Valley Of The Sun - The Chariot (Ripple Music) [Rich P]
The new Valley Of The Sun Record has been right at the top of my list of most anticipated releases for 2022. I was relatively late to the game with VOTS, but once I was in, I was all the way in. Old Gods is a top tier stoner/desert rock record of all time and everything that they have produced up to this point has been top notch. Couple that with now the best label in heavy rock, Ripple Music, releasing their fourth full length, The Chariot, how could I not be super pumped for this release? To say that VOTS is at the top of their game is an understatement. The Chariot is all I could hope for and more. The production quality of this record is perfect for what these guys deliver, and the mix is exactly where it should be. The songs are some of the best you will hear from a band that already has an amazing catalog.
The title track is something to behold, catchy and super memorable (with some sweet oohs too), it reminds me of Boss Keloid, which is something I hear in a few places on The Chariot. VOTS has a specific groove to them, it this is very evident on The Chariot and something that makes me recognize them from the first couple of notes of their songs. Sweet Sands is the perfect opening track for The Chariot. Riffs for miles and reminds me of something Sasquatch may deliver coupled with some strong Alice In Chains vibes. Headlights is a modern-day Highway Star or something off a Fu Manchu record but never sounding derivative or like a rip off. It has a driving groove, is catchy as all hell, with some serious shredding that puts me right on the desert road with the band. One of the tracks of the year from any release. But that is not even my favorite song on the record. That goes to Sunblind, which is so much fun. That groove, the shredding, and now the organ, producing some total Deep Purple vibes. It may be my song of the year.
You get some heartfelt and heavy content on this record which is a big step up in the maturity of the songwriting lyrically from the band. Songs like As We Decay, which has a southern rock feel to it, and Running Out Of Love, which would be a radio hit if all was right with the world, are two examples of this. The Colosseum closes out this amazing journey, with some AIC vibes, oohs and aahhs, sage lyrical advice, and that killer guitar sound that VOTS brings hard. The Chariot is an album of a band at the absolute top of their game and one of the best active today. Four albums in they may have delivered their best, even with the God tier status of Old Gods and the pressure to follow up such a classic.
This 100% all killer with zero filler and the ten tracks on The Chariot is some of the best heavy rock you will hear all year. We are only in June and my top three albums of the year seem to be firmly in place, with The Chariot positioned firmly at the top. 10/10
Charlie Griffiths - Tiktaalika (Inside Out Records) [Matt Bladen]
Known to many as one of the guitarists for British prog metal superstars Haken, Tiktaalika is his debut solo album and it's pretty far removed from his day job. On this record is a way for him to pay homage to his thrash, tech and alt metal influences taking a lot of cues from super heavy bands such as Strapping Young Lad, Coroner and Fear Factory with touches of classic prog bands and 80's thrash metal too, Prehistoric Prelude drawn from the songbook of one Mr Dave Mustaine definitely. In the PR it states that Tiktaalika"bridges the gap between King Crimson and King Diamond" which is a pretty wide gap to fill but as the Megadeth thrash shifts into first track proper Arctic Cemetery the sci-fi thrashing of Voivod is all to present, especially in the vocals, this being the first of two songs featuring Tommy Rogers of Between The Buried And Me, the avant-garde sound of that band also running through Arctic Cemetery.
Known to many as one of the guitarists for British prog metal superstars Haken, Tiktaalika is his debut solo album and it's pretty far removed from his day job. On this record is a way for him to pay homage to his thrash, tech and alt metal influences taking a lot of cues from super heavy bands such as Strapping Young Lad, Coroner and Fear Factory with touches of classic prog bands and 80's thrash metal too, Prehistoric Prelude drawn from the songbook of one Mr Dave Mustaine definitely. In the PR it states that Tiktaalika"bridges the gap between King Crimson and King Diamond" which is a pretty wide gap to fill but as the Megadeth thrash shifts into first track proper Arctic Cemetery the sci-fi thrashing of Voivod is all to present, especially in the vocals, this being the first of two songs featuring Tommy Rogers of Between The Buried And Me, the avant-garde sound of that band also running through Arctic Cemetery.
It's a breathtaking opener to this concept record, across the 9 tracks there are "themes of geological time, fossilisation, transformation and humanity’s connections" Griffiths taking all the guitars, bass, keys and even vocals on one song, letting Darby Todd (Frost, Devin Townsend) take the kit as there's guest slots from Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess and saxophonist Rob Townsend (Steve Hackett). Musically it's extremely impressive Griffiths crafting some expansive, metal music with a wide soundscape. Luminous Beings is the first track that reminds me of Devin Townsend, Textures' Danïel De Jongh handling the vocals with the same vocals dexterity of Hevy Devy, the prog vibes are upped on In Alluvium with Vladimir Lalić from Serbian proggers Organised Chaos getting his first vocal turn on the track that's most like Haken, the key solo from Mr Rudess is mind blowing.
