Trollheart

Although I did review this album before, a) it was in my “Classic Albums I have never heard” journal, and so was necessarily short and not at all in-depth, b) I was --- kind of --- forced/shamed into it so did not really take too much notice of it and c) it is and probably always will be recognised and agreed on as Slayer's peak, their “Dark side of the Moon”, “Number of the Beast” or “Ace of spades”, so I think in a month featuring them I would be very remiss indeed if I did not give it a proper, thoughtful and unbiased review.

So here it is.


Reign in blood --- Slayer --- 1986 (Def Jam)

For an album to be less than thirty minutes long and yet have ten tracks on it is unusual, and of course that means that there are no long songs here. Whereas up to now Slayer had written six minute or longer songs as a matter of course, most of “Reign in blood” clocks in around the 2-3 minute mark, with only two tracks reaching over four minutes. It's an intense album, played fast and hard and there's little or no room for intricate songwriting.

The longest song by a country mile, almost edging the five-minute mark, was also one of the reasons why the new label Slayer were with, Def Jam, was unable to have its distributor, Columbia, release the album. Coupled with the grisly artwork and other questionable lyrical themes (not questionable for an independent label like Metal Blade, who had released their first two albums, but definitely controversial for a larger label) this led to Geffen being the label that took responsibility for the release of what was to become one of the fundamental building blocks of the American Thrash Metal movement and go down as one of the classic Thrash albums of all time.

“Angel of death” concerns the Nazi scientist Josef Mengele, who plied his evil trade out of Auschwitz and was also portrayed in the movie “The boys from Brazil.” Noted for his awful experiments on humans, he was indeed dubbed the Angel of Death, and Slayer's song led to them being --- mistakenly --- characterised as Nazi sympathisers, a label they continue to deny.

The song? It opens with a stop-start guitar which quickly metamorphoses into a speed freak's wet dream and with a scream from Araya the opener is under way, belting along faster than a diving Stuka. I have to say, given the significance of lines like ”Infamous butcher”, ”Sickening ways to achieve the Holocaust” and ”Pathetic harmless victims” I find it hard to believe anyone could misinterpret Hanneman's lyrics as glorifying Nazism. This is clearly an angry accusation levelled at the evil doctor, a graphic depiction of the horrors the concentration camp inmates were forced to endure, but no homage to Mengele. Still, some people will I guess see and hear what they want to hear, or what they think they should. The vocal is harsh and accusatory, and you can actually feel the pain in Araya's voice as he spits the lines, particularly the no doubt unintentionally ironic ”Destroying without mercy/ To benefit the Aryan race.”

The final lines, too, are heavily critical of surely the Allies for failing to capture and bring this evil monster to trial, where he would have almost certainly been hanged. As Araya snarls ”Rancid Angel of death/ Flying free” he must surely be referring to the fact that, despite all the efforts to bring him to justice, Mengele eluded capture and only died aged sixty-nine in a swimming accident in Brazil. Hardly the fate that should befall such a callous and heartless mass-murderer. There's a lot of anger in this song, smouldering outrage and hatred, but stark sympathy and solidarity with the millions who died in the camps, particularly those who died under Mengele's horrific regime. As has been said before, never forget, or their deaths will have been in vain.

Already showing a marked shift away from the perhaps more fantasy/Satanic elements of their songwriting, the bulk of which had informed the first two albums, Slayer can now be seen to be concentrating on real issues, facing real problems and perhaps even trying to educate their --- mostly young --- audience to the reality of the world they live in. Of course, we still have songs like “Necrophobic” (sequel to “Necrophiliac”?) and “Criminally insane”, and they still give Christianity a bad time with “Jesus saves” and “Altar of sacrifice” but that's fair enough: one thing you do NOT do as you break the big time is alienate the fans who got you there, and Slayer's acolytes surely still wanted to hear songs about Satan and Hell. These were, after all, the subjects that got them noticed in the first place.

But you also don't want to “do a Venom” and get pigeonholed as a band who do nothing but write and sing about the occult, so Slayer were on this album making somewhat tentative steps to move away from the overall Black Metal feel of their first two albums (even though they were nothing musically like Black Metal at all; I mean in lyrical content only) and embrace other subjects, write about things other than the Lord of the Flies and black masses. Only, so far as I can see, the second song totally written by Kerry King, “Piece by piece” is a two-minute fretfest that literally barrels along, as indeed is “Necrophobic” (I guess, really, the antithesis of the track on “Hell awaits", as it's exactly the opposite of a necrophiliac, innit? Someone who has a pathological fear of dead bodies, as opposed to a freak who gets his rocks off getting down and dirty with them?), the shortest track on the album at only one minute and forty seconds. Hard to take it in, being so short; it's almost over before it's begun, and we're into “Altar of sacrifice”, which reverts to the tried and trusted Satanic themes and doesn't slow down for a second, something I feel may apply to this entire album.

There's a great chugging rhythm to this though, very Sabbath at their heaviest and fastest, and the poor old Saviour doesn't get a moment's rest, as they plough on into “Jesus saves” (but Shearer scores on the rebound! Sorry, old soccer joke!) which of course slags off Christians. Oddly, on Spotify this and the next track are labelled as “Explicit lyrics”, but I don't see anything wrong with this. Unless by attacking a religion Slayer are seen to be writing explicit lyrics? Well fuck that! I've heard much worse from rappers and Black Metal bands. Some great lines --- ”You place your trust in an invisible man” and ”You spend your life/ Just kissing ass” (Maybe that's the explicit part? Gimme strength if so!) --- and it's another blisterer, in fact one of the fastest and angriest on the album so far.

Starting off slowly, but inevitably speeding up, “Criminally insane” takes as its subject --- anyone? --- yeah, serial killers, while “Reborn” looks at the plight of a woman sentenced to burn as a witch who pledges to come back from the dead. Both these songs are sung so fast I wonder Araya can get the words out, but I guess that's his talent. Great guitar work of course from King and Hanneman, and an abrupt ending takes us to “Epidemic”, which seems to be another somewhat politically-motivated song, looking to highlight the plight of those in poor countries who can't pay for medication and perhaps postulating the idea that some diseases are created by man for use in biological warfare. Or something. Hell, I don't know: it's hard to concentrate on the music never mind read the lyric!

“Postmortem” is another Sabbath-style chugalong, certainly slower than the last few tracks, with a growled and snarled vocal that seems to blame mankind for his own eventual destruction. Again, as I say, or something. Gets much faster halfway as Lombardo gears up the kit and Hanneman and King join him in a speedfest, Araya adding his own thumping basslines. Then, with the sounds of rain, thunder, doomy drums and finally a screaming guitar we hit the title track, as such, and closer, “Raining blood.” I do like the way they've shown intelligence by using the word play on the phrase, so that it can mean either, or both. Not surprisingly, the song concerns Hell, and kind of nods back to their Satanic songs from the last two albums. Much tighter though, much harder and more aggressive. This is the new Slayer, and they're here to stay! A terrible beauty has been born, and you can hear the screams from one side of the planet to the next as the dark shadows lengthen and muted thunder rolls in the distance. They're coming...

