Trollheart

In case anyone is searching through this special in disbelief asking themselves "What? No Dio?", be advised that I wrote a six-part special on him back in May of last year, to tie in with the anniversary of his passing. I believe I said all that can be said about this legend of Heavy Metal in that article, and you can find it here.



http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1189511

And speaking of stuff I've already written...

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Trollheart

One ... more ... time!


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1215196


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1217657


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1238633


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1248024


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1249196


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1259109

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http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1260861


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1264208


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1265547

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1308197

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Show no mercy --- Slayer --- 1983 (Metal Blade)

I will never be a fan of Slayer, let's just get that out of the way right at the start. And this will be no surprise to anyone, I know. However, having read about their beginnings on Wiki I have suddenly gained a whole lot more respect for them. This is a band who, if the entry is to be believed, and why wouldn't it be, just decided one day "Fuck it! Let's do this thing!" dumped their jobs, collected their families and headed out across America to make it bend to Slayer's will. That's a hell of a thing. They played gigs they hardly got paid for, survived on the breadline and really typify the rock-and-roll lifestyle. They used their savings to start up the band and rose to become one of the loudest, nastiest, fastest and most popular and respected thrash metal bands in the world. I don't have to like their music --- I don't, I never will --- but that sort of dedication deserves to be applauded.

So we're going back to their debut album, because really I couldn't close up Metal Month without including these guys, could I? And I've already sort of reviewed their classic "Reign in blood" on another of my journals. Besides, it's always interesting to see where a band started from, that mad, optimistic energy that characterises so many debuts, the idea that the band are gonna conquer the world. Which, in Slayer's case, proved to be the truth. Although self-financed and against major resistance from the good ol' PMRC (where would we be without them, huh?) they managed to make people notice them, not least because of the Satanic imagery used all over the cover and in the song titles, and Slayer were well on their way to becoming a force --- the force --- in American thrash metal.

So the first thing Slayer want to advise us is that "Evil has no boundaries", and they reinforce that by introducing the opener with screaming guitars, howling like malevolent demons (is there any other kind?) with a chorus of guys chanting "EVIL!" Yup: we get the idea guys. To be fair to Tom Araya, his voice is raw but hell, you can make out what he's singing, unlike yer man from Morbid Angel, though I know that's all in a style of singing. If Steve Tucker wanted to sing "properly", or let's say coherently, he could. Probably. Nevertheless, I'm glad I can at least make out what Araya is singing. Naturally, there are no long songs here, with the average being around three minutes and the longest just short of five, but they're fast, punchy, brutal and to the point.

What they aren't is different from one another, a failing I've noticed in the only other Slayer album I listened to. However, "The Antichrist" has some severely brilliant guitar, and as Kerry King has mentioned that this album has "some fuckin' Iron Maiden" on it, I would have to agree: there's a lot of the style of early Maiden here. It's all pretty breakneck but certainly enjoyable on one level. "Die by the sword" is a little more restrained --- just a little --- while "Fight till death" pulls no punches, Kerry King's guitars setting up an irresistable destructive barrage over which Araya snarls the lyric. Slower and grindier then is "Metal storm/Face the slayer", that longest track I spoke of. With a very Maiden intro on the guitar it builds up on heavy miltaristic drums from Dave Lombardo into something of an evil sister to "Genghis Khan" off Maiden's "Killers", both King and Jeff Hanneman outdoing themselves on the axework.

I guess the guitar instrumental stuff at the start is "Metal storm" and the rest of it is "Face the slayer", though there's not really any line of demarcation between them so I can't be sure. A fading in guitar like an approaching chainsaw takes us into "Black magic", the first of four songs on the album penned solely by Kerry King, and therefore not surprisingly featuring a shitload of guitar. It hammers along at serious speed, Araya's voice a deep-throated snarl and Lombardo just killing it on the drumkit. It's certainly a guitar-centric album, as the songwriting is controlled totally by the axemen, King writing four of the ten tracks, Hanneman four and the other two being collaborations between them. "Tormentor" hammers along nicely with some quite Dickinsonesque screaming from Araya, and some fretburning from King. Nice.

