Trollheart

No matter what country you look into there seems to be a glut of metal bands there. Yeah, I'm sure if I clicked Lichtenstein I'd find a few ... in fact, let's do that right now, for the craic. Wow. Eleven bands. Even if half of them are split up that means there's statistically more metal bands in Lichtenstein than there are taxis! Hope they don't all try to hail the same one at the end of a gig! But enough slagging of this tiny principality: should they ever enter Eurovision I'll certainly pounce on them for my “Eurovision Hell” slot. But for now, it just serves to prove a point. Like a disease everyone wants to catch, or a forest fire racing across the world, unstoppable, unquenchable, remorseless, metal is everywhere. And so when I tried to look up Spanish metal bands I was confronted by pages and pages of them, as indeed I was with the other two countries I've checked out so far.

Why do I tell you this? To forestall any whining about bands seen as “critical” to Spanish metal who I end up ignoring, not using or not even knowing about. I only have so much time, you know. And as for bands I know and have heard of --- Saratoga, Dark Moor, Cain's Dinasty --- I'm avoiding them, as this is supposed to be an exploration of bands I have never heard, or heard of. Which brings me to our second example. Admittedly, Barón Rojo were a must: you could no more ignore them when looking into Spanish metal than you could pass over Maiden if you were doing England, or Stratovarius if it was Finland you wanted to check out. But after them I didn't know where to turn, and so, Batty having proven strangely unknowledgeable about metal bands from Spain, I checked out some “top lists” and saw some other anonymous loser bleat “Tierra Santa is the shizzz!” (though with more z's than that) and thought, fuck it, why not?

And so here we are.

Formed in 1997, Tierra Santa (Holy land?) have been around the block a few times. They have nine albums to their credit, not including live and also two compilations, and have appeared on tribute records to Iron Maiden, Led Zep and even Barón Rojo themselves. This is their fourth album.

Sangre de reyes --- Tierra Santa --- 2001 (Locomotive)

The good thing about Spanish is that, although I learned very little of it in school, it's not that hard to decipher basic phrases. Oh, I could never speak nor understand it, but I can take a pretty good stab at what short sentences mean. The title above, I'm sure you'll have worked out, is “blood of the kings”, and we get started with “David y el gigante”, which surely must be “David and the giant”, or to put it another way, David and Goliath. Dark thunder presages an ominous beginning but then soft tinkly piano is the first instrument we hear, and so we are introduced to Paco, who does the keyboards, nothing else. Throaty bass and guitar swirl in now as Roberto Gonzalo and Arturo Mallas respectively make their presence known, backed by drummer Iñaki Fernández as vocalist Ángel San Juan completes the quintet. And has he some set of pipes!

The song rockets along on a real Iron Maiden footing (sorry, but it does!) and though I have no idea what they're singing about I expect it may be that Biblical contest between boy and giant, or it could be a metaphor for something else. Either way it's damn impressive. As is “La ciudad secreta” (gotta be “Secret city”) which runs along on the driving rhythms of Fernández's drumkit, with San Juan's vocal a little more aggressive but still very clear. Great hook in the song, and I wonder how well known Tierra Santa are in their native country? On the strength of even these first two tracks they deserve to be famous. Again, “Pegaso” needs no translating, and gallops along like the very horse of legend, flying effortlessly through the air on the twin guitars as the drums reverberate like the mighty horse's white wings. Great sort of choir adding backing vocals, but the standout is Mallas's (or is it San Juan's?) steaming guitar solo near the end. Epic.

This band seem to have a great interest in myths and legends and incorporate them into their lyrics. We've already had the story of David and Goliath (whether it was an allegory or not), Pegasus and now we hear the tale of “Juana del Arco”, with some expressive keyboards and a galloping drumbeat. It very much sounds like there's a female vocal in there, let me check: yeah, there are two, Alicia Arguiñano and Mariví Echaniz. Great song, though it seems over too soon and we're into “La sombra de la bestia”, which I think is “the sleep of the beast”. That could be anything really, from a dragon in a cave to a gorgon or something more esoteric and cerebral , so I'll have to just leave it at that. It's another fast hard rocker, with again more input from Paco's keyboards, which have been sort of conspicuous by their absence up to now, at least I haven't heard them since the opener. This song, too, has one hell of a hook in it, and there's no doubt Tierra Santa know how to write catchy melodies while still remaining heavy as hell. Smoking guitar solo really fleshes the song out and San Juan's vocals are pinpoint precise, even if I could not tell you what he's singing. Does it matter? With music this good, no it does not. Music speaks its own language, metal even more so and you certainly don't need to understand the lyrics to be able to enjoy these songs.

Man, for a song over five minutes long that finished really quickly! Conversely, the next one is very short, in fact the shortest track on the album at just over two, to lead us into the next track. “Dos vidas (Prologo la Armada)” is a slow, swaying ballad that means, I think, “two lives (prologue to the armada)” and features some very accordion-like synth from Paco, with acoustic guitar from Mallas keeping the tone very gentle and relaxed. Of course then the track it precedes is a fast powerful, heads-down, kick-the-walls-down rocker which reminds me in places of Maiden's “Back in the village”. I assume the armada they're singing about is not the sixteenth century one that attacked England, as that was beaten and almost destroyed. Could be something to do with the Trojan War? Hell, could be anything. Who cares? Just shake that head man!

More incredible solos from the guys and again it drives along on the piledriver drumming of Iñaki Fernández, and again it's over far too quickly. One thing I do notice about Ángel San Juan is that he never needs to scream, or even really raise his voice to be heard over the music. He just seems to be a natural singer and takes it all in his stride. After all the death growls, grunts, screams and hisses I've endured in the last while it's nice to hear someone who can sing effortlessly and doesn't grate on my ears. “El laberinto del minotauro” surely retells the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur, and features the return of the two ladies on backing vocals. It's nowhere near as fast as “La armada invencible”, but it's still upbeat and powerful, and Paco's keyboards play a big part in the melody. The Maiden influence comes through on the “Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh!” in the bridge: guess they just can't help themselves, but I won't hold it against them.

Is there a ballad on the album? Glad you asked. Yes. Yes there is. And it comes in the form of “El amor de mi vida” (love of my life), driven by the soft piano of Paco and a gentle vocal from San Juan, strings synth joining the melody and carrying it through the first verse. Soft, bouncy percusson comes in then, with guitar fading into the mix and nice backing vocals adding a touch of colour too. Very passionate vocal, but again even when singing about his lover, or his broken heart, or whatever the hell he's singing about, San Juan hardly seems to break a sweat. Guitar solo in the mould of Poison's “Every rose has its thorn” or G'n'R's “November rain”, and the girls are back to add their underused talent to the song. I'd say one of the standouts, but to be fair there are no bad tracks on this album, at least so far.

