War Ensemble! It is very interesting and also slightly amusing how musical genres, come, go and revive, usually in a 20-year cycle and thrash metal is no different. There are always those bands which stay true to their roots and continue to hammer out what they do best and there are those which experiment with their sound adding different edges to their sound. But in this 20-year cycle, it isn’t always about the established bands and thrash metal has spawned many fantastic bands in its rampage across the globe.
Exploding like a thunderous volley of shellfire onto the thrash metal scene in 2008, Warbringer’s name says it all with a good portion of their music focusing upon warfare. This running theme is done is true thrash metal style, think Disposable Heroes by Metallica, Holy Wars… The Punishment Due by Megadeth and War Ensemble by Slayer rather than the story telling done by the likes of Sabaton and other power metal bands. Warbringer signed a deal with Century Media Records releasing 4 albums, each album getting better before moving on to Napalm Records and releasing their latest album, Woe to the Vanquished. Woe to the Vanquished follows on in the same vein as their previous album, IV: Empires Collapse with many similar ideas being batted about; a testament to vocalist John Kevill and guitarist Adam Carroll, the only two remaining original members after a near fatal line-up shuffle in 2014. In a nutshell, if you happened to like IV: Empires Collapse, then Woe to the Vanquished will be hugely appealing. However, there are few subtle differences, the first half of Woe to the Vanquished is fast, heavy and brutal. The album fires rapidly straight off the bat with the song that announced a new Warbringer album, Silhouettes, as it forcefully pulls you into the album with its machine gun intro riff before descending into Testament style beat that bullies you into headbanging along to its nuclear holocaust lyrics. This brutality doesn’t stop there, Warbringer smash through the Roman themed title track with its stop start chorus which itches at you to announce that Kevill possibly has the best voice in modern thrash metal before moving onto the neck breaking and foot stomping riff of Remain Violent. Remain Violent is an excellent social commentary on the growing of riots occurring the world over recent with the emphasis on the police brutality that seems to be at the forefront of every riot, that would prick the ears of any Cavalera era Sepultura fan. The twin guitar assault of Carroll and Chase Becker work fantastically together driving memories of Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman in Slayer’s prime as they trade off guitar solos with each one having their own distinct tone and style. Something happens halfway through Woe to the Vanquished which in all honesty, makes the album. Woe to the Vanquished takes a more progressive route with the albums closing track, the absolutely phenomenal epic, When the Guns Fell Silent is possibly one of the best songs written about World War One. Clocking in at just under 12 minutes, When the Guns Fell Silent tells the story of the Battle of Verdun; debatably the bloodiest battle in human history and Warbringer not only manage to conjure up the sombre feeling of the battle, but also do it justice without glorifying the battle. When the Guns Fell Silent is a movement in 3 parts, even dropping silent before blasting back for the final section proving that if you’re going to end an album, that is how you do it. Woe to the Vanquished is one of the best thrash metal albums released this year and possibly one of the best you will have heard in recent years. It is fast and brutal but also has that factor of something else that is thoroughly enjoyable. With bands like Warbringer and Havok, the future of thrash metal is in safe hands. 9/10 Adam McCann
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Heartless is borderline soulless Doom. Doom can be an awfully picky genre, from those initial rumblings from Birmingham with Black Sabbath, to those that trail blazed the scene such as Candlemass, Trouble, Pentagram and Saint Vitus. Post this, Doom made love with many other genres, stoner, black, sludge, the list goes on and on. The only downside to this, is that yes, Doom multiplied like horny rabbits and there are now literally thousands of bands, with a lot of it being generic boring Doom that is best avoided. However, as with most genres, there are a lot of diamonds gleaming from the stone.
