German Metal

Intöxicated – Röck ‘n Roll Hellpatröl Review

Intöxicated – Röck ‘n Roll Hellpatröl Review

“Like your speed metal served up fast, loud and dirty with a Lemmy-like grunt? How about dripping in Venom? Like their English counterparts, Intöxicated’s Germanic brand of metal unleashes ten tons of pent-up instrumental and lyrical debauchery and intends to raise eyebrows and drop jaws. In other words it’s heavy as fuck, uncompromisingly raw and you’ll either love it or be disgusted by it.” Find out what Madam X thinks of German speed metal, alcohol, sex, partying and motorcycles, all in the name of keeping you (our fine metal brethren) informed.

Sodom – Epitome of Torture Review

Sodom – Epitome of Torture Review

“As a fan of Sodom since my early teens, I’ve developed a certain comfort level with their steadfast refusal to evolve or progress beyond the basic template of 80s Germanic thrash they helped establish along with Kreatorand Destruction. There were always plenty of other bands I could count on to surprise me or throw me for a loop musically, I certainly didn’t need Sodom changing their caveman ways. Of course, when a band releases album after album of essentially the same old school thrash mixed with punk, you can expect some degree of tedium and recycling and I’m never going to bang on these cats for a lack of originality. However, when one of their typically Sodom-esque albums is bad, it’s bad. Epitome of Torture is such an album…” Sodom just keeps rolling on in their skull tank of Germanic design, but even the greats stall out sometimes. Join Steel Druhm as he checks under the hood for problems.

The Ocean – Pelagial Review

The Ocean – Pelagial Review

“No one can fault The Ocean’s ambition. Ever since their 2007 opus, the double album Precambrian, they’ve been setting their eyes on bigger and bigger projects. In the past few years they’ve released two albums arguably designed to be thought of as a double album — Heliocentric and Anthropocentric. These dealt with the origin of man and the redundancy of God in a two-hour, post-metal journey constantly switching between the conventional and unconventional that made for a disorienting yet satisfying experience. However, I can’t help but feel Anthropocentric, the second album, was somewhat of a blunder.” Noctus has had some issues with The Ocean and not because he’s afraid of water. That’s fortunate, because their new opus is aqua-themed. Will Noctus take the dive or stay high, dry and judgmental?

Atrocity – Okkult Review

Atrocity – Okkult Review

“Yes, Atrocity have indeed lived up to their name and not in the way one hopes for in death metal, technical, melodic or otherwise. They’re the band that brought out the very un-metal Werk 80 consisting of ‘metalled up’ covers of 80’s pop songs. Oh and wait for it they didn’t stop there, 11 years down the line they doubled the atrocity with the release of Werk 80 II (a double album offering) – I have to ask why?” Steel Druhm joins Madam X in asking why a death metal band chose to make their name doing novelty covers of 80s pop hits, but hey, who are we to judge? Now they’re doing real death metal again and Madam X kinda digs it.

Avantasia – The Mystery of Time Review

Avantasia – The Mystery of Time Review

“You have to give Tobias Sammet his steely props. He doesn’t do things half-assed. Nope, he goes big, bold and lets the Metal Gods sort shit out. His Edguy material is plenty pretentious and overblown, but it can’t hold a magic candle to the sheer pretentious pomposity and bombast of his Avantasia project. Taking cues from Arjen Luccasen’s Ayreon outings, Sammet drags in every singer, guitarist and hanger-on he can and it seems he’s playing a metallic version of Pokemon (gotta catch em all). His last feat was the impressive double release of the Angel of Babylon and The Wicked Symphony albums (my fanboyish reviews of which, landed me a spot at AMG Industries, Ltd. for some reason), and I was very curious how he could top those massive platters of symphonic excess.” So how exactly does Mr. Sammet top his prior output? Steel Druhm is here to unravel the mysteries of time.

Alpha Tiger – Beneath the Surface Review

Alpha Tiger – Beneath the Surface Review

“Move your skinny asses over, Enforcer, there’s a new sheriff in Retro City and the name is really shitty. I know a pussy cat name like Alpha Tiger won’t inspire much faith amongst the angry metal masses, but trust me, the music more than makes up for the cheese-tastic moniker (which belongs on a third-rate Japanese video game where you brawl through a zoo and up the food chain). This is unapologetically old school, traditional metal taking its cues from early 80s American acts like Agent Steel, Armored Saint, John Arch era-Fates Warning, Sacred Oath and Crimson Glory.” Yes, Steel Druhm is delivering MORE retro metal for your consideration!! Deal with it. ROAR!

Helloween – Straight Out of Hell Review

Helloween – Straight Out of Hell Review

Helloween has always been a sticky wicket for yours truly. I worshipped their debut EP and the first two albums, which basically were the Old Testament for how Euro power metal should sound. With Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II came the disturbing trend of incorporating candy-coated, cutesy, tongue-in-cheeks numbers presumably designed to appeal to 12 year old girls and soccer moms. When they titled the follow-up album Pink Bubbles Go Ape, Steel Druhm packed his bags, said his goodbyes to Gorgar and decamped from the Helloween fan club. So how are they faring as a band in 2013, years after I bailed on their cheesy, German melothrash?