You know, it's as much as surprise to me as anyone, but this album isn't half as bad as I had expected it to be. I actually prefer it to "Reign in blood", which passed by in a blur of similar songs for me. This is not that much different in those terms, but I somehow feel I can relate to it better. I don't know why, but I'm actually enjoying it, after a fashion. Great guitar opening to "The final command", and as the shortest song on the album at just barely over two and a half minutes it rockets along at lightspeed, while "Crionics" (not sure if that's meant to be "cryonics"?) has a real Texas boogie feel to it, and then Slayer open the throttle full and charge to the end of the album with the title track, which just takes your ears, rips them off your head and shoves them up your ahhh you get my meaning!

TRACKLISTING

1. Evil has no boundaries
2. The Antichrist
3. Die by the sword
4. Fight till death
5. Metal storm/ Face the slayer
6. Black magic
7. Tormentor
8. The final command
9. Crionics
10. Show no mercy

That was certainly a surprise! I'd still never class myself as a fan of Slayer's music, but this was not half bad at all, and for a debut pretty damn, to quote The Batlord, bitchin'! Despite what I had read it was not the tangled, messy jumble of screaming guitars and growled vocals I had expected, and though it moved along at triphammer speed I could still understand it, come to grips with it, and even like some of it. Hey, wonders will never cease, huh?

But apart from my own personal feelings about the album, I can see why it was hailed as such a broadside across the metal world, can only imagine the effect listening to it for the first time back then could have had on the young headbangers and can believe the impact it had on the scene. Spawning of course a thousand copycat bands, seems like Slayer virtually invented the idea of thrash metal, which is I suppose why they're included as one of the Big Four.

I expect Tom Araya is glad he quit his job at the hospital and took Slayer on the road after the album's release. He surely hasn't looked back since.

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slayer

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Ashes of Ares --- Ashes of Ares --- 2013 (Nuclear Blast)

Debut album from the former members of Iced Earth and Nevermore, Ashes of Ares have only been together less than a year but are poised to make a big noise across the metal scene. A sort of gothic, dramatic start to the album with "The messenger", nice chimy guitar and a deep vocal before the guitar kicks in properly and the percussion slams in too, the vocal higher now but still very clear. Moving along at a decent mid-pace, good opener then "Move the chains" pushes the envelope a little more, ramping up the tempo which comes right back then for "On warrior's wings".

A power ballad in traditional metal style, it has hard guitar mixed with soft acoustic, and a nice vocal performance from Matt Barlow. Also in traditional metal fashion it speeds up about halfway through, throwing off all pretensions at being a ballad as Freddie Vidales unleashes his talent on the frets. "Punishment" is a hard stomping grinder, with Barlow almost whispering the vocal in a menacing hiss and nice chugalong guitar. Speaking of guitar, some nice Spanish guitar in "This is my hell", which slows things down again with a sort of acoustic opening before breaking into a harder rock groove.

"The answer" is another partial ballad, with some nice vocal harmonies but I think some piano or keyboard would have gone well here, even an orchestra could they or had they wanted to spring for it. Decent track though. "What I am" then rocks things back up as we head towards the end of the album, which I'll be honest is okay but hasn't impressed me. The closer is "The one-eyed king", with a guitar riff opening right out of Maiden's "Flash of the blade" and a military drumbeat. It's all right but it's not a spectacular closer, though in fairness there's nothing spectacular about this album.

TRACKLISTING

1. The messenger
2. Move the chains
3. On warrior's wings
4. Punishment
5. This is my hell
6. Dead man's plight
7. Chalice of man
8. The answer
9. What I am
10. The one-eyed king
11. The answer (acoustic version)

Even the addition of an acoustic version of one of the better tracks on this debut doesn't really help lift it out of the realms of the mediocre in my mind. Perhaps not mediocre, but certainly not a revelation. And given the talent involved, well, you'd just expect better I think. But overall it's a pretty ordinary album that I'll be in no hurry to listen to again, nor will I be waiting breathlessly for their next release, should they have one.

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashes_Of_Ares

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There is a Hell, believe me I've seen it. There is a Heaven, let's keep it a secret --- Bring me the horizon --- 2010 (Visible Noise)

Anybody want to guess why I chose this album? I have no idea about this band but I really like this superlong album title. Perhaps that will be the only thing that will give me pleasure on the album, who knows? Sure we'll give it a go. These guys tend to get a lot of stick from "true" metal fans, and I think they're on The Batlord's list of poseur bands, but I'm never one to take the opinion of others as proof without first giving the band a chance to impress my own ears, so here we go.