From out of literally nowhere, Pallbearer exploded onto the scene in 2012 with their storming debut, Sorrow and Extinction, followed 2 years later by the equally good Foundations of Burden and this leads us to 3 years later, 2017 and the much anticipated third album from Pallbearer, Heartless. This time Pallbearer have moved on from Profound Lore Records and into the big time with Nuclear Blast Records and this shows instantly with Heartless. The lilac album cover coupled with the very retro introduction on the cover itself of: ‘Heartless – a long playing record by Pallbearer’ brings up memories of the 60’s and/or those Indie bands that look like hipsters and try to be retro. Heartless kicks off with the rather beautiful I Saw the End and that gleaming production burns through the speakers immediately showing that Nuclear Blast expect Pallbearer to be at the cutting edge of their label, but Hang about? Is this Pallbearer? Where are the crunching, droning guitars that got Pallbearer where they are? Heartless signals a huge step away from their previous sound with the album focusing more on multiple melodies that swathe and interweave together more like a classical composition than your regular average song. However, there are glimpses of Pallbearer’s previous work, if you were a fan of The Ghost I Used to Be from Foundations of Burden, then tracks such as Dancing in Madness and Cruel Road will be right your up street. One of the main points about Heartless that may interest people is that it attempts to break the norms set down by genres over the years. In Heartless you will find no chorus’ and very few hooks that will pull you in which goes for some very difficult listening and can easily fall into the category of background noise. Obviously, there is a perfectly acceptable amount of droning expected from a Doom record and as you would expect, Heartless is no different. The main issue with Heartless is that this droning just doesn’t go anywhere and although there are parts to certain songs that make your ears prick up and go, hang on, what did they just do there? It is far and few between. The vocals of Brett Campbell are a lot stronger on Heartless than previous releases which beautifully twine and drift ethereally over the music and this is shown perfectly in I Saw the End, the lengthy A Plea for Understanding and album’s initial video release, Thorns. However, it is A Plea for Understanding that steals the show with Pallbearer waiting for the end of the record to unleash it and if this marks the start of a new venture for Pallbearer then they won’t find a better benchmark than that song. All in all, Heartless is a huge step for Pallbearer, the question is; is it necessarily in the right direction? There are some very good melodies on Heartless, but a melody can’t carry an album alone and you have to question whether the refusal to follow the norms was a good idea, but only hindsight will tell. Heartless will be an album that will divide Pallbearer’s fanbase, there are those that will thoroughly enjoy Heartless and those which is distance themselves from it. The only way to choose is to buy the album yourself and make up your own mind. 6/10 Adam McCann Obituary deliver their best work in over 25 years There is a common link in the evolution of Death Metal, from Venom and Celtic Frost to Possessed, through to Death and onto Obituary. The West Coast of the USA held sway with Thrash Metal for much of the mid 80’s, but it was the East Coast’s turn to pick up the pace in the late 80’s with Florida’s favourite Death Metal band, Obituary. Obituary are a band as famous for John Tardy’s stalking growl as they are for their lyrics revolving around death, dissections and gore.
