Pink Cream 69: Headstrong (Frontiers)
Headstrong marks 30 years of German metal/rock band Pink Cream 69, founded by singer Andi Deris, guitarist Alfred Koffler, and bassist/producer Dennis Ward, they enjoyed a reasonably successful career despite Deris leaving to join Helloween in 1994. Since then they have forged ahead with David Readman behind the mic releasing albums every couple of years mainly due to Readman and Ward's numerous other projects and guest spots.
Throughout their history they have moved from metal, to rock, to AOR and now they have moved back into the melodic metal sound, their most recent effort Headstrong is a premium slice of melodic metal, layered with hard rock hooks and Readman's soulful vocals the music here is more Jorn than Whitesnake if you're comparing vocalists, crunchy riffs are the order of the day with the keys glistening over the top. See a tracks such as Path Of Destiny, We Bow To None both are rampaging tracks in the mould of Firewind, Walls Come Down are big chuggers, in fact the majority of this album is fist raising, getting you to bang your head with every riff.
Yes there are ballads the biggest of which is Vagrant Of The Night and the country-like The Other Man rounds out the record brilliantly. Headstrong is a cracking album I've played it multiple times and it doesn't diminish although the stand out track is the epic Man Of Sorrow. Pink Cream 69 have maintained a high level of releases throughout their lifespan as a band but recently their shift tot he heavier sound has seen them deliver some of their best records yet. 8/10
Jared James Nichols: Black Magic (Listenable Records)
Wisconsin blues rocker Jared James Nichols returns to the fray with his second full length record, his harder edged blues rocking has been honed in the live arena since the previous record and I must say he's on fire here, tearing his custom Les Paul 'Old Glory' to pieces and delivering his vocals with shot of whiskey as he leads this hard hitting trio rounded out by Dennis Holm (drums) and Erik Sandin (bass), Imagine a rocked up version of Stevie Ray Vaughn & the Double Trouble or Zakk Wylde jamming with Lenny Kravitz and you'd be in the right ballpark with Nichols.
His bluesy riffs are distorted but still shuffle, The Gun is great evidence of this sound, but they don't sacrifice the soul, check out the thundering talkbox fuelled Don't Be Scared or Honey Forgive Me a track with so much funk Glenn Hughes wants it back. He brings some Southern swagger of Home and Keep Your Light On Mamma has a leviathan stomp to it. Black Magic conjures up some very interesting electric blues rock that leaves you wanting more, these tracks have been developed for the live arena with the track times short enough for some sonic experimentation on stage, as a record though Black Magic casts a spell on you that isn't easily broken. 7/10
Daydream XI: The Circus Of The Tattered And Torn (Sensory Records)
Brazilian progressive/power metal band Daydream XI have returned for their second record. It's a concept piece that starts with a spoken word intro and an overture track, something that can be very annoying in today's shuffle generation, but for those of us that like to listen to a record front to back it draws you into the cinematic concept and with Open The Curtains it really hammers the virtuosity of the players involved, with the melodic touches of DGM and Circus Maximus fused with the heavier style of Symphony X or Pyramaze the record is a properly progressive affair, mood and time changes throughout, mind melting instrumental sections but also more importantly some canny songwriting chops to maintain the attention of non proggers.
Mortishead: Totality EP (Self Released)
I've Spent My Nights Terrified the intro to this record is probably the most disconcerting thing I've ever heard, it's David Cameron's "All In This Together" speech with the word "lies" screamed over the top of it. It's this anti authoritarian bile that Mortishead inject their songs with, they are here to bludgeon and their music is here to assault you. The Bristol/Portishead band have arresting visuals with the band taking on the persona of a dark parody of an authoritarian and malevolent totalitarian regime, but their music is truly brutal, this EP shows their extreme industrial metal at it's head bashing best huge grooves come through on Shitstorm while Aslaved Asleep has groove/thrash tenacity of LOG and Slipknot.
The riffs are down-tuned and heavy as lead, the drums beat you senseless but the band's real key are the schizophrenic synths and samples that add bite to the wall of noise and vocals so deep in the gutter Pennywise is scared of them. Mortishead bring the deep, dark and heavy with every song on this EP, it's an apocalyptic vision of the world from the album cover (from the talented Very Metal Art) right down to the disconcerting electronics that fizz at the lowest reaches of the record, after five tracks you're broken but want to do it all again, bring on the full length. 8/10
Headstrong marks 30 years of German metal/rock band Pink Cream 69, founded by singer Andi Deris, guitarist Alfred Koffler, and bassist/producer Dennis Ward, they enjoyed a reasonably successful career despite Deris leaving to join Helloween in 1994. Since then they have forged ahead with David Readman behind the mic releasing albums every couple of years mainly due to Readman and Ward's numerous other projects and guest spots.
