| ATERIAL - WAR MACHINERY (Indie) |
| It seems that today more and more bands in the underground scene are making a statement with more of a classic sound as opposed to the ever changing trends in today's society. The perfect example comes from Germany's Aterial being just one of the many bands who decided to record an album of 12 tracks with a hungry traditional metal flavour to it. Aterial has no gimmick or image, no sir, this is cutting edge Heavy Metal the way it used to be when some of us grew up as teenagers in the 80's. You gotta hand it to Lead vocalist Ralf Scholz who can scream like the best of them, as Rob Halford would be proud of Ralf. Just listen to Ralf on the track "America" for his screeching techniques. War Machinery offers quite a bit of everything, including a Punk song called "Dying". I'm not sure why this was added to a Heavy Metal album but I'll admit I didn't expect it that's for sure. It really is very noticable on a record like this. Riff wise, the band is full of creativity in speed and style. This makes for an interesting listen, as they do expand the bands range of Heavy Metal in that aspect of things. I can't complain as this CD was in my player pretty often for a while. Aterial is a quality above average group pounding the Heavy Metal scene from Germany where Power Metal is king and Classic metal is often noticed. Thumbs up for Aterial from this side of the world. Metal Mike................................................................7/10 |
| THE CONSPIRACY - 3000 CROSSES (Mad Messiah Music) |
| The guys from Traverse City, Michigan return with a slight name change, and a true to Metal full length CD with quality production. Need details? Then read on... The artist formerly known as "Conspiracy" has changed it's name to "The Conspiracy" and have released this CD called 3000 crosses which has some seriously classic 80's style thrash riffs to go along with the ever popular blistering guitar solo's. The Conspiracy has evolved into a pure metal force that is doing all they can to be seen and of course heard. Many early to mid-twenty's heavy metal fans today would be honestly turned off by a band like The Conspiracy due to their old school sound, and it's too bad though, there's nothing better than hearing a band who has followed 80's tradition into the year 2005 and beyond. Speed that kills walks all over this CD and can get melodic when need be. tracks that stand out include "The way we pray" "Hellride" and "I Spy". My only real complaint is the overall drum sound on the CD which the snare sounds like it's a long distance away more often than expected. The Conspiracy is not afraid to be true to the old school while at the same time playing the game without cheating themselves or the fans musically. Expect to headbang to this at neckbreaking speed. Moshing is not allowed. How else would you enjoy it? Metal Mike.................................................................8/10 |
| MALIGNANT MONSTER - WELCOME TO YOUR DOOM (Indie) |
| Each time a new band with experienced performers is looking for a review of their music it makes you wonder just what can you expect from them with curious ears which is unlike when you await to hear that new release from your favourite band on a major label. You have an idea of what your favourite band may offer but not from the unknown. The unkown makes us even more curious. Malignant Monster is an Indie band consisting of 2 members at the moment, vocalist Cain Cressall and Axeman Jarrod Curley who put together this 3 song demo titled "Welcome to your doom". The lead off track "My Rage" rips into a moshing frenzy with screams to start and Death/Thrash style memorable riffs the rest of the way. From track 1-3 things go from Heavy and fast to a little more creativity in the form of guitar work/technique shown more so on track 3 "Turrets of blood". As you might expect they use a drum machine with that annoying crash only symbol (It really can get irritating) but the vocals and guitar riffs do save things since this is the pre-production stage and can change at any time. In the end what you have here is a talented duo who have a plan in mind and are not afraid to show it in it's early days where death and thrash meet as part of a well known combo. Metal Mike..................................................................7/10 |
| KAMELOT - THE BLACK HALO (SPV) |
| The masters of Epic power metal return with their 7th album since being born as Kamelot back in 1994 as they unleash the Black Halo upon us. As many fans and members of the media gather to hear the new CD they keep in mind the bands past releases especially one called Epica which solidified the band's place in the history of prog/power metal genre. When you first listen to this CD, the obvious is present, this is definitely a Kamelot album, and that is of course Roy Khan's unmistakable voice you hear. The concept for the Black Halo comes from the bands previous experiences in life as well as political opinions. They put some strong thought into this CD early on yet it seems to lack the structure and power that an album such as Epica has. I find that the second half of the CD makes up for the first which isn't as listenable or quite as creative. Stand out tracks include "When the lights are down" "Moonlight" and the title track. Members of Kamelot state that they are always reaching for new sounds and goals within their music, but at the same time some fans may or may not take to this idea, not after Epica as they expected the same to apply to The Black Halo. Love them or just like them, Kamelot has kept things interesting throughout the bands ten year career. Metal Mike......................................................................6/10 |
| BLACK SKY - OF SINS AND SHADOWS (Indie) |
| From Calgary, Alberta Canada comes a band called Blacksky who present this demo CD containing 5 songs taken from the upcoming debut album "Of Sins and Shadows". Blacksky is led by female vocalist Kristen Martel who's style resembles that of Tarja Turunen of Nightwish. Kristen's style compliments this band very well as she has an excellent voice to go along with the bands european style goth like sounds and ambient metal. I'll be the first to admit the only track I didn't like was lead off track "Five nights waiting" even though it adds a different feel to the CD with it's heavier sound and guitar riffs, it's the rest of this Demo that I enjoyed most. Track two is titled "Redemption" and this gives you a good idea of what seems to be the sound that Blacksky offers to us. There are six members in the band and they come across as quite an experienced group techincally, melodic, as well as very energetic solo's all mixed perfectly with the keyboards. The five songs on here may take a few spins to get into, but in time you may just like it even more. Since they are Canadian and you don't normally hear the Swedish or Finland style of Metal embrace this country since much of today's Independent artists play more of a straight up Norweigian black metal style as Blacksky show only hints of that, this makes these six musicians part of the minority at least in Canada. With all that said, you can expect some pretty good things from Blacksky in the near future because they did get my attention as they will yours also. Metal Mike.....................................................................7.5/10 |
