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Rush - Snakes And Arrows
Live DVD (ZOE/Rounder) Review by Metal Mark |
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Let's see, I guess I should preface this review with a
couple admissions on my part so you know where I stand. I am a
long time Rush fan, but it's also been a long time since I
have been very thrilled with their studio efforts. Last year's
Snakes and Arrows was no exception as I anticipated it's
release and it had some moments, but it was quickly filed away
on the back shelves on my collection and it has not seen the
light of day in some time. Their playing is still there, but
they were once so vibrant and loose and now everything seems
far more stiff and even stodgy. Like they have gotten old
(okay, they have) and they have taken their sound and us with
them. However here is their chance to |
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redeem themselves to some extent in this massive DVD set taken
from two performances in Rotterdam, Holland back in October of
2007. The stage for this performance was huge and the crowd
are about ready to burst as the show starts. The band does not
disappoint, they seem to rise to the occasion and layers of
dust seem to have been shaken off. The skill, the energy and
the obvious joy they have in playing this music is still very
much evident. Admittedly it took me a little time to come
around, but they are still masters of their trade or at least
they are on stage. Some older bands seem to wander around or
be swallowed by such a large stage, but Rush come across like
kids who have been inside for far too long being set free to
play outside on a sunny day. They make the most of the space
and time and pull the crowd along for the ride. Now I would
have liked to have heard them perform some more older material
as my favorite time in their career was 1975-1981. Still, we
get some tracks out of the later part of that period sprinkled
throughout. Obviously they still have the charm and the touch
to their music as they once again work their magic. Some parts
are just slightly smoothed out, but I guess that's just a
result of such a large production. The camerawork on this DVD
is extraordinary as they manage to take in everything, but
also they avoid the fast cuts that too many other live DVDs
include. This is certainly a must have for Rush fans as there
is much here to enjoy. |
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Sammy Hagar - Cosmic Universal
Fashion (Roadrunner)
Review by Metal Mark |
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Sammy Hagar has had a long and varied career. Of course he
really hit the big time in some ways when he replaced David
Lee Roth in Van Halen. However I always thought his greatest
moments were during that first Montrose album and some of his
solo releases like VOA. Through it all he has always been
fairly consistent as a singer and he established his own vocal
style a quite some time ago and has building upon it over the
years. So I wasn't sure what to expect from him some
thirty-five plus years into his career.
This album certainly does not have a cohesive feel to it, but
that's okay. The title track |
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pops on and it's a slightly surprising approach as the style
of choice here is light industrial. However don't get sold on
style because Sammy hops around through much of the album.
"Loud" feels like it could have been written about twenty
years ago. Then you get a decent rendition of the Beastie
Boys' "Fight For Your Right To Party" which of course was
originally done twenty plus years ago. He tries his hand at
different styles, but never gets too far away from his comfort
zone. That approach results in an album that's safe, but
enjoyable enough. Perhaps not his best or most creative work,
but he obviously had fun making it and that shines through in
the majority of the songs.
www.redrocker.com |
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Sinner - Crash And Burn
(Candlelight Records) By: Joe Florez |
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While I may not have heard Mr. Sinners complete discography, I
have been a fan since 1997. Since that point, he has put out
rather decent records until his last one Mask Of Sanity which
was a complete bust. I tried to like it and listened to it
over and over again, but it pretty much fell on deaf ears. The
songs were weak and just not pleasurable like his back
catalogue. So, it was with apprehension that I listen to the
new one. Well, since I got it in the mail, of course I’m gonna’
pop this in. God damn, the minute the disc opens up with the
sirens to the title track, I thought I was going to hear Thin
Lizzy’s “Jailbreak”. After all, Matt has been heavily
influenced by one Mr. Phil Lynott. Instead, crushing guitars |
dominate this number. The drums come crashing down like a
tidal wave and the vocals have a nice and gritty sound to
them. The song fires on all cylinders and the solos have
plenty of shredding. So far, no disappointments here, but the
major question is if it can continue to sound solid.
Matt knows how to mix things up musically as he just doesn’t
play one dimensional. “The Dog” fuses blues slide guitar into
the mix of hard rock/metal. “Heart Of Darkness” throws in some
Irish folk flavor to mix it up with the double bass drumming
and heavy riffs. Yes, it does have a Thin Lizzy feel to it,
but for all the right reasons. Wow, female vocals kick into
high gear as they provide back up for “Revolution.” It doesn’t
matter if Sinner is fueled by fire or slows it down, each
track on here is a real gem and I’m not sure if he was
conscious about making a good record after the last one not
being so decent, but every track on here is pretty much a
grand slam. The boys are all back in rare form and this is a
fine release that I will definitely be sinning over and over
again. A good hard rock/metal album that crosses genres with
ease.
www.matsinner.com |
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Six Feet Under - Death
Rituals (Metal Blade) Review by Chris Davison |
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Chris Barnes may look like he should be selling you a copy of
the Big Issue, but by jove does he know how to stick to his
guns. Six Feet Under always seem to attract criticism that
their template doesn't really change from album to album.