TRACKLISTING

1. Angel of Death
2. Piece by piece
3. Necrophobic
4. Altar of sacrifice
5. Jesus saves
6. Criminally insane
7. Reborn
8. Epidemic
9. Postmortem
10. Raining blood

There are two bonus tracks, but again they're ones we know: “Aggressive protector” from “Haunting the chapel” and a remix of “Criminally insane”; not really worth going over again. What is worth repeating though is that this was the album that changed everything. Up to now, Heavy Metal bands had been loud, yes, fast yes, angry certainly, but other than punk bands the only one I can think of that measured up to what Slayer became would have to be Motorhead, and even then, they lacked the anger and pure unbridled energy that Slayer brought to the table. After this, with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax all on the rise, and other bands waiting in the wings, the world of Thrash Metal would never be the same.

A new era was rising, a new kingdom coming, and over it all, reigning indeed in blood, would stride the mighty colossus we would come to know as Slayer.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

I've been asked not to research this album, just listen to it. This goes against my reviewing strategy and habits, but just this once I'll grant the request. Suggested by Loathsome Pete, and backed up by mythsofmetal, Mojo and bob, this is

Imaginary sonicscape --- Sigh --- 2001 (Century Media)
Recommended by Loathsome Pete (and also by mythsofmetal, bob and Mojo)

So if I'm not to look it up then I have nothing to say. Yet. Once I've heard a few tracks though you can bet I'll be Wiki-bound! But in order to honour Pete's request, I now push “play” and listen to --- oh God! ---”Corpsecry --- Angelfall”. Gulp! Well there's some great guitar work to start off, and a really rocking beat, then the vocals come in and yes, as I somehow expected, it's a harsh, gutteral, almost completely indecipherable voice that would scare the shit out of me if I heard it at night. The music's great though, very Iron Maiden around the mid-eighties, “Number of the beast”, “Piece of mind”, that sort of thing. Looking down the tracklist I see there's a charming little number entitled “Slaughterhouse suite” that runs for, wait for it, just short of thirteen minutes! Oh dear. Still, vocals aside, if the music is all this good then that may not be a bad thing. Great solos here (damn! It really feels like I'm writing with one hand tied behind my back, not being able to tell you who these guys are, where they come from, who's playing what etc, but hell I'll play along for a few tracks).

Lot of screaming going on here, and I note that few of the tracks are below five minutes, other than one which is just over one, and I feel may be an instrumental or some sort of interlude. Now that definitely sounds like keys, like an organ coming in there. I hate the vocals but I love the music. Could do without the screams. Have I mentioned I hate the vocals? I hate the vocals. Were this a better, or more suited to me, singer, I think I would really like this album, and we're only on the first track. Big string-style outro in the last minute, that took me totally by surprise. Very nice indeed.

“Scarlet dream” definitely has some keyboard in it, and it's a slower, hard rock cruncher with some sort of echoey vocoder effect on the backing vocal. Hammering guitars, of which I assume there are two, as one is soloing while the other keeps the basic rhythm and melody going. The thing I will give the singer is that his vocals (I obviously assume it's a male) don't come too far up in the mix, aren't drowning out the music or screaming and shouting all over it. You can kind of listen to them in the background, even though they're gutteral. Now they're going into some odd sort of reggae rhythm led by keys and what sounds like a harpsichord, but almost surely is not. In the vocal I can make out ”Born in Heaven and raised in Hell”, which is a pretty clever line.

Sounding like something on a jazz album next, “Nietszchean conspiracy” starts slow and moody, with synthy sound effects and strings, a slow, kind of handclap drumbeat. Very atmospheric. I like this. In fact, so far I like everything on this album. Other than the vocals, but I'm even coming to either appreciate or just get used to them. This track sort of reminds me of a Diablo String Orchestra tune; very avant-garde. Great organ solo just adds to the flavour of the track, quite bluesy and then I think that's a sax sliding in too.

You know, the more I listen to this guy the more I begin to think of him as a heavy metal Tom Waits: it's not that his voice is all that gutteral or rough, it's just gravelly and hoarse. I really liked that track, favourite so far. “A sunset song” opens like an ELO semi-ballad, which is weird, though I'm getting used to the “w” word characterising this album. Superb little digital piano run totally contrasts with the harsh vocal, sort of lounge style. Great hooky guitar part, and when I said “Nietszchean conspiracy” was my favourite, well it is, but this comes a close second. After the next track I'm going to start researching Sigh, because I want to know more about them, and I think going in blind, while it has been an experience, has served its purpose now and I've kept my promise.

That short track I spoke of is next, and marks the midpoint of the album. Clocking in at a mere one minute twenty-five seconds, “Impromptu (allegro meastoso)” seems to be a solo piece on the piano, absolutely beautiful, belongs on a classical album really. I have got to find out who these guys are, and after this I'm going to. “Dreamsphere (Return to the chaos)” is a slower, more dramatic piece with strings and choral vocals but some bitchin' (Copyright: The Batlord Enterprises MMXIII) guitar too, then it speeds up and there's one hell of a synth solo. Now I can run to Wiki and I find first of all that these guys are Japanese. Well that's interesting and a surprise. Seems the vocalist, Mirai Kawashima, also does those incredible keys, as well as handling the vocoder, woodwinds, sampling and arranging the orchestral parts. So there is an orchestra! Sounded like it.

They've been going since 1989 (!) and the guitars on this album are handled by Shinichi Ishikawa, who has since left the band, with Satoshi Fujinami looking after both sides of the rhythm section, playing bass and drums, as well as a lot of other stuff. This is their fifth of ten albums, marking therefore the midpoint in their career, and as William York of Allmusic remarks, this is an “amazing, weird album and the best place for newcomers to start with this band.” I concur, on the first part anyway; don't know about the second, though Wiki says that Sigh began life as an extreme black metal band, so perhaps their earlier stuff may not suit me. We're now into that eleven-minute composition I spoke of earlier, and having got totally into this album I now no longer fear or dread “Slaughterhouse suite”: in fact, I'm looking forward to it.

It opens on atmospheric keys and sort of zinging sounds, with what sounds like a hammer and anvil ringing in the background. When Mirai comes in with the vocal there's strings accompaniment, and it's slow and dark, with the sort of a feeling of a haunted house about it. Amazingly, it's advanced to five minutes in and it doesn't feel anything like it. This eleven minutes (almost) is going to go in a lot faster than I expected. Lots of orchestral ideas here, still reminds me a lot of the earlier work of ELO, then something like the soundtrack to a ballet takes over in minute six, with wedding bells tolling, very Russian/Eastern European feeling to that before Shinichi comes back in with the guitar and Mirai manages to arrange an effect on the vocals I have only heard before achieved by Vangelis on his “Oceanic” album. Just superb.

Something like a vibraphone then comes in as the guitar churns away, then a full keyboard run develops as we head to the ninth minute, and I could really wish this was longer, which is in no way something I had expected to be saying! Suddenly there's a jump and with the sound of an old crackly record we have a lovely piano solo, very slow with organ on the fringes of it. This sound is lovingly created to sound just like an old, damaged vinyl album and it's perfect. It takes us right to the end as “Bring back the dead” howls in on a big hard guitar chord and rippling synth, a real rocker jumping with energy and passion, and it has a great hook in it too. I'll be honest: I don't see one single bad track here and as we head towards the end of this incredible album I'm not expecting any.

