Muthas, Grand Magus
has returned with their seventh album just a scant 20 months after the release
of their last LP. However, the band has
decided to head down the path that leads to the mead hall of heroic epicness,
rather than the more hard-rockin’ barroom of their previous album The Hunt. Triumph
and Poweris packed with loads
of mid-paced, epic tunes that will get your head banging without becoming
boring. Main man JB wasn’t kidding in
interviews when he said that this album would have been a huge seller in 1983. This is 100% pure Scandinavian glory metal
from the days of yore! If you were hoping that they’d return to their earlier
Doom Metal sound, you will be sorely disappointed.
The album does have several longer songs and it does take a
bit of listening to get into some of them.
Unfortunately this is certainly true of the lead cut, “On Hooves of
Gold.” This track seems a bit plodding upon the first listen, and a couple of
speedier cuts up front would certainly help with the flow of the album. However, there are several great mid-paced
songs such as the amazing “The Hammer Will Bite” and the superb title track. Check out the lyric video for “Triumph and
Power” for a bit of Viking epicness:
The speedier cuts really shine on this album - “Dominator,” “The
Naked and the Dead” and “Holmgang” in particular are good - but the absolute
highlight of the album is “Steel vs. Steel.” Of course Grand Magus has no trouble cranking out a crushing song about Elric
of Melnibone and his sword Stormbringer!
This song kicks ass with a memorable chorus and is sure to be a concert
staple for Grand Magus in the years
to come.
The lyrical theme of
the rest of the tracks deal with tales of Vikings, battles, warriors, Valhalla,
Frost Giants and Thor. These are all
worthy topics that certainly match the epic tone of the LP, and would impress
even the mighty Heavy Load. The cover art reflects these themes and is, quite
simply, exceptional. It’s easily the best they’ve ever had on one of their
albums. It would make a great subject
for a shirt, poster and backpatch. In
fact, the vinyl comes with just such a poster!
_______________________________________________
The Bottom Line: Triumph and Power is an excellent album
that is loaded with rock-solid traditional Metal. It might take a bit to get in to the album,
but it’s worth your time and effort.
Pick it up and get the vinyl for that kick-ass artwork!
Muthas, guess who’s back with another excellent thrash
album? Megadeth? Metallica? Anthrax? Of course not. It’s Overkill! At this point, one
begins to wonder where the Overkill
tribute albums and documentaries are because this band is so damn reliable. They never falter and are consistently
excellent while their peers wallow is various failed experiments with “mature
song writing” or some other bullshit. How
the hell do they keep doing this and why aren't they lauded? I have no idea but this album will only further burnish their sterling reputation.
White Devil Armory
is another disc packed with stone cold classic songs. Is it better than The Electric Age or Ironbound? Maybe, but it’s at the very least as good as
those modern classics. You headbangers
will delight in smashing tracks like “Down To the Bone,” “Bitter Pill,” “Where
There’s Smoke,” and “Freedom Rings.” The pit will really get moving to the crushing
“Pig.” Check out the video for "Bitter Pill" below:
There’s a limited edition digipak that contains two bonus
tracks – “The Fight Song” and “Miss Misery.”
The first track recalls the song “Old School” from Relixiv and would be a great sing-along cut for live shows. “Miss Misery” is a Nazereth cover and it features a vocal duet with Mark Tornillo of Accept!
It’s another great song by a band that always delivers the goods when it
comes to cover tunes.
_____________________________________________
The Bottom Line:
Frankly, reviewing Overkill
albums is a bit boring because it’s difficult to keep coming up with reviews that
don’t all sound the same. The album is
great, just like the rest of their catalog.
Go out and get the limited edition and go see them live. This is definitely a band that we should all
be supporting. They are Metal down to
the bone!
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.
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.
Do you like King
Diamond and Mercyful Fate? Well,
you probably don’t like them as much as the guys in Attic. Hailing from Germany,
the band is probably the best Fate/KD doppelgänger
in the history of Metal. No, they are not
helmed by a King, but rather a Meister – Meister Cagliostro. Guess what?
