Musipedia Of Metal

Holy Grail: Times Of Pride And Peril (Prosthetic Records)

Former White Wizzard members Jame Paul Luna (vocals) and Tyler Meahl (drums) formed Holy Grail in 2009 after leaving White Wizzard, now where as White Wizzard continued with huge problems and are now on a hiatus Holy Grail have gone from strength to strength releasing albums that increase in quality every time. Their last record Ride The Void came out in 2013 so since then they have toured honing themselves in both Holy Grail and in Meahl and guitarist Eli Santana as part of Huntress, this time away from the band has made this their third album possibly the best so far. The speed metal of their first two records is still what the band do best, dual axe attack galore from Santana and Alex Lee who riff like mad and blaze away with the solo, the thundering rhythm section Meahl and Blake Mount is like a machine gun in the back room, especially on ragers like Sudden Death which shows another reason why Holy Grail are still alive and kicking.

The band know how to flesh out their sound, yes they draw from classic influences such as Pro Patria Mori but also they have power metal and modern American metal influences to draw on meaning that they are from the nostalgia act category that many of their compatriots fall into. Descent Into The Maelstrom shows this with an old school feel but a distinctly modern edge, this also very much present on No More Heroes which could have come off a Trivium album. Much of modern this is due to Paul Luna's vocals that are really unique with a husky high pitched delivery meaning the band sound like few others, he even tries a bit of growling on the album's epic finally Black Lotus. On Times Of Pride And Peril Holy Grail have moved up another level with the European and Modern American metal influences abound, I have always been a keen supporter of Holy Grail and once again they proved why I hold them in high regard. 8/10

Persona: Elusive Reflections (Self Released)

Tunisia is not the biggest hot bed for metal, I personally only know of three bands from the region, these are Nawather (reviewed by Paul recently), Lost Insen (reviewed in 2014) and probably the region's most well known band Myrath (supporting Symphony X on their UK tour). However now there is a fourth band I would add to that list, Persona are a female fronted symphonic metal band from the North African state, Elusive Reflections is their debut album and it is imbued with a sense of confidence many bands lack on their first roll of the dice. The band are seen as an influential band on the Tunisian scene and with this debut they may now have a chance of exposing their talent to the wider world.

Personally I can't think of a better album to do this with as Elusive Reflections is exactly what you would want from a band such as Persona, it blends chunky progressive metal with synth driven symphonics and Middle Eastern/North African influences so if you think Orphaned Land meets Within Temptation you'd be on the right track. As the album starts off we get the Arabic touches from the off on Somebody Else which moves into the excellent Blinded which sounds very like Ms Den Adel and co all blastbeat drums, heavy riffs and flowing synths underpinning everything. This track shows off founder member and lead guitarist Melik Melek Khelifa's slick lead playing, which is one of the album's strongest points, the solos are used sparingly adding some melodic flourishes to the songs.

Front-woman and founder member Jelena Dobric's soaring vocals are pretty much perfectly, she shines throughout this record with a clean, crystal clear vocal delivery that glides above the crunchy riffs fluidly brilliantly she also can growl on the groove laden Monsters exhibiting her vocal dexterity. The rest of the band are no slouches though either with the three person rhythm section driving the songs with passion and ability as the keys wind their way over the top of the metallic bass. Persona easily meld the intensity of metal with the more romantic operatic notions of classical music all wrapped up in a progressive/symphonic package. In a very oversubscribed genre of female fronted metal, lets hope that people take notice of this band as they are very good, they have just enough it sublime debut from a band that have the talent to go very far indeed, they are added to the list and very near the top on this evidence. 9/10

Lugnet: S/T (Pride & Joy Music)

Ah the 70's, the halcyon era where things seemed freer, the clothes were wilder, the opinions were tougher and the music, well the music was incredible. Rock in particular seemed to be having it's best time with many of the bands we consider to be legendary today all in their infancy and maturing throughout the decade. This then is probably the reason for the large amount of bands apeing the sounds from this bygone era, with the Swedes leading the charge. The next band in line to give the 70's a rogering is Lugnet (Swedish for tranquility) who play gritty, heads down, rock n roll for bikers, fighters and lovers. With nods to Purple, Whitesnake, Lizzy as well as modern contemporaries such as Black Spiders, Audrey Horne and Germans Kadavar, this is the sound of the early 70's with the band firing on all cylinders throughout. What immediately jumps out at you is the quality of the songwriting and playing on offer here especially the pipes of Roger Solander who is a ringer for Badlands, Sabbath singer Ray Gillen vocally having a deep resonant delivery capable of making you take notice. Add to this the superb dirty guitar of riffers Mackan and Bonden all backed by the filthy rhythms of Z's bass and Jansson's drums and you get a match made in rock n roll heaven. As I've said the songs on this record are great and from the get go there is no letting up from the strike of the first chord of All The Way, which has Grindhouse style video featuring Quentin Tarantino's favourite Swedish actress Christina Linberg who reprises her role of the eye patched assassin Frigga from the banned 1974 cult revenge flick Thriller. After All The Way punches you in the guts the remaining 7 tracks continue the assault with very little slowing down for breath, the album culminates with the 10 minute Into The Light which is an ambitious outing for any band but one that pays off in spades for Lugnet. I've noted before that the Swedes do this sort of thing very well and Lugnet are another band that have burst out of the country with collection of snarling rock anthems that are best enjoyed with a beer, some flares and a damn good violent protest, Lugnet evoke a decade gone by where music was just better, thankfully we have bands like them reminding us of that fact. 9/10

Wolfmother: Victorious (Universal)

Wolfmother's previous album New Crown was digital only release that saw the band reform after frontman Andrew Stockdale embarked on a solo career. If I'm honest the solo album sounded almost exactly like Wolfmother so maybe I was a little over zealous when I called New Crown a return to form as the form had never really gone away, however what it did show was Wolfmother were just as much as a going concern as they ever have been. Shift to 2016 and the bands stunning debut was reissued for it's 10th anniversary so the stage was set for Wolfmother to release a new set of songs while attention was fixed on them. Victorious is that new set of songs and many of you will be happy to learn the magic is still there The Love That You Give is a bit of a false start if I'm honest but as soon as the sublime mountain leveling riff for the title track kicks the band hit the ground running, momentum doesn't dip through Baroness, Pretty Peggy and City Lights there is a lull until the psychedelic Gypsy Caravan has it's freak flag flying proudly, but it's really these five songs that are the best on the album.

At just 35 minutes the album is not over long and has just enough highs to keep your attention, but it does trail off towards the end. Stockdale once again shows his guitar heroics throughout (he can certainly write a riff) and 'that' voice still sounds like it did in 2006. The band have notoriously had personnel problems but these seem to have resolved themselves as long term bassist/keyboardist Ian Peres is still here from the last two albums (albeit just contributing keys to the record) and the drumstool is shared by session men Joey Waronker and Josh Freese. Wolfmother have always had the same problem as The Darkness their debuts came at exactly the right time and caught rock at nadir where they seemed to reinvigorate it, because of this however nothing they have released since has seemed to stand up to it, Victorious doesn't really stand up to that debut as it plays it just a bit safe for my liking but it's not supposed to stand up this is a band getting in touch with their legacy again and they are nearly there. 7/10

Iggy Pop: Post Pop Depression (Lorna Vista)

Iggy Pop is the president of the state punk rock, he and his band The Stooges were at the forefront of the American punk rock explosion in the late 60's and 70's but Iggy was always a bit different, whereas he is considered to be one of the first punk rockers, Iggy and the Stooges especially had more blues and garage rock influences than anything else, Iggy himself has dabbled with all sorts of styles throughout his career, so it's because of this that Post Pop Depression is not the huge surprise it should be. The idea initially came from Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme who jumped deep into songwriting after striking up a rapport with Pop over letters, where Homme asked Pop about his work with David Bowie. After these letters both men met up with half finished ideas and wrote and recorded the album in secret with Homme self financing and producing the album.

The finished result is actually very good, there flashes to Pop's anarchistic early days but the most part this is Homme's baby with the same kind of of kilter weirdness that he brings to QOTSA (American Valhalla) and more recently Them Crooked Vultures (German Days). The overarching influence on this record though seems to be Nick Cave as the album is filled with the same kind of 'murder ballads' that Cave has always been the master of, from Vulture that sounds like the theme to a lost Spaghetti Western, to the haunting Break Into Your Heart, the poetic Gardenia and the funky Sunday all of the songs ooze with darkness, the aging Pop's baritone coming to terms with his legacy and mortality in the lyrics. Homme and Pop have created an album that plays to both their talents and sees them doing something a little different to their day jobs, an interesting listen. 7/10

Lissie: My Wild West (Lionboy & Thirty Tigers)

Lissie's third album is culmination of her career trajectory thus far, gaining elements of her previous record, which brought a lot of electronic and even some ambient elements, while retaining her folk rock sound. My Wild West is inspired by the country roots Lissie grew up in and have now more than ever come to inspire her since her move away from LA back to the Midwest. This transition is documented on the album's first track proper, the beautiful string laden, sorrowful Hollywood which is a song lamenting the broken spell of LaLa Land. There are a lot more acoustic sounds on this record possibly due to Lissie's extensive acoustic tour last year, everything feels a lot more natural.

Yes there are still electronic elements as I've said mainly on the thumping title track and the stirring reverbed Hero sees Lissie show off her powerful pipes and it's on the more organic sounds of the stripped back Sun Keeps Risin'where Lissie howls with pain, just like Stevie Nicks used to in her White Witch heyday. This is yet another excellent album from Lissie who has gone back to her roots with songs such as the superbly defiant Don't You Give Up On Me that goes hand in hand with Daughters to back up Lissie's strong sassy attitude that's been evident since her debut. On the other hand she isn't afraid to bare her soul on Together Or Apart which is beautiful song about long distance/forgotten love, a theme that also comes up again on Ojai. My Wild West is a very personal album from Lissie and one that sees her progress once again as an artist. 8/10

Parkway Drive, Bury Tomorrow, Thy Art Is Murder, Manchester O2 Apollo

On a very chilly saturday night out in Manchester, myself and Dan check out a pretty decent bill featuring Thy Art Is Murder, Bury Tomorrow and the headline act Parkway Drive. Having looked at the line up, I was surprised to see that Bury Tomorrow had the main support slot but that certainly didn’t take anything away from Thy Art Is Murder who recently have reshuffled again with singer CJ McMahon leaving the band. For the European tour, they were taking Nick Arthur from Molotov Solution and boy did he fit the line up.

