GREYHAWK - Thunderheart review

 

GREYHAWK - Thunderheart

Fighter Records

I've been seeing a lot of interest in what is called The New Wave Of Classic Metal or Traditional Metal. Hell even the Youtube show Sea of Tranquility now has a segmant on it. Which just shows ya the music is getting recognized by the mainstream. The fact is this stuff has florished in the underground for a long time now. And it's been championed by cool underground labels like Fighter Records as well as many others.

So what we have here is the second full length by Seattle, Washington's GREYHAWK. This is a band I've been a fan of for some time. They started out in 2016, put out two EPs and a full length and I liked their style of metal. I mean it's classic as far as old school NWOBHM and early power metal sounds go. But on this latest release things have changed a bit.

First off there's a line up change. Gone is guitarist Jacquelynn Ziel and she is replaced by Rob Steinway. Otherwise the band is the same. Musically things have changed since their last EP which came out in 2022. Half of the cuts on here still follow the whole fantasy classic power metal route. Then you get other cuts like for example "Ombria (City of the Night)" or "Rock & Roll City" which come across as 80's hard rock. 

I'm not knocking on em since they pull it off well. Vocalist Rev Taylor does a great job with his mid-range singing style as well as his shouts and of course falsetto screams. Of course a big plus is the amazing guitar soloing by Jesse Berlin. He still shreds in the Yngwie Malmsteen style, aka: all over the place. In the end it's a decent album although I wish it was more power metal than hard rock.

http://www.fighter-records.com/

LISTEN HERE: 

https://fighter-records.bandcamp.com/album/thunderheart

MORTA SKULD - Creation Undone review

 

MORTA SKULD - Creation Undone

Peaceville Records

Here we have the seventh full length from Milwaukee, Wisconsin's MORTA SKULD. Yeah we're talking about some Midwest death metal legends here. When it comes to US death metal we fans are not a united bunch of lemmings. Sure we like the top tier acts which the mainstream / lame-stream people give lip service to. But we love the acts who just fuckin kick ass and perform for us true believers. And when it comes to that then MORTA SKULD were always one of the best there is. 

To me this album is a fuckin classic in every death metal trope possible. The riffs are diabolical as well as punishing. All hails to mainman Dave Gregor (vocals / guitar) who's kept this band going all of these years. The man has always had this straight up non grunting vocal style which as a DM fan you've gotta like. I also like the amazing drum work by Eric House (formerly of JUNGLE ROT) who's been in the band since 2013.

So yeah this is classic old school brutal DM with great riffs. The song structures have a subtle complexity to them. If you're looking for some sort of modern day innovation then forget it. MORTA SKULD give the basics which are some head banging grooves, a slight technical edge but in the end it's always about the brutality.  

My favorite MORTA SKULD album has always been their debut Dying Remains from 1993. Nowadays this new one falls in right behind it.

https://peaceville.com/

LISTEN HERE: 

https://peaceville.bandcamp.com/album/creation-undone

OR BETTER YET HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FaiPBOReBo

KOSUKE HASHIDA - Justifiable Homicide review

 

KOSUKE HASHIDA - Justifiable Homicide

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

I know a friend who's heavily into what I'd call "gore cinema". In other words he's a collector of the really sick stuff that's made it's way in film. I remember him once telling me he was into watching a lot of Japanese serial killer films. Hey I didn't know that was a thing. But I believe this is an album that could sum it all up. 

What we have here is just short of seventeen minutes of audio Japanese murder mayhem. This is the debut full length by Kosuke Hashida from Tokyo, Japan. On here he's a one man act performing everything obviously. But from I've learned he was / is a guitarist in a death metal act called WORLD END MAN. I can't say that I'm familiar with them.  

Be that as it may, on Justifiable Homicide Kosuke Hashida has created a slash and burn concoction of death grind which is totally punishing to say the least. Not only should this release contain a warning label. But I'd also add recommended dosage instructions. Repeated listening could result in fits of anxiety as well as paranoia. 

Musically this guy provides a fuckin relentless wall of angry, threatening riffs, punishing drum work and barked vocals. Hell he even finds space to fit in some thunderous bass riffs. I thought that was cool being there's an absence of guitar soloing. So if ya got seventeen minutes to kill (pun intended) this one is definitely recommended for a search. 

What's really funny is the fact that what music I have from Japanese extreme music acts whether they be grindcore, black metal or hardcore. My favorite band from Japan has always been GUITAR WOLF. 

