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Mournin’ --- Night sun --- 1972 (Zebra)
Recommended by Unknown Soldier

So Marillion weren’t the first ones to use that morning/mourning idea? Interesting. Ten years before “Script for a jester’s tear” took the world of progressive rock by storm, this band from Germany was already making that pun. Seems this was their one and only album, recorded a year before they split forever, and for a supposedly prog record it doesn’t have much in the way of long epic tracks, the longest just over seven minutes. That’s barely getting started in prog terms!

We open with stop/start guitar in that particularly proggy way I hate as “Plastic shotgun” is the first salvo Night Sun decide to send across our bows, but it’s definitely of its time, with Robert Plant “wildman” vocals and a very Purple/Zep vibe to the music, plus a rather stupid “dark scary voice” to end the short opener, as lush keyboards from Knut Rossler add a touch of class to “Crazy woman”, but then Bruno Schabb comes in with the vocal and it goes pretty much the same way as the first track. There is some very good guitar from Walter Kirchgassner which really livens up the track, and I take back what I said a sentence ago; this is a whole lot better. Even so, it plays like a bad copy of early Zep, with a mixture of hard rock and blues; can’t really see this as being Metal of any sort, even Proto-metal.

Schaab really does nothing for me, in fact he’s the thing I like least about this album. With a different singer this could be quite good, but he’s determined to “Plant” (!) his own identity all over it, and it doesn’t work. Spacey, weird intro to “Got a bone of my own” with some rising organ (yes ooer I know!) similar to that on the first Supertramp album, very swirly and eerie. The song is the longest on the album, just over seven minutes, so I guess a long intro is in order. Still, we’re three minutes in now as a dirty guitar riff begins and still no vocals. The heavy organ presence has now faded away, stripping the song back and revealing real teeth behind the originally prog-heavy instrumental. Into the fourth minute now and still no sign of Schaab; could this be an instrumental?

No, here he comes. Five minutes in and he makes his appearance, immediately in my opinion dragging down the track. Some nice echoey organ presages a tempo shift to a mid-paced blues boogie, which really is the making of the song as Kirchgassner and Rossler trade licks, then we’re back to the original harder rock riffs as vocals come back into the mix. We are however nearly at the end of the song, and it exits on a powerful guitar riff, taking us into “Slush pan man”, which certainly opens on a much more Metal-oriented guitar. Kirchgassner lets himself go here, channeling Tony Iommi in a dark, grinding riff that almost, but not quite, adds a touch of Doom to proceedings.

Interesting and accomplished drum solo (and that’s saying something) from Ulrich Staudt gives “Living with the dying” more weight than it probably deserves, while Rossler runs off an organ solo to rival Ray Manzarek from The Doors. Well maybe not, but it’s pretty damn fine. That organ is again employed to open “Come down”, where everything seems to slow down in a nice bluesy ballad, which for once softens even Schaab’s annoying voice, making him sound like a cheaper Jon Anderson, and the song itself certainly betrays its progressive rock roots before Kirchgassner kicks it up the arse and takes it in a harder direction. Of course our Bruno can’t keep his voice as it has been for the last two minutes and is back aping the Led Zep frontman, but I’m getting used to that.

Very evocative guitar solo to finish the song off, then “Blind” trips along on a nice boogie rhythm, Rossler’s organ painting the flourishes under his bandmate’s swaggering guitar, while “Nightmare” is probably the closest this band get to true metal, with a rapid-fire vocal delivery and guitars that are fast, but somehow come across as more like a faster Deep Purple, but without the raw talent. It’s actually quite funny. In an annoying way. Closer "Don’t start flying" starts out with a sax break that really sounds like the opening to “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty, although this would not be penned for another six years. It is however too jazzy for me and in my opinion closes the album terribly.

TRACKLISTING

1. Plastic shotgun
2. Crazy woman
3. Got a bone of my own
4. Slush pan man
5. Living with the dying
6. Come down
7. Blind
8. Nightmares
9. Don’t start flying

I have to be brutally honest: I pretty much really hated this album. When a rec comes from such a valued source as Unknown Soldier I'm always eager to give it a chance, but I can’t see how this can be rated as any sort of metal, and even allowing for its age it has really dated. The vocals set my teeth on edge, and though there were one or two good tracks to take away from this experience, it is not one I would wish to repeat. I think I’d rather listen to Grindcore. Well maybe not, but you get the idea.

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The second of this trilogy of various artists albums I want to look at again concerns many of the bands who rose --- and many who fell --- during the NWOBHM. There are names on it who went on to become semi-famous --- Diamond Head, Raven --- but like the other album the larger percentage of the contributors to it faded away or just failed to get the big break they would have needed. Two of the bands featured on “Metal for Muthas Vol II” are here too, so it’s not such a catalogue of the dichotomy that existed between the bands who made it and those who didn’t, but it’s still an interesting look at the differences between the various bands who jumped onto the NWOBHM train, all hoping to hitch a ride to success and stardom.

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Brute Force --- Various Artists --- 1980 (MCA)

It’s not a very imaginative sleeve, and even the title could be said to be overstating the case, as some of these bands would not be what you would consider to be on the heavier side of things, but the album did at least showcase some real talent, and provides us in some cases with a rare opportunity to hear bands who were never heard from again. One of these is of course not Diamond Head, who open up the compilation.

Track one: “It’s electric” by Diamond Head

All you need to know (and much more) about Diamond Head you can find out by going back through my journal and reading the latest instalment in “Witches, Bitches, Maidens and Monsters --- the Bands of the NWOBHM”, a six-part series I am running on the subject. Suffice to say, Diamond Head were moderately successful, but never quite broke into the big time the way the likes of Maiden and Leppard did. With confusion over the direction in which they wanted to head, tensions built between the band and their fans got bored after a too-long hiatus, losing interest. This was rekindled in the 90s when thrash gods Metallica covered their “Am I evil?” giving them another brief shot at fame, but at that point they had been away from the scene for so long that really, nobody remembered them and the young ‘uns getting into Metallica thought the song was theirs, so that when DH played it they all thought the boys were doing a Metallica cover! Oh, the irony of fate!

The track is a typical DH song from their early period. Hard, dirty rock and roll with little or no finesse and the idea of a real crowdpleaser on stage. Even here though you can tell that Sean Harris had a special voice, and these guys really should have got it together and made it as they deserved to. Stop/start riffs and romping drumwork carry the song, and it’s a decent rocker with a lot of potential that would crop up on their debut album, “Lightning to the nations”.

So where are they now?

Unfazed by their lack of commercial success, and perhaps buoyed by the Metallica seal of approval, Diamond Head are still going. They released their sixth album in 2007, though Sean Harris had by then departed after the old “creative differences” chestnut.

Track two: “Brain damage” by Fist. Possibly an appropriate title, given the general air of concern at the time that teenagers were putting themselves in danger by headbanging.

Like Diamond Head, Fist were feted but through a combination of factors never hit the bright lights. They recorded three albums but were dropped by their label, the somewhat infamous MCA, after the first alum failed to perform, while Neat followed suit in 1982 after their second album did as poorly. They broke up then but reformed in 2001 and in 2005 they released their final album, no doubt thinkign “third time’s the charm.” It wasn’t.

With an almost industrial opening, the song marches along nicely on the back of hard guitar, a sort of dark, ominous feel to it, and their vocalist is a little high-pitched in a manner which reminds me of Halford, though nowhere near as good. If “It’s electric” was the clean track, “Brain damage” has dirt all over it, and revels in its muckiness. It falls apart in the middle, when the guys try to emulate a madman being released from the nut hatch, but it just sounds like they’ve gone out of tune. Good solo though.

So where are they now?

After the release of their third album, “Storm”, on their third label, nothing more has been heard of Fist, and even that album was recorded by a totally different lineup, with only the original founder remaining. Having managed to struggle to survive into the twenty-first century --- more than many NWOBHM bands could do --- we must assume they are now broken up.

Track three: “Let it rip” by Raven.

Again, you’ll find a full profile of them in that series in my journal, but Raven were considered one of the stayers of the movement, and augmented their success by heading Stateside, unlike Praying Mantis (also featured) who used their trip across the ocean to disassociate themselves from their fanbase and never really recovered. Raven were one of the harder bands, playing loud and fast, almost edging into speed metal territory, though they apparently described their style as “athletic rock”.

The track flies along with snarling guitars, vocalist John Gallagher coming close to the sort of vocals Lemmy and even James Hetfield employed. Again there’s nothing clever or groundbreaking about the song, even in its lyrical content. But it is a lot of fun, and it rocks like a good thing!

So where are they now?

As I said, Raven were one of the few to make it out of the slew of bands all fighting for success in the early eighties, and released twelve albums, the most recent of which hit the shelves in 2009. With gigs lined up including a cruise from Miami to Mexico, they’re definitely still relevant today and one of the small number of survivors from the NWOBHM.

Track four: “Gotta get back to you” by Prowler

Very little information available on these lads, not helped by the fact that there were in fact two bands in the UK called Prowler, both of whom operated during the era of the NWOBHM and both of whom played the same style of music. The only details I can dig up about this Prowler is that they only ever recorded one track (this one, presumably) and then changed their name to Samurai (with stunning and almost pigheaded irony, taking the name already used by a band in Wales!), but this didn’t work out either and they are split up now.

The track’s a fast, uptempo kind of song, sort of a Memphis blues feel to it, decent singer but at the moment I don’t hear anything special that lifts it above the rest of the pile, and nothing to justify some comments that it was better than average. I’m assuming --- though I could be wrong --- that the band’s name was taken from the Iron Maiden song on their debut. Whether the other Prowler did the same or not I can’t say. Pretty sweet guitar solo, to be fair. Oh wait! This is nice! The guitarist is riffing off a Russian jig! Now that’s different, if somewhat out of place.

So where are they now?

As mentioned, after having taken the same name as another band working in the same field Prowler changed their name to Samurai, perhaps unaware that they were again taking the same name as another band working in the same field. Yep, there was already a band in Wales using that name. Research, guys! Research! Then they appear to just have faded away.

Track five: “Fantasia” by Sledgehammer

Another, it has to be said, fairly average band, their profile probably not helped by the fact they came from Slough, in Berkshire. I mean, do you know of any big bands who originated there? Again though they appear to have been badly managed and despite releasing an album (more than Prowler did!) they just never made it big. Oddly enough, this doesn’t seem to appear on their only album, “Blood on their hands”, nor the, ah, compilation released in 1984. Strange little track with a good beat and a slight sense of Lizzy in the guitars. Interesting and funny lyric in ”She blew my mind/ And that ain’t all!” Cheeky, boys! Cheeky! A good stomper, good fun, but ultimately a little throwaway I feel.

So where are they now?

Little is known of what happened to them, and after a three-year hiatus in 1980, somewhat a la Diamond Head, they lost whatever momentum they were gaining through their purportedly excellent live shows, people moved on and forgot them. By the time they returned in 1983 with their album, nobody really cared and Sledgehammer became yet another burned-out shell of a car on the busy motorway of the NWOBHM.

Track six: “Breakdown” by Colin Towns.

Colin Towns was best known for his work with Ian Gillan in the ex-Purple man’s solo band, though he later broke out from the Metal genre and composed soundtracks for many films and TV series. He is principally a pianist/keyboard player.

Well, unfortunately here is where I have to make a confession. I don’t have the album. It was never mine. My brother owned it and I listened to it, but that was three decades ago and whether he even has it now is doubtful, but if he does it doesn’t help me as a) we don’t talk and b) it was on vinyl and I have no turntable anymore. Deep searches on the net have all come up blank, mostly due to this I guess being an obscure song in the now-impressive catalogue of a successful composer, so I can’t tell you what the song is like, though I have a feeling it was quite progressive. But I don’t recall being overly impressed by it. Oh well.

So where are they now?

As related above, Towns parted company with Gillan and became a very successful and in demand composer of soundtracks. He also released some solo albums. He’s still going strong today.

Track eight: “Earthquake at the Savoy” by Mick Underwood

Another ex-Gillan alumnus, Underwood had been around a long time before he joined that band, and became a respected drummer for many bands.

Sadly, the track is another one that has the internet stymied and has not survived. I know it was an instrumental, and given that Underwood is a drummer, well you can guess the picture. Bernie Torme, ex of Gillan and later Whitesnake, also guests on it.

So where are they now?

Having been in so many bands prior to Gillan, Underwood is still going strong and has his own band, Mick Underwood’s Glory Road.

Track eight: “Back to the grind” by White Spirit

We met White Spirit on "Metal for Muthas II", and again we find a song pretty much out of its subgenre really, being led in on thick organ and mostly keyboard-based. This track does at least have a goodly amount of guitar, but there’s no way it’s anything approaching Metal. It might slide in as Pomp Rock but I think it’s very close to Progressive Rock, and there is no room anywhere in its style for Metal. Like “High upon high” on the previous album it is in fact a really great track, just totally out of place here.

So where are they now?

Again, see the other review.

Track nine: “Can’t say no to you” by Quartz

Quartz came out of the mean streets of Birmingham around the mid-seventies, and at that time there was one man anyone in a band was bound to bump into. Yes, that pop rocker hated of so many metallers, Jeff Lynne. Guitarist Mick Hopkins worked with Lynne in The Idle Race, before the man who would later mastermind ELO moved on to, um, The Move. Quartz released three albums, and are still together.

A fist-pumping anthem, this is taken from their second album, “Stand up and fight”, but though it’s hard enough the vocals are totally wimpy, more on the side of Rod Stewart or maybe David Coverdale than Ronnie James Dio. Good track though, edges into AOR territory more than once.

So where are they now?

Quartz reformed in 2011 after twenty-eight years apart to play a reunion gig. No new material was forthcoming, and so far their 1983 album “Against all odds” remains their last release.