“Mi tierra” (my land) hops everything back up to ten with a big guitar and keyboard opening and then rocks along like there's no tomorrow, and then the title track closes an album that has been pretty much amazing all the way through, a real revelation and a future favourite (looking to purchase their music as I type). “Sangre de reyes” has a big, powerful guitar to open it, then just kicks the gates open and runs for it, blazing a trail of quality and energy behind it as it goes, disappearing over the Spanish hills and leaving me wanting more, more, more!

TRACKLISTING

1. David y la gigante
2. La ciudad secreta
3. Pegaso
4. Juana de Arco
5. La sombra de la bestia
6. Dos vidas (Prologo la Armada)
7. La Armada Invencible
8. El laberinto del minotauro
9. El amor de mi vida
10. Mi tierra
11. Sangre de reyes

I'm sure they won't thank me for saying this, and it's really not fair, but if you're looking for a Spanish version of Iron Maiden you really need look no further than Tierra Santa. They have it all. They have obviously grown up listening to the music of one of the biggest and most popular metal bands on the planet, and while they certainly do not ape or copy Bruce and the boys, there's no getting away from the influence Maiden have had on this band. But Tierra Santa also have their own identity, and their talent for writing catchy hooks into powerful metal songs takes some beating.

Mind you, it is rumoured that they have a mascot called Eduardo.... Just kidding. Am I? Maybe. Or maybe not.

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Trollheart

As we continue our exploration of this subgenre I ask you to bear with me and cut me some slack. Some bands here may, possibly, not quite be Viking Metal (Amon Amarth were mentioned, even though they come up on Wiki's list) but as I'm not 100% certain what makes a pure Viking Metal band, I'm trying to choose examples who typify the Viking ethic in their lyrics more than the actual style of music, though if I can get both then great. I'm hoping I've chosen good examples here but if not don't hold it against me: I'm just now learning about this subgenre so I may make some dumb mistakes. With that in mind, let's press on.

Another band who are said to have been big on the Viking Metal scene, and who also evolved out of Black Metal beginnings, coming out of the wilds of Finland and so therefore conforming to our more or less formulaic geo-specifics, have at the time of writing eleven albums. I know I looked into Bathory in detail, and perhaps I should really do the same here, but as time marches on and Metal Month II heads into its second half, I want to be able to look at a few more bands, so will just grab one album from each. That may be a challenge, as I have no way of knowing if the one I pick for a specific band is typical of their output or indeed even their best Viking Metal album, but I'm going to do some research and see what I can manage.

Anyway, the first one I want to look at here is

As I said, they began as a Black Metal band so I think I can discount their first few albums, and try to see where the change began. Okay, this is not as easy as it seemed it would be. Apparently, right from their debut album Enslaved seem to have had Viking Metal influences, but each album up to the fourth is said to have heavy Black Metal leanings. Even the one where they're said to have shifted towards Viking Metal is still described as a “violent black metal” album. So, whether I'm correct or not, I'm going for this one, the fifth in their discography and the one on which apparently they began to bring in progressive metal sounds. It is, however, like all their early albums, sung in Finnish, though I have translations for the titles of the songs, and they all look pretty Viking material to me.

Mardraum - Beyond the within --- Enslaved --- 2000 (Osmose)

Now what exactly is “beyond the within” I can only imagine, but I see that EM have been kind enough to provide translations of the lyrics too, so I should be able to follow the storylines, even if I can't (as I somehow expect will be the case) understand the singer. The expected thunderstorm rages as a lone guitar sings softly, and I note this opener is over ten minutes long, so there's a little trepidation here. The soft guitar punches up as the percussion blasts in, and the tempo is slow and stately as we begin "Større enn tid – tyngre enn natt" which seems to translate to “Larger than time, heavier than night”. It does descend into something of a fast, hard, black metal groove for a short moment then comes back with more progressive guitar, the tempo picking up and we're now three minutes in and there hasn't been a sniff of a vocal. I've seen long instrumentals before, but I doubt this album would start off with a ten-minute one. Also, I see there are lyrics. So as we move into the fourth minute I'm surprised that there is still no singing?

Ah, and now it comes in, a sort of vocal harmony before vocalist Grutle Kjellson screams the main part, and it's quite black metal and completely indecipherable, as I more or less feared, but the music is powerful and dramatic and very good. The lyric, though I can read it, I don't understand, but it may be the words of Death when Kjellson roars ”Days ended, and the stars died/ Before the wanderers reached home/ But I knew the way.” Now it breaks into a mad speedfest that would make Slayer envious, and the vocal, never understandable anyway, gets totally lost as Kjellson sings rapid-fire. And then it slows down and the last minute is driven by a soft guitar tone and no percussion, till Kjellson roars again and it ends on a heavy guitar. “"Daudningekvida" (Deadhymn) is much shorter and faster, powering along on a real speed guitar with some really excellent solos from Ivar Bjørnson and then things slow down in a serious doom metal vibe for “Inngang-Flukt “ (Entrance-escape)” as the kind of keening vocal harmonies return for the first time since the opener.

This song, though almost eight minutes long, has only eight lines of lyric, two verses, and seems to concern someone trapped in limbo. Very Conan, I must say. It kicks up then in the third minute, though nothing like the previous track. Cool phased guitar from Richard Kronheim joins that of Bjørnson as they take over the track until it all falls back in the fifth minute with a single acoustic guitar melody. Heavy vocals then come in with what I guess is the second verse, and the drums, courtesy of our old friend Dirge Rep from Gehenna. Oddly enough, this seems to be the only song on the album sung in English, and hence the English title actually appears in the tracklisting. How strange! Some great work on the guitar there by the two lads, then it ends on those sad vocal harmonies, taking us into "Ormgard" (the hive), with a strangely mono sounding guitar, almost as if it's only coming out of one speaker or is very far away. This goes on for about a minute before the song explodes into life, and is another fast rocker with growled screamed vocals from our friend Kjelsson.