| OF INFINITY - THE ESSENCE OF INFINITY (Indie) |
| Of Infinity is another melodic sounding female fronted band who come from San Antonio, Texas. When you first listen to this three song demo, you'd never guess there is only three members in the band as they experiment with many different instruments on this CD. And like with many of the bands influenced by the European Metal scene, Of Infinity's lead vocalist Alessandra Zinicola's performance on the CD is really quite breathtaking at times with her extremely powerful operatic vocals which you can hear as far as Heaven. The Essence of Infinity was very well constructed, produced and mixed perfectly. The three tracks on this demo each have their own identity. Lead off track "The Voice Without" focuses on a progressive/ambient sound with the addition of a very nice piano/keyboards for an even more goth like effect. The second track titled "Shadow Of A Lie" adds a different groove and technique to the bands already quite interesting harmonies. Guitar solo's and riffs tackle the second song with a sense of passion. The third track "It's Only For Forever" is my favourite as members Alessandra, Nazareth, and Kurtis have created themselves the most exceptional song thus far which I'm sure has caused a stir already worldwide since it's debut. By far some of the strongest most powerful lyrics belted out by Alessandra with more emotion than you can imagine making Lacuna Coil or Lullacry seem almost dull. Of Infinity has already caused quite a stir in Europe from what I've seen and if you are looking for something that is fresh sounding, melodic yet dark at the same time? Then look no further, Of Infinity is for real and fits right in with today's Heavy Metal scene. Metal Mike.......................................................................8.5/10 |
| OVERKILL - RELIXIV (Spitfire Records) |
| After 13 albums since the bands debut in 1985 on Megaforce Records Overkill has bashed, thrashed, and crashed tons of killer tunes over the past twenty years. And all while some bands from the 80's (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax) changed their sound in some way shape or form. Since then Overkill is proud to be one of the few who has kept things raw and stayed true to their roots. Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and D.D. Verni (the bands 2 members since the start of it all) along with guitarists Dave Linsk, Derek Tailer and drummer Tim Mallare mark the bands twenty year anniversary with the release of "Relixiv" as they decided to do things the same way it was done back in 1985, the recording and everything else you hear on the new album. But what exactly does this mean? Sure the guys have done something quite interesting by taking a trip back to the first release which the die hard Overkill fans will just eat up, yet when I listen to this CD, it didn't have the killer instinct quite as I felt with Killbox 13 the bands previous release. Relixiv leads off with the usual Overkill thrashtastic type tune "Within your eyes" very much up to par with any release in the 90's for Overkill, but as we move on, things start to get less exciting with tracks "Love" and "Loaded Rack" sounding like they belong on "I hear black" or "Necroshine". Sure I understand what Overkill has done for this album and for the bands history but the killer speed riffs just arent quite there. Best tracks on the CD are "Bats in the Belfry" "Wheelz" (for it's killer groove and mix overall) and "Play the Ace". The final track called "Old School" is the best way to end an album which celebrates Overkill's twenty year exsistence. You have to hear it to see what I mean! Pound for pound this is an Overkill album no doubt about it and it may take a few spins to really get used to, but since I am a huge fan of the band (No other band dominates my CD collection like Overkill) this was not nearly as listenable as "Killbox 13" or "From the underground and below" are. I am very very pleased that Overkill is still Thrashing as hard twenty years later, but this is a bit of a let down in the end. Metal Mike...........................................................................6/10 |
| BLODEN WEDD - EYE OF HORUS (Risestar) |
| Risestar Music introduces a band from their home land in Chilie known as Bloden Wedd (translates to 'Gods Of Sunrise' in the Celtic Gaelic mythology) who play a classic heavy power metal style and errupt on this ten track CD which is packed with powerful chorus' and true 80's metal melodies throughout. Not long after putting it all together in 1994 the band sold 500 demo's in only a few short months which of course caught the attention of record labels as well as fans. Eye Of Horus is Bloden Wedd's third album and really spits fire musically from the early stages of the CD. Fans of Kamelot and Rhapsody will love what Bloden Wedd has created as they slowly carve interesting power metal riffs and tones track by track. "Firebird" is a very unique example of this as the band rumbles on to the middle of the disc with the title track to the album focusing on it's classic 80's Ozzy era acoustic intro with harmonic background and lead vocals making this quite an epic metal ride as it clocks at over seven minutes in length. The track "Power Metal Pride" serves as the bands theme on the album as well as life itself proving how determined the band can be even with a typical Primal Fear sounding anthem. Much of the CD is full of riffs in the vein of Iced Earth crossed with Gamma Ray. All together this band has a true love for Power Metal and has the talent to take it to the next level. So if you like plenty of Power Metal with sing a long choruses make sure you check them out soon. Metal Mike...........................................................................7/10 |