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Rage – My Way [EP]

Posted in Uncategorized with tags EP, Heavy Metal, My Way, Nuclear Blast, old school, Rage on 26th January 2016 by Pieni

Rage
“My Way” [EP]
Heavy metal
Released: 22nd January 2016
Via Nuclear Blast

Nowadays, EPs and singles are mistaken for one another quite often. Rage’s “My Way” is one of those cases; at least I wouldn’t call EP to a 4-track recording comprised of two versions of the same song plus two new versions of 20-year-old songs. But it’s still worth saying a few words about it, as “My Way” is an upbeat, classy piece of heavy metal. Vibrant riffs upon a sturdy rhythm, an ear-worm chorus with a defiant attitude (“it is my way or nothing at all”) and a flowing, rich solo – everything a fan of the genre appreciates.

The aforementioned “new versions” are actually just re-recordings of “Black In Mind” and “Sent By The Devil”; nothing, or almost nothing, has been changed. Sure, the recording and production have a clarity now that wasn’t possible back in 1995, making the sound of each instrument much more distinct. But on the other hand, those rough edges were part of the era these songs were born in in the first place, and taking away that rawness wasn’t exactly necessary.

As for the Spanish version of “My Way”, by the name of “Apuesto A Ganar” (determined to win)… well, unless Spanish is your native tongue or you really like this Latin language, I don’t see a reason for you to not stick with the original version…

3 / 5

Renata “Pieni” Lino

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Monumentomb – Ritual Exhumation [EP]

Posted in Uncategorized with tags Death Metal, debut EP, Metal Music Austria, Monumentomb, old school, Ritual Exhumation on 2nd November 2014 by Paul Macmillan

Monumentomb
“Ritual Exhumation”
Old school death metal
Released 11 August 2014
Via Metal Music Austria

Monumentomb - Ritual Exhumation

Seriously? This is Monumentomb’s first recording? You’ve got to be f***ing kidding me! Musically speaking, Ritual Exhumation is so well written, and so well produced, it’s worthy of a rising name on their third or fourth offering! The riffing is actually giving me shudders up and down the spine. Remember a little album called Black In Mind by a certain German band going by the name Rage? If not, you should really go check that out. I loved it in the nineties, and I still do now. The package herein isn’t a carbon copy of that sound by any stretch, but it encapsulates the drive, bite and enthusiasm in the same way. It’s also a potential future classic of the genre, showing all the early signs of greatness in the making.

This debut EP is packed to the grimace with tooth-splitting aggression, and it is utterly brutal: not in the overly technical understanding of the word many in modern metal have come to embrace – more the slap-me-silly-with-a-metal-stick-that-was-beefy school of metal. Washed in Carcass and Destruction, towelled down with Entombed’s Left Hand Path, and spritzed with a mild spatter of the heavier end of turn-of-the-century Swe-death, this is fresh and fit to rip you a new one!

The band originally self-released this EP earlier in 2014 in a digital only format, but due to some fantastic and well deserved positive press, it is now out in physical form from Metal Music Austria. Although the line-up features a former member of Spearhead (no, not the Michael Franti band), it is far more focussed on the death metal character of extreme music, foregoing the white-noise black metal of the aforementioned group.

Their willingness to let songs peak and trough with a natural flow does them great favours in allowing their song-writing talent and sensibilities towards organic, musical texture shine through. Sure, there are plenty of blasts and d-beats that could have been half pinched from the first two Haunted albums, but these are masterfully counterbalanced with moments of treacly doom to shake the Pallbearer tree for more riffs.

If there’s one thing that draws this release back down a little, it’s the consistently sparse vocals, which also lack a little something in diversity… until you hit the middle of penultimate track Perpetual Execution Torment, and are treated to a glimpse of what the future might hold as this band grows. It would be great to see more of this ingenuity displayed throughout, but like it says at the start, this is Monumentomb’s introduction, and as far as entrances go, this one is a bit of a show-stopper!

4.5/5

Paul Macmillan

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“Native Blood” from Testament’s upcoming live DVD posted online

Posted in News with tags Bay Area, Dark Roots of Thrash, Nuclear Blast, old school, Testament, Thrash metal on 15th October 2013 by Pieni

After releasing the video for “Rise Up” that’s featured in their upcoming DVD “Dark Roots Of Thrash” (read more here, here and here), Testament have now posted another sneak peek, this time into the track “Native Blood”:

The DVD will be out on October 21st via Nuclear Blast.

testamentlegions.com
facebook.com/testamentlegions
nuclearblast.de/testament

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Overkill to thrash the UK and Ire in March 2014

Posted in News with tags Nuclear Blast, old school, Overkill, thrash, Wrecking Crew on 12th October 2013 by Pieni

The New Jersey Wrecking Crew, a.k.a. Overkill, is preparing the release of its 18th studio album, which should be out in the Spring of 2014. The title is yet unknown, but what we do know is that the band will hit the UK and Ireland by the time of its release:

More information and support to be announced soon!

http://wreckingcrew.com
www.facebook.com/OverkillWreckingCrew

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Death Angel release lyric video for “The Dream Calls For Blood”

Posted in News with tags Bay Area, Death Angel, Nuclear Blast, old school, The Dream Calls For Blood, Thrash metal on 25th September 2013 by Pieni

Thrashers Death Angel will release their seventh studio album on October 14th and have released its title-track “The Dream Calls For Blood” as a lyric video on the YouTube channel of their label, Nuclear Blast:

Recorded at AudioHammer Studios with Jason Suecof, track-list is as follows:

