The Evil Divide Death Angel 2016 Nuclear Blast Records Death Angel are a Thrash Metal band from the USA and manage to tread the line of being fast and furious whilst also being melodic and catchy without the stop/start staccato riffs of Anthrax. Death Angel features the distinctive voice of Mark Osegueda with Rob Cavestany and Ted Aguilar on the guitars with the rest of Death Angel made up with the bass of Damien Sisson and the drums of Will Carroll. The Evil Divide is the 8th studio album by Death Angel and picks up and continues in the same vein as 2013’s The Dream Calls for Blood. The Evil Divide is the 3rd album with the current line-up and has the sound of a band that is now very comfortable with playing together, The Evil Divide feels much more focused with some very good song writing. The production on The Evil Divide is managed by long-time producer, Jason Suecof. Suecof has done an excellent job of polishing the sound of Death Angel but without losing its Thrash integrity. Every instrument and drum part can be heard, the double bass pounds throughout without drowning out the rest of the band. Suecof has now worked with Death Angel long enough to know exactly what they want and what The Evil Divide should sound like and the results are more than decent. From the very start, The Evil Divide blasts forward at full throttle with lyrics that are great social observations by Osegueda. Osegueda’s song writing has matured a lot over the years, yet, you can still feel the anger. This anger seems to be directed towards the state of the social and political landscape of the USA at the moment and further afield, the rest of the world. Father of Lies, Hell to Pay, It Can’t Be This and Let the Pieces Fall are all highlights of The Evil Divide, not only are these excellent songs and highlights of The Evil Divide, but is also a showcase as to what Death Angel’s take on Thrash Metal is all about. The Evil Divide opens with The Moth, written by Cavestany and is a relentless starting point. The Evil Divide blasts forward in a style reminiscent of their first few albums and in particular, The Moth wouldn’t be out of place on Act III. The Moth has an extremely memorable chorus, which perfectly sets the tone for an album full of hooks and earworm type melodies. Another highlight from The Evil Divide is Hatred United/United Hate, which features Andreas Kisser from Sepultura. Kisser’s guitar tone is instantly recognisable and provides Hatred United/United Hate something else for The Evil Divide to boast. The Evil Divide draws to a close at blistering pace with Let the Pieces Fall. Osegueda sounds as if he may explode with rage at any minute, showing that Osegueda has lost none of his prowess over Death Angel’s career. The Evil Divide holds true to the roots of Thrash with a sound that is none other than Death Angel. This proves that Death Angel don’t need to branch out by giving excuses of ‘it was just something we had to do’ or by making their music fit a commercially acceptable vibe for the masses of music television to mindlessly consume. The Evil Divide will appeal to true metal fans whilst easily able to pull in new listeners who are recommended Death Angel or come across them by chance. The Evil Divide is easily one of the best Thrash albums released this year and is the sound of a band on top form. 8/10 Adam Lost (Cavestany/Osegueda)
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Infinite Entanglement Blaze Bayley 2016 Blaze Bayley Recording Blaze Bayley has had an interesting career, from the frontman of Wolfsbane, to filling the very big shoes of Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden, to fronting is own band Blaze as well continuing to front Wolfsbane. More recently, Blaze Bayley has ditched the Blaze moniker and just opted for a solo career as Blaze Bayley. Infinite Entanglement is the 4th release under his name and the long awaited follow up to 2012’s The King of Metal. Infinite Entanglement has a great classic Heavy Metal sound, treading the line between Traditional Metal, a more Modern Progressive Metal sound with some beautiful acoustic melodies. Infinite Entanglement is a sci-fi concept album, with each song seeming to describe a man’s feelings about leaving Earth and traveling through space. The best thing about Infinite Entanglement is that the subject matter subject matter isn’t boring, overblown or drawn out as some sci-fi concepts can be. As with his other solo releases, Blaze Bayley has produced Infinite Entanglement himself and has once more done exceptional work. Infinite Entanglement has a great raw sound to it, however, this isn’t a poor or rushed job and the production of gives a fantastic representation of what you get live with Blaze Bayley. Blaze Bayley has an amazing deep, operatic, powerful voice that sounds as good as it did 20 years ago. However, Blaze’s voice now sounds older and worn in, easily hitting the notes of the past, but now with loveable experience rather than a young gusto. Infinite Entanglement is full of catchy songs oozing with hooks and infectious melodies. A Thousand Years, Dark Energy 256, Infinite Entanglement and the single Human, all wouldn’t be out of place on Blaze’s 2000 Silicon Messiah. But, one of the best things about Infinite Entanglement is the fact you can tell that Blaze Bayley has worked really hard by making sure each song is able to run or segue into each other, often achieved by a spoken interlude or an acoustic passage. As we all know, Blaze Bayley has a powerful, commanding operatic voice that easily shines through on the slower melodic tracks such as What Will Come and A Work of Anger are full of singalong parts perfectly constructed for the live environment and really show off the vocal power and song writing capabilities of Blaze Bayley. A great part of Infinite Entanglement is the fact that the album loops very. The final track of Shall We Begin, runs exceptionally well into the albums introductory track, Infinite Entanglement and it is very easy to find yourself hypnotically listening to Infinite Entanglement on repeat. Infinite Entanglement is a great album and easily the best thing that Blaze Bayley has done since 2000’s Silicon Messiah. Infinite Entanglement has some fantastic songs, showing that Blaze Bayley is meticulous with a work ethic that shows that wherever Blaze Bayley has been or done, his experiences shine through. There are touches to his past with the Iron Maiden sounding A Thousand Years and A Work of Anger and that is certainly not a bad thing. Infinite Entanglement is a strong release and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it towards the upper reaches of the best of 2016 come year end. 8/10 Adam Human (Bayley/Appleton)