Thy Art Is Murder

Thy Art Is Murder took to the stage as I was still making my way to my seat but heard “Good evening Manchester” before they let rip into Absolute Genocide. This was good, this was very good. They sounded fantastic, so I tip my hat to the sound technicians for the bill. They were definitely not in the mood to fuck around and not a single foot was out of place as they tore through this song. They continued on with material from their last album Holy War with Coffin Dragger, that recognisable riff coupled with some insane drumming from Lee Stainton really started to wake up the Manchester crowd that certainly kept that mosh pit spinning throughout the set. TAIM dusted off their material from 2012’s Hate album by launching into The Purest Strain Of Hate which was a crowd favourite as well as mine. I was looking to see how technical they could play this song live and so far they were nailing everything and made it look effortless, this wasn’t an exception and after the incredible double-bass pedalling of Lee, the music stopped, Nick opened his arms and the crowd let rip a thunderous “THE PUREST STRAIN OF HATE”. I was hoping that the band would continue to go through their back catalog but with the time they had to play, it seemed like they couldn’t go past the Hate album. Sticking with that album, they just blasted through Shadow Of Eternal Sin and Reign Of Darkness before they tweaked the ending of Reign Of Darkness to merge with the introduction of Light Bearer which got the pit spinning again. Nick thanked the crowd after Light Bearer and introduced the final song of the set Holy War. It seemed fitting that the end with the title track off of the last album but I was really hoping it would be Whore To A Chainsaw but I was very happy with their set. They definitely are worth checking out if you like Death Metal and although it seemed odd they were on this bill, they made sure they belonged there. Great set, great performance, 8/10

Bury Tomorrow

It made sense that Bury Tomorrow belonged on the bill with the type of music that they played but it was very clear from the off that I wasn’t going to like what they do. They played two new songs off of their new release Earthbound and if lead singer Dani Winter-Bates didn’t stop and introduce the second song, I wouldn’t have known that it was a new song. Earthbound and 301 did nothing for me at all, very generic songs and I couldn’t figure out why a melodic metalcore band did nothing for me. They went into The Union Of Crowns’ featured song Lionheart which was good, the riff was good, it kind of reminded me slightly of a Whitechapel riff with intricate timing but then the chorus was just bland, it was such a shame that every chorus was the same 3 chords with the rhythm guitarist Jason Cameron adding very generic lyrics in the same way throughout the set. I haven’t really got much left to say about Bury Tomorrow. It didn’t do much for me but I can’t be too harsh on them, quite a lot of the crowd seemed to really like it and Dani had a really good response from them. It definitely seems like they are going down the Bring Me The Horizon route of cracking the mainstream with Dani mentioning that the band had cracked the Top 40 twice before thanking the crowd for buying their music, their merch and tickets to their shows before making a thought provoking remark which was simply “Come and hang out with us at the merch stand because fuck paid meet and greets, we’re just like you.” That was a very classy remark and deserved the round of applause it got. Well done lads, you’re cracking the mainstream, unfortunately it didn’t do much for me. 5/10

Parkway Drive

Pyro featuring Parkway Drive. That’s what we were all here for. Now it wasn’t the same level of pyro as a Rammstein set but it did certainly add dramatic flare to the set. The starting riff of Destroyer came through the sound system as you could see the band behind the faint IRE banner that covered the entirety of the stage. As the crowd started chanting “destroy” in time with the song, you hear Winston McCall belt out “DESTROY” before the curtain dropped and a streamer cannon was fired covering the venue in confetti and streamers which got the crowd going… and Dan who managed to catch a piece of confetti. For the next 8 or so minutes, the crowd got intense, the security who did a fine job of keeping crowd surfers safe certainly had their hands full as Winston kept teasing the crowd to come up as they belted through Destroy and Dying To Believe. Winston made no secrets that the set had some hard and fast songs as well as some toned down songs, asking the crowd to sing with him as the hauntingly beautiful intro to Carrion began to ring around the O2 Apollo. Parkway Drive were certainly playing to the crowd with the setlist choices and kept everyone happy with playing a couple of songs from every album and got a huge roar when he announced that the next song was Karma from 2010’s fantastic Deep Blue album before ripping into the slow-riffing and hard hitting Dark Days. Winston made an empowered speech about how every song he had ever wrote was about a tough time in his life and that the next song was about the good things which was a nice segue into Vice Grip which the crowd was singing along to. Jeff Ling then started the melodic riff to Idols & Anchors before the band got into full swing with the rest of the song. The band kept toying between heavy and melodic by following Dedicated up with Wild Eyes and what a sublime performance of Wild Eyes it was.

The band turned up the heat with more pyro and the intricate riff/drum combo of Bottom Feeder before dabbling in their debut album with Romance Is Dead. The band are certainly making a name for themselves across the world and even though they’ve been selling out venues across Europe as a headline act, they are still supporting bands in the US. With a US tour coming up in May with A Day To Remember, that could have possibly have been a co-headline tour with their material and fan base certainly backing that up. The final song before the encore was Swing which was certainly enough to give fans one final shot at producing a hell of a pit and making security earn their money for the evening. After a pretty short break, the band came back on and the crowd seemed to be expecting Crushed. That’s exactly what the crowd got. With a line of fire ablaze across the stage, the introduction to Crushed got fans excited and when that hard-hitting guitaring along with some slow - almost painful (in a good way) drumming slowing the pace right down, this was going to definitely going the right way in sending fans home happy. IRE certainly owned this setlist but that was to be expected. If you’ve heard the album, it’s certainly up there for album of the year 2015. The finalé was a bit unusual, but I don’t know what I would have expected to be their final song. Everything I thought it could have been was played. But they revisited the Deep Blue album with Home Is For The Heartless which a shower of sparks raining down on the stage, it was a pretty epic finalé. The show overall was fantastic, I loved every second of it and the band seem to be getting better with time. The definitely earned the right to headline a tour and I’m really chuffed that they’ve been able to sell out the venues that they’ve been playing in across Europe, they are definitely at their best now so go and check them out. 10/10

Last In Line: Heavy Crown (Frontiers) Vs Resurrection Kings: S/T (Frontiers)

For fans of traditional heavy metal, the arrival of Dio in 1983 was a pretty substantial event. The combination of a powerhouse of a band, a frontman who had already earned the status of legend and a stunning debut release that had critics foaming at the mouth. Sitting squarely in the same camp as Iron Maiden, Saxon and Judas Priest, Dio sat firmly in the centre, watching an array of evolving and existing genres shift all around them. On the one hand you had the burgeoning thrash movement, then the hair and glam metal of bands like Crue and Hanoi Rocks whilst the early shoots of more extreme outfits like Venom and Slayer pushed through. Meanwhile, long established (and slightly lumbering) rock outfits such as Kiss, Whitesnake and Rainbow continued to play whilst anxiously watching the new hungry upstarts like Def Leppard begin to make real waves.

Dio made their proper live debut at the 1983 Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington, second on the bill which also featured Diamond Head, Twisted Sister, ZZ Top, Meat Loaf and headliners Whitesnake. A full UK tour later that year saw the band roll into St David’s Hall on 4 November for the Holy Diver tour supported by Pete Way’s Waysted. A rabid Cardiff crowd witnessed the definitive Dio line up tear the place apart. Veterans Jimmy Bain and Vinny Appice were accompanied by a rising star in hot-shot guitarist Vivian Campbell along with keyboardist Claude Schnell. A year later the band were back in South Wales promoting second album The Last in Line, along with a new American outfit called Queensryche in support.

Following RJD’s untimely passing in 2010, two main bands with Dio connections have been keeping the flame alive. Firstly there was the Dio Disciples, which featured former members Craig Goldy, Simon Wright and keyboard player Scott Warren amongst their number. Appice also played with the band during 2013-14. In 2012, the four remaining members of the classic Dio began gigging under the moniker Last In Line, with Andrew Freeman providing the vocals. As we now know, Jimmy Bain passed away early in 2016, just before the band released their debut album Heavy Crown. Around the same time, a separate project involving Appice and Goldy under the name Resurrection Kings also released their self-titled debut album. So in a change from the usual review method, let’s compare the two releases.

The first thing that struck me about Heavy Crown (8/10) was how clean the production sounds. Full marks to former Dokken and Dio bassist Jeff Pilson for the polished effort. Opener Devil In Me leaves you in little doubt of the Dio connection. Energetic riffs, a thumping solid rhythm section which sounds totally in synch and some scorching guitar work from Campbell all support Freeman’s classic rock delivery. The man has an astounding vocal range, incredibly powerful and melodic. You immediately think of singers such as Doogie White when you hear Freeman. Martyr is a faster paced track, short and sweet whilst Starmaker slows proceedings down and allows Freeman freedom to unleash the pipes. This might be the classic Dio type track on the album, with some superb guitar work from Campbell. Indeed, Campbell’s playing throughout the album is excellent, and you could be forgiven for wondering if a break from the day job has actually allowed him to really unleash. For a man who has been fighting cancer for the past two years, his energy is impressive; his soloing reminiscent of the sharp fluid guitar work of those two early Dio releases.

Resurrection Kings (7/10) also features Vinnie Appice on the drum stool; automatically guaranteeing a similar drum pattern and style to Last In Line. Campbell’s successor in Dio, Craig Goldy is the six string shooter whilst the bass is pounded by Sean McNab (Dokken, Great White). The voice of Resurrection Kings is provided by Chas West, who has time with Jake E Lee’s outfit Red Dragon Cartel amongst others. The self-titled release is produced by Alessandro Del Vecchio who has also managed to achieve a crisp big sound on this whooping 56 minute release.

Opener Distant Prayer sets the scene nicely; a stomping melodic rock track with a typically solid rhythm section supporting Goldy’s restrained yet technically flawless guitar work. Meanwhile some subtle keyboards help beef up the sound. Chad West is yet another vocalist who appears to have been around for a long time, and he has a voice which once again is suited to this type of music; clean, strong and powerful. Livin’ Out Loud is a generic rock track, and it is hear that you spot the difference. Resurrection Kings bears limited to no resemblance to the heritage of Dio. This is much lighter stuff and swings towards the AOR fluff of HEAT and FM with a pinch of Foreigner.

One of the most striking things about the original Dio line-up was the telepathic relationship between drummer Appice and bassist Jimmy Bain. That relationship is truly demonstrated again on Heavy Crown; just listen to the interplay on I Am Revolution which features some real steamroller drum action from Appice. The combination really allows Campbell to cut loose at every opportunity and he doesn’t miss the chance. Heavy Crown is a traditional heavy metal album. It’s not thrash, it’s often not that fast. It is drenched with melody and well-constructed songs in the style of Dio era Sabbath and the early Dio works. In Freeman, who has a notable CV including work with Lynch Mob, Last In Line has a particularly fine vocalist.

One of the most striking tracks on Heavy Crown is Already Dead, a runaway beat propelling the band forward with a Stand Up And Shout type riff and Dio style lyrics. Of course, just like many latter Dio releases, there are also a couple of fillers and Curse The Day is as stale as two-week old bread, Orange Glow is just ponderous and album closer The Sickness is weaker than a bag of newborn kittens. However, the band brings it home with the title track which is about as classic a heavy rock track as you’ll get.

The longest track on Resurrection Kings is Fallin’ For You, a six minute melodic rock stomp, sweet melody and vocal harmonies. West’s emotive voice really shines here. If you like your rock with a lighter touch then look no further; the layered synths really do smooth the edges. The more straightforward rockers which allow Goldy to show his chops are still saccharine laced; Don’t Have To Fight No More for example is straight out of latter day Whitesnake stable, with swathes of keyboards supporting rather than smothering the track.

Similar to Heavy Crown, a few of the tracks on Resurrection Kings are bland and generic; Path Of Love is tepid whilst Silent Wonder’s steady plod sits in the expected territory given the make-up of the band. Yes, think Dokken, Great White, Cinderella, Winger etc. and you’ll get the idea. If you get the bonus edition you also get the ghastly ballad Never Say Goodbye which is truly dire.

These releases have both similarities and vast differences. If you want your rock with a hard classic edge then plump for Last In Line stick. Resurrection Kings veer much more toward the AOR/melodic rock strata. In Campbell, Last In Line possess the more fluid guitarist whilst Goldy is just a little more restrained. Meanwhile Appice’s drum work is exemplary on both. He’s never been flash (unlike his big brother) but for steady no-nonsense stick work, he’s up there with the best of them. It appears unlikely that Last In Line will continue due to Bain’s death which is both understandable but also a shame. Resurrection Kings are likely to sit in with a huge swathe of other similar bands; solid but never really likely to set the world on fire.