And no, there isn't. “Requiem nostalgia” becomes another standout, with an operatic opening and then some fine vocoder work by Mirai as well as some stellar drumming and what may or may not be flute. Also, we get “proper” vocals for the first time, and by gum, this guy can sing! If any of the songs on this album deserve the description of Doom Metal, I think this one qualifies. Oh dear god no! Don't tell me it's over! Sigh (pun intended): it is. What an incredible ride!

TRACKLISTING

Corpsecry --- Angelfall
Scarlet dream
Nietszchean conspiracy
A sunset song
Impromptu (allegro maestoso)
Dreamsphere (Return to the chaos)
Ecstatic transformation
Slaughterhouse suite
Bring back the dead
Requiem nostalgia

Not so long ago, the “old” me would have thought this was great up to the point the vocals began, and then switched off. Thankfully, I've managed to broaden my outlook a little now and can take death vocals in small doses, and also so many people recommended this album there had to be something in it. As I got used to the vocal I was aware of something amazing unfolding before my ears. It's been a long long time since I've been so totally blown away by a band, and the moreso that it's a Japanese avant-garde Black Metal one!

If you took the best elements and ideas within DSO and Theatre des Vampires, you still wouldn't scratch the surface of how great this album is, and I certainly intend to delve deeper into their later music. Thanks guys for the rec and for turning me on to Sigh; they just gained another fan, and another voice has been added to the chorus shouting “You have got to hear this album!”

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Uh, where the hell am I? What's with the dripping water, and why is it so COLD? And dark. Ugh. This is not a nice place! Man, my head hurts. And why do my arms feel like they're chained to posts above my head --- oh. Because they're chained to posts above my head. Wait a minute: it's starting to come back to me. A PM. A threat. A ransom. Something about my prized Marillion collection and a chainsaw.... oh crap. He did it, didn't he? And here I am, chained up and at his mercy --- what the hell am I wearing? Feels really tight and stretchy, apart from my legs which feel ... bare? Is that a skirt I'm wearing? If so, it's really tight. And short. And I feel like I'm standing on ... high heels? Holy mother of God! What's this in front of me? Why does my chest feel so ... prominent? And my hair was never this long!

I don't believe this. After years of calling me a girl, he's used his dark powers and actually turned me into one! Well, at least it feels like I'm a curvy, sexy one. That's something. Full pouting red lips, long soft golden hair, long legs and a tight arse. Well it feels tight. And smooth. Smoother than mine ever was. Soft hands too, and you know, there's a lot to be said for a really well stacked rack...

My mind has begun to wander in a certain direction when suddenly a dark, cackling voice cuts through the foetid air, and with the barely restrained glee of the madman crows
“GOOD MORNING MISS TROLLHEART! GOOD TO SEE YOU'RE FINALLY AWAKE!”

I start to demand what he has done to me, then realise that I'm gagged and can say nothing. Oh how very cliched bondage of you, Batlord!

“YES!” says he, as if reading my mind. “TIS I, THE BATLORD, AND YOU ARE IN MY POWER. THROUGH THE MAGIC OF DARK METAL I HAVE WOVEN A SPELL WHICH HAS CHANGED YOUR PHYSICAL FEATURES INTO THAT OF A HOT CHICK, THOUGH YOUR MIND REMAINS THE SAME, FILLED WITH IMAGES OF TWENTY-FOUR MINUTE KEYBOARD SOLOS, INTROSPECTIVE GUITARS AND LYRICS ABOUT DRAGONS AND WIZARDS. YOU KNOW, PROGRESSIVE ROCK?”

I can hear the spit as he snarls the phrase, then cackles again.

“I'VE ALWAYS CALLED YOU A GIRL”, he goes on, “AND NOW YOU ARE ONE. MUST BE LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE FOR YOU. I KNOW WHAT YOU GET UP TO IN YOUR SPARE TIME.”

I try to shake my head but it's no use, he has that in some sort of a vise and I can't move it. Nor can I speak, so my silence is taken for assent. Damn him. You know? His nasty voice comes through the darkness again, cutting into my soul, freezing my heart.

“HEY, AT LEAST I WAS MAGNANIMOUS ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU LOOK SMOKIN' HOT!”
he offers, and I hear his lascivious grin somewhere off in the darkness, but close. I shudder. I get the uncomfortable feeling that he's undressing me with his eyes. Little perv. Can't a girl possess fine cans and a great ass without people looking at her as if she's a piece of --- damn! Focus, Troll! Focus! His spell is getting in on you, making you think you ARE a girl, making you think like one. You are NOT a girl. You are a man. You are Trollheart. I repeat it like a mantra, then am rather surprised to hear an almost identical chant coming in a low mutter:

“IT'S NOT A GIRL, IT'S TROLLHEART. IT'S NOT A GIRL, IT'S TROLLHEART. FOCUS, BATLORD! DAMN, BUT SHE'S SO FINE! I'D LIKE TO ---- ARRRGH! NOTAGIRLTROLLHEART. NOTAGIRLTROLLHEART. NOTAGIRLTROLLHEART.”

He says it faster now, as if it's a spell that will protect him, and I allow myself an inward smile. Hoist on his own petard. But I'm the one who's been hoist, and I'm completely defenceless, especially in this girly body. He seems to recover his composure. His voice, when it speaks again, is now devoid of the slight shake and the half-stammer that denotes the nervousness or embarrassment suffered by a man when in the presence of a beautiful woman. (Not a girl. Trollheart. Not a girl. Trollheart.)

“LET'S GET ON WITH THIS”
he snaps testily, as if growing bored, or trying to sound like he is.
“I'VE GOT KYLIE MINOGUE --- I MEAN, BRUTAL DEATH METAL --- ALBUMS TO LISTEN TO. CAN'T SPEND ALL MY TIME DOWN HERE. NOW, AS WE AGREED, AND IN RETURN FOR THE SAFETY OF YOUR STUPID MARILLION COLLECTION, YOU ARE NOW A GIRL. AND LIKE ALL GOOD PSYCHOS WITH A HELPLESS GIRL AT THEIR MERCY, I'M GONNA TORTURE YOU. WITH MUSIC. HEADPHONES HAVE BEEN GLUED TO YOUR EARS SO YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LISTEN. THIS IS THE FIRST ALBUM YOU'RE GONNA LISTEN TO, AND I WANT A PROPER REPORT OR YOU'LL STAY LIKE THAT FOREVER. AND YOU WOULDN'T WANT THAT, WOULD YOU? I SAID, WOULD YOU? (Pause) “OH YEAH, I FORGOT. YOU CAN'T RESPOND. WELL, I'LL JUST ASSUME THAT YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO REMAIN AS A GIRL FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. WHO WOULD? I MEAN, THAT CREAMY, SILKY SOFT SKIN, THOSE RUBY-RED LIPS, THE SOFT, SULTRY EYES, THOSE AMAZING CANS, THAT FIRM ASS --- UM. WHERE WAS I? OH YEAH: WHO'D WANT TO STAY LIKE THAT FOREVER,EH?”

“SO LET ME JUST PLUG IN MY SPECIAL AMP THAT GOES UP TO ELEVEN --- GOT A LOAN OF THAT FROM YER MAN FROM SPINAL TAP --- AND GET YOU STARTED. WELCOME TO”

In addition to making me listen to this crap, Batty has also ensured that I do my usual research, so thanks to him I’ve had to read about this guy digging up worms and eating them live on stage! Yum! I don’t think! Well, if this is an attempt to shock or scare, or even repulse me, we’ll find out whether or not it worked in .. I guess thirty-odd minutes, as that’s how long this album runs for.


