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:
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 7th 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.
Muthas, Anthrax has
cranked out a ton of covers in their career, and this year they have released
an eight track EP - Anthems - that features
six covers of songs from the 70s. The
band offers up songs from Rush, Boston, AC/DC, Journey, Cheap Trick, and Thin Lizzy. The EP also features two versions of the song “Crawl”
from Worship Music. So how does all this sound? Read on dear reader and we’ll tell you.
First off, the inclusion of not one, but two versions of “Crawl”
is ridiculous. This song was one of the
weaker tracks on Worship Music, and
the last thing we need is a shitty sounding remix of a mediocre song. What a waste.
Anthrax should have put two
new cuts on this EP to whet the appetite for the next studio album. Second, do we really need both versions of “Crawl”
back to back on the album? WTF? Oh well,
at least they are tracks 7 and 8, which makes it easy to skip these turds.
When it comes to cover songs, bands have a choice: make the
song their own, or play it exactly as the original artist did. Anthrax
chose the latter rather than the former and Anthems
is a bit disappointing because of it.
Almost all of the covers are exact, note-for-note reproductions of
the originals with nary a variation. It
would have been nice to hear a more expansive take on each song by the band. On
a more positive note, Joey manfully uses the full scope of his great range to
easily mimic everyone from Geddy Lee to Bon Scott to Phil Lynott.
The highlight of the EP is Journey’s “Keep On Runnin’” which is a bit heavier than the
original and is much better as a result.
As the liner notes mention, Joey auditioned for Anthrax by singing Journey songs and he effortlessly pulls off Steve Perry’s vocals. Check it out below:
Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak”
is also very well done and a favorite here at The Metal Blog of Metal.
Incidentally, we loved Anthrax’s
earlier cover of Lizzy’s “Cowboy
Song” from when John Bush was in the band.
Such a great cover!
One place where this release does excel is in the
packaging. Each CD is a digipak wrapped
in a slipcase. Each slipcase had a
die-cut pentathrax on it that shows a bit of the artwork underneath. Upon pulling the digipak out of the slipcase,
one of six different covers is displayed – one for each different cover
song. That is very cool and will be
sure to drive OCD fans crazy as they try to collect each cover variant. Good job boys!
The Bottom Line: This
is a decent little EP with sweet packaging that has definite collector
appeal. It’s not essential by any means,
but if you like cover songs, run out and get it. Also catch the band on the Metal Alliance Tour as they are throwing a couple of these songs into their set.
Muthas, the band that can do no wrong is back with a sweet
10” vinyl EP that features their new song, “Wizard of War.” This is a
pre-release track from Orchid’s greatly
anticipated second LP, The Mouths of
Madness. So, did Orchid shit the bed and succumb to
pressure from their new label and change their sound? Of course not!
The EP contains three tracks of doomy perfection straight
out of some dreary, mist-shrouded graveyard.
Starting things off is the ripping title track, which cranks the tempo
up and conjures images of interstellar destruction, madness and tyranny. In other words, the kids can dance to
it! Uh, maybe not, but they certainly
bang their heads to it. Check it out:
The second cut finds the band stretching themselves a bit
and incorporating some early Alice
Cooper sounds on the creepy “Demon’s Eyes.”
It’s a kickass mid-paced tune that is stuffed full of hooks and a
memorable chorus. It was previously
released on the Grave Command: All
Hallowed Hymns compilation from Unseen Forces last year, but this is the first widely
available release of the song. Take a
listen:
The final track was previously released on the Capricorn album “Albatross.” It’s a somber, spacey song that recalls “Planet
Caravan.” One huge difference between this
and “Caravan” is the lyrical content. “Planet
Caravan” was about floating around the cosmos making love to your girl, but “Albatross”
is about fleeing the Earth and settling Mars, only to have the Sun snuffed out
by the dopes left on Earth. Bastards!
The Mars relocation plan was a dismal failure, but this song is
excellent.
The Bottom Line: Orchid have once again offered up a
killer EP to placate the faithful until April 26th when The Mouths of Madness kicks the Metal
world straight in its ass. If vinyl is
your thing, get out there and buy one. If
you like downloads and have no soul, you can download the title track from the
usual suspects. If you like CDs, you are
shit out of luck. Sorry man.
Muthas, 2012 was a great year in Metal, and we here at The Metal
Blog Of Metal have picked the twelve best albums of the year. We have also picked the best reissues of the
year, the best concert of the year, the best live albums of the year, and the
worst releases of the year. Read on!