Late last year, we reviewed Obituary live on tour with Exodus with the Battle of the Bays tour and their split live/studio album Ten Thousand Ways to Die with a resounding sigh of ‘meh’. Both live and in the studio, Obituary felt as if they were grinding through the motions, live they felt distant, a million miles away and couldn’t wait to get off the stage, whilst the studio tracks of the 6 minute plod of Loathe taking any enjoyment away from the title track. It was with a dubious caution that a new studio album from Obituary was approached. Here we are though, in 2017 with Obituary’s latest self-titled album and where do you begin? Well, for a start, Obituary are back, kicking off with the brutality of Brave, it may not be Slowly We Rot with a riff borrowed from the Slayer songbook, but it is a fantastic way to kick off Obituary. Brave announces that Obituary have returned, Tardy’s voice is on point and never mind the foot tapping that goes along with it, before too long you’ll notice that the head starts to bang too! Tardy has a distinct voice, that clawing shout to growl which make Obituary instantly recognisable and there perfect examples of this on Obituary with Turned to Stone and pleading of End It Now; the latter of which and the closing track of Ten Thousand Ways to Die may be some of the best tracks that Obituary have ever recorded. Obituary never lets up, it clocks in at around 35 minutes making it short, sweet and difficult to lose your attention; all the hallmarks of a decent album. The ever present Trevor Peres’ guitar claws through the mix, chugging away like a chainsaw swallowing down its gasoline, helped along with the stuttering blast beats of Donald Tardy which make tracks such as A Lesson in Vengeance, the superb End It Now and Straight to Hell with their almost Autopsy style grind chorus so appealing; Obituary haven’t sounded this good in years. The lead guitar slot is still taken by new guy Kenny Andrews, even though Andrews has been a solid part of the line-up for 5 years now, it is Obituary where Andrews comes into his own with some beautiful wah solos. In fact, the solo for Sentence Day wouldn’t be out of place on Kill ‘Em All and easily puts Kirk Hammett to shame. When you think about it, Obituary have possibly recorded one of the best albums of 2017 and certainly it is their best work since Cause of Death in 1990. After more than a few lacklustre years, Obituary are back and doing what they do best. After the disappointing live/studio album, Ten Thousand Ways to Die and witnessing two disappointing shows, one with Exodus, the other with Carcass, it is time. Welcome back Obituary, all is forgiven. 8/10 Adam McCann Long Live Draco Rex Throughout Heavy Metal history, there are certain countries that helped shape the sound we know today. The UK gave us Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, the USA passed on Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer with Germany offering Scorpions, Accept and Helloween. But more recently, have any countries shaped the landscape like the Nordic countries? Norway gave us Black Metal, Finland added melancholy and beautiful symphonies to Heavy Metal, but it is Sweden that wears the crown, from the most epic of Power Metal, to the grinding Melodic Death Metal sound from Gothenburg as well as catchy Melodic Hard Rock, listen to a band these days and there is a good chance that they are Nordic.
Bloodbound have been on the scene for quite a long time now, formed in 2004, Bloodbound have been through their fair share of vocalists, most famous of which is Urban breed; known for his work in Tad Morose and more recently, Serious Black. These days though, Bloodbound have settled on Patrik J. Selleby who has been in the vocal seat since 2010. Alas, if you have never heard Bloodbound, imagine a cross between Edguy with the cheese factor of Dream Evil or HammerFall turned up to 10 and you’re starting to get into the right ball park. Since they were formed, Bloodbound have had a relatively stable output of albums, on average releasing an album every 2 years. Here we are in 2017 and we have a new Bloodbound album. War of Dragons is Bloodbound’s overall 7th studio album, continuing the Game of Thrones/fantasy theme laid down previously with Stormborn, the main difference is War of Dragons doesn’t directly reference the Game of Thrones series, choosing to focus more on its own concept. It looks like AFM Records have ploughed a large budget into War of Dragons, sonically, the album is superb and the guys at Bloodbound have done a brilliant job with the production, War of Dragons is a pleasure to listen to. The keyboards of Fredrik Bergh go a long way to fill out the sound, giving War of Dragons an exceptionally warm feeling overall putting it directly on par with recent releases from HammerFall, Avantasia, Sonata Arctica or even the mighty Sabaton. Speaking of Sabaton, you also have to mention the fact that as much as Bergh’s keyboards fill out the sound, there are a lot keyboard stabs that suspiciously make a few of the tracks sound as if Sabaton’s 2012 masterpiece, Carolus Rex has been used as a template, especially the likes of King of Swords, Symphony Satana and Tears of a Dragonheart having a very similar feel to Lion from the North. The Sabaton influence doesn’t end there, Battle of the Sky has a close vocal melody delivery to The Last Stand with the pre-chorus to Fallen Heroes having one lingering chord that is very reminiscent of Ruina Imperii. However, don’t think that War of Dragons is total Sabaton worship, there are tracks likes the beautiful Silver Wings and Guardians of Heaven’s Gate that wouldn’t be out of place on a HammerFall album. What you get with War of Dragons is an album of yes, very similar sounding songs, but it also breeds a familiarity that is infectious and once it gets you, you will find that you keep choosing War of Dragons to play. Bloodbound have released another album that is the typical sound of Power Metal, it’s grandiose, it’s epic and it is full of the fantasy themes that make the genre so endearing. 8/10 Adam McCann Rip It Off Thunder are a band that over the course of their careers have split up, reformed, disbanded and once again reformed. This time, it looks like Thunder are back for good and although this saying will haunt them forever; Thunder were in the right place at the wrong time, breaking it big in 1989/1990 was a bad time to hit the big time with their good-time Hard Rock, bluesy riffs and big hair. Just a few years earlier and Thunder would have been huge, but instead they got caught in the riptide of changing times.