None so vile --- Cryptopsy --- 1996 (Wrong Again)

The second album from the band and the last to feature lead vocalist Lord Worm (yes I’m getting this from Wiki: where do you think I get 90% of my information on bands I don’t know?) for a few years, the few reviews I’ve glanced through for “None so vile” leave me in no doubt that not only am I going to hate this album --- and by extension, the band --- but I probably won’t even be able to understand it.

Look, let’s just get this over with and then I can move on to the next album, ok? We've agreed on four albums total, but I’m looking forward to this about as much as getting a double root canal while Boyzone plays in the background, but I guess I'm in no position to argue. Or do anything really, other than struggle --- uselessly, of course --- against my bonds as this terrible --- well, what shall we call it? Music? Sound? Noise? Noise seems generous, but let's go with that --- pours into my poor, undeserving ears.

Scary noises and whispers presage the opening track, “Crown of horns”. Now when yer man Worm comes in with the vocal (and I’m being very generous in describing it as such) I thought for a moment it was a dog barking, then maybe an ape, but no, it’s a man. The drumming is blitzkrieg and the guitars race along faster than a lot --- but not everything --- I’ve heard to date. These vocals are ridiculous though: how can anyone make out even a word this guy is growling? Somebody in another review --- a glowing one --- mentioned that these songs are all memorable. Well, I certainly won’t remember this, unless it comes back to haunt me in my nightmares!

Nah, still jsut sounds like a dog barking at intruders. So that's track one, and I can feel my teeth beginning to shake and fall out of my mouth (not so pretty now, huh?) and blood run down out of my nose, pooling on the massive heaving mounds of my .... focus, Troll! Focus! Did I hear an echo of that incantation in the distance? A quick glance at the Healthometer to see how I'm doing:

CURRENT HEALTH: 90%

Now we’re into the second track, not much different really to my ears, though the guitar is a little more to the fore in the charmingly titled “Slit your guts.” Sigh. This stuff makes Slayer sound like Journey! I can’t comment on anything because it’s all just one big wall of noise and speed. Let me see if I can cut through it to say something positive. Guitarist Jon Levasseur is certainly a master of his craft, but I haven’t yet heard any solos which I think would help me perhaps appreciate this more. If at all.

At this point I’m going to refrain from making any more comments about Lord Worm’s (ahem) vocals, because there’s nothing complimentary I can say about them. Instead, I’m going to ignore them and see if I can concentrate on the music. One thing you can say about it is that it’s fast, blindingly so, and hammer heavy, but at least it does appear to be in tune. It’s hard to distinguish one track from another. But we're through with track two and how's my health?

CURRENT HEALTH: 84%

“Graves of the fathers” could be “Slit your guts”, or any other song on this album I would think. Drummer Flo Mounier winds up into some sort of solo, which is mildly interesting, and the guitar hammers on as we’re into “Dead and dripping”.

CURRENT HEALTH: 80%

Not sure if I'm getting used to this, or my nervous system is just shutting down, but my health still appears to be holding up. I can feel a warm trickle running down my legs which I can only hope is blood, and my skull feels like someone has it in a vise: oh wait, someone does. Yeah but it's pounding like fuck. Beginning to wonder how much more of this I can take!

But on we go, and there’s little I can say except that suddenly there’s a slowdown in “Dead and dripping” as the band go into almost Doom Metal mode, but it doesn’t last and we’re back hurtling along with “Benedictine convulsions”.

CURRENT HEALTH: 71%.

That was a big drop. I think my bowels are beginning to --- yeah, they're emptying. Oh great. Yeah. This all sounds the same to me. Did someone just ring a bell? Weird. Now it’s slowed very slightly, but picking up speed again. No surprise there then. Well, only three tracks to go. It’s gonna seem like a long twelve minutes! Twelve minutes of intense agony. What’s next? What suitably horrible title have they got for the next slab of --- oh right: “Phobophile”. I guess that means someone who can’t stand the light. WHAT THE FUCK!!! A piano passage? A fucking gentle piano passage? Have I crossed into another album by mistake? Soft acoustic guitar? Oh right: there’s the wormish one and the guitars juut kicked seven bells out of me again. I see what they did, very clever. Make me lower my defences then move in for the kill. Not cool, guys! Bet Batty had a good laugh envisaging that happening!

Honestly, I’ve heard more melody listening to belching, or a pack of wild dogs, or a car crash. This is terrible. Although there’s a solo now near the end of “Phobophile”, but it doesn’t last long,

CURRENT HEALTH: 89%

Hah! Although meant to trick me, that gentle piano bit gave me back a lot of my health, and I can feel my buttocks unclenching and my skin beginning to heal slightly as my strength returns. Woo-hoo! I am Woman, hear me --- (Not a girl. Trollheart. Not a girl. Trollheart)

And we’re back to the general noise. Two more to get through and the penultimate track is “Lichmistress”, not that it matters: everything sounds the same to me. I can imagine when these guys were practicing in their parents’ garage as youngsters and the father or mother yelled “What is that? It’s just noise!” Should have listened to them. Well that’s my opinion anyway.

CURRENT HEALTH: 82%

Delighted to see the closer is nearly five minutes long, but at this point it’s all just passing by in a blur of sound and fury, so who really cares? Even the title, “Orgiasatic disembowlement”, sounds preferable than listening to this. It has a slightly more marching rhythm for a short time, then descends into the same sort of thing I’ve been enduring for the last half hour. Lord preserve us. I can say no more. I think my water just broke. Oh no wait, I'm not pregnant. Nor a girl. But then what ---? Oh. Right. Part of my intestine just fell out. Nice.

CURRENT HEALTH: 60%

TRACKLISTING

1. Crown of horns
2. SLit your guts
3. Graves of the fathers
4. Dead and dripping
5. Benedectine convulsions
6. Phobophile
7. Lichmistress
8. Orgiastic disembowelment

Well, despite my misivings and fears I'm still alive, mostly, to The Batlord's eternal annoyance no doubt, though I will need some surgery. And a lot of cleaning up. I'm certainly tired: standing on high heels with your arms stretched high above your head certainly exhausts a girl (Not a girl. Trollheart) and my mouth is dry after I spit out the blood that has accumulated there. My vision is blurry but at least I still have my eyes. Looking down, I'm surprised to find that far from being damaged, my boobs have grown even larger. Batlord and his fascination for porno!

So I've surprised myself --- and my torturer perhaps --- by making it through this – ahem – album with all or most of my body intact. And what a body! (Not a girl. Trollheart. Not a girl. Trollheart) Mind you, I then remember that at the end of the album there’s a sample from “Army of darkness” which sneers “Go ahead and run! Run home and cry to momma!” Hey! My mam’s dead, you insensitive jerks! I can't help it. Right now I'm a girl, and that just makes the tears roll down. In the darkness I hear an evil chuckle: Batty has managed at least to make me cry, and so must surely chalk that up as a small victory. Prick.

