Angry Metal Guy

Unleashed // As Yggdrasil Trembles
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — The Manowar of Death Metal strikes again!
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Websites: unleashed.se | myspace.com/unleashed
Release Dates: EU: 19.03.2010 | 03.19.2010

Unleashed is not without their appeal. They’ve been around for a couple decades now, putting out their first record Where No Life Dwells in 1991, and they’ve been pretty consistently well-respected in the scene for being among the first to do the whole Viking Metal thing. But they’re a band that this Angry Metal Guy has never been able to get into on the basis of one thing: Unleashed is the Manowar of death metal. Now, some people are going to say “But Manowar are the Kings of Metal! Should we not be praising Unleashed for translating such kinglyness into the Death Metal genre?” To which there can only be one response: “Absofuckinglutely not.”

Like Manowar, Unleashed writes some pretty great metal. Musically, the band produces a melodic form of tear-your-head-off death metal that has been associated with Sweden since the early 1990s. The music is powerful, pummeling and thrashy it makes the listener want to headbang! Like their Swedish brethren Amon Amarth, Unleashed likes trem-picked melodic passages that are littered with good groove and plenty of chances to headbang manically. The guitar solos are wickedly thrashy and, surprisingly enough, the bass is even audible! Musically, there isn’t a song on here that I don’t like! And the record pounds out of the gate with amazing tracks, “Courage Today, Victory Tomorrow”, “So it Begins” and “As Yggdrasil Trembles”.

However, like Manowar, Unleashed has a lyrics problem. This chink in the armor becomes the most obvious when one hits the 4th track on the album “Wir Kapitulieren Niemals”, and Johnny starts screaming “Viking Death Metal!” This is not the first time, or the last time, on this record that there are lyrical issues that stand out and make the listener a little bit embarrassing. This sort of idea that one can write about the meta-aspect of heavy metal is one of the reasons that power metal is considered to be so ridiculously cheesy. How does one take  seriously a band that sings about themselves being awesomely metal? And in some ways, its even easier with a band like Lost Horizon or Manowar because they’re wearing loincloths anyway. Unleashed are just a Swedish death metal band cursed with terrible lyrics.

We’ll stop there with our little Manowar comparison, because frankly Unleashed produces way more consistent and interesting music than Manowar ever has. While the latter has a few good songs on every record and then a bunch of shit that litters the side about how metal they are and about how big their “swords” are, the former writes consistent, enjoyable death metal. As Yggdrasil Trembles is par for the Unleashed course, littered with great songs and solid riffs. If you can bring yourself past the silly lyrics, which is often times pretty easy with death metal bands, and you’re a fan of death metal and viking metal, you’ll probably really enjoy this record. Don’t expect to be wowed by their deep interpretations of the Norse myths in reference to our every day, modern life. But then again, when was the last time any metal lyricist wowed you?

Kalmah // 12 Gauge
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Fun, but pretty generic
Label: Spinefarm
Websites: kalmah.com | myspace.com/kalmah
Release Dates: EU: 03.03.2010 | US: 04.06.2010

It’s hard to imagine a modern metal without Finnish bands, isn’t it? These guys have been pushing the scene forward for quite a while after having burst onto it with such a forceful manner a decade (or more) ago. One of the bands that has been sadly overlooked in this process has been Kalmah. These guys, while popular, have often taken a back seat to bands like Ensiferum and Children of Bodom in the international scene. This is a shame, because at least The Black Waltz put everything that Children of Bodom ever put out to shame and they make some of the later Ensiferum stuff look pretty weak, as well. While For the Revolution was a pretty big letdown for many fans, Kalmah has returned in 2010 with a scorcher called 12 Gauge.

Clocking in at an LP safe 42 minutes, 12 Gauge follows Angry Metal Guy’s rules for thrashy records with few dynamics: keep the songs short, and keep the record as a whole shorter. If you’ve only got a few tricks up your sleeve, show off those tricks and then run to hills before anybody notices that you’re not doing much more than something fairly simple. 12 Gauge fits this bill perfectly because what Kalmah is doing is very straight forward: they’re making melodic death metal which is meant to be energetic, fun to listen to and cathartic. It, however, is not at all “jaw dropping”, “technical” and it certainly doesn’t really push the envelope very much.