This appears to be a standard rant by the Vikings against their sworn enemies, the Christians, as Kjlellson bellows ”Only the slave owns his own freedom/ When kings follow the laws of christened men “ while the next track, “Æges draum” seems to relate a dream which foretells Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods, as the Norn warns “[/i]"everything will die and decay /Silence will once again prevail" [/i] It's another heads-down fretfest with Kjellson not only bellowing his head off but going into an even deeper register so that we get those dark beast, “Cookie Monster” vocals. There's a reflective dark crunching passage in the middle which then gives way to again acoustic guitar, completely unaccompanied, before it all hammers on again, this time with echoing choral vocals. The title track is up next, and it's quite short, just over three and a half minutes, and has even less lyrics than "Entrance-Escape" , with only three lines. Its literal tranlation being “nightmare”, you'd expect maybe a black metal-inspired roarfest, but it's actually more thrash with a marching guitar and of course very little in the way of vocals.

"Det endelege riket" (the finite empire) sneers with disdain at man's attempts to make himself immortal by creating empires, all of which must eventually fall. It flies along on Dirge Rep's galloping drums and the twin guitar attack, actually has a great melody when it gets going, very catchy, almost blues/boogie. Yeah. "Ormgard II: Kvalt i kysk høgsong" (The hive II: Strangled by purity) just lashes along, with much attendant screaming from Kjelsson, and your guess is as good as mine as to what it's about. However it would seem that in "Krigaren eg ikkje kjende" (Warrior Unknown) a warrior meets Death, but does not recognise him, and being unable to slay him is left standing at the banks of the river he must cross into the afterworld. Here, again, Viking myth gets a little mixed up with Greek, as the Norsemen believed, as we have already noted, that their souls were taken by Valkyries from the battlefield up to Valhalla. It was the Greeks who held that Charon the boatman of the dead (surely the figure referred to here, unless it's supposed to be Odin) took your soul across the river Styx to Hades the Underworld.

"Stjerneheimen" (Starhome) rattles along at a fine pace, the lyric of which seems to be an homage to Ikea --- ”I hail the living room with pride “ , a driving beat that takes us to the closer, the only instrumental on the album, and the shortest track. "Frøyas smykke" (Freya's Necklace) runs for less than two minutes, with a big, dramatic finale on guitar and drums, a kind of triumphant warrior's march which brings the album to a close, though I'm disappointed at the sort of weak fade-out at the end.

TRACKLISTING

1. Større enn tid – tyngre enn natt
2. Daudningekvida
3. Entrance-Escape
4. Ormgard
5. Æges draum
6. Mardraum
7. Det endelege riket
8. Ormgard II: Kvalt i kysk høgsong
9. Krigaren eg ikkje kjende
10. Stjerneheimen
11. Frøyas smykke

I'm going to hold off commenting on any of these albums until I've completed this section. Next I want to look at a band who have, by their own admission, no real subgenre. As they say themselves, “Týr's musical mission is to break down the walls that are erected between all the kinds of metal that have arisen over the years. Power-, doom-, black-, progressive-, gothic-, Viking-, folk-, ethnic- and epic metal. Walls and labels do nothing but fill people with prejudice.” (Quoted from Wiki article Týr (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). However for our purposes here they fit right into the Viking Metal slot, and have certainly been listed in some “top Viking Metal bands” lists I've read, so let's look into the music of

Stylised as Týr , they hail from the Faroe Islands, and I have reviewed one of their albums already. They usually sing in their native Faroese, but this, their fifth album, is bilingual (?) and though I had intended to review “Ragnarok”, their third, which would have fit in perfectly with this section, I see with some disappointment and the rapidly-disintegrating memory of a man over fifty years old (!) that I already reviewed that, so instead we're going for this one.

By the light of the northern star --- Týr --- 2009 (Napalm Records)

As their name is so short and only has the one accent, and as I'm likely to be using it a lot in this review I'm going to just write it as “Tyr”. I like normally to give the proper spelling of any foreign band, but it seems pointless to keep copy/pasting just for one little accent, so any fans of the band, I hope you'll understand. “Hold the heathen hammer high” (love that alliteration!) gets us going with strong guitar and drums, picking up pace shortly as it hammers (sorry) along, Heri Joensen a much more accessible singer to me. No deep animalistic growls, no high-pitched screams; in fact, this comes closer really to power metal, which I guess goes to strengthen Tyr's case that they can't be pigeonholed into one metal subgenre. This certainly isn't your typical Viking Metal album, nor indeed your average band who operate in that sphere.

Great fretwork from Terji Skibenæs, and even if the chorus doesn't quite scan properly, the delivery being a little too rapid-fire for me, it's a good strong opening. Tyr are however known to sing both in English and their native tongue, and for the tale of “Tróndur í Gøtu” they revert to Faroese, as with a traditional Faroe Islands melody which I have come to understand this band use quite a lot, they tell the story of one of the islands' greatest Viking heroes, the eponymous Tróndur. Despite the folk metal influences this is a rocking song, powering along nicely on the guitar lines and driven by the incessant drumwork of Kári Streymoy. “Into the storm” opens on fast guitar but quickly slows down (?) into a sort of doomy vibe as those folk metal tinges come back in. Sort of a choir-style vocal as the boys return to using English, pretty cool little fluid solo about halfway through from Skibenæs, and this song seems to be, rather in the same vein as Bathory's “One rode to Asa Bay”, about the coming of Christianity and the efforts of the Vikings to resist it. Joenson sings defiantly ”You may die on your feet or you live on your knees /When the raven is fed time will come for peace”

Another traditional hymn is sung acapella to open “Northern gate”, perhaps oddly as the lyric is in English other than that. After the chant has been sung, the track warps into a real power metal-style monster, with rippling guitar solos and chugging frets, which between them and the Faroese opening lyric take the song past its halfway mark, where it slows down into an almost Queen vibe before ending as it began, on the acapella chant. “Turið Torkilsdóttir “ sings of a powerful woman in Viking myth, and gallops along like an avenging army with a hint of Maiden in the guitars. Okay now I'm confused. I can see the track running is the one above, but it's quite clearly the next track, “By the sword in my hand”. That probably means, due to the Faroese that was in the lyric of the previous song that it was Turið Torkilsdóttir , and if so, then where is “Northern gate”? This must be investigated.

Okay, I don't know what the fuck Spotify is at, but I can't get it to play “Northern gate”, so had to look for it on YouTube. It turns out to be a mid-paed rocker with a “Whoa-oh-oh-oh!” chorus and some sharp guitar, and it's definitely in English. Sorry about the confusion above; I did wonder why a song with an English title seemed to be sung in Faroese! Then again, with Tyr it seems you never quite know what they're going to do. Part of their mission to break down all those boundaries I guess.

