Musipedia Of Metal

Meatloaf: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

So the Neverland Express makes last stop in the UK after few cancelled shows it was all or nothing for this final show on the UK leg of the Last At Bat Tour. Luckily this is Meat Loaf who despite advancing years and declining health will never give less than 100%. This was all Meat for two hours. With an intro tape of The Beatles When I'm 64 its clear that Meat Loaf doesn't take himself seriously and is quite aware that to still be selling out venues at this age is a feat. The first song was from the newest album Hell In A Handbasket and opened the show with the hard rock gusto of Runnin For The Red Light (I've Got A Life) before it segued into Life Is A Lemonwith its primal cry of "I want my money back!” For these first two tracks the sound was muddy (par for the course in the Motorpoint) but it cleared up as the piano and sax led rock and roller Dead Ringer For Love got the audience clapping and singing along with aplomb, the hard rocking continued with If It Ain't Broke Break It and the modern classic of Los Angeloser. Mr Aday still has a powerful voice although not as good as it used to be however he still gives 110% in his performances making sure that the pomp is ramped up to its full. He is also backed by a superb band with long-time associates guitarist Paul Crook, drummer John Miceli and vocalist Patti Russo (who has more costumes changes than an entire West End show!) it's his band that save the missed notes on many occasions and keep your spirits high throughout. Then it was time for the final three tracks from the first set, first was the newer track The Giving Tree which is a great ballad with a rocky end but pales in comparison to the soaring reflective super ballad Objects In The Rearview Mirror... before the almost train-like chug of Out Of The Frying Pan (and Into The Fire) and with a flash of colour the first part was over, the screens that had been broadcasting images throughout interspersed with the original music videos faded to black with the words "Intermission" followed by "Next...Bat Out Of Hell".

Yes Meatloaf and Jim Steinman's seminal debut album in its entirety and while the songs were spaced out with excerpts from the "Behind The Music" special, the songs themself still packed the punch they did back in 1977. From the opening keys of the title track through its 9 minute runtime the crowd were in awe singing along with every line before clapping along to the vocal break in You Took The Words... Meat then was joined by Justin Avery on piano and started to cry as he told the story of Heaven Can Wait (how genuine this was I don't know seeing as it was replicated every night, however he did seem moved) before the rock began again with All Revved Up With No Place To Go. the crowd were eating out of his hand by now fully enthralled by the magic happening on stage, on to the modified country ballad of Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad before the vaudeville duet of Paradise By The Dashboard Light and then it was time to end with the rarely aired For Crying Out Loud. When Meat introduced this track he started talking about Jim Steinman and again he began to cry (!?) but you can see why as Meat without Steinman is really not the same (as many of his albums have shown) so as the final crescendo of For Crying Out Loud the crowd were on their feet in rapturous applause. Then for the encores (not finished yet folks!) another huge cheer greeted I Would Do Anything For Love...which was followed by Boneyard a very heavy song that was a bonus track on the iTunes edition of Hang Cool Teddy Bear, the song showed off both Patti Russo's vocals but also Justin Avery (who has a great voice) and then burst into solos halfway through before adding the solo from Skynyrd's Freebird and ending in a reprise of All Revved Up... and with that it was no more the thank you’s came and went and the final tour (as yet) was all over in a standing ovation. yes he hasn't quite the voice anymore but his band compensate for this, but for entertainment purposes alone Meat Loaf is in a league of his own, not bad for a self-confessed "65 year old man with a busted knee" 10/10

Paramore: S/T (Fuelled By Ramen)

Paramore is the first album the band have written and recorded since the Farro brothers rather public and venomous departure. Hayley Williams recently told us Paramore listens as "a diary of the last year" covering much “emotional ground”. Examples of this can be found on the first track Fast in My Car in which Williams sings 'Been through the ringer a couple times/I came out callous and cruel'. What follows is a mature, articulate, and wholly entertaining walk through the minds and emotions experienced by the band throughout the last year. The crunching guitars and layered synths of first single Now hits us right between the eyes before we are lulled into the quirky pop dream that is Grow Up perfectly summing up Williams and the bands current mind-set, that ‘some of us have to grow up sometimes’. Second single Still Into You displays the band at their catchiest, a piece of sweet addictive pop with slick production and lyrics you can really sing along to. As you can tell, plenty of genre hopping can be found on Paramore. Tracks such as Daydreaming treat us to shoegaze influenced anthemic stadium rock, whilst Part II display the trademark Paramore sound, only refined by the fantastic production from Justin Meldal-Johnson (Gnarls Barkley, Beck, Nine Inch Nails). But for me the stand out track and a personal favourite of mine Ain’t It Fun perfectly sums up Paramore’s evolution. The track is something new and fresh, with a gospel choir lending their powerful vocals to a rousing finale. It shows us that Williams and Co are really having fun experimenting and utilizing every instrument, sound, and idea in which to channel the highly emotive content of every song. In a week where the album went number 1 in both the USA and the UK it’s hard not to see its appeal. Paramore’ explores new and exciting territory that may confuse some but delight many, summing up what has been a turbulent couple of years for the band. But if there is anything to be gained by all that life experience, its music in its purest form, good, honest and most of all fun. 10/10

Within Temptation: The Q Music Sessions (Roadrunner)

A covers album from a symphonic metal band? Well that's what you get from Dutch band Within Temptation's new record recorded for Q Music radio in The Netherlands this is a selsction of tracks from various genres but mainly pop, all done in the style of the band. First is a cover of Bruno Mars' Grenade which has the big powerful hooks that WT are known for and sounds like a pulsating rocker that would be at home on their most recent album. As usual Sharon Del Adel's vocals are superb and the band add a metallic crunch to the more radio friendly tracks. The cover of Titanium is excellent and actually shows that David Guetta's writing sounds better with real instruments. The production varies as does the sound quality as these are cut from a radio show but that doesn't matter with some well chosen songs to cover, like the rocked up version of Lana Del Rey's Summertime Sadness which still maintains the orginals haunted vocal delivery but replacing the strings with some pulsing keys. Radioactive too is transformed into a euro-pop/metal anthem (the orginal is by Imagine Dragons) by the bands symphonic metal chug. Crazy (Gnarls Barkley) is now a restrained piano ballad. WT have made these songs their own with the lesser known tracks sounding like orginal compositions. They even do a good job with Behind Blue Eyes (much better than Limp Bizkit's version) turning it into a searing ballad full of remorse and a killer solo. This is a good stop gap album and won't be to everyone's taste but it's a good collection of well chosen covers. 7/10

Orchid: The Mouths Of Madness (Nuclear Blast)

Orchid are a Californian doom metal band and as such they sound like Black Sabbath, as well as Pentagram, Sleep and even the modern retro riffage of The Sword. But mainly Sabbath, this is blatant wholesale copying but if you are going to copy make sure you do so from the best. With down tuned fuzzed up riffage, voodoo drumming, some heavy bass and the pulsating synths of frontman Theo Mendell who has a gritty rock voice that works well with the retro styled heavy metal. The Sabbath influnces is at it's biggest on Marching Dogs Of War which has the reverbed vocals of Ozzy and some Iommi-like guitar and Geezer style bass riffage. Despite the Sabbath stealing Orchid also sound very American having a destinctly Californian sound coming with elements of surf rock as well as some hazy psych that comes straight from The Grateful Dead. This is a good album but it just doesn't seem to have the spark and the typically English love of the occult, as I have said the band sound a lot like Sabbath and if you like them (and if you don't I forbid you to read this blog!) then you'll like The Mouths Of Madness but just remember Iommi and co. still exist and they don't need to be replaced just yet. 7/10

Sacred Gate: Tides Of War (Metal On Metal Records)

"Spartan's What Is Your Profession!?" is the chant that reverberates around the festivals of England in the wee hours, it refers of course to the famous line from the film 300 which is set during the heroic battle between the Greeks and the Persians. Despite how annoying this chant can be it seems that Sacred Gate have taken as an influence and based Tides Of War around the legendary battle as well. However it may also be that this is a cool story to turn into an album and that two of the members are from Greece. The instrumental opening has all of the orchestral gusto of a historical epic soundtrack before the distinctly German Teutonic riffage kicks in on The Immortal One. Guitarist Nicko Nickolaidis riffs like a demon and pulls out some sweet solos too, he shows his prowess on the instrumental riffest of The Final March. He is ably backed by some strong percussion from drummer Christian Wolf and heavy rhythym from bassist Peter Beckers. Like I said this is a concept album so it follows a story meaning that lyrically it is very rigid to the story of the battle but musically the band sound like a lot like Iced Earth with their riff heavy delivery and the powerful Halford like vocals of frontman Jim Oliver (albeit without the Earth shattering screams). With tracks like the pulse quickening Gates Of Fire (which has some intensely melodic guitar lines), the power (metal) ballad Never To Return, the thrash ferocity of Spartan Killing Machine and the grand finale coming with the 12 minute The Battle Of Thermopolyae which encompasses all of the hallmarks of the Iron Maiden epics. This is a great album if you are fan of real heavy metal so grab your Corinthian Helmet, strip naked and get ready to dine in hell! 8/10

Counting Crows/Lucy Rose – Colston Hall, Bristol 20 April 2013

A welcome return to the lovely Colston Hall in Bristol and something a little lighter for a change.