These days, Thunder have come a million miles away from the late 80’s Hard Rock where they made their name, other than changing bassists a few times before settling on Chris Childs, Thunder have had the same stable line-up now for 21 years and this experience shows, not just in a live environment, but also on record. Since Thunder got together again in 2002, culminating in the Shooting at the Sun album, Thunder have changed their sound a little, that blues element is still there and if anything, it has been enhanced. However, Thunder can still tear it up when needs be or can kick back with a beautiful piano ballad and like a fine wine, Thunder have matured and it is no wonder that this nets the band the airplay on the Classic Rock radio stations that they deserve. During Thunder’s second break, guitarist Luke Morley and bassist Chris Childs worked together in The Union with the wonderful blues voice of Pete Shoulder and this stripped, laid back feeling has obviously transposed its way into Thunder’s writing with Morley being the main man. That was then, it is now 2017 and Thunder have released their latest album, Rip It Up. There are no surprises as to why Rip It Up follows in the same vein as its predecessor Wonder Days, many of the songs are stylistically similar sounding with that more laid back, retro style groove which was stamped all over Wonder Days. Don’t think for one minute though that Rip It Up is West Coast, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, buy it for your dad, easy listening, as Thunder can still write a good old fashioned Hard Rocker with Danny Bowes’ pipes still as impressive as ever, which begs the question; is Bowes the most underrated Rock vocalist? The answer is yes. Pardon the pun though, but Thunder manage to rip it up several times across this album, from the title track, Shakedown and the obvious single, She Likes the Cocaine with its gleaming Pop style production. However, there are some beautiful ballads here and no one sings a tear jerking ballad like Thunder with the likes of Right from the Start and the album’s closing track There’s Always a Loser strategically placed about the album. The main issue with Rip It Up itself is that every song has that overly familiar feel to it, like you’ve heard it somewhere before. Hardly surprising really, there are a lot of crossovers in the world of Rock, Pop and Heavy Metal, but with Rip It Up, it seems like Thunder have collated them all together. From the Celebration Day style riff to No One Gets Out Alive, to the Jean Genie groove of the title track itself, Rip It Up sets the precedent from the start with even the bass intro to In Another Life sounding like Alannah Myles’ Black Velvet. It isn’t a secret that Thunder are big fans of The Who with even the band covering tracks such as Pinball Wizard, but The Enemy Inside has that quick-fire Pete Townsend style chords that have very similar leanings towards Pinball Wizard and The Seeker. However, it isn’t just outside tracks where Thunder take their inspiration, they even look to their own catalogue. The Chosen One has a chorus which could easily be confused with Fade into the Sun whilst Shakedown has that simple clean bouncy riff equipped with a cowbell that is reminiscent of I Love You More Than Rock N’ Roll both from The Magnificent Seventh with There’s Always a Loser also sounding similarly to Watching Over You from the Bang! album. All this aside, Rip It Up is actually an enjoyable album, it might be coupled with a crap album cover, but that is the worst thing about the album. Rip It Up does exactly what it sets out to do, deliver a good time through upbeat songs mixed with the more melancholic side showing that Thunder still have plenty to offer and it wouldn’t be surprising if Rip It Up was one of the best Hard Rock releases of this year. 8/10 Adam McCann William Black Must Die Since the disbandment of Blaze 10 years ago, Blaze Bayley returned in 2008 with his ‘new’ band writing and performing under the recognisable name, Blaze Bayley. Ask any Heavy Metal fanatic what the name Blaze Bayley means to them and they’ll mention Blaze, Wolfsbane and of course, Iron Maiden of whom Blaze Bayley had a short tenure with in the mid to late 90’s.