Anyhoo, this track is as mentioned “By the sword in my hand”, with an almost hilariously camp lyric: ”By the sword in my hand/ I will conquer the land/ I will decimate and decapitate/ Those who question the sword!” Dear god. The next track should be “Ride”, but I'm beginning to doubt the running order now, so let me check the lyric --- no, that's right. Good rocking song, with a very catchy chorus and a sort of traditional jig or something in the melody. Ah, interesting. I see the music is based on Faroese and Irish traditional music. Guess that explains the jig then! Very melodic guitar here to be sure. “Hear the heathen call” ramps up the tempo as the Vikings charge into battle, heedless of the danger, their mantra ”Time will take us all/ And hear the heathen cry/ Finally we die.” More sort of power metal feel to this again, fretburning solo, one of the best on the whole album.

The title track takes us to the end, a pounding, galloping stormer that seems to bewail the passing of the Vikings and the rise of Christianity --- ”May the mighty Mjølnir nail the bleeding /And naked Nazarene upon the pagan planks/ Pound in the painful nails now and hang him high and dry” --- I recall when watching the excellent TV series “Vikings” recently a scene where the Vikings broke into a monastery and looked in disdain at the crucifix. “Your god is dead!” sneered one of them to a priest, just prior to killing him, “he cannot help you.” It's a good point, and yet at the end it was Christianity that won out as the pagan ways were driven out by the armies of missionaries that swarmed over Scandinavia and the north, seeking converts. Joenson seems to ruefully realise this, as his final words are ”Have we fallen too far to rise/ And closed our eyes?”

TRACKLISTING

1.Hold the heathen hammer high
2. Tróndur í Gøtu
3. Into the storm
4. Northern gate
5. Turið Torkilsdóttir
6. By the sword in my hand
7. Ride
8. Hear the heathen call
9. By the light of the northern star

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Trollheart

Having last time picked a band I already knew, it seems only fair to conclude this part of the section with one I have never heard of, although I'm sure there are plenty of them around. I can't say for certain if this subgenre is for me --- vocals are hard to get around sometimes --- but the lyrical matter is like candy to someone like me, brought up on the myths and legends of the Norsemen and further, being a big fan of The Mighty Thor in Marvel comics when I was growing up. And so the band I chose happens to reflect that sort of songwriting, which I assure you is pure coincidence...

Hailing from Norway, perhaps the true spiritual home of the Vikings, Einherjer apparently means “one in an army” or “one who fights alone”. How those things are not mutually exclusive I don't know, but then I don't speak Norwegian, so maybe it's some weird idiosyncrasy endemic to that language. At any rate, Einherjer have been around since 1994, and unlike some or indeed most of the other bands in the subgenre they don't seem to have evolved from black metal beginnings. Some of their music does lean, I'm told, in that direction, but even their first album, “Dragons of the north” was a Viking Metal album --- well it would be wouldn't it, with a title like that? -- with songs about warriors, raids and gods. That however is not the one I'm going to take a look at.

Odin owns ye all --- Einherjer --- 1998 (Century Media)
This is their second album, and thankfully for me, all the lyrics are in English. It opens, oddly enough, with a strong organ from Gerhard Storesund, and it's a slow, marching beat, very cinematic, almost reminiscent of one of those operas of Wagner, and yes it's a short intro before it breaks into a real guitar assault and the drums pound in as “Out of Ginnungagap” kicks its way into the album. The vocal is raw and hoarse but very listenable. The tempo remains hard but slow, and tells the story of creation according to Norse myth, where Ymir, he Frost Giant, is slain by his three sons, one of whom is Odin, who builds the earth, known as Midgard. For this reason vocalist Ragnarr Vikse tells us ”Odin owns us all, and we owe all to him.” Some great guitar work from Frode Glesnes, who then leads in “Clash of the elder” on a much softer guitar.

The vocal is cleaner too, the beat still heavy but slow, some very nice tinkling piano adding to the atmosphere of the song. Breaks into a sort of warrior chant for a while, getting into something of a groove before the keys come back in. There's kind of a progressive metal edge to the song, mostly due to the often incongruous-sounding keyboards. The song itself seems to tell of the rise to power of Odin and his war with the Vanir, their enemy gods. The title track then rides on a hard guitar line that continues to drive it as the vocal makes its entrance and with slightly neoclassical twists in the melody it tells the lament of an old warrior left to die, perhaps of old age, as his friends have all fallen in battle. Ol' Glesnes then rips off the opening riff from Maiden's “22 Acacia Avenue” as the song piles into an instrumental on which he demonstrates his dexterity on the guitar.

“Remember Tokk” refers to a disguised Loki, who refused to weep for Balder, the most beautiful of gods, and so condemned him to remain in the Underworld. It's a slightly faster track, with elements of power metal in the melody, although I must say I don't hear the keyboards here at all, where I would have thought they would have been quite prominent. Glesnes (no I will not call him Frodo!) makes up for their absence with a powerful and melodic solo, but then Storesund brings his rig in to add to the tune. It is a guitar-centric piece though, fuelled by the mocking laughter of Loki as he envisages the end: ”Hark! Is that the battle horn?/ Has Ragnarok been born?” An event that every other god in Asgard dreads and fears is that which the evil half-brother of Thor looks forward to with ghoulish glee, when he will lead his dark forces against Odin and the gods.

The greatest achievement a warrior can reach is celebrated in “Home”, as the brave are led into the halls of Valhalla. As you might expect, it's a fast, joyous tune, powering along on Glesnes's guitar, as a warrior chant welcomes the honoured dead to their final resting place. I can't say an awful lot about “The pathfinder and the prophetess” though: it's a little bog standard though it does have some pretty freaky 70s-style organ which almost saves it, and a decent warrior chorus. Yeah, not bad, just not as good as the tracks before it. “Inferno”, now, has a dark, menacing vibe about it as it strides along purposefully, like a warrior mowing down enemies on either side as Ragnarok finally descends upon the world. Touches of both Sabbath and Dio in the music, with a sort of Egyptian style riff that should really be out of place but somehow manages not to be.

Lush keyboards and serene bass drive the closer, “A new Earth”, as the gods are swept away and the only survivors, a man and a woman on Midgard, are left to rebuild the human race without the tutelage and/or interference of the Aesir. A triumphant march, perhaps glorifying the chance of man to stand on his own two feet, runs through this and it begins to gallop along, exulting in the birth of humanity, or at least a humanity that has its own destiny in its hands.

