Diamond Head

Night Demon – Darkness Remains Review

By Eldritch Elitist on April 20, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Steamhammer, Heavy Metal, 44 comments

“My perpetual desire to keep up with the new, the strange and the inventive in the metal landscape betrays one of my greatest sins as a genre fan: I quite often forget to tip my hat to good ol’ heavy metal. Sure, I have nearly every Maiden record memorized front to back and I endeavor to wear my Motörhead shirt at least twice a week, but I tend to push modern homages to metal’s roots to the wayside. I think my ignorance is a byproduct of a general disinterest in new takes on traditional metal endemic to the current scene, and occasionally the metal community (and myself) needs a good ass-kick of a record to whip it into shape.” The penalty for your anti-metal attitude is a booting.

Lunar Shadow – Far From Light Review

By Steel Druhm on March 19, 2017 in 2017, Cruz Del Sur, Epic Metal, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, 55 comments

“Nostalgia is a part of life, as inescapable as death, taxes and back hair. In moderation it’s a wistful and harmless reminder of happy times and precious moments. Taken to extremes however, it becomes ABBA-centric musicals and ironical Hipster Hell (i.e. Williamsburg, Brooklyn). The biggest problem with throwback/retro nostalgia-core is the fact it must forever look backward at what’s already been done, rarely managing to inject modern ideas or sensibilities into the mix. Flying in the face of this truism, Lunar Shadow boldly strides out of Germany with a new take on living in the past.” A retro twofer? Everyone loves a bargain.

Agatus – The Eternalist Review

By Lord Lucan on October 11, 2016 in Black Metal, Greek Metal, Heavy Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, NWOBHM, Reviews, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Heavy Metal, 35 comments

“In today’s fast-paced world where instant gratification is king, once a winning formula has been established, it’s tempting for many bands to play it safe, shy away from experimentation, and resort to simply churning out variations on the same record every few years (*cough* Amon Amarth *cough*). I always have a lot of respect therefore for musicians who are willing to take a risk, mix things up a bit and diversify their style – creating their own record as opposed to simply writing what is expected of them. Agatus are one such band.” A double review brought to you by administrative tomfoolery.

Diamond Head – Diamond Head Review

By Dr. Fisting on April 15, 2016 in 2016, Dissonance Productions, English Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 13 comments

“British heavy metal forefathers Diamond Head are best known for their debut album, 1980’s Lightning To The Nations. That album rightfully earned them a cult following due to its bombastic metal-via-Zeppelin riffage, and its classic status was cemented when 5 of the album’s 7 tracks were covered by a certain San Francisco quartet called Metallica. For most people, the story ends there, but Diamond Head went on to endure several decades of lineup changes, mismanagement, and questionable musical direction.” And now for the rest of the story.

Blood Of Kings – Starvation Review

By Dr. Fisting on May 13, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Reviews, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, Tridroid Records, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, 5 comments

“Whenever a band can non-ironically cite Angel Witch and Tank as influences, you pretty much know what you’re in for. On their début album Starvation, Seattle trio Blood of Kings plays the sort of proto-thrash that used to be called “speed metal” back in the day. These days we don’t call it anything, because we’re too busy drinking heavily and buying back patches on eBay.” Need something new to go with that vintage back patch? Royal blood always jazzes things up nicely!

Enforcer – Death By Fire Review

By Steel Druhm on January 28, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Cock Rock, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal, 6 comments

Enforcer is an easy band to poke fun at. Though from Sweden, they play a retro style that seeks to hit the sweet spot between NWOBHM and early American speed metal acts like Abattoir, Jag Panzer and Attacker, with the occasional dose of hair metal/cock rock tossed in for shits and giggles. This style calls for a fair amount of skin-tight white jeans, hairspray, bullet belts and overall silliness pasted on a rickety frame of Iron Maiden and Saxon riffs. How that strikes you is a very personal matter and I’m not one to judge (that’s a lie. I’ve been silently judging you all for years).

Weapon – Embers and Revelations Review

By Steel Druhm on October 17, 2012 in 2012, 4.0, Black Metal, Canadian Metal, Death Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 6 comments

Steel Druhm has a sordid history of black metal bashing. Now he turns his bitter attention to the new opus by Weapon. Will Embers and Revelations avoid his typical blackened butt spankery? They better hope so; the man has an iron hand.

Twisted Tower Dire – Make It Dark Review

By Steel Druhm on April 28, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, American Metal, Cruz Del Sur, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 0 comments

C’mon, more old school 80s metal? When is enough enough? For folks like Angry Metal Guy, enough came six minutes after the first 80s retro album appeared [It was at least 12 or 14 minutes – AMG]. But Steel Druhm says as long as it’s good, keep it coming and add the cheese! That brings us to the Virginia crew Twisted Tower Dire. These stalwart gents have been plying their vintage early 80’s style since 1995 and Make It Dark is their fifth old school crusade. Taking their main cues from Iron Maiden and merging it with old Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy and Diamond Head, Twisted Tower’s sound has evolved over the years into something akin to Slough Feg or Pharaoh. Working in their favor over their career was a determination to continually hone and refine their sound and songwriting chops. Make It Dark keeps that evolution headed in the right direction and this is their strongest effort to date. Loaded with vibrant, energetic, guitar driven metal with the true spirit of the 80s present in every note, this is a helluva lot of fun to play and play loud!