Throughout their history they have moved from metal, to rock, to AOR and now they have moved back into the melodic metal sound, their most recent effort Headstrong is a premium slice of melodic metal, layered with hard rock hooks and Readman's soulful vocals the music here is more Jorn than Whitesnake if you're comparing vocalists, crunchy riffs are the order of the day with the keys glistening over the top. See a tracks such as Path Of Destiny, We Bow To None both are rampaging tracks in the mould of Firewind, Walls Come Down are big chuggers, in fact the majority of this album is fist raising, getting you to bang your head with every riff.
Yes there are ballads the biggest of which is Vagrant Of The Night and the country-like The Other Man rounds out the record brilliantly. Headstrong is a cracking album I've played it multiple times and it doesn't diminish although the stand out track is the epic Man Of Sorrow. Pink Cream 69 have maintained a high level of releases throughout their lifespan as a band but recently their shift tot he heavier sound has seen them deliver some of their best records yet. 8/10
Jared James Nichols: Black Magic (Listenable Records)
Wisconsin blues rocker Jared James Nichols returns to the fray with his second full length record, his harder edged blues rocking has been honed in the live arena since the previous record and I must say he's on fire here, tearing his custom Les Paul 'Old Glory' to pieces and delivering his vocals with shot of whiskey as he leads this hard hitting trio rounded out by Dennis Holm (drums) and Erik Sandin (bass), Imagine a rocked up version of Stevie Ray Vaughn & the Double Trouble or Zakk Wylde jamming with Lenny Kravitz and you'd be in the right ballpark with Nichols.
His bluesy riffs are distorted but still shuffle, The Gun is great evidence of this sound, but they don't sacrifice the soul, check out the thundering talkbox fuelled Don't Be Scared or Honey Forgive Me a track with so much funk Glenn Hughes wants it back. He brings some Southern swagger of Home and Keep Your Light On Mamma has a leviathan stomp to it. Black Magic conjures up some very interesting electric blues rock that leaves you wanting more, these tracks have been developed for the live arena with the track times short enough for some sonic experimentation on stage, as a record though Black Magic casts a spell on you that isn't easily broken. 7/10
Daydream XI: The Circus Of The Tattered And Torn (Sensory Records)
Brazilian progressive/power metal band Daydream XI have returned for their second record. It's a concept piece that starts with a spoken word intro and an overture track, something that can be very annoying in today's shuffle generation, but for those of us that like to listen to a record front to back it draws you into the cinematic concept and with Open The Curtains it really hammers the virtuosity of the players involved, with the melodic touches of DGM and Circus Maximus fused with the heavier style of Symphony X or Pyramaze the record is a properly progressive affair, mood and time changes throughout, mind melting instrumental sections but also more importantly some canny songwriting chops to maintain the attention of non proggers.
The band are the trio of Tiago Masseti guitar/vocals, Marcelo Pereira guitar, Bruno Giordano drums and guest bassist Benhur Lima, there musical chops are beyond reproach here, the record is incredibly cinematic, full of lush arrangements and terrific metal passages, it's very difficult to single out any one track though as they all contribute as part of the overall concept, if pushed though I'd say check out A Cup Of Agony to display how to be intensely progressive taking from both classic and modern prog metal while also having the brevity not to lose interest. The Circus Of The Tattered And Torn maintain's Daydream XI's incredible sound and bolsters it with the over the top nature of say the Ayreon project, it's a deeply conceptual piece, set to some incredible music. If you love progressive metal then you need this album. 9/10
Mortishead: Totality EP (Self Released)
I've Spent My Nights Terrified the intro to this record is probably the most disconcerting thing I've ever heard, it's David Cameron's "All In This Together" speech with the word "lies" screamed over the top of it. It's this anti authoritarian bile that Mortishead inject their songs with, they are here to bludgeon and their music is here to assault you. The Bristol/Portishead band have arresting visuals with the band taking on the persona of a dark parody of an authoritarian and malevolent totalitarian regime, but their music is truly brutal, this EP shows their extreme industrial metal at it's head bashing best huge grooves come through on Shitstorm while Aslaved Asleep has groove/thrash tenacity of LOG and Slipknot.
The riffs are down-tuned and heavy as lead, the drums beat you senseless but the band's real key are the schizophrenic synths and samples that add bite to the wall of noise and vocals so deep in the gutter Pennywise is scared of them. Mortishead bring the deep, dark and heavy with every song on this EP, it's an apocalyptic vision of the world from the album cover (from the talented Very Metal Art) right down to the disconcerting electronics that fizz at the lowest reaches of the record, after five tracks you're broken but want to do it all again, bring on the full length. 8/10