New Videos - November 2020 Part Two!

Well, I hope you had as good of a Thanksgiving as I did, especially one that rocks this hard.  Here's another bunch of new videos from all kinds of bands to help you stay awake through the holidays!

After Walk the Sky blew me away earlier this year, the band has been busy on a new track that they're releasing, along with a bunch of live tracks, in an EP they're calling Walk the Sky 2.0.  This is the new track, and it's heavy.  One of their grittier ones for sure, but very solid and very much in their style.  Great work!

It's hard to go wrong with Iron Savior, I feel.  While, this song is not as strong as the first single, it's pretty solid, straight-forward heavy/power metal.  Sielck still sound great, though, finding that middle point between Kürsch and Dirkschneider.  The album drops next month, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Dee Snider's last solo album was quite the barn burner, and this extra track from a recent live album is much very much in that same gritty, crunchy vein.  I'm really curious to see if he will continue on this path he started 3 years ago, because it could lead to some more great metal.

Inglorious is a band with a really solid blues-rock sound that feels classic without really sounding like anyone specific.  Maybe Whitesnake?  I've liked their stuff before, and this new one has their style in spades.  Nice, crunchy guitars and Nathan James just wailing like a champ over it all.

While I wasn't that impressed with their debut album, I never doubted the talent of these guys, and just from this song, I think there's promise.  There's more energy, and Trewavas gets to do some nice bass lines.  Not sure how I feel about the two different album versions, but the music at least sounds promising.

Another solid power metal track from these guys, though this one makes me think of Sonata Arctica, with the layered keyboards and a tempo that isn't fast or mid-tempo.  While like the last one, I'm not blown away exactly, but it has solid riffs and melodies, and Marco Pastorino brings a lot of confidence to the song.

Last Played - November 2020 Part Two!

Now that we're coming down to the end of the year, I'm listening to all kinds of stuff.  This article is gonna keep it classic, for the most part, featuring some old school riffing and attitude.  Let's get into it!

Anvil - Hard 'n' Heavy

Anvil is another name I had seen around, but never really gotten to.  I know they sometimes get name-checked as a major influence on better known bands, like Metallica.  I also haven't seen that documentary that got made about their history, though I do know that kinda put them back on the map, in a way.  So I've started with their first album (originally released under the band name Lips before switching to Anvil and rereleasing it later), and I have to say, it's not quite what I expected.

First, I will say that I did expect the sound to be sort of between hard rock and heavy metal, and that's definitely the case here.  Listening to it made my think of those early glam and pop metal records from the likes of Motley Crue or Def Leppard.  When they decide to up the tempo, there's also a dash of Motorhead in there as well.  Sort of a Canadian NWOBHM band, if that makes.  And they sound pretty good, clean riffs, not exactly consistent with the tempo sometimes, but confident in how they want to sound.

However, the main problem is the lyrics and their delivery.  They tried to go for a bawdy, suggestive tone, as if trying to out-do AC/DC or Van Halen, but they don't have much charm or thought to them, often just talking about picking up girls and sleeping with them.  The result, along with Steve "Lips" Kudlow's cheesy delivery, is something a horny high school boy would think is boundary pushing for the early 80s, but just comes across as shallow, and honestly kinda ruins the music for me.

Still, there's some neat bits here and there.  "School Love," and "Oooh Baby" have some nice riffs, and "Bedroom Game" is an interesting attempt at a kind of speed metal.  However, the rest is kinda forgettable. Even the Rolling Stones cover really doesn't add much but some metal chugging to the iconic original.  Maybe there next albums provide a clearer picture of their influence, but for now, this just seems like a mere footnote in the history of rock and metal.

Sorcerer - Lamenting of the Innocent

I'm always down for some epic doom metal, and this was another band who's name I'd seen floating around that genre.  Then when I learned that they're fellow countrymen of Candlemass, I figured I had better sit down and give these guys a shot by listening to their latest album.  However, I was pretty thrown by what I'd heard.

You know when a power metal or prog metal band will record a really slow but heavy song to try and shake things up?  (Like "Eternity" by Stratovarius or "Paralyzed" by Dream Theater.)  Basically, that's Sorcerer's whole sound.  You might think that sounding slow and mean would be classic doom, but that's usually with an intentionally thick production and fuzzy guitar tones, like Candlemass or Saint Vitus.  However, here, we have a very polished production, and very clean tones.  Also, most doom vocalists have a kind of haunted and tormented delivery, but again, with this album, Anders Engberg is as clear as a bell, and throws in some vibrato like Roy Khan, or has a more emotional tone like Mark Basile of DGM or Tom Englund of Evergrey.  Basically, I went in expecting doom and got slow, melodic prog instead.  It's weird!  With me being new to the band, it could be that this is just how they sound, but it still threw me for a loop.

