Brian Allen is taking his turn at the VR mic in true, aggressive metal spirit! Not taking anything away from the other guys who’ve stepped in  here, Allen is without a doubt THE man for this job. He packs an intense, absolutely (forgive me) vicious punch! Musically, Thorpe and company have cranked everything up a notch, and the result is, from my view, the best thing the band has done since 1995’s Word of Mouth.

The band has buckled down and put out a very, very strong album. Tracks like “Razorback Blade” and “Axe To Grind” call to mind the glory and speed of classics like “Hellraiser” (from the 1990 self-titled album). Allen proves his mettle here with some seriously impressive vocal acrobatics and soaring wails…absolutely blistering. He comes down out of the stratosphere and puts in a brooding, impassioned performance on “Black”. “Rite Of Devastation”, “Murderball” and “Blood Stained Sunday” all boil over with patented VR rage and spirit, the likes we haven’t heard in a long time. Crowd-rousing track “Let The Garden Burn” is an homage to the European, open air metal festivals held every summer and is sure to get crowds headbanging and chanting back. There is simply not a bad song to be had here, people. Guitar solos are something the band is known for and a couple of returning heros turn out some gems. Brad Gillis (Night Ranger) makes his second appearance on a VR album. Former VR guitarist Mark McGee (who played on all the band’s albums from 1988 through 1995) is welcomed back for a few guest shredders in tandem with Thrope. Testament‘s Eric Petersen even puts in some harmonized solo runs on “Murderball”.

This is the album that I, as a Vicious Rumors fan, have been waiting for since Albert’s passing. Putting a few past missteps aside, because the band has released some strong material over the years. But they have hit a home run with Razorback Killers! This album feels like a natural follow up to Word of Mouth and easily ranks among the Albert years’ material. Get it!

Jumping from the guitarists own label Leviathan to the waiting arms of Roadrunner, the band had high hopes for For Those Who Dare. Sadly, apart from a video for the title track getting decent play on Headbanger’s Ball, the Roadrunner partnership yielded the band very little. I say sadly because this album is really good!

Now David T is a monster guitarist; an arpeggio wielding technician if there ever was one. The real star of this album, however, is one Leather Leone. This woman carried twice the power and range of any other female in metal. Forget Betsy Bitch, forget Doro…Leather Leone is an absolute powerhouse! Equal parts Dio, Dickinson and Ann Wilson, she didn’t sing songs so much as she attacked them. The soaring chorus of the title track, the hateful snarl of “The Mountain Whispers”, the piercing wail of “Please Set Us Free”; all testament to the fact that this woman IS Heavy Metal.

Musically, the riffs chug, grind and fly in all directions. The lead playing of Mr. Chastain is especially deft, easily rivaling Malmsteen, Friedman or any other Shrapnel Records shredder. The vibe of the album is dark, angry and passionate. Moving seamlessly from headbanging tempos (“Secrets Of The Damned”), to slithering, pounding groove riffs (“Not Much Breathing”), to more ambient intros (“Night Of Anger”) there isn’t a bad song to he had. There’s even a pissed off cover of Heart‘s “Barracuda”. The tones and edge are all given new life by Jamie King’s (Between The Buried And Me producer) impressive remastering job.

For fans of US power metal, this album is essential. If you missed it the first time around, or want to hear it in its newly remastered glory, definitely pick it up. This will turn out to be my favorite reissue of the year!

While not sounding exactly like they did on Episode or Destiny, Stratovarius sticks to the tried and true power metal formula they’ve been championing for all these many years. While Kupiainen has a different feel and delivery than that of Tolkki, the music retains the melodic, epic nature the band is known for. If anything, they’ve foregone some of the more fast-paced moments in favor of a little more groove and more mid-paced, headbanging tempos. Johansson’s keyboards carry a good portion of the melodic weight and Kotipelto further cements his reputation as one of the premier vocalists in the scene ― despite the fact that the higher he climbs, the more grating he tends to be come…but that’s just a taste thing. Regardless of the talent on board, its the songs that matter and, ultimately, Elysium delivers.

Opening track “Darkest Hours” is a driving, energetic number with a strong chorus and nice keyboard layering. The lyrics get a little predictable (“I’ve left the past behind, I’m reaching for the light”) but they work in the context of what they’re doing. “Fairness Justified” starts off somber and airy before adding the obligatory “heavy power ballad” layers, complete with an epic chorus. Classic Stratovarius comes roaring back to life on “Event Horizon” which is chock full of neo-classical speed and shredding. This one has tons of double-kick drumming and a soaring chorus. Johansson and Kupiainen also have some cool interplay. “The Game Never Ends” is another strong, driving number with more incredibly nimble playing from Kupiainen. Of course, any self-respecting power metal band has to deliver the 18-minute epic at some point of their careers, and here, Stratovarius does so with the closing title track. Deftly blending many differing elements of the Strato-sound, it’s grandiose and diverse, loaded down with more good melodies and impressive playing but it gets a little exhausting toward the end.

This was the first Stratovarius I had heard front to back since 1998’s Destiny and while I am still not totally sold on Kotipelto’s voice, I was reminded of what a formidable unit this band is. I don’t see any reasons why any Strato-fan wouldn’t eat it up.

The band’s latest effort, The Scourge of the Light, is a testament to that hard work. After several spins, I have concluded that the new album ranks among the band’s best work, like 1986’s Ample Destruction and 2001’s Mechanized Warfare.

From start to finish, the songs never fail to deliver the Jag Panzer trademarks with seemingly evergreen vigor. The riffs can go from gallopping and heavy (“Overlord”) to grooving and masterful (“Cycles”). Losing Chris Broderick to Megadeth certainly did not slow things down in the lead guitar department as it paved the way for the return of Christian Lasegue, who does a brilliant job carrying melodic flair while shredding with the best of them.