But hell, we don’t need every band in the world to push the envelope. Sometimes you just want some good melodic death metal to listen to while drinking a beer and banging your head, and that’s what Kalmah delivers in spades on 12 Gauge! Tracks like “Bullets are Blind” and “Hook the Monster” are blast happy, speed monsters with great melodies—the latter even containing a chant chorus! How do you fight with that? The band even breaks out their simple, melodic intros and puts them to good use on the title track and “Better Not Tell”. The  melodies are, of course, addictive and the song writing is poppy and keeps you interested by not overstaying its welcome.

However, the downsides to this should be obvious as well. There were times when I didn’t even notice the track had changed at times—such as between “Hook the Monster” and “Godeye”. They’re both great songs, but man do they sound alike. And, while the claim that they’re just writing the same song over and over is demonstrably wrong, there is a sense that this record gets a little tired towards the end. Were 12 Gauge 10 minutes longer, it probably would destroy the appeal for me.

If you love fun, fast and melodic death metal, then 12 Gauge is definitely up your alley. The band has definitely composed a number of awesome tracks that will pull fans in. For the doubting fan, this record is definitely superior to For the Revolution, but we’re not sure if it really surpasses The Black Waltz in scope and originality. While the style is definitely the same, the novelty hasn’t stayed on as strongly. Still, 12 Gauge is a record that is enjoyable and innovation be damned.

Wulfgar // Midgardian Metal
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Entirely enjoyable, but sort of lacking something… Oh, right, originality
Label: Trollzorn / SMP Records
Websites: wulfgar.se | myspace.com/wulfgarse
Release Dates: EU: 19.03.2010 | US: No date found

The guys from Wulfgar and I have something in common: we both really love Amon Amarth. I mean, I’ve been an Amon Amarth fan since I first heard “Victorious March” all those years ago and I’ve just never looked back. I’ve purchased every one of their records since I started listening to melodic death metal and, let’s face it, I’ll probably keep listening to them for years to come until I’m old, bitter and bored with everything that I used to like (it’ll happen: then I’ll become Angry 12 Tone Jazz Guy). The difference between my love of Amon Amarth and that of the guys from this Swedish quintet is that I didn’t start a band…

OK, now that I’ve gotten the shit talking out of the way, let me say something: these guys are actually really, really good at what they do. They pump out excellent, mid-paced melodic death metal with the vocal styling of an epically bearded Swede named Emil (who incidentally does actually sound like Johann Hegg from Amon Amarth). The tracks are heavy, with great chuggy riffs and totally solid melodies which hook you in right away. You spend the majority of your time nodding your head, and I’m sure this stuff is totally awesome live. I mean, Midgardian Metal has it all: addictive melodies, fun riffs and a style that I just love to listen to.

The band has a bit of variation, as well—the track “Norsemen of Steel” sees the band wander into power metal territory on the chorus, and there are even some pretty folk metal parts on here as well. In my opinion, the band would do well to think about expanding these parts of their music. Because while I think that they’re a good band, there is definitely a part of me that wants a little bit more than an excellent audiocopy of an already loved and famous band. These guys obviously have the talent to write solid metal—so they should use that talent to expand their sound a little bit beyond the boundaries of their current sound.

To fans of the style, this record will be thoroughly enjoyable. If you can’t get enough new music that sounds like Versus the World and Fate of Norns, then you’ll be a nice shade of satisfied after listening to Midgardian Metal a few times. The comfortableness of this style isn’t lost on me. Songs like “Circle of Runes” and “The Death of Yggdrasil” definitely pound through the speakers and pummel you with a viking-like ferocity. The production is thick and meaty, and the performances are convincing. Over time you will probably forget that you’re not listening to Amon Amarth and just start to enjoy this record for what it is—solid, groove based melodic death metal about vikings and the mythology of medieval Scandinavia.

…

Just like Amon Amarth.

White Wizzard // Over the Top
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Would’ve been the kings of metal in 1982…
Label: Earache
Websites: myspace.com/whitewizzard
Release Dates: EU: 08.02.2010 | US: 03.09.2010

There is an interesting irony to throwback bands like White Wizzard and a lot of the other thrash throwbacks that are coming out right now, which is that at one point in time what these guys were doing was forward thinking. I know it’s hard to believe, in a world where metal is used to support stupid ideologies, backwards thinking or just generally brutish and retarded behavior, it’s hard to think of metal as progressive, but in 1980—metal was outside of the box. Bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard were just cutting their teeth, Lars Ulrich was busy stealing their riffs and ideas and heavy metal was fresh, young, innovative and above all rebellious and really, really interesting.

