|
|
|
|
|
Izegrim - Point Of No Return EP
(Rusty Cage) Review by Steve Green |
 |
After last years impressive Tribute To Totalitarianism album, Dutch
Thrashers Izegrim have had a couple of line-up changes, including the
departure of female growler Kristien. But fear not, as bassist Marloes
has doubled her workload by taking up the vacant mic position. The
change in line-up is seamless as Marloes is equally as good as her
predecessor and it's business as usual, if not slightly better than
before.
If you've not heard the band before, then what you get is a tightly
packed wall of Thrash. Despite being accessible, their sound is like a
bulldozer that crushes everything that gets in its way. And of course,
while having a female extreme Metal vocalist isn't exactly new |
|
anymore, it does give Izegrim a slightly different sound than most bands of their
ilk. So as with their last album, this 4 tracker is another excellent
release, so check them out via their Myspace page.
www.myspace.com/izegrim |
| |
|
Jorn - Dukebox
(AFM Records) Review by Julian Handley |
 |
For anyone unfamiliar with Jorn Lande then this compilation
provides a perfect introduction, as it is a collection of
songs assembled by the man himself, with what he considers
his greatest hits from an impressive solo career.
Hailing from Norway, Jorn is heavily influenced by classic
rock purveyed by the likes of Whitesnake, Rainbow and Deep
Purple which is evident in his vocal style. Imagine an
amalgamation of Ronnie James Dio morphed with David
Coverdale creating the ultimate rock voice, mellow and
bluesy yet powerful and dynamic.
Jorn has been around a while fronting bands and projects
including Ark, The Snakes, |
Millenium and Vagabond, yet his
best work in my opinion are the first two Masterplan albums,
and any of his seven solo studio albums to date.
Since embarking on a solo career Jorn has stayed true to
himself and his ever growing army of fans, gaining
international recognition for his talents which are
expressed in abundance, a perfect combination of
personality, unmistakable voice and excellent song writing.
‘Jukebox’ comprises of sixteen genuine rock anthems of which
‘Starfire’, ‘We Brought The Angels Down’ and ‘Lonely Are The
Brave’, provide my personal highlights. I would recommend
this release to anyone who craves a fix of early eighties
flavoured rock, delivered in a style reminiscent of the
afore mentioned luminaries who created a trademark, of which
Jorn has embraced with a passion keeping the flame of a
bygone era burning bright.
www.jornlande.com
| www.myspace.com/realjorn
| www.afm-records.de |
| |
|
Last Stop China Town - Into The Volcano
(Fools Paradise)
Review by Strawb |
 |
From the Midlands with four persons in the current line-up,
Last Stop China Town first appeared in 2005 and released
their debut album in 2006. They then appeared on tour with
anyone they could, and if their publicity is to be believed
built up a fan base second only to, well no-one really. So
that would mean that the album would be an addictive, orgasm
inspiring opus which you would all already possess. But then
again, when did we ever believe that sort of shit, so here
we go.
Mechanical Sunrise is a pacey track which gives each member
of the band a chance to demonstrate what they can do as well
as blending together to produce a decent enough |
opener. The drum opening of Blood In The Snow brought to
mind that by Red Indians in the many Cowboy films from my
youth, however this short instrumental is in fact an intro
to Pain Of A Thousand and induces me to contemplate why it
has therefore been separated from it? A few contrasting,
rougher vocals can be heard here and there, and the general
background riff is a memorable one, but it is where the
drums are let loose that this track is at its best. Voices
presents a chance to utilise your headphones to their best
extent with its quiet but well mixed opening, however if the
volume is too loud when the music begins..... It is here
that the best of Alon's
vocal talents can be appreciated – he has range and clarity,
somewhat rare and a pleasure to hear. Title track next,
another lively intro and driving riff, more vocal support of
the throaty kind appears. Add more of the fantastic drumming
and it is an all action track and worthy of having the album
bear its name. No lessening of any of the standards set with
Rage Within either, the album keeps producing good track
after good track. The opening of Remnance can only be
described as different, the pace likewise, the changes of
tempo and key are all well done and a good portion of it is
turned over to top class solos – a stand out track. Raised
To Ruin didn’t do it for me, and it’s difficult to say why,
I’ll just put it down to personal preference. The End Of
Days thankfully avoids the derisory Arnie film of the same
name and points out that we have fucked the planet. It is a
slower track, and a tad lengthy at 6:20, however, listen to
the instrumental bit from after the second chorus. Am I the
only one who envisions a festival crowd universally
headbanging as far as the eye can see? I would have finished
it there, without returning to vocals. Lastly we have Just
Surrender, back to a pacier tempo, and this is the second
track which didn’t float my own boat – again nothing wrong
with it, but in my opinion the album has eight much stronger
tracks.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of this one,
so as the tour dates to promote the album are now on the
website, do as I will and nip along to see these boys live -
www.myspace.com/laststopchinatown |
| |
|
Ramming Speed - Brainwreck
(Candlelight) Review by Steve Green |
 |
I thought I'd done a very good good of avoiding the Thrash revival that's
been going on the past few years, but I'm slowly but surely getting
dragged into it. And when everything sounds like it's the mid 80s once
again, it's very hard not to enjoy what's on offer. Here we have the
debut album from Boston's Ramming Speed and their sound sounds exactly
the same as that of Adrenalin OD, a band I discovered back in 1986 with
the seminal Humungousfungusamongus. This isn't the same whacky, fucked
up Crossover shit as A.O.D, but it beats from the same fucking heart,
which is the point I'm trying to make. I'd also thrown some early
Metallica and Slayer into the pot as well, with track 4, All In All |
sounding particularly like a mid-80s version Tom Araya and
co. Ok, this isn't particularly original, no Thrash album
can be these days, can it? But it's a hell of a lot of fun
nonetheless.