Cagliostro sports ye old face paint and is a dead ringer for King
Diamond! The songs are about witches,
covens, Satan, ghosts, etc… and the only thing that really separates Attic from Mercyful Fate/King Diamond is the guitars, which aren’t as lethally
sharp and razor-etched as those of Sherman, Denner or LaRocque. This is a minor quibble really, and the songs
will make you think that you are listening to some long lost King Diamond demos. If you need a fix of that sound while you
wait for some new material from the King,
then you could do worse than Attic. Check
it out:
3 Inches of Blood – Warriors of the Great White North
Self Financed - 2014
Tireless road dogs 3
Inches of Blood have just dropped an excellent documentary of a recent tour
of their Canadian homeland. It’s a fifty
minute journey with the band through the various stops and shows as they blast
ripping Metal to the masses. It’s a nice
insight in to the life of a true touring act that is still accessible to the
average fan. You get to see firsthand
that the band works their collective asses off for everything they’ve achieved,
and that they certainly aren’t living any kind of rockstar lifestyle. In fact,
this documentary is self-financed and you can purchase it from Vimeo for a mere
$4.99. Go buy the damn thing here! Check it out:
Have you had enough of the “Occult Rock” albums that have
glutted the market recently? You know,
those albums with a female lead singer, occult lyrics and proto-Metal riffs? Thankfully, Blues Pills from Swedendoesn’t have anything to do with that
trend, rather they sound like Adele
fronting Sabbath or Zeppelin. Holy shit Elin Larsson (the lead singer) has
some of the most amazing pipes I have ever heard! Her voice is tremendously powerful, and the
band plays bluesy, heavy, 70s rock of the best kind. If you like Zep, Bad Company, Scorpion Child, Black Sabbath etc… then you should
definitely pick this four track EP up.
It’s available on CD as well as on a really sweet gatefold 10”. Check it out:
Muthas, 2013 was yet another great year for Metal and we have
picked a Baker’s Dozen of the best metal albums of the year. We’ve also picked the best live releases,
best reissues, best concerts and the biggest disappointments of the year. Read on!
The Thirteen Best Albums of 2013
2013 brought an avalanche of quality steel to abuse your
tattered eardrums. These are the thirteen albums that dominated our turntables,
CD players, and MP3 players at The Metal Blog of Metal.
Enforcer – Death By Fire
Swedish speedsters Enforcer crush skulls on their third LP with
a stellar mixture of U.S. Speed, NWOBHM and Scandinavian Glory Metal. This is a very focused, all killer-no filler
collection of ripping Speed Metal and at just under 40 minutes, it's the perfect length for vinyl. Take a listen to the awesome triumvirate of
“Mesmerized By Fire,” “Take Me Out of This Nightmare,” and “Crystal Suite” if
you want to hear superb traditional metal done like the titans of ye olden
daze. If only Iron Maiden could conjure up something as compelling rather than
being an old man prog band.
Orchid – The Mouth of Madness
The Band That Can Do No Wrong continues their dominance with
their latest full length disc of 70s doom.
The Mouth of Madness is what everybody wanted 13 to sound like, which of
course, it didn’t. Orchid serves up more amazingly hooky traditional metal as if they’ve been doing this since 1971. Damn
these guys are good. Once again, Theo
Mindell’s art matches the music and adds to the overall experience - believe it
or not, things like cover art and fonts matter. You should immediately buy this platter of crushing doom mastery.
Holy Grail – Ride The Void
California metallions Holy
Grail return with an album chock full of guitar wizardry and catchy
anthems. It’s easy to see that they will
be one of the modern traditional metal bands that will gain a large
audience. Once again the songs are loaded with insanely tasty riffs, leads and solos, as well as a pounding bottom end and the masterful vocals of James Paul Luna. They also have an amazing work ethic and are tireless road
warriors. We managed to catch them twice this year alone in two separate cities. Hailz to them for cranking out
a disc that simply announces – WE CAME TO SHRED!
Saxon – Sacrifice
Speaking of road warriors, Saxon has released yet another album of rock hard traditional metal.
This time they have returned to more of the power metal sound they had on Metalhead, rather than the midpaced
material of their last album. The result
is excellent and another solid entry in their lengthy catalog. All hail the mighty Saxon!
Hell – Curse & Chapter
Hell’s second
official album is about 80% new material with a few re-recorded ancient demos. It’s a great follow up to Human Remains and dispels any fears that
Hell wouldn’t be able to put out new
material to match their 80s output. Once
again they offer up a riff-packed journey through diabolically dangerous
metallic landscapes. Definitely worth the coin and
one of the best of the year. Buy it!
Night Demon – Night Demon
This is absolutely our favorite release of 2013 here at The
Metal Blog of Metal. Our opinion of the
album hasn’t changed since we reviewed it here back in May. It’s an amazing EP that showcases a superb
NWOBHM sound akin to Grim Reaper, Iron Maiden and Diamond Head. It’s a goddamn
metal masterpiece in every way possible!
We eagerly await their full length LP in 2014 and it should kick much
ass. Hailz boys and thanks for a great EP!