Track nine: “Hold on” by Xero

Another band we introduced in the previous review. This is much more like it! After an almost doomy, grindy opening it kicks into a Maiden-style high tempo rocker with some exquisite guitar and some fine bass lines. Very commercial in its way, quite catchy but still heavy and rocky. One of the better tracks on the album. Yeah, even including Diamond Head. Unfortunately. as this was the B-side of that “dodgy” single featuring Bruce Dickinson which I mentioned in the review of their track on “Metal for Muthas Vol II” it’s very hard to get your hands on. Should have been a classic.

So where are they now?

See previous review.

Track eleven: “Day to day” by Cryer

Okay, well other than that they were also from Birmingham I can find no information about this band. Seems this was their only single, and track. Speaking of which:

Yeah. Thought I had it, till that annoying message came up: “This video does not exist.” Seems there’s no trace left of them, even their music.

So where are they now?

Your guess is as good as mine. Even the internet doesn’t know!

Track twelve: “Black queen” by May West

Oh this will be fun! No doubt Google will constantly ask me “did you mean Mae West?” No I bloody didn’t! Oh, and it’s a round dessert cake with cream filling, apparently! Ah, I give up! Can I find the track?

Yes, that’s what I said. The track. Is there an echo in here? Did someone bring their pet parrot in? Do we --- Forget it. I can’t find it either. What a crock!

So where are they now?

Will you stop asking me that? I told you, I don’t know!!!

Sorry about that. The unavailability of many of these last few tracks, coupled with a total dearth of information about them, shows I suppose the lack of impact their music had on the Metal scene in general, and on the NWOBHM in particular. However it isn’t all doom and gloom; as we saw, some of these bands went on to do quite well, and some are still around today. In contrast to the bulk of those heard on “MFM2” I think the odds swung a lot more in favour of the vast majority of these bands, whereas those on the previous one largely disappeared into obscurity.

TRACKLISTING

1. It's electric (Diamond Head)
2. Brain damage (Fist)
3. Let it rip (Raven)
4. Gotta get back to you (Prowler)
5. Fantasia (Sledgehammer)
6. Breakdown (Colin Towns)
7. Earthquake at the Savoy (Mick Underwood)
8. Back to the grind (White Spirit)
9. Can't say no to you (Quartz)
10. Hold on (Xero)
11. Day to day (Cryer)
12. Black Queen (May West)

So perhaps “Brute force” was the way to go in the end huh? Other than for Cryer, Xero, Quartz, Sledgehammer, May West… :rolleyes:

Business as usual eh not liking one of my pics:) Anyway I’ve got crocodile skin (you need that when you’re a Styx fan) so no problem.

Personally I can’t believe that you can’t see the metal link (even if you class it as a hard rock album) here from 1972. The band play like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, and sound like the Flower Travellin’ Band meaning that they sound off their rockers. It’s fairly normal for any German band at this time to have Krautrock tendencies and the jazz is a nice touch.

To say that Night Sun should have no link to say 1980s metal, is to to say that both Deep Purple and Uriah Heep shouldn’t either, as all are bands that share the same principal characteristics of using the same type of guitar and organ sound. Night Sun display real speed on several songs and combine them with mid-paced pounders, I’ve reviewed numerous albums with that same combination recorded quite a few years after this album and the combination of speed and medium pace is a staple for many metal bands, you even mentioned the Tony Iommi inspired doom on one track as well.

Bands like Night Sun are cult bands amongst metal enthusiasts and without these bands I doubt metal in the 80s would have been as interesting.

These are random comments for stuff from like two pages ago:

• First of all, Trollheart--as you happened to notice earlier--I have never been in this thread before and I would just like to say I am very impressed with the variety of reviews here--and by that I mean all the different sub-genre reviews and theme reviews. Also some of them go beyond informative, they're hilarious too. Well done.
  
• I would just like to say that Seasons in the Abyss is not 1/10th the album that Reign is.
  
• So I've never listened to Limp Bizkit. Also yeah I agree with Trollheart, WTF kind of name for a band is limp bizkit? I thought nickelback was an awful name for a band...
  
• Also...God Hates Us All was released on September 11, 2001?? That...can't be. Where's Data when you need him?? What are the odds of that happening?

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Blind rage --- Accept --- 2014 (Nuclear Blast)
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Say it loud, say it proud: I have always been a fan of Accept. I mean never. Never been a fan of Accept. To be fair, I've heard little from them, other than their supposedly seminal album “Balls to the wall”, which I heard at the height of a particularly nasty houseparty next door as I was trying to sleep, so as you can imagine that album did not exactly leave a great impression upon me. But Accept are accepted (sorry) as one of the premier German heavy metal bands and although I initially had intended to include this as part of the German section of “The International Language of Metal”, I made a decision not to feature any current albums there. However I had already reviewed this before I made that decision, so no sense in all that work going to waste, is there?

It opens on “Stampede”, with an almost operatic, dramatic intro before the twin guitars of Herman Frank and Wolf Hoffman blast in. This is the third outing for new vocalist Mark Tornillo, and though I didn't particularly like Udo Dirkschneider (what I heard of him), his voice was a little easier to accept (sorry, again) than this new guy. Tornillo seems to come from the school of Death Metal, and he growls and spits out the lyrics without, to me, as much emotion or passion as old Udo. It's a decent opening, powerful and striking though perhaps a little slower than I might have expected with a title like that, and the axework of Hoffman and Frank can't be understated. Still, so far at least they've failed to win me over, but this is after all only track one, and there are ten more to go.

“Dying breed” is up next, and it's more a chugalong rocker, with elements of Sabbath and Maiden at their best; even Tornillo's voice is a little easier to (no, I'm not going to say it again) take this time out, and with some very goth metal style backing vocals it's a decent song, far better than “Stampede”. Again the boys shine on guitar, while Stefan Schwarzmann hammers out the beat and his partner-in-rhythm, Peter Baltes, keeps pace. Yeah, this is much better, but will it be maintained throughout the album I wonder? In terms of value for money “Blind rage” is not bad, with eleven tracks in all, none of which dip below the four minute mark and one or two that edge over six minutes. I don't think there are any instrumentals: I get the feeling Accept don't do instrumentals.

“Dark side of my heart” is in fact one of the shorter ones, just about making it past the four and a half minute mark, and has a certain element of AOR about it, with a great beat and again fine backing vocals. It's kind of mid-paced, rocking but not thrashing and though some people will no doubt headbang to it, I expect there are faster, more headbangworthy songs on this album. A grinder, a cruncher, call it what you will, the next one up is much slower and pounding, kind of reminds me in ways of Sabbath's “Heaven and Hell” or Dio's “Egypt (The chains are on)”. This one comes in on the longer side of things, throwing in some sort of Viking/Goth influences over its almost six-minute run, and “Fall of the empire” has a really great little hook in its chorus. I must say, after what I considered to be a lacklustre opening this album is really shaping up. No bad tracks yet, that one excepted. I said “excepted”!

Nice political/topical lyric in ”Will the mountains crumble to the ground?/Will the Earth stand still?/Will we rise into a mushroom cloud?/Will the mountains crumble?” (Okay, perhaps not the most imaginative of lines, but it surely beats singing about beer, women and fighting?) which does at least show that Accept are thinking about world issues, and I would venture to predict that “Trail of tears” looks at the plight of the North American Indian? Well, it kicks the tempo right back up, that's for sure, as Schwarzmann unleashes his powerful drumbeats, and yes, it's Accept's “Run to the hills”, though perhaps that's not fair: I'm sure many metal bands have written about the disenfranchisement of the Native Americans. But that's the song that comes to mind when I think of the near-eradication of the red man from America. It's a good song, with some fine soloing from Herr Frank and Herr Hoffman, taking us into “Wanna be free”, with a nice little acoustic guitar intro raising the possibility that this may be a ballad.

It picks up in power fairly quickly but generally stays slow, and seems to reference the global cancer of white slavery --- well it does obviously, as the chorus has Tornillo roar ”No more human trafficking!” So that's that sorted then. Fair play to them: a great cause to champion, and it's a really good song too, with again another killer hook. I can just see the audience pumping studded fists in the air as they all yell ”We all wanna be free!” Well, don't we? Seems Accept have tapped into something of a zeitgeist here. Although in fairness it's only the first verse that talks of white slavery, as they they go on to focus on other wrongs such as poverty and homelessness and addiction. And yes, I'm getting more used to Tornillo's voice now, kind of a harsher Axl Rose. Sort of. At least he doesn't scream like Udo did. Well, not yet anyway. Though he does just then go back to that growl he had at the beginning for “200 years”; it's not so bad now. Rocks along nicely, this track with a cool line ”Welcome to the Stone Age/ 200 years after Mankind!” clearly referring back to the lyrical content of “Fall of the empire”. Well, it seems the empire has fallen, and with the passing of Man (”Population zero!”) and all his technology the Earth has reverted to an earlier, more natural state.

I hear echoes of Bowie in here, and Queen, and Balance of Power too. “Bloodbath mastermind” has a really sweet, echoey guitar to open it then a rolling beat from Schwarzmann kicks it all up to ten as the riffs start churning out and Tornillo lets out a few screams, but I don't mind. This is good stuff, though to be honest after the other tracks this is a little below par for me. Not saying it's a bad track, just not as good as any of the six that have preceded it. Tornillo goes into a very Axl/Brett growl for “From the ashes we rise”, another mid-paced rocker with some almost Kansas-style vocal harmonies. One thing this band seems to excel at is writing songs with catchy hooks, which is where the previous one fell down: there wasn't one. Here there is, and it adds an extra layer to an already pretty tasty song. The backing vocals are, again, very effective.

The longest track on the album at just a second short of six and a half minutes, “The curse” starts slowly, with some nice chimy guitar and a sort of tribal drumbeat, almost shades of Peter Gabriel's “Biko” in the guitar riff, then it's another philosophical track with lines like ”Who's the thief, who's the traitor?/ Who's the one who saved the day?/Who will stand in the spotlight/ While the good ones fade away?” Mid-paced again, a grinder and again with elements of AOR or certainly melodic metal in it, this is another winner on an album that has very few bad tracks at all. A really fine solo from one or the other of the guys --- don't ask me which --- and again that killer hook is in evidence, something that's not always the case with metal bands, especially German ones, where often how fast or hard you play seems to be more important than how you craft a song. We storm out in fine style then with “Final journey”, and on the strength of this album I think that's definitely not a prediction, or a threat. Accept prove they have culture too as the guitar solo rewrites Grieg's classical masterpiece “Morning” from “Peer Gynt.” Way to confuse the young 'uns, guys!

TRACKLISTING

1. Stampede
2. Dying breed
3. Dark side of my heart
4. Fall of the empire
5. Trail of tears
6. Wanna be free
7. 200 years
8. Bloodbath mastermind
9. From the ashes we rise
10. The curse
11. Final journey

So has this album made an Accept fan out of me? Well, I think it's difficult to make such a determination on the basis of one album, but one thing I can say about this is that I originally listened to it only for the purposes of review, but I've enjoyed it so much that I think I will be revisiting it purely for pleasure in the future. And that's not a bad start, is it?

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Time to slow things down again and relax with some nice metal ballads, before we charge on into the final stretch...
Kick off with a band called Iron Savior --- could be they're Christian Metal, could be they're not --- they're not --- and a track taken from their second album, “Unification”. This is “Forevermore”.
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Iced Earth aren't the kind of band you usually associate with ballads, but as we've learned with this section everyone likes the odd break from the headbanging and the shredding. From the album “The dark saga” here's “I died for you”.
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And anything Metallica can do, Megadeth can too! Here's “Blood of heroes”, from “Youthanasia”.
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Band I've never heard before, called Twilight Guardians, from one of the countries that is fast becoming my favourite both for metal and prog, Finland. This is from their debut album, released in 2000 and titled “Tales of the brave”. Nice little song called “Snowfall”.
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And we end with Ratt (remember them?) with “Giving yourself away” from the album “Detonator”.
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Not really helping with your whole fuddy-duddy image there, Trollheart.

And albums are put in italics. Songs are put in quotation marks. How is it that when it comes to music your grammar just goes right out the window?

This. Oh, and Trollheart, I'm throwing Restless and Wild by Accept at you. :rolleyes:

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In direct contrast to the first two albums I reviewed in this trilogy of various artists compilations (shoulda gone “Triple Box Set” on this puppy! Oh well …) the final album features almost exclusively established bands who are still working, many of whom are well known or even famous. Almost all of them come from the US or Canada, and hardly any of them have anything to do with the NWOBHM. That notwithstanding, this was for me the first time I heard of many of them. In some cases it led me to check further into their music. In others, not so much.

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Killer Watts --- Various Artists --- 1980 (Epic)

Considering that this was released at the height of the NWOBHM, it shows quite clearly that, until the new bands in the UK began making themselves heard, and some of them such as Maiden Leppard and Raven extended their fanbase across the water, US metal ruled. Although really some of these artistes could scarcely be called Metal. Journey? REO? Gimme a break! Still, the fact is that many of the bands and singers featured here could pack out a stadium while even Maiden at this point could just about fill the likes of the Marquee, though that of course would change. But for now, British Metal was mostly seen as the newcomer, the little annoying brother who kept wanting to come on trips with his older, more experienced and world-weary sibling, but who could not be easily shaken off.

American Metal --- even if you prefer to call it Hard Rock, or in the case of Journey and REO, soft rock --- was well established by 1980 and though the tectonic shift taking place across the ocean would change the musical landscape globally forever and have far-reaching consequences for the older guard as bands like Metallica and Anthrax and Slayer rose up, right now they were in the ascendancy, unaware that their reign was soon to be challenged. A new breed of metalheads, hungry, raw and champing at the bit to be let loose, were about to descend upon the shores of America and do for US Metal what the Irish did for the Chicago Police Department.

But all that was in the (near) future, and complacent in their superiority, these were the bands who ruled America from coast to coast, some of the heaviest bands striding the Land of the Free and showing the youngsters who dreamed of being as huge as they were how it was done. As these bands are all well known I won’t be running the “Where are they now” section: everybody knows where REO, Aerosmith and Priest are now, and as for short bios? I doubt anyone will need them for a large percentage of the bands here. But those who are perhaps lesser known may be afforded a line or two.

