Retro Reviews - April 2026 Part Two!

After enjoy the more melodic side of 1981, it's now time to get into the heavier stuff.  I've got a pair of pairs in here this time, as I'm still catching up with some of these bands.  Still, there is some solid stuff here, even it isn't the greatest overall.  However, let's get started with an NWOBHM highlight!

Saxon - Denim and Leather

After enjoying their pair from the previous year, it's time to take on this classic.  Retaining their lineup for one more album, they end up blending their hard rock and heavy metal ideas better on this one, making for a staple of the NWOBHM scene.

Honestly, this is just more of the high energy metal that they had established, now being refined with more experience.  Once again, elements of Motorhead and AC/DC can be heard, but the band has really identified their sound now, one they would carry into the future.  Things kick off well with "Princess of the Night" and "Never Surrender," as they have a lot of uptempo energy, which comes back with "Fire in the Sky."  Otherwise, they stay in a solid mid-tempo groove for most of these songs.  "Rough and Ready" pushes some tough guy attitude while "And the Bands Played On" reminisces about the Monsters of Rock Festival from 1980.  The title track closes the album, celebrating the scene that turned up around the band.  Naturally, it's become NWOBHM's anthem.

While it maybe easy to say that it's more of the same, I do think this is their best album of the first four, just slightly.  The playing and songwriting feel tighter, and things sound just a touch bigger.  The inclusion of more vocal harmonies certain helps, but honestly, I think the band just finally worked out what they wanted, and brought it to the people.  While I don't know if it will make it into my Top 5, it certainly has a fighting chance.

Y&T - Struck Down

While their first album was a decent chunk of hard rock, it didn't get much traction for them right away, so they dug in their heels and cracked out another two years later.  While this one wasn't a big winner either (largely because their label dropped them), they do show some maturity in their songwriting and musicality.

The album is also quite short, clocking under 30 minutes with only 8 songs, so there really is no filler here.  They also mix things up decently as well, with the opening title track going for this slow, sludgy track that's rather heavy, while "Pleasure in My Heart" has more of a funky groove, and "Road" is more uptempo with some metal chugging.  "Dreams of Egypt" in particular sounds like their attempt at a Rush-style track, with all the noodly riffs and atmosphere.  "I'm Lost" is faster rocker, feeling like Dio-era Rainbow ("Kill the King", for example.)  The closing track "Stargazer (Round and Round)" is also peculiar, switching between a reflective ballad before switching to some very active hard rock.

However, there are a few problems.  The production, while going for a big arena sound, does get a little muddy, especially with the drummer's bass drum.  The lyrics continue to be simplistic, but Dave Meniketti sings them well.  This album is an improvement over their self-titled debut, played with plenty of energy and featuring some good guitar work, but I don't think they've quite nailed their sound yet. Fortunately, I'm going to dive right into their transition into the 80s next!

Y&T - Earthshaker

With a new record label and a shortened name, the band entered a new decade ready to party!  Sonically, they've streamlined their sound and really honed in on being a hard rocking band with no frills.  Unfortunately, this made them feel like many other bands of the time.

While it may not seem like there's much of a change at first, as this is some well-played hard rock, but the harmonies are gone in favor of more driven, chugging energy.  However, I wonder if they didn't take more than few cues from their contemporaries like Motley Crue, Van Halen, and AC/DC, even featuring a seven minute power ballad to close the album.  I know 1981 was still pretty early for the glam metal scene, but it would be hard to see this one stand out from other bands at the time.  It's not that these are bad songs necessarily, but they do feel kind of "by the numbers" for an 80s hard rock album.  I can at least give them credit for anticipating what would work in the near future.

As for what I did like, "Rescue Me" had some good dynamics, blending in that acoustic guitar along with the electrics that made me think of Styx, actually.  "Hurricane" has some good guitar work along with its metal chugging, and "Knock You Out" has some good swagger.  The rest isn't bad, just kind of basic, and fun, forgettable way.  I know they get more successful as the decade goes on, so I'll have to carry on through their discography to find out how that goes.

The Rods - Rock Hard/The Rods

After enjoying their more recent releases, I figured I'd dig into the history of this classic band, going back to their debut album.  Well, sorta.  They recorded Rock Hard in 1980 with a small label named Primal before they got picked up by Arista.  However, instead of recording a new album or just re-releasing Rock Hard, they took a bunch of tracks from the first album, added two new ones, and released it as a self-titled album.  It's a bit confusing, but I figured it made sense to review them together, due to their small differences.

