Heavy Metal

Angrily Unreviewed: Deceased – Surreal Overdose

By Steel Druhm on July 18, 2011 in 2011, American Metal, Angrily Unreviewed, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, PATAC Records, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, 1 comment

Here’s one that not only got past me but completely flew under my radar, leaving me unaware of its release for over a month (stealth release under the cover of darkness brought to you by PATAC Records) . If I wasn’t already a fan of Deceased I would shrug it off, but since I am, I feel shame, rage, regret and finally, acceptance (of the rage and regret). Deceased have been around a long time and their fusion of death, thrash and classic metal was a big part of my 90’s listening rotation (if you never heard their classic Fearless Undead Machines release, you missed out bigtime). Their last full length was way back in 2005 and I although I clearly missed the secret memo they had a new one ready to go, Surreal Overdose is worth the long wait and its a real winner. Bringing back their berserk, ravenous thrash style, things get crazy quicker than you can say “Gwar mates with Lady Gaga in her giant egg chamber” (which I would pay to see BTW). Songs like “Skin Crawling Process” are raging thrash anthems with a touch of old school death and traditional heavy metal woven in. There are Slayeresque riffs, whammy bar molestation and King Fowley’s unmistakable raspy shouts. “Kindred Assembly” has blast beats and nonstop, throat gnawing aggression that’s bound to get the blood all angered up. “Cloned (Day of the Robot)” has trilling, melodic leads and memorable riffing throughout, sometimes sounding like Iron Maiden, sometimes like Slayer. Every track here blazes away with an insane, manic intensity that will remind older metal fans of how the early thrash albums sounded and felt.

Retro-spective Review: Wargasm – Ugly

By Steel Druhm on July 15, 2011 in American Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, 5 comments

Welcome to the first ever Retro-spective review! Why is Steel Druhm reviewing old stuff you ask? Well, because I’m old! Old enough to attend shows during the NWOBHM without wearing diapers (though it would have helped in a few cases). Since I’m such a geezer, it only made sense that I start doing reviews of older albums that deserve a look back by new generations of the metal mongering masses. First up on the Angry Metal Chopping Block is Boston’s own Wargasm. A power trio in every sense of the word, these unsung thrashers put out three albums and an EP’s worth of meat and potatoes, tough guy thrash and their sophmore release Ugly was their enduring statement. Originally available via Massacre Records, it didn’t get nearly as much love as it should have which means its out of print and finding it might be a challenge. However, word on the street has it that there may be a live DVD coming soon, so a well deserved re-issue of their back catalog may not be far behind.

Angrily Unreviewed: Split Heaven – Street Law

By Steel Druhm on July 13, 2011 in 2011, Angrily Unreviewed, Heavy Metal, Mexican Metal, Power Metal, Pure Steel Records, 2 comments

Our first entry in the Angrily Unreviewed sweepstakes is Street Law, the third release by Mexican retro metallers Split Heaven (available on Pure Steel Records). Following in the footsteps of other 80’s style retro rockers like Steelwing, Enforcer and Wolf, Split Heaven serves up old school metal with a patina of hard rock and more than a little cheese (the album cover alone is worth fifty pounds of Velveeta). Now, before you turn up your elitist metal nose, this is some powerful, authentic stuff from a bunch of hungry youngins and it rocks harder than Thor at a Manowar concert. Songs like “Time Warrior,” “Street Law,” “Lonewolf” and especially “Night of the Jaguar” overflow with unrestrained enthusiasm and exuberance and manage to hit that 80’s style dead on. Closest in sound to Enforcer, they actually remind me a lot of Theatre of Fate-era Viper, old Obsession and Attacker, these guys play fast, loud and with real urgency. Great riffs are everywhere and while there’s that typical Maiden style here and there, they do their own thing as well. The vocals by Eligio Valenzuela are high pitched and a bit shrill but go along quite well with the vintage riffing and soloing style.

Battle Beast – Steel Review

By Steel Druhm on July 5, 2011 in 2011, 4.5, Finnish Metal, Heavy Metal, Hype Records, Power Metal, Record o' the Month, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 19 comments

So there Steel Druhm was, sitting with a promo entitled Steel by the unknown Finns called Battle Beast. A quick perusal of the song titles made it clear they graduated Summa Cum LOUDLY from the Manowar School of Song Namery, as the numerous mentions of “metal,” “steel” and “iron” attest. The cover features a lion man fighting a robot as drawn by a ten year old at metal summer camp. Despite my renowned power metal geekdom, I felt a sense of dread and apprehension as I pressed play. Well damn it all if this thing isn’t full of surprises. Steel is a raging slab of frenetic, over-the-top 80’s metal worship that ladles out heaping helpings of thick cheese sauce and demands that you take seconds. Raging twin guitars, heroic solos, uber dramatic song structures and the vocals, Dear God the vocals!! The singer has a huge set of lungs and an even bigger set of balls which are frequently stuck in a vice! From gravelly, rasping shouts, air raid siren screams and superior singing, he can do it all and its so damn metal it kills my neighbor’s lawn. Imagine my shock to find out there are no balls to put in the vice because the HE is actually a SHE! That’s right, Nitte Valo is a true metal queen and she’s flat out brilliant on this album. However, unless you love the classic sounds of 80’s metal (think Grim Reaper, old Grave Digger, Accept) mixed with a smattering of power metal, this will leave you running for the door but quick. It revels in all the cliches and idiocy of that era and these folks certainly aren’t trying to be the next Opeth. You still with me? OK, stay with me.