Track one: “The World Anthem” by Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush

The only artiste to have two tracks on this compilation, it’s a little strange that Epic decided to put them one after the other, which kind of dulls the impact of the second one, but however. Frank is one of the Canadians of which I spoke, and in fact as I double-check the track listing I see there are two European bands here, one from England, but the rest are all from ‘cross the water. One of the most underrated guitarists of the age, Frank Marino recorded seven albums with his band, Mahogany Rush, later albums appending his name to the band, but they split in the late seventies and Frank continued on his own, solo under his own name. My only real other experience of his music is the 1981 album “Juggernaut”, which is ok but contains one of the most powerful anti-war songs I have ever heard.

This first track is from his fifth album with Mahogany Rush, released in 1977, and it is in fact the title track of that album. It’s a typically bombastic track with a big keyboard and guitar intro, which may or may not be “O Canada” (some Canadians might help me out here?) and is an instrumental that runs for over three minutes. If you were to have an introduction to this album then this is a great one, and it really highlights Frank’s Hendrix-like skills on the axe. In fact, if, as has been said, he is emulating the Great One, an accusation he wishes to distance himself from, and if this is the Canadian national anthem, then he’s not helping himself by repeating what Jimi did with “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

Track two: “Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame” by Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush

Like I said, for some reason the label saw fit to put two Marino tracks one after the other, so if you hate him it’s not a great start. Still, who could hate Frank? It’s a faster, rockier track which allows Marino to exercise his vocal cords as well as his guitar arm, and though he has that sort of gravelly voice you associate with the likes of Joe Cocker it’s certainly distinctive and powerful. Real rock and roll, man! Plus his guitar skills cannot be ignored.

Track three: “USA” by Ray Gomez.

Although I had never heard of him and can find no big bands he was in, it’s odd because apparently Ray rubbed shoulders with everyone from Lennon to Anderson, and Bruford to Emerson, as well as working with some jazz giants. “USA” is from his first solo album called “Volume”. It’s generally a kind of AOR/soft rock song with a kind of West Coast feel about it, reminds me of the likes of REO and maybe Foreigner. Definitely not what I’d call Metal, though to be fair the album never claims to be a Metal compilation. Very catchy in a sort of Jackson Brown/John Cougar Mellencamp way. Powerful guitar, which is only what you would expect of the man once dubbed “a guitarist’s guitarist”.

Track four: “Flesh and blood” by Ted Nugent.

Ah, who doesn’t know the wildman of Metal? Whether you’re revelling in his screaming guitar solos or shaking your head at his ideas on gun control and hunting, you can’t ignore this force of nature. This track is taken from his sixth album, “Scream dream”, and while I’ve never been a fan and don’t know much of the man --- got halfway through the track then could take no more of his screaming --- it probably needs to be accepted that this is the first of the real Metal tracks on the album. After all, if Ted Nugent isn’t Heavy Metal, who is?

Track five: “Knock ‘em dead kid” by Trooper.

Apparently well known in their native land, this is the second Canadian artiste featured on the album, and comes from their third album of the same name. Oddly, though they had hits from the album --- presumably only in Canada --- this was not one of them. It’s a pretty good track, with a sort of marching, swinging boogie rhythm and some very decent vocals. One of the first on the album that really made me sit up and take notice.

Track six: “Rapid fire” by Judas Priest.

Sounding as out of place within this mixture of American rock giants and minnows as a nun at a Slayer concert, Priest are the only English band on the album. I’ve never been a fan, and what I heard at the time of this song did nothing to change that. Listening to it now, I like it a whole lot better than I did then. It comes from their seminal classic “British steel” and I guess gave American audiences a preview of what was soon to hit their shores. It’s a fast-paced track with something of the rhythm of Motorhead in it, but then, it’s off “British steel” so let’s assume you all know it backwards.

Track seven: “Godzilla” by Blue Oyster Cult.

Even the least Metal-savvy poseur has heard “Don’t fear the Reaper”, so BOC can happily say there is unlikely to be anyone in the world who does not know of them, if not actually know their music. This is from their album “Spectres”, and was a hit for them. Again, BOC kind of straddle the line between Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, though I would tend to say they fall more on the side of the former. The track is down and dirty, with grindy guitar and some hilarious lyrics, but then what would you expect from a song written about a monster Japanese lizard? ;) ”Oh no! They say he’s gotta go/ Oh no Godzilla!/ Oh no! There goes Tokyo!/ Oh no Godzilla!” Class.

Track eight: “Need a little girl (Just like you)” by Rick Derringer.

A man who has played with everyone from Zep to the Stones, and Alice Cooper to Steely Dan, Derringer was, and remains, someone I personally know little about, though his band had a huge hit in the sixties. Derringer is not his real name of course. Cool bass intro with some wild guitar, but the vocal doesn’t do anything for me.

Track nine: “Back on the road again” by REO Speedwagon.

One of the biggest rock groups in the USA during the 80s, REO of course became famous for the ballads “Can’t fight this feeling” and “Keep on loving you”, but they could rock as well, as this song demonstrates. Taken from their “Nine lives” album, it’s interestingly the only one on the album written by their bassist, Bruce Hall. Wonder if it reflects real-life experience by him? You can read all about it in the latest “Two sides of the same coin” feature a few pages back. I must admit, one of the better tracks on the album. My favourite overall.

Track ten: “Line of fire” by Journey.

Although I’m a big Journey fan this is from one of their albums I really hate, “Departure” --- odd in a way, as my favourite of theirs is “Arrival” --- but it does showcase the harder side of a band renowned and often reviled for soft-rock ballads. “Line of fire” proves Journey have some teeth, but I never liked it. Sort of a fast boogie feel to it but it’s way too wimpy to be on this album. A broken circuit in this high-energy fretfest. Someone put the plug back in!

Track eleven: “Solid as a rock” by Shakin’ Street.

Ah, that’s better! We’re back on track. Another of my favourites, Shakin’ Street were a pretty well known band in France, and among others featured a man who was to make his mark in no uncertain terms later, one Ross the Boss, who of course went on to help form Manowar. The song has his trademark guitar sound, and a real sense of melody to it, and singer Fabienne Shine certainly has a powerful voice. The song is of course driven by a powerful, stomping guitar riff and has an almost punk sensibility about it.

Track twelve: “L’elite” by Trust.

Following on from a French band we have another, the mighty Trust who, although virtually unknown beyond their home shores, have continued to churn out excellent albums over a career spanning more than thirty years. This is from their second, “Trust I (L’elite”)” before they began singing in English. Unless you know French you have no idea what’s being sung but that doesn’t matter as it’s a rocking, speeding track that gives you everything you want in a Metal song: power, pace, passion and (I sound like Alan Hansen!) energy. Vive la France!

Track thirteen: “Too wild to tame” by The Boyzz.

Wow. They really took their time coming up with a snappy name for their band, didn’t they? :rolleyes: Living up to their “too wild to tame” claim though they were a biker band whose vocalist performed athletic feats on stage. However they may have been too wild to tame but they were not too good to drop, and Epic did just that when their first self-titled album failed to sell well. Good song though and kind of reminds me a little of a heavier Quireboys. Interesting use of brass in the track.

Track fourteen: “Let the music do the talking” by The Joe Perry Project.

Guitarist with American icons Aerosmith, Joe Perry formed this solo outfit after a nasty argument with Steven Tyler which resulted in his quitting the band. Possibly much of the material that formed the debut album “Let the music do the talking” could be said to be technically Aerosmith property as it was recorded while Perry was with them, and he took it with him when he left. However there seems to have been no fight over ownership, and Perry released three solo albums before returning to the fold in 1984. It’s a good fast rocker, as you would expect from Aerosmith’s lead axeman.

Track fifteen: “No surprise” by Aerosmith.

And to follow the wayward guitarist we have his parent band. This is actually taken from the album on which Perry walked out halfway through, and so between the two tracks we capture a moment in the history of the band, a moment when Aerosmith had to go on without Perry as he sulked and created his own music. I’m not a huge fan of Aerosmith, which is to say I know little of their music beyond the hits. But even this sounds a little weak compared to what I have heard. Were they missing Perry that much?

Track sixteen: “Checkin’ it out (Baby don’t you cry)” by Ozz.

Hard to find any information about these guys without running into Ozzy, so I can’t tell you anything other than that they were a mixed-race duo. And as far as I know, from America not Australia, as you might have thought. Not a bad track but a little lacking in power and energy. Was never one of my favourite tracks on the album, but it leads into one.

Track seventeen: “Boogie no more” by Molly Hatchet.

Oh yeah! I love some Southern Boogie, and the Hatchet do it better than most. This is a great track that starts with a slow, grindy guitar accompanied by a growling, raw vocal from Danny Joe Brown that soon ramps up into a real Southern Boogie guitarfest that almost --- almost --- rivals that on “Freebird”. What a closer!

TRACKLISTING

1. The World Anthem (Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush)
2. Rock and roll hall of fame (Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush)
3. USA (Ray Gomez)
4. Flesh and blood (Ted Nugent)
5. Knock 'em dead kid (Trooper)
6. Rapid fire (Judas Priest)
7. Godzilla (Blue Oyster Cult)
8. Need a little girl (just like you) (Rick Derringer)
9. Back on the road again (REO Speedwagon)
10. Line of fire (Journey)
11. Solid as a rock (Shakin' Street)
12. L'elite (Trust)
13. Too wild to tame (The Boyzz)
14. Let the music do the talking (The Joe Perry Project)
15. No surprise (Aerosmith)
16. Checkin' it out (Baby don't you cry) (Ozz)
17. Boogie no more (Molly Hatchet)

Although this can be seen as a flawed collection --- I mean, really! Come on! Journey? REO? Did anyone ever, in the history of everything, ever once link those two bands with the term “killer watts”? Credit us with some intelligence and taste, Epic! --- its release was either timely or a great coincidence, as being on the market the same year as the other two albums --- albeit three thousand miles away --- gives us both sides of the spectrum of rock music at the beginning of the 1980s. On the US side of things you have established acts like Aerosmith, BOC and Molly Hatchet, plying their trade as they have always done, secure in the knowledge that they are big bands and are always assured of sell out concerts.

On the other side of the Atlantic, quietly plotting the overthrow of the old order (okay not quietly but without too much initial fanfare), bands nobody had heard of were staking their claim, gearing up for the revolution to come and more than ready to show the old guard how it was done in the new decade. Some of these bands would of course come to nothing, and fade away with barely a whisper, but others would not only conquer America but influence a whole new movement there that would bring Heavy Metal out from behind the skirts of Hard Rock, and make it faster, harder and more aggressive, even progressive, than its older cousin could ever have hoped to be.

It’s interesting, though hardly surprising, too, to note how different the two compilations are from each other, if you take “Brute force” and “Metal for Muthas” as one product. In the UK, with the NWOBHM in full swing, record labels were showcasing the new talent, unknown bands who (they hoped) would rise to become stars and lead a new revolution in music. Apart from Iron Maiden --- who were even at the point of the release of these two albums a long way short of proper commercial success --- there isn’t one band on either of the two UK albums that was known in any real sense at the time. The US album is stuffed full of bands everyone knew, who had been the mainstay of American rock for at least a decade and who, honestly, probably never foresaw any challenge to their dominance. Yes, there were other, lesser known artistes there, and even a few European ones, but in general “Killer watts” is a US release and proudly shows off the superior firepower of American rock music, somewhat smug and complacent.

But there was a storm brewing, a change coming. It hadn't broken over America yet, but over on the shores of old Blighty, thunder was rolling and lighting was crackling, and heavy clouds were moving across the sky. In the approaching tsunami which was making its way from Britain to the USA, those who held musical power in the States would soon find themselves being carried along, learning to swim with it or risk drowning and being cast aside as the new order established itself.

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Now, the real question is, can I find the last album (so far) in order to review it? Well it proved tricky, but I did eventually track it down (without having to buy it) and I'm rather glad I did, as I note with some sadness what all Slayer fans will have known for some time, that it was the last album to feature Jeff Hanneman before his untimely death in 2013. There is a new album due out next year, but this has got to mark the end of an era for Slayer, losing one of their founder members, principal songwriters and Kerry's guitar partner. Must have been tough.

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World painted blood --- Slayer --- 2009

Before he fell ill though, there was a chance to hear Hanneman play with his bandmates and dazzle us all one more time, as Slayer released their tenth album. He wrote the music for half the songs, and wrote or contributed to the lyrics on half as well, the rest written by Kerry King with some small input from Tom Araya. I'm sorry to say though that the usual done to death subjects are again in evidence: serial killers, war, religion and madness, but then, what at this point did you expect from a new Slayer release?

No doubt The Batlord, and others, will be saying at this point “Shit man! What are you thinking of? Deeper meaning in Slayer albums? Lyrics? Concepts? That's not what Slayer are about! It's about the power, the aggression, the speed!” And yes guys, I know that, I get it: you don't speak the words Slayer and subtlety in the same sentence, nor the word original. I understand that's how they roll. But it doesn't help me reviewing the albums if that's the only criteria I have to use.
“This album's fast and brutal.”
“This album's brutal.”
“This album's brutal, but not as brutal as the last. Oh, and it's aggressive.”
Wouldn't make for very good reviews, would it?

So I have to search a little deeper, even if there is no depth to be found. And to be fair, some of these lyrics are damn good. And well written. These guys aren't braindead. I just wish they could get away from the three or four main subjects they always seem to write about, and try something new.

The title track comes in slowly and sort of in an understated manner, with sound effects in a Sabbath groove before it explodes into the usual Slayer fare, rocketing along a Mach II, but with a darker, deeper tone than in most of the other albums to date. The song itself seems to be a carryover from the final, and bonus, track of the previous album, “Final six”, detailing the Apocalypse in lurid, gory detail in which Slayer seem to revel, almost as if they're looking forward to the end of days. King is in fine form and Hanneman, in his last contribution to the band makes a real impression, almost as if he knows he will not be around for much longer. The two guitarists seem to spar and war with each other as the returned Dave Lombardo stomps along the drumbeat like a drill sergeant watching his charges with a flinty gleam in his eye.