While I had to get used to their style of cruise control metal on their new albums, it seems they liked to stick to mid-tempo grooves right from the beginning, feeling like a fusion of ZZ Top and Judas Priest, with just a dash of Deep Purple.  David "Rock" Feinstein's vocals has a nice, gritty charm, thanks to his younger voice, and there is a decent amount of energy in the playing, even if they don't really go for speed.  I liked "Power Love" and "Crank It Up," but most of this is pretty straight-ahead chugging rock 'n' roll, featuring David's solid guitar work and some nice, if infrequent, vocal harmonies.

It turns out the self-titled album largely replaced the two covers with two different cover songs, but "Nothing Going On in the City" is the only one worth listening to of the four.  In the end, the album doesn't blow my mind, but it does set the tone that (I imagine) The Rods intended to have going forward, so it succeeds in its goals, I think.  They may not have been stars, but for those who like some old school rock fused with the coming 80s metal, this debut is not bad.

2025 Wrap Up Part One!

I have to admit that I've been pretty negligent with my New Releases articles, as my Top 5 lists took up a lot more of my time than I anticipated.  However, I did want to at least go over some new albums, so I've got this handful plus one more group before I figure out my Top 5 list for 2025.  This is much more metal focused (I'll get to rock in the next one), so for now, here's what I've been headbanging to lately!

Sabaton - Legends

After completing a pair of albums based on World War I, the band decided to break away from album-long themes in favor of just writing a bunch of songs about various heroes and moments in military history, ranging from ancient Egypt to Napoleonic France, with a few trips to East Asia for good measure.  While I did find their last album to be a little lackluster, I think these topics have revived the band a little, as there are quite a few good songs here.

As for their style, it's Sabaton doing what they've been doing for nearly two decades now: bombastic heavy/power metal, though this time I did notice an increase in synthesizers (and not just orchestrations), which was interesting.  They rarely take center stage, but do feature on most of the songs, which is a little unusual for them (or maybe I hadn't noticed them before).  However, all the sounds you expect are here.  Joakim Brodén's baritone voice dominates the album, giving the lyrics plenty of gravitas, and the rest of the band stays tight to the song, as they do little beyond their  solid songwriting formula.

This time around, I really enjoyed the faster songs, like "Hordes of Khan," "Maid of Steel," and "The Duelist," though they still have some solid mid-tempo stompers with tracks "A Tiger Among Dragons" and "Crossing the Rubicon."  The rest of the tracks are decent as well, if pretty standard fare for the band.  In the end, though, it's Sabaton doing what they do best, with a bit of extra flair that I think makes it stronger than some of their other albums.

Cristiano Filippini's Flames of Heaven - Symphony of the Universe

I checked out their debut album a few years ago and found it to be pleasant, but not an amazing listen.  However, their line-up stayed together, and now they've released another bombastic batch of symphonic power metal.  Not much has changed in five years, as they still have their blend of shreddy guitars, soaring vocals, and layered keys, providing both orchestrations and 80s synths.  Once again, I thought of Rhapsody of Fire, Beast in Black, and Sonata Arctica (especially their excellent first album), and they do a good job of blending those styles together.  The lyrics remain as melodramatic as before, being both fantastical and sentimental, and there are a number of longer songs on this one, with four of them going over six minutes in length.  However, I do think the songs lean more into AOR territory than they did on the first album, but considering their sound, that isn't much of a stretch, really.

Naturally, I was drawn to the faster songs, like the opener "On the Wings of the Phoenix" and "The Power Stars," though they often had some interesting shifts for the bridge, providing a touch of prog.  From the mid-tempo songs, I think "A Flame from the Sky" is the best one, as it has some anthemic qualities.  The rest of the songs were fine, largely held together by the consistent, lush production, and the album does a better job than their debut at maintaining its energy to the end.  Not amazing, but pleasant.

The Rods - Wild Dogs Unchained

When I checked their album for 2024, it was really the first time I had given them a shot, finding it to be a solid collection of straight-ahead, no-frills metal.  However, their discography seemed to show some pretty large breaks between albums, so I was surprised to see that they'd cranked out another one so quickly!  Apparently inspired by one of their albums from the 80s, this one is just business as usual for the old veterans.