These days are long gone. Metal has genrified so much to the point where one can’t hold a conversation with another metal dude who likes exactly the same bands as you, and you’ll probably argue about everything: but you’ll both agree that Iron Maiden slayed back in the day. The only other time in metal history that was as exciting as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, in my opinion any way, was probably the Bay Area Thrash scene (though I’m not the biggest fan) and the Swedish Death scene in the early 90s. But those days are gone… They remain, largely, not forgotten however as is proved by LA native metallers White Wizzard who return in 2010 with an album that would have put them on top of the world in 1982..

Now I won’t be coy: I’ve already unveiled how it is that I feel about retro heavy metal. Sure, it’s got its moments, but all-in-all I think that these styles are better left in the past. However, Over the Top is definitely a record to give a shot if you’re even a passing fan of the style. White Wizzard does a good job of capturing the things that made the scene great: the dueling guitars, the epic riffs and the song structures on Over the Top sound like they come straight out of Killers-era Steve Harris’ playbook. Tracks like “High Roller” and “Iron Goddess of Vengeance” replicate that sound with ease and to pretty good effect. The band is tight and solid and the production is good, showing that real bands playing real heavy metal don’t have 13 guitar tracks so that you can actually hear the bass sometimes. The title track, as well, is old school, rocking and fun to listen to.

On the other hand, just like those old metal records, Over the Top has its share of filler. “40 Deuces”, “Strike of the Viper”, “Death Race” and “White Wizzard” all left me wanting more and feeling underwhelmed. These tracks don’t have the same kind of pop that one would hope to get out of an old school metal band. They lack the kind of fire that I look for when I go back and listen to classic metal. I also thought that the song “Out of Control”, while a pretty good track, had some pretty lame lyrics that sort of point out what’s going on here: a group of dudes who are longing for something that ain’t coming back. And in a way that’s sad.

The high point of the album for me personally is the track “Live Free or Die” which not only embodies the Heavy Metal spirit, but also has the vocalist (I think, or it’s another member of the band doing it) backing away from his metal voice and showing that he’s got some good melodic sense and some good pipes behind his metal shriek. This song and “Iron Goddess of Vengeance” (another just kick ass track) show off the talent that is definitely contained within this band. I just wish that they could do something musically that wasn’t so campy and throwback. But that’s me: I’ll probably be a bitter old guy living in the past some day and I’ll love the Gothenburg throwback bands because they take me back to a time when I was cool and on top of things.

Arsis // Starve for the Devil
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Chalk full of good riffs, but more simplistic than previous releases
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Website: myspace.com/arsis
Release Dates: EU: 05.02.2010 | US: 02.09.2010

In the new wave of technical, fast, melodic death metal bands that have been coming out in the last few years Arsis has stood alone with its professional blending of melodic death, technical death and thrash. Basically an instant success story from their first CD A Celebration of Guilt, the band has gone through a lot of line-up changes and has been out there pretty much consistently since their break in 2004. Starve for the Devil follows on the heals of 2008’s We Are the Nightmare and there are a lot of expectations to be met and surpassed with this new album.

Blowing out the door with “Forced to Rock”, for good or for ill, Starve for the Devil is in the books now and it’s pretty good. The Arsis you know and love is definitely here within these tracks. The record is filled with fast, technical riffs, amazing leads and some great hooks. But Starve for the Devil differentiates itself from previous releases by being far more traditionally structured rock tracks which combine the technicality of their riffing. This change is probably welcome from some, but I suspect that fans of technical death metal will be a lot more disappointed with this stuff.

Starve for the Devil is also superior to its predecessor in that the band has moved back towards more natural drums with the return of drummer Mike Van Dyne. This makes the production on this record so much easier to listen to. Instead of having the very false sounding drums that permeated every crevice in the listeners brains,  and overpowered even the guitars in some places, now the production is far more balanced. This fact, combined with the poppy song structures, makes this album fun to listen to for sure. Tracks like “From Soulless to Shattered”, “Escape Artist” and “The Ten of Swords” stand out not for the technical prowess, but because of their hooks and guitar harmonies. At first this is a welcome change, because this record is easy to get hooked on. But there does feel like there’s something missing here for me, personally. Even after deep listening to this album, I began to feel like the band could have worked a little harder at writing more technical pieces. Don’t get me wrong, of course. The band is not simplifying so much that the record doesn’t contain any of the technical aspects that fans are coming to expect. The musicianship on here is stellar. The drums, as mentioned, are fantastic. The bass performance is awesome (not something I even normally mention) and of course the guitar-work is stellar as always. The issue is more stylistic than anything else.