“Unit 731” revisits the themes of “Angel of death” from “Reign in blood”, this time focussing on the atrocities practiced not by a Nazi doctor but by a Japanese one. Pounding along at full tilt, there is to be honest nothing in this that's not in the earlier song, and why they bothered is beyond me. Surely all that can be said has been said about this subject? What's next? What the Russians did in World War II? Gulags? Guantanamo? Sigh. Originality, thy name is not Slayer. Decent song but seems a little pointless. At least “Snuff” treads somewhat newer ground, detailing how the internet has become a breeding ground and marketplace for every kind of filth and deviance you could want, not that that's news to anyone. Good use of irony in the lyric: ”Action! Torture, misery, endless suffering.” and ”The internet's an open door/ Everyone can see/ Dyng brutally/ The audience begs for more.” Sick but true. Great screaming solo to start the song off and it sets the pace for a track that in true Slayer fashion seems not to even understand the concept of slowing down. Pretty, as they say, brootal stuff.

I like the idea behind “Beauty in order”, as they finally step a little outside their frankly constricting box to try something a little new, tellign the story of Countess Bathory, said to have bathed in virgins' blood. Good dark vibe to this with some cartoonish screams made by Kerry on the frets, but they work well within the framework of the song. Tom sings it very well too; maybe a pity they didn't engage a guest female singer to give it that extra feeling of realism and connect the singer to the character, but are there any women who would work with Slayer I wonder? “Worldwide hate” has nothing new to offer in terms of lyrical content, though it's a powerful, driving song and a lot of fun on one level, while it's perhaps odd to see, after “Jihad”, the guys tackling the practice of law in arab countries, such as cutting off the hands as a punishment for theft. Hard to work out whether or not they agree with it or are protesting about it --- though, given their views on the liberalism of US justice, I'd be inclined to go for the former --- but “Public display of dismemberment” (surely to become known as PDD) rocks along with the sort of fire and anger and almost blind hatred set to music we've come to know (and love?) Slayer for.

And speaking of things we've come to know these four guys for, gimme an “A”! Gimme a “P”! Gimme an “O”! Gimme a “C”! Yeah, it's another song about the end of the world, this time mankind is wiped out by a genetic disease, and I must say musically “The human strain” is probably one of the best constucted of their songs I've heard in a long time, with Hanneman and King making the guitars somehow sound ominous as well as threatening, and when Araya dips into his more “normal” low voice he can be quite effective, kind of narrating rather than singing. They surprise me with a great rant against Big Oil in “Americon” as Tom screams ”It's all about the/ Motherfucking oil/ Regardless of the flag/ Upon its soil!” Spot on, guys. Spot on. The song has a great boogie beat too, and runs at a decent pace with some super solos from the guys. Another great track. They should do more stuff like this.

And we're back to another favourite subject, serial killers, with “Psychopathy red”, as the tempo hits up again, burning up the road with some excellent guitar interplay between Jeff and Kerry and, it must be noted, some really smooth bass licks from Tom. I'd like to say the return of Dave Lombardo is a revelation, but I can't: you all know my basic apathy towards drummers. One seems very much the same as the other and especially in Slayer's music I couldn't even tell personally that they had changed drummers if I hadn't read it. Sorry, Dave! “Playing with dolls” takes us back into the mind of the murderer, but with something of a twist, as this time it's seen through the eyes of a child who is witnessing --- but we assume not surviving --- the slaughter of their family. It even starts off differently to a standard Slayer song, with smooth guitar and a very ominous, threatening rhythm, slow and grinding, Tom bellowing his heart out but putting so much passion into his voice. Yeah, I have to say I really like this too.

And rather quickly it would seem, we're heading into the closing track, as “Not of this god” takes us out on a galloping guitarfest, with even a sort of drums solo from Lombardo in the middle, very hypnotic as the beat turns into a sort of blues/boogie like ZZ gone psycho. Mad guitar riffs scream all about Tom as he thunders on, like psychotic acolytes that suddenly jump to life as the two boys belt towards the song, and album's conclusion.

There is one bonus track to go though, so let's go searching for that ... There we go! “Atrocity vendor” appears also on the B-side of the single released of the title track, and it's fast and powerful as you would probably expect at this point, but to be completely fair to it, nothing special and probably only deserves to be a bonus track. If the album had ended on this I think it would have been a mistake. As it is it ends perfectly, a fusilade of hate and anger and power to keep fans going till next year when the new album hits the shelves.

TRACKLISTING

1. World painted blood
2. Unit 731
3. Snuff
4. Beauty through order
5. Hate worldwide
6. Public display of dismemberment
7. Human strain
8. Americon
9. Psychopathy red
10. Playing with dolls
11. Not of this god
12. Atrocity vendor

Well I must say that Slayer are beginning to show promise here. After nine albums they have finally really impressed me and some of the songs on this aren't just good, they're great. A few deviations from their usual lyrical fare are definitely welcome, and even their music has improved to a degree. Tom's singing seems to get better as he ages, but it's sad to say that it's the last we'll hear of founder member Jeff Hanneman. I would say rest in peace, but they don't believe in god do they? So I'll just say wherever you are now Jeff, I hope it's what you expected and that it's one bitchin' party.

And so we come at last to the end of my sojourn through Slayer's discography, my first Featured Artiste on Metal Month. Have I learned anything from it? Hell yeah! I've learned not to take a band like this for granted; if you look into their lyrics there's a lot more there than just angry shouting and cursing and wishes that various people were dead. There's quite some thought put into some of the songs --- many of the songs --- and though Batty, Jansz and others may think I'm misinterpreting certain songs or being overly analytical of what is in the end just a "Fuck-you" sentiment, I prefer to think that when any band writes a song they have some idea in mind, and hope to get across some message.

Slayer are still not a band I would listen to for pleasure, but I found to my surprise over the last month that reviewing their albums was not always the chore I had envisaged it to be. I would admit though that I don't see any huge development in the band from about the fourth album on; they seem to be sort of marking time, going through the motions --- always angrily of course --- and as I've remarked before, they really do need new subjects to write about. They've done war, Christ and serial killers to death (pun intended) at this point, so hopefully when they release their new one next year we'll see something different. Well, we can hope.

But it's certainly been an interesting time; loud, angry, vicious, fast, brutal, powerful: all of these adjectives can apply and do apply to Slayer, but one certainly does not: boring.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings over the last month and next year I'll be checking out the albums of Cannibal Corpse --- hey! Watch it Satan! You nearly skated right into me! Cold, innit? ;)

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Having only experienced --- and disliked --- “Cowboys from Hell”, I never went further with my exploration of Pantera, but I’m assured that that particular album was from their “Groove Metal” days (though I didn’t see anything groovy about it!) and this is their debut, released on an independent label and more in the glam/trad metal wheelhouse, so perhaps I’ll enjoy it more than my only other meeting with his band.

First thing I have to say is, how awful is that sleeve? Jesus! It’s like someone said be as, to use a word The Batlord favours, goofy about it as possible! Hopefully the music does not reflect the cartoon image on the cover.

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Metal magic --- Pantera --- 1983 (Metal Magic)
Recommended by Wpnfire (and Briks)
With spacey, weird sounds including what seems to be a sonar signature, “Ride my rocket” gets us on our way with that faux live sound I hate. But the song is reminiscent of Diamond Head at their best, and I can hear the vocals nice and clearly, which is certainly a nice surprise. It's a good rocker and bops along really nicely like something out of the early years of the NWOBHM, despite being American. Perhaps shows the influence bands like DH and Angel Witch were having 'cross the pond? Good bit of guitar histrionics there from Dimebag Darrel (was that really his name, God rest his soul?) while Terry Glaze (again...?) belts out the vocal.

It's a good start and we move on into “I'll be alright”, with a chugging guitar and rolling drums, heavier than the somewhat more AOR feel of the first track, a darker, almost early Iron Maiden (I'm talking “Killers”, the debut) element to it. The vocal is grittier, the guitar snarlier, the whole thing giving the impression of a band suddenly growing up real fast. The growls at the end are pointless and superfluous though, and instead of sounding hard and tough Glaze sounds like he's on the toilet. :laughing: His vocal changes a third time, into a sort of John Parr/John Mitchell hybrid as “Tell me if you want it” seems to be very clearly targeting a radio audience. To be honest it's okay; it is heavy but there's a sense of commerciality, or desired commerciality about it that sort of makes me shake my head. And not in a good way. Good solo though.

There's more of a straightahead rock vibe to “Latest lover”, where I'm put in mind of original Tygers of Pan-Tang vocalist Jeff Cox, and I can hear the early influence of Van Halen here too, but again the song lacks something. It's kind of wavering between being a rock song and an AOR one. Odd. Keyboards which are not credited usher in the quite sumptuous ballad “Biggest part of me”, as Pantera confound my attempts to pigeonhole them once again, penning a superb radio-friendly love song that just fairly shimmers with emotion and heartache, but also has a killer guitar riff driving it. Anyone surprised if I say this is my favourite track so far? Really? Do you know me at all, there at the back? Let me introduce myself...

This song has hit (no, hit! :D)written all over it, but no doubt it wasn't. Also, that man or woman on keys is being criminally treated by being left anonymous. A searing solo from Darrell takes us into a really emotional guitar passage and back into the vocal. There's nothing about this song I don't like. Well, I would have preferred a stronger finish. A deep keys intro then to the title track, a sound like helicopter blades before it whistles off into the distance and Darrell flies in with the guitar, slicing up the tune like a master lumberjack cutting up a fallen tree trunk, and this song belts along with real rock and roll purpose. I definitely would liken these guys at this moment to Diamond Head, particularly on the NWOBHM band's first two albums. The vocal is a little buried in the mix at times, almost whispering once or twice, but the nameless keyboard player does a star turn and really helps carry the song. Big machinegun guitar ending, though again it seems to come to a close a bit too abruptly.

“Widowmaker” is another mid-paced rocker with what I would have to term a somewhat weak vocal from Glaze, whose resemblance to Sean Harris is nothing short of uncanny. If I find he never even listened to DH I will be amazed. “Nothin' on (but the radio)” shows the beginnings of the move they would later make in the direction of groove metal, but for now it has an almost pop sentiment to it, and with the words ”On the radio” being constantly repeated I can't help but think of Donna Summer...:shycouch:

I must admit I thought “Sad lover” would be another ballad, but it starts with a big “Woo-hah!” and then piles into a boogie rocker with a lot of teeth, and as the closer is entitled “Rock out” I think we can assume there was just the one ballad on this album, and it still remains my standout. As for “Sad lover”? It's okay but nothing special, a very formulaic, generic rock track that any of half a hundred metal, rock or even pop bands could have written and sung. Meh, at least it's short. And it has a pretty killer guitar solo in it, but even Dimebag Darrell can't rescue this one I'm afraid. Think Bon Jovi meet the Quireboys. Yeah. :rolleyes: Can we go out in style though? Well we get a big growling guitar and heavy drumming and then a suitably gravelly vocal from Glaze on what is actually the longest track on the debut, a little short of six minutes.

There's an element of groove about this too, and boogie to an extent. It's a good heavy song and seemingly wants nothing to do with radio, unless it's blasting it out its car window while speeding down the highway. Speaking of speeding, it picks up tempo halfway as the drums under the control of Vinnie Paul, Dimebag's brother, crash and tumble all over the place. That doesn't last though and it goes back to the original tempo as the song heads into its finale and closes the album reasonably well.

TRACKLISTING

1. Ride my rocket
2. I'll be alright
3. Tell me if you want it
4. Latest lover
5. Biggest part of me
6. Metal magic
7. Widowmaker
8. Nothin' on but the radio
9. Sad lover
10. Rock out

Not a classic by any means, and I don't see any indications that Pantera a) were going to become pretty huge or b) would so radically change their style, but then there were seven years between this and the release of “Cowboys from Hell”, their first of five albums over ten years on major labels. Guess their sound evolved. Here though I would have said, listening to this for the first time and knowing nothing of Pantera, that they were destined to be just another metal band swallowed up in the plethora of their kind who were rising, and falling, during the early eighties as metal became redefined over in the UK, and that permeated across the Atlantic. I don't see the signs of greatness here; this just seems pretty generic to me.

Just as well I never had a job as a talent scout, eh? ;)

It's sad to listen to Araya's piercing voice deteriorate over the years. :(

Trollheart you listen to Daft Punk? Since when?

First off, thanks for the comments and sorry for being so long getting back to you. As you can I'm sure appreciate, my plate is very full at the moment.

Re the variety here, yes I tried, even in the original Metal Month, to make sure that there was as much and as different metal as I could. No point in just filling the month up with progressive metal, power metal and other metal bands I liked: who would read that? So I determined to step outside my metal comfort zone, and try some of the harder, more extreme or less accessible (to me) bands and genres. Some of it was torture, some of it was educational and some of it was fun. So this year I decided to keep going in that direction, but pull even further to the right as it were, and allow Batty to torture me with the worst albums (for me) he could come up with while also making sure that everyone had their chance to throw albums at me I would probably not otherwise have listened to, with the top tens and the suggested albums slot.

Slayer was my own decision; I'd avoided them for so long I thought it was time I faced my fear, y'know, and it wasn't so bad. In fact, given my own personal preferences I think I did quite well steering clear of the usual power, prog and symphonic metal I like to listen to. A triple boxset from Gehenna? Done. Grindcore albums? Done. Er, sort of. :shycouch: Doom metal and sludge metal? Done. Japanese metal? Done. And so on.

Hopefully it's been a decent success and I'll build on this next year. Thanks for commenting again and hope you enjoyed it.

As for Daft Punk? Yeah I decided to give in and see what all the fuss was about, and "Random access memories" really impressed me...