Last year, Blaze Bayley released Infinite Entanglement, his first studio output for 4 years. Infinite Entanglement was a dark sci-fi concept album featuring the story of Captain William Black, a man selected lead an expedition through space to a planet named only ‘the New World’, explaining the feelings and emotions that are connected with this through the ambiguous protagonist of Black and those connected to his life. Infinite Entanglement was a superb album and easily the best since Blaze’s Silicon Messiah in 2000 with Infinite Entanglement being the first instalment of a trilogy surrounding William Black. This year, right on schedule and as promised, Blaze Bayley has released part 2 of the Infinite Entanglement story; Endure and Survive. Part 2 focuses upon the actual journey itself with many parts featuring Black dealing with being alone and looking back on his life, whilst dealing with the inevitable problems that are thrown his way. Just as Infinite Entanglement ends, Endure and Survive picks up straight away, blasting into the title track. The first thing to notice about Endure and Survive is that the production is less sparse and has a much warmer feel than its predecessor. If Infinite Entanglement was good, then Endure and Survive is one giant leap forward in the right direction. Endure and Survive makes use of a large choral section in the background which only adds to the overall ambiance of the album, especially on such poignant tracks as Dawn of the Dead Son and the beautiful duet Together We Can Move the Sun. Endure and Survive also pushes the story forward much more than Infinite Entanglement does, with many more spoken interludes which gives the album the feel of a movie, cinematic interlude or a cut scene from a video game. These interludes expand on the characters involved and especially that of Black which only serves to add to the ambiguity of the main character, almost creating an anti-hero through the rather shocking revelations in Blood and mid-point cliff hanger of Destroyer. Blaze Bayley has done a fantastic job of ensuring that the entire of Endure and Survive flows well and the more you listen to it, the more you are drawn in. The song writing alone is excellent and the arrangements in the songs show that Blaze Bayley is capable of doing so much more than just straight up Heavy Metal, although the tracks Escape Velocity and Fight Back remind us that Blaze Bayley can still do this. Blaze Bayley’s voice alone has aged sublimely, that deep operatic booming voice lets you feel every vibration and emotion that is forced out, whilst the nylon guitars are an excellent choice of backing when in use where many other artists would use a standard steel acoustic or a clean electric. This album alone shows that there is life in the old-dog yet, with Blaze Bayley proving that he truly is the man that would not die. Blaze Bayley struck gold with Infinite Entanglement and has continued this streak with Endure and Survive, the burning question is now, can Blaze Bayley get the treble with part 3 of Infinite Entanglement. Roll on next year… …shall we begin? 8/10 Adam McCann Iron Maiden Manchester Arena Manchester 08/05/2017 Wherever you are, Iron Maiden’s gonna get you Set List:
If Eternity Should Fail Speed of Light Wrathchild Children of the Damned Death or Glory The Red and the Black The Trooper Powerslave The Great Unknown The Book of Souls Fear of the Dark Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast Blood Brothers Wasted Years After the mayhem of Heavy Metal March, a well-deserved month break from concerts was very much welcome, but now the second week of May sees a return to Manchester and the largest standard venue in Manchester, the Manchester Arena to catch the mighty Iron Maiden on their hugely expansive Book of Souls World Tour which has already encompassed more countries than you could possibly think of. Barring football and cricket stadiums, the Manchester Arena is the only place that could accommodate such a band as Iron Maiden, unfortunately, the venue is always cold and lifeless but that has never stopped Iron Maiden bringing the touch that only Maiden and Maiden fans can. For Iron Maiden’s UK tour, Maiden have brought with them American Hard Rockers/Post Grungers Shinedown and judging by the army of T-shirts knocking about, there seems to be significant portion of the audience here to see just them. Shinedown bounded onto the scene in 2003 climbing the US charts