Once again, this is cruise control metal, as things mostly stay in the mid-tempo range and rock along without too much to shake things up.  There is a few more synths than just the Purple-style organs, especially on the dynamic "Tears of the Innocent," but otherwise, this just plods along, providing decent riffs and hooks to headbang along to.  The energy does pick up a little with the title track, "Time to Rock," and "Make Me a Believer," where the band comes alive, at least for a little while.  I do enjoy this band, but compared to the likes of Judas Priest, Saxon, and Accept, who are still dominating the traditional metal space these days, this band really struggles to compete.  There's nothing wrong with "rocking it old school," but aside from their retro charm and confidence, The Rods aren't really doing a whole lot that helps them stand out.

Majestica - Power Train

After Tommy Johansson left Sabaton, he turned his attention back to his own band Majestica.  Once known as ReinXeed, this band his been Tommy's personal band since the early 2000s.  Five years ago, he orchestrated a rather clever concept album, telling the story of A Christmas Carol with Christmas carols.  This time there is no concept, just a set of very fun power metal songs!

While there are obvious comparisons to recent power metal, such as Sabaton, Twilight Force, and Beast in Black, I think what makes this album work is that it draws upon the uplifting attitude and whimsy of Helloween.  Things kick off with the title track, which is such a refreshing, high-speed blast of joy.  Sure, it's a little cheesy, but the cheerful attitude is pretty infectious, and I found I was smiling through a lot of it, and that feeling carried through the rest of the album.  Some of the songs are more story-based, but they never drop the ball, carrying the same energy as the other tracks.  All of this is performed with gusto, as Tommy and his buddies are tight and majestic as ever.

I actually feel pretty bad for sleeping on this album for so long, as it came out back in February!  This feels like a love letter to power metal in general, with "Megatrue" being full of HammerFall references as the most obvious in that tone.  "No Pain, No Gain" is probably the most empowering song I've heard in a while, and "Thunder Power" is a nice blast to the face.  However, the closer "Alliance Anthem" had such strong classic-era Stratovarius vibe that I nearly jumped out of my chair listening to it!  This is going to give both Helloween and Primal Fear some serious competition when I consider my Top 5 for 2025!

New Releases - April 2024!

Finally, here's the first of the New Release review articles, now that I've split them from the classic ones.  Hopefully, this will help keep things more organized as I move forward.  Starting this off this year was a solid trio of classic heavy metal by bands who have been there since near the beginning.

Saxon - Hell, Fire and Damnation

While part of me wants to debate the need for an Oxford comma in the title, it is very impressive that this is Saxon's 25th studio album, and by the sounds of it, nothing can stop them, because this album just plows ahead without looking back!  These Brits have started the year with some excellent traditional metal.

Despite the religious imagery in the cover art and title, most of this album focuses on a number of historical topics, ranging from the Battle of Hastings, through the travels of Marco Polo, up to pirate radio stations off the coast of England.  With such diverse topics, the music keeps things pretty safe and formulaic, but when the formula is this solid, why mess with what works?  The album is chock full of chunky riffs, anthemic choruses, and pure NWOBHM power.  The title track stands out, setting the tone for the album, as well as "Fire and Steel," "Kubla Khan and the Merchant of Venice," "1066," and "Super Charger," which is a solid closer.  While not all the tracks are great, the album is very consistent across its run time.  Honestly, if you're a fan of classic, old-school metal, and you somehow haven't checked out Saxon, I recommend you fix that immediately!

The Rods - Rattle the Cage

Here's a band that's been around as long as Saxon, though they took a considerable break from the late 80s to 2010.  Despite their long history, this is only their 10th album, not that it matters all that much, as they're clearly keeping things old-school.  While I've featured them before on the blog, this is my first time really sitting down and jamming one of their albums.  

While I was expecting classic metal, I was surprised to hear a good chunk of 70s blues rock as well.  Much of the album takes things at mid-tempo, focusing on solid, simple riffs and straight-forward lyrics.  The album does start a little sluggish, but things pick up with songs like the title track, "Metal Highways," and "Shockwave," with "Cry Out Loud" being a good mid-tempo epic,with an anthemic chorus.  Freddy Villano may be the new guy in the band, but his bass tone is definitely chunky, providing some excellent bottom-end to these songs.  David "Rock" Feinstein's solos turn out to be melodic and typical, but they serve the songs well, and honestly fit right in with what they're doing.

Which ends up being a bit of a double-edged sword.  While these songs are catchy and have some good grooves, they really don't seem to be pushing themselves, instead of settling in for their own brand of cruise control.  Naturally, these guys aren't going for something big and innovative, aiming for a spot between British-Steel-era Priest, Motorhead, and Deep Purple (especially when those organs kick in).  However, part of me of me feels like it's going to get lost by the competition.  Not all the songs hold up, but it's decent, and you'll be headbanging through most of it, like I did.