Into the final week of Metal Month II we go, and time to get up off my arse, knuckle down and start wrapping up a few things before we run out of time. Firstly, our last look into
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As we complete our short look into Viking Metal, The Batlord has suggested this band as a must, and as I'm still rather clueless about this subgenre (listening to a handful of bands is not going to make me an expert, nor did I expect it would) I bow to his wisdom and present to you the first of our final three bands to be investigated here.
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The Varangian Way --- Turisas --- 2007 (Century Media)

You'll probably notice right away from the tracklisting that there is no mention of Odin, Thor, Asgard or Valhalla here, and that's because Turisas are a Finnish band, and rather like Finntroll, tend to stick to the myths relevant to their own particular part of Scandinavia. The band, nevertheless, have experienced their own form of Norse --- or Finnish, if you like --- tragedy, and one would almost believe that the god whose name they took for their band name was scowling down upon them for some perceived slight. Listen to this:

Guitarist George Laakso was involved in a fight in 2004 in which he was stabbed six times in the back. He made a full recovery though, only to be catastrophically injured in a car accident the very next year. This left him paralysed and in a wheelchair. Though he tried to continue with the band it was impossible, and it is unlikely he will ever walk, never mind play guitar, again. To add to that, their accordion player disappeared mysteriously in 2008, having told his bandmates he would not return from Amsterdam on the plane with them, for unspecified, or unrevealed reasons. He has never been seen since. Finally, the band then landed a plum support tour across America and Europe playing second fiddle (literally, more later) to ... Dragonforce! Man, those Finnish gods must really hate them!

“The Varangian Way” is their second of so far four albums, and tells the story of an epic journey by the Finnish heroes into Russia. It's a concept album, but I'm unfamiliar with the myths of Finland. If I can work it out from the lyrics I'll let you know. There's a good dramatic, heavy beginning as we head “To Holmgard and beyond” with marching, rattling drums and proud guitars. I already like the idea in the lyric for this song, the sense of camaraderie and the gentle fun poked at the sailors: ”Osmo and Dalk, Kyy, Kokko and Ulf/ Were glad to be off the oars/ Turo had eaten too much again/ Now hanging himself overboard/ The Tostensson twins were excited as always/ Adventure was their game/ Myself, Hakon the Bastard/ Was out to find my name “ So we know our narrator's name anyway. The vocal when it comes in is surprisingly pleasant, not too rough and certainly understandable. Kind of a power metal feel to this I think, with a choir of backing vocals adding to the grandeur and majesty as the ships set sail for lands unknown, the men aboard determined to make their names resonate down through history as the first ones to cross those borders. Machinegun guitar and hammering drums lead the song, and there's definitely a more restrained sense in the vocal here, the feel of adventure and excitement permeating the tune. Lovely accordion passage then as it slows down in the third minute, the last appearance on album of Lisko, before his strange vanishing act. Hard chugging guitar joins in now and the choir adds its voice as the song reaches a climax and the men of Finland sail out towards their destiny. Great start.

A really nice, but short and soft violin passage takes us into “A portage to the unknown”, which opens on accordion but soon blasts out in guitar assault, the drums rattling as the choir give full vent before vocalist Warlord Matthias Nygård takes the song solo for a short moment, then it all powers back up again as the sailors seem to accept that this is a one-way mission: ”What will we find and what was left behind/ There's no return, get it off your mind. “ Nice keyboard work here, also contributed by Nygård, and the interplay between him and Lisko is pretty cool. Very stirring music all told. Harder vocal now, almost a screaming roar, then a very progressive-style keyboard run which takes us to the end of the track and into “Cursed be iron”, where the vocal changes radically, into a high-pitched scream more comfortable in the death or black metal arena really. Thankfully though that doesn't last, and accompanied by muted drumming and Lisko on the accordion Nygård takes the song into a sort of traditional style. It's weird: it alternates between “Viking death metal” and this more folky, traditional music. Bit offputting as it just jumps from one to the other, taking you by surprise each time.

Hope seems to desert the Norsemen – are Finnish Vikings still Norsemen? --- as “Fields of gold” (NOT the Sting song, I hasten to add!) details their growing disillusionment with their quest as it stretches on, seemingly unobtainable, and the idea they may never see their destination. ”Is a draw the only win?/ Would a tie double the loss? A fight*for existence/ Life-death: 0-0 “ More of the folk music coming in here with violin and accordion, and the return of the “death metal” vocal screaming away, but returning too is the chorus, the choir, carrying the tune in a perhaps incongruously triumphant vein. Given the lyric I would have thought this might be a slow, morose ballad, but nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps defiance is the main theme in the song, a refusal to be beaten. Egyptian style melody then suffuses the music as it runs into an extended instrumental section, mostly carried by keys and guitar. Some nice whistle and military drumming before we go into a reel or something before the big dramatic finish. Then it seems that, despite their misgivings and fears, the Finnish heroes reach their destination and are welcome by the (presumably) king Janisieif, who gives them shelter and I think promises to give them men too. Hard to know when you're unfamiliar with the legends and histories of the country, but that seems to be the basis of it.

“In the court of Jarislief” is a short song, propelled by some demonic violin work from Olli Vänskä, really quite amazing, and the story then continues in “Five hundred and one”, where piano --- the first time I've heard it used on this album --- takes the tune in a little uptempo style before big heavy keyboards, guitars and the roaring scream blast in, trundling drums adding to the mix as the heroes praise the succour offered them by the king. The song develops into a sort of boogie, rocking along in a mid-paced vein, some great keyboard arpeggios from Nygård peppering and in some places driving the tune. In fact, he absolutely blows it out of the water with an unbelievable mellotron solo in the fourth minute: really prog rock! A huge, powerful choral ending, worthy of the end of the album, but we have yet two tracks to go.

Danger again looms for the sailors though as they encounter “The Dnieper Rapids”, a real sense of urgency and even panic in the opening instrumental as the ship heads for the deadly hazard, guitars from Jussi Wickström scything through the track, and for the first time I hear female vocals in the choir; really adds something. As indeed do some very cleverly placed and used orchestral samples, giving the thing a very cinematic and epic feel. Very strange to hear the end of “The Fountain of Salmacis” by Genesis, unless Gabriel and Co. robbed it from somewhere! That takes us to the conclusion of the album, with “Miklagard overture”, but though you would expect such a title to refer to an instrumental, well it doesn't.

It's also the longest track by far here, just over eight minutes. With an acoustic and gentle sort of pastoral opening, framed by lush keys and crying violin it ramps up as it heads into its first minute, with a melody that unaccountably reminds me of the Bond theme! Even this though, allied with the darker vocal, can't detract from the grandeur of this closing track, especially when the orchestral keys come into the mix, and what is this? Sounds like a Yes-style keyboard run! This just gets stranger, and yet here, stranger is better! Back to the acoustic for a moment before it all heads into the big finale, which has definitely been worth waiting for. Superb.

TRACKLISTING

1. To Holmgard and beyond
2. A portage to the unknown
3. Cursed be iron
4. Fields of gold
5. In the court of Jarislief
6. Five hundered and one
7. The Dneiper Rapids
8. Miklagard overture

There's a “Director's Cut” special edition but to be honest it only includes a cover of Boney M's “Rasputin”, which while funny is not really worthy of coverage here (maybe somewhere else...) and another edit of the opening track, so I'm not going to go into it. What I can say is that this has been the most enjoyable album I've listened to in this whole section. More than Bathory, more than Einherjer, more possibly even than Manowar, were I to feature them. I loved everything about this album, and the progressive rock touches, samples, or whatever they were, while weird, were very welcome and helped this album stand out among those I've reviewed so far.

It's sad that Turisas had such bad luck, and I do wonder whatever happened to Lisko, but they had a new album out last year so they're obviously still alive and kicking, albeit with some different members than played on here. But if there is, of what I've heard so far, a crowning glory to the Viking Metal of Finland, I think you'd have to go very far to top this.

Sweden, Norway, Denmark, eat your hearts out.



Spanish Viking Metal band is something of an anachronism, as they have no real connection to the northern invaders, but Hordak --- named for one of the villains in “Masters of the Universe, apparently --- consider themselves the Spanish equivalent of Viking Metal. Meh, we'll see.
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The last European wolves --- Hordak --- 2006 (Griffin Records)
They certainly have songs that seem to fit the image, with titles concerning wolves, ravens and battlefields, and the opener to this, their second of three albums, is an instrumental that sets the scene, with what sounds like a French horn booming out before acoustic guitar is joined by flutes and pipes courtesy of guest musician José Luis Frías, the piece retaining very much a celtic influence. It's a relatively mid-paced effort to start us off, and takes us into “Silvano, senor des bosques”, where I'm a bit taken aback to find that the vocals on this are almost as bad (to me) as ol' NSK from Tietanblood! Scratchy, raw, visceral, not the sort of thing I like at all. Oh, Trollheart! What have you done?

The music is very good though, so I'll concentrate on that and largely ignore the vocals of the inappropriately-named Autumn, while his buddy Winter (sigh) handles guitars, bass and drums. As does he. Apart from the bass. Also keyboards. Well the song has a nice romping almost Maiden quality to it, the drums crash but don't thunder or smother and the guitar work is pretty much flawless. The title track opens on a sort of humming acoustic guitar line, Spanish guitar perhaps with a clean vocal, but spoken only for a moment before hard electric guitar breaks out and our man Autumn starts spitting all over the song. Good driving rhythm to it, and it speeds along with the help of a really searing solo from I guess Winter. Maybe. Why do people always do this? Play the same instrument as someone else in a band? Don't they know how hard it makes it for the reviewer? Selfish bastards. ;)

“Son of the fatherland” has a really nice acoustic opening, as do many of these songs, with some more soft flute from José Luis Frías, then the guitar winds up into a hard riff as the song begins to take off, then speaking of taking off, Autumn's scream is like the roar of a jet engine as they thunder down the runway and kick everything up to ten, drumming rattling along furiously as the guitar quickens to meet it. “Witchblood” is a little more restrained, with a grindy guitar and slightly slower drums. Kind of a military marching beat to it. Oh, now we have a double vocal, with Autumn screeching and hissing while another (Winter?) does a darker, deeper one. The first track so far, I think, not to begin with an acoustic guitar, “Fog on the battlefield” just goes for the throat from the start, with a big battleroar from Autumn as the boys pile into an almost speed metal trip. The drumming really takes centre stage here, hammering like a thousand battlesteeds galloping across the field. Something almost like a jig on the guitar there for a short moment, stop/start guitar giving way to more fluid fretwork and back to the jig. Interesting stuff. Certainly powerful and exciting. Gets the blood pumping, as they say.

We take a break then with the second instrumental, “El lag elol” --- don't know what it means: eternal lake? --- as José Luis Frías again favours us with his fine flute playing, as well as some truly lovely Spanish guitar work from one or other of the two guys. A lush keyboard introduces “The night and the fire”, which seems to ride along on a somewhat swaying melody line, with guitar as ever leading the way. The tempo changes fairly quickly though as it kicks up with the arrival of Autumn's vocal, and we get another jig or reel or whatever it is on the guitar. “Ravenkind” starts off rippling electric guitar then breaks into another uptempo rocker with blistering percussion then we close on “Hugin and Munin”, named for the two ravens who were supposed to sit on the throne of Odin and bring him news back from the world. Their names translate as “Memory” and “Thought”. It's a mid-paced, celtic-flavoured song, with another reel or jig in there somewhere, and more flutework. Decent ending to an album that sort of turned into a disappointment for me.

TRACKLISTING

1. For a new pagan age to come
2. Silvano, senor de los bosques
3. The last European wolves
4. Son of the fatherland
5. Witchblood
6. Fog on the battlefield
7. El lago enol
8. The night and the fire
9. Ravenkind
10. Hugin and Munin

I'm probably being unfair to Hordak here. Their music is pretty bitchin', and the vocals, while definitely not my cup at all, are competent. It just isn't quite what I was expecting. Maybe I had been spoiled by listening to Tierra Santa previously, I don't know, or perhaps the prospect of good mythical lyrics made me expect more. But this is not really a band I would come back to of choice, despite their prowess and talent. Some things click with you, some don't. This didn't. But it's still a fine example of the variety and wealth of Viking Metal, certainly beyond the shores of Scandinavia.

I thought it would be really cool, considering the last country on my short whistlestop tour of Metal is my own homeland, if I could finish this look at Viking Metal by reviewing an Irish example, but I can't find one, or at least, one with output I can find, so I'm going for an American one instead. Believe me, it wasn't as easy as it would seem. Most of the bands that came up either had no albums or their albums were not available. So I ended up with this, which was, ironically, the very first name on the list. I skipped it because it sounded too much like Finntroll, but, you know, beggars can't be etc.
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Sea of blood --- Finsternis --- 2007 (Independent)

To be honest, I'm expecting a more brutal form of Viking Metal here. Don't quite know why, but I just don't see it being anything like progressive or power or anything. More edging towards the dark side, as it were. But we'll see. This is the debut and so far only album from Waco, Texas-based Finsternis, and what a bunch of Texans has to do with Vikings you'll have to decide yourself. But then, we can't all be born in the lands of the Norse legends can we, and that shouldn't be a barrier to playing this sort of music if you have the right spirit and the talent. Have Finsternis? Got the attitude and the talent? Read on...

It's a dark, low-key, ominous sort of opening to “Resounding”, a snarling electric guitar rising through the mix as the percussion stomps in, the beat getting faster as the vocal reveals itself to be a scratchy, screechy one which I was kind of expecting. Yeah, Vitzel (they all use single names apparently) is not going to be one of my favourite vocalists. Guitar work is good, thanks to Nettie (seriously? Nettie? He couldn't think of a harder, more Viking name than that? :laughing:) and it's basically a slow plodder, not quite in doom metal territory but not too far removed from it at times. The album has only seven tracks, but with one clocking in at ten minutes and most of the rest not falling below the six or seven minute mark, we're not exactly looking at an EP here! Tempo's quickening now a little, but it's a little basic, after the violins, accordions and orchestra we've been listening to from Turisas.