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/justifiable-homicide

SAHON - Blood Shall Be Paid review

 

SAHON - Blood Shall Be Paid

Brutal Records

Well a few things to get out of the way. First of all as far as modern day thrash metal goes I'm not too thrilled by it as far being extreme metal. I'd say 5% of the thrash stuff that comes in for review will give interest to write about em. Secondly I do not own anything or know much about metal from South Korea. My bad of course. 

Be that as it may here we have the sixth full length by South Korean thrashers SAHON. While listening to this release for the first time I was like holy shit this is pretty damm cool. After five listens I was like, is their back catalog hard to get? But hey SAHON are a three piece act with Yong-ho on bass and vocals, SUN is on drums and their guitarist is Chang-myung. 

Musically their brand of thrash is completely old school late 80's underground stuff. The riffs and song structures are a total throw back to a time when the genre was filthy and dangerous. I know this is great thrash because I'm old (61) but when this music blasts out from my speakers I wanna get into an old school slam dance pit and hit people. 

Like I said earlier the riff package is excellent. Yong-ho's vocals are gruff as fuck. The drumming consists of too much triggers but the top set work is dynamite. All in all this is caustic thrash which blows away the polished stuff. Chang-myung lays down some killer fuckin solos to boot. Yes this album is great from begining to end. If you really like thrash then SAHON is the band to check out. Blood Shall Be Paid, you're damm right.

https://linktr.ee/brutalrecords.official

LISTEN HERE:

https://brutalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/blood-shall-be-paid

TROCAR - Extremities review

 

TROCAR - Extremities

Selfmadegod Records

OK so I'll first get the baggage out of the way. I learned about TROCAR via the HORROR PAIN GORE DEATH PRODUCTIONS 2023 compilation. They had one song on it "Wonders Cease". The band FLUIDS also appeared on that compilation which bares explanations as well. TROCAR is a side project of FLUIDS members Jan Grotle (guitar) and Walter Hale (synths / programming) but in FLUIDS he's their drummer. 

Just to get this out of the way FLUIDS is a damm good death grind band from Phoenix, Arizona. They've done a split with NUNSLAUGHTER (yeah I have that one), have a ton of short form releases as well as a full length. I've got a compilation from them titled Fluids of Death 2 which came out on Hells Headbangers Records. So TROCAR are not far from their mark. 

Along with Jan Grotle and Walter Hale TROCAR features vocalist Schuler Benson. But there are a few guests as well on this release. So musically this is total psychotic grindcore for the most part. I think the four minute plus "Psalter of Manias" is a great middle finger to any mainstream metal person's face because of it's slow paced grinding aesthetic. Most of these cuts are grind insanity aka: fast dirges with high pitched screamed vocals. In the end it's a cool and something you'll remember to blast to your neighbors.

https://selfmadegod.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://thetrocar.bandcamp.com/album/extremities-2

SKELETAL REMAINS - Fragments Of The Ageless review

 

SKELETAL REMAINS - Fragments Of The Ageless

Century Media Records

If I haven't said it before (?) then I'll state it now. I think SKELETAL REMAINS are one of the best new school death metal act in the US. I became a fan of them back with their second full length, Condemned to Misery, from 2015 and have liked everything they've done since. So here we are with their fifth full length since starting out in 2011. And I've gotta say this California four piece has simply gotten better or at least more diabolical in their DM approach. 

For those of you new to this band we're talking about a musical DM style that remembers the USDM past but doesn't repeat it. Instead they expand on it with diabolical riffs, impressive song structures and some of the best guitar soloing in the genre. I mean opener  "Relentless Appetite" is definitely a kick ass way to start things off. But the guitar solo in "To Conquer the Devout" will melt your face. 

And the band does this throughout Fragments Of The Ageless albeit there's a few subtle parts which are the instrumentals. But hey when they added a HATE ETERNAL cover, "Messiah of Rage", at the end I was like hell yeah Erik Rutan would like SKELETAL REMAINS especially with the maniacal guitar soloing. This is easily one of my favorite DM releases of 2024.

https://www.centurymedia.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPzCwdJ7DIQ

IRON MONKEY - Spleen & Goad review

 

IRON MONKEY - Spleen & Goad

Relapse Records

OK so who here remembers IRON MONKEY? I'd probably be looking at the hand raised by some guy in the back wearing a CHAOS UK shirt. But actually I have some friends who were in a local doom metal band who really liked IRON MONKEY. They kind of were influenced by em a little. But for those of you who don't know this band then I'll explain. 

IRON MONKEY came onto the scene back in the late 1990's. They were an English sludgey doom act who took the US version of the genre style and had it crawled through the English underground hardcore/punk scene. They put out two killer albums on Earache Records. Those being their self titled debut full length in 1997 and the follow-up Our Problem in 1998. Yeah you need to get those releases.

