“18 albums into their crusade to bring Kansas proto-metal to the masses and Manilla Road keeps right on truckin’. To Kill a King is yet another cobblestone on their pathway to Vahalla and predictably delivers a flying buttress of epic, olde-timey metal mixed with doom and 70s hard rock, sounding like Atlantean Kodex would if the current members were replaced by dirty bikers.” The crime you’ve selected is… regicide.
“A new power metal super group? Oh joy! You know how we love super groups around here. This star studded lineup features vocal powerhouse Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear, ex-Gamma Ray) and his Primal Fear band mate Aquiles Priester on drums, rounded out by Bjorn Englen (Yngwie Malmsteen, Quiet Riot) on bass and the brutally unheralded Andrew Szucs on guitar.” Guitar-heavy power metal by a mostly unknown crew of power players and we’re supposed to call it a “super group”? Yes we are.
“You can’t accuse Manilla Road of jumping on many bandwagons. Since forming in the late 70s, they’ve lingered in a perpetually kvlt phantom zone, honing their uniquely clunky proto-metal sound. While doing so, they’ve steadfastly remained oblivious to how the metal world evolved around them, and practiced willful ignorance toward modern production technology and recording advances. Because of this admirable history of stubborn stick-to-it-ness, I can’t accuse them of joining the double album trend we see developing of late, though a double album they doth deliver.” Another double album in 2015? This may become the Year of Too Much Metal!
“Super-groups are an odd breed of duck. They either end up a bunch of egos, ball-busting for attention (a fight nobody wins) or they end up something along the lines of Down’s NOLA – chilled out, soaked in beer, raw and dirty and probably totally fucking stoned. This little collective I happened upon most recently via Rock n Growl Promotion, hail from a range of countries including, unsurprisingly, the USA and more surprisingly Spain, Italy and France.” An international doom rock supergroup starring the likes of Joe Stump? Intriguing!
“Hot on the heels of Steel Druhm’s review of Crematory’s Antiserum and sticking with zee Germans, we have Miracle Master’s Tattooed Woman, which delivers an unhealthily large dose of Dio worship, a smattering of modern American hard rockers Shinedown and the growlings of Monster Magnet.” Madam X loves her catchy hard rock, but can she make it through a whole review without Jorn nuthugging? Take your bets now!