Laura Marlin

23 year old Laura Marlin is a folk/indie folk singer from Warwickshire. She made her way onto the stage in an unassuming manner and proceeding to play a half hour set which consisted of tracks from her debut album Like I Used To. She was backed by an extremely competent group of musicians who allowed her to take centre stage. So, what is the music like? Well, a number of influences are clear; elements of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young are evident and comparisons with Anna Calvi and Lene Marlin would not be unkind; there were also elements of PJ Harvey present. With an unassuming but captivating stage presence, Lucy spent the entire set seated centre stage with her guitar and appeared genuinely delighted that the already packed venue provided her with well-deserved applause after each song. She was canny enough to acknowledge that the audience were not there to see her and her self-depreciating humour went down very well. If you fancy a bit of chilled out folk/pop then she is well worth checking out. 8/10

Counting Crows

The main event and two hours of the highest quality musicianship from California’s Counting Crows followed. Led by the energetic and extremely charismatic Adam Duritz the Crows already had a sold out Colston Hall completely won over. Opening with Sullivan Street the band cruised through 18 songs with ease. Duritz is such fantastic singer with a great range, and the band are all consummate musicians. The interchanges throughout were breath-taking at times, with virtually every member of the band change instruments, the only exceptions being Jim Bogios on drums and the excellent lead guitarist Dan Vickery. The set list contained five cover versions, not surprising given the band’s reputation for doing this. Still, you don’t often hear covers of Teenage Fan Club (Start Again) or Grateful Dead (Friend of the Devil). What you do expect from the Crows is Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell) and this was duly played towards the end of the set.
Other highlights? Well, fans favourites Round Here , Hangin Around and Mrs Potter’s Lullaby were all brilliant, with Round Here especially enjoyable as it always substantially extended by Duritz who put in an inspired vocal performance. Throughout the show the band appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, with much interplay and fooling around. Of course, a band that has sold over 20 million albums should be pretty tight. The rhythm section of Bogis and Millard Powers kept everything ticking along and the triple guitars of Vickery, David Bryson and David Immergluck ensured that the guitar based sound of the band was at the forefront of their sound. You can hear the bands influences throughout; Van Morrison, REM, Dylan and The Band are all evident but the live performance reminded me massively of The Eagles which is no bad thing. They finished with Rain King and Holiday in Spain to a massive and deserved ovation. A welcome break from my usual metal nights and highly recommended. 9/10

KREATOR & EVILE @ HMV FORUM LONDON

EVILE

So after making the long trip to London to get to this gig my excitement was getting stronger and stronger the closer it got. One solitary night where I would get the opportunity to behold Evile; the future of British thrash, and the one of my favourite bands Kreator; the past present and future of German thrash. Arriving just in time to see Evile breaking into their opening song of the set Cult, the lads from Sheffield powered their way through this catchy single with the ease I have come to expect from the foursome, hooking in the crowd with its brilliant chorus who responded with a loud ovation when the final note faded. Next two new tracks from Evile’s forthcoming album Skull, the songs of choice were Underworld and Head Of The Demon. Both songs were riddled deeply with the thrashing undertones Evile have become known for, but unfortunately lyrically, the songs were dull and very alike, meaning the crowd were visibly becoming disinterested including myself. Following a brief aside between Ol and Matt it seemed they decided to hit the crowd with what is usually their final song… The Thrasher. This instantly dragged the crowd back into a giant pit and back on Evile’s side. The final two songs consisting of Five Serpents Teeth and an encore of which was now In Dreams Of Terror were despatched by the lads perfectly, and kept the crowd going strong leaving the band with a loud chanting exit. Once again Evile showed to many their onstage class and pedigree to entertain. The set length for a main support slot was disappointing, but this didn’t really matter as this at times was loud brutal British thrash at its best. The only concern I had was the overwhelming mutual reaction to the two new tracks that were presented, if this is the best the new album has to offer it could be worrying for the band… we will have to wait and see. 8/10

KREATOR.

The main event loomed and the anticipation of the crowd grew as the set was constructed in front of us, the finished result appeared to be satans evil lair… so the ideal place for a band like Kreator to launch this brutal assault of sound. As the stage lights dimmed and a dull red light ascended upon the stage a murky mist of smoke grew, followed by the much-anticipated Mars Mantra opening music that Kreator have used so well for many years. The mere sound of the first few notes sent the crowd to the top of their voices, and then slowly, one by one Miland, Jurgen, Sami and Christian took their positions on stage starting their musical bombardment with the brilliant title track Phantom Antichrist without a moment’s hesitation. The crowd lapped up the pure thrash that was being delivered with pits opening up all around and air guitars by the handful could be seen. With little time to waste the German collective threw themselves into two more tracks back to back, treating the crowd to flawless renditions ofFrom Flood Into Fire and fan favourite Enemy Of God. A brief pause and introduction followed before lead singer and guitarist Miland attempted to warm up the crowd for then next few songs that were to come, a mix of old and new including the likes of Phobia, Civilization Collapse and Hordes Of Chaos from 1986 all of which were supported by copious amount of smoke and steam cannons along with awesome thunder crack sound effects. Again Miland and Jurgen try to increase the vocal response from the crowd without too much effect, and notably to their annoyance at times. Nonetheless they carried on to deliver a hauntingly brilliant performance of my personal favourite Voices Of The Dead, during which smoke and dim lights filled the room. Again, with little hesitation Kreator ran straight into more classic old school tracks such as People Of The Lie and Pleasure To Kill, giving the crowd a feast of thrashing riffs, drums and perfect vocals to feed from. The movement in the room was unanimous and it stayed like this until Miland stopped the crowd and demanded they separate and prepare a venue-sized wall of death ready for the bone and ear-breaking track… Extreme Aggression. The crowd duly delivered. After leaving the stage there were mild attempts of chants to urge the German legends back to the stage but again, the crowd seemed reluctant to become vocally involved. Despite this, Kreator returned and dived straight into a brutal four track encore that included Betrayer, Violent Revolution and the song which every soul the HMV forum had been waiting for… Flag of Hate. (Miland of course supported the decades old flag of hate flag) The crowd’s physical passion was clear to see, with every body in the forum donating themselves to the thundering music that Kreator delivered. This, perhaps, was the reason for the poor vocal input from the crowd. Nevertheless, Kreator left the stage with a rye smile on their face knowing they had done a outstanding job and left behind them a slightly weaker building and a musically battered and yet beaming crowd. From a musical and performance point of view this was without doubt the greatest concert I have been to, but the lack of vocal support from the crowd did take the shine away from a mind-blowing performance of Kreator. I will forgive this as Kreator gave every shred of power and brutality they had on stage, and the crowd returned the favour with a physical show of appreciation I have never seen before. 10/10

Darkwater: Where Stories End (2010)

Where Stories End is Swede's Darkwater's second album and it is a far more direct approach to progressive metal than their debut was (if that's possible with prog). On the whole Darkwater have a style similar to that of Symphony X combining speed metal riffage with big keyboard runs and some powerful vocals from frontman/guitarist Henrik Bath. Things get off to flying start with the eerie keys of Breathe before the heavy guitar crunch kicks in, this is where the bands strength lay the keyboard and guitar interplay is excellent Magnus Holmberg's keys and orchestrations are dominant but not overpowering meaning that the guitars of Bath and Markus Sigfridsson can pull out some very heavy riffs especially on the 8 minute plus Why I Bleed which twists and turns throughout. For a band with only two albums these songs are very strong the instrumental passages are excellent and the vocals are also very, very, good. With tracks like the brooding Into The Cold, the evil A Fools Utopia and the very Dream Theater sounding In The Blink Of An Eye. Where Stories End is a very good album that will appeal to Symphony X fans and also fans of the darker side of progressive metal with some meaty riffs, classical keys and very strong vocals. 8/10

Innerwish: No Turning Back (2010)

A Greek power metal band formed by a virtuoso guitarist; sound familiar? However Innerwish are a band that may always be in the shadow of Gus G and his world conquering crew but despite this Innerwish deliver some top quality power metal that if I'm honest, sounds like Firewind a lot like Firewind. This is their fourth and most recent album and it is also probably their strongest. The Firewind comparison is clear from the opening riff of Signs Of Our Lives which has the dual guitars of founder member Thimios Krikos and Manolis Tsigkos shredding through some galloping Euro power metal style riffage backed by some blasting drums from Terry Moros and some very good keys and synths from George Georgiou (no Bob Katsionis style dual playing here!) all of this is topped by some very technical solos from Krikos and the strong and very European vocals of Babis Alexandropoulos (great name!). Like I said this is top quality power metal with some crunchy riffs and melodic solos and yes it does sound a lot like Greece's premier power metal band and this is not really a bad thing as if you are going to imitate then imitate the best, but with Firewind looking for a new singer this could be Innerwish's time to step out of the shadow and into the light! 8/10

Forever Never: S/T (2009)

Forever Never are a melodic metal band hailing from Essex and this was there second (and final) album. They mix tight, downturned, breakdown heavy, metal with massive melodic choruses and some electronic elements on tracks like Eradicated. The band are all very professional with the some progressive riffage coming from the guitars of George Lennox and an incredibly heavy bottom end from bassist Kevin Yates and drummer Sam Curtis on opener Empty Promises andT.I.T.S. However the bands ace in the hole is vocalist Renny Carroll who has an incredibly good voice equally adept to the soaring melodic clean parts of Broken Kingdom and the ballad of Lost Kingdom as well as having a strong scream on tracks like Break The Trend. Carroll's vocals are simply awesome and he is the perfect vocal foil for the heavy and melodic music as his vocals are so strong when screaming and when singing. This a great album full of huge melodic rock choruses and some massive metallic riffage. Forever Never is a great sophomore album from an underrated British metal band that proved to be not only their grand finale but also it became their magnum opus. 9/10

Saxon at O2 Academy, Bristol 28 April 2013

Many readers will know the anticipation I was experiencing for this gig. After popping my gig cherry 31 years ago, Saxon will always be incredibly special to me.

