Magnum - The Monster Roars (Steamhammer/SPV)
There are a few things in life that are inevitable. Death, taxes, political sleaze and Magnum albums. Seemingly drawing from an endless wealth of creativity, the Midlands Melodic Rockers are now on album number 22 and they show no signs of stopping with The Monster Roars. Still led by the core duo of Tony Clarkin (guitar) and Bob Catley (vocals) who have been in the driving seat since 1972! Here they are joined by keyboardist Rock Benton, drummer Lee Morris and new bassist Dennis Ward, who many will know as a member of Unisonic, ex-Pink Cream 69 and Gus G's solo band.
There are a few things in life that are inevitable. Death, taxes, political sleaze and Magnum albums. Seemingly drawing from an endless wealth of creativity, the Midlands Melodic Rockers are now on album number 22 and they show no signs of stopping with The Monster Roars. Still led by the core duo of Tony Clarkin (guitar) and Bob Catley (vocals) who have been in the driving seat since 1972! Here they are joined by keyboardist Rock Benton, drummer Lee Morris and new bassist Dennis Ward, who many will know as a member of Unisonic, ex-Pink Cream 69 and Gus G's solo band.
This melodic/prog troubadour brings a renewed focus on the vocal element of this record, his excellent backing vocals working in tandem with Catley's gruffer, more wisened, delivery. It seems like a small thing but when Magnum have songs such as Kingdom Of Madness in their canon, having that additional vocal power will be very much welcomed on stage. The Monster Roars sees Magnum focusing more on real life than their more recent conceptual fantasy lyrics. It's a record that deals with social and political issues, Clarkin confirming that the record is inspired by the upheaval of the past few years.
This influence of the real makes the album sound a bit grittier than usual, yes there's huge swathes of melodic rock but cuts like the title track and the piano bashing Remember are brooding, darker-tinged numbers with lots of drama and pathos. After Remember comes the muscular ballad All You Believe In as the romance returns on melodic I Won't Let You Down.
The Monster Roars has a lot of classic Magnum sounds here, ballad The Silent Hours is full of 80's atmospheres. Clarkin's persistent guitars match well with the sweeping keys. On the moody That Freedom Word especially, but No Steppin' Stones brings a bit of brass and there are a lot of modern flavours to keep Magnum relevant well into their 50th year! 8/10
Infected Rain - Ecdysis (Napalm Records)
Sometimes in this reviewing lark you get bands that you can wholly appreciate the talent of, but will never really enjoy the music as much as you should. Moldovan band Infected Rain are one of these, fronted by Lena Scissorhands' expansive vocal style, Infected Rain mix nu-metal; Longing features some rap-like vocals, with proggy metalcore (Djent) on groovers like Goodbye. They also touch on industrial and alt metal as well. It's this wide mix of styles that have seen them climb the ladder of the music industry, gaining more recognition as they go.
Sometimes in this reviewing lark you get bands that you can wholly appreciate the talent of, but will never really enjoy the music as much as you should. Moldovan band Infected Rain are one of these, fronted by Lena Scissorhands' expansive vocal style, Infected Rain mix nu-metal; Longing features some rap-like vocals, with proggy metalcore (Djent) on groovers like Goodbye. They also touch on industrial and alt metal as well. It's this wide mix of styles that have seen them climb the ladder of the music industry, gaining more recognition as they go.
Continuing where 2019's Endorphin left off, Ecdysis is full of palm muted heavy riffs, maelstrom's of aggression, heavy grooves and the obligatory switches between clean and harsh vocals, everything augmented with twitching electronics. It's certainly very modern but also sounds as if it's come from the early 2000's as a lot of the time, it's as if Evanescence have been thrown into the blender with Slipknot and early In This Moment. November and Postmortem Pt. 1 have the obligatory 80's synth punch that seems to be all the rage, Fighter has the stop-start percussion of Iowa's nine headed beast, while The Realm Of Chaos is groove driven ranger featuring Butcher Babies' Heidi Shepherd.