Melody, as is stands, is the order of the day with Jag Panzer. In addition to Conklin’s soaring vocal phrasing, which is always impressive, the band adds single violin passages and layers to add to the earthy nature of the music without trying to masquerade as a “symphonic” band. “Let It Out” and “Condemned To Fight” find the band in full on headbanging mode, while the 8-minute closing epic “The Book Of Kells” is an intense, brooding journey. The subtlety of the violin goes a long way in creating the mood for this one. Other tracks like “Call To Arms” and “The Setting Of The Sun” carry the classic Jag Panzer trademark with glory and honor. “Bringing On The End” has a giagantic groove riff intro before delving into an almost creepy, subdued verse.

Fans of the band and classic heavy metal in general have a lot to enjoy on The Scourge of the Light. The vocals are great, the riffs are strong, and the solos are quite impressive. The overall mood and vibe of the album is one of dark, epic mystery and imagination. It feels great and will no doubt bring about repeated spins.

Jag Panzer proves itself as one of the more consistent bands in metal, delivering the goods time after time. I love it!

Now, it may be a little misleading to hear that the band has a strong Opeth influence. There are no death vocals to be found, but there are some heavier moments. In fact, if I were to put a quick tag on it, I’d say they sound like a slightly heavier take on Opeth‘s Damnation album as much of the music on offer here, melodically, rhythmically, and compositionally reminds me of Opeth quite a bit. The longer arrangements, melancholy melodies, clean vocals and intricate musicianship are all bear the mark of these gargantuan Swedes.

It’s not all-Opeth, all the time, though. At times, I hear bits of Anathema and even tiny, tiny hints of The Smiths in the vocal delivery, melodies and moods. Speaking of moods, it’s a very gloomy sounding album. It puts across a very grainy, black and white film vibe. The music rises and falls from somber interludes to more intense passages with good consistency. There are only five songs, but with a running time of about 55 minutes, there is plenty of music to digest. “White Feathers”, “New Bell” and “A Fragile Disguise” are the ones that stand out.

Like I said, when you listen to this album you’re going to hear a lot of Opeth-isms. This trait, while off-putting for some, will be the very thing that draws other listeners. The musicianship alone is worth giving this a spin as these guys are great players capable of handling the hills and valleys in the music with apparent ease. It’s definitely worth checking into of the dreary side of prog is your thing.

After a couple of albums on his own under the moniker Chroma Key, as well as being sideman for Matheos’ Fates Warning, OSI emerged to rabid, drooling prog fans the world over with Office Of Strategic Influence. Add in a guest spots from Cynic‘s Sean Malone and Porcupine Tree‘s Steven Wilson and many fans had to pick themselves up off the ground to be able to get to the store and buy the CD. Now, don’t take this as a sign of mundane predictability, but given the musicians, this sounds pretty much like an educated fan would expect it to. It’s prog metal (later Fates Warning) with a strong electronic & keyboard texture (Chroma Key) being drummed by Mike Portnoy.

And honestly, it rules! As un-scholarly as that sounds, it’s just the truth. There is no overabundance of shred (unless you count Portnoy’s busy style), no wailing vocals (Moore is a very subdued, simple singer), and no “look how awesome I am” moments from any of the individual musicans. What we’re presented with is a strong, song-oriented album (which only means that they focus on composition more than musicianship) with tons of atmosphere and personality. Moore’s vocals and overall presence musically gives the material a bit of a Pink Floyd-vibe (the “Careful With That Axe, Eugene” Floyd, not the “Learning To Fly” Floyd) which is perfect seeing as how Disc 2 on this collection has a brilliant cover of “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun”. Tracks like “Hello, Helicopter”, “Dirt From A Holy Place”, “Horseshoes & B-52’s” and “OSI” are simply stunning.

Now I had the 2-disc special edition of this album the first time around and I can’t find anything on this issue that wasn’t on the first. Two CDs, all the same bonus tracks, the enhanced video clips (including a concept video directed and edited by Kevin Moore for the track “Horsehoes and B-52s”), etc. But don’t let that stop you from grabbing it if you missed it the first time, as it all plays into the overall package of OSI the band. Having been a fan of the two albums since this one, Free and Blood, returning to Office Of Strategic Influence after these many years has been an enjoyable experience. Fans of any band mentioned here should definitely give this one a listen.

Fast forward ten years and the band, after going through several line up changes and playing shows in their native Texas as well as in Mexico, as well as an appearance at Milwaukee Metal Fest in 2000, that is Steve Perez, has changed the moniker to Demontuary and Heaven & Hell Records have released the two Of The Fallen releases here under that new band name as part of their Lost Relics series.

OK, what does it sound like? All in all, it’s well executed USBM. It’s black enough for the purists, epic enough for the new school, and loaded with bleak attitude. The songs are bursting with furious double kick passages, machine gun riffing, and cool keyboard textures. The production isn’t slick, but each instrument can be heard clearly with a good amount of punch (though you can tell the two separate recordings apart). The solos are melodic and tasty, hinting at a classic heavy metal influence. Vocally I’m reminded of Immortal at times, but it’s not overbearing. Tracks like “Days Of Infernal Insanity”, “Writhe In Vengeance” (great stacatto riffing), “Thou Art The Flame” and “Ancient Gods Of Battles Past” are prime, epic black metal. The 7-minute “Desolation And War” has a cool, calm build before diving into sweeping, grandiose riffing.

I found myself digging this record, spinning it multiple times back to back. Fans of Dissection, early Dimmu Borgir, or just black metal in general should give this a chance. The feel is definitely black metal, but the time changes and musicianship give it a progressive vibe to me as well. It’s not going to turn you on your ear, but it’s a good, solid listen and a glimpse of hopefully things to come for Demontuary. Kudos to Heaven & Hell for getting this out there.