Redline

Openers Redline, formed in Birmingham in 2006, took to the stage to a reasonable crowd. Unfortunately they proceed to play 30 minutes of mediocre hard rock which did absolutely nothing for me. Vocalist Kez Taylor did his best and demonstrated a reasonable vocal range, but the rest of the band had absolutely no stage presence. This, combined with some appalling dress sense (when were red camouflage trousers ever popular?) meant interest quickly waned although there was a fascination watching them akin to rubber necking at a car crash. I’ve researched them on the web and found a comment which stated “if you want something to compare them to, simply classic hard rock like Chariot with some heavier moments of journey thrown in!” Well, that sums it up nicely. 4/10

The Quireboys

Now, whatever you think about Spike and the boys, one thing they don’t lack is stage presence. Whilst many of my party were not particularly keen, I actually really enjoyed them. The Quireboys have been around since the early 80s and I’d actually forgotten how many of their songs I knew. They’ve always been in my peripheral vision, but I’d forgotten songs like Tramps and Thieves, Mona Lisa Smile and This is Rock n Roll were actually theirs. As they crashed through a nine song set, their main influences of The Faces and The Black Crowes were clear. Keyboard player Keith Weir was superb, enhancing their real rock n roll approach. The twin guitars of Paul Guerin and Guy Griffin added real swagger to their songs and the rhythm section of Dave Boyce and Matt Goom anchored the sound. What struck me most was how much fun the band were having, wide grins on all of their faces and Spike enjoying some banter and storytelling with the very healthy audience. By the time that they got to the final three songs, the sing-a-long Hey You, Mother Mary and their chart hit 7’O’Clock the crowd were really engaged. The complete opposite of Redline, The Quireboys had experience, style, charisma and presence. They were thoroughly enjoyable and great to watch. They would have had a 9 but for the fact that they teamed up with Joe Elliott as Down ‘N’ Outz. That will always get a demerit in my book. 8/10

Saxon

And so to the main event: House lights dimmed, and the intro track on Sacrifice, Procession played out to a capacity crowd. Saxon launched straight into Sacrifice followed by Wheels of Terror from the new album. The crowd were in fine voice, with new songs welcomed as keenly as the old classics. Classics? There aren’t many bands around today with a back catalogue of classics like Saxon. Tonight these included The Power and The Glory, Heavy Metal Thunder, Motorcycle Man, Conquistador, And The Bands Played On, Rock n Roll Gypsy and one of their most famous, the cover the Christopher Cross track Ride Like the Wind. Biff was in fine form, earning bonus points by acknowledging that there might be “few in from Wales” which was met by a massive roar from the large Welsh contingent in the audience. I always forget how heavy Saxon are live, but Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt’s guitars soon reminded me, with some brilliant soloing and riffing. Nigel Glockler’s drumming was effortless and combined superbly with Nibbs Carter’s bass lines to keep the momentum. Saxon played a very healthy number of tracks from the new album, all of which came across well in the live setting. Guardians of the Tomb, Night of the Wolf, Stand up and Fight were well appreciated. I did have to laugh at the sight of Paul Quinn with a double neck six and 12 string guitar for Made in Belfast though; He isn’t Alex Lifeson that’s for sure. You know what you get with Saxon, and sure enough, apart from the tedious drum solo which lasted about eight minutes, the rest of the set ws stuffed full of old school brilliance. Wheels of Steel, Dallas 1PM and 747 led to a killer encore of Strong Arm of the Law, Denim and Leather and finally Princess of the Night, which I’m not ashamed to say brought a little tear to my eye. A night of solid old school British Heavy Metal, performed by a band that mean so much to many UK metallers. Roll on Steelhouse. It’s going to be blinding! 10/10

Deep Purple: Now What?! (earMusic)

Deep Purple two words that are forever engrained in the minds of rock and metal fans, much like their peers Sabbath and Zeppelin they are band that will always be held in high regard. Deep Purple have weathered their fair share of changes both stylistically and in their line up and are still releasing albums. This is their 19th album and their first since 2005's Rapture Of The Deep much has changed since then the biggest being the loss of founder member organist Jon Lord who died while the album was being made, his replacement; veteran Don Airey, does his best Lord impression throughout providing some Hammond riffs and solos as heavy as any guitar and are especially prevalent on opener A Simple Song which explodes into a massive middle after a subdued intro and also manages the organs and indeed orchestrations are at their peak on the doomy Weirdistan. The orchestral theme continues on Out Of Hand which sounds an awful lot like Perfect Strangers stylistically, albeit with better production (something which can be attributed to Bob Ezrin), Out Of Hand is also Steve Morse's first introduction pulling out a killer guitar solo. Deep Purple are at a point in their career where they can mix things up a bit (and have never been afraid to) so when tracks like the funk filled Body Line (shades of the Mark VI line up) and the lounge jazz of Blood From A Stone. The band also stretch out their musical muscles on the proggy Uncommon Man which is based on the Fanfare For The Common Man and as such means the song sounds like ELP (who famously covered the original). As with all Purple records the performances are brilliant with THAT rhythm section of Ian Paice and Roger Glover dictating the pace, the aforementioned leads of Morse's guitar and Airey's keys and the still excellent but less ear shattering vocals of Ian Gillan all showing that they are still very much part of why Purple are still making records. Despite this Now What?! still has some weak points; first single Hell To Pay sounds like a Purple pastiche, Après Vous which is just the band in cruise control and the pseudo horror of Vincent Price is just hilarious (which might be the idea). Despite this these tracks are still stronger than a lot of current bands ideas. Still when a band have been going since 1968 and have released some of the most influential albums in rock history then it will always be hard to rediscover that magic. On Now What?! Purple aren't threatening to top In Rock, Machine Head or Stormbringer but that was never the intention. What they have done is added another good album to their collection and shown that even after all these years they are still relevant and are still capable of producing some quality music. 7/10

Malefice: Five (Transcend Music)

Reading modern metallers Malefice are back and once again they are bringing their distinctly heavy brand of British metal to the masses. Five is a 7 track EP designed as a stop gap to tide fans over until the next full length (and give them some new stuff to play in the live arena). Things kick off with the thrash arpeggio riffage of V which is bolstered by some electronic backing and some heavy as hell breakdowns. The Great Deceiver shows the more melodic side of the band which shows off Dale Butler's excellent vocals and has a massive gang vocal chorus. Malefice sound enthused on this EP but there is something more they also sound like they are finally able to grab the brass ring, the guitars are tight peeling off razor sharp riffage, the drums pummel and the bass rumbles your bones, all of which shows that Malefice have honed their skills over long touring cycles to become an excellent band and this EP is a testament to that. With this new maturity the band can afford to open up their sound a bit by bringing in a djent style palm muted riff on Never Say Die and on Wasted they have aimed at arenas with its massive chorus hook add to this the piano based instrumental of Time and altogether you can see that Malefice have become a real jewel in the British metal crown and if this EP is anything to go by their fourth full length may be their masterpiece. 8/10

Sacred Mother Tongue: Out Of The Darkness (Transcend Music)

Northampton natives Sacred Mother Tongue return after a long gap with their second album. A few of the tracks were already featured on their EP A Light Shines released earlier in the year so I'm not going to focus so much on these songs (http://musipediaofmetal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/reviews-kiss-sacred-mother-tongue.html) Instead I'm going to focus on the rest of the album and for the most part it's riff heavy modern metal with some fantastic melodic solos and vocals. Ah yes the vocals gone are the screams from the debut and in their place frontman Darrin South gives his best clean vocal performance not that this is a bad thing as he truly has an excellent voice however many may lament the loss of the screams. These people can rest assured however that the band have lost none of their aggression, the drums of Lee Newell kick like a mule on tracks like the opener Demons and Just A Ride he is aided in his rhythm method by bassist Josh Gurner who provides the heavy bottom end in tracks like A Bird In Hand. The shit kicking rhythm section is the perfect foil for guitarist Andy James who can pull out muscular riffs from nowhere and then wows with his tight concise but extremely proficient and technical soloing that never strays into fret wankery. Evidence of this can be seen on the thrashy A Light Will Shine, the Maiden-like Believe and on the melodic opening to Bleeding Out (before all hell breaks loose). SMT have managed to create an album that merges metallic ferocity with some huge hard rock hooks (mainly from South’s vocals) and they seem to be in a transition period much like Trivium were a few years ago (a band they share a lot of similarities with) much like the Floridians emerged as world beaters so too will SMT if they keep this up. 7/10

Tracer: El Pistolero (Mascot Records)