TRACKLISTING

1. Leve Vikingeaanden
2. Out of Ginnungagap
3. Clash of the elder
4. Odin owns ye all
5. Remember Tokk
6. Home
7. The pathfinder and the prophetess
8. Inferno
9. A new earth

This section seems to show in the end that there are many facets to Viking Metal, from the roaring, growling, unintelligible vocals of Enslaved to the more power metal approach of Tyr, and Einherjer manage the almost unimaginable feat of telling the entire history of the Norse gods, from the creation of the world to the Twilight of the Gods, in one album. Certainly a versatile subgenre and one that merits a lot more investigation, but I have not that much time so the next section will be the last before I wrap this up. So far though, I'm pretty impressed on the whole.

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The Batlord

Tell me you're gonna throw in some Turisas for Viking metal? A bit like a combination of In Flames and power metal I guess. They do some screaming, but you can still hear what he's saying, and they've put out at least two concept albums, all about Viking stuff. Just steer clear of their latest one.

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Trollheart

From Sludgy doom and weird, stunningly beautiful ambient metal to my own favourite kind, melodic. This comes from a band called ReinXeed (not sure how that’s pronounced) who hail from Sweden, and this is their fourth of so far six albums. It’s a concept one, concerned with the tragic sinking of RMS Titanic in April 1912. Sounds like it could be right up my particular boulevard of broken dreams…

1912 --- ReinXeed --- 2011 (Rival Records)
Recommended by Ki
The title track gets us going with a suitably dramatic and cinematic introduction, lots of synths, guitars and choral vocals, slowing down to perhaps symbolise the launching of the great ship, or perhaps, as guitars mimic hammers it’s more the construction of the vessel we’re hearing. Either way, it’s a powerful, stirring opening and bodes well for the rest of the album. I thought for a while it might be an instrumental but now the vocal comes in, courtesy of Tommy Johansson, and I’m glad to hear clear, clean vocals for once. The lyric concerns the disaster itself, and is perhaps setting the scene and will look back for the rest of the album? Either way, lines like ”Hear the children cry/ One more time before they'll die/ In the Atlantic sea” are harrowing as we move past the 100th anniversary of the greatest tragedy the sea has ever known.

“The final hour” shows I was mistaken, as the narrative does not look back but continues as the survivors struggle in the sea, desperate to be rescued but seeing no hope on the horizon as the cold waves sap the strength from their limbs and suck some of them under. Another fast, rollicking tune with great backing vocals --- a choir? --- helps to convey the sense of terror and despair that must have gripped all on board that terrible night. Johansson is certainly a powerful singer, and well able to keep up with the galloping drums of Viktor Oloffson and the chugging, racing guitars of I assume his brother Mattias, and Calle Sundberg, who now rack off some fine solos between them. “Terror has begun” keeps the tempo high, though with a more almost military drumbeat from Olofsson, and a little less emphasis on the choral backing vocals.

The amazing dexterity and virtuosity of the two guitarists is shown to great effect on “Spirit lives on”, although I must admit, glancing at the lyric sheet beforehand I thought this would be a slow ballad, a prayer to those lost in the ocean. But the beat goes on, hammering drums and screaming guitars as the song races along in true Power Metal tradition. I might argue that the keyboards, which are also played by Tommy Johansson, could be used to greater effect; the album seems to lean very heavily on the power of the axe attack, which is fine, as it’s a Metal album. But a Power Metal album often rides just as well on its keyboard passages, and I just haven’t heard any really great ones so far. They come in here a bit but they could be more to the forefront. A small complaint, as I’m really enjoying this album.

“Through the fire” details the panic aboard ship as people try to get to the lifeboats, and the heroic if somewhat pointless efforts of the band to continue playing as Titanic begins its slow descent below the waves. It’s another fast, energetic song, shorter than any of the others that have gone before, at only just under four minutes, then Johansson’s expert orchestrations with the synth come through with the opening of “The fall of Man”, recounting the launch and maiden voyage of the ship, and the terrible hubris that claimed it was unsinkable. Johansson sees the sinking of the Titanic as symbolic of Man’s impotence in the face of the often brutal and unforgiving forces of nature, proving that he is not the master of his own destiny.

I’m definitely enjoying this but it is becoming a little exhausting, and I could do with a ballad, a slow song, an instrumental, anything to arrest the blistering pace of this album. Nice little progressive touches in the keys and guitars and some radio signal sounds sprinkled over the tune, capped off with a searing solo from Johansson, with a Queen-style vocal harmony, as we power into “The Voyage”, which again turns the clock back to the start of the great liner’s journey. With a blast on the foghorn and soft keyboards could we be at last taking a breather? It’s somewhat reminiscent of the opener, with the choral vocals coming back in for a moment, but my hopes of a slower song are dashed as Mattias Johansson and Calle Sundberg wind up their guitars, Olofsson blasts out the drumbeats and we’re off and running again.

And with a title like “We must go faster”, I doubt this is going to slow things down at all. Of course it does not. As Captain Smith and his crew face the possible ignominy of arriving late at their destination on their maiden voyage, more speed is ordered and the huge cruise ship powers towards its date with destiny and death, icy teeth yawning in the darkness in the distance, waiting to bite into Titanic’s hull and bring her down, like some unimaginable massive hunter of the ocean stalking its prey. Some good keyboard work here from Tommy Johansson, and a fine vocal performance that never really dips below excellent.

As befits its title, “Challenge the storm” has a defiant, almost arrogant punch to it, as the story of the previous song is continued, the ship piling on the power as the captain ignores the danger and orders more speed, unaware of what awaits them in the inky darkness ahead. Man’s hubris and arrogance reveals itself in the chorus: ”Rise to the sky, in heaven we belong /We know what's been told/ Together we are strong/ We are on the biggest ship of history!” But the bigger they are, as we know to our cost, the harder they fall. Bit of a mixed bag on the metaphors at the end: "Atlantis, give me a second chance/ To show my paradise/ Here in neverland the majestic lightning/ Strikes again when the sword in stone.” Um. huh?