The opening track is entitled "Crucify me", and for the moment at least gives me hope. It's dark, atmospheric keys and then heavy percussion and guitar pounds through, and there goes my hope. What in the name of all things holy and unholy is this? Not only is the guy screaming the vocal but it doesn't seem to be in time with the music or following any melody! In fact, if I didn't know better I'd think this was someone who had just broken in on the recording session and started screeching at the band! Interesting sample-voices in a sort of choir format singing the title of the album, supposedly added by electronic pop star Lights. Hum. Well the guitars are certainly frenetic and I can hear some promise in the band, but the vocalist is way out there.

Ends on a nice bit of acoustic guitar with Lights singing the fadeout, and the vocalist, Oliver Sykes, seems to have calmed down now and found some sort of rhythm. Mind you, we're done with that track now and onto the next, "Anthem", which is quite honestly anything but. There's great energy in this band to my mind but little real structure: everyone seems to go their own way to a degree and there's no real sense of a band working together to create music. It's more like a collection of projects that just occasionally and coincidentally happen to merge and chime with each other from time to time.

Then there's more ambient synth to open "It never ends", with soft guitar before everything piles back in again, though this time it sounds like it might actually work. There's a good beat to this one, and perhaps --- shock! --- even some melody! Sykes even makes an effort to sing in a semi-coherent manner, and kind of choral vocals with what could be Spanish guitar but probably is a synth effect add a nice little layer to the music. Some nice arpeggiated keyboard running along here with some sweet guitar along for the ride, and it's probably the closest I'd say to an actual song I've heard on this album so far. Mind you, no matter what you think of them, you have to give credit to a band who title one of their songs "Fuck!

Right, it's a crap song, but you have to admire the cheek and the couldn't-care-less attitude. No radio airplay for this methinks! Actually, as I listen to it there's a nice ambient/acoustic piece in the middle, and --- another shock! --- proper vocals, though I don't think they're those of Sykes. Kind of becomes a different song after the third minute, and I could almost like this. Almost. Sounds like violin at the end too! Those violins carry on into "Don't go", which would be almost a ballad if it wasn't for the fact that Oliver Sykes can't sing. Shouting and roaring a lyric is not singing, man. What a pity. Rather like himself from Lamb of God, he's unable to change his vocal style even for a slower song. Maybe he doesn't want to. It would be interesting though. Oh yeah: Lights returns to reprise her vocal role on this too. What a difference.

We're back rocking and screaming then for "Home sweet hole" (see what they did there?) with a sort of punk feel to "Alligator blood" and the pace doesn't slacken for "Visions", but I can't think of anything interesting to say about any of these tracks. Oh wait: there's a completely unnecessary false ending on the last track there, followed by some gutteral growls. Sigh. "Blacklist" has something of electronic or industrial in it, which is weird, but "Memorial", an instrumental, is really nice, with soft lush keys and gentle plucked guitar, and segues directly into "Blessed with a curse" which begins in the same vein. Slow plucked acoustic guitar, soft keyboard, gentle percussion, and even Sykes tries to tone it down a little. It gets heavier a little in but it's not that bad.

Unfortunately then it all goes to hell with a complete mess as "The fox and the wolf" closes the album in frenetic style, as if the dogs, settling down for the night, have suddenly leapt up and started savaging each other. Very jarring, and in my opinion an awful way to close an album that, while I never liked it, I was coming to tolerate and even understand a little. This final track just put me back at square one.

TRACKLISTING

1. Crucify me
2. Anthem
3. It never ends
4. Fuck
5. Don't go
6. Home sweet hole
7. Alligator blood
8. Blacklist
9. Memorial
10. Blessed with a curse
11. The fox and the wolf

Again, a band with decent ideas, good musicianship but it's all very much haphazard and all over the place. The vocalist ruins it for me; Jesus, even a growler can do better than this. It's like listening to someone having a fit. But that's as ever just me. Not a band I could ever see myself liking, though I know they have their following. I don't know if their other albums are like this, but after basically suffering through this, I'm willing to take the chance that they are and just leave it at that.

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_Me_the_Horizon

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The Batlord

@ Trollheart

If you kind of dig Show No Mercy then South of Heaven may be your back door to Slayer. It's not a million miles from their other stuff, but they toned down the brutality, and brought in more melody than they ever had before.