Australia's Tracer come back with their second album of grunge influenced hard rock. The trio have gone all Mexican on this album with four tracks making up the Suite Del Desperado which is a concept based around the titular gunfighter with the opening title track we are back on familiar territory with some fuzzy bass from Michael Rhodes (replacing Leigh Brown, subsequently replaced by Jett), some hard hitting drumming from Andre Wise and the bluesy riffs and Chris Cornell-like vocals of Michael Brown, who shows his guitar chops on Dirty Little Secret which goes straight into the heavy bottom end of Dead Garden before the Suite Del Desperado is picked up on the acoustic Mariachi-style Ballad Of El Pistolero and the slightly psychedelic Santa Cecilia (which makes it sound very like QOTSA). The suite ends with the penultimate track the hazy Until The War Is Won, but it is proceeded by the ZZ Top boogie of Wolf In Cheap Clothes the woozy verses of Scream In Silence which bursts into a heavy chorus and the Middle Eastern influenced Hangman. This second album is not a massive stylistic difference from their debut, and it still blends Soundgarden, QOTSA and heavy blues rock together to create some hard rocking tunes and some tuneful tracks that bring together melody and aggression. A solid album which does seem to be a little less immediate than its predecessor however after a few spins it opens up into a good rock album. 7/10

Purson: The Circle And The Blue Door (Rise Above)

Rise Above has always been the last bastion of the occult and the downright weird with the space prog of Astra, jazz rock of Diagonal, retro riffage of Gentleman's Pistols and the world conquering Ghost all coming from Lee Dorrian's record label. Newest to the roster are occult folk rockers Purson (who is The King of Hell apparently) despite this fearsome sounding name the band themselves play a unique brand of self-described "Vaudeville, carny, psych, prog" that brings together acoustic guitars, huge organs and mellotrons, along with some searing electric guitar and some defiantly witchy vocals from front woman Rosalie Cunningham (who also provides all of the former), the dreamy acoustics of Wake Up Sleepy Head bleed into the voodoo spiralling carnival soundscape of The Contract which has a menacing arpeggiated bass from Ed Turner. This is then followed by the frantic percussion of Spiderwood Farm and the Sailor's Wife's Lament which sounds like an evil Beatles track. Purson have managed to create some very evil sounding music full of occult imagery, dreamy soundscapes and some seriously good musicianship from Cunningham who is supremely multi-talented showcasing all manner of stringed and keyed instrumentation as well as having a voice to die for. Welcome to the kingdom of hell we're sure you won't want to leave. 8/10

Failure To Follow: Walk Away (Released through Bandcamp)

Bristol's FTF have come back swinging with their debut album Walk Away and much like their Wasting Away EP this is bone breaking British Hardcore with a very melodic edge. The band have added a guitarist and this shows with the instrumental opening bringing the atmosphere before the opening salvo of the title track brings some clean vocals from singer Tom Williams and some machine gun drums from Ollie Coghill providing a backing the melodic guitars of Harry Burrows and Russell Prosser. There is a definite growth on this on this record it's the sound of a band that have honed their craft in the live arena and have transferred this onto the record. Dogs Of Hell brings back the screams and has a killer breakdown at the end. The band have added yet more strong songs to their live arsenal with this record and images of Hardcore dancing and mosh pits come to mind with every snare hit, every bass rumble and every piercing guitar riff (and bluesy wah break on Retribution). This is a strong, professional album from a band doing it for the love, BCHC at its most focussed. 8/10

Killswitch Engage, Great Hall, Cardiff

Having already acted on my fan boy instincts, the afternoon of this gig was spent loitering outside the Doc Martens store, queuing to meet Mike and Jesse from tonight’s headline band. After this my friends and I made our way to Cardiff Uni, excitement already mounting.

Burn The Headlines

Taking my spot at the barrier soon after a long keyboard led intro brought in Burn The Headlines hailing from East England. The singer was attempting a shorter, podgy Ian Watkins look; these were awful from start to end. Playing bland hard rock with little in the way of hooks and a muddy sound hampering the lead guitarists attempt to salvage any credibility. Their (thankfully) short set drew nothing but polite applause from some and heckles from others 2/10

Heartist

Second up were Killswitch label mates from California, Heartist. This at least swung things over to the metal spectrum. Their take on metalcore wasn't original but were enhanced by some impressive high pitched clean vocals from their singer. Marks lost by their guitarist's attempt at "Rock n Roll", spitting water in to the crowd that mostly hit my eye! 4/10

Sylosis

Right, pretenders over next up were Reading bruisers Sylosis. The crowd noticeably gained momentum for these British heavyweights, inciting 2 walls of death and constant circle pits. A technical progressive take on thrash, this was where the heat really kicked in! Whipping up the crowd in to frenzy was exactly what was needed after a turgid first half. Many felt their set ended way too soon. 8/10

Killswitch Engage

And so for the moment many metalheads never thought they would see. Cheesy 80's pop tune (that I can’t remember) brought Adam D strutting a funky dad dance and the rest of the band following behind. They wasted no time in tearing the Great Hall apart with The Hell In Me, A Bid Farewell and Numbered Days. Any thoughts of Jesse not matching Howard lasted a microsecond. For 16 songs the Great Hall melted into one sweaty mass sing a long! The band were clearly enjoying their new relationship both musically and as friends and the crowd lapped it up as the band never let the intensity drop. Adam D's douchebaggery hasn't changed and watching him fire wristbands in to the crowd with a badminton racquet was one of a truckload of highlights. No album was left untouched but for most, hearing Jesse sing the Alive Or Just Breathing material were the ultimate magic moments. A stunning End Of Heartache gave the crowd and band a quick breather before coming back on stage to start a drinking game involving My Last Serenadeand swigs of beer every time a pinch harmonic was played. Even with Adam D squealing through the entire song the band finished it in style, leaving the crowd breathless, grinning and hoping the next trip to Wales doesn't take 8 years! 10/10

TesseracT: Altered State (Century Media)

So the British djent originators return with their second album, between the two albums TesseracT have been through two vocalists and have finally settled on Ashe O'Hara who makes his recorded debut on this release. Again the band focus on polyrhythmic, technical guitars coming from founder member Acle Kahney and James Monteith and some heavy palm muted bass from Amos Williams (who gets a bass break on Of Energy - Singularity), the drums too of Jay Postones are good too providing both the soft airy percussion on the more ethereal tracks like opener Of Matter - Proxy and second track Of Matter - Retrospect (which has a few nice little time changes in it to mix things up) as well as some big double kicked O'Hara's voice is suited to these ethereal songs as his high register delivery gives the tracks a ghostly feel. Like the debut this is a concept record with all of the tracks split into sections that relate to different states, because of this the record has a more of an esoteric feel than its predecessor starting out slowly before building, by the time Of Mind - Nocturne kicks in we are into metal territory with an upbeat djent riffage and some extremely strong vocals from O'Hara and an extended outro which is followed by the off kilter Of Mind - Exile which snakes through several time changes in its 8 minute plus run time. This second album has a more expansive soundscapes especially on the sax filled Of Reality - Calabi-Yau and goes much further than just being a djent album, with every listen you pick up another intricate guitar or bass riff, the band have managed to create a modern progressive metal masterpiece. 9/10

Battle Beast: Battle Beast (Nuclear Blast)

So Finns Battle Beast return with their second album and a new singer in the shape of the silver haired Noora who immediately shows her skills on the pulsing opener Let It Roar which wouldn't sound out of place on the last Stratovarius album. Noora is phenomenal talent her voice stretches between heavenly clean crooning and some screams that Rob Halford would have trouble hitting. On the musical front they still play the muscular traditional/power metal that would sound at home on a Sonata Arctica or an Accept album with some massive guitar riffs and solos from the two guitarists a bucketful of keyboards underpinned by some powerful bass and drums. Battle Beast have done one of the hardest things in music and made vocalist change for the better, Noora has a fantastic voice which suits the heavy metal style of the record that has made people call them a female fronted Dio. A comparison like that is apt because of tracks like Neuromancer and Out On The Streets which wouldn't sound out of place on a Dio album (the former having a Euro-pop backing that also lends them a bit of Amaranthe). Battle Beast is an extremely strong album that features some high quality heavy metal that rips and tears throughout threatening to explode out of the stereo with every track and it is topped by a phenomenally talented vocalist who can match the best metal singers out there note for note and some she walks all over! This is a trad metal experience par excellence! 9/10

Shooter Jennings: The Other Life (Black Country Rock)

So Waylon's baby boy returns with a new album from his new band The Triple Crown this is the follow up to last year’s Family Man whichsawthe Outlaw Countryman return to his roots but also he has merged this with the atmospheric rock styling’s of his side project Hierophant. From the spooky opening salvo of Flying Saucer Song which sounds like it has been taken off Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds, before moving into some mellotron backed train of thought vocal delivery. The second track A Hard Lesson To Learn is back to Jenning's country stomping grounds but with lashings of keys and organs from collaborator jazz pianist Erik Deutsch, he is just a part of Jennings' extremely talented backing band and shows his chops on The White Trash Song, while the rest of the band have that focussed looseness that comes only from country players. Jennings' himself covers a myriad of topics from heartbreak, to family, to religion his voice croons and roars in equal measure meaning he can move from forlorn to downright aggressive when he hits out at all the fake country stars out there on Outlaw You (Kid Rock beware!), Shooter Jennings has managed to create some fantastic songs on this album with the heart rendering sorrow of the slide-guitar and fiddle propelled title track, through the Yes styling’s of Mama, It's Just My Medicine to the blues rock of 15 Million Light Years Away (which features guest rasps in the from Black Oak Arkansas Jim Dandy). This is an album that draws from a wide palate but is rooted in the Southern roots of Shooter Jennings' heritage. 8/10