“SO” his voice floats out of the cold darkness of the cell, “YOU SURVIVED CRYPTOPSY. WELL DONE. BUT THAT WAS A MERE HORS DOO – WHORES DU --- HURS DOOV --- STARTER, MY PRETTY. (GAHH! NOT A GIRL! TROLLHEART! GET IT TOGETHER, BATTY!) AHEM. THE NEXT ONE WILL TEST YOUR RESOLVE TO ITS LIMITS. TO MAKE SURE YOU GET THE FULL EFFECT --- HOTTUS REANIMATORUS METTALUM! --- I'VE REPAIRED YOUR BODY --- AND WHAT A BODY --- STOP IT, BATTY! NOT A GIRL. TROLLHEART! ---- SO THAT YOU'LL BE IN TIT --- SORRY, TIP TOP CONDITION TO FACE YOUR NEXT ORDEAL. I'M OFF TO THE LIBRARY TO DOWNLOAD IT. BACK SOON, WITH A REAL NIGHTMARE FOR YOU!”

I hear his footsteps fade away, and up. Up. I must be in a dungeon. Yeah. Great bit of deduction there, girl! A torture chamber in a dungeon. Who would have imagined it? He'll be gone for a few hours; he says he's downloading an album but we all know he's gone to watch internet porn, so I have some time. If I can just manage to work this strap loose ... what the hell's that?

GAS!

Oh crap. Should have known he would have a plan to keep me from ... feeling drowsy .... keep me from ... yawn ... from trying to ... can't keep eyes .... open ....

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

The Batlord

I don't hear anger in Tom's voice. I hear sadistic glee. This song is meant to shock, nothing more. Slayer aren't Nazis, they're just testosterone junkies out to raise hell, and what better way than to shout out a list of atrocities. I know Jeff Hanneman used to be big into Nazi history, so I imagine it was a subject close to his heart, but I highly doubt he intended for this song to be political. Just a bit of non-PC fun.

__________________

Janszoon

^This. The lyrics aren't making any kind of statement, they're just to underscore the intense and aggressive music with some intense and shocking imagery. I'd also argue that they're by far the least important aspect of any given Slayer song.

__________________
A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

The Batlord

After having read all of that, I feel that it is in fact I who has been violated.

__________________

Trollheart

Meh, think what you like. This is how I choose to interpret the lyric, knowing nothing of Slayer anyway and piecing together what I do know of them with the history behind the lyric in this song.
Exactly as I intended...

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

One of the strongest influences on my early metal life --- if not the strongest --- was of course Iron Maiden, but a few other bands really impressed me and got me into the genre too --- Saxon, Tygers of Pan-Tang, Motorhead, Diamond Head, Sabbath ---- but without question the first two albums from Dio totally floored me. I consider Dio a real case of reaching the pinnacle of their career early, with the first two albums just about as close to perfect as you can get, the third something of a disappointment, the fourth a real flop and with a pretty steady falloff then for more or less the rest of their discography. There are a few bright spots --- “Killing the dragon”, “Magica” --- but by and large I feel Dio “got it” with their first two albums and never really properly recovered the feeling I got from them after that.

So it’s no surprise that some of



comes from RJD, and as I already reviewed “Holy diver” last year, this time it’s the turn of the second album, a worthy successor to that incandescent debut.

The last in line --- Dio ---1984 (Warner Bros)

It’s perhaps an appropriate title, as after this, for me, Dio would struggle with good albums and would never really attain the glory they put out on their first two efforts. “Sacred heart” had some decent songs and was not a bad album, but was not a patch on either of these, and “Dream evil” had maybe two good songs. After that the rot really seemed to set in, and Dio in my opinion did not recover for another sixteen years, and even then I really only consider their 2002 penultimate album “Killing the dragon” as an example of them getting back to their best. But this was 1984 and coming off the back of the tremendous “Holy diver” (which still rightly holds a place on most people’s list of best metal albums ever) Dio were faced with the dreaded “second album syndrome”.

“Holy diver” had burst onto the scene like a flaming sword, slaying all in its path. It’s not like Ronnie James Dio was an unknown; he was famous both for his stellar work with Rainbow and his later almost regeneration of Black Sabbath, but this was him on his own, with an exciting new young guitarist, and “Holy diver” blew everything out of the water on its release. But the usual problem then surfaced: having created perhaps the metal album not only of the eighties but quite possibly of the century, Dio were faced with the task of following it up.

Thankfully, “The last in line” fulfils that brief admirably. It’s no “Holy diver” of course, but it’s a powerful followup and I don’t think there’s even one bad track on it. In some ways, the success of “The last in line” is somewhat down to the fact that it mirrors the structure of the debut. The opening track is a loud fast rocker, the second not only a slower cruncher, but also the title track, as was the case on “Holy diver”. This is then followed, on both albums, by two fast rockers and though “One night in the city” doesn’t quite measure up to “Don’t talk to strangers” there are similarities. Side two opens on both albums with another fast rocker, although there the structure begins to diverge a little. Nevertheless, there’s a commercial, airplay-worthy song on side two of each album and the main riff melody in “Rainbow in the dark” can be heard ghosting through “Mystery”.

Both albums have nine tracks, and in the world of vinyl each had five on side one and four on side two. Each album ends with a slow cruncher, though the one that closes this album is more epic and dramatic than “Shame on the night”. Both albums are just over forty minutes long and both were released in the late summer, May for “Holy diver” and July for this one.

So there are a lot of similarities between the two, which stand head and shoulders above anything in the Dio catalogue, and though many of these would be continued on down through the next two albums --- the rot, for me, set in with “Dream evil” but really came to the fore with “Lock up the wolves”, which was --- interestingly or not --- the first Dio album to have more than nine tracks --- I definitely feel the exit of Vivian Campbell after “Sacred heart” had a detrimental effect on future albums. After the disappointing “Dream evil” I stopped caring about Dio, and only got back into them for my special on the anniversary of Ronnie’s passing. If you read that article you’ll see my belief was that in general I had not missed much.

But this is the album we’re concerned with now, and it opens on “We rock”, as Dio set down the marker and roar a triumphant “We’re back!” to the fans, the song careening along on Vivian Campbell’s screaming guitar and driven on Carmine Appice’s pounding drumbeat. The thundering bass of Jimmy Bain adds its inimitable mark before Ronnie comes in with the vocal, in full flight even as he begins. The song powers along and doesn’t really let up at all. A great solo from Campbell sets the scene for the album; easy to see why he had no trouble finding work after a falling-out with the boss in 1985.

After that initial assault things slow down for the title track, with an almost medieval, acoustic guitar intro leading into a gentle vocal from Ronnie, perhaps fooling you into thinking this may already be a ballad. It isn’t. On the word “home” in the final line of the introductory verse the power kicks up as the band pile in, Dio gets rougher with the vocal and we’re into a dark, storming cruncher which owes rather a lot to “Heaven and Hell” by Black Sabbath, another of Dio’s own compositions, and to Rainbow’s “Stargazer”.

A heavy breathing sound introduces “Breathless”, which ups the tempo, though not as fast as the track which follows. There’s some great guitar work from Campbell here, and of course as ever Ronnie slips in a reference to his favourite natural illusion, the rainbow. Powerful, authoritative drumming from Appice too but as ever it’s the near-flawless voice of RJD that carries the song and demands your attention. The fastest track on the album, “I speed at night” is appropriately titled, with Vivian Campbell putting in one of his most fretburning performances to date. Things slow down again for “One night in the city”, another cruncher, almost a love song of sorts, though not a ballad (there aren’t any on this album), the rhythm a sort of triumphant, marching, defiant one as two “children of the night” face the world and explore their love --- ”One night in the city/ One night looking pretty” --- even if it is doomed.