They can’t resist referencing the movie when Johansson sings ”Standing before the head of the ship /Feels like I'm the king of the world!” in “Reach for the sky”, and yes, it’s another fast rocker with an almost falsetto vocal from Tommy. Another Queen-like choral vocal and some nice moments on the keys, which also herald the opening of the final track proper, the appropriately-titled “Farewell”, but again, though you might expect ReinXeed to slow down for this last song, they keep it fast and powerful, although the music is tinged with a certain amount of gravitas, respect and regret as the tragedy is recalled: ”Ancient stories tell of curse /And damnation on the ship/ The voyage of their dreams /Turned into the nightmares.”

The album closes on an instrumental, again with an apt title, as “Lost at sea” basically reprises the main melody of “Farewell” on keys with big orchestral finish, closing the album as dramatically and grandly as it opened it.

TRACKLISTING

1. 1912
2. The final hour
3. Terror has begun
4. Spirit lives on
5. Through the fire
6. The fall of Man
7. The Voyage
8. We must go faster
9. Challenge the storm
10. Reach for the sky
11. Farewell
12. Lost at sea

I really enjoyed this album. It has all the qualities I like --- power, speed, melody, great lyrics, a concept --- but I do feel a little let down by the fact that there was no ballad. When handling a story as tragic as this, surely there could have been room for at least one lament, whether it was the plaintive cry of one of those in the water, the anguished recollections of someone who survived but lost a partner, or even --- and I’m obviously stretching it here --- the wounded roar of pain from the ship itself as it settled into the water like some gigantic building falling? But the tempo never slackened, not until the very end with the short closing instrumental.

This niggle aside though, this was a great album and shows once again that Scandinavia has a whole lot to offer to the world of Heavy Metal, be it Black, Doom, Death or even Power. Not that surprising really: it is the land where the mightiest of legends originated, and the home of the feared Vikings, as we have seen in my exploration of Viking Metal. I feel I may have to look into this band a little more, if all of their output is this good.

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Trollheart

Thanks. I needed suggestions for the last part, so they're in for sure.

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The Batlord

The Varangian Way would be your best starting point probably. It's the first part of a two-album concept, and it's just fantastic. The other half, Stand Up and Fight, is also fantastic.

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Key

Happy to see that 1912 did well for you, TH. It does take a lot out of you to listen to it fully as it doesn't slow down until the end. I always found that as a strength. Sort of shows that they can keep a fast and steady flow through the entire album. However I understand your remark completely. When I heard the album for the first time, Tommy's vocals blew me away instantly, which BTW, he's only in his late 20's.

If you liked that, you should give Welcome ToThe Theatre a listen. Its another concept album dealing with multiple movie references. Very well done lyrically.

Great review as always.

Trollheart

A new week, and as we head into the third week of Metal Month II, time to watch those sharp edges as we sidle past and once again enter

Surely this time I can get something a little more palatable than grindcore, death or black metal? Out of the many thousands --- or more --- of metal bands there are, it seems ludicrous that I keep coming up with the same stale selection, to say nothing of the fact that a huge percentage of the bands who pop up are either disbanded or unsigned. Oh well, off we go! Again.

Yeah. Thanks for that. Not only death metal, but brutal death metal! Oh, and the "G" word too! Fan-fucking-tastic! And to make things worse, this band has albums! That probably means I'll be able to find something by them, which in turn means that, right out of the gate, I'm going to end up featuring the first band to fall out of the Grinder. Well, let's have a look...

Fleshgrind, eh? You know, I can hear Batty's cackling laughter even from here! Has he paid off the folks at EM to make sure I only end up getting selections from extreme metal bands? I do have to wonder. Maybe he's affiliated with them in some way. Meh, thought I was getting away with it but I had actually entered “efleshgrind” into Spotify which, while it sounds like a death metal band formed in Middle Earth, is in fact incorrect spelling and of course returned zero results. Quite to my chagrin, when I spelled it correctly, two albums came up, so I guess I'm stuck with these guys. Let's meet them, and hope they don't pull out our entrails and eat them in front of us: such table manners, gents!

Band name: Fleshgrind
Nationality: American
Subgenre: Brutal Death Metal
Born: 1993
Died: 2005
Status: No longer active; split up
Albums: “Destined for defilement” (1997), “The seeds of abysmal torment" (2000) and “Murder without end” (2003)
Live albums: “Live in Germany” (2002)
Collections/Anthologies/Boxsets: None
Lineup: Steve Murray (Guitars)
Rich Lipscomb (Vocals)F
James Genenz (Bass)
Jesse Kehoe (Drums

Not a whole lot of information about these guys that I can give you, other than that they broke up in 2005 after founder Rich Lipscomb left the band. An interesting point is that Lipscomb actually owned a record label (United Guttural Records) though surprisingly, none of the band's three albums or even their demos were recorded on that label. Very odd. Lipscomb anyway sold the label after he quit the band.

As I say, Fleshgrind released three albums before their dissolution in 2005, and there are two on Spotify so I have decided to go with the last of the three, their final album before disbanding. Given that there is a grindcore label attached to them also, it may not really make that much difference which I review, but this is the one I've plumped for. Apparently they were pretty big in the subgenre before breaking up, playing with the likes of Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation, so let's see what all the fuss was about.


Murder without end --- Fleshgrind --- 2005 (Olympic Recordings)

Such lovely song titles as “Perversions of innocence”, “Duct taped and raped” and “Holy pedophile” (sic) give me an idea of what I have to look forward to. Better strap myself in, cos this ain't gonna be pretty! Oh, so you think you can fool me with an ambient piano intro do you? Do you not realise I have been listening to all stripes of metal these last few months and I know what to expect --- and there it is. Hard, hammering guitar, a vocal you could cut stone with and we're off with the title track. Oh, this is fun! Well at least it's short, and we're into “Sycophantic”, which probably should be spelled “Sick-o-phantic”, if you look at the lyric, which I rather stupidly did. Well I surely can't make out the vocals, so why not? Why not indeed. Worse is to come though in “Duct taped and raped”, which is not only about a rape, but an incestuous one. Here is some of the lyric: ”Cunt this is a long time coming/ Daddy's home and he's not alone/ He's brought with him deviant plan/ And a roll of tape in his hand/ The girl looks on in horror/ At the man that lurks before her/ Her eyes widen with shock/ As the fiend unsheathes his cock! “ Yeah, I tried to listen but I honestly couldn't make out any words: it just sounds like this guy Rich is grunting like a pig. Oh, I can make out the chorus, such as it is. Another blindingly fast, crushing guitar assault with what I see as little or no melody. Slows down in the last minute or so, then picks up again for the finish.

