“Italy and Greece seem to be accounting for a much greater percentage of our fetid promo sump of late. It’s like the Mediterranean region is vying to knock Scandinavia off the map as the key locus of metal, and they’re putting their collective back into it. Part of that sweaty collective back is Greek act Null’O’Zero, who play a kind of beefed up brand of traditional metal akin to Iced Earth, with a touch of the heavy prog of Symphony X.” Set gyros to pummel.
“When does homage cross over into plagiarism? When does admiration become unhealthy obsession? These are questions one must confront when reviewing Hellhound by U.K. traditional metal fiends, Monument. Sporting several former members of White Wizzard, the band unsurprisingly sets out to showcase their love of 80s metal in ways so shameless and graphic, decorum almost prevents me from discussing them here. Almost.” Hellhounds and copycats.
“Let us put on the hat of the elitist for a moment. What separates us from the mainstream pleb? When it comes to extreme metal, the answer is obvious. No mainstream music is so dense, complex and abrasive. Hit lists rarely contain tracks that actively, overtly work to create discomfort and repulsion. When it comes to less obviously anti-commercialism, though, the differences become less pronounced, and a multitude of heavy metal bands have indeed been part of what was considered hit music, back in the glorious ’80s. Felskinn tries to appeal to the hit chart-sensitive among the population while recognizing that classic metal doesn’t embody widely accepted characteristics anymore.” Taste the Felskinn.
Those readers who have been following the metal scene for a few years are quite probably acquainted with French heavy/power act Nightmare; those who have been with us a bit longer are almost certainly aware that said band’s stretch from 2001 to 2005 saw a dead excellent trio of albums from a creative, traditionally-influenced powerhouse performing at the height of its skill. Today’s review, that of Öblivïon’s Resilience, will everywhere be compared to Nightmare’s “classic” era of the 00’s decade due to the involvement of Jo and David Amore and Steff Rabilloud. The former pair – brothers – were core members of that band, and Rabilloud had a brief stint as keyboardist.” Nightmare by another name.
“Don’t look at me. I feel nothing but shame for the treason I am about to unveil, for though my words are true, they are most certainly not trve. I’ve been banging my head to power metal all week… and I liked it. It started with this band, Gods of Silence, and their debut assault Neverland.” From muppet to lost boy.
“I have a new rule. Whenever Jonas Källsbäck drums on an album, it’s going to be good. Last month’s Night Flight Orchestra was fantastic. From what I’ve heard, Gathering of Kings will rock. And there’s this Mean Streak album, Blind Faith. Not to be confused with the 80s girl band Meanstreak, this version is a Swedish traditional metal band, ostensibly named after the Y&T album and song of the same name (which saw heavy rotation on my turntable back in 1984, in the form of K-Tel’s Masters of Metal album).” Dads B Rockin’.