In sum, Starve for the Devil is a pretty good record for fans of bands like The Black Dahlia Murder, At The Gates and other more aggressive melodic death bands. The band has definitely improved in some ways, certainly their writing feels more focused and linear, and that can really go either way depending on who is listening to the record. This record could be a grower, but review deadlines don’t let that kind of thing happen. We’ll see where I stand on it this at the end of the year.

Charred Walls of the Damned // Charred Walls of the Damned
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Music is really great, but the vocals just kill this record for me
Label: Metal Blade
Website: charredwallsofthedamned.com
Release Dates: EU: 29.01.2010 | US: 02.01.2010

Charred Walls of the Damned has two distinct honors from the get-go: not only is it the longest band name EVER, but it’s also the first thing in which excellent drummer Richard Christy has surfaced in since going to the Howard Stern show and leaving American power metallers Iced Earth in the dust. I think everyone was wondering when he was going to jump back into metal, myself included. It’s hard to imagine that the former Death and Iced Earth drummer was just going to leave everything behind. Given his background it was only a matter of time. And not just his background: homeboy has contacts, too! He brings with him the mighty Jason Suecof, mostly known for his production (Trivium, Luna Mortis, God Forbid and so on), but who is also a fucking wicked ass guitar player (seriously, dude can shred). On bass, of course, is the mighty Steve DiGiorgio who played with Christy in Iced Earth and Death. How can this project possibly lose?

To answer that question, enter vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens. I have a bit of a grudge against this guy—and it’s not because of the fact that he replaced any big vocalists. I gave him a chance in both Judas Priest and Iced Earth and I have come to a conclusion: he was never meant for a vocal life beyond cover bands. His voice is thin and his tone is really frustrating, but most of all his phrasing is really terrible and he borders on torturous because his vibrato is so wide that he goes flat, so his harmonies just send shudders up my spine. He is not the dude who should be doing vocals on this record and it is an absolute shame.

The reason it’s a shame is pretty simple: the music on this record is awesome traditional/power metal. Christy’s writing and playing are unparalleled and I love the blending between the death metal style blasting on which the album starts, and the more straight metal that pounds out throughout the album. The guitars, of course, are fantastic and Suecof is a star, ripping it up with the best and giving some of the coolest arpeggiation (that’s right, Angry Metal Guy likes to verb!) and harmonies that I’ve heard and Steve DiGiorgio is Steve DiGiorgio: probably the best bass player in metal.

So I have good news for fans of Ripper Owens, which there are some out there, this is unequivocally the best project he’s ever been involved with. The song writing is awesome, the band is tight and powerful and if you’re a fan of his vocals then you will absolutely love this album. If, however, you’re like me you will feel a great sense of grief  coupled with anger every time he opens his mouth. Because instead of adding power to the arrangements and making this record what it should be, he basically adds a generally frustrating, tuneless siren over every song. I’m going to give this record a 3/5 because I think that it deserves the respect for the musical content in spite of the vocal performance.. but man, I personally can’t fathom why anyone would ever use him as a vocalist.

Dark Fortress // Ylem
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Good, but too damn long…
Label: Century Media
Websites: thetruedarkfortress.com | myspace.com/darkfortress
Release Dates: EU: 25.01.2010 | US: 02.09.2010

An unfortunate side-effect of not being omniscient is that I have not listened to the back catalogues of every band that I receive promos for. Sometimes this results in a large amount of unnecessary griping from fanboys on forums, and sometimes this means that I’m taken completely by surprise by an album that might not be as good as a band’s earlier work—but as it’s the first thing I’ve heard I can laud it as an amazing album. Of course, this leaves a listener in an odd place, as one has nothing to compare the music with or a style-reference. I feel like I’m wandering in pretty blind with the band Dark Fortress who has a new album called Ylem on the way (or out, depending on when you’re reading this), as the band has been around in the German scene since 1994—that’s 16 years of releases that I’ve never heard.

