapped and most of the remaining tracks were re-worked for the follow-up album Ram It Down. The vaults were swept clean for the 2001 remasters, with the remaining unreleased tracks appearing as bonus cuts.

Contrast this situation with Iron Maiden, who have so many b-sides that they actually released a double disc set of b-sides, and even that wasn’t complete! Judas Priest is The Metal Blog Of Metal's favorite band, and most, if not all their rarities are in our vaults. The faithful are in luck because in 2011, the band has churned out 3 new releases -two are mostly worthless and one is a very cool collector’s piece.

When The Metal Blog Of Metal first heard that The Chosen Few was coming out, we assumed it was a collection of cover tunes by Metal luminaries such as Alice Cooper, James Hetfield, Lemmy, Accept and Ozzy. That would have been incredible! Who wouldn’t want to hear David Coverdale doing a version of “The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)?” Unfortunately, The Chosen Few is merely another greatest hits collection with each track chosen by one or more musicians. Yawn. The commentary is very brief and mostly uninteresting. Also, it’s absolutely unacceptable to have that shithead Jonathan Davis of Korn on any release involving the mighty Priest. He is a world-class douchebag who refused to appear on a magazine cover with Bruce Dickinson because he didn’t want to be associated with “old” Metal. He’s not even worthy to be mentioned in the same paragraph as Bruce. So, in short, fuck you Jonathan Davis. The Chosen Few is as non-essential as a release can get.

Up next we have Single Cuts (The Complete Columbia UK A Sides) which is a single disc of exactly what it says – the UK A Sides. It’s really a sampler for the next release, and as a result it’s essentially another greatest hits collection. It does feature some cuts not normally seen on Priest collections such as “Evening Star,” “Take On The World,” and “(Take These) Chains,” but there’s really no reason to buy this disc, as it has nothing on it you haven’t heard before.

Unlike the other two releases, the Single Cuts Box Set is an excellent collection for the Judas Priest afficionado. It consists of 20 CDs which replicate every single that was released on CBS/Columbia in the United Kingdom. Each disc is a CD replica of the original vinyl single. The original A-side labels are reproduced on the CD itself, which are black and engraved with grooves to look like vinyl. Check out the photos above and you’ll see what they look like. All 20 discs are housed in a slip-top box, each one of which is numbered. The Metal Blog Of Metal has number 157, but the set does not mention how many have been produced and the promotional materials only say that the set is “limited.”

The B-sides are included as well and some of them are quite interesting. Of note is the B-side to “(Take These) Chains” which is the “Judas Priest Audio File (Biography).” This is a relic of the pre-internet age as it consists of about 8 minutes of audio clips from all the Priest albums up to that point, with a narrator introducing each track. It’s actually really cool to hear what the label selected as representative of the band’s catalog.

It’s also worth noting that there were no singles released at all for Ram It Down. The Metal Blog Of Metal remembers “Johnny B. Goode” being released as a video, but that was to coincide with the long forgotten movie - Johnny B Good. Compare this to Painkiller, from which three singles were issued, including the “Nightcrawler” single that came with a green rubber worm!

The set also includes a thick booklet with commentary by Geoff Barton, and a ton of photos and detailed liner notes for each single. The Metal Blog Of Metal's set also came with six Judas Priest magnets as a bit of compensation for the release date being pushed back three times. Unfortunately, we are sure most readers will be completely unaware of this box set's release, as there has been virtually zero promotion for it. It’s only available on Priest’s website for $99.

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The Bottom Line: If you are a Judas Priest collector, you may want to pick up all three of these releases. Average Metal fans will have little reason to pick up The Chosen Few and Single Cuts. The limited edition Single Cuts Box Set, however, is a nice collector’s piece with slick presentation, and well worth picking up.

As always, MAKE MINE METAL.