Reflections Beholder 2016 Razorline Music Beholder are a Metal band from the UK, consisting of the vocals of Simon Hall, Scott Taylor on the guitar, Si Fielding playing the bass and Chris Bentley on the drums. Beholder originally began their career playing Thrash Metal that had occasional Power Metal leanings. Fom their inception, Beholder have since broadened their sound by adding elements of classic Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Metalcore as well as a more Progressive Thrash sound. Reflections is the third full length release by Beholder and the follow up to 2013’s The Order of Chaos. What Reflections is, is a band stretching out and experimenting with something else. Reflections has a much more modern sound than their previous two releases, treading a sound somewhere between Progressive Metal and Metalcore and thankfully, Reflections leans more towards the former than the latter. For Reflections, Beholder have opted to produce the album themselves and whilst the production on Reflections is very modern, it also has a very raw sound and would give a very good representation of what being at a Beholder concert would be like. However, don’t let the word raw give connotations of poor quality because Reflections is certainly not that, Reflections has a very warm tone to it that is welcoming to listen to and easy to enjoy. Reflections begins with a ticking clock in which the tempo slowing down which begins Frozen Steps of Utoya, announcing Beholder’s departure from their previous sound by launching into a drone that reminiscent of Sepultura, however, within Frozen Steps of Utoya you can also hear a band which has taken influences from the likes of Nevermore and Iced Earth. During Frozen Steps of Utoya, you get to feel the full power and intensity that Hall puts into his vocals, not just during Beholder’s live performances, but also in what Hall gives in the studio. One of the highlights and better songs on Reflections is I, Machine. I, Machine has possibly the catchiest chorus on the album and you will find yourself singing along to it before too long. However, I, Machine has quite an odd ending, the song ends with an acoustic guitar. The odd feeling comes from the fact that you would expect a record to start with an acoustic guitar, building up to the electric, rather than the other way around. But, the way I, Machine ends with an acoustic guitar is great and it works very well. The twin guitar harmony that Taylor begins Heal the Wounds with is straight out of the Metallica songbook for bridge sections. It is a beautifully melodic piece that wouldn’t have been out of place on Ride the Lightning. What Beholder do really well, especially with Heal the Wounds and indeed most of Reflections is that they manage to put their mark and sound onto their songs whilst being able to give a nod to those musicians who influenced them. As stated above, Reflections is a different sound and a move away from their previous first two albums. Reflections is the sound of a band who are stretching out musically, forever evolving and refusing to stay in the same mould. A lot of the songs on Reflections won’t set the world on fire and it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, but there are a few gems that are definitely worth listening to. What you have with Reflections is a raw sounding album of a band in their prime, trying something different without it sounding amateur or boring. 5/10 Adam Frozen Steps of Utoya (Beholder)
For All Kings Anthrax 2016 Megaforce Records For All Kings is the long overdue follow up to 2011’s Worship Music. During this 5 year gap, Anthrax lost guitarist Rob Caggiano to Volbeat and replaced him with Jon Donais. For All Kings is stylistically very similar to Worship Music and the music is distinctly Anthrax. The music sticks to the Anthrax formula, crashing staccato riffs, stop/start blast beats on the bass drum in rhythm with the riff and the melodic singing of Joey Belladonna which originally set Anthrax apart from their peers originally. Scott Ian is a big fan of the HBO series, Game of Thrones and this comes through on the introduction to the opening track You Gotta Believe. Its long drawn out almost melancholy cello gives way to the typical Anthrax sound with You Gotta Believe being a great opener. The second track, The Monster at the End, although a good song, feels as if it was left over from the Worship Music sessions as lyrically, it feels more in that vein than the style of For All Kings. It is the middle of For All Kings which captures the most interest, the title track is fantastic and it is the first point of the album which is where your attention is eventually held. The introduction to For All Kings pulls you in with its almost unaccompanied vocal at the start. Belladonna’s voice fantastic, not just on For All Kings, but also during the rest of the album, showing that he is an underrated vocalist amongst his peers. The centre of the album also features Breathing Lightning, a song that was chosen to be the second single from For All Kings. Breathing Lightning feels as if it was written with being a single in mind and wouldn’t be out of place on Spreading the Disease. Breathing Lightning is followed by Breathing Out, a track that clocks in at less than one minute and just feels altogether pointless. Scott Ian stated that he wanted Blood Eagle Wings to be the main focus of the album, a 7 minute epic that isn’t about Viking culture, but rather a subject close to Scott Ian’s heart. Ian describes the record as a song in which you take any great city in the world and how many people have died, how their blood and bones have built the city to what it is now. Blood Eagle Wings is a slow burner at first but with Donais stamping his authority on Anthrax, Blood Eagle Wings contains one of the best Anthrax guitar solos that you will have heard in a long time. Late last year, Anthrax toured with Slayer, where they debuted the song Evil Twin and although it has all the hallmarks of a classic Anthrax song, Evil Twin seems to lack that melodic hook that would pull you in and this is a recurring trend throughout For All Kings. Just like its predecessor Worship Music, the songs on For All Kings are much longer than they need to be and at times as good musically as it is, most of the tracks are a good minute, minute and a half longer than they need to be. Despite this, For All Kings is a good album, it is typical Anthrax and nowhere near the worst of their career. There are some excellent songs on the album, You Gotta Believe, Defend/Avenge, Zero Tolerance and the title track are all highlights. For All Kings is not the best Thrash album released this year, but it is certainly not the worst and is definitely worth purchasing. 7/10 Adam Breathing Lightning (Anthrax)
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