North Carolina’s Heaven & Hell Records have launched a series they call Lost Relics; the goal of which is to uncover what they feel to be bands and music that never had their fair shot in hopes of bringing it to modern day collectors who hunger for more music. The first in this series is from 80’s New Jersey rockers Ritual. Ritual played a then timely version of hard rock/metal music akin to Dokken or Tesla (in their heavier moments) with a few token “every bad boy has a soft side” moments thrown in for good measure. The recordings here are from three different sessions spanning the decade, so sound quality and mix varies. The guitar playing & songs structures are what you would expect; good solos and some tasty riffs to be had, notably “Tight”, “Electrified”, “Claw To The Top”, “Friend Or Foe” (kind of a Loudness vibe), & “Dark Star”. “Dark Star” is probably the best song on the album, with it’s Dokken meets Queensryche-vibe, and it’s a bonus track. A couple of unbearably schlocky moments with cringe-worthy ballad “No Longer Feel” and the put-on attitude of “Rid Of The Bitch”, but I’m sure we all have embarassing pictures buried in our closets.

While some songs have good riffs, and the band seems to have been a contender (including endorsements from then-local DJ Eddie Trunk and legenday manager Mark Weiss), they sound like a band in need of a producer and a bit of direction. The ingredients are there, but it’s not quite ready for the menu. At times it seems like they were trying to straddle the fence between what we now call hair metal and classic metal. Had they been handed off to Beau Hill or Michael Wagner they could have turned out an album that would have fit right in during its time. Would they have made waves? No way to know for sure. But if you’re an ’80s rock & metal Historian then this collection is right up your alley. It’s got good liner notes, detailed band history (they seem to have hit the bricks pretty hard back in the day), and a nice layout. The cover art is a little puzzling and even confusing (looks like a doom metal album), but that’s a small complaint for an otherwise collector-worthy release.

I know there are lots of NWOBHM influenced bands seemingly appearing out of thin air these days. But, don’t lump Colossus in with all the bullet-belt wearing 21 year-olds playing dress-up and pretending to be more metal than thou. These guys play with heart and sincerity while still maintaining a fun attitude. I mean, how serious can you be with lyrics like “Man-flesh between my jaws…” (from track number five “Wendigo”) or “Burn the brain, make them stay down” (from the fist-raising, zombie-vanquishing “Kill More Better”). Galloping, harmonized guitars, head-banging tempos, ripping solos, clear vocals and fantasy lyrics…somebody get me a beer! The five tracks here, those mentioned above as well as “The Mountain That Rides”, “A Year Later (There’s Still Meat Left In The Skull)”, and “The Operative” (a lyrical homage to the sci-fi series Firefly) are a full-on heavy metal good time!

If forced to complain, then its too short. Five songs isn’t enough. Colossus isn’t out to play the “stone-faced artist” routine. They’re honoring the spirit of metal, spreading blood, sweat & guitars! Fans of early Maiden, Witchkiller, Saxon & Thin Lizzy‘s heavier moments should be all over this. While a glance at their band picture calls to mind a gathering of hipster-doofi, Colossus is all metal, all the time. You can keep Enforcer, Black Tide and whatever other band is currently trying on the spike-wristed skin of the past, I wanna get Drunk on Blood!

Hailing from Burlington, North Carolina, Natu Sabverata are bringing the Brutal back to death metal. Existing To Ensure Your Destruction is an abrasive listen at first, but the more I played it, the more I came to discover how real this band is. Enraged, face-grinding riffs, old-school death metal grooves and head-banging tempos, guttural vocals that are both beastly and decipherable, and enough lyrical blasphemy to make ol’ Uncle Glen raise his branded brow and say “Damn!”.

The riffing is quite catchy. I found myself air-guitaring and office-headbanging as I listened to it. The arrangements are varied enough as to make it a good listen from start to finish without getting boring. There’s nothing groundbreaking, mind you, but that’s far from the point here. “A Bastard’s Birth”, “SinEater”, “Servant To None” and “Whimper Of The Whipped Dog” are the cake-takers for me, but I honestly think this is a solid listen from beginning to end.

I have to say, this album was quite refreshing to hear. It’s not trying to be epic or symphonic. It doesn’t have the sterile, samey production a lot of metal seems to be drowning in these days. It’s about as far from scenester as you could get. Fans of Immolation, Deicide, and old Celtic Frost should get this record. In fact, fans of Job For A Bear Wrestling Valentine should get it too, so they can watch all their other CDs go up in flames when they listen to it.

Infestation sees a renewed Ratt line-up including Pearcy, original members Bobby Blotzer (drums) and Warren DeMartini (guitar), long-time bassist Robbie Crane and the newly tapped Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot) taking the second guitar position delivering some of the best music of the band’s long career. Seriously, I had no idea that the album would be this good. Now, it could be that I was expecting it to be so bad that anything above “OK” sounds awesome, but I have spun this album a couple dozen times now and it hasn’t waned.

Opening cut “Eat Me Up Alive” sounds like classic Judas Priest (minus Halford’s wail) with his chopping riff and headbanging tempo. Initial single “Best Of Me” has a fantastic chorus hook remniscent of the band’s later albums like Detonator and Reach For The Sky. Other tracks like “A Little Too Much”, “Look Out Below”, “Lost Weekend” and “Don’t Let Go” sound like vintage Ratt…any of these songs could have been on the follow up to Invasion Of Your Privacy. Others like “As Good As It Gets”, “Garden Of Eden” & “Take A Big Bite” find the Ratt boys updating a tiny bit, but absolutely not in a ‘Ratt-trying-to-be-Nickelback’ way. The guitar work is energetic and impressive (DeMartini & Cavazo…come on), the songs are refreshing and hard hitting and the overall vibe of the record is tried and true Ratt-N-Roll.

I never saw it coming, but Ratt have put out one of the best records of their career. It surpasses their later original run output and renders the ’99 album completely unmentionable. I doubt there is a Ratt fan alive that would not dig this record. It’s the sound of a band who knows who they are. It’s not “hair metal”, it’s not nostalgia, it’s not trendy…it just rocks. Get it.