Queens Of The Stone Age:...Like Clockwork (Reckords Reckords)

So Josh Homme and his cavalcade of stoners, clowns and madmen return for their first album since 2008's Era Vulgaris and it is a return to more natural sound in juxtaposition to the electronic influences of the previous album. With Homme handles all the lead vocals as well as guitar, with Troy Van Leeuwen helping on the six strings, Dean Fertita handles the keys and Michael Shuman brings the bass. All of the playing comes across excellent as usual on the creepy and haunting opening track Keep Your Eyes Peeled which also features Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters) on co-vocals and opens the album with a restrained eerie vibe. The drums are split between three men: Frequent collaborator Dave Grohl, former drummer Joey Castillo and current drummer Jon Theodore. I Sat By The Ocean is a psychedelic rocker that features some fuzzed up classic QOTSA noise. The Vampyre Of Time And Memory is next this is a restrained piano ballad with some crackling synth behind it. If I Had A Tail is a milestone track as it is a features guest vocal from Arctic Monkey's Alex Turner, former member Mark Lanegan and most notably former bassist Nick Oliveri. Other guests are Trent Reznor on electronic swing of Kalopsia and Elton John, Reznor, Lanegan and Oliveri on the massive noise explosion of Fairweather Friends which has all of the QOTSA hallmarks along with John's stabbing piano. This is pulsing, brooding, psychedelic record that leads you on a magical mystery tour of musical adventure that is full of the hallmarks that QOTSA are known for an so much more and excellent record from a band that are still relevant and unique. 9/10

Airbourne: Black Dog Barking (Roadrunner)

Airbourne bring back the balls the rock once again with this their third album and this one merges their two previous releases bringing the straight up no nonsense rock of their debut with the slightly wider range on their second album (which if I'm honest was a little too long with 13 tracks and four bonus tracks too) This album kicks off with a chant and then the bursts into the rip roaring Ready To Rock which will be a live opener for a while and has a reprise of the chant in the middle of it. The first half of the record is taken up with songs like Animalize and Firepower coming off as vintage turbocharged Airbourne with songs of lust, sex and drinking, Back In The Game is a swaggering blues rocker that blows up into a massive solo. It's with the first single Live It Up that we get a hint of Airbourne's arena credentials as it kicks off with a cracking melodic opening guitar intro from Joel O'Keefe before working up into the classic frenzy which features one of the best pre-chorus I've heard in a while that will be a live staple for a while. This album is one that sees Airbourne bringing together their high profile tour experience and laying it down on a record meaning that it is paced like an Airbourne concert. As usual Joel's voice is a whiskey soaked snarl, the guitars of him and David Roads are classy and rocking and the rhythm section of Justin Street and Ryan O'Keefe is tight and metronomic throughout. Airbourne are that rare thing in life consistent, they know what they are good at and they stick to it yes the riffs are similar, the vocals don't vary but the songs rock like motherfuckers and really that's all you need from rock n roll. (See not a single mention of AC/DC...bollocks!) 8/10

Joe Bonamassa & Beth Hart: See-Saw (Provogue)

So the Queen of blues vocals and the King of blues guitar return for their second collaboration of soul, jazz and funk covers. Again Hart's voice is amazing throughout equally at home with the swinging horn filled jazz of openerThem There Eyes (originally by Billie Holiday) the raucous rock and roll of Nutbush City Limits and moves through the soulful spectrum on slow burners I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know and Strange Fruit. Duelling for supremacy with Hart's lush vocals is the guitar of Mr Bones which also goes through the several genre shifts showing off his chops on a variety of styles and each time inspiring and mesmerising especially on I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know. Through these 11 tracks you see just how good a vocalist Beth Hart is (Bonamassa's guitar prowess is a given) and after the first collaboration with Joey Bones she was propelled back into the limelight and now with a her first US released solo album in a decade under her belt she has teamed up with him again to show that these two records were no fluke. The two of them are backed by the same group that backed them on the first album with Blondie Chapman on guitar, Anton Fig on drums, Carmine Rojas on bass and a stinging horn section all of which is bolstered by the retro production of Kevin Shirley who adds his Midas touch to the record keeping it feeling fresh but also true to the original recordings. With this collaboration Joe Bonamassa has shown that he is a master of many genres and Beth Hart shows why she truly has an amazingly soulful voice. 8/10

Alice In Chains: The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (Virgin/EMI)

So this is the second album in AIC post Layne period and its a case of if it ain't broke don't fix it, this follows on immediately from Black Gives Way To Blue (which itself was a continuation of the AIC heavy grunge sound). From the opening downward dirge of Hollow all of the hallmarks are present, the dual vocals of Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, Cantrell's excellent lead work working it's way over the doomy metal rhythm, which is backed by Sean Kinney's drums and Mike Inez bottom heavy bass. Cantrell has been quoted as saying this album is unique in it's delivery but maybe I'm an idiot but to me it sounds like AIC of old, which is by no means a bad thing, but apart from the occasional Sabbath reference or hard rock tendency this is AIC's own brand of grunge with some classic rock leanings with the stirring guitar solo on Stone which surprisingly comes from DuVall not from Cantrell. This is an album full of some excellent songs like the aforementioned Stone as well as the atmospheric title track which builds to a massive crescendo before returning back to just stripped down guitars and the amazing and progressive Phantom Limb (which features another solo from DuVall). This is the second album of AIC's new age and if they continue in this vein then it looks to be as good as their original incarnation good stuff indeed 8/10

Kylesa: Ultraviolet (Seasons Of The Mist)

Sludge Metal masters Kylesa return with their sixth album and unlike their previous effort this album is more introspective and darker both lyrically and sonically. The band still have their own unique musical style with the twin vocal, twin guitar and twin drum assault leaving just bassist Chase Rudeseal as the only single instrument member. The dual drums work well on the bands sonic attack as they can bring a haunting percussive vibe to all the tracks and is especially prevalent on Long Gone. The drums are topped by the hazy and riff heavy guitars of Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasant's, both also contribute vocals however Pleasant's has the monopoly on vocals this time around with the album based on her personal tragedies, she does an excellent job having a wounded wail that infects the slower restrained tracks and also an aggressive Maria Brink-like roar on the more biting tracks like We're Taking This. With tracks like the full on chant of Unbroken the Lizzy-like dual guitars of Grounded and the punk rock styling's of What Does It Take. The band are clearly have taken their mantra of making every record different seriously as they have managed to make this one a dark, brooding, atmospheric record full of lazy psych, merged with some heavy metal riffage bolstered by some strong vocals and song writing. 8/10

Invictus: Unconquerable (Self - Released)

The first thing that strikes you about Invictus' debut E.P is that it is strong in terms of song writing and also from the production standpoint (debut production job from Seven Deadly's Archie Wilson) from the opening melodic guitar lines of Master Of My Fate (which have a similar sound to InMe). Then it builds into the double kicks and heavy breakdowns of modern metalcore. The band are a six piece and feature two vocalists both handle screams the one providing some black metal screaming and the other some more metalcore based growls and roars. However on the clean vocals they fall down a little with one having quite a good clean delivery but the others is a little flat in places which is noticeable at most on Lazarus. However the that aside the rest of the band have a good sound with some technical guitars laying beneath the heavy riffage and skull smashing drums they even have some progressive tendencies on final track Cimmerian. With a bit of refinement and some more experience the band could do well as it stands they have a good musical backing but are let down slightly on the (clean) vocal front. 6/10

Journey, Whitesnake & Thunder - Motorpoint Arena Cardiff

So another year another package deal featuring an opening band and a double headliner for a reasonable sum. This time it was on again/off again band Thunder, Dave Coverdale and his band of youngsters and the continuing resurgence of Journey. So with a night of classic rock ahead of me, myself and my friends piled into the Motorpoint.