That being said, it is by no means bad.  Engberg is a great singer, bellowing out classic doom lyrics with ease (songs about hope and despair, God and Satan, good and evil, fire and brimstone, etc.).  And guitarists Kristian Niemann and Peter Hallgren have plenty of great, chunky riffs, but also have tons of melodic solos and guitar harmonies, like Helloween or Iron Maiden.  The songs often hit seven or eight minutes, but they never felt long.  I think I liked what I heard, but I'm probably going to have to listen to it some more in order to reconcile how I really feel about it.  It's the most un-doom I've heard a doom metal album sound!

AC/DC - PWR/UP

Well, this ended up being one of the surprises of the year.  AC/DC was in rough shape the past few years, with Brian Johnson losing his hearing, Phil Rudd getting in trouble with the law, and the death of Malcolm Young.  So when rumors started leaking about the band getting back together with a new album halfway through 2020, it was pretty sudden.  Featuring more riffs from Malcolm before he had passed on, the album was made in tribute to him.

As for the music, well, you get what you expect with AC/DC: blues rock so old school, it has tenure.  What I noticed on this one was the backing vocals doing some different things other than just singing along with the chorus.  There are Wooo's and Oh Yeah's and the interesting shift in the chorus on "Systems Down" that has the guys singing a different rhythm than Johnson.  I'd have to go back and listen to some of their other albums to hear if they've done this before or not.  It's not a game-changer by any means, but it does liven things up a little here and there.

Overall, this album is very much like Rock or Bust: straight-forward rock that's good while it's on.  While there are some stand out tracks like "Shot in the Dark" and "Demon Fire," the rest is pretty standard stuff from these guys.  I still think they have yet to top Black Ice, when considering their recent output, but certainly not a bad effort.  

---

Well, this one came out a little quicker than I expected, but I kinda threw that Sorcerer album in on a whim.  Still plenty to listen to before the end of the year, though.  I hope everyone is staying safe and staying warm, and have a happy Thanksgiving, if you're in the states.  Until then, rock on! \m/

Anniversary Series - 2015!

Once again, I didn't have much for 2015.  Looking around, there seem to be a lot of good albums I clearly missed, so I'm going to do what I did last time, and review a bunch of albums instead.  

Before I made this decision, I did have a few songs on my Spotify playlist that I did want to talk about, as they are curious handful of prog rock songs.  "Wassail" by Big Big Train has this interesting folky vibe that really taps into a sense of ancient traditions that makes the song quite memorable.  "Codpieces and Capes" by The Tangent is a quirky homage and satire of the classic 70s prog rock bands.  And then there's "The Call" by The Neal Morse Band, which really has some neat mood shifts and builds to a great conclusion.   I remember stumbling across these on a "Best of" list by the Prog Report.  You'll probably see a few others on there that made it to my Spotify playlist.  I also added a few tracks from Disturbed's album, particularly their renowned cover of "The Sound of Silence."

Well, that's that.  Here's some reviews!

Visigoth - The Revenant King

Visigoth is another band I've seen around, hearing bits and pieces over the past few years, but I've never sat down with one of their albums until now.  They're very much in the vein of classic epic metal and US power metal.  Drawing upon the heritage of bands like Manilla Road and Omen, and adding in a healthy dose of role-playing games, both video and tabletop, this band is about taking listeners to fantastic lands, and sounding big in the process.

Right off the bat, the guitar tone is massive, like they took Candlemass's tone and tightened it up a little without losing any of it's power.  And then Jake Rogers' vocals come in.  He's a great vocalist who really projects, giving authority to whatever he's singing, holding those notes out with power.  Together, the result is a massive wall of sound that perfectly balances epicness and grittiness.  Despite these long song-lengths, the time just blasts on by, filled with great vocal melodies and well-played solos.

They do mix it up here and there, with songs often shifting tone and tempo.  "Mammoth Rider" in particular has both a fast, shred-friendly part followed by a straight-up doom metal section, all held together by the atmosphere they build.  Other highlights include "Dungeon Master," straight from Dungeon & Dragons; "Iron Brotherhood," a great anthem to metal music and its community, "Vengeance," a classic tale of tragedy and triumph, and "Creature of Desire," an ode to riding fast on a motorcyle.  Honestly, this album is great, with tons of crunchy riffs, noodly solos, and catchy lyrics.  Fans of old-school metal will found a lot to like, if they haven't found it already.  Epicness from start to finish.