Our good friends at Metal Blade have seen fit to give these two landmark releases the deluxe treatment and have reissued them, along with a DVD of the ‘Twas The Night Of A Hellish Christmas performance, as a 3-disc package called Rising From The Grave. The two albums in question have been given the remastering once-over and sound stellar. It’s so good to hear classics like “To Sleep Per Chance To Scream”, “Swirling Madness”, “Baptised In Blood”, “The King Is Dead”, “Scorcher” and “Tyrannicide” all beefed up and crushing. The albums speak for themselves but, in case you have never heard Helstar, imagine a blend of Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest and Agent Steel…that’s about the best way I can describe it. The music dark & sinister, it’s got wicked dual-shredding guitars and interesting arrangements, and it’s got James Rivera‘s piercing Metal wail. While a few bonus tracks would have been nice, it’s cool to have the DVD packaged here. It’s a video-camera shoot, but it’s a good one. It’s the kind of home video that bands back in the day (1989) would have LOVED to have of themselves. The DVD track list is a little out of sequence, but whatever. The performance is energetic, the band is having fun and the sound is acceptable…meaning while not a soundboard mix, the camera mic captures what was a good, clean house mix because one will have no trouble hearing all the instruments at evenly distributed levels.

That’s it. This thing rules. Two remastered albums, a cool DVD, expanded printed commentary from James Rivera and Larry Barragan and it has the original artwork included on the inside. These two albums are essential for fans of melodic, American power metal so even if you have the originals, get this.

2010 brings us Pandemonium, the band’s 12th full-length studio album in its 27-year run as a recording entity (which also includes 4 EP’s, 2 live albums and 2 compilations). As I stated, the band has been one of the more consistent in recent memory, with fewer instances of collective fan disappointment than just about any other band I can think of. They do what they do and they do it quite well. This album has a combination of the heavy edge of Planet Panic and the layered melodic aura of Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing coming up with their strongest album since 2000’s Carpe Diem.

Rather than separating elements among different songs (as in some past efforts), the band combines it’s metal and melodic rock personalities forming a very strong set of songs. “Little Drops Of Heaven” sports a chorus as strong as anything the band has ever done in a near-perfect mid-tempo rocker. The same can be said of “Final Day Of Innocence” and “I.N.V.U.”. On the energetic “Cielo Drive” the band cranks up the metal with a classic Judas Priest styled riff and another monster chorus. The title track delvers the Metal in this fashion as well.

The only two bands I mentioned as reference in this review, Def Leppard and Judas Priest, sum up the overall vibe of Pretty Maids. Two bands that have their own unique identities creating another. Pretty Maids the band, and Pandemonium the album, is like a modern blend of Pyromania and Screaming For Vengeance. Pretty Maids are melodic heavy metal at its finest.

Back in the late-80’s, early-90’s, the first bands I can recall using a LOT of sustained double-kick speed and in longer parts of songs were death metal bands (pre-core infusion). What made this so impressive is that A) I had never heard a drummer use their feet so much and B) looking back, this is pre-Pro-Tools, non-quantized drumming. The kick drum tracks were not loaded into, or recorded on, a computer where they could be lined up in perfect synchronicity to a computerized click track. No individual kick-drum notes were moved any closer to others to make the drummer appear to be faster or tighter. The kicks may have been triggered for the sake of getting tones, but the drummers were PLAYING those parts; not having the engineer piece them together in a studio. When my friends and I heard this kick-drum style begin to take hold of metal and creep into other genres, we thought it was the coolest thing ever. I remember hearing Judas Priest‘s song “Painkiller” for the first time and being blown away by Scott Travis’ drumming, which was loaded down with sustained double-kick drumming. Bands wanted to emulate it, drummers wanted to do it, and fans wanted to headbang to it.

Fast forward to 2005 and beyond; fast, relentless double-kick drumming is all over the place. From power metal band Dragonforce to the perpetually annoying Avenged Sevenfold to pig-squealing deathcore peddlers Job For A Cowboy. Even more “traditional” bands like Primal Fear and Iced Earth use it too much sometimes. The vast ocean of screamo bands like The Devil Wears Prada and Parkway Drive use it to intensely irritating results. Is it impressive? On a technical and stamina level, yes it can be. But it’s also becoming quite boring and stale. Especially when you take into account how much of it is honed to it’s laser-like precision with software. Someone had mentioned on a message board I frequent about how a LOT of albums all sound the same nowadays because the engineers and producers are all using the same Pro-Tools plug-ins and patches to get the drum tones and then line them up with auto-correction and editing. I think there’s a lot of truth to that. When everyone is triggering the drums with the same triggers and downloaded tones, then auto-correcting the time to, literally, machine-like precision, it does all sound the same. It’s all beginning to bleed together into one big BBBZZZZZZZZBBBBBBBZZZZZZZZBBBBBBBZZZZZZZ. Add that to the already flooded metal scene (thank you internet) and it’s enough to make a person consider giving up and listening to New Country radio… at least they don’t really try to hide how manufactured their music is.

Pre-Painkiller, none of my favorite bands ever relied on massive amounts of sustained double-kick drumming. Nicko McBrain, Scott Rockenfield, Dave Holland, Larry Howe, Vinny Appice, Neil Peart, Bill Ward, Mark Zonder, Kirk Arrington, Lars Ulrich; none of these drummers leaned on their ability to maintain a blistering double-kick pattern for four minutes, let alone any digital enhancement. They may have used a triplet or two, or short double-kick patterns or passages here and there in the context of the song, but it wasn’t the very foundation of their style. Arguably, these drummers all have distinctive sounds and styles of their own (Neil Peart sounds like Neil Peart, Scott Rockenfield sounds like Scott Rockenfield, etc). Whereas today it’s hard to tell one double-kick beast from another. Every new band that pops up seems to have the “best drummer ever” behind the kit with songs literally gushing over with speedy, sustained double-kick drums and equally insane tom work and blast beats. It’s near-impossible to distinguish an indiviual drummer’s own personality amongst the triggering, sound-replacement, auto-correcting and whatever else the engineers prop them up with. It makes all these records sound like popcorn popping in a microwave with guitars recorded over it. Some will argue that the only reason modern metal drummers do it so much these days is to mask the fact that they’re maybe not all that good. While I think that may be a small part of it, I think some people genuinely just like it. It makes them feel good and more power to them. I just find myself getting into fewer and fewer new bands and, aside from simple aging, this overwrought use of the double-kick pedal is part of the reason.