with their Leave a Whisper album and since then, Shinedown have pushed their way to the forefront of the Post Grunge/Pop/Rock, whatever the hell you want to call it scene by offering well-polished tracks that appeal to not only the younger generation, but also an older generation allowing you to listen to the latest Shinedown release with your parents. Opening with Adrenaline, the first track from their 2012 #1 album, Amaryllis, the sound for Shinedown isn’t great and for the first quarter of their set, Shinedown sound as if they are playing underwater. However, the sound is eventually amended with the band giving very good renditions of Sound of Madness, with the entire arena joining in with their multi-million selling single, Second Chance. The main irritancy tonight is with Shinedown vocalist, Brent Smith who during the extended intros and outros that are far too long, talks constantly over them giving his constant thanks, standard preaching, safeguarding and raising awareness over issues such as suicide that borders on a DJ at a wedding or kids party talking over the music in which you have to resist the urge to scream: “GET ON WITH IT!” in a Monty Python-esque style. As the huge black backdrop featuring the white letters SHINEDOWN emblazoned across it is lowered, you know the time is getting closer for Iron Maiden to take to the stage. This time ticks ever more as the familiar tones of Doctor, Doctor by UFO blares through PA system, to the trained Maiden fan, it is time, the house lights go down as the video screens kick into life featuring a video game type world similar to the Far Cry series as the protagonist chases a primal Eddie through the jungles. Whilst the audience is transfixed on this video, Iron Maiden’s Mayan style stage set is revealed as Bruce Dickinson appears to be conducting some sort of mad conjuring ritual with a font of dry ice whilst singing the introduction to If Eternity Should Fail before a crack of Nicko’s snare drum brings the rest of Maiden to stage. Iron Maiden appear to be on top form tonight, their new material from The Book of Souls sounds a hell of a lot better in the live environment as Maiden blast through the opening one-two from their latest album with If Eternity Should Fail and the albums lead-off single, Speed of Light before giving the audience something a little more worn in with Wrathchild and Children of the Damned. As serious as Iron Maiden are on record, live, Maiden are jovial and fun, Death or Glory features Bruce Dickinson dressed in a gorilla costume, beating his chest, pulling out bananas and generally annoying Dave Murray. Of course, there is always the majorly fun part when Eddie comes out to play, doing his best to get one over on Janick Gers, who is always more than happy to entertain Eddie. Gers is a true showman, able to swing his guitar around like a lunatic whilst never missing a note. This allows him to dive, duck and slide underneath Eddie before the monster gets bored and goes to attack Dickinson. There are is one low point tonight though, Dickinson literally limps through The Trooper, but this does not phase the crowd as they more than happily will sing the song for him and in a set which lacks old favourites such as Run to the Hills and Hallowed Be Thy Name, it makes you wonder whether Dickinson can still pull this off. However, straight after The Trooper, Dickinson nails Powerslave straight up and can still send a shiver down your spine with his voice during Fear of the Dark. Each one of Maiden has their own personality, Dickinson can still hold the entire arena in the palm of his hand whilst Adrian Smith and Mr. Iron Maiden himself, Steve Harris stalk to the stage and it just goes to show the amount of experience behind this band, especially with the adoration that is returned to them. To edit and quote Beavis and Butthead: “say what you want about Iron Maiden, but they know how to put on a show”. America may have Metallica and Germany may have Scorpions, but you can’t sum it up better than Tobias Sammet: “England’s got Steve Harris”. Adam McCann Apathetic Rapture CounterCult Records 2017 Unleash the Rabies Manchester. Famous for football, Coronation Street, rain and of course, music. Manchester has always had a rich musical history with bands from the earlier days of Magazine, Joy Division, New Order and The Smiths to the Madchester scene and beyond with the likes of The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets.
