Phil Campbell: Old Lions Still Roar (Nuclear Blast) [Paul H]
Whilst he’s been plying his trade with the Campbell cubs with aplomb for the past couple of years, underneath it all the Motörhead guitarist has been itching to deliver his own solo work from many years. “This is something I wanted to do many years before Motörhead finished”, he told his label Nuclear Blast. “I talked to Lemmy about it many times and he always encouraged me. It just never came about because we were touring so relentlessly. But I kept the odd idea and riff from way back and never abandoned the idea. Now I felt the time was right to do it.” And it is a fine release as well. Ten tracks which vary in style immensely. Opening with the autobiographical Country style Rocking Chair, played beautifully on a Gibson from the 1940s with Leon Stanford (The People The Poet) delivering the heartfelt lyrics which are sure to bring a tear to the eye to even the most grisly Motörheadbanger: “I’ve seen the rocks, whiskey and Jack, I’ve had some knocks, I want my best friend back, Just to play it one more time, playing in a rocking band”
Whilst he’s been plying his trade with the Campbell cubs with aplomb for the past couple of years, underneath it all the Motörhead guitarist has been itching to deliver his own solo work from many years. “This is something I wanted to do many years before Motörhead finished”, he told his label Nuclear Blast. “I talked to Lemmy about it many times and he always encouraged me. It just never came about because we were touring so relentlessly. But I kept the odd idea and riff from way back and never abandoned the idea. Now I felt the time was right to do it.” And it is a fine release as well. Ten tracks which vary in style immensely. Opening with the autobiographical Country style Rocking Chair, played beautifully on a Gibson from the 1940s with Leon Stanford (The People The Poet) delivering the heartfelt lyrics which are sure to bring a tear to the eye to even the most grisly Motörheadbanger: “I’ve seen the rocks, whiskey and Jack, I’ve had some knocks, I want my best friend back, Just to play it one more time, playing in a rocking band”
With a stellar cast providing the vocal support, this is a celebration of one of rock and metal’s finest guitarists. Straight Up has the Metal God Rob Halford on the microphone and sits as close to the work that Campbell has done with the Bastard Sons. The stoner stomp of Faith In Fire is perfectly set up for the roar of Orange Goblin’s Ben Ward, Campbell’s gritty riffing as always underpinned by that bluesy feel that we’ve grown to love over the past 30 years or so. A full out rocker, this is one that really gets the pulse racing with the energetic vibe and power. There isn’t a bad song on this album. The sleaze of Swing It features none other than ol’ black eyes Alice Cooper, and I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the best songs Cooper has been involved with for a long time.
“A good song is a good song”, said Campbell, “and obviously, there are some good classic rock songs on my solo debut. Yet, there are a few experimental songs that could be seen as a departure from those people who primarily know me from my work with Motörhead which I am extremely proud of and always will be. But in most cases a musician is more than just one specific style. And on this album, I spread my wings a little bit here and there.” Nowhere is that truer than on the smouldering Left For Dead, seamlessly set up for the velvet tones of Hand Of Dimes’ Nev McDonald, who does a fine job with his emotion-soaked vocals. It’s the quality of the songs that make this album and Left For Dead is a classic example of a song that defines Campbell’s desire to demonstrate he is more than the guitarist in the loudest band in the world. A sweet, heartfelt solo underpins the song, with McDonald, another Welsh treasure, giving a masterful performance.
Plenty of changes of pace too, with the thumping Walk The Talk, a punk-tinged stomp which has Mondo Generator’s Nick Oliveri’s barnstorming performance whilst there was only one singer for the raging These Old Boots, the mighty Dee Snider whose huge performance is as over the top as anything he’s ever played on. Whitfield Crane pops up for the raucous Dancing Dogs (Love Survives) whilst the melancholic Dead Roses, dominated by a mournful piano allows Newport’s own Benji Webbe to deliver one of the performances of his career. The beautiful acoustic instrumental Tears From A Glass Eye with added harp closed this wonderful album and proves that when it comes to quality, the old lion can still roar with the best of them. This is an essential listen. 9/10
1349: The Infernal Pathway (Season Of Mist) [Paul H]
Formed in 1997, The Infernal Pathway is the seventh album from the Norwegian black metal outfit whose current line-up consists founding members vocalist and former drummer Ravn and Seidemann on bass, alongside guitarist Archaon and Satyricon drum-legend Frost. The band has functioned as a four-piece since the departure of Tjalve after 2005’s Hellfire. Crammed full of intense black metal delivered very much in the old school style, 1349 have retained the ultra-fast aggression and soundscapes that they have been renowned for during the past two decades, defiantly carrying the old school sound and torch with a resolute determination. It’s been some wait since Massive Cauldron Of Chaos but this is a band who release music under their own terms. Deeper Still is symbolic of the speed and intensity of the whole band, but that’s no bad thing. Indeed, The Infernal Pathway is as ferocious and sonically charged a black metal album as you’ll find this year.