Don’t get me wrong… again, I do like double-kick drumming and think when used as a piece of the overall puzzle it’s quite enjoyable. I get why younger generations of drummers come up wanting to out-drum the next guy. I mean, how much more badass can a 19 year-old kid be than when he’s behind the drum kit playing tornadic, blast-beat ridden, furious double-kick drum patterns? I get it, I understand the why’s of it. But, and you can call me old-fashioned if you want, I’d rather hear someone playing their drums, having interesting fills or patterns or hi-hat work (fast, slow, or otherwise), than someone just running wind-sprints on their kick pedals.

Listening to this album, it’s starkly obvious that he loved the music of Ronnie James Dio. His performances are heartfelt and full of passion. I think one reason for that is that he already loved the songs. They are part of his musical DNA. When Jorn first began to make waves in the scene, everyone touted his similarities to David Coverdale. While there is some truth to that, Dio’s influence could be heard in his phrasing and aggression. Listening to his rendition of “Invisible”, the first Dio song on the album, it sounds like he’s waited his whole life to make this album. Dio’s voice and presence will never be duplicated, but Jorn‘s fire cannot be denied. The songs included, which cover Rainbow, Sabbath & Dio (the band), range from the obvious (“Kill The King” and “Stand Up And Shout”) to fan favorites (“Don’t Talk To Strangers”, Straight Through The Heart” and “Sacred Heart”) to less expected inclusions (“Sunset Superman”, “Push” and “Lord Of The Last Day”). There’s not a moment on the record that should not be there. The Black Sabbath medley of “Lonely Is The Word/Letters From Earth”, recently included on Jorn‘s own Unlocking The Past album, is chill inducing. “Shame On The Night” is a personal favorite on this collection as Jorn himself is lost in the song and it just fires me up when I hear it.

The inclusion of “A Song For Ronnie James”, written by Jorn as a musical salute to his idol, is more than fitting. The song is fantastic with it’s slow groove and soulful vocal. Having the lyrics comprised largely of Dio‘s song titles and phrases would come off cheesy any other time, but here its perfect. The best thing about this album is the way Jorn walks the line of staying true to the songs while still injecting his own personality into them. That said, there are no drastic re-workings, no acoustic versions; Jorn is a fan and it shows. He’s not trying to capitalize on his hero’s death. He’s showing his hero how much he loves him and what the music means to him.

Kudos to Jorn for releasing what I predict will be the only Dio tribute worth owning.

Heliocentric, the follow up to 2007’s Precambrian, finds the band with a new vocalist, Loic Rossetti, and a fresh dose of inspiration adding large doses of melody (including very well sung, yes, SUNG, vocals). The songs find themselves somewhere between the crushing weight of Neurosis and the atmospheric strains of Ulver. The band shifts from rich death growls over two-ton guitars to piano & strings with clean, capable singing. Regardless of the dynamic, the mood throughout the album is one of serious thought, intense conviction and passionate belief. The album is actually the first half of a 2-album concept which takes a philosophical position in critiquing Christianity, tracing it from its origins as a movement 2 millennia ago to more current schools of thought along the lines of Darwin and Dawkins. It’s not a hateful, “let’s bash all the stupid Christians” free-for-all… it’s a much more subdued, honest critique which, honestly, is quite refreshing. Songs like “The Origin Of The Species” (one of the albums longer, more prog-like cuts), “Metaphysics Of The Hangman”, “Ptolemy Was Wrong” (with it’s Wagner-esque brooding heaviness of mood) and “Swallowed By The Earth” showcase the band’s undeniable strength, musical dexterity and ability to create massive tonal waves that will wash over the listener.

The other hand of this concept, Anthropocentric, is scheduled for a Fall 2010 release. Until then, get Heliocentric and allow yourself to be overtaken. Fans of any of the band’s previous efforts, the aforementioned Ulver & Neurosis, as well as Isis, mid-era The Gathering, even Opeth will find something of great value here, methinks.

But we buy these things for the added bonus material, right? Disc 2 showcases a live show recorded in 1992 in Hollywood, CA as well as 6 pre-production demos of Parallels material. The biggest difference in the demos and the final product is, obviously, the rawness of the recording and some of the songs have Ray using different phrasing in the vocals…words coming out different maybe a different melody here and there. But overall, they’re pretty true to how the ended up. The live show, honestly, is a bit rough. The band sounds decent enough…tight and energetic. Ray, on the other hand, seems to be struggling. I know live shows are not perfect and that’s part of the whole “rock and roll” experience. But the vocals at times make it hard to listen to. He’s flat quite a bit and tries to compensate by changing the melody here and there. But, in all honesty, it doesn’t sound like it’s his fault so much as his monitor mix is probably lousy. His voice is there, but it sounds as if he’s singing like he can’t hear himself. So, I’ll cut him a break.

The bonus DVD makes this package worth the price. I think I would have even bought just the DVD alone if it was for sale. There’s the requisite music videos (“Eye To Eye” and “Point Of View”) of course. The live show included here is also from 1992, but this time in New Haven, CT. Ray is in much better form at this show and it’s cool to see a couple times…kinda like a time capsule piece. The jewel of the DVD’s crown though is the 1 hour and 13 minute “Making Of Parallels” documentary. New interviews with the band members (all of them) as well as producer Terry Brown & Metal Blade chief Brian Slagel…loads of candid photos, studio footage, etc. They go through every song in great detail. It’s very well put together and an enjoyable viewing.