With thirteen tracks, belted out at an average duration of
just over 2 minutes a time, you don't have time to get bored
here. It's more of a case of, for me, once again, thinking
back to the mid 80s and the great time I had discovering
this exciting new genre, Thrash Metal.
As a side note, it was only when I'd finished this review
that I realised that we reviewed this album when it was
originally released on Teenage Disco Bloodbath Records about
a year ago. So this is a re-issue from Candlelight, I'm
presuming for Europe only as the biog makes no mention of
this at all. But whatever, it's great album, so pick it up
anyway.
www.myspace.com/officialrammingspeed |
| |
Rumpelstiltskin Grinder - Living For Death, Destroying The
Rest (Relapse Records)
Review By Steve Earles |
 |
This last two years have been the best of times and the worst of
times for aficionados of thrash. We’ve seen many new bands
emerge (and many bands that were always there, but not
considered important during the dark days of nu-metal
(which in truth was simple vile misogynistic rap with a few
weak riffs thrown in-FOAD nu-metal-we hate you!), and many
old favourites return. Some like Testament has returned in
glory, while the likes of Nuclear Assault shouldn’t have
bothered. But it has all given a new vision and focus to
metal, making something new from something old is what metal
is all about. Rumpelstiltskin Grinder have the maddest name
ever! And y’know, it works for me, it really sticks in your |
|
mind. Their humour extends to the mad (but impressive) CD
artwork featuring a Cyclops battling a variety of crazy
threats in a devastated city (including the Creature From
The Black Lagoon-respect!). All this would be meaningless of
the music didn’t match-but it does. Strong vocals carry
witty songs, melodies are prevalent as are killer riffs.
Stand-out tracks include Sewers Of Doom, Fiends In the
Mountain, Ghouls In The Valley, and the self-aware Beware
The Thrash Brigade. Highly impressive and a band that will
outlast the current retro-thrash craze! |
| |
|
The Accused - The Curse of Martha Splatterhead
(Southern Lord)
By: Dave Schalek |
 |
The Accused are a legendary crossover thrash band that date
back to the heyday of the genre; that is, the mid to late
80s before “all-things-core” became a dirty word. Their
early releases saw the light of day on some classic labels,
notably Combat and Earache (apparently, the second pressing
of The Accused’s first full-length, “The Return… of Martha
Splatterhead”, is the first release by Earache). My own
exposure to The Accused dates back to the original release
of “More Fun Than An Open Casket Funeral”, all the way back
in 1987. At the time, crossover was exploding and was a fun
genre to explore, and the live shows were always energetic,
to say the least. Unfortunately, The Accused |
somewhat faded into the background for me and didn’t
particularly stand out. To be honest, I sort of forgot about
them even though a full-length would surface from the band
now and then over the years (the band was mostly inactive
from 1993 to 2005, though). At any rate, The Accused have
re-surfaced in recent years and have recently completed a
tour in support of Sunn
O))) (a good performance was turned in by the band in Los
Angeles). Not surprisingly, the band’s latest full-length,
“The Curse of Martha Splatterhead”, is now released on
Southern Lord.