Personally, I'd much rather hear more great music than hear
innovation that leaves me cold. When I was a youth, I would
look around at gigs and look and wonder at the old blokes at
the back of the audience, with their faded grey T-shirts and
pot bellies – wondering just when it is that they gave up on
life. This is to paraphrase, of course, two things. Firstly
that I was an odious little prick; secondly that I am old
enough to not only like my death metal old school, but |
remember when all death metal was old school. I'd rather Bolt
Thrower than Psycroptic, I'd much rather Obituary than
Necrophagist, and most of all I'd really rather Six Feet Under
than pretty much any death metal band excreted into existence
since 2005.
All of the old ingredients are here present and correct. The
guitars are filthy, mid tempo and more infectious than ebola.
Barnes growls and yelps like a bloke with exotic South
American carnivorous fish having luncheon with his testicles.
The drums and bass combine with deadly intent to provide the
backbone to head-nodding, grimace inducing death metal. See,
what these technical death metallers fail to appreciate is
that I just don't fucking care how many notes they can squeeze
into one bar, how many drum beats they can blast out or how
high brow their lyrical content is. To use a constant motif
from Lemmy, once you've left the rock n' roll out of the
metal, you're missing the point and producing a hollow,
sterile exercise. As with the “Graveyards Classics 2” album,
Six Feet Under smartly remember where the r'n'r' is. This
ain't no death n' roll abomination, for sure, but it is
guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I want my riffs
memorable, my growls to be ...well...growly, and I like
atmosphere and dumb songs about nasty things in my death
metal. If I want lengthy philosophical treatises, I can take a
trip to the bloody library. So yeah, while “Seed of Filth” is
unlikely to be winning any awards for breaking the boundaries,
it is the perfect death metal track to be kicking back to, and
you can bet your bottom dollar that it's going to go across a
storm at this years festival circuit.
The production (handled by Mr Barnes) is powerful and clear,
with plenty of grit and filth grunting away at the bottom end,
while the guitar soloing is pristine and crystal clear. The
song writing is pointed, with the rockier sound allowed to
shine through a little more (the intro to “Bastard”, for
instance could almost be Angus Young in the graveyard). No
filler here, either, which is good going for thirteen tracks.
So sure, some of the tracks are so atmospheric they verge on
the cheesy, but fuck it, who said that death metal can't be
fun? “Shot in the Head” might sound like it begins with the
teaser trailer for a straight to DVD horror film (starring
Chuck Norris), but once it gets going, the syncopated riffing
and knuckleheaded music will put a huge grin on your visage.
Brilliant stuff.
www.metalblade.de
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Superfuzz - Streets of
Copenhagen (Self Released) Review by Maya Ahuja |
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Formed in 1994 and releasing their debut self-titled record in
1998, ‘Streets of Copenhagen’ is the second Superfuzz album
and it appears a long awaited gem. A record sitting for me
within the genre of rock, it is not something I would have
ordinarily chosen to review but for reasons known to myself I
decided to leave the dank, dark undergrowth of heavy rock and
metal and venture out into the sunlight and experience
something that little bit different, with pleasant results.
‘Pantomime’ opens the album as the radio-friendly introduction
to the rest of album which moves straight into the title
track, ‘Streets of Copenhagen’ which begins to set the darker, |
rock induced tone for the rest of the album. With hollering
vocals that are set high above the Meier of syncopated guitars
and moving bass-lines below this track urgently moves through
as many changes that would please the likes Rush or Sting
adding that point of intricacy and intellect that does not
appear to be ill-placed. ‘Food Chain’, ‘Into Your Arms’ (and
‘No Return’) are staple tracks here and by no means fillers
that lead into the highlighted and upbeat ‘Whatever, Whenever,
Whatever’ which presents a well placed break from the tempo of
the previous blissfully melancholic ‘No Return’. Cantering
towards the personal favourite, ‘Free Love’, This dark horse
presents a steadily overdriven riff that wouldn’t be out of a
place on a metal record; its’ aggressiveness ushers the
contradicting crystal clear vocals that to hover effortlessly
above the off beat rhythm in the deep abyss below that winds
up leaving you only wanting more.
The pensive ‘Leaves in September’ is peacefully memorable and
lyrically lead over a simple but thoughtful accompanying band.
