Angry Metal Guy

Cormorant // Dwellings
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Deep and enjoyable
Label: Unsigned (DIY)
Websites: cormorant.bandcamp.com
Release Dates: December 7th, 2011 – Worldwide

Cormorant is a band that I probably would have never found on my own. Instead, I just randomly got an e-mail from their promoter a couple years back, where she hooked me up with the band’s 2009 release Metazoa. I was duly impressed by what these coasties had to offer, so when I saw that these guys had a new record coming out, I definitely reached out to get a promo of it. And I’m happy that I did, though I think that Dwellings is a different beast from Metazoa. Bad? Definitely not. But did the band grow and get a lot better? It seems like the maintained a pretty even keel during the two years away.  Continue reading

Slough Feg // The Animal Spirits
Rating: 3.5/5.0 — Unsung, unappreciated, unaware
Label: [US] Profound Lore Records | [EU] Cruz del Sur Music
Websites: sloughfeg.com | myspace.com/sloughfeg
Release Dates: Out now worldwide!

Slough Feg (formerly The Lord Weird Slough Feg) have always existed in their own little musical bubble (technically called a “sloubble”). Inside their little sloubble, they remain happily oblivious to musical styles, trends and changing tastes in metal. To them it’s always sometime between 1978 and 1983, where their odd amalgam of NWOBHM, Thin Lizzy and Celtic folk/pub rock would seem timely and current. Here on album eight The Animal Spirits, the sloubble remains intact as Slough Feg churns out more of their unique, oddball proto-metal for a small but loyal cult following. If you’ve followed this San Francisco based unit, you know what to expect. If not, well, it’s strange but fun and truly a love or hate type proposition. Continue reading

Stormzone // Death Dealer
Rating: 5.0/5.0 – It’s raining true metal!!
Label: SPV / Steamhammer
Websites: myspace.com/stormzoneuk
Release Dates: EU. 03.05.2010 | US: 05.04.2010

Neal Kay, for those who don’t know, is widely credited with discovering and championing Iron Maiden way back in the day. Well, if that wasn’t service enough to the metal world, now he has helped bring us Northern Ireland’s classic metal masters Stormzone and their new album Death Dealer. This is no small accomplishment because, quite simply, this album is an absolute masterpiece of classic metal and full to the brim with top quality metal anthems. Stormzone is a band deeply entrenched in the early NWOBHM style and composed of musicians like vocalist John “Harv” Harbinson, with ties to bands of that era (Sweet Savage, Fastway). All the trappings of the British metal invasion are here and fans of that sound and seminal masters like of Saxon and Grim Reaper will immediately hear it in the sound and attitude exhibited on Death Dealer.

Stormzone sets the mood quickly with the title track, a muscular, battlefield tough rocker that showcases their stripped down, no nonsense instrumentation and the outstanding vintage metal vocals of Harv. This is the kind of song made to pump you up and perfect to roar down the highway blasting at top volume. The guitar work from Keith Harris and Chris Polin recalls the dueling guitar work of Judas Priest at their best and really keeps the show moving and shaking as Harv spins his tales of war, battles, heroism and loss. Harv bases his vocals mostly around a mid-range, tough guy delivery style not too dissimilar from Blaze Bayley, but he can hit the higher notes when the songs call for it. Time and time again, his phrasing and vocal choices further elevate already superior songs to a superb level while adding that extra layer of coolness and punch. Lyrically, Death Dealer borrows heavily from the old Manowar albums with odes to courage, bravery, warrior spirit and all such Angry Metal Guy Approved Topics™ but none of it comes across as overly corny or cheesy.

Song after song on Death Dealer showcase a writing and performing prowess that has to impress since all twelve songs are addictive, hook-laden metal monsters. Over the 70 plus minutes of Death Dealer, things never get boring or stale and you get treated to one huge vocal or guitar hook after another. Although this is great from start to finish, extra special gems include the title track, “Secret Gateway,” “Immortals,” “The Legend Carries On,” and “Greatest Sacrifice.”