Isaak: Sermonize (Small Stone Records)

More Italian action with no-nonsense stoner rock from Genova’s Isaak. Sermonize is their sophomore release, following on from debut The Longer The Beard, The Harder The Sound. Formed out of the ashes of Ghandi’s Gun, the band have been around since 2011 and their sound is nailed clearly to the stoner, riff orientated hard rock of early Orange Goblin a dash of Kyuss and a soupçon of Monster Magnet. It’s straightforward dirty rock with riffs dripping from every orifice. Giamcomo Boeddau’s contain exactly the right amount of grit, whilst the guitar work of Franceso Raimondi and the filthy bass lines of Gabriele Carta’s provide a driving delivery which leaves you deliciously unclean. Andrea Tabbi De Bernardi’s drumming is solid and provides the backbone of the sound, with his backing vocals on tracks like Fountainhead add quality. Almonds And Glasses (what the hell this is about I’ve no idea) adds a little QOTSA influence to the party before some of the chunkiest riffs I’ve heard this year kick in. They throw in a bit of Corrosion Of Conformity and Crowbar on Lucifer’s Road (White Ash), with some weighty muscular action whilst The Frown Reloaded powers along with a real bludgeoning power that encourages you to break the speed limit if playing it in the car. We’ve already reviewed a fair chunk of stoner rock this year on the Musipedia and alongside Duel, Isaak stand at the top of the pile with this impressive release. 8/10

Holy Grove: Self Titled (Heavy Psych Records)

In amongst the plethora of doom and stoner releases we are getting through at MoM, the self-titled debut from Portland’s Holy Grove ranks as one of the heaviest. Some of the most crushing rhythm work you’ll hear this year accompany the blazing riffs of Trent Jacobs fuzzed up guitar whilst the piercing power of Andrea Vidal give Holy Grove a different dimension. Immediate comparisons include Leeds excellent Black Moth. Having said that, Vidal’s performance on Nix, a seven-minute dinosaur with a mix of Monster Magnet and Sabbath, is pretty special. With seven tracks and a running time of 43 minutes this is a weighty beast, with Nix, Hanged Man (an absolute belter of a tune) and Safe Return all crashing in at over seven minutes. The title track moves at a slower pace, with some slightly gentler passages contrasting with the pulverizing guitars and oppressive feel. This segues into Huntress, which has possibly the heaviest riff I’ve heard since Vol 4 whilst Caravan pounds and pummels at breakneck speed. Laced with psychedelic overtones, the haunting delivery of Vidal and an engine room set to destroy, Holy Grove is another release well worth checking out. 7/10

R.I.P: In The Wind (Totem Cat Records)

More fuzzy doom from Portland in the shape of In The Wind, the debut release of self-confessed “street doom” outfit R.I.P. Sitting firmly in the Pentagram camp with a good portion of Sabbath to power them along, this is another meaty slab of quality metal. The ironically named Fuzz delivers the spaced out vocals whilst guitarist Angel Martinez, bassist Jon Mullet and drummer Willie D create a wall of dirty noise that crashes around you with all the finesse of a charging rhino. Fuzz’s vocals are an acquired taste but certainly fit the 1970s feel of the tracks like In The Wind Part I and Tremble. There is no disguising the disgusting distortion which is synonymous with the stoner/doom movement and R.I.P. go to town with it, as the filthy riff haven of Black Leather amply demonstrates. With five of the ten tracks coming in at over six minutes each, there is plenty of opportunity for some meandering diversions, which at times means the listener becomes a little distracted. 6/10

Avantasia: Ghostlights (Nuclear Blast)

When Tobias Sammet first released his debut 'Metal Opera' in 2001, many I'm sure thought something as overblown and epic in scale would not last longer than one record, especially because Sammet has his 'day job' in being the frontman of heavy metallers Edguy. However over the course of six albums the project has continued to go from strength to strength combining great music, theatrical, conceptual themes and many guest vocalists featuring on the records to tell the story properly (take note Dream Theater). The project really hit it's stride on the Wicked Symphony trilogy which really showed what Mr Sammet could do when he wanted to express himself musically. The Wicked Symphony was also a bit of finality for Avantasia as it was the last part of the project that could be considered wholly metal, from The Mystery Of Time (the start of a new story) Avantasia has focused more on the hard rock aspects of music than the metal part (maybe due to Sammet's other band handling heavy metal better than most).

This progression continues on Ghostlights which is the second part of the Mystery Of Time story arc and sees Sammet channeling his inner Jim Steinman on album opener Mystery Of A Blood Red Rose which is one of two songs that features just Sammet's vocals, the other is Babylon Vampyres, whereas Babylon Vampyres is a Edguy song at it's heart Mystery Of A... is backed by the multi layered backing choirs, from Cloudy Yang and Miro, pounding pianos and so much baroque styling Meat Loaf himself couldn't have sung it better. It's a superb album opener however it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the concept but will go down a storm when the band audition to be Germany's entrant into Eurovision this year (yes really). The musical team stays the same with Sammet on bass and keys, Sascha Paeth on guitars, keys and bass, his partner in crime Miro on keys and orchestrations, Edguy sticksman Felix Bohnke on drums and Oliver Hartmann and Bruce Kulick on additional lead guitars. With this much talent on display it's no wonder the instrumentation on this record is amazing bolstered by Sammet, Paeth and Miro's production and mastering which makes every sound boom with the required bombast.

From track two we pick up the story of the Watchmaker with Pretty Maids' Ronnie Atkins, Masterplan's Jorn Lande and Robert Mason supplying vocals with Sammet (the album's main character), Lande once again shows off his superior pipes on this 12 minute tour-de-force of a song with sublime guitar playing from Hartmann, Miro's impressive orchestrations all contributing to the epic song that leaves you gasping for breath at it's conclusion. As this is only the second track it's hard to see how they will improve upon it but as Dee Snider takes up the creepy baton left to him by Alice Cooper and Jon Oliva on previous releases, you see that there is no lack of ambition of musical dexterity on this record. Sammet seems to have got an all star cast once again for this record with Geoff Tate on the symphonic Seduction Of Decay, Michael Kiske who proceeds to blow everyone out of the water on the two tracks he's a part of, especially the rampaging title track that is classic Helloween. Beyond The Bridge's Herbie Langhans contributes his baritone to the Gothic metal of Draconian Love which could be a Type O Negative track.

As the album progresses we get Nightwish's Marco Hietala to add his unique pipes on the thunderous Master Of The Pendulum which is melodic heavy metal at it's best with Felix drumming for his life. After this rapid track we get a massive throwback to the 'Metal Opera' days with Within Temptation's Sharon Den Adel on the slower, beautiful electronic synth driven Isle Of Evermore and lastly we get the cameo from Magnum's Bob Catley (who has been on every Avantasia album since Metal Opera II) on the final track. Ghostlights is still Avantasia, it's the most over the top album you will hear this year, it always errs on the side of ridiculousness but manages to keep everything together for it's 12 tracks (13 on the special edition) avoiding the cheese where possible while also being the most accessible album the project have released, hopefully opening them up to new audiences. I have no doubt that their show in London will be spectacular as this sort of music begs to be performed live, but on record Avantasia have once again constructed a cinematic album that ticks all the right boxes for fans of melodic, symphonic, metallic rock music! 9/10

Exumer: Raging Tides (Metal Blade Records)

In amongst the huge number of excellent thrash bands that emerged during the 1980s, one could be forgiven for missing some real gems. Many of those bands fell by the wayside by the early 1990s. One such outfit is Exumer. Formed in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1985 by Mem V. Stein and Ray Mensh, Exumer released two full length albums before calling it a day in 1991. However, a one-off show at Wacken in 2001 stirred the fire and the band returned to active service in 2008 with a full length release Fire and Damnation arriving in 2012.

It’s been a long wait for the follow up but Stein and Mensh, joined by bassist T. Schiavo and drummer Matthias Kassner have made the wait worthwhile with Raging Tides; a storming slab of old school thrash. Full of stomp and hook, vicious riffs and breakneck speed drumming, and vocals reminiscent of old school Exodus and Overkill with tracks sure to get the floor moving at pace. Mensh’s guitar work is frantic, solos peeling off all over the place. Catatonic shows a more measured yet still aggressive attack, whilst the old school all out thrashers are littered all around; see Sacred Defense and Welcome To Hellfire. What I really enjoyed about this album is its sincerity. It is well constructed and straightforward thrash metal of the highest order. Huge riffs combined with the faster elements and excellent musicianship throughout. Kassner’s drumming is first class, and Stein’s vocals fit perfectly. If you like your thrash, this is a must have release. 8/10

Obscura: Akorasis (Relapse Records)

Akorasis is the fourth full release from German technical death metal masters Obscura and what a treat it is too. Complex time changes, multiple patterns and movements combined with a brutal death metal assault and some utterly fantastic playing. The band was formed in Landshut in 2002 by Steffen Kummerer, vocalist and guitarist. The personnel on the release feature Linus Klausenitzer on bass, guitarist Tom Geldschlager (now replaced by Rafael Trujillo) and drummer Sebastian Lanser. Akorasis features some of the staple death metal components, such as guttural vocals and blistering blast beats but much more complexity.

Opener Sermon Of The Seven Suns whets the appetite, a seven-minute epic with numerous changes, whilst The Monist is a complete contrast, with some much calmer, almost classical elements. Kummerer has an interesting vocal style, with a nod in places to many of the day’s best growlers including Behemoth’s Nergel, Niege from Alcest, Abbath’s legendary croak, Cannibal Corpse’s George Corpsegrinder Fisher, Ishan, Obituary's John Tardy and Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt. Technically the band is superb, think Wintersun but heavier. The title track immediately draws those comparisons, although Obscura promise more. Brutal passages segue beautifully into calmer, segments, allowing the listener to draw breath. Ode To The Sun is a creatively possibly the most interesting piece with several changes of pace, more Akerfeldt style death growl, orchestral elements and a delicate middle section which leads to a beautiful chorus before all hell breaks loose again. A complex piece which sets this band apart from many in their league.

Penultimate track Weltseele (World Soul) clocks in at a mighty 15 minutes and is absolutely majestic. A classical guitar intro gives way to some mighty time changes before the death growls and blast beats kick in. The track ebbs and flows with thrash elements, some stunningly intricate work and half way through a quite lovely yet chilling orchestral section which provides the backing to an eerie narrative. The orchestra remains, intermingling with powerful death metal to create an immense sound. Eastern sounds mix with a lengthy guitar solo and meanders along before more brutal riffage diverts the track on yet another diversion. This track is crazily brilliant and earns the album a high rating on its own. In a world of technical intricate music, Obscura stand at the upper echelons. A quite excellent release. 9/10

Demonstealer: This Burden is Mine (Demonstealer Records)

Sahil Makhija may not be a household name but for those who have an interest in the world of metal, he would be instantly recognisable as Demonstealer, the driving force behind India’s mighty Demonic Resurrection, whose last release was reviewed in these pages last year. This Burden Is Mine is the latest solo release from Makhija and includes many of the traits that made Demonic Resurrection such an interesting band. At just three minutes shy of an hour, This Burden Is Mine certainly gives you value for money. Opener How The Mighty Have Fallen combines the brutal death metal approach synonymous with DR, but also includes some more relaxed passages which allow Makhija’s strong clean vocals to come to the fore. In fact, if there was one criticism I’d have about this album, it is that the clean vocals are so much stronger than the death growls that you wonder why the death growls are maintained. Adding more melody and harmony to the tracks and allowing the superb musicianship to flow, Makhija’s excellent voice really enhances the compositions. Of course, Demonstealer is a blackened death metal outfit at heart and throughout the album the intricate death metal assault is never far away. However, he underpins it with some superb keyboards which add depth and warmth to blistering tracks like An Unforgiving Truth. The brutally aggressive blast beats and some of the more aggressive vocals remain true, as one would expect from a man who bleeds metal.

Throughout the album what strikes you is just how varied parts of it are. Yes, the pulverising death metal sections are still there, blast beats never far away but there is much more subtlety to this release with mellow sections, keys playing a big part whilst allowing the guitar riffs to remain at the forefront. The title track is a fine example with several key changes, guttural roars replaced by harmonies and the tempo changing at several points. Frail Fallible contains a haunting melody, clean vocals which are spot on and the convergence of guitars, keys and rhythm section into a powerful track which snakes its way through over seven minutes. In the main, this track is refreshingly at odds with many of the other more defiantly death metal focused tracks. With all bar one track clocking in at over five minutes, Demonstealer demands your commitment and in return provides you with a powerful and quality release. Once again, Sahil Makhaija has delivered a top notch release. 8/10

The Cult: Hidden Cities (Cooking Vinyl) [Review By Paul]

The tenth album by British rockers The Cult, Hidden Cities contains all the ingredients required for an album by The Cult; from the swirling boogie of Billy Duffy's guitar work and the thunderous voice of Ian Astbury through to the majestic stomp of latter years and the post-gothic rock from the 1980s, Hidden Cities captures all the elements of a band who remain in as much demand today as they did all those years ago when Love crashed into the charts on the back of the classic She Sells Sanctuary. Whilst the album gives more than a passing nod to the past, there is also a contemporary sound which follows on from 2012’s Choice Of Weapon. Bob Rock returns to add his usual high quality production whilst Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney (and Bob Rock) provide the thumping bass lines, on the first album since 1994 not to feature Chris Wyse.

