GREYHAWK - Warriors of Greyhawk review

 

GREYHAWK - Warriors of Greyhawk

Cruz del Sur Music

When you come to this site that last thing you expect is some Extreme Metal maniac talking about Power Metal. But hey I do know what sounds cool regardless. With that said I've been following this Seattle, Washington five piece act for a few years now. They started out in 2016.Their debut full length, Keepers of the Flame, came out in 2020. They followed that up with the great Call of the Hawk EP in 2022. But 2024's Thunderheart was decent. 

With all of that said I still figured GREYHAWK would become the premier US Power Metal band of the 2000's. Duh, so listen to this one.This album equals or better outs what the Germans have been doing of late. I mean like hey HELLOWEEN, listen to this US steel.

So what's great about GREYHAWK? Well lets start with vocalist Anthony Corso. This guy does the whole Power Metal vocal style as well as belt out some 80's style Hard Rock singing. Next up you've got the guitar duo of Jesse Berlin, the riff master, and Rob Steinway, the soloist. This pair nail it throughout this album. The drum work and bass duties are flawless.

 

GREYHAWK's third full length is a masterpiece of Power Metal combined with some 80's Melodic Hard Rock. I knew this band was gonna be great. 

https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/store/

LISTEN HERE:

https://greyhawkmetal.bandcamp.com/album/warriors-of-greyhawk

CHRISTIAN MISTRESS - Children of the Earth review

 

CHRISTIAN MISTRESS - Children of the Earth

Cruz Del Sur Music

So does anyone else remember CHRISTIAN MISTRESS? Well yeah I do, back in the late 2000's they where what you would call "a thing". Basically they were a new female fronted Metal band with some good musicianship. some people in the Metal media put em into the Doom genre category. I didn't but hey I'm not a hiptard. 

The band, who were from Seattle, Washington, started out in 2008. Their debut full length, Agony & Opium, came out in 2010 on 20 Buck Spin records. Their second and well received album, Possession, came out in 2012 on Relapse Records. This was their high point. Then in 2015 the band released To Your Death which was a decent rocker. After that the band went silent. 

I own all three of the CHRISTIAN MISTRESS full lengths. I still think Possession is a great album. But here we are ten years later and the band is back but not what you think. The band right now is still Christine Davis on vocals, Tim Diedrich who joined in 2014 on guitar, Jonny Wulf is still on bass and Reuben W. Storey still on drums. Back in the day this band was a five piece act but those two original guitarists are gone. 

So what does CHRISTIAN MISTRESS sound like ten years later? Well in all honesty they're not as good as they use to be. Musically this eight song release reminds me of a time decades ago when you'd have an average sounding rock band with a female singer and you thought they were OK. At their high point years ago CHRISTIAN MISTRESS were probably filling a five hundred capacity venue. Listening to this I think they'd be lucky to get thirty people to see em in a bar on a Saturday night. 

https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/store/

LISTEN HERE:

https://christianmistress.bandcamp.com/album/children-of-the-earth

GRAVE INFESTATION / NOROTH Split EP review

 

GRAVE INFESTATION / NOROTH Split EP

Carbonized Records

Hey I love split releases but on here we just get one song a piece from each band. Wow how punk rock of ya. Back decades ago when I was all into collecting vinyl I had tons of 7"er split releases with just one song per band. The stuff I liked ended up on cassette compilations. Worse yet was when one of the band's songs was from their new album. So the label was basically pairing a hit song from one band while adding it with a band you did not know or might of cared for.

Be that as it may on here we've got a song from NOROTH "Trepanation Ritual" which is not a song from their last album or a throwaway track. Actually this could've appeared on their last album. Yes it's cool sounding old school diabolical death metal. Ya gotta love the bass lines at the end of this track. Now as far as GRAVE INFESTATION goes they're a four piece Death Metal band out of Canada. They've been around since 2018 and have one full length to their credit, Persecution of the Living, which came out in 2022. They're brand new to me. 

GRAVE INFESTATION's one song contribution to this EP is " Necroslaughterhouse". First off that should be an album title. just saying. But musically these Canadians are more into an onslaught of the Death Metal style. Obviously on this cut they're influenced by early DEATH. It's a great sounding cut which reminds me of the early days when extreme bands morphed from Thrash to what we now recognize as DM. Not only do I like this song a lot but I've gotta get a copy of their full length. 