Fates Warning fans, take note…you need this package.

After a few spins of Beyond The Crystal Sea I can easily see why it remained so obscure. Now, as we can all attest to, just because something is obscure does not mean it’s not good. It just means that there are elements there that would not have appealed to a mass amount of people in the first place. Christian rock and prog rock already have that going for them… put the two together and you narrow the margin even more. No matter, because this is a fine piece of synthesizer-laden space/prog rock.

Jimmy Hotz, as it turns out, is a session player turned solo artist. His list of credits include Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Kitaro, B.B. King and Steve Winwood (plus, he’s also apparently a key player in MIDI controller development.) Treading somewhere between early Yes and Hawkwind, and sporting some very Peter Gabriel-esque vocals, Beyond The Crystal Sea is a record that will please the collectors and connoisseurs of prog and space rock everywhere. The lyrics are very Christian-themed which fit nicely in a prog setting, as this genre tends to lean toward the fantastical as it is. Songs like “The Vision Ship”, “Beyond The Blues” and “The Gates Of Time” (one of the two bonus tracks), while somewhat dated, have just the right balance of grandiose skill and campy appeal that makes prog of this sort what it is.

I have no frame of reference sonically since I never heard the original, but it doesn’t sound bad… like any other record that was recorded and released in 1979 anyway. If you enjoy looking for long-forgotten treasures in prog rock, check this one out. It’s not going to blow your mind, but it should make for a couple of enjoyable listens.

THANK YOU. Our newest release, El Rostro De La Muerte (“The Face of Death”) is still being released and manufactured in different territories worldwide. It is being written about and talked about by the worldwide music press. All hardcore Hirax fans have been very supportive.

What were your thoughts and intentions when heading in to write/record the album?

We knew that this record had to be heavier than the last. We focus on our roots of thrash metal – speed, the technical aspects of the guitar playing, the thunderous bass and pounding drums along with my screaming vocals. It is the longest record we have recorded to date 50 minutes and 52 seconds of crushing metal. We wanted to give our fans more music for their money because they deserve it.

We enlisted Ed Repka to create the album cover artwork (he has also worked with Venom, Vio-lence, Megadeath, Municipal Waste, Death, Toxic Holocaust, etc.) We are very pleased with the artwork. The riffs were composed by Glenn Rogers and Lance Harrison lead guitarists and I wrote all of the lyrics as usual. The topics/concepts for the lyrics are from personal experiences and my overall weird slant and take on the world. With our albums the lyrics are always included for people to read and learn what we are trying to convey. Steve Harrison on bass and Jorge Iacobellis on drums are involved in the creative process and we all agree on the final results. We made the album that we wanted to make and we are very proud.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Glenn Rogers & Lance Harrison in 2008…both of whom are great guys, not to mention that as a guitar team they are lethal. How does playing live with them, as well as drummer Jorge Iacobellis and bassist Steve Harrison, compare to earlier versions of the band?

This line up has been together longer than any other line up in Hirax history. I have worked with Glenn for many years now and, without being born from the same mother, we are like brothers. In fact, all of the guys in the band have become much closer because we have toured a lot together. This line up is more cohesive and we play very well together. We have the same passion for music. Much like a soccer team we understand that we must work together to accomplish the same goal. Before we take the stage every night that we play concerts, we come together in the backstage area and tell each other that “it is time to kill the audience with Hirax metal!” Unlike the line ups from the past, we have had time to grow together and become the best Hirax line up yet. If we continue to communicate and be honest with each other I can see this band doing much greater things in the very near future. This is just the beginning.

Thrash Metal has been on a bit of a resurgence in the last few years with some new bands popping up playing (or attempting to play) more in the traditional sense than a modern sense…why do you think that is?

I guess you could say that there is a big resurgence, but Hirax is not concerned with that at all. Our main goal is to play our music for our fans. We would be playing thrash metal whether there was a resurgence or not. You have to remember, I started Hirax back up in 2000 and have been going strong ever since, never looking back or worrying about what the music industry thought. The only thing that I care about is the people who love thrash metal and those who support it. As to the younger bands, we will have to wait and see if they are still around 10 – 20 years from now.

Where do you see Hirax in the history of Heavy Metal?

We began back in the early 1980s with bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Megadeth, etc. so we can be considered pioneers / originators of thrash metal music. But as to where we will be in the history of heavy metal is still being written. We are still releasing new albums and touring so our future looks very bright!

Hirax enjoys a lot of loyalty and passion from fans in other countries, especially South America. What do you think inspires this kind of ferocious following?

We feel the same way about them. When we are in Central and South America we make the time to meet the fans, try their culture, food, beer, learn about the people, etc. We love them and they love us. We treat them the way that we want to be treated and yes, we have built up a huge following throughout those territories. The other thing that I have to say is that there is no place wilder to play than South America!! Before we even go on stage we can hear the fans chanting and screaming our name. There is no where like it.

How much do the fans mean to a band like Hirax?

EVERYTHING!! The fans are the ones who have put us where we are at! We owe our existence to them. They have spread the word of our music and our live shows. Our popularity continues to grow. LONG LIVE THE HIRAX ARMY!

Talking to Glenn Rogers, he describes you, basically, as THE driving force behind HIRAX. You appear to have an endless supply of energy and enthusiasm for Metal…where does that come from? I mean, the band, the label, I heard you were a concert promoter at one point…do you sleep?

I really appreciate Glenn’s words. It’s good to know that my band members appreciate my hard work. My wife is greatly involved also and helps me organize all of the Hirax daily operations, booking, touring, promotion, website updates, merchandise, recording, etc. I am lucky to have a woman who supports what I do 100%! No, I hardly ever sleep but it is totally worth it. Hirax gets to travel the world seeing unbelievable things and playing our music for the best audiences that any band could ever play for!! When most of my friends and contemporaries are out partying, I am at home working on new Hirax projects all of the time! I would much rather work tirelessly on HIRAX because I am living a dream come true by playing music and traveling all over the world.