At first I was unimpressed. Dark Fortress, at first blush, just sounded like another black metal band to me. Blasting, coupled with atmospheric keyboards and trem-picked guitars and the girl from The Exorcist on vocals. You know the sound as well as I do, I’m sure: it’s a sound that was amazingly novel when I first listened to Emperor, Borknagar and Arcturus back in my chrysalis-stage but that has been getting more and more stale as the years move on. The similarity to Emperor and earlier Dimmu Borgir isn’t lost on the listener, really. The style is straight forward.

Fortunately one doesn’t write reviews after the first listen. The more I have listened to this record the more impressed I am with the depth and the originality that is exhibited within a genre that is actually quite banal in its old age. While the band hasn’t taken to the minimalistic 14-minutes-of-boring approach that so many modern black metal bands have taken, they’ve continued with the older style and they’ve improved on it by making sure that while their songs are heavy and interesting they still have good hooks. Sure, most black metal guys wouldn’t think of them as hooks, but that’s what they are. They have subtle groove, subtle melodies and a lot of texture that is perfectly mixed to not be so obvious or straightforward.

I was especially impressed by the uncommon approach to black metal drums—that is, the half-time blast drummer Seraph uses over slower parts. It adds an oddly progressive feel to a sound that is becoming anything but progressive. The guitar work, as well, is understated and melodic while still maintaining the extremity that one would expect from black metal. But mainly, Dark Fortress understands that dynamics make interesting music and that breakneck speed and extremity all the time raise the bar, but don’t necessarily increase the extremity of the final product. Instead, they have a lot of old school groove and simplistic rock style riffs that older fans sometimes miss from modern black metal.

While there is a lot of interesting stuff going on the record, it still feels a bit stale here and there. That’s not to say that there aren’t highlights: “As the World Keels Over,” offers excellent melodic material oddly reminiscent of Dark Tranquillity, mixed with off-time blast. “Evenfall” is a compelling doomy track which is offset a couple tracks later by the black metal theme “Satan Bled”, a song that is probably killer live. These strong songs are offset by the record dragging on, however. The band probably could’ve cut 3 tracks off and produced a perfectly timed album that didn’t overstay its welcome. Instead, the album clocks in at 70 minutes.

Ylem is an interesting, sinisterly dark record, and it’s worth giving a shot as a fan of black metal. I don’t hear a lot of black metal that really sells itself these days, and on a dry run Dark Fortress has made a pretty good sales pitch for themselves. To be sure I’d go back and check out their discography, but this record is probably as good as any to check out. What the band is doing is no longer cutting edge extremity, but I guess neither is black metal.

Burial Ritual // Tower of Silence
Rating: 3.0/5.0 – Starts out not so good, gets awesome by the end..
Label: Unsigned
Release Date: Available now from CDBaby
Website: myspace.com/burialritualband

Burial Ritual hail from Wisconsin, as part of the state’s burgeoning death metal scene. Playing what I would describe as blackened death metal, they also sound pretty original for the scene as well. The gorey cover and the logo by Christophe help set the stage for the band as well..

The first thing that stood out for me is that Burial Ritual rock one of the best recorded demos I’ve heard from Wisconsin bands up until now. The production is pretty solid for a self-funded recording of a fairly unknown band. The drums are heavily triggered, as is the way, but all-in-all it’s not too annoying and the recording definitely gets across the primary sound for these guys which is pretty much brutal death metal, complete with chug and pig squeals, meets atmospheric black metal.

This is actually a pretty interesting combination of sounds, if you think about it. There aren’t very many bands who have even tried to do something similar to it. However, the execution could really be better. The first three tracks on the album suffer from what I consider to be bad changes, boring riffs and way too much repetitiveness. Instead of punching you in the face with their brutality, they kinda poke you on the forehead with their persistence, while never really having the intended effect of kicking your ass.

Fortunately, the record gets better. While the fourth track “Cannibalistic Tendencies” is better than the first three tracks, it still has some sorta boring funeral doom style riffs that do nothing for me, but also there are a couple of awesome riffs and some good guitar melodies that make up for it. This transitional song brings us into the part of the record that I think is actually pretty brilliant. Starting with the acoustic intro to “Atop a Funeral Pyre,” the album goes from boring to compelling. The riffs that were previously boring become face crushing and the composition is absolutely 100% improved. Honestly, I’ve never heard anything like this in my life. Usually a band doesn’t rebound on the second half of an album so strong as these guys do, but for whatever reason the rest of this record is a fucking blinder.