‘Crack’ is the closer on the record and perhaps the most
intricate listening track on the album with its frequent key
and time changes that appear to come from the Gods at random
but as sure as a defined destiny.
Initial observations had me thinking this was going to be a
solid, commercial radio-induced record (of which there is
nothing wrong). Streets of Copenhagen is definitely not so. An
unpredictable beast this album has the listener believing the
terrain is mapped before the not so trusty SatNav malfunctions
again and we are somewhere entirely more luxurious again,
making it more than just the run o’ the mill indie-play and
proving that these boys are a talented thorough-bred of
writers.
www.myspace.com/superfuzzdk
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The Dying - Triumph Of
Tragedy (Drakkar) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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I've never heard of this Belgian quintet, and to be honest I
can't actually think of any other Belgian bands that I listen
to but these guys are really good and well worth listening to.
From the opening salvo of "The Beginning Of The End" where
Koen and Dirk trade off leads to simple time keeping by Ben
which flails straight into "Scars And Stripes" where Jan
sounds just like Zetro Sousa, and the music isn't far off
Exodus' intensity either. Kristof's bass is a subtle undertone
adding depth, but never too flash, like on "Bottles And Pills"
where the vocals are a bit scratchier and screamier for that
matter too. Increasing the pace to that of the batwing in a
nosedive, "Gotham" is far from the idyllic little village
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outside Nottingham, where I've actually spent a weekend or
two. While the intro to "Serpent" slithers along gently, but
once it achieves its desired pace the drum battery is
relentless in its fury. A more even temperament is used on
"Blessed With Tragedy" 'til it too lets completely loose,
which is generally the way these guys appear to roll, with the
screams being very Kreatoresque. Nice and choppy does it for
"Killing The Drama" while "Scarred Like Us" has a pretty intro
and once it gets going the triplets are damned pretty too. The
chorus on "The Sadist Virus" is so catchy it's infectious.
Sorry, couldn't resist, please forgive me... Kinda like "Jesus
The Judas" would. Ouch! This requires a bit of self
flagellation, the way the "Slaves Of Tomorrow" would expect.
Ok, I'm done, and while the last 3 songs are being badly
abused by me, they are intense and go straight for the throat,
unrelenting 'til nearly the end where things taper off with
intricate melodic leads to end things on a beautiful note.
www.the-dying.com |
www.drakkar.de
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Viking Skull - Doom,
Gloom, Heartache and Whiskey
(Powerage Records)
Review by Chris Davison |
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With an album title like this, I just had to review it. The
moniker may well just be a short hand way of describing my
early twenties, but it's also incredibly evocative, is it not?
I also think it's a brave move – a strong album title deserves
a strong album. I must confess to never having seen this mob
in the flesh, being somewhat put off by their start as a
spin-off band from Raging Speedhorn, a British mob that I was
never really on board with. Incredibly, this is the third
album from the Skull, and the first one that I have gotten my
hands on.
Now, I like Motorhead. A lot. I also like Orange Goblin. A
lot. I was also one of those |
blokes who really liked Entombed back in their “To Ride...”
era. Imagine my absolute glee then to find that this is a
first class rock n' roll album with a little of all the above
and a whole dose more added into the cocktail. Like a night
drowning your sorrows, this is just what the doctor ordered
during these turbulent economic times*1. With a liquor soaked
atmosphere, a suitcase full of bluesy, rousing riffs and a
winning attitude, Viking Skull have come to take over your
stereo. You can't fake the genuine love for rock which comes
spilling out of your speakers once this platter is on. Guitar
solos, singalong choruses, the
whole nine yards. So sure, there isn't going to be a massive
amount here for those of you who want your metal like your
women*2, but man cannot exist on extremity alone. Brilliant
tracks like “In Hell” truly deserve to become classic in the
same sense of the never-ending playing of “Back in Black”
before gigs, with much of the same foot-tapping, hard-hitting,
beer-drinking mentality behind it. This is a perfect album to
drink to, but perhaps more impressively, it's also an album
that you can listen to while sober. Born to lose? Maybe, but
Viking Skull are clearly living to win!
Swaggering, confident rock and roll has seldom been so much
fun. The whiskey soaked gravel spat forth by Roddy Stone are
perfect for the music, and the production is as clear as you
need, yet raw enough to bring the smell of stale beer and
peanuts to your nostrils. This might well have been a platter
borne of doom, gloom and heartache, but once you get it
playing, you're more likely to be experiencing smiles,
increased heart rate and head-nodding. The best non-sub-genred
album all year, to be honest. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have
a date with a bottle of whiskey, loud music and a bad
woman....
www.poweragerecords.com
• 1 Albeit I'm a public servant, so I'm alright, private
sector saps!
• 2 Extreme, obnoxious and harsh on the ears |
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