U.D.O. – Steelhammer
U.D.O. the band
and Udo the man finally crank out an album to match the ferocity of the latest Accept releases and ditch that shitty
electronic guitar sound that had marred their last couple of albums. There are a couple of weird diversions on the
album, but it is dominated by vicious, pounding steel the majority of the
time. Check out our full review here. This is definitely worth adding to
your U.D.O./Accept collection.
Witch Cross – Axe To Grind
Who ever thought Witch
Cross would release another album? Not us, that’s for sure. 1984’s Fit
For Fight is one of the crown jewels of Danish metal, so it would be tough
to follow up. Unfortunately, original
vocalist Alex “Savage” Nyborg Madsen did not take part in the reunion, but, fortunately, the band chose Kevin Moore as his replacement. Moore is a former touring member of Oliver/Dawson Saxon, and as a result, Axe To Grind has a heavy Saxon influence. This is straight down the middle, meat and
potatoes, traditional heavy metal. It’s
nothing fancy, but it’s executed brilliantly and is very enjoyable. Sure, it doesn’t sound like “Tears of a
Clown,” but it still kicks all kinds of ass.
Pick it up!
Motorhead – Aftershock
So who thought we might never hear another Motorhead album? Thankfully, Lemmy and the boys managed to
record one hell of a great album considering Lemmy’s health problems. Amazingly it’s much more aggressive than the somewhat
lackluster The World Is Ours and
there’s not a dull moment on it. It’s
probably their best since Inferno and we have you banging your head with wild
abandon. Isn’t that what you’ve come to
expect from Motorhead? Damn straight it is.
Vicious Rumors – Electric Punishment
Vicious Rumors
continues down the path that they forged with Razorback
Killers and put out another excellent album that showcases their superb
USPM sound. Unfortunately, this album
has gotten lost in the shuffle do to vocalist Brian Allen having to leave the
band due to family issues. Don't let that dissuade you as there are
many killer cuts on it such as “I Am The Gun,” “Electric Punishment,” and
“Thirst For A Kill.” Get it!
Black Sabbath – 13
We expected this album to be an unmitigated disaster, but,
amazingly enough, it’s a good album.
Certainly the cover art is completely lazy bullshit and the album title sucks
ass. Also, the lack of Bill Ward is very
noticeable and the album is another victim of shithead Rick Rubin’s loudness
wars. However, Tony Iommi’s riffs are
amazing as ever, Geezer’s bass is crushing and Ozzy’s voice is acceptable. The tracks sound like either a very good
early Ozzy album, or a Dio Sabbath album with Ozzy on vocals. 13 doesn’t invoke memories of the Sabs 70s mastery (if you want that, listen to the new Orchid), but it’s
not a black mark on their legacy
either. Be sure to pick up the special edition with the track "Naivete In Black" on it, as that song is excellent.
BAT – Primitive Age (Demo)
This was a late entry to the list, but it’s very worthy of
high praise. BAT is made up of Ryan Waste from Municipal Waste and Volture,
Felix Griffin of DRI fame, and Nick
Poulos of Cannabis Corpse and Volture. What we have here is greasy, dirty speed
metal/thrash that pays a great amount of homage to the mighty Venom.
Waste does his best Chronos on vox and bass and the result is cranking
steel fury that will please both the oldest and youngest Thrashers alike. It might only be a demo, but it’s better than
the majority of slickly produced albums that are constantly foisted upon the
Metal buying public. Go here and
download it for free! I hope they do a
7” vinyl release asap! Total wreckage indeed!
Satan – Life Sentence
Well holy shit, this is awesome! One usually cringes when an old NWOBHM band has
a reunion and promises a return to their original sound. Normally the result is a sub-par collection
of middling garbage that fails to re-capture the magic of their early
material. That couldn’t be further from
the truth with Life Sentence because
it’s a face-melting collection of NWOBHM excellence. Brian Ross sounds great and the songs will
wreck your neck like it’s 1982. This
should have been the follow up to Court
In The Act back in the day. Buy this
album immediately if not sooner! Damn it's good!
Live – In the Raw! - The best
live albums/DVDs
Testament – Dark Roots of Thrash
Bay Area bruisers Testament
deliver a new live album/DVD that perfectly captures their current live
set. The camera work on the DVD is
particularly good and it is one of the most cinematic treatments we have seen
of concert footage. The setlist is
evenly split between classics and current material, but omits most of their 90s
output. Thankfully the mix is much
better than the last couple of times we saw Testament live, because you can actually hear Chuck's vocals! If you like Testament then you should definitely add this to your collection.
Dio – Finding The Sacred Heart – Live In Philly
1986
This CD/DVD features Dio at the height of their popularity
with their massive stage show featuring lasers, knights in plate armor and a huge,
animatronic dragon. The band sounds
great and Ronnie is in fine voice.