So it's a fuckin tough call here on who's better. But sure I think NOROTH are amazing and have an excellent full length which came out this year. But GRAVE INFESTATION are a band who are doing something which I've been wanting to hear for years. That being taking that DEATH influence and showing what that band could've done if Chuck didn't go off the deep end. So yeah GRAVE INFESTATION wins this bout. Furthermore this should be a 7" picture disc. Hey look at the cover. Nuff Said!  

https://carbonizedrecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://carbonizedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/noroth-grave-infestation

NOROTH - Sacrificial Solace review

 

NOROTH - Sacrificial Solace

Carbonized Records

Ladies & Gentleman and you others I'm writing as a professional here. When you have raw meat sitting around whether it's ground beef on the kitchen counter, a dead animal in the street or a dead body in the woods you're gonna get flies. I say that because this band uses a background sound of flies buzzing around and it's death metal so there you go. 

Anyways this is the third full length by Seattle, Washington's NOROTH. They're a three piece death act who revel in the old school genre foundations yet make it sound fresh to a point. It's all about death, doom, pain, suffering and more pain. Sound-wise these guys come across as if GRAVE meets INCANTATION with the vocalist from HOODED MENACE. 

There's eight cuts on here with a running time of twenty-two minutes. Technically that's short for a DM album. Especially one where every song just oozes out complete diabolical filth. I'm talking about a sound putrid enough to make a grown mainstream music fan puke. And ya know what if this album came out say in 1990 it would be considered one of the all time best DM albums. 

Now sure some jaded people will say this newer old school Death Metal is just copy and paste from past greats. I'd say yeah but let's consider a few things. First off NOROTH is now and the past greats are no more at least many of em and the ones hanging on are just bad examples of themselves. Secondly this album sounds amazing now while many releases from past bands have to rely on remixed / remastered copies. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, and you lame-stream people puking. I'm not dissing on the past. I am a fan of the DM past and appreciate when certain new bands bring it all back to an exciting way. NOROTH does that in an amazing way. This album rules! 

https://carbonizedrecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://carbonizedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sacrificial-solace

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

STRICKEN - From a Well of Emptiness, A Stygian Serpent Born review

 

STRICKEN - From a Well of Emptiness, A Stygian Serpent Born

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

Musically appreciation wise I'm at the point where I am getting bored to death with so many bands going the death doom route. I love the style and sound but it's become a generic stand-by for bands. So with that said I'm glad to hear some bands going back to the roots of American Doom/traditional metal. 

I mean sure you're gonna have the SABBATH-ian grooves but with the heaviness you get clean vocals, an emphasis on powerful riffs and some damm good melodies. Add to that semi-complex song structures that keep your interest. I was listening to a Polish band do it last week, go figure? And I'm listening to one now from Seattle, Washington. 

This is the debut full length by STRICKEN. They're a three piece act which to me is perfect. Also their drummer, Chris Wozniak, was once in LIAR OF THE MINOTAUR. They were a great band which this one here has similar touches. The bottom line is that everything I've said earlier in the paragraphs above applies here to this release plus more. 

STRICKEN bring on the powerful vocals, the doom as well as atmospheric touches plus a bit of modern sludge metal tropes. The production values are a little low but you can blast this album as it deserves to be. This is a cool new band for Doom fans. 

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/from-a-well-of-emptiness-a-stygian-serpent-born

GREYHAWK - Call of the Hawk EP review

 

GREYHAWK - Call of the Hawk EP

Fighter Records

Well this band is definitely "bound by steel" as is sung in the lyrics of their opening cut "Steelbound".  Here we have a five song EP by this five piece Seattle, Washington metal act. Actually it's their second EP since the band's debut was the self released six song (five cuts and an intro) Ride Out EP from 2018. 

Now in 2020 the band released their debut full length, Keepers of the Flame, which also came out on Fighter Records. That was a pretty damm good album if you're into traditional metal. And if you're not then please leave and go somewhere else. But as far as this one goes my only gripe would be why just a five song EP?

Otherwise Call of the Hawk is a perfect continuation from their debut full length. Musically yes it's rooted in classic 80's style metal with some power metal touches. As far as that latter point there's some decent Yngwie Malmsteen influenced soloing, a few epic touches. But mainly classic heavy metal, or "true metal" as MANOWAR fans love to say, is the template here.

The EP has the twin guitar harmonies from days of yore. Catchy songs with good rhythms, I like the vocals with the occasional heavy metal screams and it bares repeating amazing guitar soloing. Call of the Hawk is a very good EP which should've been an album.