The Twelve Best
Albums of 2012
2012 proved to be a very good year for Metal and we got
great releases from across the various genres.
We won’t number these this year, but encourage you to check out all the skullcrushers
below. These twelve dominated the
turntables, CD players and MP3 players at The Metal Blog Of Metal.
The Sword - Apocryphon(Razor & Tie)
Back with more 70s influenced awesomeness, The Sword cranked out the excellent Apocryphon.
It’s another superb entry into their growing discography and
features the band really exploring the power of the mid-paced song. Every track is superb and we have
listened to this album countless times.
Get it.
Gypsyhawk – Revelry & Resilience(Metal
Blade)
Another band that channels all that was great about 70s
Metal, Gypsyhawk kills it Thin Lizzy style with this awesome
disc. Check out the snaking and twisting
guitar melodies, as well as the sweet fantasy based lyrics. These guys are doing it right.
Orchid – Heretic(Nuclear Blast)
This band can do no wrong.
Period. Sure, it’s only a 4 song
EP, but damn, do they know how to craft witchy, hooky and crushing Doom
Metal. We love this band and eagerly
await their next LP.
Testament – Dark Roots of Earth(Nuclear Blast)
Thrash legends Testament
really know how to write wicked good songs that are both melodic and heavy as
hell. There’s a reason why they were
able to soldier on when so many other lesser Thrash bands shit the bed in the 90s. Dark
Roots of Earth is an excellent platter that surpasses their previous album and
is a fine addition to their legacy (Get it? See what I did there? Ah, forget it.)
Accept – Stalingrad (Nuclear Blast)
Damn fine follow-up to Blood
of the Nations, which erases any doubts about the new Accept lineup (not that there should have been any doubts.) Stalingrad kicks ass as only Wolf and
the boys know how, with anthemic, rifftacular, melodic Metal. Poor Udo, his latest album, Rev-Raptor, really sounds like complete
shit next to this.
3 Inches of Blood –
Long Live Heavy Metal (Century Media)
Canadian crushers 3IOB
came roaring into 2012 with a killer album that celebrated all that is great
about Heavy Metal. Long Live Heavy Metal featured tracks reminiscent of Priest, Dio, Rainbow and other
legends of the genre, as well as 3IOB’s
own brand of shredding Metal. Check out
the infectious “4000 Torches,” “Metal Woman,” “Leather Lord” and “Look Out” for
a taste of their steely mastery. Posers
leave the hall!
Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth (Interscope)
This was easily the biggest surprise of the year. We expected this album to be a crapfest of old
man rock. You know, a mid-paced
collection of boring garbage that some out-of-touch 50 year-old would pen in
hopes of staying relevant. The first
single, “Tattoo,” did little to change our opinion because that song is complete
shit. Why in the hell was that chosen as
the lead single? Thankfully, the rest of
the songs are absolutely primo DLR-era Van
Halen. The swaggering, balls-out
hard rock that everybody wanted them to make was finally delivered! Sure, Dave’s voice is a bit limited by age
and Michael Anthony’s harmonies are sorely missed, but the songs are damn
good. Ed had the good sense to go back
to all of his old demos and pull out some 70s and 80s cuts and flesh them
out. Well done gents, now get back out
on tour.
Cauldron – Tomorrow’s Lost (Earache Records)
Canuckistani Metal maniacs, Cauldron, forged another LP that celebrates the glory of mid-80s
Heavy Metal. It’s great that there is a
band out there that eagerly embraces the more commercial side of classic
Metal. Jay Decay and Ian Chains know how
to write a memorable and heavy mid-paced tune that would fit beautifully on Metal Massacre’s I-IX. Buy the LP, get their patch and sew it on
your vest. We did!
Grand Magus – The Hunt (Nuclear Blast)
Do you like Vikings and Metal? You do?
Well go buy this album immediately because Grand Magus loves both more than you do and are masters of their craft to boot. The
Hunt features nothing but songs about Vikings, wolves, Odin, Thor, ravens,
longships, etc… You’ll want to grab a
longsword and run out to the nearest monastery for some plundering! Think of them as the traditional Metal
brother of Amon Amarth and you’ll
get the right idea. The band has
completely moved away from Doom Metal and focuses entirely on Scandinavian
Glory Metal a la Heavy Load, Overdrive or Torch. Join them in the mead
hall, won’t you? To Valhalla!