Dance The Night sits firmly in the Electric period, whilst In Blood is firmly ensconced in the Love era. The drama of Birds Of Paradise allows Astbury to unleash his superb chops whilst Duffy’s underrated guitar work comes to the fore during the powerful Hinterland. It’s not all out guitar work though with some delightful orchestral strings complimenting Deeply Ordered Chaos, while the more traditional stomp, complete with snapping snare and thumping Tom Tom of long serving drummer John Tempesta is served up on Avalanche Of Light. Astbury is on excellent form throughout, with his distinctive deep rich tones dominant. Heathens provides evidence that there is a lot of mileage left in The Cult’s tank, with further fine fretwork from Duffy before the album concludes with the melancholic Sound And Fury. Hidden Cities demands several listens to fully appreciate the subtlety and sophistication which runs through it but boy is it worth it. 8/10

Myrath: Legacy (Nightmare Records)

Tunisian lords of melodic prog/power metal Myrath have taken five years to release their fourth album Legacy but in the interim they have developed their metal meets Arabic influences and have come away with something all the more cinematic and indeed emotive than on any of their previous efforts. Since their third release Tunisia has been involved in some tragedies that I don't need to go into here, meaning that for normal Tunisians life has taken an edge not seen before, this has clearly affected the writing of Myrath who say them selves that: "This album pays tribute to all the victims throughout the world and to all those who fight against all shapes of violence and discrimination." So then with such hard hitting and personal themes present it's up to the music to convey the feeling of hope that Myrath have always focused on.

Luckily this album does its best to inspire hope from the Arabic intro of Jasmin into the first proper track Believer you are sucked into the record that has layer upon layer of Elyes Bouchoucha's keys that come like swathes in and out of each song matching and indeed being bolstered by the live string section that appears on most if not all of the tracks on this record meaning that the whole record sounds just that little bit more ambitious. As there are numerous well crafted orchestrations that create a more vivid soundscape than on previous records, there are the almost defacto Arabic flourishes on the Get Your Freedom Back which borders on electro-pop at times but also more traditional classical sounds making the album more like a score to a blockbuster than a rock record.

That's not to say it isn't a metal album, in fact far from it there are of course metallic sounds with tumbling drum patterns from Morgan Berthet blasting away on the faster tracks, the low frequency rhythms and intricate technical playing of bassist Anis Jouini fleshing out the riffs of guitarist Malek Ben Arbia who brings solid slabs of progressive chords and blistering solos that nuance the songs well without resorting to fret wankery. However the stand out performance has to go to vocalist Zaher Zorgati who has a seriously impressive range, he's bee one of the most important factors on Myrath's albums and Legacy is no different his vocals tell the stories vividly and even when the band edge on euro-pop with the Unburnt or go all over the top on I Want To Die, Zorgati's passion is undeniable. Legacy may be the album to break Myrath to a wider audience, this does seem to be it's intended purpose and hopefully combined with their tour supporting Symphony X many more will discover the progressive, oriental mystique of Myrath. 8/10

Simo: Let Love Show The Way (Mascot)

Well...sometimes a record comes along and really reinvigorates your love for a genre, Let Love Show The Way by American blues rockers Simo is one of those sort of albums. The American three piece are led by singer/guitarist and former wunderkid JD Simo who along with drummer Adam Abrashoff and bassist Elad Shapiro have made a sophomore album that will relight the blues rock fire. The band are friends with blues master Joe Bonamassa (thus signing to Mascot) and have built their status with explosive live shows and this fierce live performance has translated to this record very well indeed, with the rhythmn section hitting you in the guts and Simo's incendiary guitar playing par-excellence. These boys are driven by the power of the blues with nods to ZZ Top, Cream, Rory Gallagher's Taste and even Joey Bones himself coming through the entire album its plain to see why this band have risen through the ranks so quickly. Opening with the SRV shuffle of Stranger Blues and Two Timin' Woman which is built on a cowbell and an attacking guitar pattern, we get more rocky on Can't Say Her Name before the fuzzy I Lied is a showcase for JD's blooze howl.

I personally haven't been this excited about a blues rock album for a while as the band balance both excellently with the propulsive Please showcasing the old school rock n roll edge the band have, before the chest beating Long May You Sail thunders in and could be mistaken for Wolfmother track, then suddenly we find that there is no doubting the bands blues credentials on the sublime I'll Always Be Around and the hazy title track. With virtuoso playing from all concerned but more importantly a hefty dose of quality songwriting although the nine minute showcase of I'd Rather Die In Vain and the 13 minute instrumental Ain't Doin Nothin'are particular highlights if love a good guitar solo or twelve!! Let Love Show The Way is a track that really kicks the blues in the arse at 13 tracks (3 bonus) the album clocks in at around 65 minutes you get real value for money on this record, it's a record that's born in the live era and erupts out of your player with a ferocity that is rare in the modern blues rock scene. 9/10

Kataklysm, Septicflesh & Aborted, The Fleece Bristol

The first in a number of trips across the bridge in February saw the intrepid trio of Lee, The Ed and me head for a night of brutality at the ever excellent Fleece. An international night of brutality no less. After the inevitable traffic carnage on the M32 we dumped the car and thanked Beelzebub for the tardy housekeeping as doors had not long opened. We joined the end of a reasonably healthy queue and, having grabbed a mandatory pint of Bath Gem, assumed the brace position for the next three hours.

First up, the absolute onslaught of Belgian Death grindcore merchants Aborted (8). A handsome 45-minute set saw the band blitz the venue with their absolute pile driving assault. Led by the relentless founder member and vocalist Sven de Caluwe, the band coerced, cajoled and demanded circle pits, head banging and all out engagement from the crowd as they blasted through tracks from their back catalogue and new release Retrogore. The band have a similar gorefest themed approach to Cannibal Corpse but what impressed me was the sheer energy and drive as they just didn’t let up. Huge slabs of screaming riffage from Mendel Bij de Leij and new boy Ian Jekelis and a battery from bassist JB Van Der Wal and drummer Ken Bendene split skulls, bodies slamming into the Fleece’s pillars at the front of the stage. Aborted made the most of their slot, cramming in tracks and receiving a huge ovation. In fact, it was noticeable that a sizeable number of the crowd left after Aborted concluded their set, with significantly more space in the venue as the evening wore on.

Operatic death metal from Athens? Why the fuck not. Next up on the bill were the Greeks Septicflesh (8), whose last two releases Communion and Titan are epic albums. Dropping their clean vocals (usually provided by guitarist Sotiris Vayenas), the band charged through an eight track set which comprised four from Titan and two each from Communion and The Great Mass. Centre stage, clad in his trademark Predator body armour stood bassist and vocalist Spiros “Seth Siro Anton” Antoniou. Welcoming the crowd as “my friends”, he was a captivating sight, rarely putting more than a couple of notes together but encouraging the crowd to “destroy” at every available opportunity whilst delivering the harsh death vocals synonymous with countrymen Rotting Christ.

Antoniou was flanked by Vayenas and third original member Christos Antoniou, complete with some of the filthiest dreadlocks ever seen whilst the blast beats and astonishing power of drummer Kerim Lechner. With their symphonic backing tapes enhancing their huge sound, more pit action and increased wind milling was in order as Communion, Order Of Dracul and Prototype decimated the audience. Concluding their set with the immense Anubis and Prometheus, all around were astonished faces. I don’t know how often these guys visit the UK, but they are so worth a view.

One of the joys of The Fleece is that the bands have to walk through the crowd to get to the stage. Cue much mirth as with 20 minutes until the start of their set, the individual members of Kataklysm wandered in from their bus clutching their stage clothes in carrier bags and proceeded to get slightly confused about which way to go. It definitely isn’t all glamour, even for 20+ year veterans. Despite their incredibly punishing tour schedule (38 dates across Europe with two nights off; Paris, Bristol, Glasgow, Dublin and Manchester in successive nights!!!), all of the bands gave 110%

Headliners Kataklysm (9), the purveyors of the Northern Hyperblast hit the stage with stunning energy, opening with Breaching The Asylum from last year’s magnificent Of Ghost and Gods. Taking the frontman to the extreme, Maurizio Iacono was relentless in his demanding of more action from the intense maelstrom in front of him whilst long term members Stephane Barbe (bass) and guitarist Jean Francois Dagenais destroyed. However, the vital ammunition in the Kataklysm armoury is the blast beat destruction of the double bass drumming, currently dished out without mercy by Oli Beaudoin.

With such a back catalogue to choose from, the band didn’t play it safe, varying tracks from across their releases. As well as the opener, three other tracks from Of Ghosts and Gods featured, The Black Sheep, Soul Destroyer and Thy Serpents Tongue, all of which demonstrated why this band remain as intense as ever. The ferocity in the pit increased as the steamroller maintained momentum; As I Slither and Push The Venom notable for the riotous responses on the floor. Open Scars and In Shadows & Dust upped the temperature further before Crippled And Broken concluded our viewing.

Interestingly the audience had thinned substantially as we headed for the exit just before the conclusion of the set. Maybe the later finish time contributed to it for those reliant on public transport, or maybe it was the effect of three hours of unrelenting death metal or even the fact that even in this extreme genre, the subtle differences between the three bands appealed to different sections of the crowd. Whatever the reason, it was an excellent evening with the inevitable ringing in the ears the following morning.

On a final positive note, full marks to the sound in The Fleece which was magnificent. To be able to pick out the technical elements of three bands who play at break neck speed was excellent and it was brilliant to once again be at a venue that so easily could have been nothing more than a memory.

Thunder, Colston Hall Bristol

Day two of our trio of gigs across the bridge, this time it was indeed time for something completely different with a night of hard rock lined up in the beautiful Colston Hall. On this night much like the previous one we faced the same traffic problems that had plagued us on our trip to Kataklysm this meant that we were late to the gig, in fact we were very late to the gig as we missed openers King King but by all accounts they were superb. Still there is always next time and on the voices I heard talking about the set in the foyer the band will be worth the wait. Myself and my good friend Nick forgoed the second support band Terrorvision due to not really having an interest in the band, so we walked into the auditorium as the band were wrapping up with Alice What's The Matter? and Whales And Dolphins.

The beauty of the Colston Hall when it is not a seated venue (lamented by Steven Wilson the previous band) is that down the front it's hot and sweaty as it should be, but it means gig goers like myself can take a seat at the back and not have our views interrupted by those that want to shake their ass, something that is almost guaranteed with Thunder. With the intro playing and lights swirling it was time and as the lights fixed on the curtain it dropped and Thunder appeared on stage, Luke Morely hit the stage first and pumped out the riff for Wonder Days one of the six tracks aired from their most recent album of the same name, the song is a perfect opener in this kind of setting, which could be seen as a sort of comeback for Thunder, with lyrics that talk of the bands early years it took everyone back to the halcyon days when rock was pure and unaffected by popularity and sales but was just about having a good time. This really could be Thunder's mantra they are all about having a good time and encourage everyone watching to do the same, the heavyweight blues of Black Water came next (also off Wonder Days) and saw frontman Danny Bowes burst into his expert Dad dancing which always brings a smile to your face, after the blues the rock kicked back in with dirty River Of Pain. A small break but not much of one, breath caught and then into the triumphant Resurrection Day which kept the pace fast and powerful.

What's instantly noticeable about Thunder every time I see them is how damn good at what they do every member of the band is, special praise go to Ben Matthews who plays everything from rhythm guitar and keys to cowbell and lead guitar, seeing as the problems in his recent history are well documented he looked happy, healthy and delighted to be performing again. The set slowed and Like A Satellite came next with the crowd singing every single word. Danny had the crowd eating from his hand telling them to be louder with every shout and the baying fans obliged. The filthy The Devil Made Me Do It kicked in with Harry James shuffling drum beat driving it in conjunction with Chris Childs' bass, once again the night slowed for the epic Empty City left the crowd awestruck as it was delivered with the same passion it was sung with when it was written, at the conclusion there was huge roar from the crowd as that riff kicked in for Backstreet Symphony, cue more Dad dancing from Bowes and another showstopper in I'll Be Waiting before the party began again with newie The Thing I Want telling the tale of women of ill repute, the cowbell driven When the Music Played finished this double header of new songs but then as the acoustic was brought on to Morley's side of the stage everyone new what was coming the slow build, the harmonies and one of the finest key changes in rock and cued the mass sing along of Love Walked In.

