So of course it was going to take more than a few spins of To the Frontlines to make a conclusive decision to its worth as an album with staying power. Interestingly enough, initial spins had me saying “yep, this is Züülalright,” which by itself would have been enough to dub it a mandatory purchase. But as the nostalgia curse wore off it became more and more apparent that To the Frontlines is a superior album, mainly because it is a more consistent one from front to back. Even better is that the new album takes everything that made Out of Time great and adds just enough diversity and a whole lot of consistency to make it worthy of being called an improvement.

Along with the same recording warmth and the indefinable feeling one gets from an album when it just “feels right,” come a slew of the kind of powerful ‘n classy head-banging anthems that mad Out of Time such a killer. It’s all about the galloping rhythms, the twin leads, the punch, and hooks on this sucker! Most representative are “Show No Mercy,” “Smoldering Nights” (the soloing here is just plain incendiary), and the battlefield glory and blood ‘n guts metal of what has become my favorite cut, “Skullsplitter,” which in some ways recalls the right stuff that made Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” so magnificent. “Guillotine” and “In the Cellar” are knockouts as well, but what makes “Heavy Lover” another highlight are the 70’s hard rock vibes and an arrangement that at times is like a heavy metal filtering of the blazes set by everyone from Ram Jam to Pat Travers (not blatant, but it’s in there).

What ends up setting To the Frontlines most apart from its predecessor is the closing trio of tunes, starting with a damn fine instrumental called “Of the Fallen.” Even more so are the twin towers that follow: “Bounty Land” and “Waste of Time,” which clock in at a just-epic-enough eight and seven minutes, respectively. The former sports a mildly majestic mid-tempo gallop before the hammer is brought down with the Thor-like force. A little dreaminess coexists nicely with the higher voltage moments on “Bountyland,” the song also ramping up with glorious heavy metal power toward the end.

All of this boils down to To the Frontlines being a phenomenal album made by one of America’s best heavy metal bands. In the end, when taken as whole, I’d have to give it the nod over Out of Time. What is most needed is for Züül to achieve the widespread notoriety it so justly deserves. Do your part: buy the album and spread the word. Züül rules! It’s as simple as that.

Though Bones without a doubt has its own identity, there is no mistaking the Usurper (R.I.P) vibes, owing to Necromancer’s roaring vocals, Warlord’s smoke-billowing drumming, and riffing from Chris that stabs, punctures, and slashes. Much like Chicago’s elite (Cianide, Lair of the Minotaur, Cardiac Arrest, etc), the spirit of a core of bullshit-free metal legends (Venom, Master, Hellhammer, etc) permeates this sucker. A truly “live” sound (ably captured by the band and Sanford Parker in three short days of recording) and a locomotive pace gives the album a hair-raising energy, while tracks like stupendous opener “March of the Dead” channels the dirty rock ‘n roll approach of Motorhead with the filthy death of Master. In fact, you’ll not find anything remotely resembling a dud here. Beyond the monumental riffing and rhythmic might of the beast is a command of tempo shifts into ungodly grooves on tracks like “Bloodlust” and “Bitch” that induce an uncontrollable urge to bang one’s head until the neck is wrecked. A smokin’ cover of Devastation’s “Apocalyptic Warrior” and a fundamentally metal chorus on “666” that is tailor made for crowd participation are also worthy of note. Yet on an album of highlights it is difficult to discuss any single one without discussing all of them.

This is the genuine article, folks. Bones play it like they mean it with absolutely no regard to trends. This one is all heart and soul.  Correction: It’s also about blood, guts, and beer. You need this album; your collection will never be complete without it.

Here’s an album that came out at the beginning of 2010 but is definitely deserving of a spot on the TOTD reviews list seven months later.  Released on indie Planet Metal, Züül‘s Out of Time will be a worthy competitor for album of the year, depending on who’s creating the list.  My guess is that anyone into traditional metal will dig this one, though I’ll openly admit it initially took a little while for the full effect of Out of Time to sink in and anchor itself.

Though at times rock-tinged, rest assured that Out of Time is almost exclusively metal, albeit in a pure, primal form.  The umlauts in Züül‘s name boldly attempt to prove this fact before the first track has even begun.  But once the album does get rolling, its heft becomes evident, builds momentum, and steamrolls just about everything traditionally-themed you’ve heard lately.  There are no frills, gimmicks or trends to be heard on Out of Time — it’s a raw clump of coal housing an unpolished gem deep within, and it’s damn near flawless.

Züül seem to take just as much influence from Thin Lizzy as they do Iron Maiden, so, as you can imagine, the material is galloping, powerful, and packed with great melodies, though there’s no pomp or theatrics.  It’s all killer and no filler, as the kids say — packed with excellent guitar harmonies, strong and woeful vocals, and an ass-kicking rock and roll backbone.  Truthfully, nothing is overdone or underdone, and each track is pure headbangin’, fist-shakin’ heaven.  “Out of Time,” “Executioner” and “Warhammer” are all standouts, though every other track is equally worthy of your time.

The reason behind being initially put off by Out of Time had to have been the vocals, which tend to ride the hard rock line more than metal, but they grew on me, and now I’m left wondering why it was even an issue in the first place.  Regardless, Out of Time is an honest, no-bullshit approach to heavy metal that’s simultaneously smooth yet gritty, and it gives the impression of translating perfectly to a live setting.  Fans of the previously mentioned groups, as well as maybe Manilla Road or Bible of the Devil, should check Züül out.

There’s not much more to elaborate on really; 11 songs plus two outros of short sharp, blistering black metal with no frills or filler. The production is tight and has a buzzing, almost industrial, mechanized feel to it, but retains the tremolo fueled, Scandinavian attack of the obvious peers.  However, with the benefits of creating that type of sound, comes the downfall of such a sound and that’s while Stormlegion blasts and rasps with a fervent nihilism and vitriol, it lack any real variety of character, thus at 38 minutes in length, its about 10 minutes too long. So by “Social Parasite” you’ve heard everything Stormlegion has to offer.

Also, despite their best effort, Kommandant lack that certain ‘it’ factor that gives the likes of Marduk and Dark Funeral that sheer, nasty factor that leaves you someone breathless at albums end and ultimately sounds like a US band trying ever so hard.  Still, the effort has its moments as tracks like the aforementioned “Social Parasite”, thrashy “Siege Engine”, almost melodic “No Compassion”, “Bypaths to Chaos”, “Ravenous Conquest” and the like are ferocious but still tangibly restrained and ultimately sound like a group of crusty Midwesterners trying their hand at a tried and true sound with moderate results.

Wardrive is at its strongest when spewing simple, speedy, fist-pumping and head-banging thrashy/punky riffs and throbbing bass lines in it’s shorter compositions (all under four minutes), such as the title track, “Days of Hell”, “Desert Law”, “Mindsweeper”, “Baptized in Ashes”, and “Final Combat” – all of which waste no time and go straight for the throat. Other enjoyable elements I found were the vocals of Matt War, which are not quite of typical black metal fare, but were much more understandable, and the very rough, raw, dirty and dirgy sound it carries – no slicked up production job here.

On the downside, “Knee Deep in the Dead” and “Frost Storm” are a little on the slower and less engaging side, which makes the album lose a little momentum, and seem to drag on a little too long and outstay their welcome (at nearly five minutes and six and half minutes, respectively). Also, the minute long section of distortion/noise at the end of “Wastelander” is just flat out annoying.

While I don’t think it will set the metal world on fire, Wardrive is devoid of any kind of trendy, modern bullshit and is a very enjoyable album worthy of a few spins.