As far as I can tell (I haven’t listened to The Accused’s
old material in ages), not a whole Hell of a lot has changed
in twenty odd years, as “The Curse of Martha Splatterhead”
is pure 80s style crossover thrash, albeit with reasonably
modern production values. A raw feel to the guitars is still
retained, the music is slightly sloppy, and vocalist Brad
Mowen has the requisite nasal inflection to his delivery,
much like original vocalist Blaine Cook (another good
comparison is Mike Dean from C.O.C on “Animosity”). Short
songs, a range of tempos, and some catchy riffs all blow by
on “The Curse of Martha Splatterhead” over the course of 14
tracks in just under a half hour. Throw in the humorous
genre trappings of crossover, and “The Curse of Martha
Splatterhead” is a fine throwback to the hilarity of the mid
to late 80s.
Certainly, “The Curse of Martha Splatterhead” is going to
appeal to old timers such as myself, but anyone interested
in modern bands such as Municipal Waste would be wise to
check out one of the genre’s progenitors. Recommended.
www.myspace.com/kingsofsplatter
| www.southernlord.com |
| |
|
The Black - Alongside Death
(Pulverised Records) Review by Crin |
 |
In 1994 Necropolis records released the classic album, The
Priest of Satan, a veritable legend of the Swedish Black
metal scene. It was like a Gorgoroth ripping through a raw
brutalized Merciful Fate style of aural Black Metal. Another
important part of this bands fame rests with the sadly
departed Dissection front man, Jon Nödtveidt, his vocals
equally caustic and bleeding with malaise. Recorded at the
Underground Studio, in April/May 1993, this was a crucial
album of Black Metals compelling revolution. So fourteen
years on and here we have the second album, minus the vocal
spite of Nodtveidt. His throat duties are taken over by D.
Forn Bragman, I was sceptical of what I might hear on this |
new opus, but this was swiftly dispelled by the immediacy of
the tumult contained within. In a blur of rabid percussion
and epileptic guitar strumming the first track On the Decent
to Hell, devours the air with a solid, tight performance
that evokes fellow Swedes, Marduk and Dark
Funeral in tone but delivering a very vibrant Black Metal
sound of their own. It isn’t until we hit track four that
this album stands above the masses. On, Dead Seed, and the
following, Fleshless, we are pounded by a mid paced leviathan
that harnesses a huge guitar sound. The tracks cut through
the air like a untamed hell ram, clawing up the atmosphere
with their fury. Musically they are infectious airborn
viruses that make you an addict almost immediately. Such is
the depth and dynamism of the music, such is the finely
tuned melodies and riffs issued form its fiery belly. The
sound here leaps into the Swedish Death embodiment of bands
like Grave, on occasions, but this albums heart beats within
a Black Metal beast. The slower tracks here are levelled at
you from a huge guitar sound, giant riffs pummel you into
the back of beyond, the air suffocating vocals rip into your
head like a razors setting upon a quivering head. This is
where this album stands out, like a writhing
leviathan reaching from the past to lay waste to the scene
once more.
I was totally stunned by the quality of the
material here and recommend its endearing quality to one and
all. www.pulverised.net
|
| |
|
The Killer Robots - S/T
(Self-produced) Review by Metal Mark |
| |
|
The band's Myspace page says they are from Orlando,
Florida. However they look and try to sound like they just
flew in on their spacecraft from the outer reaches of some
distant galaxy. Perhaps they saw too many low-budget sci-fi
movies or maybe they just had overactive imaginations.
Either way, they strapped on their costumes, assumed their
robotic identities and penned "Space Trash", "Pleasurebot"
and "Motorgod". The whole sci-fi theme not only finds it's
way into their music, but it actually becomes the driving
force. They sound like a cross between Gwar, Devo, Ramones,
KISS and others only as filtered through their robotic minds
and voices. They toss in lots of sound effects and spoken
bits between songs and the credits refer to those parts as
"Atomic sci-fi theater". Some of the parts are amusing and
others are tedious. With their stage antics and consistent
theme, they will likely be seen as a space age Gwar. They
smack around at their instruments as they grind out some
fairly simple punk rock that often gets covered in
layers of distortion and effects. So the Killer Robots
certainly are not that original, but they are fun and the
pace is brisk enough that this disc was fairly enjoyable.
Based on their sound and the pictures in the booklet I am
sure that they come across even better on stage. This isn't
an album I would want to hear all the time, but it's too
much of the same thing and their novelty might wear thin
after a while, but when taken in small doses I think the humor and steady attack of this album does enough to
entertain. So lock up your motor oil, hide your spare gears
and get ready to absorb the cosmic energy of the killer
robots.
www.myspace.com/killerrobots
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