This was fantastic stuff indeed the new songs blended well with the classics and the band performed with the same flair and excellence that they have always shown. The main set was rounded out with I Love You More Than Rock N Roll which featured yet more cowbell (obviously they had a fever) after a short gap they came back with another new track the cracking Serpentine then with some more call and response it was Dirty Love that finished the show as the crowd erupted for the final time. When Thunder opened for Whitesnake and Journey a couple of years ago nearly everyone agreed Thunder stole the show and seeing them in full flight was a treat indeed, Thunder were fantastic but don't fret if you missed them this time they are coming to both Ramblin Man Fair and more importantly they are headlining July's Steelhouse festival right here in Wales, I suggest you get a ticket as you will not be disappointed, I promise!! 9/10

Symphony X & Myrath, Bristol Bierkeller

So the third and final trip into Bristol in a week that started with death metal, then classic rock and then this was the night that we got our prog on with American kings of aggressive progressive metal (or jock-prog as I've dubbed it) and Tunisian melo-proggers Myrath. Now in what seemed to be a running theme for the week we once again got caught in traffic meaning we missed opening act Melting Space, although with the late opening doors myself and Paul wondered just how long they played for, as we were in the venue about 20 minutes after the doors opened and the band were already at the merch stall. Still we did finally arrive at the venue and after a swift pint nearby we headed in to Bristol's most unique venue an took our place in front of the sound desk.

There was a large crowd gathered for the Tunisians and as they hit the stage with Storm Of Lies the huge waves of keys from Elyes Bouchoucha were immediately engulfing the audience as the bototm end of Morgan Berthet's drums and Anis Jouini's five string bass ploughed a heavy furrow for Malek Ben Arbia to riff along to with his crunchy rhythm playing and clean harmonic leads. Most of the set was drawn from their most recent album Legacy and the crowd were responsive to it despite it only being out for a week at the time of the concert. In fact four of the seven songs were from the new record and do well live especially Get Your Freedom Back and Believer which got the crowd involved. Frontman Zaher Zorgati has a very clear, resonant, melodic voice that soars above the music brilliantly and the whole thing was complemented by the venue's excellent sound, the band were a little static due to spacial constraints and there were tapes used for the harmonies but they did not intrude too much. As I said the crowd were obviously pro-Myrath before they arrived on stage but after their set, that ended with the Eurovision-like (not a bad thing) Duat they had one over many more. A good showing from a band still finding their feet in the UK, but are very experienced. 7/10

Speaking of experience you don't get much more experienced than New Jersey mob Symphony X, who throughout their career (starting in 1994) have moved from a neo-classical band, through a progressive metal band and now into a much more heavier prospect than ever before, a lot of their more recent songs are more thrash-like than anything else, thus why they recently completed an American tour with fellow Jerseyites Overkill. As the intro tape of Overture swirled the three Michaels took to the stage, Pinnella on keys, LePond on bass and band leader Romeo on guitar (who bears more than a passing resemblance to Yngwie Malmsteen) supported by Jason Rullo on drums, the band launched into opener Nevermore which saw frontman Russell Allen storm the stage every inch the rockstar (sunglasses and all) and unleash his mighty pipes. What followed was risky move as the band dove headlong straight into Underworld it became clear that this set would be drawn mainly from their latest album of the same name, something that was backed up by Allen when the thundering Kiss Of Fire came to an end and he did a little speech about leaving it 6 years since they last did a full UK tour and explaining that they were going to play Underworld in full and explaining a little about the concept as the rest of the band watched this mountain of a man give his explanation the crowd were cheering and whooping before they resumed singing every line of every song on powerful Without You.

Yes the audience for Symphony X do seem to be a little, how can I say this? Enthusiastic, to say the least every person in that room knew every line of every song and sang with all their heart, this kind of fandom is usual at prog gigs but Symphony X do seem to attract a rather wide crowd; from the normal D&D playing prog-nerds (like myself), through to the group of heavily muscled weightlifters to my right encompassing cardigan wearing dads and hipsters in their f*cking red trousers! With the emotion of Without You out of the window it was back to rampaging metal assault with Charon and To Hell And Back, the rhythm section of LePond and Rullo thundered with percussive power, the keys of Pinnella were immense but in no way distracted from the heaviness created by the band, while Romeo's guitar playing is otherworldly he solos with a dexterity not seen often. The one thing that struck me about Symphony X that I may have missed last time I saw them is how bloody loud they are, on the heavier songs I was fearing for concussive shock syndrome but it was all part of the bands appeal. Allen is a great frontman welcoming but also terrifying in equal measure especially when he was switching between his good and evil masks in the middle of the set (although the red and black mask did make him look a bit like WWE's Kane).

As Swansong wrapped up the bulk of Underworld the band went back a bit with instrumental Death Of Balance giving Romeo, Pinnella, Rullo and LePond a chance to duel and show their skills before the band went back further to Divine Wings Of Tragedy for Out Of Ashes and Sea Of Lies that ended the main set. There was a pause, rapid cheering a ringing in your ears and then the band strutted back on like conquering kings. The encore started with one of Paradise Lost's best tracks Set The World On Fire (The Lie Of Lies) before the set ended proper with the closing track from Underworld the sublime Legend, finishing the whole story and sending the punters home happy but deaf. Symphony X in full headline mode are a force to be reckoned with and I really hope they don't leave it six years before they do another headline tour, they are band well worth seeing no matter whether you like prog or not, they are fantastic heavy metal band. 9/10

The Cult – Bristol Colston Hall

When The Cult released the monumental Love in 1985, with the slew of hit singles including “that song”, even they would never in their wildest dreams have thought that over 30 years on packed venues would still be going nuts for them. At a sold out Colston Hall Ian Astbury, Billy Duffy and co delivered a masterclass with a quite fantastic performance. I don’t follow the charts but a quick google suggested that their latest release, the superb Hidden City had not caused as much as a ripple. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to know that it had even been released. Not so inside the lovely Colston Hall, where a decent percentage of the audience had clearly picked up their copy and learnt most of the words. Kicking off with Dark Energy, the band ripped into from the start, with Astbury a whirling insane Jim Morrison infused bundle of crazed energy. Alongside Astbury, the ever reliable and magnificent guitar playing Billy Duffy churned out the riffs and peeled off solos for fun.

A huge roar of approval followed as the first track from Love arrived, the fantastic Rain which saw most of the balcony up on its feet early doors. As Duffy hit the riff on his ever reliable Gretsch Falcon guitars, the temperature increased with the whole crowd singing the chorus. Wild Flower maintained the momentum, the first of three tracks from Electric. Astbury rambled away in between songs, chiding the security and encouraging the younger members in the mosh pit to get involved. I didn’t see too many of the younger generation in the balcony mind, with the average age appearing to be similar to that of Astbury and Duffy, astonishingly both 54 years old. This wasn’t just a walk down memory lane though, with five tracks from the new release weaving their way into the set list. Hinterland, Birds Of Paradise and Deeply Ordered Chaos all slotted in with great ease.

However, the oldies naturally received the biggest response, Sweet Soul Sister generating one of the biggest cheers of the evening. Duffy is a fantastic guitarist, criminally underrated and looking incredibly fit and healthy. Lil’ Devil allowed him to really open up and it was around this point that we twigged that alongside long term drummer John Tempesta and recent addition on bass Grant Fitzpatrick was one Damon Fox on keyboards and rhythm guitar. Who? Well, Damon Fox is the lead player in Big Elf, that’s who. After a storming Nirvana came the moment I had been waiting for; as Duffy cranked out the killer riff to The Phoenix, up I shot, joining in with the rest of those whose dancing days are long behind them but hell did I give a shit? Oh no, The Phoenix is a phenomenal tune and watching Duffy slice that guitar through the air was worth the admission price on its own. Of course, the song that The Cult are most famous for finally arrived with the whole place going nuts as She Sells Sanctuary blasted out. Memories of this track clearing the dancefloor in my youth at the school disco and early forays into night clubs came flooding back. A quick respite before the three track encore pulverised the remains of the crowd. G.O.A.T. was followed by Spirit Walker and then it was last moments as Astbury encouraged and Duffy hit the chords for closer Love Removal Machine.

For a band that have been around close to 35 years, The Cult are just incredible and remain as vital and vibrant today as they did when She Sells Sanctuary crashed into the charts all those years ago. If you get the chance and can tolerate the most insane jibberish of Astbury, then you won’t be disappointed. 9/10

Devilskin & Skarlett Riot, The Iron Road Evesham

A road trip is always something I welcome on a Saturday especially for gigs, so it was great anticipation and my oldest friend that we packed the car and headed to Evesham in Worcestershire. After some traffic shenanigans we finally arrived at The Iron Road and made our way inside. Now I've never been to The Iron Road before but what a venue it is, a compact pub with a large, well stocked bar and huge burgers named after various rock and roll icons. Ordering a pint of the house ale and a delicious Lemmy burger (covered in JD you see?) we watched England beat Ireland in the rugby, with us cheering for Ireland naturally while the bands got set up on the stage in the corner of the room. So yes the bands that was the reason we were here most notably for the debut UK headline tour of New Zealand outfit Devilskin, having been suitably impressed by their album last year I was excited to see whether the talent shown on the record would translate to the live arena.

First up however were Scunthorpe mob Skarlett Riot who play spiky, melodic heavy rock with a modern edge and lashings of attitude and confidence, led by the bottle rocket of Skarlett on vocals the band blasted away with a set list of 8 songs that started with Divide Us and moved through the ballsy Wake Up, the heavy Adrenaline and the darker Villains that has huge sing along hook. Skarlett has a superb vocal that was a higher octave than that of the headline band, her vocal was very powerful and was a perfect fit for the bands modern hook-laden sound reminding your writer of Paramore's Haley Williams but set to a heavier backing, which is a very good thing indeed. The backing band were also full of sparks with manic drummer Luke smashing along with aplomb, bassist Martin couldn't keep still as he plucked out rhythms galore leaving Danny to stab at his guitar and deliver a killer solo on House Of Cards. With melodic, hook-laden songs, big riffs and a keen ear of melody Skarlett Riot whet the appetite perfectly, a band well worth checking out live! 8/10

Next then it was time for Devilskin, we were lucky to see the band really as their Barrowlands performance had been cancelled due to frontwoman Jennie's flu, but they managed to reach Evesham by way of The Underworld Camden and as the cosy venue became packed full of people and the band made their way to the stage, the young Nic on the drums, the demonic twins of (see the videos of Little Pills and Start A Revolution) Paul on bass and Nail on guitar before the lovely Jennie hit the stage and the band kicked into the excellently named Elvis Presley Circle Pit and then the chunky Vessel which showed Jennie's superb vocals they are strong and resonant, showing no sign of the flu at all, especially on the aggressive, BLS-like Until You Bleed where she was giving guttural roars from the bowels of hell. In fact Devilskin have a distinctly modern sound merging the pinch harmonics of Zakk and co with some more groove based acts like Pantera and even a bit of Disturbed thrown in mainly due to Paul's bass heavy sound and Nail's technical but not always overt guitar wizardry which has much in common with the latter's Dan Donegan. The band were visual with Nail and Paul frequently switching places and moving around the small stage, heads were banging on the strong and emotive Surrender which has great solo too. Then the band did something that was a bit of risk by dropping a cover of Dio's Holy Diver that if I'm honest was far better than Killswitch Engage's retaining the magic of the original but adding the bands heaviness, smiles all round and back into their own stuff with Fade which errs on the side of Alter Bridge or Creed but has a huge chorus that you can't help sing along to. The band were working through their set at a rate of knots, the bass driven Never See The Light coming next giving more chances to headbang with its fast-slow dynamic and dirty slide riff. When the band did stop they were very appreciative of the crowd coming out to see them and seemed to be having a lot of fun on this tour, the crowd were receptive of this and became more so with the double header of latest single Start A Revolution and previous single Mountains which built the crowd up again. Devilskin are really masters of their craft having toiled for so long on the New Zealand scene it was great to see so many out supporting them in Evesham, more call-and-response on Dirt before the main set ended with new song We Rise which bodes well for their second album. A bit of a break a few thank you's, no chance to get off stage due to the sheer volume of people in the venue so it was back into the encore of the groove-laden Little Pills and the snarling Violation. An excellent set and tremendous performance showing that Devilskin are on that upward trajectory towards bigger things. 9/10

That was that with more well wishing and a chance to cool down and have a drink the band seemed happy and the punters too cheered for a good long while after the set before everyone got talking at the back of the venue. This night was one of those gigs where the planets align, two great performances, two amiable and humble bands, a superb rock venue and a welcoming responsive crowd supporting live music. If only all gigs were like this I'd be a happy bunny!

