Violation Wound: Dying To Live, Living To Die (Peaceville Records) [Liam True]
So Hardcore Punk isn’t really my forte, but I don’t mind it. With Violation Wound however, it’s opened the door for me a lot more. Imagine Dead Cross mixed with early Black Flag and that’s VW. From start to finish it’s an adrenaline packed Punk masterpiece. Granted it’s not your typical Punk, but a new wave so to speak. With the aggressive vocals of Autopsy frontman Chris Reifert leading the band through the 31 minute assault on your senses you don’t get time to think, speak or even know what you’ve just witnessed. Don’t get me wrong I know it’s supposed to be that way for the feel of it, but the production lets it down a little bit for me. I just like my music to be less murky and more clear if anything. It’s a personal preference, but I know most Punk bands go for the muddy sounding approach to their records. But at the end of the album you’ll find yourself putting it back on repeat because it has a fair amount of re-listens until it gets to ‘samey’. Make no mistake, they need a little bit more fuel in the fire to become known, but they’ve hit the nail on the head with this record. 8/10
Mountain Of Smoke: Future Sins (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
This EP is available as a name-your-price download from Mountain Of Smoke's bandcamp so if you're a fan of heavy stoner metal similar to Orange Goblin then I'd suggest you pick this EP up as from the opening riff fest that is Trashcastle you get fuzzy, distorted riffs from Kyle Schutt a man who knows about riffs as his day job is a part of retro stoners The Sword. This is their first release as a four piece and while Schutt brings riffs locking in with Brooks Willhoite (bass and gravel-filled vocals) and PJ Costigan (drums) the most interesting part of this band is the pedal steel and synths from Alex Johnson who give this band and other world feeling take Plague Of The Powerless, yes the heavy reverbed bass is the main force the synths make it more unsettling. Things get weirder as the industrial instrumental Terminus build a Vangelis style soundscape into Zone Tripper which is heavily processed feeling like a synthwave number, though the last two tracks brings us back to more familiar ground. Mountain Of Smoke brings a unique take on sludge/stoner metal one that's worth investing in. 7/10
Solarys: Endless Clockworks (Wormholedeath) [Matt Bladen]
Solarys are modern melodic metal band and Endless Clockworks is their fourth album and their first since 2013. Now if you like bands such as Kamelot, Symphony X and Angra then you'll find much here, the synths underpin tough power metal riffs as the vocalist croons emotional lyrics. Now musically they are pretty basic, the guitarist is good but the vocalist doesn't really do much for me, he hasn't got much range and does warble a bit too much. As I said the guitar player Salvador Almagro is very slick, peeling off solos with ease as well as providing the stirring orchestral sounds for this album. As much as they try to aim for Kamelot etc, there are too many mid-paced numbers and nothing really sticks. Shame really as there is promise. 5/10
Beastial Invasion: Monomania (Nocturnus Records) [Liam True]
Power Metal has always been one of my my favourite genres. It’s cheesy. It’s catchy. And it’s pretty damn good. Beastial Invasion take it, and add hints of traditional Heavy Metal. It sounds like it would work, but it falls pretty flat to be honest. It’s not a bad album by any means, but the whole record seems forced, like the band aren’t being creative with each other, but just coming up with a tone and not improving on it. It does have some highlights with vocalist Vakhtang Zadiev showing some powerful vocals with the highs and growls he can reach. But that’s really it. It could be a lot better, but it could also be worse. Being on their third studio album you’d think they’d be more creative, but unfortunately not. Which is a shame because they do have potential. They just need to harness it. 4/10
So Hardcore Punk isn’t really my forte, but I don’t mind it. With Violation Wound however, it’s opened the door for me a lot more. Imagine Dead Cross mixed with early Black Flag and that’s VW. From start to finish it’s an adrenaline packed Punk masterpiece. Granted it’s not your typical Punk, but a new wave so to speak. With the aggressive vocals of Autopsy frontman Chris Reifert leading the band through the 31 minute assault on your senses you don’t get time to think, speak or even know what you’ve just witnessed. Don’t get me wrong I know it’s supposed to be that way for the feel of it, but the production lets it down a little bit for me. I just like my music to be less murky and more clear if anything. It’s a personal preference, but I know most Punk bands go for the muddy sounding approach to their records. But at the end of the album you’ll find yourself putting it back on repeat because it has a fair amount of re-listens until it gets to ‘samey’. Make no mistake, they need a little bit more fuel in the fire to become known, but they’ve hit the nail on the head with this record. 8/10
Mountain Of Smoke: Future Sins (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
This EP is available as a name-your-price download from Mountain Of Smoke's bandcamp so if you're a fan of heavy stoner metal similar to Orange Goblin then I'd suggest you pick this EP up as from the opening riff fest that is Trashcastle you get fuzzy, distorted riffs from Kyle Schutt a man who knows about riffs as his day job is a part of retro stoners The Sword. This is their first release as a four piece and while Schutt brings riffs locking in with Brooks Willhoite (bass and gravel-filled vocals) and PJ Costigan (drums) the most interesting part of this band is the pedal steel and synths from Alex Johnson who give this band and other world feeling take Plague Of The Powerless, yes the heavy reverbed bass is the main force the synths make it more unsettling. Things get weirder as the industrial instrumental Terminus build a Vangelis style soundscape into Zone Tripper which is heavily processed feeling like a synthwave number, though the last two tracks brings us back to more familiar ground. Mountain Of Smoke brings a unique take on sludge/stoner metal one that's worth investing in. 7/10
Solarys: Endless Clockworks (Wormholedeath) [Matt Bladen]
Solarys are modern melodic metal band and Endless Clockworks is their fourth album and their first since 2013. Now if you like bands such as Kamelot, Symphony X and Angra then you'll find much here, the synths underpin tough power metal riffs as the vocalist croons emotional lyrics. Now musically they are pretty basic, the guitarist is good but the vocalist doesn't really do much for me, he hasn't got much range and does warble a bit too much. As I said the guitar player Salvador Almagro is very slick, peeling off solos with ease as well as providing the stirring orchestral sounds for this album. As much as they try to aim for Kamelot etc, there are too many mid-paced numbers and nothing really sticks. Shame really as there is promise. 5/10
Beastial Invasion: Monomania (Nocturnus Records) [Liam True]
Power Metal has always been one of my my favourite genres. It’s cheesy. It’s catchy. And it’s pretty damn good. Beastial Invasion take it, and add hints of traditional Heavy Metal. It sounds like it would work, but it falls pretty flat to be honest. It’s not a bad album by any means, but the whole record seems forced, like the band aren’t being creative with each other, but just coming up with a tone and not improving on it. It does have some highlights with vocalist Vakhtang Zadiev showing some powerful vocals with the highs and growls he can reach. But that’s really it. It could be a lot better, but it could also be worse. Being on their third studio album you’d think they’d be more creative, but unfortunately not. Which is a shame because they do have potential. They just need to harness it. 4/10