If there is a pinnacle in this album, that’s where I place it. Which is not to say that the rest of the tracks are bad; they just seem in general a little below par compared to the ones that have preceded them, that is until we hit the closer. “Evil eyes” is another fast rocker, but it seems a little derivative, reminding me in places both of “We rock” and “Stand up and shout”. Ronnie references one of his songs with Rainbow, “Catch the rainbow”, when he sings ”Do you ever think about/ The way I caught the rainbow?”.

Some uptempo, bubbly synth lines from Claude Schnell, brought in to handle all keyboards, though up to now he has been to me conspicuous by his absence. Nonetheless, employing a keyboard player is a departure from the debut, where keys duties were split between Bain and Dio himself. This time I assume each wanted to concentrate on their own singular instrument, and with a voice like Ronnie’s I think it was a good idea for him not to be distracted from utilising that to its fullest extent. The keys definitely add something to the song. Continuing into “Mystery”, Schnell’s keys certainly take control here, setting down the whole riff in the kind of way “Rainbow in the dark” would not have been the same without. I find this quite a commercial song, and think it would have been a good single --- oh look! It was.

I have nothing much to say about “Eat your heart out”. If this album has one duff track, this is it. The lyric is awful --- ”Eat your heart out/ You’ve been a bad bad girl/ You’ve been hungry all your life/ So eat it out!” --- yeah. It’s also a very basic melody and while it certainly does not spoil the album, it’s one track I would tend to skip if playing it all the way through, except here, as I need to review all tracks. But the album rallies at the end, coming back with perhaps the strongest closer for an album featuring Ronnie since Rainbow’s “A light in the black”. With a spooky, eerie synth line and wind noises from Schnell (well, from his keyboard, not from his --- oh forget it!), then a deceptively happy keyboard riff we plunge into the epic “Egypt (The chains are on)”.

The song envisions the gods of Egypt as aliens arriving to enslave the population --- ”The strange ones came/ And the people knew/ That the chains were on” and allows our Ronnie to crowbar in another reference to rainbows: ”You see them walking on the water/ See them flying through the sky/ They were frightening in the darkness/ They had rainbows in their eyes” It’s a big, punchy, grindy rhythm with more than a touch of Zep’s “Kashmir” about it. The song of course gives RJD free rein to indulge in his penchant for mythological and fantasy lyrics, and takes us back to 1976 when he crooned the story of the mad wizard in “Stargazer”.

Schnell runs out a fine keyboard passage in the middle as Campbell dials back on the guitar for a short moment before cutting loose one more time and treating us to a superb solo. Though he would play on “Sacred heart” his heart would not be in it, and differences of opinion between he and Ronnie would lead to the man claiming of Vinnie that he just “wasn’t there” for the album. Shortly afterwards Campbell would be given his marching orders, and an era would come to an end.

TRACKLISTING

1. We rock
2. The last in line
3. Breathless
4. I speed at night
5. One night in the city
6. Evil eyes
7. Mystery
8. Eat your heart out
9. Egypt (The chains are on)

I don’t want to keep harping on about it, but this really does mark both the pinnacle and the beginning of the slide into mediocrity for Dio. I have never seen a band before start with such promise and then fade away so quickly. Although they recovered a little with “Magica” in 2000 and its follow up in 2002, Ronnie soon expressed a desire to link back up with his former Black Sabbath mates and formed Heaven and Hell, who only recorded the one album before his untimely death in 2010.

I hesitate to disrespect his memory, and his passing left a void in my heart, as it did I’m sure in that of all his fans and in just about everyone connected to the world of rock and Metal, and the wider music community. But what can’t be ignored is that, while getting back to basics with “Killing the dragon” and to a degree “Master of the moon”, which turned out to be the final Dio album, the band were unlikely to ever reach the heights they did with these two albums. Constant lineup changes, weak albums and tensions between band members made it hard to see them ever returning to the glory days. Had Ronnie recovered, who know what might have happened? Perhaps he would have turned it around. Perhaps he could have convinced Vivian Campbell to return. We’ll never know.

But as it stands, if nothing else, the first two albums remain as a testament to what Dio could and did achieve, and will forever be assured of their place in the Metal Hall of Fame, and in my own heart.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Got a double bill from Brazil (hey, that rhymes!) for ya today, as we move closer to the end of the first week of Metal Month II.

So we've done death, we've done thrash and we've done progressive metal bands from Brazil. Why not throw in some Folk Metal? I don't know too much about Lothloryen, and unfortunately their official website does not have an English option, which is I think a mistake. They're not on Wiki either so all I can assume is that their name comes from a respelling of the mystical enchanted wood in “Lord of the Rings”. Other than that?

Well they've been together, it seems, since 2002 and have released four albums in that time, their latest coming out this year. It's the one prior to that which I'm going to review here. Why? I don't know: I just like the title. You know what I'm like. Also, their current one seems to refer back to their second, with the titles very similar, and I don't want to get into the second half of a story or anything, or suddenly realise you really need to hear the previous album before you can review this one. So as far as I can see, this is a standalone (though I could be wrong there) and so it's here we begin.


Raving souls society --- Lothloryen --- 2012 (Shinigawa Records)

An eerie, almost horror-film beginning with piano and dark synth sets the scene in “First raving steps”, with what sounds like cello joining the mix, then electric guitar and marching drums erupt across the melody, and as it's quite short --- less than three minutes --- I assume it's an instru --- no it's not. Here comes the vocal, and very clear it is too, though here you can certainly detect the Brazilian accent of singer Daniel Felipe. He's one of those vocalists who doesn't play an instrument, concentrating only on his singing, so there are five other bandmembers to pick up any slack, with the usual quartet of guitar, bass, drums and keys, as well as a second guitarist, and you can hear the effect even in the opening. Very epic.

With the title it has, you'd not be surprised to find this album has insanity as its theme, and indeed the next track is called “Face your insanity”. Later we'll hear “A tale of lunacy” as well as “Sun of delerious”, but as the second track ends, with some native language lines thrown in which I of course can't translate, we're into “When madness calls”, with a big racing guitar line and galloping percussion. Meh, but so far I'm finding it all pretty much the same. At least the next track opens with some weird glockenspiel or something before bursting into more guitar. The title is certainly odd: “Hypnerotomachia” (nearly said Hypnotoad there --- Futurama in-joke); not a clue what it means. Let's check the lyric and see if there's any clue. Nope.

Well there's a female vocal joining, but I see no credit for such. Wonder if it's anyone I know? Nice voice anyway. The story seems to follow a semi-mythic tale of the pursuit of a nymph --- perhaps it's our old mate Orpheus, perhaps not. Maybe Pan, who knows? --- and I guess that's where the female voice comes in. Blinding guitar solo as the song suddenly ramps up. “Temples of sand” seems to concern, maybe, the Crusades, with lines like ”Fighting a mad war/ By the god's name” and ”Where's the Pope now/ To say the truth?” and that female vocal is taking part again, though it would seem just as a backup singer this time.

