Year after year I’ve waited for Grave Digger to recapture the power and glory of the Rheingold era. Finally, they’ve stopped digging a trench of mediocrity and delivered the Rheingoods!!
Accept
Heretic – A Time of Crisis Review
From the depths of metal obscurity, old schoolers Heretic stop by to say hi before vanishing into eternal oblivion with this lackluster effort.
Grave Digger – Home at Last EP Review
Grave Digger is back with a new EP. Seriously, this stuff is so rudimentary, it makes Accept sound like Dream Theater.
Herman Frank – Right in the Guts Review
Accept is on a roll lately, and here’s guitarist Herman Frank’s second solo outing. Not only is it Acceptable, it’s also pretty ballsy (to the wallsy).
Empires of Eden – Channeling the Infinite Review
Another super group?? I usually don’t think much of these star-studded affairs where everybody and their cousin’s uncle cram into a studio to twiddle, poke and harass one instrument or another. Often, the end result sounds as disjointed as the fractious collaboration that birthed it.
Running Wild – Shadowmaker Review
Raise the sails and fly the black mark, the original metal pirates are back to plunder your booty (in a strictly platonic way, of course).
Accept – Stalingrad Review
It’s been said by some (one) that all we do at AMG is review death metal. Well, this here certainly ain’t death metal!
Wolfen – Chapter IV Review
Wolfen. Never did I hear of them. As the album title suggests, they have three prior releases, yet the mighty Eye of Steel Druhm (like Sauron’s but more bloodshot) never spied them as they skulked through the Germanic underground. I don’t like that, since stealth wolfens are my least favorite kind of wolfen.
Battle Beast – Steel Review
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.
U.D.O – Rev-Raptor Review
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).