Symphony X – Iconoclast Review

By Angry Metal Guy on June 16, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Nuclear Blast, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, 39 comments

If you hadn’t figured this out yet, all of us over here at Angry Metal Guy, myself maybe most of all, are horrible Symphony X fanboys (and girls). It’s hard not to be fans of what are easily the best progressive power metal band of the modern era. So the coming of Iconoclast has been a so-called Big Fucking Deal, since it was first announced all those months ago. The record, which is another stab at a concept album, basically sounds like it borrows heavily from The Matrix and any other “The robots are coming!” kind of stories, you know the type. So, it was with genuine curiosity and fanboy-tinged apprehension that I first put on Iconoclast when I got it all those weeks ago.

Lake of Tears – Illwill Review

By Steel Druhm on June 13, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, AFM Records, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Doom Metal, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, 5 comments

In the Whack-A-Mole game that is genre pigeonholing, Lake of Tears pop up all over the board, defying you to anticipate their next move. These Swedes have been around a very long time and have always defied easy answers as to what style they actually play. Generally described as gothic metal, they’ve wandered between psychedelic doom, goth-rock, quasi-thrash and pseudo-death over the years. Each album had its own unique flavor and approach while always keeping the distinctive LoT sound. Here on Illwill, their eighth album, they keep the guessing game alive while delivering a strange mix of styles, but it all hangs together somehow and works well. With parallels to Paradise Lost, Cemetary, Charon and Type O Negative to name a few, they run all over the place but it’s always dark in tone and plenty melodic.

Pharaoh – Ten Years Review

By Steel Druhm on June 9, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, American Metal, Cruz Del Sur, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 5 comments

Pharaoh, for those not in the know, are one of the best of the new retro wave of traditional heavy metal (NRWOTHM™) bands out there. Over the course of three releases these Philly phenoms have consistently blended the 80’s style of Iron Maiden and Saxon with modern American metal like Jag Panzer, Iced Earth while adding a smattering of Slough Feg. The results have been catchy, classy, surprisingly heavy and far more modern sounding than what people normally expect from a “retro” act. Their last opus, 2008’s Be Gone was a great album loaded with excellent yet tasteful guitar wankery and memorable vocal hooks and it left me wanting more. While the interminable wait continues for their next full length, Pharaoh has graced the good people with a six song EP entitled Ten Years. Featuring four tracks left over from the Be Gone sessions and two covers, its clearly a stopgap release but its a solid and entertaining one that continues the Pharaoh quality streak.

In Solitude – The World. The Flesh. The Devil. Review

By Steel Druhm on June 2, 2011 in 2011, 4.0, Heavy Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, 1 comment

Steel Druhm likes his old Mercyful Fate. Yep, those first two albums and the early EPs were pure metal magic and some of the best stuff the genre every coughed up. Needless to say, I support the sudden wave of Mercyful Fate influenced retro metal that’s been popping up of late. We have Ghost, Hell and now you can add In Solitude to this heady witch’s brew with their second release The World. The Flesh. The Devil. Along with fellow Swedes Ghost, these gents are shamelessly robbing the graves of the Melissa and Don’t Break the Oath albums and trying to bring some of that ancient black magic into 2011. While Ghost took elements of the Fate sound and added poppy, catchy hooks, In Solitude stays much closer to the source material. They actually sound A LOT like the great Fate as they trot our their own tales of demons, devil worship and all things malevolent. So, does their similarity to a Mercyful Fate tribute band necessarily mean I love them too? In this case, yes, yes it does. I love them and I’m man enough to admit it!

Falconer – Armod Review

By Angry Metal Guy on June 1, 2011 in 2011, 5.0, Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, Metal Blade, Power Metal, Record o' the Month, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Folk Metal, 14 comments

hate Falconer. Okay, that’s not really true, but I have never liked Falconer, let’s put it that way. I first got wind of these guys with the publication of their second album Chapters of a Vale Forlorn and I was very unimpressed. Since then I’ve heard a things here and there, and nothing convinced me away from my previous conviction. I didn’t think what I heard was particularly good, nor did I think it was particularly interesting. In spite of the fact that I’m a huge fan of guitarist Stefan Weinerhall and drummer Karsten Larsson’s previous project Mithotyn (an absolutely underrated band), the power metal tinged Falconer never did anything for me at all.

That is, until I heard Armod.

U.D.O – Rev-Raptor Review

By Steel Druhm on May 30, 2011 in 2011, 3.0, AFM Records, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 0 comments

U.D.O. is back! The diminutive Teutonic terror who’s gravelly cackle defined the sound of Accept for decades has resurfaced with yet another solo album (his thirteenth!). This time out however, he does so in the very large shadow cast by his former unit’s 2010 release Blood of Nations. That opus was a classic metal monster and ended up near the top of my best of 2010 list. Since Rev-Raptor will inevitably be seen by many as Udo Dirkschneider’s return salvo, the obvious question becomes, how does it measure up? Well, in all fairness, Mr. Udo has released far more records under the U.D.O. moniker than he ever released with Accept. That said, he’s still famous as the “voice” of Accept so the comparison is to be expected. In short, no, this isn’t on par with Blood of Nations, but its still a solid traditional metal album with some entertaining numbers that will make you bang your head the old fashioned way. If you’ve heard any of the prior U.D.O. albums, you know what to expect here since there’s been scarce variation across his long and storied discography. Its raucous 80’s style classic metal, much like classic Accept, with few frills but plenty of balls (to the wall) and the man’s trademark screech. If that sounds good to you, read on (AMG has already left the building and set it on fire).