Ravn was quoted in Zero Tolerance’s last issue as saying that black metal didn’t need to sound bad, it needed to sound good and this is evident throughout this album with the raw sound still in evidence despite the improved production in comparison to the days of debut album Liberation. When the Munch Museum and Innovation Norway chose 1349 as one of four bands to create a song based on the paintings of Edvard Munch last year, the result was the single Dødskamp, and this album contains a version of that track amongst the 44 minutes and 11 tracks. Recorded in Amper Tone studios and Studio Nyhagen with engineer Jarrett Pritchard, The Infernal Pathway is brutal, fearsome and epic in equal measure, with the massive finale of Stand Tall In Fire a fitting conclusion. With a European tour with Abbath and Vltimas in 2020, 1349 remain an essential black metal outfit in a world where so many black metal bands struggle to forge their own identity. 8/10
Cynic: Traced In Air: Remixed (Season Of Mist) [Rich Oliver]
“A good song is a good song”, said Campbell, “and obviously, there are some good classic rock songs on my solo debut. Yet, there are a few experimental songs that could be seen as a departure from those people who primarily know me from my work with Motörhead which I am extremely proud of and always will be. But in most cases a musician is more than just one specific style. And on this album, I spread my wings a little bit here and there.” Nowhere is that truer than on the smouldering Left For Dead, seamlessly set up for the velvet tones of Hand Of Dimes’ Nev McDonald, who does a fine job with his emotion-soaked vocals. It’s the quality of the songs that make this album and Left For Dead is a classic example of a song that defines Campbell’s desire to demonstrate he is more than the guitarist in the loudest band in the world. A sweet, heartfelt solo underpins the song, with McDonald, another Welsh treasure, giving a masterful performance.
Plenty of changes of pace too, with the thumping Walk The Talk, a punk-tinged stomp which has Mondo Generator’s Nick Oliveri’s barnstorming performance whilst there was only one singer for the raging These Old Boots, the mighty Dee Snider whose huge performance is as over the top as anything he’s ever played on. Whitfield Crane pops up for the raucous Dancing Dogs (Love Survives) whilst the melancholic Dead Roses, dominated by a mournful piano allows Newport’s own Benji Webbe to deliver one of the performances of his career. The beautiful acoustic instrumental Tears From A Glass Eye with added harp closed this wonderful album and proves that when it comes to quality, the old lion can still roar with the best of them. This is an essential listen. 9/10
1349: The Infernal Pathway (Season Of Mist) [Paul H]
Formed in 1997, The Infernal Pathway is the seventh album from the Norwegian black metal outfit whose current line-up consists founding members vocalist and former drummer Ravn and Seidemann on bass, alongside guitarist Archaon and Satyricon drum-legend Frost. The band has functioned as a four-piece since the departure of Tjalve after 2005’s Hellfire. Crammed full of intense black metal delivered very much in the old school style, 1349 have retained the ultra-fast aggression and soundscapes that they have been renowned for during the past two decades, defiantly carrying the old school sound and torch with a resolute determination. It’s been some wait since Massive Cauldron Of Chaos but this is a band who release music under their own terms. Deeper Still is symbolic of the speed and intensity of the whole band, but that’s no bad thing. Indeed, The Infernal Pathway is as ferocious and sonically charged a black metal album as you’ll find this year.