Across the 12 songs it's Lena who shows why this band are revered, I can't fault her vocal performance at all, strong cleans and shouts that tear flesh, and while the band play with precision, unfortunately Ecdysis does have a strange feeling of deja vu, probably because a few of the songs seem to blend together and it draws heavily from every other Djent band around. Still fans will lap it up and live this record will get the pits moving. 7/10
Toundra - Hex (Inside Out Records)
The eighth album from Toundra wasn't really supposed to have arrived yet. Their previous album was released in 2020 and should have been toured all over Europe and the World. Obviously this didn't happen so the instrumental foursome refocused and started to write and record. They moved between Madrid and Cantabrian Coast, concocting this record, beginning with the 22 minute long El Odio (Hatred) it's a stirling opening which channels a hell of a lot of rage and frustration throughout the expansive soundscapes, driven by Esteban Girón's impressive guitar playing.
Toundra - Hex (Inside Out Records)
The eighth album from Toundra wasn't really supposed to have arrived yet. Their previous album was released in 2020 and should have been toured all over Europe and the World. Obviously this didn't happen so the instrumental foursome refocused and started to write and record. They moved between Madrid and Cantabrian Coast, concocting this record, beginning with the 22 minute long El Odio (Hatred) it's a stirling opening which channels a hell of a lot of rage and frustration throughout the expansive soundscapes, driven by Esteban Girón's impressive guitar playing.
The three part opening suite culminates with a cathartic climax where the release is definitely felt. The record as a whole is inspired by racism/sexism/homophobia that is so powerful at the moment in our society. The remaining 4 stand alone songs all feel like Toundra but in different ways. La Larga Marcha features some EDM style looping guitar motifs from Girón and David López Macón as Alberto Tocados' bass keeps the beat. Drummer Alex Pèrez, is an anchor to the whole album working well across the 7 songs but on Watt especially his expansive playing brings depth.
The last four songs on this album are very similar to what Toundra have done on previous albums, although there are some experiments that they do with their sound. It's the opening El Odio trio though that this record is hooked on. An album born of frustration and restriction but very much forward looking yet again. 7/10
Dymytry - Revolt (AFM Records)
In this topsy turvy world of music, many bands will do anything to gain an advantage and get themselves heard by a larger audience. For Czech based, mask wearing, psy-core (I'm not sure what that is either?) metal band Dymytry, they have taken the decision to have two vocalists. Revolt was originally released in their native Czech, with their regular vocalist Prometheus, with whom they have played tonnes of concerts I their homeland however they have now recruited additional singer Alen 'A.L' Ljubic to record the album in English.
Dymytry - Revolt (AFM Records)
In this topsy turvy world of music, many bands will do anything to gain an advantage and get themselves heard by a larger audience. For Czech based, mask wearing, psy-core (I'm not sure what that is either?) metal band Dymytry, they have taken the decision to have two vocalists. Revolt was originally released in their native Czech, with their regular vocalist Prometheus, with whom they have played tonnes of concerts I their homeland however they have now recruited additional singer Alen 'A.L' Ljubic to record the album in English.
Going forward A.L will be their international singer while Prometheus will perform in Czech only. This means that Revolt is not only their first album recorded in English it's also their first released internationally. So what does it sound like? Well Revolt, the bands sixth album, is full of heavy, at times power metal sounding songs that also bring to mind bands such as Disturbed due to the vocals, and the use of groove driven riffs. In fact there's a massive influence of bands such as, Five Finger Death Punch, Mushroomhead and even bands such as Lordi and Rage, with ex-Rage man Victor Smolski joining on Somebody's Watching.
It's an odd musical style, that pairs lots of EDM synths with thumping metal breakdowns, that are straight out of metalcore, but there's also horror imagery on tracks such as Awakening The Monster In Me put against more anthemic defiant song choices and lots of melody. How popular they are in their native land, I don't really know but kudos to them for trying to branch out into the English speaking musical audience, by recording this record in English, though that is not always necessary, it shows that Dymytry are trying to broaden their touring horizons. They certainly have a style of music that will appeal to the masses so good luck to them. 6/10