Cain's Offering - Stormcrow

So after Jani Liimatainen left Sonata Arctica, Cain's Offering was one of first things he put together, working with Timo Kotipelto of Stratovarius.  The result was Gather the Faithful, a very solid power metal album that felt very much Jani's former band.  Years pass, and they decide to put together another one, this time recruiting Jens Johansson, also of Stratovarius, and the result is another great power metal album!

While the addition of Johansson definitely gives this album much more of a Stratovarius flavor (you'll hear that harpsicord from "Black Diamond" more than once on here), the big difference from the first album is the orchestrations.  The first album was certainly powerful and epic, but this reaches to Nightwish or Rhapsody of Fire levels of symphonic arrangement, as the layers add so much more to the melodrama of the album.  And melodrama is very much the order of the day, as the lyrics deal much with relationships and feelings, but not necessarily in a bad way.  Even "I Will Build You A Rome" gets pretty sappy, but I'm not ashamed to admit I rather liked it that way.

As for the music, it's great stuff.  While not every song is amazing, a lot of it is, with tracks like "Constellation of Tears," "The Best of Times," "Stormcrow," and the bonus track "Child of the Wild" providing excellent power metal.  Even the instrumental "I Am Legion" is incredibly epic.  Kotipelto is top notch, Johansson displays his excellent fingerwork, and Liimatainen is not slouch either.  Power metal fans would be foolish to ignore this one (like I did for five years!!).

Billy Sherwood - Citizen

Fans of Yes may know Billy Sherwood as the current bassist for the prog rock group, but his history with Yes goes much further back, assisting with the Union album and YesYears compilation, and later helping the band with their Talk tour.  He and Chris Squire then began writing material that would result in their next album Open Your Eyes.  While it didn't sell well or please the fans or win any awards, it's always been a fond favorite of mine.  Billy would go on to help write The Ladder, go on to make several tribute albums, working with all kinds of musicians, before being brought back to Yes to play bass in place of an ailing Squire, who would pass on shortly thereafter.

I bring all this up as I think it helps contextualize my feelings on this album.  I admit I haven't gotten into Sherwood's solo stuff much, so when I decided to make his 2015 effort the third album I review for this anniversary article, I could tell right off that this sounds a whole lot like his work on the Open Your Eyes album.  I'm not sure if I can quite define what those qualities are, maybe something with the production, the songwriting, or the vocal harmonies (or all three!), but he has a very distinct style that I just don't hear from anyone else.  Still, it's a style I like, and I hear it in spades here, so I'm already on board from the start.

Context aside, what we have here is a slightly proggy melodic rock album with the concept of a soul (the titular "citizen") being reincarnated throughout humanity's history, allowing Sherwood to write songs about various historical moments and people.  Another feature of the album is the bevy of guest artists.  Not only do we get tons of Yesfolk appearing (notably one of Chris Squire's last recordings is on the first track), but also the likes of Steve Hackett, Jordan Rudess, John Wesley, and Steve Morse.  Even Alan Parsons comes on to sing a track for this.

My overall opinion?  Decent.  Some of the songs maybe run a little too long, and it's definitely more musically dense and complex than OYE was, but that might be a consequence of the number of guest artists on here.  However, I do hear plenty of the things I like about Billy Sherwood's style, so I'll have to listen to it more to unpack it more.  This one could grow on me.

Last Played - November 2020!

Things are definitely getting cold now!  However, I'm still keeping on with new releases, as well as an old classic, for this article of Last Played.  Impressive stuff, to be sure.  Here's what I've listened to lately.

Arctic Rain - The One

I have to admit I should be thankful to Frontiers Records for finding these AOR bands across the world and bringing them to the world's attention.  I really do feel like they bring back a lot of the fun for rock music, and Arctic Rain is another solid entry in their catalog.

Hailing from Sweden, this band provides a mix of early 80s AOR with some of the shinier pop metal of the same decade.  Think Night Ranger or Def Leppard mixed with some synths you'd expect from Journey or Asia.  While the vocals do take center stage (Tobias Jonsson gets tons of space to shine), there really is some solid crunchy riffing from guitarist Magnus Berglund, which I wasn't expecting honestly.  Made the album rock a little harder than most of the AOR I've heard.

That being said, there aren't any real surprises, but the album holds together pretty well.  I quite liked the uptempo tracks, such as "Breakout," "Lift Me Up," and "Take Me To Your Heart," but there are also some great anthemic tracks, like "Lost," and "Madeleine."  Overall, it's a solid album that's consistent in keeping the energy high all the way through.