“The journey” is that long ten-minuter I told you about, and it starts with a nice melodic gutar that sort of sways along though somehow I get the feeling it's out of tune, or something is, though I assume that's being done deliberately, to achieve an effect the band want to create. The guitar slows down now, almost acoustic, very gentle for the first two minutes. When Kuester comes in properly on the drums it speeds up slightly, though not that much. With the appearance of the vocals from Vitzel it takes on a faster, harder edge for a time, then turns into a sort of romp as the song reaches the fourth minute. To be fair to him, I've heard much worse than Vitzel, and you can basically make out what he's saying. His voice is certainly very powerful and I guess fits in with that sort of ragged, raw, gruff feel you get from a lot of Viking Metal. Nice little melodic guitar passage there in the eighth minute, with some fine bass from Anreischken. Then it all winds up for the big finish, throttles open and hammers down as Vitzel screams his head off. Strangely enough, it ends though on a very ambient guitar piece.

A fast riffing guitar finds us “In the halls of the wicked”, the song itself striding along with purpose, falling into a marching rhythm before slowing down at the halfway point to allow Nettie to run another of his introspective passages, Anreischken walking carefully behind him as the tune gives a feeling of building up to something. And it is. In the fifth minute Nettie winds up his guitar and lets loose, Kuester pounding in with the drums too and Vitzel roars the final verse, or chorus, or whatever it is. There's a sense of folk music to “Phantom carrack”, before it bursts off on a fast guitar line up to about the halfway point again, when it briefly slows down then speeds up again. I'd have to say though, other than the tempo changes there's not a whole lot going on here, and little to interest me.

Well, that said, there are some tubular bells or somesuch coming in there at the end, and a nice laconic guitar line to close it all out. That was unexpected, in an album that was becoming very predictable and stale. The title track is up next, and using more bells, this time dark pealing funeral ones, we have a slow moody intro on guitar with a really bleak bassline driving the tune. Now though the ambience is destroyed as Nettie starts riffing hard, and we're back to the basic sort of music these guys seem to thrive on. Yeah, I really can't find anything here to get too excited about. Vitzel is certainly enjoying himself, bellowing to his heart's content. He cuts back a little on the growls as the song moves into its last minute, more bells ringing and a faster solo taking it there.

You probably know what to expect from a song entitled “War song”, and with dour rolling drums and a groaning guitar we go for nearly two minutes of the almost seven the track runs for without vocals, other than Vitzel roaring “War” and “Death!” before it speeds up on a harder guitar, the percussion intensifying to meet it, Nettie displaying some really fine chops on the frets. Goes kind of “Children of the grave” for the concluding section, trundling along nicely and taking us to the closer, and the shortest track, “Denoument”.

Less than two minutes long, it's a relaxed, laidback instrumental with what sounds very much like violin driving it, the sounds of muted thunder overhead; an understated, low-key kind of coda to the album.

TRACKLISTING

1. Resounding
2. The journey
3. In the halls of the wicked
4. Phantom carrack
5. Sea of blood
6. War song
7. Denoument

I certainly won't say that Americans can't or shouldn't do Viking Metal: I haven't heard nearly enough to make that sort of pronouncement. But of the albums I've heard over the course of this short series this probably ranks as one of the worst, and I wonder is it coincidence that it doesn't come from the lands where the Vikings originated? But even Spanish Viking Metal seems better than this. Mind you, it does have all the hallmarks of the subgenre and maybe it's just that I don't particularly like the less inventive, straightforward Viking Metal; I'm more for Turias, Einherjer and Bathory, who put a lot of thought into their music.

Not that I'm sure Finsternis don't also work hard on theirs, but just here it doesn't show, not to me. It seems very basic and unimaginative. I would have preferred to have heard a few instruments other than just guitar, bass and drums. I feel this band is lacking something, and their songs don't seem all that well constructed to me. But again, as I've said a few times this month, what do I know?

So that's our short exploration of Viking Metal over. Hope you enjoyed it, and if you, like me, knew little or nothing about the subgenre before this then I hope it's helped open your eyes a little to this kind of music. Whether that's been for the good or the bad is of course up to you. For myself, I've enjoyed a lot of the bands here, but I've come to see that whereas I always sort of saw Viking Metal as a kind of offshoot of power metal, it's something more than that, something much different. It's primal, tribal, even brutal, but it reflects a deep understanding for and love of the traditions of the ancient Scandinavian warriors. Like them I suppose, sometimes it's hard to understand the vocals, but as when you were menaced by a Viking brandishing a battleaxe you didn't need to know what he was saying, so too the music here drives much of the enjoyment you get from Viking Metal.

It's almost always loud, often cacophonously so, but behind it usually lies a story, a tale of heroism and bravery, of gods and men, of times long past and often of a religion which sought to crush it, and which in the end did. But the names and traditions and stories of the Norsemen live on through this music, and for that we should be thankful. It's not for everyone, and it doesn't always quite click, but when it does --- oh Odin! It's like Happy Hour in the Halls of Valhalla! So if you like this sort of music, drink your fill, because the taps are always flowing, and the drink is free. And best of all, there's no hangover --- unless you bang your head too vigorously, of course!

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Drip! Drip! Drip!

Man, it smells down here. Place probably hasn't seen the touch of disinfectant nor polish in years. Needs a woman's touch. Now if I were able to --- whoa there Troll! You're slipping into the female mindset again. Hard not to of course when these massive bazoogas are in front of my eyes --- why did he have to make them so large? Not that I'm complaining necessarily. But they are heavy, am I'm not used to carrying such weight in front of me. Hey! A thought just occurred: how did he manage to have an outfit that exactly fitted my new petite but voluptuous body? That must have been an embarrassing purchase! I can see it now...

“And what size bust is the young lady sir?”
“What? Oh ... er ... I dunno. Big. You know ...”
“Yes sir. Bra sizes go up to double letters if your ladyfriend is, ah, specially endowed. Would that be correct?”
“Um. No, I don't think double figures. Just, you know, big.”
Batty holds his hands out in the universal cupping gesture beloved of lecherous men the world over. The assistant gives a knowing wink. She's been around. She knows how to deal with this kind of customer!
“Perhaps if you wished to try the outfit on, sir? The changing rooms are just through ...”
Batty explodes, his face acquiring the hue of a Mexican tomato. “What? WHAT?? No! No, you don't understand. It's not me me! I don't wear ... how could you think .. why would I...?
The assistant nods in sympathy. “Oh it's nothing to be ashamed of sir. We get many ---” But Batty has already fled, the intimation burning his cheeks and the imagined laughter of other customers ringing in his ears.
Then again, he probably just bought it online. Nice though. Skirt's definitely too short, however...

Snap out of it Trollette! I think I hear him approaching. At least I'm through listening to Limp Bizkit. Nothing could be as bad as that. Unless ... A shiver of horror creeps up my gently arching spine. He wouldn't, would he? Another of their albums? Oh no, even The Batlord wouldn't be so cruel. Plus it would be redundant, and he doesn't like to repeat himself, does he? Not down here in
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As if he's been somehow able to hear my thoughts --- or more likely, what I believed I was thinking was in fact being muttered by me (it gets lonely down here, and sometimes talking to yourself is the only way you can keep any kind of sanity) --- he grins in the darkness, his voice a sibilant whisper.

“No, I don't”, he confirms. “No more Limp Bizkit for you. This time, we have something entirely different.”
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Dommedagsnat --- Thorr's Hammer --- 1996 (Moribund Records)

Ah yes, I've heard him talk of this one. To be honest, had he not mentioned it I might have been taken by surprise by the vocal, but then the singer, Runhild Gammelsæter, is shown on the cover of the album. Well, more an EP reallym with only six tracks. This should be easy! Total running time of just over twenty minutes. Ah, Batty! Getting soft in your old age?

Hold on a minute! I'm confused: six tracks, and three are exactly the same titles and lengths? Side A is the same as side B? So are there only three tracks? How weird. I guess that's it then. This may be easier than I thought. Well, he's pushing play so let's see what we got.

Oh yeah: obviously I'm no longer a zombie, or proto-zombie, thanks to his regeneration machine or whatver it is. Okay well there's some sort of female chanting to start off “Norge”, with a thick dark guitar line and then Runhild kicks into it as the guitar punches in properly --- oh wait a moment! I just looked at the lineup and other than her these guys' name are SO black metal: Greg Anderson (sounds like an accounting firm), Stephen O'Malley (sounds like a member of the reserves for the Ireland Under 21 soccer team), James Hale (no relation to Fred?) and Jamie Sykes. Good lord! She's the only one with any sort of dark, portentous name, and that probably means like Betty Black or something. Mind you, she has a PhD so I had better not just write her off as a pretty face. Though she is. Concentrate Trollette, concentrate!

Anyway, the two guitars --- I guess you'd say the two arms of Thorr's hammer --- are handled by Greg and Stephen (titter) and they do a good job, but it's when sweet little Runhild starts singing that you really get a surprise. To think that's a seventeen year old girl singing, well it just takes the breath away. I said breath! God! Some people! :rolleyes: She sounds about the darkest voice I've heard, and I've listened to some Cookie Monsters this month! When she cuts down to her “normal” voice it's really nice, as the guitars slow and Jamie on the bass adds his touch. But you know it won't last. And here comes the monster again.

I don't know: maybe my experiences during Metal Month II have somewhat inured me to this kind of music, or maybe I'm just expecting it so it's not a shock, but while it's unsettling I don't see it being a major thing. It's certainly not like listening to Cryptopsy. I'll tell you one thing though: I hope she doesn't use that voice when she's in bed with her boyfriend. Or girlfriend. Whatever, it's not a thing you want to wake up to or hear just at, um, “the moment”! ;) Decent guitars yeah but it's very doom/black metal-by-the-numbers, and if it wasn't for Runhild being the vocalist this would be another very forgettable album as far as I'm concerned. Nothng to worry about here!

HEALTH: 100%

“Troll” is a little slower (!) and she starts off with the dark vocal right away. I have of course no idea what she's singing, even if she's singing in English, and you have to wonder how she developed that voice. Could be a real one to fool your mates on “name that vocalist”, if such a game existed. But generally it's more of the same, the guitars a touch more animated, and though I certainly don't like this, I don't like it in the same way I don't like Eminem or the Sex Pistols: it doesn't scare me, outrage me or make me lose any of my bodily functions. It just makes no real impression on me, and I think Batty's annoyed to see a smile on my full, sensuous lips...

HEALTH: 100%

And so we come to the closer, already. Had this EP been longer then maybe I would have hated it more, maybe it would have been harder to get through and maybe it would have made more of a negative impression on me. But as it is, were my hands free I'd be doing my nails or touching up my lipstick. Or possibly trying to pull down this skirt --- getting a chill here Batty! But not from the music: it's just boring really. The vocal is interesting, but since I already knew about it the shock value, such as it is, has been robbed from this album. It's like someone telling you the exact moment the murderer springs on his victim in the latest shlock horror, and what he does. Once you know, it lessens the surprise and reduces the impact. Even at that though, had I not known this was a young girl singing I would just have assumed it was another vocalist doing my least favourite type of singing. Doesn't bother me. Don't like it, but it doesn't bother me.

This is the longest song on the album, the title track and god knows what it means, though maybe with the word “domme” in it there's some connection to bondage or domination? How appropriate, huh, given my current position? But it's all the same: slow, plodding, grinding, churning, boring. Even the novelty value of a seventeen year old hottie who sings like Satan's worst nightmare has very quickly worn off. Bored now.

HEALTH: 100%

Well, that made absolutely no impression on me. If that's the best you can do, Batty, you may as well let me go now, because I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of ... hmm? Gnaw their what? Okay, sure: bring it on. I'm getting cocky --- I mean, confident now, aren't I? What's that? You'll wipe that smile off my face, will you? Yeah well, we'll see. Do your worst. I can take it.

I hope... :pssst:
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La masquerade infernale --- Arcturus --- 1997 (Music for Nations)
Recommended by The Batlord
Batty tells me this band could be considered progressive metal, though they're mostly tagged with a Black/Avant-garde label. I can do A/G; I like Theater des Vampires and of course Diablo Swing Orchestra, but Black could present a problem. No it is not racist! This is Arcturus's second album and apparently saw a huge shift from their original doom metal leanings, with the shrill screams in the vocals on the previous album replaced by somewhat cleaner, if deeper and gruffer ones.

They're from Norway and have titled their album in French, but I'm somewhat relieved to see that their songs are all in English. Whether that relief will be short-lived or not we will find out. “Master of disguise” opens with deep boomy synths and orchestral strings with the vocal --- well, weird. You know when you hit someone on the back as they're talking? Yeah, that kind of strange vibrato effect. As the song gets going the vox start to alternate between more normal and a very high-pitched operatic soprano from guest vocalist Simens Hestnæs, which is quite jarring. I immediately see what the batty one meant about “goofy vocals”. The song now slows down into a stately, serene pace with some really nice piano from Sverd (yeah, they all have weird names) then takes up a sort of swaying tempo with some expressive guitar from Knut Magne Valle (!) before he lets loose with a pretty decent solo. To be fair, the operatic vocals have not at this point returned and the singing is mostly in a sort of bass voice which I think tries to be menacing but fails utterly. Kind of like a mermaid trying to be a vampire. Some violin and viola adds to the feeling of drama, and we're into “Ad astra”.

With a big, ominous, dark synth sound and slow, portentous drumming from Hellhammer (oh please!) it's the longest track at short of eight minutes, but like the one before it seems to weave in and out and all over the place. I like variety in music, but I also like there to be a clear pattern: everything should come eventually to create a final picture. This I find a little haphazard. What little singing there has been so far, this time from band vocalist G. Wolf, has been largely unnoticed and as we enter the third minute I'm still really thinking of this as an instrumental, although it isn't. Harpsichordical piano takes the tune in a new direction, with attendant cello and violin provided by guest musicians Hans Josef Groh and Vegard Johsen respectively. Must admit it's a really nice tune; again, the vocal comes in but you could almost ignore it.

