Battle Beast - Circus Of Doom (Nuclear Blast) [Simon Black]
Battle Beast are one of those acts that in the past I have to confess to snobbishly raising an eyebrow at without ever having had the decency of giving them a proper listening to first, because let’s face it as power metal band names go it’s a pretty cheesy one and yes, it did put me off. The problem is the genre is so chock full of repetitive albums, endless dull concept records, consistent quality yes, but little to differentiate one band from another in the large majority of cases – and in this game I get a lot of these records across my desk.
That opinion changed when I saw Battle Beast in the flesh at Bloodstock a few years ago, leaving the Sophie Lancaster tent mightily impressed and suitably admonished. I’ve not got around to looking back at their catalogue though yet for shame, although in my defence when you review a few hundred records a year you don’t get a lot of time for historical research unless you’ve got an interview coming up. So I really am sitting down to this band afresh with this, their sixth full length studio album.
The first thing that grabs you when you see them live is the full throttled delivery of singer Noora Louhimo, whose range, performance, presence and sheer gravitas always grabs you by the hair and bangs your head pretty damn hard until you get it. This record pulls exactly the same trick and her incredibly powerful vocals are strong, loud and crucial to the idiosyncratic sound that this band achieve – as well as going a long way to making them distinctive from the bulk of the power metal pack.
Musically, there’s a lot of melodic power tropes in here yes, but this feels a slightly more edgy and brutal sounding piece than many of their cookie-cutter contemporaries despite the full on orchestration layers being built up here, that certainly on the opener sound like there was a lot more going into that recording than just a few well-crafted keyboards voices. Then there’s the highly catchy and accessible song structures and melodies, which pull the not inconsiderable feat of sounding commercially accessible whilst not relinquishing any credibility or heaviness. This jumps out from the second track Wings Of Light, but there’s plenty of other instances peppered in here.
For me what makes the album work is the distinctive house sound from the vocals and clear musical instrumental signatures that create ten distinctive but clearly differentiated songs that give you a new twist and direction each and every time. Best of all they do this without resorting to a lame overwrought concept - OK there’s a loose thematic one, but the concept album really is dead and gone for me in power metal circles, because I think we all need a break from them.
This band are pumping some serious iron here and if, like me, you are coming to them for the first time on disk, then I really can’t recommend this highly enough as a great place to start. 9/10
Fit For An Autopsy – Oh What The Future Holds (Nuclear Blast) [Zak Skane]
Fit For An Autopsy have been one of the most talked about bands in the deathcore community since they have released their debut album, The Process Of Human Extermination. The bands main founder Will Punty has been big part of shaping the sound of modern metal with working with established bands in genre such as Thy Art Is Murder, Knocked Loose and The Amity Affliction. With six releases including an EP under their belt, the band has released their seventh album Oh What The Future Holds.
Fit For An Autopsy have been one of the most talked about bands in the deathcore community since they have released their debut album, The Process Of Human Extermination. The bands main founder Will Punty has been big part of shaping the sound of modern metal with working with established bands in genre such as Thy Art Is Murder, Knocked Loose and The Amity Affliction. With six releases including an EP under their belt, the band has released their seventh album Oh What The Future Holds.
To start this journey off we have the title track, Oh What The Future Holds which begins with some cinematic piano and clean guitars till it builds up to the first of many heavy sections on this album, Joseph coming in venting and questioning about the future of the human existence. Pandora takes this rollercoaster up a notch by showing us classic death metal riffage mixed in with some chanty choruses and soaring solos. The first single Far From Heaven allows us to witness the band exploring more experimental/technical territory with Patrick, Tim and Will utilising some tasty legato string skipping over Joseans tom tom drum grooves before it hits us with some polyrhythmic brutality. Two Towers is another one of the bands experimental efforts, with atmospheric guitars and ambient-layered vocals.
Two Towers is also a moment in the bands in which they are stretching the boundaries of their songwriting skills by depicting a story in their lyrics. What I can get from the lyrics, is that it's a song about two entities that doomed to be separated till for eternity. A Higher Level Of Hate takes influences from Gojira with their tribal percussive intro before going into most string bending of grooves to Collateral Damage giving us some classic deathcore vibes with some chuggy riffs over some classic blasts beats. Collateral Damage also gives us some of the most searing solos that this band offers, and Savages brings the most tasty riffs that this album offers as well some of the most catchiest choruses.
The closing track The Man That I Was Not shows off the bands musician ship to its fullest with Josean providing some Latin drum patterns over some jazzy chords that Patrick, Tim and Will are jamming over. In some cases it gives off a more post-hardcore sound that you would get from a band like Letlive or Dillinger Escape Plan. Following the clam before the storm Joseph and crew lead us into a heavier territory emotionally and dynamically, taking a groovier route before taking us to a sludgy climatic ending.