There's a very tellling line when the soldier in the song laments ”How could God's voice/ Be this slaughter and tears/ To free His land?/ Why does he need/ Gold and temples of fear?” with a darkly intoned answer, presumably from the Crusaders: ”Satisfy our greed!” And so it was. As I mentioned long ago in my review of Chris de Burgh's “Crusader” album, the “holy warriors” mostly fought for God's forgiveness --- for the sins they had yet to commit! --- and more often than not, for land and for riches. There was nothing really noble about them, and the soldier in this song is beginning to realise that now, when it's too late. Cool song.

Huge guitar and drum assault takes us to “A tale of lunacy” and it really is a frenetic song, hurtling along but always under control. Seems to be an anti-war song, with the classic line ”Make war so you'll have peace.” Indeed. There are a lot of hints in the lyric that this is actually about the rise of Nazism, but I'm not certain. It would appear that “To live forever” is the ballad, though it starts oddly, with what sounds like falling rain and an engine (motorcycle) moving away. It's a nice change of pace when it gets going, good keyboard work there from Leo Godde, though it really plays more like an AOR or melodic metal ballad. But it's nice, and as I say it's good to take a breath.

And continuing in that vein, “1314” is a clever little instrumental with a big electronic synth as its backbone, almost new wave in style, then we're off with “Burning Jacques”, a very dramatic introduction which I really like on synth then the guitar rocks it up. The lyric is pretty abstract and I have no idea what it's about, but there's a good instrumental intro up to about the second minute, and it features a somewhat softer vocal, although I think possibly there may be two singers on this. Great hook in this, and I'd list it as one of the standouts. Lovely piano solo with what sounds like cello joining it. Hard and heavy then for “Sun of delerious”, which references what I guess to be Egypt and I think may be about Moses --- ”From the star he was/ Born to become king/ He tried to lead people/ Out of the dark” --- and again utilises that double vocal.

A tale of leavetakings and farewells, bittersweet memories and regrets, “My old tavern” closes the album, sort of like a minstrel's lay with a very folky/medieval feel to it. Bit of a semi-celtic idea to it too, and it's a nice simple way to end what has turned out to be, after my initial reservations, a pretty complicated, well-written and versatile album.

TRACKLISTING

1. First raving steps
2. Face your insanity
3. When madness calls
4. Hypnerotomachia
5. Temples of sand
6. A tale of lunacy
7. To live forever
8. 1314
9. Burning Jacques
10. Sun of delerious
11. My old tavern

An interesting album from an interesting band. Not quite what I had expected, especially given the LOTR-inspired name of the band, and not the best of this subgenre I've ever listened to, but very pleasant, and an accomplished effort.


Pop quiz, hotshot! Who was the very first thrash metal band? Slayer you say? No, their first album didn’t hit till 1983. Metallica then? No, although general history does ascribe that honour to the band from LA, if you head down into Mexico, further south past Panama and down towards Belem in Brazil, you’ll definitely get a different answer from a band there called Stress. They’ve been together since 1974, a full seven years before Mustaine, Ulrich and Hetfield formed their band, and also Stress released their first album in 1982, a year before “Kill ‘em all” changed the way we think about metal. They also have the undisputed distinction of being the very first ever Heavy Metal band in Brazil.

So why aren’t they feted as the godfathers of thrash metal, instead of the honour going to Metallica? Well, two reasons: the first, and most obvious one, is that they’re from South, not North America, and the second is that they sing in their native Portuguese. Also, they’ve only had three albums in their career so far, with the third released all the way back in 1996, as Metallica churned out their sixth album of what would go on to be nine(ten if you include Lulu, which I don’t), and who already had one box set and a live album behind them. Hard to compete with that.

Stress began life as Pingu D’Agua (no I don’t know what it means) in 1974 but changed their name in 1977 to Stress, just as Motorhead released their second album and while Tom Araya was still a medical worker. Of course, I didn’t know of them either, until this week, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t close this section of “The International Language of Metal” without taking a look at at least one band who sang in a language other than English, and here we are.


Stress --- Stress --- 1982 (Independent)

There are only eight tracks on this album, and it runs for a total of a mere thirty-six minutes and change, but given how influential it should have been, and since it’s as mentioned the first album by a Brazilian Heavy Metal band, I guess we should not underestimate its importance, both to the Thrash Metal scene in general and to Brazilian Metal in particular.

You can hear the big, grindy, dark thrash sound immediately as “Sodoma e Gomorra” (anyone?) opens, and it rockets along on fierce guitar and pounding drums before vocalist Roosevelt “Bala” Cavalcante screams in with the vocal. To me, he sounds a little like a much punchier Ian Gillan around the time of Deep Purple’s “In rock”, and he certainly has a powerful voice and likes to scream a lot but I feel sure if he was singing in English I’d be able to understand what he’s singing. Guitars are handled by Pedro Lobão, and he is an animal! “Fast” Eddie Clarke would love him! Oddly enough for a Thrash band, Stress employed a keyboard player, though I don’t hear him in this song at least.

It’s a real rip-roaring fretfest that flies along and opens the album well, then “A chachina” keeps the volume and the speed high. Honestly, at this point if there’s a band Stress remind me of it’s Motorhead, that same driving, pounding, speeding rhythm, a heads-down-go-for-it mentality that would surely serve them well, and made them household names in Brazil, though sadly not beyond their homeland. Another fine solo from Pedro, but again I can’t hear any keyboards. If he’s there, Leonardo Rendo is not making himself known. Hmm. I might be hearing him now in the intro to “2031” --- oh yeah, there he is now, making his mark with a big uptempo solo. Better late than never I guess.

This has a real boogie feel to it, kind of reminds me a little of “Starstruck” by Rainbow. A nice boppy solo there in the middle as Rendo makes up for lost time, then Pedro fires up for another smouldering rifftastic solo. I’d say this is my favourite track so far. The longest track, just under six minutes and apparently their most successful, “Oraculo do Judas” (doesn’t take too much to translate it, does it?) starts off hard and crunchy, with growling guitar and slower, almost jazzy at times percussion. Some nearly Plantish singing from Bala, not that surprising as they used to cover Led Zep songs before they began writing their own. A really evocative, as opposed to just shredding, solo from Lobão as the song pounds on with a real sense of purpose.

Then in the fourth minute it slows down almost to a crawl, evidencing influences of Doom Metal or maybe Sludge. Another superb solo takes us out and into “Stressencefalodrama”, which I’m reliably informed is a protest song against the policies of the Brazilian government, particularly torture and censorship. Stress were continually in trouble with the authorities over their lyrics, many of which had to be rewritten before they could be played live or on the air. The song is underpinned by what sounds like a hard brass line on Rendo’s synth and raises the tempo again, though I wouldn’t place it in the same speed group as Slayer or Metallica. I don’t know whether the fact that this song has their band name in the title is significant, but if not then it’s quite a coincidence. If anyone speaks Portuguese maybe you can drop me a line to let me know what, if anything, Stress means in English? Other than the obvious.

There’s almost a little sense of the celtic in the opening of “O viciado” (to victory?) and it cannons along nicely, not a massive amount of vocal which is always good when you’re listening to a foreign language, but what there is is certainly laced with anger and power. “Mate o rieu” keeps the tempo up nicely, some great guitar from Lobão, but again, other than those two flurries in “2031” and “Oraculo do Judas”, there’s been little or no discernible contribution from Leonard Rendo that I can hear. Sort of wonder why he’s there. It’s a real fretfest and rocks along with great energy, taking us to the closer (already?) “O lixo”, which literally carries through the very same closing guitar riff into the new song.

