Cities

Sumerlands – Dreamkiller Review

By Steel Druhm on September 14, 2022 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 55 comments

“Since being impressed into service at AMG Reviewing Emporium, LLC back in 2010, few albums came out of nowhere to blindside me like Sumerland’s 2016 debut. A classic metal project hailing from the city of brotherly shove, Sumerlands perfectly captured lightning in a bottle, channeling a bygone era of metal with a collection of no-nonsense barn burners full of atmosphere and hooks. Long-time cult doom impresario Phil Swanson stepped out of his comfort zone to deliver an impressive vocal performance and everything from Ozzy’s early solo career to doom and the power-prog craze of the late 80s and early 90s was referenced adroitly.” Dreams and expectations die hard.

Starlight Ritual – Sealed in Starlight Review

By Steel Druhm on June 9, 2021 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 38 comments

“Sponge Boy(d) and I don’t exactly have well aligned worldviews or musical tastes, but for whatever reason we both laid claim to the debut by Canadian classic metal act Starlight Ritual. Instead of fussin’ and feudin’, we decided to do a double review of Sealed in Starlight instead. See? People of different opinions can work together! Hailing from Quebec, this crew rocks a heavy metal sound steeped in the 80s. They cite influences ranging from Mötörhead, Rainbow and Judas Priest.” Sealed in the 80s.

Riot City – Burn the Night Review

By Steel Druhm on May 25, 2019 in 2019, Canadian Metal, Heavy Metal, No Remorse Records, Retro Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 61 comments

“Before one can burn the night, one must first own the night. That’s exactly what Riot City set out to do on their rip roaring retro 80s metal debut. Properly done, retro metal is synonymous with unbridled enthusiasm, fun, and a middle finger to all authority everywhere. It should overflow like a latrine at a 4-day metal festival with in-your-face riffs, pounding drums, and vocals higher than Colorado post-2014. Nuance, subtly and restraint all must be forsaken and expunged and animal spirits embraced. Riot City know these truisms and live them as they rock hard and ride free like the 80s never ended.” Burning the midnight steel.

Heavens Decay – The Great Void of Mystery Review

By Steel Druhm on December 15, 2016 in 2016, Chaos Records, Heavy Metal, International Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 8 comments

“We all know December is the Great Dumpster Fire of Destiny for promos, and one does not simply sort through it without being stunned by the world-class dreck the labels unleash upon us poor, defenseless reviewers like so much coal in our stockings. Even in dead-end December though, you can sometimes trip over an industrial grade gem – the kind that will never shine like a pricey diamond, but may just win your affection anyway with its durable, utilitarian badassery. The Great Void of Mystery by Heavens Decay is one such stone of note.” December dumpster diving is risky business.

Sumerlands – Sumerlands Review

By Steel Druhm on September 9, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, 39 comments

“As always, I’m dating myself with my taste in music, but so be it. Sumerlands is an unheralded act set to explode on the nostalgia-core scene with their self-titled release and let’s just say, I’m fully on board. Featuring Phil Swanson (Hour of 13, Briton Rites, et al) on vocals, Sumerlands plays exactly the kind of music I couldn’t get enough of in the late 80s/early 90s. It’s dark, brooding, traditional American metal with traces of prog and doom around the edges.” The boys of summer never sounded so olde!

Johnny Touch – Inner City Wolves Review

By Steel Druhm on August 9, 2014 in 2014, Australian Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Shadow Kingdom Records, Heavy Metal, 15 comments

“Johnny Touch may be one of the all time worst band names, sounding more like the local playground creeper than the throwback 80s metal act they are (the cover art totally makes up for it though). That aside, this little known Aussie act has adopted an extremely old school sound influenced by early American acts like Riot and Cities as well as the earliest Dio, Ozzy and Yngwie solo albums. Basically this is as retro as metal can get since there’s scant room to crawl further up the genre’s ass before you’re stumbling across The Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley.” Steel Druhm reenacts The Old Man and the Sea, but with metal.

Retro-spective Review: Cities – Annihilation Absolute

By Steel Druhm on August 18, 2013 in American Metal, Heavy Metal, Metal Blade, Retro Reviews, 4 comments

“With these retro reviews, I’ve balanced albums from bands that had a decent following at one time and then fell off the map (Riot, Holy Terror) with those that had virtually no following at all despite a quality release (Hall Aflame, Damn the Machine). Count Cities as one of the latter…for sure. As a side band for Twisted Sister’s drummer A.J. Pero, Cities spent the 80s toiling in extreme obscurity, with only a small, but loyal fanclub in and around the New York area. With numerous line-up changes and breakups, they only managed one album; the excellent Annihilation Absolute and then promptly sank into nothingness.” If you were about to stop reading because you saw a mention of Twisted Sister, hold your horses! Steel Druhm wants to introduce you to the New York band that SHOULD HAVE been the 80s sensation!