Viewing the DVD is a somewhat melancholy experience because it will
remind you that the Man On The Silver Mountain has taken his final bow, but
seeing him at his ferocious best helps take your mind off of it. Long Live Rock n Roll!
Iron Maiden – Maiden England ‘88
Another in a long line of Maiden archival releases that really illustrates that Maiden knows how to make money like
Gene Simmons. What you get is the
legendary Maiden England ’88 show on CD/DVD that showcases Maiden on the cusp of slipping into disarray, but still at their peak. They still sounded great at this point and Seventh Son was a decent enough album,
but mediocrity was waiting in the wings.
The second disc of the DVD is especially nice because it features part 3
of the history of Iron Maiden as
well as the long out of print 12 Wasted Years documentary.
Best Reissues
2013 featured several excellent reissues that were long
awaited in the Metal world.
Heretic– From
The Vault…Tortured and Broken
Finally!!! Metal Blade
Records released this excellent box set that includes the Torture Knows No Boundary EP, the Breaking Point LP along with tons of bonus tracks and a DVD! It’s well worth the cost for the EP alone,
which had never officially been released on CD. Grab this one before it
goes out of print!
Jag Panzer – Tyrants, Ample Destruction, Shadow Thief,
Dissident Alliance
We never thought there would be official reissues of Jag Panzer’s early catalog due to disagreements
between former guitarist Joey Tafolla and the rest of the band. Somehow that was all worked out and not only
do we get these reissues, but Joey is back in the band! You can pitch your shitty bootlegs in the
trash and snap up these reissues from High Roller Records in a variety of
formats – CD, colored Vinyl, Picture Disc and even a luxurious Picture Disc
box set. All the releases have been nicely
remastered with loads of bonus tracks and restored artwork. Buy or die!
Y&T – Earthquake: The A&M Years 1981-1985
This is a very nice 4 disc box set with the best output form
San Francisco legends Y&T. The set includes the Earthquake, Black Tiger, Meanstreak, In Rock We Trust, and Down For The Count studio albums along
with the Open Fire and BBC Friday Rock Show live albums. This release showcases Y&T at the peak of their careers and is fairly cheap as
well. If you don’t already own these
albums, you should definitely buy this and enjoy the hard rocking excellence of
a band that should have been huge.
Witch Cross– All
That’s Fit For Fighting
This superb 3CD/1 DVD box set essentially purges the vaults
of everything Witch Cross did before
their new album Axe To Grind. You get the ultra-classic Fit For Fight along with all their 80s demos and, amazingly enough,
a DVD of a live show and music videos(!) that had never seen the light of
day. It’s all wrapped up in a very nice,
thick, flip top box with a magnetic closure.
Truly an exceptional release and a must have for fans of classic Metal.
Best Concerts
Metal Alliance Tour –
4/7/13 Cincinnati, Ohio
Great package tour featuring, Anthrax, Exodus, Municipal Waste, High On Fire and Holy Grail
ripping it up for 5 hours! All the bands
sounded great and it was a real treat to get our copies of Among The Living and Worship
Music signed. The only complaint was
that Holy Grail didn’t have a very
long set as it would have been nice to hear more from them.
The mighty Orange Goblin tore it up on Halloween weekend in the Steel City. They played an energetic set featuring songs from most of their albums. It was their second swing through town in just 6 months and they did not disappoint. Holy Grail once again was excellent and proved that they should be making the step up to headliner soon.
Biggest Disappointments
Ghost
– Infestissumam
It’s become fashionable to hate on Ghost
because of all the coverage they get in the music press, but the problem with
their new album doesn’t have anything to do with hype. The real problem is Infestissumam is
mostly boring and forgettable. The album
sounds pleasant enough, but nothing really sticks in the memory after the album
is done. In fact, the If You Have Ghost
EP is more interesting and it consists of cover songs. Try working on some more memorable hooks
guys and better luck next time.
Newsted
– Heavy Metal Music
We really wanted to like this album and it pains us to have to write
this. Jason is a great guy and his
enthusiasm for his new band and metal is
obvious. Unfortunately, Heavy Metal Music is
rather bland and generic and Jason's vocals leave much to be desired. The whole album sounds like a heavy/alt
record that would have been released in 1994. Blah. Also, what’s with all the
stupid song titles like “Soldierhead,” “Ampossible,” “Kindevillusion,” and “Futureality?” Stop that shit Jason, it's goofy. Here’s hoping that his next album is killer. Have a great 2014, and, as always, MAKE MINE METAL!
