Reviews: K.K's Priest, Gus G, Black Sites, Panic Population (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

When the Flying V toting axeman of Judas Priest was announced as no longer part of the band, it was only a matter of time before he returned to music. In the meantime he's brought a venue to Wolverhampton and indulged in all manner of promotion and business but fans want to hear him cranking out classic metal riffs again so when KK's Priest was announced there was call for celebration and for hesitation. Downing is doing nothing new by making and off shoot as there are plenty of original members that for their own 'cover' bands, I mean in his own genre there's Oliver/Dawson Saxon and Paul DiAnno's Killers, hell even founding vocalist Al Atkins has his own version of Priest! While occasionally these bands are nothing more than jukebox acts, playing the hits. More often than not they are not all that good. 

The projects formed by ex-members sometimes take on a life of their own such as Blaze Bayley, who has always relied much more on his own music than any work he has done in Maiden, while also using that recognition to keep releasing music. KK Downing looks to be doing the same by creating his own band, it's a very definite completion to his former bandmates essentially calling it his version of Priest, though he doesn't stop there bringing in ex-Priest vocalist Tim 'Ripper' Owens, who sang on the much lamented Juggulator and Demolition, in a move that was even turned into a film. Having Ripper on vocals is yet another stab at Priest themselves, Downing making a case that he is just as entitled to the Priest name as Tipton, Hill and Halford, perhaps even more so but that's a story for another time. 

So we move onto Sermons Of The Sinner, the debut album from KK's Sinner which marks Downing's first musical offering in 10 years. With K.K Downing cranking out those riffs alongside A.J Mills (Hostile), there is a very definite link to the past on all of these songs, some of the riffs are new and others have been fished out of Downing's studio sessions from the 80's. Tracks such as the opening Thrasher Hellfire Thunderbolt, grooving rockers Wild And Free, the thundering title track and the closing epic Return Of The Sentinel (a sequel to the track from 1984's Defenders Of The Faith) all show different shades of the band the latter song a 9 minute offering with full of atmospheric acoustics and Ripper reaching those impressive highs. 

Ripper offers up his histrionic vocals throughout the record offering you a glimpse of what those two Priest albums he featured on could have sounded like. He's pretty much the perfect choice for the singer while in the backroom is Voodoo Six's Tony Newton on bass and drummer Sean Elg (Neil Turbin's Deathrider) who took over when ex-Judas Priest drummer Les Binks fractured his wrist prior to the recording. They are a chugging engine of this band bringing pace and power to Sermons Of The Sinner on tracks such as Sacerdote Y Diablo where it drives the track with ferocity letting Downing and Mills unleashing solos galore. I love Judas Priest, my major regret of not going to Bloodstock this year is missing them (and Agrona) so I was a little hesitant about this album but I shouldn't have been as Sermons Of The Sinner is a pure Priest power. Is the world big enough for the both of them? That remains to be seen, but this debut is certainly evidence enough that after 10 years of inactivity the Sinner has returned in fine style. 8/10

Gus G - Quantum Leap (AFM Records)

Gus G has admitted that he doesn't really like instrumental albums, "I'm a guitar player and I cannot stand most instrumental guitar albums". Which is odd considering his latest solo effort is a purely instrumental affair, the Firewind guitarist/founder brought in drummer Vincent Velasco as once again Dennis Ward plays bass on eight of the songs as well as mixing and mastering Quantum Leap. Written while Gus was locked down at his home in Greece he played around with riffs that sat in his 'riff vault' making them into fully fledged songs ready for this almost 'accidental' instrumental album. Gus plays guitar, bass, keys and does the drum programming on all of the songs with Velasco adding the real drums to flesh things out as Dennis Ward's bass playing again adds meat to the bones. 

There must have been a temptation to have Ward sing once again like he did on the previous solo album but the plan was to showcase the guitar prowess, using it not only as a means to crank out virtuoso soloing but to concentrate on the songs themselves, using his guitar not as the way to create the riffs but also to add some 'vocal' melodies to these songs. On Leap Into The Unknown there's what I would liken to an anthemic chorus reminding me of Joe Satriani's style of playing, soaring melodic passages and some hard rock tendencies are punctuated by precision solos that never distract you into thinking that this will be nothing but fret wankery. Following it is the first single, the djenty Exosphere a track that 'bops' as the kids say. Personal highlights for me are Chronesthesia, the songs ballad Enigma Of Life and the synthwave of Night Driver which may surprise some long time fans. Despite Quantum Leap almost being an accident, it's a distinct sounding instrumental offering that doesn't follow the rules. 8/10 

Black Sites - Untrue (Self Released)

Comprised of Mark Sugar (vocals/guitar), Ryan Bruchert (guitar/vocals) and Garry Naples (drums), progressive metal trio Black Sites return with their third album Untrue, unlike previous offerings the entire record with the exception of one song was recorded totally individually, but this hasn't been detrimental to Black Sites' heavy progressive metal sound. Brimming with influences as wide as Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy and Mastodon there's the same kind of groove and twisting time signatures as the Atlantan four piece but with lots more classic metal sounds coming through. This sound reminds me of The Sword on the opening number Sword Of Orion which features some driving percussion to get your head nodding from the off. Some intricate riffy guitars and those echoed vocals remind you why Black Sites are so good, expertly blending several different styles in their music, touches of gothic rock come in here but it's mainly in the sound of big proggy stoner metal bands.

As things progress onto Call It By It's Name, which is pounding anthemic heavy rocker that reminded me of Grand Magus as does Lost Tribes which brings some sweet dual harmonies and the punchy The Worst Of Us. It seems that on Untrue, this Chicago trio are definitely continuing the excellent run of form they are on, this record being an ideal follow up to 2019's Exile. I awarded that album a high score noting that multiple listens are needed for it to unveil it's mastery, and the same can be said about Untrue it is a perhaps a little more direct in its approach, blasting out of the speakers with proggy, complicated songwriting in short(ish) run times. Again Black Sites deliver something that you'll want to listen to again and again. 9/10

Panic Population - Panic Population (Self Released)

As well as being the drummer of rock powerhouses Idlewar and the mastermind behind shoegaze/dream pop project The Ocean Greys, Panic Population is the  latest solo endeavor from Pete Pagonis and it's more in the vein of psych/alt rock. This EP straddles numerous sounds with shades of desert rock and psych grunge it's all very Mark Lanegan/Screaming Trees, the reverb drenched Hang On Me starting us off as we shift into the more mind bending offerings such as Now That It's Over and the grooving Come On. A D.I.Y solo effort from Pagonis, but one that shows an alternative musical direction from his other bands, worth checking out. 7/10