Great! Now EM's website appears to have gone down! In protest at this crap music perhaps? Well I suppose I kid but man it's terrible, from the so-called music to the singing and from the lyrical content to the all-out aural assault I'm cowering under here. I think the next track is called “Enslaved to my wrath” --- yeah, it is --- but when I tried to call up the lyric sheet that's when the website folded on me. Coincidence I presume, but it knocks me off my stride. Not that I need the lyrics or anything, but since I can't glean anything from the singing I was intending to see if I could understand the songs by reading the lyrics. The second track, “Sycophantic”, did seem to have some sort of idea in it, where the singer was kind of disgusted with himself for being into this perverted porn, and wondered why he did it, then also wondered why the girls who engaged in it did so. At least there is some thought behind the songwriting then.

But without the lyric sheet I'm kind of stuck for anything to say, and without any way to perhaps pay Fleshgrind any kind of compliment, because they're sure not getting it for the music! Let's try again .. huzzah! Success! We're back. So now, what about this song? Well they may be talking about Satan here, as they speak of “thousands of victims”, but again yeah, there's some intelligence in the lyrics, as again the victim is blamed for (presumably) her torture, as Lipscomb growls ”Your overwhelming hunger / For punishment drives you.” Indeed. “Display my decay” is another Slayer-type serial killer song, with a decent enough beat to be fair and the first really good guitar solo I've heard on this album, displaying actual melody! Shock! Again Lipscomb blames the victim: ”Accept your fucking fate/ You have surely earned it.” Won't stand up in court, son!

Seems this band worked with a wide variety of lyrical themes, including murder, rape, sexual deviancy and, er, murder and rape. “Perversions of innocence” continues the trend, a more galloping beat and machinegun guitar, Lipscomb still sounding like a beast (is he putting in snorts and squeals there, or is this just how he sings?) while with the joyous exclamation ”Let the torture begin!” you know what you're in for as “In sickness intertwined” opens and cannons along, pretty much the same as most of the rest of the tracks here. And just to underline the point, “Libertine atonement” starts with the word “Whore!” but I must sort of compliment them on an interesting, if brutal turn of phrase in the lines ”Panties soaked with shit and piss/ Tongue the ass and clitoris.” Shakespeare would be proud! I must admit, it made me grin a little. They don't write 'em like that any more!

It's actually a slower, doomier song with hard but not breakneck drumming and a dark guitar running things. Nah, even with the lyric sheet I can't make out more than a few words this guy is growling. Not that, looking at the lyrics, I'd really want to! Big guitar ending, slow and doomy to this song and then we're almost finished. “Pistolwhipped” at least has the violence being perpetrated by a third party, an interrogation of sorts, and like the other tracks carrens along on a hard, brutal guitar and we end on “Holy pedophile” (sic) which I think was their first single, so why it's on this album, their third and last, I don't know. Or care.The lyrics to this make any Slayer song against Christ seem tame by comparison, as Fleshgrind upbraid the Catholic Church for its policy of ignoring clerical abuse, though they couch it in stronger terms than that: ”Defecation covered cock/ Slicing through the young boys bowels/ Cries of pain, piercing screams/ Grunts of pleasure, cum in you!“ Another fast song, in case you couldn't guess, though it has moments where it slows down, in what I think is the chorus. Big hard (climactic?): ending on guitar, not too bad really.

TRACKLISTING

1. Murder without end
2. Sycophantic
3. Duct taped and raped
4. Enslaved to my wrath
5. Displayed decay
6. Perversions of innocence
7. In sickness intertwined
8. Libertine atonement
9. Pistolwhipped
10. Holy pedophile

Yeah. I really enjoyed this. I guess it was interesting looking at the lyrics, and it did prove that, despite the music which I really didn't like very much (ya think?) and the completely indecipherable vocals, there was some decent songwriting on this album. Lyrics that were not so much close to the bone as cutting right through it, they did nevertheless at times reveal some thought and even some introspection on the part of the songwriter, who I think is Rich Lipscomb. But I found it virtually impossible to enjoy the music, being completely unable to make out the vocals and, in addition, realising what they were singing about. It was all just a little bit too much like creepy voyeurism. Although I must admit it was kinda fun...

Oh well, they're gone now and I need worry about them no more. One more edition of this to go before we close Metal Month II: let's hope I have better luck next week than I've been having so far throughout this month!

You know, even though the lyrics were really --- and I mean really -- X-rated, on some level they were quite amusing. At least if I ever want to rape my sixteen-year old daughter I've got a blueprint now. Let's see... duct tape? Yep! That's all I need! Fleshgrind's almost comical approach to a really harrowing ordeal --- which I hope nobody seriously thinks I'm making light of, nor in any way condone --- earns them an extra cleaver they probably don't really deserve, but what the hell?

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Trollheart

Intended for release on June 6 2006, (6/6/6) Slayer's tenth album was in fact delayed until August, and featured the return of Dave Lombardo on the drumseat. Once again Slayer were in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. First, the cover of the new album depicted a mutilated Jesus who looked stoned, floating in a sea of blood. Yeah, Walmart are gonna stock that, guys! Secondly, the song “Jihad” on the album looks at 9/11 --- surely still too raw and fresh in the minds of Americans a mere five years later? --- from the viewpoint of the terrorists, and thirdly, after invoking a National Slayer Day, the band were seen to have encouraged fans to desecrate places of worship by scrawling their logo and Slayer-related phrases on churches, mosques and synagogues.

Yeah, after five years, Slayer were back! The media must love them. Slow news day? Have Slayer released a new album? They have? Get a reporter over there!

The Christ illusion --- Slayer --- 2006 (American)

Even more of a Kerry King enterprise than the previous album, “The Christ illusion” has him in sole control of seven of the ten tracks, though not at all involved in the other three or the two bonus tracks. Perhaps surprisingly, one of those he didn't write is the highly controversial “Jihad”, whose inclusion on the album not only caused a total recall (hah!) of the album in India, but led to all stocks of it being destroyed. Don't play Mumbai, guys! There is however plenty of controversy to go around on this album, and of course King is involved in much of it.

“Flesh storm” is yet another war song and begins almost as if there are keyboards --- of course there aren't --- then piles into another necksnappingly fast song to open the album, with a blasting solo from King, “Catalyst” keeps the speed going without a pause, then it's time to justify the title of the album with some more Jesus-bashing, and “Skeleton Christ” does just that. Now, I hold sacred anyone's right to think what they like, worship or not worship what they want, and I understand Slayer are atheists. They've said that from the start, made it clear with an upfront Satanic image, even if that's all it is, an image. But the message is now beginning to wear thin. Yes, we know you hate God --- don't believe He exists --- hate Christianity and the Church and the Pope. We get all that. Do you have to keep hammering it into us, guys? Or have you just no other ideas and have to keep rehashing the same ones over and over, getting angrier and angrier and, let's be honest, more frustrated with each album?