Ugly Kid Joe – Stairway To Hell (UKJ Records)
Yes, that’s right, Ugly
Kid Joe actually made it into the best albums of 2012 with this awesome EP
of new material. UKJ have managed to record six cuts of snarling, venomous hard rock
that has Whitfield Crane sounding like Bon Scott. Damn it’s good. Check out “Devil’s Paradise” or “You Make Me
Sick” for a taste of hate, or get the funk out with “I’m Alright.” It’s good to have these guys back and we hope
they crank out a full length LP soon.
Overkill – The Electric Age (Nuclear Blast)
New Jersey’s favorite bangers unleash another superb album
that harkens back to their more groove oriented late 90s albums. It’s a bit more From The Underground and Below and a bit less Ironbound. Overkill never fail to deliver the
goods and they do it once again. Fuck the
Big Four, Overkill has been
defending the faith while those assholes meandered aimlessly from one mediocre album
to the next. Hello from the gutter!
Icarus Witch – Rise (Cleopatra Records)
Want a more modern sounding album stuffed full of anthem
after anthem? Well, then Rise is exactly what you are looking
for. The album was a real shocker
following the tired-sounding Draw Down
The Moon and the departure of former vocalist Matthew Bizilia. All signs pointed to Icarus Witch disappearing into obscurity, but instead they roared
back to life with this LP of peppy and hooky melodic Metal. New singer Christopher Shaner fits the new
style perfectly and adds much needed energy to the songs. Hopefully Icarus Witch will continue rocking for
years to come!
The Best Reissues
Dio – Holy Diver & The Last In Line (Audio Fidelity Reissues)
If you want to hear
how remasters should be done, check out these two releases from the sonic
wizards at Audio Fidelity. We have all
heard these albums a million times before, but these remasters uncover all
sorts of sounds that were previously buried in lesser versions of this
album. Superb!
Dio –Holy Diver, The Last In Line & Sacred
Heart (Deluxe Editions from Universal
Music)
More Dio?
Yep. These UK Imports have nice
mastering and tons of bonus tracks.
Essentially, you get every single and B-side released by Dio during this period, as well as the
entire Intermission EP. They may be expensive imports but the value
is incredible for what you get. Buy!
Dammaj – Mutiny (Skol Records)
It’s awesome! We
reviewed it here and we still urge you to buy this album of rock-solid,
blistering, U.S. Power Metal. This is
Heavy Metal at its very best. Hailz!
Desolation Angels
– Desolation Angels (Buried By Time
and Dust)
Another very late NWOBHM album that got lost in the Thrash
deluge. Thankfully, the Metal archivists
at Buried By Time and Dust records have resurrected this gem in both vinyl and
CD formats. They have also included the Valhalla/Boedicea single as a bonus in
both formats! We will review this in
depth coming up, but get out there and buy it because supplies are
limited.
Witch Cross– Fit For Fight (Hells Headbangers)
It’s about damn time that this legendary 1984 album from the
not-so-melancholy Danes of Witch Cross
got reissued! Hells Headbangers serve up
Fit For Fight on CD, vinyl and, believe
it or not, on cassette, with good remastering and lyrics for the whole
shebang. We’ll review this album in the
near future, but get out there and buy it.
The Best Live
Albums
Pickings were a bit slim this year so we only picked these two:
Saxon – Heavy Metal Thunder – Live Eagles Over
Wacken (UDR)
Bangers, gorge on this metal feast from the venerable Saxon!
This is an essential release because it includes a DVD that features 31 tracks
from three different years at the massive Wacken Open Air festival. The band sounds great as they crush and
destroy the huge crowds of Metalheads. Also included are two bonus CDs recorded at a
Glasgow show in 2011, which feature many new songs from their latest studio
effort, Call To Arms. It’s well worth the coin.
Vicious Rumors – Live You to Death (SPV)
Keeping up their momentum from last year’s Razorback Killers, Vicious Rumors offers up this single disc live show that was
recorded on their 2011 European tour.
The album features nine live cuts, including two songs from Razorback Killers alongside other
classics such as “Digital Dictator,” “Down To The Temple,” “Abandoned” and “Don’t
Wait For Me.” The band is tight and
Brian Allen does a commendable job on both the new and old material. The album also includes two new studio
tracks: a cover of Black Sabbath’s “The
Sign of the Southern Cross” and Judas
Priest’s ”Running Wild.” Pick this
up if you are a VR fan or if you like
music that’s not terrible shit.