What this tells me is that Burial Ritual has some serious potential. If they can get their composition in tact with everything else that they’re doing well—that is, their playing, the excellent vocal approach and their borderline professional sound—I definitely could see them with a label in the near future.  My suggestion to them would be to continue towards the blackened side of the “blackened death” label, because their best material seems to be rooted in that. The sporadic keyboards should get some more space and the blasty riffs keep a lot of the stuff here interesting and compelling.

Blaze Bayley // The Night That Wouldn’t Die
Rating: CD: 4.0/5.0 – DVD: 3.0/5.0 — A great live record, but a DVD that leaves some things to be desired
Label: Blaze Bayley Productions
Website: blazebayley.net | myspace.com/blazebayley

Blaze Bayley, for those who don’t know (where the hell have you been??) is the solo project of former Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden frontman of the same name. Honestly, this guy’s story is a true underdog story. To hear it told, he was the singer that no one wanted until he got picked up by Wolfsbane and then he was chosen to fill Bruce Dickinson’s shoes in Iron Maiden after Bruce decided he was too cool for the band. There was absolutely no way for him to win in that situation. A man with a baritone register filling Dickinson’s shoes is just ridiculous and everyone should’ve known better: but this reviewer humbly submits that X Factor is a classic record and that Virtual XI, while definitely weaker, was not weak because of Blaze, but instead because of Steve Harris’ writing and the very poor production. In fact, I’m still waiting for those two albums to be remastered.

“But how is this relevant” you may be asking yourself. Well, The Night That Will Not Die is a live record and, as such, knocks out the greatest hits from Blaze’s underrated career. Opening with a shot, the band knocks out three great shots from from the self-released The Man Who Would Not Die and it pretty much sets the stage for the album to come. The songs on here are the songs that fans of the band have come to expect that they would get. The best of from Bayley’s BLAZE incarnation: “Stare at the Sun,” “Born as a Stranger,” “The Launch,” “Leap of Faith,” in short, pretty much all of the songs that I want to hear live. Mixed in, of course, are the Iron Maiden tracks, much-maligned by the average fan, but songs that are close to my heart. It was especially exciting to hear “Edge of Darkness” live, as that’s one of my favorite tracks from X Factor.

Finally, the band litters the album with tracks from the new album, including a track dedicated to Blaze’s late manager and significant other Debbie (“While You Were Gone”—a great track), who tragically died earlier in the year. As a fan, this was emotional for me as well, a dimension that suits the record well. While it’s not visible on the album, of course, you can see on the DVD that the show jumps up a notch when you get to the new material and the dedication. It heightens the feel of the record and, frankly, you can’t help a bit of sympathy for this man who has had some pretty hard knocks, out on the road trying to live up to her memory and the help that she gave him, when there are times when he probably wants nothing more than to sit in a dark room and mourn.

From a visual perspective, this DVD needs a lot of work. Shot with only two cameras, I just wonder if it really was best for the band to release this instead of just doing the live record. Live DVDs are tough to make interesting. Even highly funded DVDs, like the Amon Amarth 5-disc monstrosity, are boring in my opinion. To be totally honest, the only concert DVD I’ve ever seen that was really good is Iron Maiden’s Rock in Rio. The comparison to Rock in Rio is absolutely impossible and totally unfair. Iron Maiden has the kind of money that Blaze Bayley, self-funding and pulling themselves up by their very metal bootstraps, simply could never have. But on that note, it might have been better to to avoid releasing a DVD and save that money for something else.

Therefore, this DVD has some limitations. The show is great, as stated, and aside from losing “The Launch” due to a giant cardboard cutout that some jackass was holding up in front of the camera, this show is pretty good! Blaze’s personal joy at doing this show is definitely fun to watch. The grin that breaks out on his face at times when he’s trying to pull some kind of metal face just demonstrates to me how much he loves what he does. It shows the kind of passion he’s got for this and he’s fun to watch.

Larry Paterson, the drummer (and apparently author of a bunch of books on German U-boats), is also very fun to watch. He seems to really be enjoying himself and is only upstaged by David Bermudez who is a fucking beast onstage. That guy is a total pro and he almost upstages the man himself! He is about as metal as it gets and it is really, really great to see that kind of energy and enthusiasm on stage. However, both guitarists need to step it the hell up. A lot of their stagecraft looked really forced and, frankly, like they were bored out of their minds for a good portion of the material. They did peak up a bit when they were playing the new material, so I guess part of it is probably that they don’t like being a “cover band,” but c’mon guys! It’s a damn DVD! Spice it up a little bit!