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

Let's finish things off with the titans themselves.  I can't believe it's been six years since Firepower, which was a pretty solid album, if maybe a little long.  However, it definitely retained much of the Painkiller spirit, and made for a highlight of 2018.  As for this new one, I get the feeling that they're aiming for a stronger 80s vibe, with the bright colors and synths.  While I enjoyed the first two singles, later ones left me a little lukewarm.  Now that I've listened to the album as a whole, they really are carrying on where they left off, continuing their ironclad legacy.

Honestly, this album is pretty consistent.  While some songs stand out more than others, these veterans just plow on through, riff after riff, wail after wail, and there are no low points.  The highlights for me was the opener "Panic Attack" with the synths and mixed meter, the title track with the strong energy and a nod to the classic song "Sinner," "Trial By Fire" with the anthemic 6/8 groove, and "Sons of Thunder" that's a short and sweet burst of classic metal power.  If there is a problem, it's that the album might be a bit too long and some of the songs might blend together in the mind (especially with the Deluxe Edition, as those three songs don't add much).  Still, the standard of quality makes this a massive album, and while I know it's early, I could see this squeaking in to my Top 5 for this year!

New Videos - November 2023!

So I admit that things have been quiet lately (ironic, really), but I think I finally will have some time to catch up on some albums.  In the meantime, here is another handful of great videos to check out!  We got classic bands along with some newer ones, but it all rocks the same!

I still think it's crazy that Judas Priest is sharing these songs so early on, but I suppose they gotta ramp things up for their new tour with Sabaton somehow.  In any case, this is a solid 6/8 stomper and nice, catchy chorus.  While I think I liked "Panic Attack" a little more, it's by no means a bad metal song.

Firewind is also winding things up for an album coming out in March.  Gus G provides another track full of crunchy riffs and shreddy solos while Herbie Langhans sounds as good as ever for this band.  I remember liking their last album, so here's hoping this one will just as good.

It ain't flashy or sophisticated, but The Rods continue to do what they do best, and that is to play old-school metal like it's 1980 all over again.  While I have featured them in the past, this is another one of those bands that I should probably dig more into, as it seems like they have fun songs.

Scanner seems like a band that has sort of existed in the background of Germany's heavy/power metal scene without much recognition.  I think I had seen the name here and there, but never really took the time to check them out.  When this single came across my feed, I was delighted to hear a lot of energy and noodly riffs, not unlike Gamma Ray.  The lyrics are a little clunky in the delivery, but otherwise, it's a solid enough track to put them higher up on my radar!

Once again, Final Strike provide another slab of melodic, uplifting European-styled power metal.  It's not doing anything particularly new, but they seem to have the right pieces to fit right in with Freedom Call's particular camp of metal.  I need to get to this album!

Another song from an album I need to get to sooner rather than later.  This time we have Sorcerer going for an epic gallop, chugging along at a faster tempo than usual for these doomsters.  However, Anders Engberg's vocals soar just as before, and there are plenty of noodly guitars, which are a staple of the band, by now.

New Videos - May 2019 Part Three!

More videos!  There's been a lot of great music coming out lately, and I'm glad to share it with you all.  Got quite the mix this time, with some artists coming back and a few news I hadn't heard of before!

I can't help it!  Sabaton makes great power metal, and they always seem to find neat things to sing about!  While the video does get a bit grim (though it is World War I they're talking about), the infectious, epic melodies Sabaton is known for are all on point.  Check it out!

Tanith is back with another single for their new album.  Once again, rocking that 70s prog/metal vibe, this really has that classic touch.  It shifts from mood to mood, and yet, it's never jarring, or feels like it's trying to do too much.  Classic rock to a T!

We're rocking it old school this time, as we have The Rods back with a new album.  I guess they've been rocking since 1980, and it sounds like they haven't changed much.  Despite them being from the US, this has a massive NWOBHM sound with a lot of bass!

More old-school metal!  Got another Paragon video, and this one is pure 80s speed metal, with some very flashy solos and epic riffs.  Just great, break-neck metal that you can't help but headbang to!

More Diviner, more epicness.  Once again, great riffs, huge vocals, and a grand sense of musical scope.  It just sounds huge!  This one has more of a prog metal vibe, like Vanden Plas.  I like it a lot!

Let's finish off with a great piece of driving AOR.  With a big chorus and great riffs, this one really soars, like a good AOR should do.  The lyrics might not be much, but it has great production, and Dino just really let's it out!