2.5

Orphaned Land – All Is One Review

Orphaned Land – All Is One Review

Little has been new in the world of heavy metal for a long time. While the scene continues to crawl up its own ass with retro-this and retro-that and a naval gazing focus on the music of the past while waiting for new and fresh material, Orphaned Land has been one of the few bands that has branched out. These peacenik Israelis have been doing their own distinctive brand of ‘middle-eastern’ melodeath that breathed life into a scene. However, the band’s slow output has been a constant thorn in the side of their label, and after blowing the world out of the water with The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR, there was increased pressure to get a record out in three years. Orphaned Land delivered, and All Is One is that labor of love (and label pressure).

Lonewolf – The Fourth and Final Horseman Review

Lonewolf – The Fourth and Final Horseman Review

“It’s unfortunate that French heavy metal band Lonewolf’s sixth studio album had to be next on Happy Metal Guy’s reviewing list right after he reviewed this. But well, it’s too bad—that’s just how life is. When life splashes lemonade on you, use a pail to collect every drop of it dutifully, obtain citric acid crystals from it and use them to produce pesticide.” Well, not every album can be White Wizzard, whatever that means.

Ecnephias – Necrogod Review

Ecnephias – Necrogod Review

“Yup, I’ve been picking promo’s based on album art again, some say it’s no way to pick an album, that the two don’t correlate, I disagree. Don’t knock the system till you’ve tried it! What it boils down to is that I have no history with Ecnephias, I’ve not come across their dark melodies before and as mentioned it was graphic artist Pierre-Alain D. (3mmi Design) and his attractive album art that prompted me towards this review.” Madam X reviews some blackened death which may or may not sound like Septicflesh. You people love when we do that!

Havok – Unnatural Selection Review

Havok – Unnatural Selection Review

“I couldn’t help it, I had to rescue this review from Mr. Fisting Himself and his mad, imperious rule of giving every rethrash album a 2.0. Why did I have to spare Havok from the dubious rating thrash heap you ask? Because these feisty youngsters strike me as the true vanguard of the rethrash movement and where they go, so goes the retro wave. While Havok brings little in the way of musical innovation to a static, fairly stale style, they’ve staved off tedium on prior albums like Time is Up through sheer youthful exuberance, grit and fancy musicianship.” Steel Druhm may be able to save Havok from Mr. Fisting, but can he save them from themselves?

Evile – Skull Review

Evile – Skull Review

Evile has always occupied a strange space in the re-thrash movement. They seem to be one of the big wigs in the scene, yet I hear far less buzz about them than many other retro acts. They are also one of the few bands to eschew the common Slayer, Exodus and Testament mimicking in favor of a much more traditional Metallica influence. Their sound generally exists in the phantom zone between the Master of Puppets and And Justice for All eras and the later works of long overlooked Wargasm.” That combo sounds like a can’t miss, right? When you’re talking about skull tank music, you can never be too sure, so you better find out where Steel Druhm stands on the Skull.

Svartsyn – Black Testament Review

Svartsyn – Black Testament Review

“Black metal. No, wait, not that one; but the other, unpolished predecessor of whatever came next. And when I say ‘next’ I mean that black metal. With its intriguing plots, assassinations, Satanists that become pagans, that go to prison and discover the absolute, compelling modernity of nationalism. Usually right before they realize that, you know what, milking Norwegian cows can indeed be a form of protest against Christianity and Judaism if one looks at it from the right perspective.” Join Alex as he speedily runs us through 27 years in black metal!

The Resistance – Scars Review

The Resistance – Scars Review

“When you pull The Resistance apart first thing you’re going to notice is that the Swedish melodic(ish) death metal outfit includes members from one of the original ‘three kings of Gothenburg’ – Jesper Strömblad and Glenn Ljungström the two ex-In Flamers that bailed before becoming a part of Sounds of a Playground Fading’s limp release. Outside of having core In Flames members The Resistance also includes ex-Face Down members Marco Aro on deathly howls and drummer Chris Barkensjö. With a line-up like that and an EP release earlier this year (Rise From Treason) you’d be hard pressed, as I was, not to harbor some expectation that Scars with all its anger, conflict and aggressiveness would be the album that In Flames have failed to deliver of late.” Join Madam X to find out whether Scars is irresistible. With a name like Madam X, you’d expect her to dig scars.

Battle Beast – Battle Beast Review

Battle Beast – Battle Beast Review

“Sweet mother of Jesusabub, is there no relief from 2013’s merciless crusade against bands I like? One by one I’ve watched them fall to some diabolical curse of ungoodness and all I can do is stare at the release schedule with unease and wonder…who’s next? The answer is Finland’s bullet-belted cheese mongers, Battle Beast. As you may or may not care to remember, I made quite a fuss over their Steel debut due to it’s infectious brand of Euro-power tinged with thrash and traditional metal. It was ridiculously cheese-tastic, but it had more balls than a gym teacher’s storage closet and every song was an earworm Paul Atreides himself would be proud to ride. A huge part of the band’s charm came from the leather lunged power and presence of front woman Nitte Valo. She was part banshee, part rock star, all metal and her pipes were impossible to resist. Naturally, she bailed and now the Beast is fronted by new femme fatale Noora Louhimo and though she’s good, she’s no Nitte.” So how does a Nitte-less Battle Beast fare in the cold, cruel world of 2013? Steel Druhm says some words and points some fingers.

Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats – Mind Control Review

Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats – Mind Control Review

“Occupying the same retro 70s “occult rock” genre as Ghost, Devil, The Devil’s Blood and Occultation, Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats brought a lot of firepower to the retro doom knife fight with their 2011 Blood Lust opus. They showcased the same hooky, memorable song writing chops and appreciation of the past that Ghost featured on their debut, but folded it into a heavier overall sound with big, distorted guitars and a weird serial killer/stalker atmosphere. While I wouldn’t say it bested Opus Eponymous, it was a close second, and way better than the rest of their occult rock ilk.” Can you expect more slamming, jamming doom rock from your creepy Uncle, or did the dreaded Curse of 2013 claim yet another hapless victim.

Paganizer – World Lobotomy Review

Paganizer – World Lobotomy Review

“More Rogga?? With Mr. Johansson being involved in one of every three reviews I write lately, maybe we should change the website name to Rogga o Rama. I’ve recently examined his Megascavenger and Just Before Dawn projects and here he is again with his main outfit, Paganizer (he also has a collaboration with Paul Speckmann of Master coming in a few weeks). The man is an omnipresent force in the Swedish death scene (hell, he IS the Swedish death scene) and he’s been responsible for lots of rich, creamy death metal. In all honesty though, I’ve always found Paganizer to be a pretty spotty act. Some of their early output was solid and some of the more recent stuff was less so.” So does World Lobotomy cause brain damage or suffer from it? Our resident Rogga expert Steel Druhm is back from the nervous hospital to provide his diagnosis.