Why does Hirax go the indie/licensing route as opposed to going for a more established label?

We like being in control. When we want to do something, anything, we can do it. We don’t have to ask our record company for permission. We are the record company. This allows us to license our music out to other territories that a lot of record companies never hit. Our music has been released in Malaysia, Japan, U.S.A., South America, Central America, Europe, and worldwide through iTunes and many others. Also the Internet is a great tool for being independent. Keep in mind that there a lot of bands on major labels with more money that have not toured to the countries that we have. That is because we are independent and we have no one holding us back. We have major distribution through companies such as Century Media, Nuclear Blast, Earache Records, Seasons of Mist and anybody who carries heavy metal music which is great!! Everything balances out for us and we are content running our music business the way that we do. We are in charge of our own fate and we work hard to make everything happen professionally because our fans deserve it.

Are you a big collector of Metal? It’s obvious you are a fan of Metal and even if you had not started Hirax you’d still be who you are…how much of your non-Hirax life does Heavy Metal permeate?

Hirax is all of my life really. It is involved in practically everything that I do. Because of the Internet and cell phones, I can really never get away from it. 7 days a week it’s Hirax 24 hours a day! Collector wise, I would be a lot worse, but my wife has made me calm down on bringing too much stuff home, because I already have so much music. Trust me, I’m a music freak! I have to admit, I do like iPods because they hold a lot of albums. The other problem that I have is that when we are on tour we are constantly given music by other bands. My biggest problem would be that when we travel, we always get to go to the BEST record stores in every country! There is SO MUCH GREAT METAL!! I have to restrain myself from buying too much! I am a collector, but not as extreme as some of my friends.

A lot of people both in the music industry and in the media in general are speaking all kinds of doom and gloom about “the end of the CD”. Do you see CDs ever being totally eradicated, in the Metal scene in particular, in favor of a purely digital format?

No way! We still have people coming to our concerts asking for cassette tapes. People have certain formats that they become fond of and they want them forever. Yes, there will be a lot of music that people just listen to as mp3s, but CDs will still be around for a long time to come. You have to remember that the music industry tried to say that vinyl was dead and they were totally wrong! Now at our concerts we are selling more than ever before!! 12” records, 10” records and 7” records. If we have it, people buy it.

So 2008 saw your double-live DVD Thrash Til Death, then 2009 saw El Rostro De La Muerte, what does 2010 hold for the HIRAX camp?

We have already started preproduction on a new official music video for the song “Eradicate Mankind” off of our newest release, El Rostro de la Muerte. I’m sure that there will be more Hirax music. The guys and I are already talking about the next album. Creatively we are at a very good place right now. We have a lot of ideas and it is just a matter of finding the time to go into the rehearsal studio and bash out some new riffs. Right now we are very inspired because of the great support that our fans are showing us! It motivates us to want to make better and better music. We are still hungry and never satisfied! So expect more in the very near future from Hirax.

You have the floor…anything you’d like to say to the readers of Teeth Of The Divine?

We would like to thank everybody for coming to our concerts and buying our records! We can feel your support and it is greatly appreciated! Expect more concert dates to be added to the upcoming tour dates. Keep an eye out for new Hirax music and merchandise. See you on tour!! PREPARE TO BANG YOUR HEADS! METAL TIL YOU DIE! Thank you for your support. For more information, tour dates, photos, merchandise, etc. please visit: www.hirax.org

“Two-Day Booze” just comes in ripping the doors off with it’s harmonized guitar intro before diving into a beastly groove… loads of aggression in this one. “Take The Next Exit” shows a little thrash metal influence with it’s neck-snapping opening riff before the Pink-ish verse kicks in. In fact, a lot of the vocals have a very Punk-like vibe about them, but run from screaming growls to angsty yelling. The 8-minute-plus opening track “Stressed Elephant” is simply superb. Some of the parts of this songs remind me of some of the more modern, post-metal bands like Isis or Irepress… that sonic wall guitar tone and the suffocating riffs… but with a tad more groove about it. “Fear Cave” offers more weighty, doom-laden madness with thrashy, head-banging moments thrown in for good measure.

All in all, I’d say Dark Ages is a more than worthy follow up to Quiet Earth. I love it and will find myself spinning it often, no doubt. Seek it out… it will be worth whatever it takes for you to own it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to punish myself incessantly for missing their show w/ High On Fire a couple weeks ago.

Something else about Power Metal is that, as fans who know the genre will attest to, it’s kind of hard to review new Power Metal albums. It usually comes down to either A— the band stays true to the elements of the genre and executes them well or B— the band stays true to the elements of the genre and executes them poorly. Quite plainly, Sinbreed chose option A. Songs like “Dust To Dust”, “Through The Dark”, “Arise” and “Book Of Life” all hold the colors high do so with power, precision and passion.

Fans of Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian should give this a shot, if for no other reason than Blind Guardian‘s Frederik Ehmke is the drummer.

This stuff rocks.

On offer here are three of Hirax‘s EP releases lovingly packaged into one release entitled Noise Chaos War (Barrage Of Noise from 2001, Chaos And Brutality from 2007 and Assassins of War from 2006 respectively). 18 songs, 50 minutes, new artwork… the whole shebang. What’s cool about it is, despite the differing production values, the song order sounds like a cohesive record which should serve as a testament to the quality of the thrash turned out by Hirax in the last 10 years. Highlights for me would be “Assassins of War”, “Walk With Death”, “Mouth Sewn Shut” and “Summon The Death Dealers”… all showcasing Hirax at their best.

If you never got around to getting these separately then I highly recommend grabbing this comp. If you’re a fan of Hirax, or of classic thrash metal in general, you can’t go wrong. Add this to the live DVD in 2008 and El Rostro De La Muerte in 2009, and Hirax has done plenty to feed their fans’ rabid hunger.