Recently, the Manchester Alternative scene has been bubbling away and has seen some great bands rise through its ranks with many more still finding their feet, picking up their instruments and sticking two fingers up to a Pop culture awash with manufactured bands, the next big thing, grime, R&B and talentless winners of talentless shows. Joining this illustrious roster of bands from Manchester that have gone before them are Weapon Dogs, one of the many young Grunge/Alternative Rock bands that are currently chipping away at the Manchester underground scene. Apathetic Rapture is the first release by Weapon Dogs from their upcoming EP and the name alone sums up this generations mood, this generation is apathetic, it is nihilistic and it is struggling to find an identity in a world already made for them. Beginning with a relatively quick repeating bass pattern, Apathetic Rapture soon sticks the boot in with the drums and distorted guitar soon crashing the party. The guitar on this song has a remarkably retro tone to it, being especially reminiscent of the American Hardcore Punk scene in parts. This tone wouldn’t be out of place on releases by the likes of The Wipers, Fang or Flipper with particular leanings towards songs such as Return of the Rat by The Wipers or The Money Will Roll Right In of Fang fame. But, on the other hand, you also have a tone and mood that is mid-80’s Seattle sound and would appeal to fans of Green River and Mudhoney, whilst being chaotic enough to tweak the interest of Sonic Youth lovers. Apathetic Rapture also makes use of the drop in/drop out, quiet/loud technique used extensively by Pixies and in turn, a band influenced heavily influenced by them, Nirvana. The heavy damp tone used on Apathetic Rapture to give everything a more bassy feel is straight out of Sub-Pop, 1988. This is the sort of tone that Nirvana were experimenting with whilst recording songs in the Bleach era. However, not all of Apathetic Rapture is hero worshipping Kurt Cobain as the Manchester sound lurks just beneath the surface and the delivery of the clean, coherent and tuneful vocals bubble with some decent backing vocals and the clarity of British Alternative band such as Bush, Ash or Super Furry Animals or even pushing towards a more modern angle with Kasabian or Arctic Monkeys. With Weapon Dogs having this slant, it would certainly open up the market and significantly put them ahead of their peers as not many bands are capable of bridging the past and present together in one song, hopefully Weapon Dogs are able to follow up this EP with something as strong and relevant. Adam I Really Really Wish CounterCult Records 2017 Oldham Calling Since the heady days of the Garage sound in the late 60’s with the likes of The Stooges and MC5, Alternative Rock has come and gone under many different guises. From the explosion of Punk in the mid-70’s and the through the expansive amount of sub-genres that this created, the Alternative sound has never really gone away and is still as relevant now as it was back in the 1960’s.
