Hard Rock

Gygax – High Fantasy Review

By Grymm on June 18, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Creator-Destructor Records, Hard Rock, Reviews, Hard Rock, 25 comments

“Californian RPG rockers Gygax rose from the ashes of Gypsyhawk back in 2015, and impressed the hell out of a particular man-cat with both 2016’s Critical Hits and last year’s2nd Edition. The blend of RPG tropes and Thin Lizzy-esque boogie rock made for a wonderful combination, and each ended up getting at least a mention on my Top Ten lists. A little over a year since 2nd Edition, and the merry travelers already have High Fantasy ready for a new campaign, fresh party members, and nine more songs chock full of Dungeons & Dragons-inspired 70s rock. But on their third quest, the merry four-piece have hit a fairly large bump in the road.” Low roll.

Constantine – Aftermath Review

By Huck N Roll on May 30, 2019 in 2019, Greek Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Rockshots Records, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, 21 comments

“The name Constantine brings to mind the ancient Roman emperor who first adopted Christianity, but that’s not what we’ve got here. This Constantine is a young Greek guitar hero, and Aftermath is his second album (his first, Shredcore, came out almost ten years ago). Citing influences from Yngwie Malmsteen to Joe Satriani and more, we can expect some serious guitar fireworks on Aftermath. But amazing axemen are a dime a dozen, and blazing through tapping-arpeggio solos doesn’t always equate to great music: one has to be able to write good songs, not just good solos.” Keanu RIFFS!

Jesus Chrüsler Supercar – Lücifer Review

By GardensTale on May 28, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Dr. Music Records, Hard Rock, Reviews, Swedish Metal, 49 comments

“Death ‘n roll bands are very few and far between, the good ones even more so, and its purveyors regularly receive the level of scorn usually reserved for groove metal. Entombed’s Wolverine Blues pretty much spawned the genre and is the only album that could be considered a classic in the style. Even high quality releases like Calmsite’s Elvisdeath don’t get picked up by wide audiences. Maybe Swedish peddlers of the sound Jesus Chrüsler Supercar will be able to turn things around for the woefully waning sub-genre.” Do they think they’re what they say they are?

Savage Messiah – Demons Review

By Holdeneye on May 27, 2019 in 2019, Century Media, English Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, 85 comments

“During high school, I loved our local hard rock station, Funky Monkey, and it was integral in the development of my bad musical taste. The best feature was the tough guy voice that gave you the name of the band and the song title after each track had played, allowing me to quickly categorize which bands I did and didn’t like. But when I got my first iPod, all of that changed. Sure, I had a giant book of CDs that I had kept hidden in my car for when the radio wasn’t cutting it, but being able to load a tiny device with tons of songs was a game changer. Before long, I’d left most mainstream rock and metal behind and was listening to all things cheesy and trve.” The more things change….

Idle Hands – Mana Review

By Huck N Roll on May 6, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Eisenwald Records, Gothic Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Gothic Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, 90 comments

“Remember Spellcaster? I don’t, but Doc Grier loved their final album: Night Hides the World made his 2016 Top Ten(ish) List. After burning the fuse at both ends, however, the band folded. Now three-fifths of Spellcaster have regrouped as Idle Hands, led by bassist Gabe Franco (who switches to guitars and vocals here). Franco brings with him guitarist Sebastian Silva and drummer Colin Vranizan, and the lineup is rounded out with Brandon Hill on bass. Be warned, though: this is not Spellcaster 2.0. Gone are the almost-thrash, pure metal sounds of that band, as well as the Iron Maiden and Iced Earth influences. Idle Hands aim for something much different, plucking influences from the opposite end of the spectrum and assembling them into a fairly unique sound.” Devil’s Workshop now hiring!

Shotgun Sawyer – Bury the Hatchet Review

By Huck N Roll on April 27, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Hard Rock, Reviews, Ripple Music, Hard Rock, 16 comments

“Okay, I know that back in February I promised myself no more retro rock. But a shift in release dates created a gap in my calendar, and Madam X, in her infinite wisdom, bestowed upon me an album as retro as it gets: Bury the Hatchet, the sophomore album from Californian blues/metal trio Shotgun Sawyer. I groaned inwardly, hit the download button, and prepared for the worst.” C’mon Hucky, don’t fear the retro.

Gone Cosmic – Sideways in Time Review

By Kenstrosity on April 17, 2019 in 2019, Canadian Metal, Hard Rock, Kozmik Artifactz, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Metal, Stoner Rock, 41 comments

“My brain over-complicates just about everything. At times—and in fact most of the time—it feels like thoughts are running through my head too fast and loose for me to make sense of any one of them. As a result it’s utter cacophony making even the simplest decisions, such as what to eat for breakfast in the morning. Medication helps. Music helps too, keeping the most unruly parts of my mind occupied so I can focus on whatever task I have in front of me. Stoner metal and psychedelic rock in particular are highly effective, what with the trippy atmosphere and plodding riffs. Gone Cosmic, a four-piece from Calgary, Alberta, are poised to drop their debut, titled Sideways in Time, filled with such atmosphere and riffs. Will it be enough to assuage my overactive grey matter?” A stoner in time.

Glitter Wizard – Opera Villains Review

By Cherd on April 15, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Psych Sounds Records, Non-Metal Metal Things, Psychedelic Rock, Punk, Stoner Rock, Hard Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Rock, 45 comments

“The AMG higher-ups fancy themselves benevolent despots. That’s because they allow us relative freedom to choose our own promos and surprise us with pizza and hobo wine office parties now and then. Occasionally they’ll even offer tepid praise after our reviews are published. Sure, the quarterly beatings leave marks, but they rarely break the skin. Then again, if they see us getting too comfortable, they’ll assert their authority by assigning reviews that leave us just enough rope to hang ourselves. They might make brutal boi Kronos review symphonic power metal, or give our morose Muppet a jaunty pirate metal sing-along. For reasons beyond my understanding, they saw the words Glitter Wizard in the promo sump and thought, “Now there’s a stop-bang pooper doop if we’ve ever seen one, and we know just the writer for the job.”” Feel the opera.

Moon Tooth – Crux Review

By Saunders on April 5, 2019 in 2019, Alt-Metal, American Metal, Hard Rock, Modern Static Records, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Alt-Metal, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, 96 comments

“‘Rock is dead’ is a tired geezer quote if ever I’ve heard one. Sure, I’ve bitched about the state of modern rock before, but in reality there’s plenty of substance lurking around. There’s rock that progs, and prog that rocks, while the incestuous bloodlines of the stoner, doom, and sludge scene are often tied to rock featuring plenty of quality bands. Yet I admit, finding hungry and interesting bands that rock hard enough to appeal to the average metalhead can be challenging. Enter New York’s up and coming Moon Tooth.” Fear the Tooth.

Athanasia – The Order of the Silver Compass Review

By Holdeneye on March 21, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Hard Rock, Metalcore, Nu-metal, Reviews, Rock of Angels Records, Hard Rock, Metalcore, Nu Metal, 60 comments

“Our eventual overlords may be capable of incredible feats of logic and science, but they are still in their infancy when it comes to matters pertaining to the human heart. There’s something about how humans process emotional cues and meaning that the machines haven’t mastered and it shows when they’re tasked with creative work. Now, this is a metal blog, so you can probably guess where I’m going with this. What would it sound like if AI were to create a metal album to be marketed to the masses?” By the numbers.