It slows down though, and it looks like we got a cruncher to bring the album to a close. Sort of blues feel to it, then it seems I’m wrong as it suddenly kicks up as we approach the final minute, um, then slows down again. Madre de dos dios! as they probably say over there. Well, despite the (many) tempo changes it’s still a good closer.

TRACKLISTING

1. Sodoma e Gomorra
2. A Chacina
3. 2031
4. Oraculo do Judas
5. Stressencefalodrama
6. O viciado
7. Mate o rieu
8. O lixo

I’m not certain you could compare these guys to Metallica; not certain if that would be a fair comparison anyway, given the gulf in resources between the two. But there’s no doubt that Stress do appear to have sown the seeds of the thrash movement, even if they did so hidden away from the world down there in Brazil. It’s a constant bugbear with Balo that his band is not given the recognition he believes they deserve, but it’s easy to see why. Did you know of a band called Stress before I wrote this? Having read this (assuming you did) do you now care?

The fact is, to the victor goes the spoils and history is written by the winners. And in every facet of the genre, Metallica were and are the winners here. I suppose you could look at it as almost a David vs Goliath sort of thing, or mutter that North America gets the choicest cuts while poor old South America has to be content with the scraps that fall from the table. But any way you slice it (ouch!) the problem boils down to the fact that Stress could not break out past their borders, struggled to attain recognition thanks to a repressive government and in the end seem to have faded into the musical mist of Heavy Metal history.

But on the basis of this album at least, we should perhaps raise a glass, if not an iron-studded fist, to the men who were, in all probabilty, the real instigators of the thrash scene and not only the first Heavy Metal band in Brazil, but quite possibly the first ever Thrash Metal band in the world.

… And justice for all?

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Heroes --- Sabaton --- 2014 (Nuclear Blast)

Seems Swedish lads Sabaton underwent almost a total lineup change in 2012, with four members of the band leaving and only Joakim Brodén and Pär Sundström remaining. Recruiting new men to fill the spaces left by the departed members, they put together their first album since the split, and this is it, their seventh in a career spanning fifteen years (although their first album didn’t hit till 2005 they have been together since 1999).

Taking somewhat of a different tack to other power metal bands, Sabaton decided to write songs about the individuals involved in various war, and each of the songs here is based on a real-life person, and has its own story, which I’ll be detailing as we go along. “Night witches” gets us underway, the story of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Airforce, a squadron of ancient biplanes piloted exclusively by women in World War II. With a Russian-sounding chant to open proceedings the song rocks along on the twin guitar attack of new boys Chris Rörland and Thobbe Englund, and they can certainly play. Vocalist Brodén’s voice is just the right side of raw for this sort of music and he sings it with the pride and passion you would expect of anyone involved in this squadron.

Giving hope for humanity, “No bullets fly” is based on the WWII story of Franz Stigler, a Luftwaffe pilot ordered to shoot down a crippled B-17 Flying Fortress but who decided to instead escort it home. A heartwarming and true story, it’s memorialised in a fast rocker with more than a touch of AOR. ”Fly, fighting fair” sings Brodén ”It’s the code of the air/ Brothers, heroes, foes.” An Iron Maidenesque chant at the end takes us into “Smoking snakes”, where we hear of the exceptional courage of three Brazilian soldiers who fought to the death against the Germans and were buried with full honours by their enemies. It was April, 1945. Five more months and the war would have been over.

A rollicking, rocking ride on cannoning drums and twin guitars, it stirs the heart and gets the head moving, with another chorus of vocals, becomes something of a boogie in the last minute with a sweet guitar solo. A gentle keyboard intro brings in “Inmate 4859”, based on the story of Witold Pilecki, leader of the Polish Resistance in 1939 who volunteered to go to Auschwitz and be interned there in order to gather intelligence about the Holocaust, information he transmitted back to the Allies. A slow, pumping guitar then drives the tune, with orchestral hits on the keys, the song a marching cruncher with again that Russian-style slow chant. “To hell and back” remembers one of the most well-known and famous of the heroes of World War II, Audie Murphy, who went on to make many war films based on his experiences. It powers along nicely, with a sort of Ennio Morricone-ish whistling intro, but I find it a little generic, and it’s the first track on the album I don’t really like.

Another hero of World War II, Australian Army Corporal Leslie “Bull” Allen is commemorated in “The Ballad of Bull”, which is in fact the first ballad on the album, with Joakim Brodén excelling both on the piano and organ, and also putting in a fine vocal performance dripping with passion. “Resist and bite” details the bravery of the Belgian Army, with a spiralling guitar intro and almost trancelike drums before the guitar bites hard and the song gets going. Another powerful chant underpins the chorus here, then the strange tale of Lauri Törni, who fought for Finland, Germany and the USA during his life is told in “Soldier of 3 armies” which ups the tempo more and hurtles along nicely.

A big rolling drum pulls in “Far from the fame”, the story of Czech air marshal Karel Janousek, who fought for the RAF and who was later imprisoned by the new Czech government. It’s another sort of marching, rockalong song with a fine solo from one or other of the two new guitarists, couldn’t say which. “Hearts of iron” looks at the other side of the conflict, praising the bravery of the German 12th Army who, as the war drew to a close and the Allies moved in, created a corridor through which they were able to allow many of their people escape Germany and surrender rather than be captured by the advancing Russians, every German’s worst fear, especially the women.

The last two tracks I don’t have information on. “7734” is a real power Metal anthem, flying along on wings of steel, while “Man of war, probably not an ode to Joey deMaio and co --- oh wait! It is! They namecheck just about every Manowar album and some songs, like “All men play on ten”, “Battle hymns”, “Kings of metal” and “Blood of enemies”. Oh so cool! A marching, fist-pumping anthem that Manowar would be proud of, it’s a really strong end to the album, and a fitting tribute to one of the real kings of Power Metal.

TRACKLISTING

1. Night witches
2. No bullets fly
3. Smoking snakes
4. Inmate 4859
5. To Hell and back
6. The ballad of Bull
7. Resist and bite
8. Soldier of 3 armies
9. Far from the fame
10. Hearts of iron
11. 7734
12. Man of war

Yes, it is indeed a strong end to the album, but though Sabaton evidence all the hallmarks of true Power Metal here, there’s something --- I don’t know --- cartoony? --- about the songs. It’s clear the guys believe in what they’ve written and want to honour these fallen heroes, but maybe it’s the way the vocals are handled, or the overcomplicated lyrics. I don’t know. But there’s something that makes it hard for me to really believe in what they’re singing about.

Mind you, that could be the problem. I could be the problem. This album’s songs have such a rich and varied backstory that I’ve really spent more time researching those than listening to the music, and maybe I haven’t given it a fair chance to be judged on its own merits. But on first listen, though I am impressed, I’m not knocked over. This album may very well grow on me with time, but at the moment, with all I have to still listen to for Metal Month, there isn’t room for a second listen, let alone a third.

Sabaton: heroes? Meh, not quite yet. But they may very well be getting there. I’ll keep their medals here in this box for now. It’s quite possible I may need them soon enough.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018