From Oldham, England, Void are one of the latest young bands to pick up their instruments, burn the rulebook, stick their middle finger to musical trends and distort their guitars with some 3-chord heavy Grunge in the vein of Nirvana and Mudhoney. Earlier in the year, we reviewed the first single, Wish to Create, from Void’s forthcoming album Gloom, with its angst ridden teenage droning that took you back to listening to the latest music crackling through the radio from Seattle. The first day of May see’s the second single from Gloom released the similarly titled, I Really Really Wish. I Really Really Wish capitalises on the bass heavy, distortion swathed, over worn flannel shirt and ripped jeans mantra laid down by Wish to Create. Just like the previous single, I Really Really Wish comes equipped with a music video in which the Void logo V almost acts like a graphic equaliser and to be honest, I’m not sure that the boys in Void are old enough to remember one of them. (Sorry lads, I jest). Beginning with a relatively simple repeating riff, I Really Really Wish is anchored by a Punk style bassline which follows the main riff of the guitar whilst the drums emphasise the beat with its hard-hitting Dave Grohl style that gives the feeling of; what if Dave Grohl ever played with Mudhoney? sort of sound. The vocals for I Really Really Wish have a melody that is at times very close to the Nirvana B-Side, Even In His Youth, but nevertheless fit the track perfectly and although simple and repeating for each verse it kind of works considering that it is the work of a young band still honing their style. However, what could improve I Really Really Wish is the inclusion of a bridge, breakdown or a guitar solo, just to keep the song alive for the more wishy-washy public that will ultimately come into contact with Void, but it would be awesome to hear the guitar pierce through the speakers laden with the feedback and string bends that we know Void are capable of. Moving forward, I Really Really Wish decently follows up Wish to Create. It is a band still sharpening their skills and learning to properly play with each other and this is not a bad thing at all. Void have a good experienced team behind them that can guide them where they need to be. Adam Saturday Night Battle Beast Out of all the Nordic countries, it is safe to assume that Finland have a cornucopia of melancholy, cold, sadness and minor chords that run deep into its heavy metal roots. Finland is the country responsible for the likes of Amorphis, Children of Bodom, also Nightwish and Sonata Arctica to name a few. You cannot fault Finland’s output for heavy metal, it has been consistent for 25 years and growing every year.
Although famous for being relatively reserved, Finland does have its fair share of less melancholic bands that could border on what you would call ‘fun’. One such band is Battle Beast. Battle Beast have had a little bit of the Midas Touch over the course of their career, famous for winning the Wacken Open Battle as well as more Finnish based competitions catapulted Battle Beast into the spotlight alongside prestigious support slots with Nightwish, Powerwolf and Sonata Arctica. In 2012, it was announced that original vocalist Nitte Valo would be stepping down and was replaced by the talismanic almost banshee like Noora Louhimo. Mid-February saw the release of Bringer of Pain, the 4th album from Battle Beast and the first album without Anton Kabanen, the man behind the song writing for the previous 3 albums who is now a full-time member of Wisdom. Kabanen has been succeeded by Joona Björkroth, the brother of keyboardist Janne Björkroth and because of this, you would expect the song writing to take a hit with the rest of the band seemingly picking up the slack. Bringer of Pain throws itself between two corners, from straight up heavy metal Doro style anthems such as Straight Through the Heart, We Will Fight, the beautiful closing ballad Far From Heaven and the rousing title track to the more pop-orientated Dancing with the Beast, Familiar Hell and the disco-to-boot King for a Day. King for a Day has some rather scathing words about a man playing at politics, lying and using buzz words to get people on his side whilst simultaneously screwing them over which sounds a lot like its aimed at a certain President of the United States of America. However, with its gleaming pop production, King for a Day enters a pre-chorus disco beat that could easily be a clone of Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight) by ABBA. All this pop sheen can slide Bringer of Pain in amongst the guilty pleasure brigade of the year and even though Bringer of Pain is a fun album, full of the melodic hooks and catchy beats which you can’t help but tap your foot to, it does feel as if Battle Beast have taken a slight step backwards with Bringer of Pain. However, you need to take Bringer of Pain at face value, it is a good time record that should bring a wryest smile to even the most miserable and cold hearted metalhead. With Bringer of Pain seemingly almost dividing their fanbase, this leaves Battle Beast at an important crossroads in their career with Bringer of Pain doing very little to improve on the previous album, Unholy Savior, Battle Beast could be in danger of stagnating their sound. Battle Beast still have plenty more to offer and Bringer of Pain will not be anywhere near the top 10, However, don’t take Bringer of Pain with 100% seriousness and maybe you will just about enjoy it. 6/10 Adam |
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December 2016
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