Lalić's contribution is follows into the heavy as hell Dead In The Water, where Luna's Call vocalist Neil Purdy brings his guttural roar and there's some parping sax from Rob Townsend too, making Dead In The Water, this albums defining moment for me, labyrinthine and crushing it's difficult to anticipate what comes next. What does come next is Digging Deeper, where Griffiths himself is behind the mic, for this atmospheric offering, rich in electronic layers that swish into the chugging instrumental title track, where MegaDave pops up once again. The two final tracks are the blasting groove metal of Crawl Walk Run again with Danïel De Jongh behind the mic, as we're drawn into the final song Under Polaris which is the final appearance of Tommy Rogers and does a marvellous job of using the same opening acoustic riff to close the record with a smart bit of sequencing for musical continuity. Tiktaalika brings all of the talent many will expect from Charlie but with a much wider breadth of styles. 9/10
Sorcery - Stunt Rock – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (RidingEasy Records) [Rich P]
Time for another lost gem from RidingEasy Records to be unearthed for our greedy seventy’s proto appetites. This time it’s the lost soundtrack to a very low budget movie called Stunt Rock, which was, from what I have gathered, a combination of Jackass meets an Alice Cooper live show, with an accompanying band that shreds and produces some excellent proto/occult rock that would stand with anything that Alice and Kiss were producing at the time. How cool is that? That is what I said when I read the description and immediately preordered it. But does the music live up to the very enticing description?
A resounding hell yeah would be my reaction to that question. Think the Brown Acid series that RidingEasy has curated so awesomely over fourteen (and hopefully more) volumes but only if they all worshiped the devil and hung with wizards. Think if Kiss did a whole album of (the Alive II version) of God Of Thunder. Think some of Alice Cooper’s less political and more horror themed seventies output. That is what you get here. The challenge you have when you have this kind of schtick is that you may feel like the players are just window fodder and can’t deliver the musical goods. That could not be further from the truth here. The guitar work is excellent, and the songs are all top notch, if not a bit cheese lyrically with all the occult and wizard stuff (which by the way I love). I am not sure if Ghost is influenced by Sorcery but it is not a huge leap. Songs like Sacrifice and Burned Alive are proto rippers with some great guitar work.
A song like Wicked City is right out of an Alice Cooper setlist and has some organ to go along with it. Talking To The Devil would be the follow up to God Of Thunder if Kiss would have headed in a darker direction rather than what they delivered on Dynasty. Wizard’s Council is like a proto, come to life D&D game and brings that cheese I mentioned but in the best possible way. Power Mad could be a Deep Purple outtake and is an absolute ripper to close it out the soundtrack and having not seeing the movie I can only imagine provided an excellent climax to the film.
I’m a sucker for the seventies proto stuff, so this is right up my alley. RidingEasy Records is doing the (dark) lord’s work bringing all this amazing output to life. Sorcery needs to be experienced not just for all the pomp and drama that goes along with their imagery, but for a ripper of a proto soundtrack that goes along with it. RidingEasy has some cool physical release stuff to accompany this release, so I highly recommend checking this out as soon as possible. The Wizard commands it. 9/10
The second album on Frontiers (third overall) from Latvian sleazy rock n rollers Bloody Heels, is pretty much what you’d expect when you take a look at the cover, band name and album title. This is hard rock from the late 80’s early 90’s with the influences drawn from Motley Crue, G’N’R and The Cult, Bloody Heels have shaken things up a little here, adding a bit of heaviness similar to what Winger did later in their career, Hour Of Sinners is particularly heavy. Touches of proto-thrash, classic heavy metal and goth all come in. Dream Killers, sounds a lot like British rockers Jettblack, who were massive for short time. Although the title does make me think of Nightmare On Elm Street sequel.
The title track and The Velvet come from the realms of G’N’R and Skid Row, the latter also having that gothic riffing against haunting backing vocals. The issue I have is that, for me Rotten Romance is trying possibly too hard to be The Cult, but singer Vicky White (Valts Berzins) hasn’t got anything near Ian Ashbury's vocals, on the first couple of tracks it sounds buried in the mix too, only the bouncy Distant Memory making it sound clear. I said that they have shaken things up with this record and that is true but perhaps at the expense of coherence, I feel as if I should have enjoyed this album more than I actually did, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. 5/10