Metal Church

Retro-spective Review: Hall Aflame – Guaranteed Forever

Retro-spective Review: Hall Aflame – Guaranteed Forever

“I’ve been meaning to write a retro-review of this bad boy for a long time since it’s the very definition of “buried treasure.” Sadly, it’s an equally good example of a winning release that slipped through the cracks and fell into oblivion. Hall Aflame was a project launched by Metal Church founder/guitarist/main writer Kurdt Vanderhoof after quitting the band due to tour burnout. While there are trace elements of his main band in the sound. Guaranteed Forever is a weird amalgam of southern hard rock, blues and metal that borrows heavily from acts like The Cult, Jackyl, Tesla and The Four Horsemen.” Steel Druhm dives back into the vault of metal and finds yet another forgotten or overlooked album that should get a second look. Look at it!!!!

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.

Things You Might Have Missed 2011: Armor Column – Maximum Collateral Damage

Things You Might Have Missed 2011: Armor Column – Maximum Collateral Damage

Wow, how the time flies when you’re a reviewer! It seems like only yesterday we were welcoming in 2011 and looking ahead to a vast sea of new and interesting releases. But now we’ve reached that time of year when we at Angry Metal Guy Industries reflect back on the past twelve months in music. That means taking stock of what we liked and disliked, and sadly, owning up to all the shit we overlooked, ignored, missed or otherwise screwed the pooch on (oh, the SHAME!). First up on Steel Druhm’s Shame Spiral Tour is Upstate New York’s own Armor Column and their debut, Maximum Collateral Damage (available via MWA Records). Featuring a heady blend of old school thrash and traditional American power metal (Jag Panzer, Helstar), these war hawks led by fret-man Noah Carpenter (ex-Skinless) have come to batter, brutalize and bombard with their war-themed attack. At times ripping, at others catchy and always a bit rough around the edges and dirty, this was an unexpected but welcome surprise for yours truly that just didn’t get the review space it deserved (I blame Obama).

Brainstorm – On the Spur of the Moment Review

Brainstorm – On the Spur of the Moment Review

Reliability. That’s an endearing quality in a band. Its great knowing you can buy an album by a beloved band without trepidation because they deliver something of quality time and again. Germany’s traditional metal icons Brainstorm have been generating just that type of trust with fans ever since 2000’s Ambiguity. Since then its been album after album full of classy, powerful meat and potatoes metal, falling somewhere between Judas Priest, Metal Church and Pantera. No small part of their success is the vocal talent and songwriting acumen of front man Andy B. Franke. Whether recording with these guys or his more experimental unit Symphorce, the man has established himself as one of the premier metal vocalists out there today and he’s long exhibited an uncanny knack for writing winning choruses. As with classic albums like Metus Mortis and Soul Temptation, On the Spur of the Moment stays close to their tried-and-true formula of crunching guitars, tough but soaring vocals and hooks galore. while there are few surprises, it’s yet another solid outing by these scene vets and it’s a can’t miss for lovers of traditional heavy metal with grit and attitude.

Steel Druhm’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 50-41

Steel Druhm’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 50-41

Much like Angry Metal Guy, I took issue with Gibson’s Top 50 Metal Songs of All Time. While AMG was primarily offended by the paucity of post-1980s selections and the Anglocentric focus, my biggest gripe was the inclusion of bands that weren’t/aren’t metal (that also pissed me off, I’m just not eloquent when I’m pissed. – AMG). As good as bands like KISS, Van Halen and AC/DC may be, they just aren’t heavy metal bands (Don’t even get me started on Korn). Even when Gibson managed to stick to the correct genre, some of their choices were quite baffling to me. Of course, if you put fifty metal fans in a room and told them to do their own lists, each would be unique and vastly different. That’s the wonderful subjectivity of music, it means something different to each of us and who are we to judge what others like? That being said, Gibson’s list blows moose cock, so here’s mine.

Accept – Blood of Nations Review

Accept – Blood of Nations Review

And “THEY’RE BACK!! The teutonic terrors responsible for such classic metal albums as Breaker, Restless and Wild, Balls to the Wall have reformed to deliver one humdinger of a comeback ass whipping and one of the best metal albums of 2010 in the process. Blood of Nations is the first slab of new Accept material since 1996’s Predator and to say they are back with a vengeance is quite an understatement indeed. Yes, it’s sad but true, original and uber distinctive frontman Udo Dirkschneider is not onboard for this reunion crusade, but fear not, Accept manages quite nicely without his unique services and no one is more surprised than yours truly about that one.