Anyways they continued in 1999 with a few short form releases but then tragedy struck when their singer, Johnny Morrow, passed away. So that was pretty much the end of IRON MONKEY. But in 2017 the band came back as a three piece act with guitarist Jim Rushby taking over on vocals. That resulted in the album 9-13 which I was not a fan of. But I might have to come back to for an obvious reason. This new one kicks ass. 

It's 2024 and IRON MONKEY are back still as a three piece with Jim Rushby still on vocals and guitar. Plus there's Steve Watson on bass now and new drummer Steve Mellor. So the difference now is that back in 2017 it came off as OK we're IRON MONKEY lets put an album. While now it's more like hey we're IRON MONKEY and lets put out a great album befit of our legacy. 

And that's what Spleen & Goad is all about. This is a seething freak show of filthy riffs that crackle with electric sparks. You've got drunken lead guitar solos. The bass is manacle and thundering. And the drum work just falls into place. Opener "Misanthropizer" is a head splinter. And Rushby's vocals come off as a drunk punk doing his best. Hell yeah what more could you want. OK bang your fuckin head to "Concrete Shock". Hell all nine tracks on here are awesome. 

https://www.relapse.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://ironmonkey.bandcamp.com/album/spleen-goad

JUDAS PRIEST - Invincible Shield review

 

JUDAS PRIEST - Invincible Shield

Sony Music

So let's get my truth and legacy out of the way. I got into PRIEST in the 1970's and if you asked me about my all time favorite albums from them I'd say three of em are from the 70's era of the band. OK just for the record they are Sad Wings of Destiny, Hell Bent for Leather and Stained Class. Also that's the order I bought em in. As far as the 80's go I was still a huge PRIEST fan and as much as I like a few albums from that era I still say Screaming for Vengeance is their best album from that decade. 

When the 1990's came in you got Painkiller which is an album I still like. I won't say it was a great album but decent. And after listening to this new one, their nineteenth studio album, I will say Halford and company still like that album as well. Looking back a few years ago I said that Firepower was the true successor to Painkiller which means all of those albums inbetween were just fodder. Now with Invincible Shield it's a combination of Painkiller and Defenders of the Faith plus some of the solo HALFORD stuff.

Invincible Shield is the second album which should be referred to as the modern era of JUDAS PRIEST. And you have to admit that they're doing better than their contemporaries. Add another fact which is after Painkiller you had the non Halford era of PRIEST (aka: the Tim "Ripper" Owens' albums), then Halford's solo stuff (which was pretty good aka: FIGHT & HALFORD), then a slew of bad PRIEST albums. So Firepower was the comeback and Invincible Shield is the follow-up. 

Now with that explanation out of the way I think Invincible Shield is a good metal album. Halford sounds great as if it was the 1980's. I like how Glenn Tipton's creative influence still reigns on plenty of these tracks. There's more of a mid-tempo riff package on half of the songs. While on the other hand it's a Richie Faulkner guitar solo show. Just a reminder Scott Travis is the best drummer PRIEST has had since Les Binks. 

The bottom line is that this is a good PRIEST album. It's actually a traditional PRIEST style album in that you've got a heavy first side to the album. While the second side has one or two good tracks but ends with filler. The best tracks on here in my not so humble opinion are "The Serpent and the King", the title track, "Gates of Hell", and "As God Is My Witness".

With that said sure it's good for 2024 but as a PRIEST fan I'm still stuck a few decades ago as far as my favorite music by this band. I guess that's my way of saying to the haters yeah you can have it both ways. You can appreciate the new but still love the past. Nuff Said.

 

https://www.sonymusic.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urg9aJ3V7HE

MERRIMACK - Of Grace and Gravity review

 

MERRIMACK - Of Grace and Gravity

Season of Mist

Years ago, aka: from the early 1990's to the late 2000's, MERRIMACK were the one of the better bands out of the French black metal scene. Of course that's in my not so humble opinion. Just to be clear the 2000's was an era where you had French black metal bands going avant-garde or shoe-gaze. The hipsters loved that stuff but I didn't care for it. So MERRIMACK was around playing this intense raw black metal for us fans who wanted the real deal. Of course their sound leaned more towards their Nordic neighbors.

Personally I think MERRIMACK's heyday was their time spent on Moribund Records. The short form splits they put out are collectible but their full lengths Of Entropy and Life Denial from 2006 and the amazing Grey Rigorism from 2009 are worth while. Now in 2010 a few changes were made as far as personnel. Maiman and guitarist Perversifier still held the reins of MERRIMACK since the beginning. Their bassist Daethorn came aboard in 2008. That was it for the old guard. 