Beyond The Black: Lost In Forever (Airforce 1 Records) [Review By Paul]

Symphonic power metal? Hmm, often bordering dangerously close to Eurovision and a genre which often either floats your boat or makes you feel a little queasy. There are some pretty sizeable outfits around these days, with the likes of Nightwish and Within Temptation capable of pulling sufficient punters to headline Wembley Arena (no mean feat), BOA and obtain special guest status at Download. So alongside the usual suspects, let me introduce you to Beyond The Black, symphonic metal from Mannheim, Germany. Lost In Forever is their second release, following 2013’s Songs Of Love And Death which substantially raised their profile in their home country and a few of the Nordic/Scandinavian neighbours as well.

Lost In Forever is a release that contains everything you would demand from a symphonic metal outfit; powerful hammering drums, vicious riffs and shredding guitar work, huge hooks and melodies, tsunami sized synths and of course a female vocalist with an absolutely stunning voice. Add in some perfectly decent tunes (which this release has in spades) and you’ve got the whole package. Jennifer Haben is the lead vocalist and she brings real quality to the table. She possesses a cracking range, able to hit the highest of notes and use both power and sensitivity. Check out the aggression in the title track, the calm and control in the ballad Against The World all the all-round performance in Beyond The Mirror. Haben is the obvious focal point of the outfit but is ably supported by a musically excellent band, with particular credit to the impressive guitar work of lead guitarist Nils Lesser. However, the sum of the parts is greater here with a rhythm section of guitarist Christopher Hummels, bassist Erwin Schmidt and drummer Tobias Derer providings a rock solid platform for Lesser and keyboard player Michael Hanser to let loose and compliment Haben.

Yes, the songs are occasionally bit formulaic and cheesy; Halo Of The Dark would rage through the Eurovision qualifiers with its European pomp. Dies Irae motors along with an operatic chorus which raises the blood. Beyond The Black can also rock out, but it’s the atmospheric pieces that really catch the attention; six minute Forget My Name smoulders before building dramatically with Hummels backing vocals adding the grittier edge. A brief piece of acoustic guitar fits well into the middle section.If there’s one complaint, it is probably that the release is just a little too long with 13 tracks and a minute under an hour, creating the risk of repetition and loss of interest. However, this is a release that doesn’t actually do that, with tracks like Burning In Flames and Nevermore holding attention with their sheer quality. What is impressive is the restraint on the often overused tactic of clean female vocals and almost death metal male vocals with it occurring on a mere two tracks, the title track and the majestic Shine And Shade. In a genre which is packed with variable quality, Lost In Forever is a really decent offering and one that deserves to get more attention than it is likely to receive. Highly recommended. 8/10

Ethereal Riffian: Youniversal Voice (Self Released) [Review By Paul]

I’m not sure I’ve got much of a feel for the metal scene in Kiev, Ukraine but you’ve got to suspect that life there is tougher than it is here so full marks for creativity. Ethereal Riffian formed in 2010 and according to their press release has two main objectives: to expand the frames of the listener’s musical perception to shed light on the existence of a subtler plane, whose laws if understood may help to perceive the reality on a deeper level. Okay, glad we cleared that up. So you’ll have guessed that Ethereal Riffian sits in the stoner camp but boy do they sit far away from the usual suspects. Youniversal Voice is a live release and contains tracks from their previous studio albums, Shaman’s Visions and 2014’s Aeonian. Most of the tracks are long with three at over 11 minutes in length; all contain huge slabs of crushing heaviness, abstract and monotone vocals, twin guitar work and shifting time signatures which allows the drumming to become almost free style.

An oscillating chilled out approach makes Youniversal Voice an atmospheric event allowing the listener to transcend into another dimension. With the vocals delivered in the style of a Tibetan monk, repetitive chord construction and a funereal pace at times, I’d expect the majority of the audience to be pretty stoned when listening to these. In fact, the audience response is generally so limited that I guess that’s the effect. Tracks such as Thugdam, Wakan Tanka, March Of Spiritu and Anatman with their changing and intricate sound effects, percussion and rolling guitars and changes in pace and mood, conjure up images of Hawkwind, Sleep and Ohm. The sprawling tracks meander and traverse, remaining incredibly heavy thanks in part to the duel guitars. Music to meditate by? I’m not sure about that but this is some really deep stuff which demands plenty of time and soft furnishings in order for full exploration. It probably isn’t my cup of tea (Chai obvs) but then again, it probably isn’t the choice of many. However, I’m strangely drawn to it, and will give it repeated listens to allow further penetration of the mind. Relax and enjoy. Now, where did I leave my bong? 7/10

Wisdom: Rise Of The Wise (NoiseArt) [Review By Matt]

Hungarian Power Metal anyone? Well why not try Wisdom who are essentially Hungary's answer to Hammerfall with just a bit of Blind Guardian creeping in on the folkier songs like Believe In Me. This five piece play fist in the air metal and on rampaging tracks like Hero and Believe In Me Wisdom are every inch cut from the same cloth as the Swedish masters of power metal, think huge riffs, speedy drums and gang vocals and you get the idea. Rise Of The Wise is the band's fourth full length following such previous releases as Judas and Marching For Liberty and though it doesn't break the mold it delivers good quality power metal the dual guitars, galloping rhythm section and strong vocals with European enunciation are all done well so there is very little to criticise on a performance point of view, the songwriting to while full of cliches about wizards, battles and fantasy, even dabbling with pirate metal on Nightmare Of The Seas, is enjoyable and will appeal to power metal junkies but in a swamped genre Wisdom may find it hard shine. Still this fourth album is a lot of fun and if power metal is your thing then you can do much worse than pick up a copy and fly away on a wave of manly power metal mayhem. 7/10

Inglorious: Inglorious (Frontiers)

Are Inglorious the next big thing? Well or arrows point to yes, with recent tour in support of The Winery Dogs, triumphant sets at Planet Rockstock, up and coming sets at Ramblin Man Fair and heavy rotation of debut single Until I Die on Planet Rock then there shouldn't be anything stopping this UK five piece from making it big. However is all this support warranted for a band on their debut album? Well yes in a way it is, now Inglorious don't do anything new, but with rock music being in what should be it's twilight years does anyone? Inglorious do what they do with a power many bands cannot muster, with a sound akin to Deep Purple, the aforementioned Until I Day which has the spirit of Jon Lord all over it, Led Zepplin on the swaggering Kashmir-esque High Flying Gypsy as well as Aerosmith, Bad Company (Holy Water) and Queen on Inglorious all thrown into sound that harks back to hard rock's 70's glory days.

With Wil Taylor on rhythm guitar, Colin Parkinson on bass and Phil Beaver behind the skins the band have a rock solid foundation of a back line that drive these songs from muddy water blues, to chest beating classic rock over the course of one album. With such a quality engine room you need something special up front and the fretboard fireworks of Andreas Eriksson are a perfect fit knowing just when to go wild with solos and lead breaks that make everything just so much more impressive. Speaking of impressive this band could have all the chops in the world but if the singer sucks then it's all for nothing, thankfully Nathan James has some voice indeed, already doing time with TSO (Trans Siberian Orchestra) and Uli Jon Roth, he is no stranger to performing but his gritty blues inflected vocal delivery is perfect for Inglorious' hard rock style on You're Mine he shows his expansive vocal range, on Bleed For You he gives a ballad performance David Coverdale would be proud of something repeated on Wake which is more Paul Rodgers but just as schmaltzy.

This album styles itself as almost a hard rock greatest hits with many of the songs having those familiar sounds of yesteryear, it's good job that Inglorious perform them with such conviction and talent that they sound new and fresh rather than a stale pastiche. Are they the next big thing? Probably. Do they deserve to be? On the evidence of this debut very much so! 8/10

Exmortus: Ride Forth (Prosthetic)

In a total reversal sound wise now, it's time for warmongering, facemetling death metal from Californians Exmortus. These guys have been a around since 2003 releasing their debut in 2008, not much since then has changed they still ply their trade with brutal, fret destroying technical death metal that owes much to the likes of Chuck Schuldiner's Death and Atheist as well as the German wave of thrash from Kreator etc. Think dual Jackson guitars shredding like bastards on top of bludgeoning blast beats and you won't be far off. Speed Of The Strike is a maelstrom of riffs from the opening seconds and the pace doesn't drop throughout with every song having David Rivera and Jadran 'Conan' Gonzalez battling for six string supremacy while the rhythm section of Mario Mortus and Mike Cosio blast away. Black Sails slows things down, with Maiden-like bass driven gallop albeit with Conan's guttural vocals still keeping the death metal sound. Exmortus have thrash and death in their influences of course this seems to be their bread and butter but also they have liberal uses of traditional metal with the battle metal sound of Manowar influencing the lyrics and the speed metal assault of latter day Priest sneaking in to. Ride Forth is Exmortus' fourth record and it sticks to the formula the band have followed since their inception so if you love technical death metal then Exmortus will gladly rip your face off with this record. 7/10

Sage's Ritual: The Winter Symphony (Self Released)

Do you like guitar solos? Do you like songs about Dragons and Wizards? Do you like the score from Lord Of The Rings? If the answer to all of these things is yes, then you will love Sage's Ritual, this is the projects started by Danish guitar virtuoso Niels Vejlyt who plays guitars, bass, keys and drummer Jakob Vand. Vejlyt also does all the orchestration for this album that is cinematic in scope merging classical music with guitar histrionics in the same way that Rhapsody and Yngwie Malmsteen have made a career from composing. Made up of seven songs including three instrumentals The Winter Symphony is a guitar lovers album, that said he hasn't skimped on the vocals recruiting former Artension and Royal Hunt mainman John West (not that one) to supply the sky scraping singing to the record. The brass tax of the record is that Vejlyt is a superb guitarist, there is no doubt about that but this album does seem to be a showcase for his playing rather than his songwriting which is all well and good as most of these songs are around 4 minutes so it's a bit of singing then widdly guitar solo then back to singing but this is stretched on the instrumentals that feature no let up in the fret wankery and pushes you over the edge on the 20 minute plus title track which sounds like a symphony that has been crashed by an electric guitar. The reason why Rhapsody (or whatever they are both called now) are still going is that behind the technical mastery of their instruments lays songwriting that while cliched is slick and at the forefront. Sage's Recital are trying a bit to hard to be like Rhapsody and are just falling short, songwriting and specialism are hard things to balance and Sage's Ritual seem to be more of Robin Reliant than Porsche 911. 6/10

Enzo and the Glory Ensemble: In The Name Of The Father (Symphony Records)

Metal and Christianity are not comfortable bedfellows. If you search for Christian rock and metal bands on the internet, you’ll find hundreds including some that may be a little bit surprising but few that are successful or even well known. The most famous group to bat for the man upstairs remains Stryper supported by Kings X and then individuals such as Dave Mustaine, Blackie Lawless and Neal Morse & co. Some of the music produced by these guys is pretty decent, with Megadeth and WASP’s last releases amongst their best. However, Neapolitan self-styled Christian rock composer Enzo Donnarumma’s symphonic rock project is pretty special, in all the wrong ways.

In The Name Of The Father is a concept which sets into music eleven Christian prayers and biblical psalms in English and concludes with a single original text, Maybe You, dedicated to peace. The release features a wealth of special guests, ranging from the expected (Kobi Farhi of Orphaned Land is hardly a surprise) through to the more surprising; Ralph Scheepers (Gamma Ray and Primal Fear), Marty Friedman and Mark Zonder of Fates Warning all contribute.