AC/DC - Let There Be Rock

While I am trying to catch up on 2020 releases, I still get the hankering for something classic.  This time, I threw on some more AC/DC, partially in anticipation of their new album, and partially because it's hard to go wrong with the boys from Australia.  

Of course, like I said in the past, reviewing AC/DC is probably pretty pointless.  We already know what to expect, so instead, I'll just focus on what I think stood out on what is my first listen of this record. Once again, I've listened to the international version, which has a slightly shorter version of "Problem Child" instead of "Crapsody in Blue."  (I'll have to dig up that track later somewhere.)

The big songs here are "Let There Be Rock," with Bon Scott evangelizing the origins of rock music and a bunch solid solos from Angus; and "Whole Lotta Rosie," a song that really speaks for itself, honestly.  Additionally, I felt "Dog Eat Dog" was pretty solid, and could probably fit right in on Back in Black. "Problem Child" is good again, though I don't know if it really helps this album.  The rest is pretty standard stuff.  I don't think this album is as strong as some of their others. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was probably better overall, I think.  Still, it's got some classics and certainly doesn't hurt their catalog by any means.

DGM - Tragic Separation

After enjoying the three tracks they released in the past three months, I knew this album would have to be a priority for me this year.  I admit I've only listened The Passage from them before this one, but these Italian prog metalers really know how to balance technical chops with melodic epicness, centered around Mark Basile's emotional and dramatic vocals.

The talent this band has is on full display.  Basile is laying it all out there, sounding massive all the way through.  Simone Mularoni's guitar riffs are technical and chunky, as usual.  I don't know if they're the most memorable riffs, but they are amazing to listen to in the moment.  Of course, this being prog metal, there's also tons of layers: keyboards, strings, guitar harmonies, it's all here, and the production ensures that it sounds amazing.

If there are any problems, it's that the band pretty much sticks to one tone all the way through.  "Surrender" breaks things up a little by having more of a rock vibe, and "Curtain" is an instrumental closer that's nearly just cinematic ambience.  Still, if this kind of melodic prog metal is your thing, DGM has it in spades.  From the great opener "Flesh and Blood," this album has tons of great songs.  Other stand outs are the title track, "Stranded," and "Silence."  Just solid epicness from beginning to end, and highly recommendable.

---

I think I'm going to try and get at least two more of these articles before the end of the year.  That should give me plenty to consider for my Top 5 article, though that DGM album is a strong contender already!  Of course, it will have to compete with what Lovebites and Rick Wakeman released earlier, and we still have AC/DC and Iron Savior coming up!  I don't know if I've heard a clear winner like Monkey3's Sphere from last year, but it should be an exciting list nonetheless.  Until then, rock on! \m/

New Videos - November 2020!

More videos!  The good stuff just never seems to stop coming out.  Here's another handful as we get into November, featuring a good mix of styles.  Turn it up!

Yup, another one from Spirit Adrift.  This one starts off with a kind of bluesy groove, thanks to the bass, before going into a stompy doom/heavy metal track.  I really liked the little licks the guitarists played here and there.  I clearly need to give this album a listen because I'm liking everything I'm hearing from it.

This is a completely new group, offering up some symphonic power metal, much in the vein of later Kamelot or Serenity.  The band name is a bit of a mouthful, but Marco Pastorino's vocals really soar over everything.  Perhaps not a great track, but certainly shows promise.

Black Stone Cherry is another one of those groups that I keep seeing around, but just haven't gotten to.  Here, they have a kind of southern-fried post-grunge, making for a solid rock, short, effective rock song.  I know I've been wanting to dig into these guys for a while, and I suppose now is better than never.

I've always been a fan of Trans-Siberian Orchestra and that Twisted Sister Christmas album, so the opportunity for a new Christmas metal album appeals.  Of course, there's a chance it could be bad, but this certainly isn't!  Giving some classic carols a symphonic power metal boost, this one is right for the season!

I've been listening to a few tracks from these guys, and they seem to be proggy power metal in the vein of Kamelot and Angra.  The riffs certainly have a more technical feel, but singer Vasilis Georgiou is definitely channeling Roy Khan for some dramatic heft.  Neat stuff!

Vanden Plas may have a style they stick to, but I can't deny that they know how to work it.  Melodic prog metal is a style that's been working for them for years, and it works again here on this one.  Always such a good balance between being crunchy, epic, technical, and soaring.