That said, it's a good speed rocker with a lot of energy and anger, and great guitar as always, but the subject matter is beginning to induce yawns. “Eyes of the insane” does at least look at a different aspect of the war, the problem of PTSD, as a soldier returning from perhaps Iraq sees ”Tortured spirits/ Will not let me rest/ These thoughts of mutilated faces/ Completely possessed”. With an understated opening, quite low-key for Slayer the tempo snaps to full speed and the song careers along on again an almost impossible-to-follow vocal delivery from Araya. Powerful certainly; I just wonder if some of the ideas in these lyrics are being lost in the mix? Do the fans who headbang and mosh to their songs know what Slayer are singing? Meh, they probably do, or don't care.

Now we come to the one that caused most of the controversy and really upset India. Wonder how it would have sold in Saudi Arabia? “Jihad”, as mentioned, envisages the September 11 attacks from the other side, from Al Quadea's point of view, as Tom rants ”Twins in the end/ Begin and let the brothers fall!” It's another fast, angry song and again you'd wonder that anyone could even make out the lyrics (but then that's what liner notes are for, aren't they? And lyric websites) that caused so much offence. Nobody likes to hear the other side of the story, for their enemies to be seen as other than ravening demons. Hey, the truth hurts, America, and Slayer love to cause pain, don'tcha know that by now?

The problem I have with “Jihad” is that it's a cartoon. It's obviously written for shock value and shock value alone. Tom Arya even said he expected an American backlash, and was seemingly nonplussed and surprised when none materialised. Ironically, the only ones who got upset were the muslims, while the Christians were more worried about protecting the honour of their god. But everything that's written in the lyric seems to be taken from any documentary on National Geographic or from muslim extremist websites. There's no new insight here, and Slayer are definitely not identifying with Al Quadea. Unlike Steve Earle when he wrote “John Walker's Blues”, they're not trying to get inside the heads of the terrorists and see what made them tick. They're just expressing a version of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. They hate the US Government and so do Al Quadea, so, you know, fuck yeah!

The trouble is, the thing they fail to (or don't care to) realise is that muslims and Christians worship basically the same god, albeit under different criteria. So putting in a line like ”Fuck your god!/ Erase His name!” is nonsense: it's the same god, whether you call Him God or Allah. So writing something for shock value alone renders it somewhat pointless, and devalues your message, if indeed there is any there. Still, it has to be said it was incredibly insensitive to write this, given that America was still recovering from the effects of the attacks. What if some of their fans had people killed or hurt on 9/11? What sort of an example is that to set? Not that Slayer care about that of course, but maybe they should have given it some consideration before pouring paraffin on the fire and then dancing about like lunatic devils.

The other issue I have with this song is its authenticity. One of the lines reads ”Lady kneeling on the ground” but Islamist terrorists would never use that word. They'd say something like “western whore” or “mother of infidels”. So it's not authentic. Badly researched. And if it's not authentic it's not believable. And if it's not believable it's not worth worrying about.

“Consfearacy” (see what they did there?) spits hatred at the US Government, which again is not news: Slayer hate the men in power. It's another breakneck-paced song, and powers right into “Catatonic”, dark and murky with the brooding hatred of a killer, then we keep on this theme with “Black serenade”, a more marching style song with yet more images of necrophilia and torture --- ”Watching as I fuck your corpse” --- subtle guys, subtle! At least you can hear the vocals this time. Another hard sludge cruncher that develops into a speed freak is “Cult”, the one track on that EP I decided not to review, and the “taster” for the album, released two months prior. Again we have the expected, as Slayer rage against religion, denying the very existence of Jesus --- ”There is no fucking Jesus Christ/ There never was a sacrifice/ No man nailed to a crucifix” but this time they do at least link religion with war and throw in a dig at American foreign policy --- ”The war on terror just drags along” but it's the same old song. We also get the title of the album in this song: ”Revelation, revolution” Tom spits. ”I see through your Christ illusion!”

Good for you, Tom. Good for you.

“Supremist” seems to be to be a misnomer, or maybe it's intentional, but I think the word is “Supremacist”. You know what to expect, and you won't be disappointed. I don't know how many times in Slayer songs the Antichrist has laid waste to the Earth, but we've certainly watched Armageddon through their eyes a few times! Seen one holocaust, y'know, seen them all. That's it for the album, but there's a bonus track if you're interested, and have the stamina. “Final six” opens on atmospheric guitar which I don't expect to last, then heads into a deep Sabbath riff, grinding and groaning all over the place, then it speeds up and we're once again witnessing the Apocalypse as Slayer exult in the death of priests and the destruction of the Earth. Not exactly tree-huggers, then.

TRACKLISTING

1. Flesh storm
2. Catalyst
3. Skeleton Christ
4. Eyes of the insane
5. Jihad
6. Consfearacy
7. Catatonic
8. Black serenade
9. Cult
10. Supremist
11. Final six

Another pretty great Slayer album, I'll readily admit, but are they trying too hard now? It's almost as if they want people to hate them, want to alienate people, want to court controversy. That's always been their style of course but the problem is that when you push that too far people get over it and start to ignore you. If Slayer keep this up I fear they may become a parody of themselves, and there's going to be nothing more sad than seeing the likes of Weird Al Yankovich do something like “Reign in mud” on one of his next albums. Slayer need, in my opinion, to take a hold of themselves, look in that mirror and ask themselves if they're still of an age to be doing this kind of shit? That was fine when they were in their twenties, angry young men. But there's nothing sadder than a bunch of angry old men trying to keep the fire and passion going and failing miserably.

I'm not for a moment suggesting Slayer should record with an orchestra, or do an acoustic album, or anything of that nature. But they've been angry now for thirty years: isn't their anger spent? Isn't it now time to take stock, to chill out a little and enjoy life instead of hating it? Not that they will of course: they'll continue down the same old road they've gone for the last three decades. And a whole new army of youngsters are no doubt discovering this brutal, angry band for the first time, so they'll never be short of fans. But their original fans must be as old as they are now. Don't they owe it to them to give them a rest? Don't they owe it to themselves?

Again, I make the point: what do I know?

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