Sporting a heavy, mid-to-fast tempo vibe with melodic harmonized riffing and “ode to Chuck Billy” vocals, Blatant Disarray proudly bring you the other side of thrash—the social commentary, human condition, religion questioning side. They deliver a more “serious” vibe (if that makes any sense) than a lof of newer thrash oriented bands. I’ve already mentioned Testament & Megadeth, but one can also find hints of early Metallica in the mix. Highlights would include “Undetermined”, “Question”, “Faithless” and “Hourglass”… classic thrash metal, every one of them.

Blatant Disarray does nothing to reinvent or reinterpret the genre, but they do everything to keep the thrash tradition alive and well. Fans of the genre will no doubt find a nice place on their shelves for Everyone Dies Alone right alongside The New Order and Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?

Oh, and do buy the physical CD because it’s the only place to get the 3 bonus tracks.

Glasgow, Scotland’s Secondskin arrives doing just that. Taking elements of Jesu/Red Sparowes-like post-rock, the melodic side (and thankfully very, very little screaming) of post-hardcore like Saosin, and the darker, technical shades of bands like Pain Of Salvation and Tool and blend it into a marvelous concoction. The result of its endeavors, Captive Audience, is a masterpiece of modern prog-metal. The somber “Capable Of Anything”, the moody intensity of “Pawned Life”, the passionate strains of the title track, all come with precision and beauty never sacrificing melody for technicality, but marrying the two.

The elevated musicianship is here, yet without the needless noodling of other bands of their ilk. The music here is carrying darker, sadder melodies and understated vocals…vocals that don’t rely on long, soaring notes and vibrato but much more on melody and mood-creation.The guys in Secondskin are not going out of their way to show you how good they are, but you notice anyway. This is definitely a record that fans of darker progressive music should check out.

– Yeah well, when I lay it out, it makes sense and makes you realize how fast time flies. After we put out Revelation we did a little touring and then John went back to work with Anthrax and I did with Fates Warning. Anthrax made We’ve Come for You All and Fates made X. I also played on several records and did several tours with other bands. By 2004 even I myself was in Anthrax for a year. By the middle of 2005 John was out of Anthrax and took 2 years off making music. I recorded and released my solo record A Chinese Firedrill. By this time it’s 2008, and it was then that John and I decided to write together. It took us a year to finish writing and recording. So, there’s your ten years!

I’ve read how the whole thing came together basically because you wanted to write with John. You weren’t even planning on Armored Saint. At what point did it become obvious that this is indeed an Armored Saint record? When did you call up the other guys?

– We started around May of 2008 and yes, it’s true, we were only writing for ourselves, to have a good time really. It wasn’t until maybe September that we decided we should do something with this stuff. We entertained the idea of starting something new but it just made more sense to work towards a new Saint record. So by the Fall we had called the other guys and of course they were all in.

Once it was decided to resurrect Armored Saint, did it affect how you approached what you were creating?

– We did get into some of the heavier tunes like Head On, Left Hook, La Raza. But we still made an effort to not over think it and feel obligated to make a “heavy metal record”. We still stayed true to the fact that all we wanted to do was to write some great songs.

How do you think the extended vacations between albums affects the music you create?

– It’s certainly easier to avoid repeating yourself! Also, I like to think that it gave me a longer period to learn things about writing music. I have more tools for my trade so to speak. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

I’m going to rattle off a few song titles from the new record (my personal favorites, if that’s OK) and I want to get your perspective on these songs (memories from the sessions, what the song means to you, etc)

“Loose Cannon”

– One of the first riffs I wrote in the mid 2000’s. Shows my love for Thin Lizzy.

“Left Hook From Right Field”

– One of the last tunes we wrote. It came from a very Pop sounding idea. This one we may make a video for next month.

“Get Off The Fence”

– An old idea from the mid 90’s. Again my love for Thin Lizzy. A song about non committal tendencies.

“Bandit Country”

– This song feels like the city to me. And John wrote the lyrics from a perspective of some one who lives on the streets.

“La Raza”

– Maybe my favorite song (this week). I always wanted to fuse Santana with metal. Here’s my interpretation of that.

How did “La Raza” become the album title?

– We just thought the song came out really good. Also, the song is about the human race. The title means “the race”. It sort of sums up the entire record.

What kind of touring plans are you looking at right now for the new record?

– We are not able to plan any tours of any length right now. But we hope to be able to play some shows in summer. We’ll see.

Whose idea was it to “go green” with La Raza’s packaging?

– It was a combination of mine along with the labels. I found out that it’s become much more financially viable for the labels to produce packaging that is made from recycled materials. It wasn’t always like that. Also, the need for plastic is really unnecessary.

A lot of Metal fans dislike the digipack packaging format…why do you think that is?

– I have no idea. I think it gives each package its own unique feel and look. So that not every CD is stuck inside the same plastic jewel case. They should feel lucky, because one day in the not so far off future, there will no packaging at all!

“Nod To The Old School” gave the fans some unreleased, archive material several years ago. Is there any more of that lying around? Maybe for a box set?

– There’s a little but not much. We’ve put out just about everything. But there are a few things.

With the major labels and media bemoaning the perceived “death” of the CD format, where do you see the format fitting into the Metal scene?

– It will become collectible for a while just like LP’s were. But eventually, the CD format will only be a memory. It’s unfortunate but true.

That said, I’m sure you have some sort of MP3 device (like most of us do). If I were to scroll through your playlist, what’s the most un-Metal thing I would find?

– I don’t know what your tolerance level is like. But I’d say you’d raise an eyebrow at Duran Duran “Girls on Film”.

Any parting words?

– I want to thank all the fans who’ve stayed with us for the last 30 years, 20 years and the past 10 years, waiting for a new record. We’re lucky to have you guys.

http://www.armoredsaint.com/