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Trollheart

Years of decay --- Overkill --- 1989 *Year corrected as per The Batlord below * (Atlantic)

Well we've made it, and we're in the final day of Metal Month. So let's deviate off from the more extreme metal we've been listening to up to now and have some thrash metal, shall we? Overkill are acknowledged as one of the biggest of the East Coast thrash bands and have been going since the mid-eighties, making them among the oldest US thrash bands still on the scene. They boast an ex-member of thrash giants Anthrax, and released their last album in 2012, with their new one, which will be their seventeenth overall, due next year.

A nice little ditty called "Time to kill" opens the album with a dark, grindy guitar rising to meet thumping, punching drums and there's a scream from vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth before it all kicks off with the kind of raucous abandon and energy you expect from your favourite thrash bands. There's always been a bit of the punk in thrash metal and you can hear it come through here from time to time, but first and foremost this is metal, and it's heavy! "Elimination" is faster with some fine shredding from Bobby Gustafson and Blitz's voice reminding me of Brian Johnson, quite high-pitched but not a scream.

"I hate" is pretty cool fun, but looking down the tracklist I'm quite surprised to see a song that is over ten minutes long. Could be very interesting, could fall flat on its face. We'll know in another two tracks. Very punky chants in this as Blitz snarls "I hate you!" and Gustafson goes wild on the axe. Lot of unrestrained anger in "Nothing to die for" with a great guitar solo that almost treads at times on progressive metal's toes but quickly returns to its thrash roots. After that we're into that ten-minuter I mentioned, and "Playing with spiders/Skullkrusher" opens on a sort of feedback guitar then a big heavy Sabbathesque riff takes the song, and for a while you wonder if you're listening to doom metal rather than thrash? It's very slow, very grindy, very dark and very heavy. Even Blitz's voice is lower than it has been up to now.

Then about halfway through Gustafson winds up his guitar and the tempo picks up, Blitz's voice rising to meet the change, then Gustafson takes over for the next two minutes or so, ripping off a blazing solo. I'm not sure where "Spiders" ends and "Skullkrusher" begins, but it may be around the eighth minute, when the tempo slows right back down again to the doomy feel of the opening section. The lyric seems to support this theory. "The birth of tension" gets things moving again but it also has that slower feel to parts of it then a nice acoustic introduction to "Who tends the fire" almost fools me into thinking this may be a ballad, but ... no. It builds up nicely on the guitar though until it reveals itself to be a heavy cruncher with some very prog metal guitar and Blitz doing a decent Dickinson impression.

It's one of two long songs, each around the eight-minute mark, that follow each other, the other being the title track. This also begins with an acoustic guitar passage, though the vocal which comes in quite quickly does seem to indicate we could be heading into ballad territory. Well, for the first three minutes we are, anyway, then it ramps up on heavier percussion and stronger guitar, the tempo increasing though still moderately sedate. Much more energy coming through from Blitz and a nice solo from Gustafson, before it drops back to the slower, acoustic guitar and returns to the style of the opening section. It finishes on a powerful, downbeat outro and takes us to the final track.

"Evil never dies" starts with what sounds like cello or violin, a slow, dirgy atmosphere that's really only lacking a big church organ to complete it, then guitar burns into it and thundering drums attack, a rapid-fire delivery from Blitz with some serious shredding from Gustafson. Like, it's okay but a bit raw and basic considering what I've heard from them on this album. Almost sounds more like a tacked-on bonus track, but it appears to be a legitimate one.

TRACKLISTING

1. Time to kill
2. Elimination
3. I hate
4. Nothing to die for
5. Playing with spiders/Skullkrusher
6. Birth of tension
7. Who tends the fire
8. Years of decay
9. Evil never dies

Good solid fun from these guys and I can see why they're so respected in the thrash metal hierarchy. You can also see the influence former guitarist Dan Spitz had later on Anthrax, having begun his career with Overkill just prior to joining the then-fledgling New York thrash giants. I don't feel, on the strength of this album at least, that Overkill are as good as Annihilator, Anthrax or Kreator, though as Grampa Simpson would say, they're not without their charm. Just a little too basic for my tastes. But then, basic can be good, and they've obviously amassed a huge following, having been together now over thirty years. And like I've said before, what do I know anyway?

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overkill_%28band%29

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Trollheart

XERO: About the only X I could find, Xero were an old NWOBHM British metal band. Xero - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (Bah! Not even a Wiki entry!)


Y&T: American Metal band who were most active around the eighties. Y&T - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I couldn't find anything for

other than ZZ Top, and I ain't calling THEM Heavy Metal!

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The Batlord

I hate to keep being that guy, but The Years of Decay was released in '89, not '93.

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