Some really superb keyboard passages now as the strings section keep Sverd company, then take over as Valle lets loose on the guitar. It's over now and I would still consider that an instrumental. I did like it, that's for certain. A much harder, metal edge to “The chaos path” with the return of Hestnæs on vocals, but this time he's singing like an imam in a minaret. Tres weird! More scope for Valle's fretboard skills here, Hellhammer's drumming much more powerful though not much faster, and the synth barking out odd noises and effects. The title track is an instrumental, but has an annoying taped effect running through it, like someone scratching a record, and it really detracts from the otherwise quite nice piano that drives the tune.

“Alone”, based on a poem by that jolly Edgar Allan Poe chap, is a little discordant and chaotic, but has again that sweet piano running through it, with some decent synth also. It's a bit too intense though I feel, and speaking of intense, the orchestral section near the end really ramps up the tension and freneticity (is that a word?) until we head into “The throne of tragedy”, with a spacey synth opening and wind noises. A sort of metallised voice speaks in the distance but I have no idea what it's saying. Now the music picks up on guitar and keys, and again it's largely instrumental, which given the vocal style here I have no real problem with.

Humourous aside: the mastering for the album was performed by Gandalf Stryke. What a great name! Can't you just picture it? “No, I don't care! You can find your own way through the Mines of Moria! I'm on strike! Equal rights for wizards! We shall not be moved! Come on, Radagast: join me – We shall not, we shall not be ---” :D (Yeah, I'm becoming a bit bored with the album, in case you hadn't twigged. Okay then, back to it)...

“Painting my horror” promises much from such a title, but again it kind of goes off in every direction, running here, running there, trying to be all things to all men and kind of missing its mark, if it has one. Very confusing. DSO do this sort of thing so much better. The song goes into a sort of traditional Russian folk tune for a few moments, then dissolves into ... I don't know. Something else. It's exhausting, keeping up with all the elements of this album. Those annoying operatic vocals from Hestnæs are back, though not for too long. The last track is “Of nails and sinners”, but to be honest it's kind of more of the same, directionless and trying to be more clever than I think Arcturus are, and though there's drama and pathos in the song it's a little hard to take seriously, which is an accusation I'm afraid I have to level at the whole album.

TRACKLISTING

1. Master of disguise
2. Ad astra
3. The chaos path
4. La masquerade infernale
5. Alone
6. The throne of tragedy
7. Painting my horror
8. Of nails and sinners

If there's one word that fits this album perfectly and encapsulates what it's all about, then Batty has used it: goofy. It's just impossible to pay any real attention to the album, as the songs are constantly dividing and subdividing; cello here, piano there, high vocal, low vocal, instrumental passage, effects ... it's all just a little hard to pin down. It's like a whole house of noisy kids all vying for your attention, and in the end all you want to do is give them a slap. Your patience will only last so far, and this album has stretched mine to the limit.

Think I preferred Cryptopsy!

Disclaimer: I do not prefer Cryptopsy...

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And so we come to the last week of Metal Month II, and our last chance to check out metal from around the world. As a mark of respect to my home country, I'm delving into the metal which can be found on these emerald shores. So take a deep breath as we head deep into the land of Paddymetal!
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As this is my own country which I know reasonably well, I want to try to take, rather than --- or perhaps as well as --- bands from different subgenres, an example from different cities. With this in mind, the first one I'm going to look at comes from County Tipperary, which for those of you who only know the city from the song, is in the south of Ireland, though not as far south as Cork or Limerick. They're described as a traditional metal band, and have only been together since 2007. Still took them three years to get their first demo out, and a further year before this, their debut album, hit. What's it like? Let's find out.
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Impending chaos --- Army Rising --- 2011 (Rising Records)
The name of their record label would certainly make you think that it's their own, and that essentially this is released independently. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but the album opens with “Who I am”, a fast, heavy rocker that throws you right in at the deep end. Impending chaos, indeed! At least Noel O'Brien is neither a screamer nor a growler, for which I'm grateful, and in fact when he's joined on vocals by the others they make some very nice harmonies, almost AOR at times. The general delivery though owes a lot to punk and speed metal, and I don't think too much of the guitar techniques; seem a little sloppy. Mind you, the drummer doesn't impress me either but then, when did a drummer ever do that?

The song slows in the middle into a sort of marching beat, then speeds back up and now I can, briefly, appreciate the talents of axemen Tony Myler and Garreth Lawrence, and the solos are okay. The tempo ups considerably for “Destination grave”, hammering along on a hard beat driven by the guitars, O'Brien's vocal much better on this track. There's also much more melody about it, a real hook in the chorus. Some decent riffing here too, with a distinctly celtic flavour as the boys pay homage, either intentionally or subconsciously, to their Irish heritage. “War” puts me in mind of Gary Moore, although it's hardly the most inspired title. Pretty good solo, but really the song's nothing special, like everything I've heard on this album so far. It does have an interesting quote at the end, Oppenheimer on the testing of the first atomic bomb.

A big energetic guitar introduces “Lost generation”, but so much of this sounds like it was recorded in the early eighties it's just not funny. “Tyrant” is more of the same, O'Brien emulating Sean Harris, but other than that there's nothing terribly interesting about it, or anything that stands out really. One of the lines in this is ”Just save your breath” ... advice they should perhaps have taken. Come on, it can't be that bad? No it's not that it's bad, it's just not very good. Or to be fair, very original. In a world where to make it you have to stand out, Army Rising are fading into the background for me, and that's never good. Another big machinegun guitar opening to “I'm dead”, but then it sort of falls a little flat on its face as it drops into the familiar pattern these guys seem to follow for their songs. I'd be hard-pressed to tell one apart from the other.

There aren't even that many decent --- oh there's one now. I was going to say solos, but even at that, it's quite short and not at all engaging. The big punk-style shout at the end doesn't help matters. These guys aren't Tank, after all, and this is not the 1980s! “If you want peace...” has some good melody and an interesting opening, chugs along nicely and seems to throw their personal rulebook out the window. As a result, this may be the first track on the album that actually speaks to me. Very hooky chorus and some great vocal harmonies. Yeah, I like this a lot. Also contains a nice laidback guitar section. I think I might actually remember this after the album has finished.

Speaking of finishing, we're only three tracks away, and “Strength of none” takes us closer, speeding things back up before the song swaggers along on a ragged guitar line, Ted Barret finally distinguishing himself behind the drumkit with some good percussion. The song though basically returns to the playbook and it's pretty generic, with shouted choruses, chugging guitars and quite a lot of riffs robbed from Maiden. That leaves us with “Fallacy” --- nothing terribly special here, though there is a nice vocal harmony in the chorus, and we end on the longest track on the album. Weighing in at just over seven minutes, “Visions” opens on a nice soft bass line from Louis Rice, gentle acoustic guitar and a laidback vocal from Noel O'Brien. Wonder if this is a ballad?

No, it isn't. Here come the fast hard guitars again, though there seems to be something more of a cohesion about them this time. The shape of the song seems more ... developed somehow. Good vocal harmonies again, and the two guys on guitar shine pretty well here. Even given that, it doesn't do a lot to change my opinion of these guys I'm afraid.

TRACKLISTING

1. Who I am
2. Destination grave
3. War
4. Lost generation
5. Tyrant
6. I'm dead
7. If you want peace...
8. Strength of none
9. Fallacy
10. Visions

Unfortunately the impression I get from Army Rising is of a bunch of guys jamming together and hoping to hit the big time, but without the talent or any sort of plan. This album will be forgotten as soon as I press stop, and I feel the same will be true of anyone else who listens to it. There just aren't enough hooks, memorable songs or even standout talent. Which is not to say these fellas are crap, cos they're not. But they're certainly not great, and they don't instil in me any belief that the future of Irish metal is bright.

I'd be more inclined to say Army Falling, personally. Just don't see any future for this band, though in the end they'll probably go on and conquer the world. Yeah, if that happens buy me a hat and I'll eat it. Let's hope our next example is a little better than this.

I'm not worried. There's absolutely zero chance you'll like anything about Gnaw Their Tongues. If you can stay above fifty percent until the end I'll give you my computer.

And The Varangian Way isn't an old legend (though apparently "Cursed Be Iron" is based on an on old Finnish legend), it's a story the band wrote themselves. And "The Miklagard" overture is about the narrator entering Constantinople, just FYI. I can't think of many songs that evoke that kind of grandeur. Brilliant ending to that album. Their next album, Stand Up and Fight, tells the second half of the story.

I've been checking the updates for the GTT review alone. Gnaw Their Tongues, stat.

There's a distinct possibility that Trollheart will be left catatonic, in which case we will never know the truth.

It'll be on the final day. You wouldn't want me not to be able to close out the month, would you? Sit in a corner and rock back and forth, mouth silently forming the words over and over "It's just an album. It's just an album..."? ;)
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Well, I sure didn't like their music but at least Fleshgrind were funny. Almost hilarious in fact. If I get something similar this time I really won't bitch. But with my luck I'll get some dour doom metal band who play one note every hour and fill their songs with drivel about the futility of existence and the bleakness of the cosmos. Come on guys: throw me a bone on this, the last visit of Metal Month II to
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Why am I even asking? The metal gods hate me, and continue to rain down extreme metal band after extreme metal band on my poor shoulders. And if those bands can be unsigned or at least without any music available, so much the better. Grindcore? We'll give you fucking grindcore till yer ears bleed! What do they have against my progressive, power or even standard metal? What?

Well this is interesting. And unexpected. The subgenre tag is empty, and this band are just described as (gasp!) heavy metal! They have an album, but it must not have done very well because they clearly can't afford any logo. The album, their only one, came out in 1988, so would anyone like to run down to Paddy Power and throw a bet on that I can find it? Great name: Diass. Wonder if people ever said to them “I'm gonna kick you in Diass”? Probably not. Oh, just to add a little flavour, they're Japanese. Right, come here mousey mousey...

No. Thought I was getting lucky (why? What in the entire run of “The Meat Grinder” since its inception has ever given me the slightest stroke of luck? Why would I think that would change now?) but it was some guy called DJ Diass. Sigh. Well, obscure they may be and obscure they must remain, as I trudge heavily on, my eyes squinting ahead in the inky gloom for some glimmer of light that might lead me to ...

... a German death/thrash metal outfit. Oh great. At least these boys can afford a logo. And doesn't it look tough and hard?
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They have one album, and weirdly, before that, one live album? Anyway, let's ssee if they're our huckleberry for this finale. No, almost: but that's a band called Vellocet, who to be honest look a whole lot more palatable to me. But no luck with Vellozet. With a z. In case anyone is grunting “Yes there is! You can buy their album ...” let me just stop you there. These are all random bands, bands I've never heard before and most likely the bigger percentage of them I will hate. So I will look for their music online with streaming sources or with YouTube, but I will be crucified and made listen to looped albums of grindcore before I will shell out even one cent for an album I'm probably gonna hate. So if it's not available for free, to misquote my made-up family motto, it ain't for me.

It ain't for me.

On we go. And this time it's melodic death metal. Oh joy! But they're from Mehi-co and only have the one album released in --- hmm: 2012 --- possibility?
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Nah, too close to dementia, which are the only results that come up. So this is my last shot on this final visit. If I don't get something I can work with here, then it's all over for Metal Month II. Let's say a quick prayer and hit that button!

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Well, they may be split up but at least these boys from Portugal have a decent amount of albums, so you never know. A thrash/death metal hybrid, so they may not be too bad. If I can find any of their albums online, that is!

No luck. They haev three albums but I can't find enough videos online to make up even one. Like one track off one album, two off another, one off an EP. Meh. Fail. What a pity.

And so we draw to a close our last look into the tumbling metal maelstrom that is the Meat Grinder. As ever, we've been less than lucky with our choices, and really, when you consider how many metal bands are out there, it's quite extraordinary that I have not been able to come across even one that falls into my own particular sphere of interest. But I have to put a limit on this, otherwise I could keep clicking Random forever. I'd eventually get a decent band, I assume, but I'd probably be too old to care at that point.

So here's where it ends for now. It's been sort of fun, and no doubt we'll find ourselves in here again at some point in the not-too-distant future. But for now it's goodbye to the machine, and hello to a more ordered form of metal. We now return you to the final week of Metal Month II. Thanks for playing.

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There are probably some of you who will say Frank Marino is not metal. There are even likely to be those among you who don't even know who he is. To the latter I say Frank is or was one of Canada's premier guitar gods, comapred to Hendrix so much that some accused him of being a clone of the great man. To the former I say listen to his albums and then make that claim, either the ones with his band Mahogany Rush or his later solo efforts, or indeed his work in the mid-seventies with April Wine.

I'm no real aficionado of the man, to be honest. The two tracks reviewed on the recent “Killer Watts” piece and one solo album is all I know of him, but that 1982 album gave me a nugget of excellence to hold onto, and even now, over thirty years later, this still crops up as one of my alltime favourite songs, and certainly one of my favourite anti-war anthems.
“Stories of a hero” (Frank Marino) 1982, from the lbum "Juggernaut"
Music and lyrics by Frank Marino

The song treats the onset of war as something to be feared in the case of the wife of the main protagonist, the hero in the title, and something to be excited about and yet a little apprehensive by the man himself. Although we're not told what war he is fighting in, it's obviously a relatively recent one, as the lines ”She stands alone on the platform looking sad” attest to --- we're not talking ancient times here. Probably World War I or II, and given that Frank's Canadian probably not Vietnam, though I guess it could be. A modern war anyway. Of course, I suppose it doesn't have to be a war involving Canada just because he's a native, but you'd imagine if he wants to make a point it would be concerning a war his country was involved in.

In the end, it's probably immaterial. War is hell, no matter who fights it, how it's fought or when it takes place, and that is the central theme of this song. Focussing less on the war itself and more on the personal impact on the couple, it tells the story of how the young man is called up for service --- ”The time has come/ Said the young man/ To his bride/ My train waits outside” --- and his wife's fear that he may not return. It's a ballad, but with a very strong guitar motif running through it and a hell of a powerful solo to end it into fade. But as ever on this section it's the lyric we're concerned with here.