Thunder

A band I have wanted to see for few years and finally my waiting paid off as with a hit of AC/DC's Thunderstruck and the band arrived on stage and plunged straight into Dirty Love looking like they'd never been away the guitars of Morley and Matthews riffed for their lives and Danny Bowes ran around the stage like a man half his age weaving his cheeky spell over the audience from the off and also treating us to some hardcore dad dancing. The hits continued with River Of Pain and the anthemic Higher Ground with every song the band oozed with talent with each member showing off their chops with particular praise going to Danny Bowes' voice which still is unbelievably strong and soulful. The band then launched into the guitar overdrive of Backstreet Symphony and the hard rocker The Devil Made Me Do It before the super ballad of Love Walked In. This was a short, sharp, shock of some sublime hard rock from the youngest band on this bill; let's just hope they stay together for a while yet. 9/10

Whitesnake

So ol' leather lungs burst into life after My Generation rang out through the arena they burst into life with Gimmie All Your Love and Ready And Willing. What immediately hits you is that despite the tight young band Coverdale can't really hit the notes but he still oozes rampant sexuality and prowls the stage like a panther. The wild swinging of the mic stand and the thrusting of hips were abound from the off. The set was a mix of classics and the two most recent albums, Can You Hear The Wind Blow from Forevermore blended into Don't Break My Heart Again before Gambler was unleashed in tribute to former members Cozy Powell, Mel Galley and Jon Lord. The lighters burst out in their masses for Is This Love before Coverdale went and rested while Reb Beach and the bleach blonde Doug Aldrich duelled and while both have talent it's Aldrich who really shines as the better guitarist of the two, the band returned with Steal Your Heart Away from Forevermore which featured a drum solo from veteran drummer Doug Aldridge who threw away his sticks halfway through an continued with his hands this was another break in proceedings but when Coverdale returned for Forevermore and sounded revitalised as they broke into the heavy metal sounding Best Years from Good To Be Bad before they started to wind things up at the end, Coverdale in full flight physically and vocally as they ran through the big hitters of Fool For Your Loving and Here I Go Again and then finally it was time for Still Of The Night which still remains the best song Zeppelin never recorded. An extremely noisy, hard hitting set of songs from the rock legends who built their set into a fitting crescendo that blew the audience away. 8/10

Journey

So with a slightly thinner crowd the opening keyboard pulse of Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) got the crowd moving from the off and started with a mass sing-along as Arnel Pineda blasted out the words with his superb voice that is every bit Steve Perry ever was if not better. The band were all on top musical form (as usual) but seemed a little rigid as if they were going through the motions, Pineda was animated as was bassist Ross Valory and keyboardist/guitarist Jonathan Cain however guitarist Neal Schon was stoic and almost silent throughout. It was from Separate Ways into Any Way You Want It and the cavalcade of hits continued through to Ask The Only and Only The Young and then this is where things came unstuck. I realise that this was a day before Memorial Day in the USA however for Schon to play the entire Star Spangled Banner backed by images of fireworks and the American flag fell flat on its face with the Welsh crowd who were stunned into silence, this meant that it was hard for Journey to recover from this faux par with the next few songs failing to connect no matter how much Pineda tried to incite the crowd to get excited again. It was with Lights and the splendid Open Arms that finally got the crowd back on side which went into Escape and Faithfully even at this late stage Schon still insisted on mucking about between songs adding some unnecessary instrumentals before things returned to normal with Wheel In The Sky (My personal favourite) Be Good To Yourself and then 'that song' the sing-along Don't Stop Believing which ended the set on a massive high. However for a band like Journey, who were supposed to be the headliner, to have so much stalling in their set is not very professional, the sound too was against them with every song sounding muddied and in places even quiet (compared to the previous bands) this all played against Journey despite the musical ability on offer. So all in all Journey were good but were let down by two factors the muddied sound and Neal Schon's ego. 7/10

Rush – NEC Birmingham 26 May 2013

Friends of mine will know that I have a small admiration for Canada’s finest power trio and, coming on the back of a magical three day visit to Venice, this was the perfect end to a spectacular few days. When Rush announced their UK dates almost a year ago, the cost of the ticket made me think twice if not three times before committing. However, as always, when the house lights dimmed and the anticipation rose, that dithering about whether or not to buy a ticket was dispelled immediately.

As the band headed on stage to a huge ovation (let’s face it they could fart Spirit of Radio and we’d love it) I realised once again that despite all their critics, this is one band who rarely play it safe. Opening with Subdivisions from Signals, the first part of the set was heavily based on the synthesiser era of the 1980s. Four tracks from Power Windows including the brilliant Grand Designsand Territories, two from Signals (Subdivisions and The Analog Kid) and another from Hold Your Fire (Force Ten) indicated that this was not going to be a greatest hits show (that was on the 30^th Anniversary tour). The first drum solo crashed in during the instrumental Where’s My Thing and the first set wrapped up nicely with Far Cry from the previous album Snakes and Arrows. As usual, there was plenty to keep you occupied; constant video backdrop changes, cartoons and close ups of the band in action, overhead shots of the Professor at work and random popcorn machines at the edge of the stage. These guys don’t lack humour, as demonstrated in the intro video and also at the start and end of the second half. Anyone who has seen the quite brilliant Beyond the Lighted Stage will appreciate that for all their professionalism, Rush really don’t take themselves too seriously. However, in terms of the quality of their music, they really are the most consummate professionals. Thunderous bass lines and ear splitting lead breaks make Rush a much heavier proposition live.

The second set started with the arrival of the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble, who proceeded to enhance nine songs from the 2012 album Clockwork Angels with an orchestral style. Remember what I said about playing it safe? Not this band. Not only did they play nine songs from a new album, but they rearranged Dreamline, Red Sector A and unbelievably YYZ to incorporate the violins, violas and cellos. That’s right, YYZ, the air drummer’s dream. Played with strings!! This time I only counted three full air drummers and no-one throwing and catching the imaginary stick which happened on the last tour, I kid you not. Rush closed with The Spirit of Radio which tore the roof off the LG, everyone singing alone with Geddy whose voice remains incredibly strong and able to hit all the notes (unlike a certain Snake). (Now, now! M) To complete the evening, we were treated to Tom Sawyer and then 2112, Parts I, II and VII. Three hours of the highest quality music, lighting, sound and overall entertainment. The comments made by Geddy at the end of the gig suggested strongly that nights like these will become much rarer in the future and once again I felt extremely privileged to have seen them again. Fingers crossed that they do cross the water again one day. It may well be the last chance and if so, I’ll finally realise my ambition to follow them around the UK. 10/10 (Sorry Matt, no surprise there!!)

Timo Tolkki's Avalon: The Land Of New Hope (Frontiers)

The former Stratovarius guitarist hasn't had much luck on the solo front since leaving the band he formed his Revolution Renaissance project tanked after three albums as did Symfonia his band that eh formed with Andre Matos. This apparently was the album that 'saved' Tolkki he says himself that he "sort of rediscovered myself musically" on this album. So has he? Well yes this is the strongest album since the Symfonia project. Things start off with driving Avalanche Anthem which features the three main voices on the album who are Symphony X's Russell Allen, veteran screamer Rob Rock and Amaranthe's Elize Ryd. The album is a concept that will work retrospectively over (hopefully) three albums Ryd is the main character (appearing on 6 out of the 10 tracks) and her voice is a perfect fit having the power and melody to fully compliment her billing. As for Rock and Allen they are both two of the best in the business and contribute to their songs excellently, the Allen parts make it sound similar to some of Arjen Lucassen's works with Ayreon and Star One though. Tolkki still stands up as an excellent guitarist with some lightning fast fret runs and some soulful phrasing, his production is also crystal clear and he has managed to recruit a glut of great musicians with all strings handled by Tolkki, drums come from Rhapsody Of Fire's Alex Holzwarth but it's with the keyboard players that he's gone all out on, Mikko Harkin also from Symfonia contributing the lion's share but both former BCC and Dream Theater man Derek Sherinian and current Stratovarius ivory tinkler Jens Johansson both add their two cents and duel on To The Edge Of Time. Vocally as well there is an all start cast with the aforementioned three main characters Tolkki has also wrangled help from Tony Kakko, Michael Kiske (hard to think of a concept/project without him) and Sharon Den Adel to fully flesh out the voices. However despite this being Tolkki's rediscovery, this album is a bit samey, it is full of galloping power metal with some orchestral backing (see soaring ballad I'll Sing You Home) but there are many doing this as well if not better, with a certain German coming to mind, still a good first whack that should see this last more than one album. 7/10

Blood Ceremony: The Eldritch Dark (Rise Above)

Blood Ceremony are psych/doom band from Canada and their third album is another slab of down-tuned, fuzzed up retro riffage that also has an incredibly folky sound that comes from front woman Alia O'Brien's liberal usage of flute. The band all cite Black Sabbath as an influence (what self-respecting doom band wouldn't) however they also are part Uriah Heep, part Fairport Convention and also have a lot of Jethro Tull hanging around too. The record kicks off with the open chord San Fran haziness of Witchwood which plunges into an organ fuelled creep that bursts into a heavy middle section that turns into a trippy progressive outro. With some heaving bass lines and good drumming from Lucas Gadke (who provides some vocals on the acoustic fire side incantation of Lord Summerisle) and Michael Gadke, the band tear through a set of excellent doomy tracks that are topped by some fuzzy riffage from guitarist Sean Kennedy, it's Alia O'Brien though that makes this album (and band) as her smoky vocals enchant and bewitch as she moves seamlessly from organ to that beguiling flute adding a unique stamp to every track. The tracks move from heavy weight doom, to floating folk in heart beat sometimes having both in one track, the fiddles of Ballad Of Weird Sister hark to Sandy Denny and company and the massive freak out of The Magician ends the album in suitably gothic style. This is another strong album from Blood Ceremony that shows that occult influenced rock is still an interesting and entertaining prospect. 8/10

Leprous: Coal (InsideOut)

Leprous have had something of a schizophrenic nature being both a fully formed band with their own identity and the backing for black metal legend Ihsahn, this style of extreme progressive metal is noticeable in Leprous music but they have a much more broad progressive scope encompassing rock, folk, jazz and metal and throwing it all into one album. This isn't a case of backing band going into the solo arena as Leprous have been releasing their own material under their own name since 2004 and this is their third full length album. The vocals and keys are handled by dreadlocked frontman Einar Solberg who has been Emperor's live key player since 2009 it is in Leprous however that we get to hear that as well as being a superb key player he is also has a very unique voice that is slightly operatic in the way Devin Townsend's is; drifting from high melodies see the church-like middle/final section of opening track Foe, through to the more scarred screams and croons of the darker more extreme tracks of like Chronic which features some superb blast beats and off kilter percussion from Tobias Ornes Andersen as well as some tight black metal riffs provided by Tor Oddmund Suhrke and Oystein Landsverk. One of the major factors of this record is that it is very progressive with every track differing in style so the middle of the album has a very melodic and euphoric ballad in the shape of the The Cloak which moves into the bass heavy breakdowns of The Valley which has a distinct electronic crackle behind it. With the extremely progressive nature of this record it brings to mind bands like Porcupine Tree, whereas the darker passages are Katatonia and obviously Emperor but there is also major influence of more mainstream prog bands like Muse in places, this is a very good album from an extremely talented band. 8/10

Evil Scarecrow, Counterhold & Darksite: Mojo's Newport

Into Newport for another night with Nottingham's premier purveyors of stupidly entertaining blackened metal, replete with silly names, silly costumes and silly songs. So it was into the bowels of Club Mojo (originally it was supposed to be 200 Club but this closed shortly before the gig) for a night of Stirling local supports and shameless masochism.