01. Left for Dead
02. Son of the Morning
03. Fallen
04. The Dream Calls for Blood
05. Succubus
06. Execution / Don’t Save Me
07. Caster of Shame
08. Detonate
09. Empty
10. Territorial Instinct / Bloodlust
11. Heaven and Hell (digipack bonus track)
The Making Of The Dream Calls for Blood (digipack bonus DVD)

Watch the trailer here:

The band will be touring Europe, supported by Dew Scented in the following dates/locations:

26 NOV Mega Club, Katowice, Poland
27 NOV Nova Chmelnice, Prague, Czech Republic
28 NOV Substage, Karlshruhe, Germany
29 NOV Brescia, Arci Colony, Italy
30 NOV Temprock Club, Gualtieri, Italy
02 DEC Szene Wien, Vienna, Austria
04 DEC Backstage, Munich, Germany
06 DEC Centrum, Erfurt, Germany
07 DEC Kubiek, Eeklo, Belgium
08 DEC La Maroquinerie, Paris, France
10 DEC Underworld, London, United Kingdom
11 DEC Zeche Carl, Essen, Germany
12 DEC Eindhoven Metal Meeting, Netherlands
13 DEC X-Mas Metal Festival – Stadthalle Dietikon, Zurich, Switzerland
14 DEC Chasing Venue, Alsfeld, Germany
15 DEC X-Mas Metal Festival, Geislewind Event Hall, Germany

Pre-order The Dream Calls for Blood on iTunes to receive the title track as an instant grat:http://smarturl.it/da-tdcfb-itunes

Death Angel online:
http://www.deathangel.us/
https://www.facebook.com/deathangel
https://twitter.com/deathangel

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Angelus Apatrida re-release first two albums and go on tour with Havok

Posted in News with tags Angelus Apatrida, Century Media, Havok, old school, Savage Messiah, Thrash metal on 19th September 2013 by Pieni

While there aren’t any details revealed about the successor of “The Call”, Spanish old school thrashers Angelus Apatrida will re-issue their first two albums, “Evil Unleashed” and “Give ‘Em War” – the ones released prior to their record deal with Century Media Records. They will be re-released as one double-disc set on November 18th, getting for the first time a proper distribution outside the band’s homecountry.

In support of this, the band will embark on an European tour with Havok and Savage Messiah on the following dates:

23.11.13 Edegem (Belgium) – JH Nootuitgang
24.11.13 Eindhoven (The Netherlands) – Distortion Fest (without Savage Messiah)
25.11.13 London (England) – Underworld
26.11.13 Cardiff (England) – Clwb Ifor Bach
27.11.13 Norwich (England) – Epic Studios
28.11.13 Glasgow (Scotland) – Cathouse
29.11.13 Plymouth (UK) – White Rabbit
30.11.13 Châlons en Champagne (France) – Contre Point
01.12.13 Nantes (France) – Le Ferrailleur
02.12.13 Toulouse (France) – Le Saint des Seins
03.12.13 Bilbao (Spain) – Kafe Antzokia
04.12.13 Madrid (Spain) – Sala Caracol
05.12.13 Valencia (Spain) – Rock City
06.12.13 Barcelona (Spain) – Music Hall
07.12.13 Zürich (Switzerland) – Tba
08.12.13 München (Germany) – Feierwerk
09.12.13 Wien (Austria) – Arena
10.12.13 Salzburg (Austria) – Rockhouse
11.12.13 Ljubljana (Slovenia) – Orto Bar
12.12.13 Borkovany (Czech Republic) – Republica San Bonigo
13.12.13 Leipzig (Germany) – Conne Island
14.12.13 Essen (Germany) – Cafe Nova
15.12.13 Berlin (Germany) – Magnet

Angelus Apatrida online:
http://www.angelusapatrida.com
http://www.facebook.com/angelusapatrida
http://twitter.com/angelusapatrida

Century Media Records online:
http://www.centurymedia.com
http://www.facebook.com/centurymedia
http://www.youtube.com/centurymedia
http://twitter.com/centurymediaeu

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Satan’s Wrath – Galloping Blasphemy

Posted in Review with tags Black Metal, old school, Thrash metal on 15th September 2012 by hammersmashedlauren

Satan’s Wrath
Galloping Blasphemy
Released: 25^th September 2012
Blackened Thrash Metal
Released via Metal Blade Records

It seems as of lately, there have been more black thrash metal bands arising in the metal scene, and Satan’s Wrath is a brand new black thrash band who fits the genre well. With a mostly thrash sound accompanied with black metal vocals, their newest album Galloping Blasphemy has an old school feel both instrumentally and vocally. To me, they sound like Mercyful Fate and other older thrash bands mixed with Marduk, and they managed to create that sound well enough to the point where black metal or thrash metal was not the overbearing genre.

Each song is consistent in keeping that old school feeling. The one track that stood out the most to me was Galloping Blasphemy. Being one of the shortest songs on the album, it felt more of like a thrash song to me because it got right to the point and was filled with heavy riffs, riveting solos, and, surprisingly, no vocals. It felt like this was the one song that the band made to essentially show what they’re all about, and it was definitely memorable even with a lack of lyrics.

Their song names are, of course, cheesy song names that you would see on any metal band who talks of Satanism: Slaves of the Inverted Cross, Hail Tritone, Hail Lucifer, and Between Belial and Satan to name just a few. I suppose that would be the only negative, if any, I would have about this album. Otherwise, I found it to be really enjoyable and certainly different from a lot of metal that’s being made right now. It’s nice to hear old school sounding metal rather than a lot of the technical, over produced stuff that is being made right now. Being a newer band, hopefully they continue to keep their same sound and don’t try and deviate too far from it. I recommend this to anyone who’s a fan of old school thrash and black metal, or anyone just looking for something to listen to when they feel like slaughtering goats and causing mayhem.

4.5/5

Hammer Smashed Lauren