Now new in 2010 included their drummer Blastum, second guitarist A.K. and new vocalist Vestal. This was the line-up which put out 2012's The Acausal Mass. I wasn't a fan of that album. Then again I didn't care for it's follow up Omegaphilia from 2017. So here we are with MERRIMACK's sixth full length and I actually like this album. It's as if the line-up has jelled together in order to put out a proper black metal release that conveys the force which their past has shown.

Of Grace and Gravity is not going to be all shock and awe as far as black metal goes. Let's face it, as far as black metal goes those wild days are long gone. So what we have these days are newbies recreating the past and older acts creating something that makes us fans feel comfortable with. On this one MERRIMACK makes me feel damm good. For the most part the songs either draw you in to an atmosphere which is cold and grim. Or they're into a blistering attack mode to tear your face off. 

In the end this latest one from the long time French BM stalwarts is damm good in it's execution. I mean every melodic note or blast beat and Vestal's callous as well as belligerent vocal style is likable after a few years. From beginning to end it's a worth while BM album for 2024. 

https://www.season-of-mist.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://merrimack.bandcamp.com/album/of-grace-and-gravity

ROGGA JOHANSSON - Otherworld review

 

ROGGA JOHANSSON - Otherworld

Iron Blood and Death Corporation

The hardest working death metal musician in Sweden is back. Yes here we have the fourth solo album by ROGGA JOHANSSON. Now regular readers of this blog (and frankly who isn't) know that over the years I've become a huge fan of ROGGA JOHANSSON whether it's his work in various bands like PAGANIZER, RIBSPREADER, REVOLTING, EYE OF PURGATORY and a ton of others as well as his solo work. 

Speaking of which, his second solo album, Entrance to the Otherwhere, from 2019 is a fuckin classic. I still keep it in my stack of stuff (aka: a stack of CDs that I never put onto the shelves). Now as much as I like the releases he's done in bands I still think that album is cool as fuck. And the cover art work is awesome as well.

Now as far as this latest one goes, it's like part four of Rogga's long time saga pertaining to the Otherwhere, Otherworld and the Mordbrand. In fact there's two songs on here about Mordbrand, a song title name which originally appeared on his first solo album, Garpedans, from 2017. So when I listen to this stuff I'm whisked away to some fantasy world. Which is not much different when I was young and reading sci-fi / fantasy novels. 

Musically Rogga's solo work is more melodic Swedish death metal which is not far from his work in the band EYE OF PURGATORY. But I believe I said in a previous review that this music reminds me of early AMON AMARTH minus the viking shtick. I mean Rogga's vocals are not far from sounding like Johan Hegg. And of course the riffs are heavy but not ripping to the point of Rogga's other outfits. 

In the end I find this latest one by Rogga great (I'm bias) but a complete continuation of 2022's Inside the Otherwhere. And not only musically but look at the cover art work and you decide.

Be that the way it is I've been listening to this release for hours and it's a hypnotic, to say the least, blast of Swedish death metal coolness.  

LISTEN TO & BUY HERE:

https://ironbloodanddeath.bandcamp.com/album/otherworld?ref=promos.againstpr.com

PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS - Devil’s Hammer review

 

PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS - Devil’s Hammer

Northern Silence Productions

Just for the record as far as Australian black metal goes I have three favorite bands from that nation. They are DESTROYER 666, NAZXUL and PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS. I became a fan of PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS simply because Balam (aka: Luke Mills) was in NAZXUL. Mills started this band in 2003 and has been the mainman ever since, just keeping his blackened dream alive. 

I got into PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS back in 2009 with their In Memoriam Ill Omen full length. And from that release I've been a fan ever since. I've got all of their releases now. What I always liked about PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS is that they were more complex musically then what NAZXUL had done. Instead of being overwhelmed with blackened intensity. It's more of an invitation to cool sounding compositions which have you sitting back and going hell yeah.

Devil’s Hammer is the band's seventh full length and it just might be their best ever. The inclusion of guitarists Krvna & Mourn (both of whom joined the band in 2022) have definitely added to the total riff package be it cold cruel or melodic. Add to that from start to finish drummer John McLaughlin does an amazing job throughout. 

This album fills out with a fierce threatening gallop of tremolo picked riffs. The vocals come across like belligerent rants from a drunken priest. There's tons of discharge from melodic harmonies to full on assaults or atmospheric touches. The bottom line is that this release is a cool listening pleasure. My favorite black metal album of the year so far. 

https://store.northern-silence.de/en

LISTEN HERE:

https://pestilentialshadows-northernsilence.bandcamp.com/album/devils-hammer