Arriving late we missed most of the set of openers Effigies Fate but from what I could hear, which was hard because of the poor sound that totally lacked bass, they were your typical modern metal fodder full of blast beats and screamed vocals.

Darksite

I last witnessed Darksite playing their final gig with their first singer. With a new vocalist in tow the Welsh groove metallers brought an uncompromising set of tracks full of heavy riffage and some screaming vocals that showed off the bands ferocity and their huge amount of talent. However they would have been much better had it not been for the sound which meant that they sounded very muddy and made their set blend into one long song which is a big shame. Despite this a nice warm up for the rest of the night and they managed to pull people into the venue to see them ensuring that for the next band there was a reasonable crowd. 6/10

Counterhold

Locals Counterhold were that next band and this was a case of deja-vu as they supported Evil Scarecrow last time they played South Wales in Cardiff. However this time they were joined by their lead guitarist Dave Birbeck who was missing last time. This added to the bands brand of powerhouse melodic metal as they had the dual guitar riffage (with Dave joined by Karl Silverthorn) and the band’s sound was complemented by a heavyweight rhythm section, special kudos goes to drummer Ryan who completed the gig despite being extremely ill. Ploughing through a set of strong songs including The Beast Within, Disease, Charred Remains and the awesome Children Of A Lesser God the band were clearly loving every minute and the hometown crowd were receptive and appreciated the bands tour worn professionalism. Throughout the set frontman Steve conducted the proceedings like a general prodding, poking and bellowing for the crowd to shout along before showing everyone how it should be done with his fantastic set of pipes. A well-deserved hometown victory for Counterhold who should get bigger as soon as their album (called All Of Them Slain) is released. 9/10

Evil Scarecrow

The sight of five people covered in costumes and ghostly corpse paint in the middle of dance club (complete with THREE! disco balls) is interesting to say the least but it added to the ridiculousness of Evil Scarecrow. After the intro on which many shapes were pulled the band dove straight into Choose Metal which showcased the scarred black metal guitars of Dr Hell and Brother Pain, the rumbling bass of Viking like Kraven Mordeth, the blitzkrieg drums of Monty Blitzfist and the atmospheric keys of Princess Luxury. This was perhaps the most serious song on the set list which rapidly descended into madness from second song Vampyre Trousers. There was then the epic War And Seek which features some great time changes showing that despite their parody metal tag they are all very good musicians. The in between song banter was funny and slightly surreal in place with however the band didn't have many of the props they usually do, still they managed to put on an excellent show with Helldog being followed by ThunderCat's Theme (which should keep the RSPCA happy). Then towards the end of the set Evil Scarecrow showed one of the major reasons for their success, they inspire lots of crowd participation, which varied from the Black metal claws of Morbid Witch the side to side scuttling of new track Crabulon, the crying and wailing of emo anthem Blacken The Everything, before things really kicked went mad with the synchronised(ish) Robot dancing to favourite Robototron which ended in a stage dive from Brother Pain at the end. For a band that are madder than a box of frogs, they had met their match in the Newport crowd who actively took up every chance to participate before masochistically calling for the Final Countdown cover which meant everyone had to can-can for the entire song. The band seemed a little overwhelmed by how nuts the audience was and when all was said and done both band and crowd went home happy. Another fine showing from one of the best live bands in the country they are consistently brilliant and leave you smiling from ear-to-ear and there aren't many bands that can do that! 10/10

(Just as a little side note the sound got better as the night progressed)

Anvil: Hope In Hell (The End Records)

Since their biographical expose Anvil! The Story Of Anvil, the Canadian metal bands have had something of resurgence in popularity. With Juggernaut Of Justice the band then saw their first release since 2004 and it was another slice of the bands hard hitting, tongue in cheek hard partying metal. This is there 15th album and it's an if it isn't broke don't fix it approach as even though long term bassist Glenn Five has left core members, frontman/guitarist Lips and drummer Robb Reiner still remain the main creative force, meaning that this album retains the classic Anvil sound of driving heavy metal all of which features some superb drumming from Reiner. Things kick off with the Sabbath-like title track before the pace picks up on the trashy Eat Your Words. This continues throughout with mid-paced heavy rockers mixing with the speedier metal passages meaning that the album mixes things up throughout but maintains the Anvil trad-metal sound with every song giving off the strong but familiar style and tone of some of Anvil's older material. Sure the lyrics aren't Shakespeare (in fact they are from it!) but this is no frills meat and potatoes metal at its best from a band that don't take themselves seriously, and yes some of the songs are a bit too silly in places but the Canadian comeback rolls on and the band still manage to churn out some big, dumb, heavy metal. So grab a beer (maybe a vibrator) disengage your brain and enjoy! 7/10

Children of Bodom: Halo of Blood (Nuclear Blast)

Alexi Laiho and his melo-death crew return a new album full of their particular brand of power metal influenced death metal. The band have been revitalised since Blooddrunk and this rise from the ashes continues on Halo Of Blood which starts with the keyboard powered Waste Of Skin that has the classic COB sound that is full of razor sharp riffs and Janne Wirman's excellent keys. The title track takes a different tack by going full death metal with furious thrash riffage and Laiho's scarred screaming vocals and it's from here that the pace rarely lets up with the odd time signatures of Transference through the keyboard driven Bodom Blue Moon (The Second Coming) before the mournful Dead Man's Hand On You shows that they can work well at a slower pace and still be a formidably heavy band. Laiho is still clean and the songs are still very song matching the bands hedonistic heyday with new found focus. Technically the album is flawless as usual with the twin guitars of Laiho and Roope Latvala providing the main power to the songs with the extremely dexterous playing topped by Laiho's fret melting solos, the drums and bass provide the living dead backbeat (sorry) and Wirman's speedy keys match Laiho's solo's perfectly contributing much to the band’s sound as they always have. Through these 11 tracks ending with the retrospective Crazy Nights COB show that they are still one of the best melo-death bands around. Yet again these Finns have created another strong album full of hard riffage and killer melodies that contribute to some excellent songs. 7/10

Artlantica: Across The Seven Seas (Steamhammer/SPV)

Artlantica are a new band and this is their debut album however when I first listened to them they sounded a lot like American prog metal crew Artension. After some research I found this is probably because this band features John West (sense a nautical theme?) on vocals and Roger Staffelbach both of whom were the vocalist and guitarist of Artension respectively, this album also features Artension bassist Steve DiGiorgio as the special guest bassist for the album. As far as the band's sound goes this is prime Neo-classical metal in the style of Yngwie Malmsteen, Symphony X and Artension (of course) that American bands seem to do very well. The songs feature lots of super-fast shredding, galloping bass and drums, melodic classical keyboard runs and some multi-octave vocals from West who has a superb voice. What hits you about this album is how strong it is, obviously Artlantica are not a 'new' band per-se but it is quite striking how accomplished they sound on what is essentially their debut album, they sound an awful lot like Symphony X who are one of my favourites so I was bound to like the album but with tracks like the Neo-classical rampage of Devout, You're Still Away, Fight For The Light and the piano-led ballad Ode To My Angel which shows off West's invocative range but also features a restrained but excellently played solo from Staffelbach who is a fantastic guitarist providing some supreme licks and serious soloing. Across The Seven Seas is a very strong neo-classical metal full of virtuosic playing but also some very strong songs which is the testament of a good band. Admittedly some may be put off by the ludicrous amounts of guitar solos, seen at their best on Demon In My Mind and on the instrumental Return Of The Pharaoh Pt.III or the helium fuelled vocals but if you are a fan of Artension, Symphony X or any kind of progressive, neo-classical metal then you will lap this album up in spades. Quality progressive/power metal that the Americans seem to do very well. 8/10

Christopher Lee: Charlemagne: The Omens Of Death (Charlemagne Productions Ltd)