Muthas, we’re back with a tasty treat of diabolical
deliciousness straight outta Hell! Well actually, it’s a new, four track, mini-LP from the band Hell. The Age of Nefarious features one new track
from their second full length Curse &
Chapter, and three live tracks from the Bloodstock 2013 festival.
The new cut “The Age of Nefarious” blasts your ears with
rifftacular guitars, theatrical vocals and occult lyrics. Once again, Hell sounds like a combination of NWOBHM and Mercyful Fate – so no radical changes from 2011’s Human Remains. The song title and chorus are a spoof on The 5th Dimension’s “Age of
Aquarius,” and lyrically, it skewers the hypocrisy of Christianity. It’s an excellent track and a great preview
of Curse & Chapter. Check it out below:
The other three songs are all live from Bloodstock 2013 – “On
Earth As It Is In Hell,” “Blasphemy And The Master,” and “The Oppressors.” These live cuts sound superb and are a good
indicator that Hell delivers in a
live setting with no problems. “The
Oppressors” kicks much ass in particular and will cause you to revisit Human Remains.
The Age of Nefarious
is offered as a digital download from the usual suspects as well as a 10”
mini-LP in various colors. The cool
thing about the vinyl is that the A-side is 45 rpm, and the B-side, with the live
songs, is in 33 rpm! Now that’s some
vinyl weirdness for ya.
The Bottom Line: Hell
has returned with a ripping lead-off single that will please fans of the NWOBHM, Mercyful Fate and music
that doesn’t suck. Get it and buy Curse & ChapterASAP. Your immortal soul
will thank you.
Muthas, the Teutonic Titan Udo is back with an album of
original material following last year’s Live
In Sofia and the compilation of rare tracks, Celebrator. There have been some changes in the lineup
with the exit of guitarists Stefan Kaufmann and Igor Gianola. Kaufmann’s leaving is most surprising
considering that he had been with the band for years, and was in Accept with Udo. Kaufmann
was also the producer for the last few U.D.O. albums, and his leaving was potentially disastrous. So how did Steelhammer turn out? Did U.D.O. shit the bed or did they rise to
the challenge presented by the re-energized Accept?
Fortunately, the answer is mostly positive. When Stefan Kaufmann left, he took that
horribly shitty and sterile guitar sound with him. I doubt the guitars on Dominator and Rev-Raptor
were ever even plugged into an amp. The
production on Steelhammer is miles
better than what Kaufmann had been offering up.
The songs also exhibit a new sense of urgency that seemed to be missing
from the last couple of albums. Udo the
man, and U.D.O. the band, are nothing
if not prolific, and the quality of their output may suffer from their high
rate of production. The couple of years between
albums in this case has helped the band make most of these songs razor sharp.
Right off the bat, it’s clear that U.D.O. has renewed passion and vigor, because the first two tracks
are good and the third track, “Metal Machine” is excellent. Check out the video for it below:
Unfortunately, the
flow of the album screeches to a halt during the next three tracks. “Basta Ya” is fine musically, but the song is
in Spanish, and frankly, I don’t want to listen to a non-English track. Next up is the horrific ballad “Heavy Rain.” Udo needs to stop it with these ballads as
they just don’t suit his voice at all. No thanks. Then
comes “Devil’s Bite” which has incredibly annoying, cheap-ass sounding keyboard
flourishes. We are talking 1982 Casio keyboard here, and that shit is not
acceptable. Ever.
The rest of the album (except for the last track) is vicious,
pounding Metal that rips faces off.
Check out “Death Ride,” “Never Cross My Way,” and “Take My Medicine.” If Udo wants to slow things down he should do
more cuts like the mid-paced “Love Becomes A Lie” and not that “Heavy Rain”
turd. Oddly, the last song, “Book of
Faith” has a bizarre, almost jazzy intro and should have been cut from the
album as it's kind of a clunker.
The only other criticism is that the album is simply too long at
fourteen tracks, and would have benefited from some judicious pruning. Chop out “Basta Ya,” “Heavy Rain,” “Devil’s
Bite,” and “Book of Faith” and put them on one of those EPs that AFM is so fond of churning
out, and the resulting album would have been ten tight tracks of
excellence.
The album cover is killer, and very evocative of the music that lurks within its steely confines. Album art and design is sadly neglected in the digital age, but it's still important. More artists should get their shit together and offer up great artwork like that on Steelhammer. Thankfully, that stupid clown/juggalo/whateverthefuck mascot that started with Mastercutor is history. Fuck that guy.
The Bottom Line: U.D.O. have released their best album
since 1999s Holy, with great
production and many cuts of anthemic, crushing steel. It’s great to see them finally answer the challenge
presented by the last couple of Accept
albums. Buy it.