The mighty Neal Kay himself assisted with the production and he has carved a sound that is completely bare bones and devoid of any trace of modern elements or studio wizardry. This is a minimalist work of metal genius. Sound-wise, Death Dealer seems to purposely mimic the production found on metal albums recorded in 1980-1984 and sports that odd, tinny but cool sound Carl Canedy frequently gave albums he produced around that time (think Overkill’s Feel the Fire or Anthrax’s Spreading the Disease).

Death Dealer is top quality metal from beginning to end with everything coming together exactly right. Importantly, you don’t have to be a fan of the retro metal movement to appreciate what these guys have accomplished here. This is an album for any fan of the metal genre and is a strong candidate for best metal album of the year. This gets the highest possible rating and recommendation. Don’t miss this release for verily it doth rock. Thanks again Neal!!

Steelwing // Lord of the Wasteland
Rating: 4.0/5.0 – NWOBHM Parmesan!
Label: Noiseart Records
Websites: myspace.com/steelwing
Release Dates: EU: 30.04.2010 | US: Import 05.04.2010

Steelwing? Never heard of them. I toss in Lord of the Wasteland to see what I am dealing with and POW!! I get punched right in the face by an angry, metal spiked fist from 1982! This Stockholm, Sweden based band may be young and only formed in 2009, but man can they bring the pure, unadulterated NWOBHM power to the party. On this, their debut album, they shamelessly steal the best recipes from Iron Maiden, Saxon, Grim Reaper and Warlord and cook up a surprisingly fresh sounding, if utterly unoriginal metal meatloaf of riffs and attitude with enough cheese coating to choke a mastodon. Steelwing gives you eight fast and furious traditional metal anthems played by musicians who clearly worship at the altar of early 80’s metal and know exactly how that epoch of metal should sound.

The time traveling party kicks off with Enter the Wasteland, an intro track that sounds more than a little like Diamondhead’s “Am I Evil” (and I am 100% sure that was intentional). This intro gives fair warning of exactly how these youngsters intend to bludgeon you for the next hour. What follows is one classic 80’s metal onslaught after another that will transport older listeners back to a time when this whole “heavy metal” thing was new, exciting and unpredictable. If you were a metal fan in the 80’s, you simply can’t hear tracks like “Roadkill” (the first single and video), “Headhunter” or “The Nightwatcher” and not smile ear to ear.

All the songs feature Maiden-esque guitar riffs, galloping drumming and some WAY over the top metal vocals by frontman Riley. In fact, so over the top are the vocals at times that you have to wonder if certain parts of the poor guy’s anatomy are stuck in a crushing device (ex. near the end of “The Illusion”—guys, don’t try to hit that note while singing along or you’ll be visiting the doctor for an unpleasant adjustment). Every track is straight forward in structure and all exemplify good, old fashioned, metal songwriting. There aren’t any really weak tracks  here and all rock pretty damn hard (“Roadkill”, “The Illusion”, and “Headhunter” being my personal favorites). The production is crisp and clear enough to bring everything over properly and the instruments are all given their own space and chance to shine. The lyrics are so painfully metal and clichéd that even Manowar would cringe and look away, but that only adds to the cheesy fun factor. This is exactly why Lord of the Wasteland works so well. It’s fun as hell!

The star of Lord of the Wasteland is undoubtedly the guitar work by Robby Rockbag (awe-inspiring pseudonym) and fellow axe man Alex and together they generate one catchy, memorable riff after another and keep things blasting along at a breakneck pace throughout. This album is an air guitar player’s wet dream and may cause guitar elbow if not used in moderation. Honorable mention has to go to vocalist Riley, who I hope suffered no debilitating groin injuries during the recording of this album.

Fun and pure nostalgia aside, if you have a soft spot in your angry metal heart for the type of music that was being churned out by Iron Maiden and Saxon in the early 80’s, then Lord of the Wasteland should be a big hit and take you back in time.  Steelwing knows how to write and play some very catchy and infectious metal and they put on a clinic of era-specific metal worship (like Hammerfall without all the poserism). Well, since I’m stuck back in 1982 now, I’m going to write Kill ‘Em All before Metallica does and put them out of business before they grow up and destroy the world. All Hail the Past!

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.