Best Live Show
Accept – The
Newport Music Hall Columbus, Ohio 9/14/2012
The Teutonic Terrors absolutely killed it on a beautiful
Friday night in Ohio and blew the roof off the place with pure Metallic
fury! Wolf Hoffman appeared to be having
the time of his life as he blasted out riff after riff of molten steel. Mark Tornillo was in fine form and sounded
great. Udo who? Poor old Kreator
was a mere afterthought when Accept
left the stage. The only complaint was
they still didn’t play ”Midnight Mover.”
Damn it! Even so, it was a great
night of Metal in the Buckeye State!
Catch them live if you can.
Worst Shit Foisted
on Metaldom in 2012
Metallica – Beyond Magnetic (Warner Brothers Records)
We reviewed it here and it still sucks ass. Sometimes talent just dries up like an old turd left in the sun.
Chris Holmes– They All Lie And Cheat
Holy shit! This makes
Beyond Magnetic sound like a choir of
angels. What the fuck is going on
here? Holmes looks and acts like the alcoholic,
toothless bum that he was always destined to be (see here.) Who is the random crackwhore swearing in the
video? Is this the worst lip-synching since
Milli Vanilli? Why was this made?
Baffling.
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!
Mutinywas 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!
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!
Muthas, that other little band from Texas, The Sword, is back with another album
of crushing awesomeness – Apocryphon. The band’s previous LP, Warp Riders, was a concept album, but
thankfully, the new album is not because concept albums tend to suck ass. Warp
Riders was an exception to this rule because the story was muted and did
not get in the way of the music. Warp Riders did feature a more
straight-ahead style of Metal, and Apocryphon
continues this trend. Some elements
of Doom remain but The Sword is no
longer primarily a Doom band. They have expanded their sound to
incorporate many other 70s Hard Rock/Metal conventions.
Overall, Apocryphon
is superior to Warp Riders because of
a complete lack of any shitty tracks.
This is one tight, focused album, packed with hooks. The LP also flows beautifully due to the
attention the band paid to sequencing, which is something most bands don’t seem
to care about. Further, the album is the
perfect length at ten tracks, totaling forty-four minutes. This is not some bloated, turgid victim of
the CD age, but instead reflects the superior ethos of vinyl.
Tracks featuring the The Sword's signature sound
include “The Veil of Isis,” “Arcane Montane,” and “Cloak of Feathers.” All are excellent and should make it into
their live set (“The Veil of Isis” already has been performed live.)
“Execrator” is an under three minute blast of fury that recalls another The Sword classic, “Fire Lances of the
Ancient Hyperzephyrians.” (I just mention this song so I could type it out!) It’s quite the
face-ripper and should get the rivetheads moving in the pit.
The band has added some interesting keyboard garnishment to
some tracks, namely the title cut and “Dying Earth.” Don’t worry, as these aren’t some fruity,
happy, power-metal keyboards, but rather something straight out of a 70s sci-fi
film. They fit the music excellently and
really help get across the fantasy and science fiction themes favored by The Sword. Listening to The Sword is akin to finding a big stack of old Weird Tales
Magazines and reading the amazing stories of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton
Smith and Jack Vance for the first time.
Their albums are all about fantastic settings, sinister magic, space
travel, and post-apocalyptic landscapes. Check out the lyric video for
“Apocryphon“ and hear the awesome!
We are well aware here at The Metal Blog of Metal that some
denizens of the Metal Universe consider The
Sword to be secret hipsters and poseurs, who are either a completely
fabricated band, or are only in it for the huge profits. This is complete bullshit considering that
(1) the band has been around for over a decade and (2) there is NO FUCKING
MONEY in Metal! Are you kidding
me?? Why should anyone give two shits if
a band is fabricated or not, or in it for the money or not, as long as the
music is excellent? If you are one of
these TROO METUL RULZ!!! morons, do me a favor and click on the red x in the
upper right hand corner of your screen and fuck right off. You are too dumb to read this blog.
The Bottom Line: Do
you like the retro sounds of the 70s with a touch of Doom and much
rocking? If so, buy this album and enjoy
life. It’s another superb addition to The Sword’s burgeoning discography and well worth your
coin.
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.
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