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

LISTEN HERE:

https://greyhawkmetal.bandcamp.com/album/call-of-the-hawk

OXYGEN DESTROYER - Sinister Monstrosities Spawned by the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind review

 

OXYGEN DESTROYER - Sinister Monstrosities Spawned by the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind

Redefining Darkness Records

OK before I start talking about the band and their second full length release there needs some explaining. OXYGEN DESTROYER are a Kaiju band and their music which they've been doing since 2015 is based on Kaiju. Now Kaiju is a Japanese genre of films and television featuring giant monsters. The original Godzilla film from the 1950's, which is the best Godzilla film, is considered the first Kaiju film. Speaking of which the band took their name from the device which killed Godzilla in that movie. 

Now that's out of the way here we have the second album by OXYGEN DESTROYER. We are talking blackened death metal / thrash here with a theme. Basically you've got songs inspired by a bunch of Japanese Kaiju movies on the beginning of this release. The other half is dedicated to a few US monster movies as well as one cut dedicated to the big English monster movie Gorgo. And ah yeah it's perfect Halloween Metal.

OXYGEN DESTROYER are also a four piece act from Seattle. I figured that needed to be said. This release is actually short coming with a run time of less then thirty minutes. Then again with blackened death thrash you don't need fuck around. We're talking about songs dedicated to giant monsters who crush, kill and destroy. You either run for your life or die. So musically the only slow parts of this release come in their choice of movie samples. 

When it comes to their execution it's the rhythm section which powers through. The drums and bass set the maniacal tone followed by riffs. In fact if you add in the dive bomb guitar solos you are reminded of a early MORBID ANGEL influence. At least they got that part right. Also bassist / vocalist Lord Kaiju has a venomous sounding singing style which fits so well. Yeah another great album for 2021.

http://www.redefiningdarkness.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://oxygen-destroyer.bandcamp.com/album/sinister-monstrosities-spawned-by-the-unfathomable-ignorance-of-humankind

DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Congregation Pestilence review

 

DRAWN AND QUARTERED - Congregation Pestilence

Krucyator Productions

DRAWN AND QUARTERED are a band who I got into years ago because they were on Moribund Records. At that time I was buying everything from that label. Moribund Records was basically a black metal label but DRAWN AND QUARTERED were their stand out death metal act. I mean they were doing old school death metal before it was cool and revived. 

My first album by them was Hail Infernal Darkness from 2006. Yeah an amazing album and from that point I started getting their previous stuff and bought whatever came out next. So yeah this was the band I was into in the late 2000's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozu3E3sYZEY&t=147s

So the next thing I know is that they left Moribund Records and came out with a new album, Feeding Hell's Furnace, on a new label Nuclear Winter Records. That one, which came out in 2012, was damm good but after that I lost touch with the band. They put out The One Who Lurks in 2018 which I missed but here we have their latest. And I have to say this new one is their best ever.

Basically what you have here is cavernous vocal style death metal. We're talking a full on beast in the vocal dept. Add to that the mixture of old school death metal filth, East Coast style, and some tech death touches. All of which is amazing since DRAWN AND QUARTERED are a left coast band. Basically this is the same band I knew from fifteen years ago updated to modern appreciation.  

https://krucyator.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://krucyator.bandcamp.com/album/congregation-pestilence

HOTH - Astral Necromancy review

HOTH - Astral Necromancy

Epicurus Records



According to their promo info "US black metal now has an indelible mark on the map" because of HOTH. Ah no it does not. Also in the promo are the words "Fans of the likes of DISSECTION, IMMORTAL and THULCANDRA should take serious note.  The culmination of three years of hard work has finally arrived." OK seriously THULCANDRA, who's first album years ago was good, are DISSECTION worshipers. IMMORTAL is back as well as sounding frosty and sure DISSECTION are no more but their music still survives and surpasses their clones.


As far as the years of serious hard work goes, well I kinda agree to a point. HOTH were once just a Star Wars themed blackened death metal two piece act (most likely silly hipsters) from Seattle, Washington. Their named after the ice planet where the rebel base was in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Their first two full lengths (Infinite Darkness from 2012 and Oathbreaker from 2014) were all about Star Wars. Yeah and may the farce be with you nerds. Did you show up at a Comic-Con convention dressed together as a Tauntaun handing out free cds?


But anyways this third full length of theirs ditched the Force and replaces it with black magic rituals and unholy spells. OK so now they've succumbed to the dark side. Or in laymen's terms they sound like Abbath fronting THULCANDRA with hints of battle metal. Their new name description in based on the Norse legend of Hoth the blind brother of Baldr. And this band spent three years perfecting their sound by listening to the first two DISSECTION full lengths. Sure they've made a mark but it's a black one. 

https://www.facebook.com/EpicurusRecords


https://hothmusic.bandcamp.com/