IRONHAWK - Ritual of the War Path review

 

IRONHAWK - Ritual of the War Path

Dying Victims Productions

Here we have a debut full length by a three piece act hailing from Tasmania. I don't get many acts hailing from there especially ones who look like this. 

So if you're wondering if this band has a punk/hc influence I'd say yeah. Well that plus a love for MOTORHEAD and BATHORY. Yeah that's a good thing. Back in the day (aka: the late 80's) we called music like this many things. But I believe speed metal will suffice for today.

Musically you've got ten cuts of primal metal punk, subterranean vocals with echo and a decent if not retro sound. It's simplistic yet cool sounding material. 

https://www.dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/ironhawk-ritual-of-the-warpath

THE WIZAR'D - Subterranean Exile review

THE WIZAR'D - Subterranean Exile

Cruz del Sur Music




I get music from all over to write about on this site. For example this particular act is from the island of Tasmania. And since they're on the Cruz del Sur label you can guess the music is gonna fit in with some old school traditional sounds. Honestly I'm surprised I haven't heard of em before. They've been around for sixteen years, have a bunch of previously released material and I usually get all the out of the way stuff to review. 


But anyways THE WIZAR'D are a four piece act (two guitarists, a bass player and drummer). One of the guitarists takes on lead vocals which come across as a nasally Ozzy or Terry Jones from PAGAN ALTAR. Musically this has been genre tagged as doom but that's not it at all. If you think of some slower NWOBHM sounds like the previously mentioned PAGAN ALTAR or early JUDAS PRIEST. Hell you can place any medium paced heavy metal act from that era who were heavily influenced by the occult and there you go. In the end it's OK.


https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/blog/

https://hcrthewizard.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/arcanemetalmagick/

ROAD WARRIOR – Power review

ROAD WARRIOR – Power

Dying Victims Productions




ROAD WARRIOR are a new Australian power trio made up of veterans from their Tasmanian extreme music scene. One guy was even in  MOURNFUL CONGREGATION. A few other bands mentioned in the promo info are CAULDRON BLACK RAM, STARGAZE and a few others. No offense but those latter acts are not household names but they're also far from the style of music being performed on here. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is a side project for these guys to get their creative juices churning towards an outlet to the old.


Seriously this is a freaking nostalgia trip back to 1981/82 musically as well as artistically by checking out the cover. Back in my youth when I lived in a Northeastern burg I'd go to this head shop that masqueraded as a record store. Along with all the vinyl by artists now dubbed Classic Rock there was a small section marked as "Imports". That's where I would find all of the early metal greats especially NWOBHM stuff. If the band name sounded metalish and the artwork gave off an impression of the same then you bought it.


So how old school 80's metal in influences is there on this release? Well first off the bass playing stands the fuck out. At times it's even used as a lead instrument which brings in memories of early MAIDEN. The vocals kind of remind me of Scott Reagers of SAINT VITUS until those heavy metal screams kick in. Hey give me a metal falsetto scream and you'll win me over because I have sung in a band and I'd lose a nut trying. Plus I grew up with that style of metal singing.


If there's something I don't give a thumbs up to as far as this release goes it's the guitar work. Some cuts start out with long running intros which seem like prog territory. Secondly 80's metal had bands pushing the outstanding catchy riffs. Out of the eight cuts on here there's a couple that stand out well in that regard. "Devils in Waiting" is one of my favorites for various reasons all mentioned previously. "Back Alley Toyko Woman" would be my second pick. Otherwise Power is a decent listen.


https://www.dying-victims.de/

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/road-warrior-power

https://www.facebook.com/RoadWarrior1986

TORPEDO - Rocking Hard Compilation review

TORPEDO - Rocking Hard Compilation

Dying Victims Productions




File this one under when good extreme metal minds meet, great things occur. A few years back Dan Deathbanger of DEATHHAMMER went to Tasmania where he met Will Spectre of the band SPECTRE. This joining of extreme artistic minds produced two demos. The four song 2016 release,Torpedo Metal and the three song 2017 follow up Flaming Steel Attack. Both of those demos have been combined to produce this full length compilation. 


Basically the end result is an old late 80's underground extreme metal head's dream come true. Yeah that's a reference to myself. What we have here is true speed metal as it sounded back then and what this duo has created today. Now let's remember I was an adult back in the late 80's so unlike some of the younger revisionist types in the modern metal media who learn things from Wikipedia, I'm telling you the truth. 


The genre term "Speed Metal" has been mis-characterized so much over the years it makes me want to vomit after I read what useless scribes of the modern media say about it. Fact, the term speed metal was a quick toss out term used in the late 80s to describe music which was faster than traditional 80's era classic metal but did not have the riff style of what we know to be thrash. It was PRIEST and MAIDEN played at 78 speed. In the years that followed we, the fans, just called it metal. 


TORPEDO have found that old vein and have re-mined it to produce some extraordinary results. This sounds like a long lost classic from 1987. The clean, clear and high end vocals, with plenty of heavy metal screams, are fuckin incredible. Every song on here is cool as fuck with these rustic sounding riffs and power chord blasts. The solos are majestic as well as biting and venomous. This release is a non stop blast with a steady rhythm of determined speed as well as punishment. 


Hey let me be honest (as if I'm not?), I'm kinda old. OK I'm in my fifties but hey I still love my extreme music especially relics of the past which have not been shitted upon. To hear great music from my past produced by two individuals half my age and sounding so fucking good. I am impressed as well as appreciative. Speed Metal's existence actually was a small niche within metal's genre future perspective. The bottom line here is that these two guys have threaded the needle of STEEL. Nuff Said.


https://www.dying-victims.de/

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/torpedo-rocking-hard

SPECTRE - Silver Invaders / Stand Alone 7" (reissue) review

SPECTRE - Silver Invaders / Stand Alone 7" (reissue)

Dying Victims Productions




It's 2018 and I'm still reviewing 7"ers by obscure bands. A semi reissue as well to boot buy hey who else will do it. SPECTRE is multi instrumentalist Will Spectre from Hobart, Tasmania. Yeah I know where else? If you're familiar with Will's career, and you're not, then I'll just say he's in a number of other bands from the Tasmanian metal scene. 


SPECTRE is Will's solo project dedicated to reviving the true sounds of NWOBHM. This release originally came out on Heavy Chains Records last year. These two songs will take you back to those days, if you're old enough to remember those days. I'm talking about galloping rhythms, decent guitar solos and clean vocals although Will does have a gothic tone to his voice on here. Be that as it may I still love this stuff (ergo: I'm old enough to remember it).


https://www.dying-victims.de/

https://hcrspectre.bandcamp.com/album/silver-invaders-stand-alone