The final question for long-time fans of the band will be, of course, “does it live up to As Live As it Gets?” In it’s own way, definitely. I think the live record is definitely in the running. This is not the same band, and sure, they don’t have Andy Sneap in their pocket (a damn shame), but with the addition of the new songs this record is quite good and cohesive. As a fan, you should definitely pick it up because you won’t be disappointed. It also is a great way to showcase the new material to old fans, which I think is important. I know of many old fans who were so disillusioned by the crumbling of the old band that they didn’t even bother to check out The Man Who Would Not Die. This record definitely shows that the new material stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the older material, even if it isn’t the same band.

Frankly, this record makes me excited for a future for Blaze Bayley, which after the dissolution of BLAZE, I wasn’t looking forward to new material. But once again, and apparently thanks to the woman who this CD & DVD are dedicated to, Mr. Bayley is back in the saddle and knocking out good material. I await the new album, 2010 and to know what’s happened since we last left our hero…

The Red Chord – Fed Through the Teeth Machine
Rating: 3.0/5.0 – Good, but weak in certain areas
Label: Metal Blade (EU | US)
Websites: theredchord.com | myspace.com/theredchord
Release Dates: Out now!

The Red Chord has been one of the best respected bands that really came out of the metalcore scene a few years back.  I’ve got plenty of friends who dig these guys and dig this stuff and I can definitely understand why. For fans of the breakdown and the chug, there are few bands out there who do it with the kind of proficiency and.. well, lack of boringness that The Red Chord have managed to do it with.  Fed Through the Teeth Machine is another example of the fact that metalcore has produced some bands that don’t make the metal gods sad inside.

Cut to the chase: evolve or die is kind of the meme right now in the metal scene. Lots of bands are producing lots of records that sound a lot alike and the goal for all bands with talent and drive is to avoid that.  Not only that, but no one is making any money and they’re all cutting back to keep themselves on the road.  They’re playing it safe and leaning up, while trying their hardest to cope with it. Fed Through the Teeth Machine seems to be a step in the direction of evolving, while still staying true to what they’ve been doing before.  The goal is to produce heavy music that can truly dominate the listener and speak to these troubled times.

The Red Chord did a pretty good job of producing a record that was heavy and technical.  This album is definitely what fans of the genre are looking for.  Blasty, winding riffs with breakdowns offset with melodic guitars that occasionally break through the wall of mathy, borderline amelodic chunk to hook the listener again. Fed Through the Teeth Machine does this well.  The riffs are heavy, smart and technically deft.  The drums are in your face, though irritatingly over-produced (as is now the way in Rome) and the vocal approach is great—a smart blend of death metal growls and hardcore screams.  This is a good album for the most part. The tracks are tight, pretty well-composed and generally short enough to hit you hard, but long enough to keep you on your feet.

But honestly, this style needs more variation. The general feel of this album is “done before,” and while there are definitely high points, this record is indicative of that fine line between death metal and “core” that is personally frustrating for me. There are riffs on here that are amazing death metal riffs, technical riffs and melodic stuff that I love.  When these guys get moving fast, rocking speedy staccato passages, I’m on board!  The opposite is true when they get too slow and chunky for me. I find the slower passages to be repetitive and unnecessary. They don’t feel fresh, they don’t make me interested to listen to more and they offset the best parts of the songwriting.

I also find the production to be indicative of the times, but the drum sound is particularly annoying on this album. I’m not sure how many of my readers are familiar with the band Fleshgod Apocalypse, but I think they produced one of the finest albums this year.  However, their album is marred with less than satisfactory drums because of the drum machine tone that permeates every crevice of the album. The Red Chord has a real drummer and their album still sounds like that. The drums have been replaced to hell and what should be a tight backbone is a lot more like a science fiction robot spine.  Obviously fake.

When all is said and done, I think this record has room to grow on me. There is some fantastic stuff on here that, particularly as the record heads towards its close, stands out against the backdrop. The best track on here is easily “Mouthful of Precious Stones,” which I encourage everyone to listen to. Fans of the band and the genre will probably be pleased with the record and I suspect its getting rave reviews all over the place.  But I think that The Red Chord and I have some artistic disagreements. So I give them credit for it, but there are too many flaws for better than “pretty good.”