First the positives: The symphonic progressive approach with orchestral arrangements, Palestinian folk sounds and choral polyphony is well delivered and at some points quite haunting; for example, the old catholic prayer Glory Be To The Father is beautifully delivered with the addition of female vocal of Amulyn (Whisper From Heaven). And that’s where it ends. I’m afraid that listening to catholic prayers set to speed metal is incredibly uncomfortable and in the main just doesn’t work. The Apostle’s Creed might just be the worst thing I’ve ever heard and The Lord’s Prayer is absolutely dreadful, with the latter akin to that of Cliff Richard’s piece of bilge many years ago. The whole concept is pretty ropey and whilst I’m as liberal as most, this should just do one and never be played again. Why some of those on here have put their names to it I’m really not sure. To quote AC/DC, “If God’s on the left then I’m sticking to the right”. Utterly baffling and confirmation that the Devil really does have all the best tunes. 1/10

Metratone: Eucharismetal (Rockshots)

After the utterly dire offerings of Enzo and his buddies, reviewing another band who are at the forefront of the white metal movement filled me with trepidation, despair and that slight burning feeling that a good old atheist sometimes feels when entering a church. However, stripping Metratone back to their metal basics, it was a pleasure to find that this is an album which really rocks out without slamming you in the face with a copy of the New Testament.

Metatrone (metaphysical throne of God – okay?) has released three full length albums, La Mano Potente in 2005 soon followed by the English version called The Powerful Hand and Paradigma in 2010. The band was formed by Father Davide Bruno (Keyboards, a priest of the Archdiocese of Catania!), Stefano Calvagno (Guitars) and Jo Lombardo (Vocals). According to their press pack their mission has always been playing heavy metal songs deeply inspired by a Christian Catholic view of live and human being, with lyrics in English, Italian and Latin. Eucharismetal features two new band members; Dino Fiorenza (Billy Sheehan, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert) on bass and Salvo Grasso (Hyersonic, DeniedD) on drums. Now I’m not familiar with their earlier works but Eucharismetal contains some exceptional double bass-drumming, impressive vocal hooks, heavy guitar riffs, huge swathes of synths and keyboards and most surprisingly some really astonishing growls courtesy of Father Bruno which wouldn’t be out of place on the latest black metal releases. The growls work well as a contrast to the superb clean voice of Lombardo.

The album features a range of styles with the focus on speed and power metal, Beware The Sailor and Wheat And Weeds, more melodic metal, Latest News From Light, slabs of progressive metal song like Una Parte di Me and more traditional AOR style hard rock, Keep Running, Lascia Che Sia (Let It Be) and In Spirit And Truth. The musicianship is really top quality, whilst lyrically the band don’t shy away from some heavy topics including child abuse on Alef Dalet Mem, religious and Christian fanaticism Molokai (one of the heaviest tracks on this release). Of course, Jesus gets a fair share of the action with the parable of the prodigal son on Latest News From Light and ancient Latin prayer on Regina Coeli (with full god squad effect). Mozart’s Nightmare is the odd one out, a rampaging melodic instrumental which showcases the keyboard prowess of Father Bruno and Calvagno's impressive fretwork.Whilst the lyrical content still makes me feel a bit queasy there is no denying that this is a pretty decent slab of metal, albeit wearing a completely different battle jacket. There are a few power metal fans who would appreciate the breakneck speed of this release. 7/10

God Syndrome: Controverse (Mazzar Records)

1.God Syndrome: an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility
2.God Syndrome: an extreme melodic death metal band formed in 2011 in Samara, Russian Federation.

God Syndrome was formed by guitarists Sergey Aksenov and Vitaliy Mitsek. Their first release, an EP Downfall Omen appeared in 2013 with the remainder of the line-up completed by vocalist Pavel Bamburov, bassist Dmitry Kuznetsov and Alexander Krut on drums. Controverse is their debut full release and it’s a pretty impressive debut. Controverse is almost a painting by number death metal release. Massive double bass drumming, pounding bass lines, vicious cutting guitar work and guttural vocals all combine at breath-taking speed to provide 12 tracks of solid music. Underpinning all of this is a melodic edge and some absolutely crushing riffs which make this release both interesting and memorable (think In Flames, Arch Enemy but heavier and you’re in the right territory). Opening tracks Purge and Clan are impressive straight on death metal tracks whilst Five Acts Of Deception is a more complex fusion of styles; the battering of Krut’s drumming a constant but several changes of pace allowing the listener to draw breath. At times 150mph before switching to a more measured melodic breakdown. This is a quite brilliant track which doesn’t let up and oozes real atmosphere.

With almost an hour of music, this is a really top quality release from a band that recently provided support to Marduk in Moscow. Tracks like Dark Sand and Summon The Sun give you little room for breath, explosive from start to finish but all containing that beautifully melodic guitar work that works so well. Underneath it all, there are some massive grooves and hooks which separate this work from the mainstream. Aksenov and Mitesk’s guitar work is impressive, whilst Bamburov’s vocals fit perfectly. As with nearly all bands in this genre, break neck speed requires some contrast and whilst the speed rarely slows, there is a more measured approach at times which demonstrates the quality of the compositions; check out Fire, The Law Of The Betrayed and album closer Hangman Of Atlantis. I am pretty clueless about the metal scene in Russia but being stereotypical for one moment, I would imagine the opportunity and chances to make such incredibly powerful music is more limited than much of the West. If having an unshakable belief in your beliefs is part of the definition of God Syndrome, then the name is well chosen. Controverse is a brilliant death metal release well worth getting involved with. 9/10

Voivod: Post Society (Century Media)

Canadian progressive thrash legends Voivod history are well know but since the loss of Piggy the band have soldiered on with 2013's Target Earth being the fists album that new guitarist Chewy taking over the six string roll on an album since Piggy's death. Target Earth was something of a reunion album but since then founding bassist Blacky ended his second term in the band and on this EP he has replaced by Rocky who is the latest in a long line of bassists. This EP is a start to Voivod's next incarnation and it's a great place to start with 30 minutes of music that show what Voivod do best. This progressive thrash metal with riffs galore from Chewy who is the ideal choice to take over from Piggy as he hasn't got the same style as the old master but brings his own unique bent to the technical mind bending guitar playing Voivod have always been associated with. Away's drumming is the signal for most of the time changes and he leads Rocky in laying down a gut punching rhythm section that allows Chewy to experiment and frontman Snake to give his trademark scarred vocal delivery. The four tracks range from proper thrash of the title track through to the more progressive touches of We Are Connected with the EP ending with a Silver Machine cover that sounds more like Motorhead than Hawkwind and serves as a suitably heavy but obviously unintended tribute to Lemmy. Voivod were back on form with Target Earth but the new boys are now firmly locked in to the sound and Voivod seem more focused than ever, having never been overly familiar with Voivod my anticipation is high for their next full length. 8/10

Delain: Lunar Prelude (Napalm)

Wow a change in sound sometimes changes how you see a band and as soon as Suckerpunch explodes in all it's electro-dance glory out of the stereo on Delain's newest EP you can't help but hear that this what Delain have been aiming for since their debut. Over the course of their last two albums the electronic elements have increased and Suckerpunch takes them that one step further putting them on a par with Amaranthe. Lunar Prelude is what the title says it is, a prelude to the bands next album, it features two new songs, one alternative version, four live tracks and an orchestral remix of Suckerpunch, the song that is clearly the EP's selling point. Lunar Prelude is the debut of Delian's new guitarist Merel Bechtold, she slots in with ease gelling effortlessly with long term guitarist Timo Somers, this is probably due to her work with Mark Jensen's heavy as lead MaYan project and (Delain tourmate) Anneke Van Giersbergen's Gentle Storm. The rest of the line up remains the same and play with the same amount of skill that has present on all of the bands previous releases with special kudos going once again to singer Charlotte Wessels whose voice has almost diamond clarity and warhead power. This EP is for completists only as it's the first two tracks could be considered new and worth shelling out for but what Lunar Prelude does is give you a hint to how Delain are going to evolve on their next record. 6/10

Hällas: Hällas EP (The Sign Records)

If you like your rock set firmly in the psychedelic rock of the 1970s then this four track EP from Swedish outfit Hällas will probably be of interest. Stories of wizards and witches, twin guitars combined with swirling organ, changes of pace and the haunting vocal of Tommy Alexandersson combine for an interesting release. The self-titled second track, clocking in at over seven minutes is the pick with an Opeth style breakdown in the middle of the track which adds atmosphere before the steady riffs pick up again. With more than a hint of early Sabbath and 1970s Scorpions, this is far from unique but it’s decent stuff all the same. 7/10

Redemption: The Art Of Loss (Metal Blade)

The sixth album from Progressive metal supergroup Redemption goes some way to recapture the glorious sounds of the bands' fourth album Snowfall On Judgement Day this record is the bands' yard stick, 2011's This Mortal Coil was a more deeply personal album and because of this it was introspective in scope, that isn't to say that it wasn't good it just wasn't as good as Snowfall. The Art Of Loss the bands first record for Metal Blade, steps things up a gear or two, harking back to the earlier more grandiose sound the band favoured. Yet again the album is a showcase for Nick Van Dyk who is the primary songwriter, guitarist and adds some keys, he creates the scores featured on this record that are delivered with a talent par excellence by the rest of the band, particular kudos go to guitarist Bernie Versailles, drummer Chris Quirarte and of course the stunning vocals of Fate's Warning's Ray Alder who really does have the perfect voice for this sort of emotive progressive music, able to convey heartbreak and hope in equal measure. The album also has a couple of high profile guests with ex-Megadeth men Chris Poland, Chris Broderick and Marty Friedman all adding some six sting wizardry and Armored Saint shouter John Bush contributing vocals to somewhat superfluous cover of The Who's Love Reign O'er Me.

The one thing I would say about this record and indeed any of Redemption's work, is that it does carry an emotional punch, at times it can be all consuming but for the most part the dark lyrical content is balanced by the soaring melodies and outright heaviness in the musical compositions. When I say songs I mean that, yes there is a lot of showing off it is prog after all, but Redemption have always relied on creating a song first then adding the more technical parts and musical posturing afterwards. Still at 75 minutes long it can all feel a little overwhelming at times especially when after 53 minutes of intricate, thought provoking music including the 10 minute Hope Dies Last, you are faced with the 22 minute final track At Day's End many will despair or lose interest but I implore you to stick with it as the final track is surely the albums magnum opus. The Art Of Loss is a step in the right direction for Redemption with personal troubles of the bands leader hopefully now a thing of the past they can focus on moving forward, one criticism would be that the record could be a few songs shorter but other than that The Art Of Loss is and album that excite and enthrall those that love Prog metal and one that will see Redemption finding their feet again in style. 8/10

Now Or Never: II (Mighty Music)

Multi-National metal mob Now Or Never have taken three years to release their second album the aptly named II but despite the gap the song indeed remains the same with brawny, muscle-bound metal being the order of the day. The band was formed by Ex-Pretty Maids men Ricky Marx (guitar) and Kenn Jackson (bass) and with it's broad but mostly European membership (Denmark/France/Switzerland) you'd be forgiven for thinking the band will sound like so many other Euro-metal bands but Now Or Never have a distinctly American sound with monstrous dirty riffs from Marx and Jackson combined with the rugged Russell Allen-like vocals from Joe Amore evoking US Metal legends Manilla Road, early Manowar, Iced Earth and latter day Symphony X. II rides the fine line between traditional/power metal and hard rock which means there is quite a bit of variation to be had on the tracks and means that the record doesn't get repetitive. Songs such as the opening rager The Voice Inside and the heavyweight crunch of King For A Day are very good, in fact this writer was surprised just how good this band are, II is an album that doesn't really slow down with the first four tracks battering you into submission, mainly due to albums sparkling production that makes everything sound very loud. I'll Be Waiting starts slow but turns into a huge mountain top ballad with thunderous drums from Ranzo, before the power ramps back up again in the second part of the album. Before this record I hadn't really heard of Now Or Never but I'm glad I have now, they are a great band that have two albums full of metal anthems. 7/10

Blackhour: Sins Remain (Transcending Obscurity India)

Asia seems to be the new frontier for metal at the moment with hundreds of bands breaking out of the continent playing music that can be seen as counter-culture and in certain countries even illegal or Satanic. Adding their name to an ever expanding list of bands willing to go against the norm are Pakistan's Blackhour who play the kind of NWOBHM that launched the careers of Maiden and Priest and was forbear for the thrash explosion in California. In fact the 8 tracks on this record split their sound between that of early Iron Maiden and early Metallica, the similarities are uncanny in places meaning that a few of the songs on this record move into the realm of a cover band, even though they are playing their own songs. Saying this the band are all accomplished players and the songs themselves are well constructed metal songs with some technical flourishes and changes in time and pace giving them a progressive edge. However the one thing that lets this record down is the production, it's scratchy and yes retro but it sounds more like a cassette than an vinyl, I will admit it does add to the D.I.Y spirit of the NWOBHM era but there are ways to get this sound while still sounding good. Still this really the only gripe, yes the songs are a little samey and as I've said its a little too near cover band territory at times but it's a fun metal album that adds another band rebelling against the social norm, which really is the point of heavy metal. 7/10

Monster Truck: Sittin’ Heavy (Mascot Records)

2013’s stonking debut Ferocity saw Canadians Monster Truck crash into our world with all the subtlety of well, a monster truck rally. A blistering collection of foot stomping good time boogie rockers with a large serving of fun, Ferocity was welcomed by MoM towers and obtained an 8 rating back in June 2013 with the Ed declaring ‘one of the best southern bands I've heard for ages’. They were bloody excellent live at Bristol’s Exchange later that year too. Two and a half years later and the Truck are back with another slab of heavy rock. Sittin’ Heavy maintains the direction that the band were heading. A really fine honest effort, with the extra touring adding a sharpness to the songs. Opener Why Are You Not Rocking? sets the tone, fuzzy dirty guitars courtesy of Jeremy Widerman, solid drumming from Steve Kiely, Brandon Bliss’ excellent keyboards and the superb vocal of bassist Jon Harvey.