Ravn was quoted in Zero Tolerance’s last issue as saying that black metal didn’t need to sound bad, it needed to sound good and this is evident throughout this album with the raw sound still in evidence despite the improved production in comparison to the days of debut album Liberation. When the Munch Museum and Innovation Norway chose 1349 as one of four bands to create a song based on the paintings of Edvard Munch last year, the result was the single Dødskamp, and this album contains a version of that track amongst the 44 minutes and 11 tracks. Recorded in Amper Tone studios and Studio Nyhagen with engineer Jarrett Pritchard, The Infernal Pathway is brutal, fearsome and epic in equal measure, with the massive finale of Stand Tall In Fire a fitting conclusion. With a European tour with Abbath and Vltimas in 2020, 1349 remain an essential black metal outfit in a world where so many black metal bands struggle to forge their own identity. 8/10
Cynic: Traced In Air: Remixed (Season Of Mist) [Rich Oliver]
Traced In Air is a very revered album in metal circles and its relevance is quite rightly deserved. It was the second album by Cynic released back in 2008 and was their first release following their reformation after a hiatus of 15 years and saw the band virtually sever all ties with their death metal past and incorporate jazz times signatures with progressive metal riffs producing a truly progressive and technical masterpiece. 11 years later and Traced In Air has been revisited not just receiving a remaster but a full remixing courtesy of Adam Getwood of Periphery with brand new bass tracking by bassist Sean Malone. The difference is a fuller bodied sound with more low end and just a generally cleaner mix to it.
Tracks such as Evolutionary Sleeper, The Unknown Guest and King Of Those Who Know now sound absolutely crystal clear. There are a few minor adjustments from the original with the harsh vocals completely buried in the mix and perhaps even totally removed. Fans of Cynic will lap up this remix. There are those of course who will deem this an inferior product to the original but the original mix is still there to enjoy. I personally think the original of Traced In Air has aged well and a remix wasn’t wholly necessary but it is nice to hear these songs with an extra depth of clarity. The remix doesn’t detract from the original at all and whatever version you listen to it is still a wondrous piece of progressive metal. 8/10
Tainted Lady: Sounds Like Freedom//Feels Like War (Self Released) [Steve Haines]
This is the second album from the Danish five-piece following on from 2017’s How The Mighty Have Fallen. From the opening bars of Building A Machine, it sounds very solid. The whole album is a refreshing take on classic rock. In the band’s own bio, their sound is described as ‘rebel-rock’ but like any label without a backstory, what does that mean? If this album is anything to go by, I would describe it as sleaze rock with a bass and drum-fuelled driving impetus. As with most rock albums, there are faster songs and slower songs and while the lyrics can sometimes be a little stilted, there is enough shift from the norm musically to set it apart from the average. Even the ballad Little Bird with its clichés of somewhat cheesy lyrics and even the dreaded harmonica solo is eminently listenable. The other out and out ballad is Hey Mr Music Man which carries a haunting quality and its layered vocal melodies give it a texture that ballads rarely have – though the guitar similarities to Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Road Trippin’ was a little off putting!
Tainted Lady: Sounds Like Freedom//Feels Like War (Self Released) [Steve Haines]
This is the second album from the Danish five-piece following on from 2017’s How The Mighty Have Fallen. From the opening bars of Building A Machine, it sounds very solid. The whole album is a refreshing take on classic rock. In the band’s own bio, their sound is described as ‘rebel-rock’ but like any label without a backstory, what does that mean? If this album is anything to go by, I would describe it as sleaze rock with a bass and drum-fuelled driving impetus. As with most rock albums, there are faster songs and slower songs and while the lyrics can sometimes be a little stilted, there is enough shift from the norm musically to set it apart from the average. Even the ballad Little Bird with its clichés of somewhat cheesy lyrics and even the dreaded harmonica solo is eminently listenable. The other out and out ballad is Hey Mr Music Man which carries a haunting quality and its layered vocal melodies give it a texture that ballads rarely have – though the guitar similarities to Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Road Trippin’ was a little off putting!
There are some tracks that feel like fillers: Fever Dream, Flowerchild and Revolution (Love Pollution) are not on the same level as the other tracks, but even these tracks set a very high bar, they’re just not as good in my opinion. For me, the stand out track of the whole album is Down To The River which opens as a folk-rock track that builds to a pounding rock track and manages to maintain both sensibilities through the song. Overall, I really enjoyed this album and it was different enough to make me take notice. It is an album that is well worth investing in and if the band can capture this sound and energy in a live setting, their gigs would be well worth going to. Good job, lads or as they say in Denmark: gode jobkammerater. 8/10