With this being Sir Christopher Lee's second album I was expecting more of the symphonic style metal of his first Charlemagne album, unfortunately two things struck me when I pushed play, the first was that the narration and orchestral parts that made the first album very good had gone and they had been replaced by just the few guest singers and some strong Judas Priest style metal (which could be because the musical arrangements come from current Priest axe-man Ritchie Falkner) while this has streamlined the album, it does mean that it seems a little less like an event which suited the performance style of Lee, who is at his best when he has large film-like orchestral swells with a metal edge. The second thing that struck me is that this album isn't new, it is not a sequel to the first album I thought it was going to be. It's the same album; I mean EXACTLY the same, the same songs, in the same order (albeit with different names) with the same lyrics and guest singers as there were on the debut. This was very disappointing as it seemed a bit of a cop-out that this album is just a more metal rehash of the first album. yes the music is good and Lee has a very strong voice for a man of 91 but if this had been the debut then it would have been good however because the debut already exists this just seems to be money making exercise aimed at those who thought the first album wasn't 'metal' enough. 6/10

White Wizzard: The Devil's Cut (Earache)

White Wizzard have returned and they have changed their line-up yet again since their last album Flying Tigers with a new singer in the form of the screamer Joseph Michael, a new drummer and two new lead guitarists. The only member remaining is Bassist/rhythm guitarist Jon Leon who makes no bones about White Wizzard being his band which could be the reason for many line up changes but I digress. On the previous release White Wizzard split the album with half being their brand of galloping early Iron Maiden like heavy metal and the second half being more of their more progressive latter years. This album is shorter than it's predecessor but it mixes the more progressive aspects on the opening salvo of Strike The Iron which is full of time signature changes and lots of little electronic samples, the middle track of the slow burning Steal Your Mind and the final track of a 9 minute epic in the style of Hallowed Be They Name it's these three tracks that are the most progressive pacing the album excellently, the rest of the tracks are full pelt, rampaging heavy metal with Leon providing the meaty bass and rhythm guitar riffage, Giovanni Durst doing his best McBrain smashing and the twin leads of Jake Dreyer and Will Waller pull solo's galore on tracks like Lightning In My Hands, Storm Chaser and the title track. I do hope that White Wizzard maintain this line up for future albums as it is strong especially with vocalist Michael who has tremendous voice. Another strong album in the White Wizzard catalogue yes they are generic but they are also fun. 8/10

New Device: Here We Stand (Abstract Sounds)

London band New Device have come back with their first new album since 5 years and it's the same but different. The line up has changed but singer, songwriter, producer, guitarist Daniel Leigh remains and as New Device is his brainchild it's only proper that he does. As far as sound goes New Device are aiming straight at the American radio with a sound somewhere between Buckcherry, Metallica, Fall Out Boy (mainly from Leigh's vocals) and 30 Seconds To Mars. The band have a distinct heaviness with a three guitar attack providing the big metallic riffs on the title track, Away From Here, On Your Knees and Feel The Wrath but they also have some massive hooks especially vocally Leigh has a fantastic voice which are the obvious high point of the band. The band are not just about heavy hook filled metal they have a soft side as well with lots of chart bothering ballads like New York, the orchestral Do Or Die, and the massive arena anthem of Another Life which is where the 30STM influence comes in. In between this there are some more hard rock style tracks like the single Save Your Life which does have all the hallmarks of a number one. This album is a bit ballad heavy, which could be because of their aim to be arena headliners and if they keep evolving and mixing the heaviness with the more radio-friendly stuff then they will achieve that goal. 8/10

Black Star Riders: All Hell Breaks Loose (Nuclear Blast)

So the band that have been touring as Thin Lizzy had a reshuffle and a rename before releasing this album of new material, mainly out of respect for Lynott's legacy. This is a noble idea but the song, as Zep said, remains the same. That's right much of the musical output on this record is similar in style to Thin Lizzy's recorded output. With the only original member in the band being guitarist Scott Gorham it means that a lot of the dual guitar riffage he helped invent is present meaning that this coupled with Ricky Warwick's uncanny Lynottisms, this album has the Lizzy hallmarks. From the first four tracks this is obvious with the strutting title track opening things in strong style, before Bound For Glory is all hard rock bluster with a riff half inched from Waiting For An Alibi before the Celtic flavoured Kingdom Of The Lost makes everything sound very Emerald and also has a massive helping of Over The Hills And Far Away by former Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore, before the heavier delivery of Bloodshot makes everything go a bit like Massacre. Musician wise Jimmy DeGrasso does his best to be Brian Downey (who declined to take part in the recordings) providing the thunder (and lightning) on the heavy rockers and also a subdued backing on the slower, Marco Mendoza does what he does and provides some sterling bass work playing it like a six stringer, Gorham is as usual excellent but special kudos goes to Damon Johnson who is Brian Robertson, Gary Moore and John Sykes all rolled into one and also to Ricky Warwick who has a great voice with enough Lynott-like delivery to make it authentic but enough of his own grit to make his contribution more than just a cheap rip off. It's not all Lizzy though as Kissing The Ground You Walk On sounds like The Almighty but for the most part this is twin-lead flailing classic rock that has all the trademarks of the previous namesake. A rose by any other name? Very much so Black Star Riders are just classic rock class with a new moniker. 8/10

Buckcherry: Confessions (Eleven Seven Music)

L.A sleaze rockers Buckcherry return with a new album after their strong showing on 2010's All Night Long which took them back to their hard party attitude and this continues on Confessions but they also vary there sound too. The opening punky riffage and repetitive hook of Gluttony is pure rock and roll reverie and this continues on the violent Wrath but things slow down on The Truth for the album’s first power ballad. If you haven't guessed from two of the tracks this album is based around the Seven Deadly sins which become part of an overarching concept that encompasses the anti-capitalist cry of Greed,the piano and orchestral ballad Sloth, the country tinged exorcism of Pride and final one-two of the bass propelled Envy and the hard rocking Lust. As per usual the performances of guitarist Keith Nelson and vocalist Josh Todd are excellent with Nelson peeling off riff after dirty riff which are bolstered by Stevie D's rhythm playing as well as Jimmy Ashurst's snarling bass and Xaiver Muriel's wild drumming, at its most volatile on Seven Ways To Die. As usual Josh Todd is commander-in-chief with his unique voice leading the charge on all the tracks. This is a more adult album than the party hard ethos that was on All Night Long and their self-titled debut, the conceptual nature means that they can spread their musical wings a bit but still maintain their hard rock ethos and because of that this album is not going to be played in strip joints around the world (much like their hit Crazy Bitch has been) but it does show that the band have some serious musical chops and can adapt their sound if they need to. 7/10

Evile: Skull (Earache)

Four albums into their career and it seems Evile have to once again prove their thrash credentials after the 'mainstream' approach they took on Five Serpents Teeth and especially its first single Cult. Well it looks like the band have taken offence to the accusations of mainstream pandering as right from the off Skull tries to rip your face off with pure thrash fury, things kick off with the furious maelstrom of riffage that is Underworld which immediately lays out their stall with its Slayer like ferocity and stomping bridge that turns into some super-speed soloing from Ol Drake. In fact the King et al influence has been plain to see in Evile's albums since the debut and this album is the first since the debut to be faithful to the old-school thrash of Slayer, Testament etc. Underworld is an excellent start to the album hitting you like a battering ram right out of the gates before things continue on the title track that is driven by Ben Carter's drumming and tells of alien worlds and has a chant along middle section straight out of the Hetfield playbook. Speaking of Hetfield it is worth mentioning that Matt Drake's voice is at the best it has ever been on this record he truly sounds like a frontman now with a clear but rough edged delivery. Things slow a bit on The Naked Sun which features an acoustic intro and outro Head Of The Demon gets heads banging again (albeit slower than on the wind-milling openers). Evile have raised their game again on their fourth outing mixing everything they have learned together meaning that they can easily move from the furious thrash, to more complex arrangements like Tomb which has got a little whiff of One to it with the multi layered electric and acoustic guitars, slow burning opening and then the dramatic increase in noise where everything gets much louder before a massive solo brings things to a head. This is a strong album that shows that you can aim for success while still maintaining your underground roots and Evile have merged all their previous efforts together and thrown in a few nods to their influences to produce another excellent album. 8/10

The View From The Back Of The Room: Meat Loaf

Paramore (Guest review by Mike Chapman)

Reviews: Within Temptation, Orchid, Sacred Gate

Another Point Of View: Counting Crows (Reviewed By Paul Hutchings)

Another Point Of View: Kreator (Review by Nick Hewitt)

Out Of The Beyond 26

Another Point Of View: Saxon (Guest review by Paul Hutchings)

Reviews: Deep Purple, Malefice, Sacred Mother Tongue

Reviews: Tracer, Purson, Failure To Follow

Another Point Of View: Killswitch Engage (Guest Review By Steve Jenkins)

Reviews: TesseracT, Battle Beast, Shooter Jennings

Reviews: Queens Of The Stone Age, Airbourne, Joe Bonamassa & Beth Hart

Reviews: Alice In Chains, Kylesa, Invictus

A View From The Back Of The Room: Journey

Another Point Of View: Rush (Review By Paul Hutchings)

Reviews: Timo Tolkki's Avalon, Blood Ceremony, Leprous

View From The Front Of The Room: Evil Scarecrow, Counterhold & Darksite

Reviews: Anvil, Children of Bodom, Artlantica

Reviews: Christopher Lee, White Wizzard, New Device

Reviews: Black Star Riders, Buckcherry, Evile