In conclusion, I am going out on a limb and state that this is one of the best metal albums of 2022. I got to give credit to Will Putney’s production skills on this one by capturing the emotional experimental ore of this LP. He’s done a really good job capturing the dynamic range of Josean Orta’s drum performances all the way from the hell bent blast beats of Pandora to the Jazz/Latin inspired drum beats of The Man That I Was Not, those performances were captured flawlessly whilst keeping the overall drum sound natural in comparison to other modern metal productions.
The guitar tones sound thick and juicy as always, but also leaves enough room to keep it dynamic on the ambient/experimental moments like the intro section of Far From Heaven and Two Towers. Joseph Badoleto’s lyrics still carry the poetic nuance from his previous efforts with the band but vocally starting to expand his range by doing other vocal styles like the melancholic melodies in Two Towers.
This is the most mature release from the band to date and I would put this alongside other releases like Machine Heads The Blackening and Mastodon's Crack The Sky. 10/10.
I am admittedly late to the Blue Öyster Cult party. Only recently have I realized the brilliance of the band and the influence they have had on the music that I love. Sure, we all know the three or so hits they play on classic rock radio, but their catalog is filled with their own brand of brilliant and unique occult rock that should not be overlooked. So, when I heard that Ripple Music (based on the idea from the late Steve Hanford whose work was completed by Ian Watts of Ape Machine) was releasing a BÖC tribute record I knew this would be a must listen.
Tributes can be tricky, but the team nailed it with the bands that were invited and thirteen tracks selected. You get the optimal amount of hits and some cool deep cuts that will keep the BÖC fanatics happy. You get some ripper straight head covers and some bands making a classic their own, with end-to-end excellent results. Some stand out more traditional interpretations of the classics include the absolute on fire version of Transmaniacon MC by Tony Reed that takes the classic and makes it even more of a ripper, which is saying something.
Great Electric Quest’s version of Flaming Telepaths and the Ape Machine take on Veteran Of The Psychic Wars are both true to the originals but perfectly executed to include what makes those two bands special. The War Cloud version of Stairway To The Stars is unmistakably War Cloud but teaming them with that song and Janiece Gonzalez’s vocals is the perfect tribute album formula.
Some of the more unique interpretations make for some of the best moments on Döminance And Submissiön. Spindrift’s take on Don’t Fear The Reaper manages to make an already creepy song even more creepy (with zero cowbell) incorporating a more spacey and trippy feel to the universally know hit. Howling Giant partnering with Fu Manchu’s guitar hero Bob Balch resulted in a perfect formula for their version of the other gigantic hit, Godzilla, producing in a much more fuzzy, doomy, desert rock version which worked perfectly. Year Of The Cobra delivered my favorite track on the album, taking on the underrated BÖC track Fireworks, with Amy Tung’s haunting vocals and a slowed down tempo for a perfect combination of staying true to the original and making the track their own.
Ripple Music has done it again. Not only do they have the best roster in rock, the output for projects like Döminance And Submissiön is second to none. This will be a treat for any BÖC fanatic or a starting off point for newbies that will be diving into their vast discography soon enough. 9/10
Maule – Maule (Gates Of Hell Records) [Matt Bladen]
Other than the Brits, who of course invented it, Canadians seem to be the second biggest producers of NWOBHM inspired music in the world. There literally hundreds of bands that play the rough and ready style of heavy metal invented by bands such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Saxon. Evolving throughout the years, it drew from punk to become speed metal influencing thrash, death and black metal.
Now yes there are plenty of European bands that have spearheaded the NWOTHM as it is now called but I always find the Canadians stills have that underground D.I.Y spirit that made the original NWOBHM so vital to metal music. I mean Canada also has a pedigree of bands such as Exciter, Razor and Anvil, who are influential in their own way, leading to more recent additions such as Cauldron, Striker and Skull Fist.
You can now add to this list Maule who bring guitars as spiky as their belts and bright white hi-tops, the uniform of the NWOTHM. Their self-titled debut record is exactly the kind of album you want from this style, jammed to the gunnels with frantic, biting riffs, vocals that are delivered quickly and loudly, so as not to get in the way of more riffs/solos and production that feels like a cassette from the glory days.
Comprised of Bones on bass, Eddie Riumin on drums, lead guitarist Danny Gottardo and Jakob Weel on vocals/rhythm guitar this four piece don’t hang around, slicing through the 9 songs here as if they were butter on Canadian bacon, going all guns blazing from Evil Eye to We Ride. Strap yourselves in as Maule deliver NWOTHM with passion and precision. 8/10