There is rarely a let up in pace throughout, with first single Don't Tell Me How To Live maintaining and increasing momentum. With a sound that mixes the harder bits of Black Stone Cherry, Massive and more than a nod to Clutch and Lionize, it's unsurprising that tunes such as She's A Witch are catchy as hell. It's not all heads down party mind, with the atmospheric calm of Black Forest (first time I've ever seen an ode to 70s dessert) slowing things down before the toe tapping of Another Man’s Shoes picks up the speedometer again. This track contains some excellent southern laced keyboards which ebb and flow throughout. Things Get Better has a toe dipped in the River Mersey with its Beatles style riff whilst the honesty of sing-a-long tune The Enforcer and the haunting and emotive To The Flame once again demonstrate a depth that might not have been so evident on Ferocity. Sittin’ Heavy is a fine follow up to Ferocity and I am looking forward to their Sunday set at Download immensely. 8/10

Anvil: Anvil Is Anvil (SPV)

Where the hell do you start with Toronto nutters Anvil? Formed in 1978, nearly men in the early 1980s, kept alive by the bizarre tastes of the German metal fraternity during the 1990s, reborn after the hilarious yet upsetting rockumentary in 2008 and yes, still using that fucking dildo to solo with when playing live! It would be fair to say that with the exception of Metal On Metal, a true metal anthem, Anvil has always been a mid-table league one team. Solid, with the occasional foray towards the higher levels, but usually drawing a few thousand and rarely creating a stir. Ignoring all trends and changes, Anvil’s sound is distinctive, resilient and totally insulated against any change. Anvil Is Anvil is probably the most appropriate title ever written. Anvil Is Anvil is album number 16 for the band that with the exception of bass player has reminded consistent from day 1. There is much to applaud about a band that has stuck to its guns, no matter what. Lemmy would approve (indeed there is a well travelled rumour that Lips was approached to replace Fast Eddie in Motörhead but that he turned it down). So what about the most important thing in all this. Oh yeah, the music. Well, let's be fair. Lips, that's Steve Kudlow to you and his drum partner Rob Reiner know how to write a meat and two veg no frills metal track. Runaway Train, Up, Down, Sideways, Ambushed and It’s Your Move are all meaty hooked no-nonsense rockers which contain the most excellent drumming from maybe the most underrated drummer in metal. Reiner doesn't let up throughout the album, double bass pedals constantly battering away. Meanwhile newish bassist Chris Robertson delivers some deadly bass lines which fire in low.

Anvil don't shy away from a bit of social commentary either; Die For A Lie goes in hard on religion whilst Gun Control is a poignant and relevant social commentary about their American cousins addiction to their right to bear arms. As usual with Anvil, Lips’ guitar work is great, face melting solos and huge riffs add the heavy to heavy metal. And there is always a couple of totally dire tracks. Opener Daggers And Rum has a chorus that rhymes “scurvy scum” with ”Daggers and Rum”, ridiculous lyrics and Zombie Apocalypse is just dreadful. Heavy metal by numbers. But set aside some minor gripes and Anvil is Anvil is actually a perfectly listenable release and one which you can't help but grow to enjoy, even if it is only because in the background you have two guys who have literally sold their souls to Rock ‘n’ Roll, as documented in the final two tracks, Never Going To Stop and You Don't Know What It's Like. A true homage to their dedication and commitment to a genre which is cruel and merciless. I've seen Anvil live several times and they do entertain to a point. With this release, their world is unlikely to change but supported by an excellent production Anvil is Anvil maintains their relentless output and contains some incredible drumming. God bless ‘em. 8/10

Ancient Spell: Forever In Hell (Minotauro Records)

Los Angeles, California is not a part of the USA readily associated with the heavy doom rock of bands like Ancient Spell. Formed in 2012, Forever In Hell is their second release, following 2013’s self-titled debut. Unfortunately, the production on this is unbelievably poor, muffled and distorted to the point where I thought it was recorded in the bathroom on a submarine whilst the recording equipment was still on the shore. Struggling through the mix, Ancient Spell did little for me. Whilst the music was solid, with lots of meaty riffs, the vocals of Donnie Marhefka leave a lot to be desired. There is screaming and growling a plenty in metal, and to the outsider there is probably little difference between the guttural delivery of Bolt Thrower’s Karl Willet’s and Bloodbath's Nick Holmes. However, if the vocals take away from the crushing power of the music, then all is lost and I’m afraid that’s what’s happened on Forever In Hell. Despite the poor (and I mean rubbish) sound, underneath it all Ancient Spell have a decent 70s heavy rock sound which is just destroyed every time Marhefka opens his mouth. Beyond The Gates is probably the best example of this, with a brooding atmospheric track promising much and then being trashed by such poor delivery. Disappointing. 4/10

Subsignal: The Beacons Of Somewhere Sometime (Golden Age Records)

Released late in October 2015, Subsignal’s fourth full release oozes quality. The band who were formed in Munich in 2007 deliver high quality progressive rock with an innovative edge. Perfectly clean vocals with the harmonies of 1980s Yes combine with intricate time changes and songs that soar and sweep as the album develops. Arno Menses is the vocalist and one of the founder members of the band, and he possesses a quite excellent voice; strong and powerful with full control. The album opens with the short instrumental Calm, which segues neatly into Tempest, a seven-minute epic with some quite beautiful playing, a rocky underbelly hidden in amongst the swathes of synths and layered construction. Tempest is followed by A Time Out Of Joint which opens with a killer riff before a more melodic, almost pop feel takes over with a sing-a-long chorus and a quite delicious hook. The track evolves in a very measured way, moving through a progressive keyboard solo and some stunningly delicate guitar work from Markus Steffen, the other co-founder of the band.

With all bar one track extending over the six-minute mark, this is not an album which can be rushed. Indeed, at over 65 minutes in length, this is a piece of work which needs to be savoured. The Beacons Of Somewhere Sometime contains a real mix of styles. And The Rain Will Wash It All Away had elements of the best melodic outfits around with a hint of Magnum and more than a nod to Gabriel era Genesis. A relaxing middle section contains a saxophone and classical guitar face off before the harmonies kick back in. Ashes of Summer has real shades of Yes but with a slightly heavier AOR emphasis whilst shortest song on the album, A Myth Written On Water is the most reserved track, with Menses’ vocals combining with some orchestral strings and Steffen’s simple classical guitar work before the song opens into a perfect melodic rock track, subtle keyboards, clear melody and harmonies and a dynamic lead guitar solo and then closes in similar fashion to how it began.

Everything Is Lost features a colossal riff which matches the acoustic work whilst the composition has more than a passing nod to elements of What About Love by Heart. The drum work is solid yet not overpowering whilst once again the keyboards intertwine perfectly with the other sounds. At over eight minutes long this is the lengthiest track on the album and as it climbs you can at times hear sections of classic Dream Theater. The middle break slows the pace completely with military style drumming before more string work introduces a heavier style break, complete with rocking guitar solo. The album closes with a four part working of the title track which features Maelstrom, The Path, In This Blinding Light and A Canopy Of Stars. The four parts link together to form a progressive epic, moving through a range of melodic and progressive rock elements which build towards a gloriously triumphant crescendo in A Canopy Of Stars which contains elements of early Hogarth era Marillion as well as some mid 2000s Coheed And Cambria. Subsignal are not going to be to the taste of all; in fact, the regular resemblance to Yes and Jon Anderson in particular may put some people off. Regardless, this is a classy release which sits in the upper echelons of a very crowded league. 8/10

Karybdis: Samsara (Beasting Records)

London death metallers Karybdis have been around since 2009 with a steady line-up. Their second release Samsara is a no-holds barred melodic death metal monster which mixes elements of the death metal sound with the aggression of the metal-core movement. Samsara opens with Roshach, a fully in your face all guns blazing track which immediately acquaints you with Rich O’Donnell’s gruff vocal delivery; a real mix of Parkway Drive and In Flames. Forsaken picks up the baton with a battering ram of drumming from Mitch McGugan and the melodic yet killer duel guitar work of Pierre Dujardin and Harsha Dasari as well as O’Donnell’s throat shredding screams. Although Samsara feels a little repetitive at times, the band has made large strides to incorporate some differences in their sound with orchestral arrangements on Constellations and an atmospheric introduction to start Ascendency.

A sedate opening lulls you into a false sense of security during Mermaids before the concrete heavy riffs and speed drumming smash you over the head. Summon the Tides is one of the stand out tracks on this sophomore release with orchestral and choral backing moving the band into Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septicflesh territory. This is a powerful release which leaves you in absolutely no doubt about the band’s direction. Superb drumming, hugely heavy riffs and brutal singing ensures that if you like a mix of the metal core and melodic death this is a release you need to hear. 7/10

To Wither: Dreamfall

Mix the melancholic of Katatonia and Swallow the Sun with the introspective approach of Alcest and elements of Wintersun and you have To Wither. A two-man project from Nordland, Norway, Simon Larsen (Guitar, Synth and Bass) and Isak Hetzler (Drums, Vocals) have produced a pretty decent 40 minutes of progressive metal. With lyrical themes of the human mind, dark thoughts and sorrow you should be able to establish the sound that the band aim for; Passionate drumming, intricate time changes and fragile but clean vocals and harmonic guitar work. With more than a passing nod to progressive rock giants Opeth (especially on Winter which ebbs and flows in a similar vein to some of the Swedes more intricate work) the emotion and passion that To Wither include in their work is impressive. The time changes are as familiar as an old friend and yet have a freshness about them that is captivating. Worth checking out. 7/10

Reviews: Holy Grail, Persona, Lugnet

Reviews: Wolfmother, Iggy Pop, Lissie

Another Point Of View: Parkway Drive (Review By Lee)

Reviews: Last In Line Vs Resurrection Kings (Review By Paul)

Reviews: Issak, Holy Grove, R.I.P (Reviews By Paul)

Reviews: Avantasia (Monster Review By Matt)

Reviews: Exhumer, Obscura, Demonstealer (Reviews By Paul)

Reviews: The Cult, Myrath, Simo

A View From The Back Of The Room: Kataklysm (Review By Paul)

A View From The Back Of The Room: Thunder

A View From The Back Of The Room: Symphony X

A View From The Back Of The Room: The Cult

A View From The Back Of The Room: Devilskin

Reviews: Beyond The Black, Ethereal Riffian, Wisdom

Reviews: Inglorious, Exmortus, Sage's Recital

Review Number 666: Enzo & The Glory Ensemble, Metratone, God Syndrome

Reviews: Voivod, Delain, Hällas (EP Round Up)

Reviews: Redemption, Now Or Never, Blackhour

Reviews: Monster Truck, Anvil, Ancient Spell (Reviews By Paul)

Reviews: Subsignal, Karybdis, To Wither (Reviews By Paul)