We see the man take leave of his wife (we get the feeling, or I do anyway, though it may not be the case, that they are only recently married) and head off to the war. Though he is scared, and sorry to have to leave her, he assures her he will be back, but underneath it all there is a sense of excitement about this new adventure, as if he's looking forward to proving himself. ”Gonna be a big hero/ In his hometown” is what he hopes will happen. Sadly for him, yes this is what the end result is but he will not be around to bask in that glory. I also like the way Frank presages the young man's fate by changing one line in the chorus, from Soldier's gone to war/ Told her he's coming home” to ”Soldier's gone to war/ Don't know it but he/ Ain't comin' home no more.”

What I love about this song, and what really makes it stand out for me, is that the war is treated almost as an incidental. Nothing is mentioned of the young man's bravery, the presumably heroic feat that costs him his life. It's not important, certainly not to the woman he leaves behind as she receives the news of his death. Again, cleverly, nothing is said of how he died --- or even if he died, but you can make the very obvious inference when Frank sings ”The paper falls to the ground from her trembling hand/ The words they burn to her soul” Yeah, her man is not coming back home. Ever. Whereas in a somewhat similar vein, and a totally different genre, Paper Lace sang about the eponymous hero in “Billy don't be a hero” and described his act or courage/foolishness, here Frank completely glosses over what it was that got the young man killed. The cold hard fact is he is dead, and his wife is on her own in the world. ”World's gone so cold.”

The song then ends on an angry tirade against the futility of war, and how it can be and often is glamourised. ”The stories tell of bravery/ He was golden as the sun” It's also ironic, as he points out via the lyric, that men only become heroes if they die in war, not just if they take part in it. The soldier here will be remembered as a hero, but only because he fell in battle. Had he survived and returned to his wife, nobody would really remember him or mark him out as special. Yeah, death has that way of enshrining a hero in the memory, and a dead hero is always afforded more respect than a live one.

A fine, underrated song that makes its point in a very personal and understated way, and yet cuts to the heart of the matter, that bravery is useless when it gets you killed, and what after all are you really dying for?

(Unfortunately, the studio version seems to have disappeared from YouTube so you'll have to have a live version, slightly longer than the original)

”The time has come
Said a young man to his bride:
My train waits outside.
And though I leave
You know I'll keep you by my side;
She holds on a final time.

Soldier's gone to war,
Told her he's comin' home.
Soldier's gone to war
He's gonna be a hero in his hometown, lord.

She stands alone
On the platform lookin' sad
He waves through a pane of glass;
And though she hopes
He will be comin' home at last
Her heart knows what's gonna pass.

Soldier's gone to war,
Don't know it, but he ain't comin' home no more.
Soldier's gone to war
He's gonna be known as a hero in his hometown, lord.

Soldier's gone to war
Told her he's comin' home
Soldier has gone to war
He's gonna be known as a hero in his hometown, lord

The paper falls to the floor from a trembling hand;
The words they burn to the soul.
And though she cries, she doesn't really understand
The world's gone so cold.
Soldier went to war,
Told her he'd be comin' home.
Soldier went to war:
Gonna be a big hero in his hometown, lord.

And the stories tell of bravery, yeah:
He was golden as the sun.
Well he fought for you and he fought for me, yeah
And he died for everyone/
Stories of a hero.
Glories of a hero.

Well it seems as though the world ain't changed:
It goes on and on for years.
When men must die to be called brave
To earn respect among their peers.
Stories of a hero.
Glories of a hero.”

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It may not. Get better than this I mean. After scouring through EM's short but not tiny list of Irish metal bands, and trying to avoid my home city for now, I kept coming up against the same problem: nowhere --- not on Spotify, not on Grooveshark, not even on YouTube --- could I find any more than two tracks from some artistes, and none from most. So I changed tack, and decided to leave the environs of EM. heading out into Googleland, where I typed in those magical words: “Best Irish Metal Bands”. A page called IrishMetal came at the top of the list (after some stupid advertisement for steel pipes of course!) and the first name there just drew my attention. I quickly tapped them into Spotify and lo and behold! Up they came with an album. Well, an EP.

So these are the second Irish band I'm going to cover. Sadly, they don't even show on EM's list, so I can't tell you where they come from, and also perhaps sadly, they marry two concepts which for me can never sit easily together and will always be eyeing each other nervously, death metal and Christian Metal. But come on! With a name like this, for an Irish band, sure I had to check them out. Ya wide or wot? ;)
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Apocalyptic visions of divine terror --- ForChristSake --- um...

More points that mark this out as being a possible mistake on my part. 1) Lots and lots of umcomplimentary remarks on the IM website. But sure, what do they know? They're just another bunch of wankers like me. It's not like they're music critics or writers. 2) Sixteen tracks. Six-fucking-teen! Of death metal. Oh dear. 3) The vocalist comes in for a lot of criticism. Well, let's give it a whirl and see what it's like. You may have noticed that I don't have a year shown, because I don't know for sure, but the site seems to be touting it as a new album, so possibly this year. Label is also information I am not privy to.

From the title of course you know this is not going to be any happy-clappy, kumbi-ya, Jesus-will-save-you religious rubbish. From what I can see, this is the bad Jesus. The vengeful Jesus. The one who appears at Judgement Day and stands there, nine thousand feet tall with an awful scowl on his face and glares “Crucify ME, would you? Now I'll show you fuckers what pain really is!” Vengeance is mine, he sayeth, and soileth we all our pants.

I'm kind of getting used to deceptive intros, and here we have a soft keyboard and synth one leading in “Blackened lands”, though a hard chugging guitar cuts in then, with a sort of choral thing going in the background. Not sure if I don't hear any vocals yet or if they're so deep they're being subsumed into the mix, but the review I read --- which was less than complimentary --- maintained the vocals were too high in the mix, so it must be the former. Good shredding there on the guitar, and I have to assume now this is an instrumental as it reaches its last minute. It's not a long song --- three and a half minutes --- but for me it's a decent start, as what I had read about this band led me to believe they would be quite brutal, and this, well, isn't. So far anyway. Next up is “The hollow way of thinking”, and yeah, now we hear the vocals. Harsh but not indecipherable, sort of sounds like the singer (whose name I don't know) has a bad cold or a sore throat. I've definitely heard far worse.

That much said, I don't hear much structure in this song. It's mostly just the guitarist banging out the riffs, the vocalist roaring and the rest of them doing their own thing. Sort of a mixture of thrash and black metal I guess, neither of which are terribly good. Oh look! We're halfway through track three, “The leeches”, without me even realising it. That's how gripping and interesting this album is. To be honest, during “At the gates to depravity” (did you ever hear a worse title?) the guitarist sounds like he forgot how to play! Not that it seems it would particularly matter from what I'm hearing. Not impressed so far. It also doesn't help that the song is over eight minutes long! At least the next title sits well with a band who profess to support and I guess preach Christianity in their lyrics, though that seems to be all “Deliver us from evil” has going for it, as it's basically just a mess.

People talk about the “loose drumming” on this album, and I see now what they mean. At times it seems like the drummer has just decided to pound on the kit until someone stops him, and not necessarily in any sort of rhythm. Other times he just seems completely out of step with the rest of the band. At least there's a higher-pitched vocal here and some pretty decent guitar work, but it's still nothing I'd be proud to call Irish. In fact, its positioning as a Christian Metal band from Ireland is nothing short of embarrassing. I'm envisaging having a hard time getting through the next eleven --- yeah, eleven! --- tracks. If this is the best Ireland has to offer in the arena of Heavy Metal, then God help us all! (Pun intended) Play me some Planxty or Christy Moore, please! Oh, thought it was going into a bit of an introspective passage there on the bass, but we only got a few notes before it piled back into the usual headlong speed as it crashes towards its end. If only it were the end of the whole album!

But we must steel ourselves and soldier on. Well, ok, “Last call” has a nice --- no. It started with something of a hooky melody but within seconds had descended into another total mess, with some strange keyboard lines it seems thrown across the tune, like someone throwing down a coat at a party, not in the least bothered where they leave it. I thought I heard flute there in the mix too, but it's probably just my brain disintegrating, or maybe it's on the keys? Doesn't add anything to the song other than a further level of confusion though. At least this is a short track, and each one takes us closer to the end of the thing, so that's something to hold on to. The next one is long though, and looking fearfully ahead I see another six, a seven and an eight-minuter before we can consign this thing to the trashheap. “Shadow” is a little slower and grindier, with some decent riffs threatening to break through and the drumming almost in time, a sort of ominous sound on the guitar and synth taking the tune in the second minute, and doing a competent enough job with it.

There's an attempt at an atmospheric opening to “Serpent rising”, but the drums come in way too soon and far too powerfully, reducing and spoiling what might have been a nice effect. Now guitars blunder in and to finish the song off completely the vocalist snarls the lyric. Kind of retains a mid-paced boogie-ish beat, but let's be honest: it's really hard to take any of this seriously, especially when the almost falsetto vocal joins the harsher one. Oh. My. God. And not in a good way. Look, I don't care what religion you go with, or if you go with none, but death metal and Christianity just don't mix. It's offputting to hear what is clearly supposed to be a dark, evil voice intoning ”Look to Christ and live!” Just doesn't track man, just doesn't track. That whole growly vocal is almost always associated with death, black or in some cases thrash metal, and wittering on about God in that voice just doesn't work for me. It's almost funny, but then, it's not meant to be is it? These guys expect you to take them seriously, which is really hard to do.

“Red moon” has one of the darkest, dirtiest vibe I've heard in a song, but it's more I think a case of muddy production, or bad playing than anything intentional. Everything seems to almost fade into one mess of noise, and the only thing that rises in the mix is the vocals. “Walk among the dead” seems to finally get it right, with a dark, doomy sound driven by, for once, very competent drumming and a bleak synth line that makes the tune sound like something out of a horror movie, but it only last under a minute and a half, and is instrumental, leading into “Necronemesis”, which at least has a clever title. That's all it has. It's another hack'n'slash rocker that goes nowhere, very fast. Okay, to be fair, there's a very good solo at the end. At least there are only five tracks left, though one of them is eight minutes long, but to perhaps compensate for that, two are only two minutes long. Might as well get it over with then!

“Inhalation asphyxia” tries very hard to be Slayer but is not worthy of licking their boots, while “Deification” (which at first I took to be “Defecation”!) starts with a slow, dark chorus and a grinding, Sabbathy riff, which is quite effective. I don't however expect it to last. The guitar flourishes placed over it are in fact really good and work in well with the overall melody. I'd say this is an instrumental, except that it's seven minutes long. And in the second minute it all goes into overdrive again, completely destroying the dark atmosphere they had built up so carefully. Now it's just another sub-standard thrasher. Oh well, can't say I didn't expect it. Well, “Inferno” has passed by unnoticed and now we're into the title track, not that it makes any difference. One more to go.

“Dawn of a new day” is the other short track, and you might expect it to be a ballad, or at least less frenetic than the previous fifteen tracks? Well, you know you'd be right. Lush synth, choral vocals, strings and a nice epic closer to what is generally a very subpar and generic album. I think I'd rather listen to Fleshgrind! At least I could laugh at them.

TRACKLISTING

1. Blackened lands
2. The hollow way of thinking
3. The leeches
4. At the gates of depravity
5. Deliver us from evil
6. Last call
7. Shadow
8. Serpent rising
9. Red moon
10. Walk among the dead
11. Necronemesis
12. Inhalation asphyxia
13. Deification
14. Inferno
15. Apocalyptic visions of divine terror
16. Dawn of a new day

There's really nothing good I can say about this album. It came across to me as just a mess: chaotic, undisciplined, and the odd bit of talent notwithstanding, really quite an amateur effort. Somebody reviewing this remarked that as an EP, this is way too long. I would agree. Even as an album, sixteen tracks is too many, especially when some of them hit over the seven minute mark. But then, if they were good I wouldn't really have a problem with that. This however has been a real chore to get through, and does not fill me with confidence for the state of metal in Ireland.

I hate to repeat myself, but let's hope we have better luck next time. Again.

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Somehow, this got almost lost in the mix. I don't know how, because duga recommended about five albums to me, but none of them found their way onto my list before Metal Month II began, and it was only when double-checking this week how many I had left, to ensure there were enough days left, that I came across him and did a double-take. So I'm looking at this one, and apologies for almost ignoring you, man!
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Foundations of burden --- Pallbearer --- 2014 (Profound Lore Records)

Normally, I've tried to stay away from albums released this year, as they would conflict with the “Freshly Forged” section, but as I almost missed duga completely, and as I've already listened to Megadeth and Carcass, I thought this was the album on his list most likely to interest me. So here it is.

Surprisingly, after six years in existence this is only the second album from these doom metal merchants. I see too that it has a mere seven tracks, but that most of them hit over the ten-minute mark, so it won't be like listening to an EP I guess. We open on “Worlds apart”, which is one of those ten-minuters, and has a nice, dramatic guitar to start it off, not sounding as slow or crushing as I've come to expect from doom metal. Quite tuneful and upbeat really. The vocalist is also a pleasant surprise, reminding me very much of early Ozzy. I certainly like his voice more than any doom metal vocalist I've heard yet, save perhaps himself from Doomsword. And I must admit I'm already really into this. It's far better than, again, most of the doom I've been subjected to this month. The guitar is crushing without being oppressive, if that's possible, and the drums are heavy but with purpose.

There's also some really nice vocal harmonies, though I see now that it's guitarist Devin Holt taking the mike for this first track, as indeed he will do for the third. Beautiful little solo there in the fourth minute; I feel this ten minute opener is going to go a lot easier than I had originally anticipated. Slowing down now into a darker, grindier groove, like someone walking who suddenly falls into quicksand or finds himself in setting tar. Good though; the music here is pretty superb. It's definitely descended into a darker groove all right, with an ending big and heavy enough to crush an elephant. That takes us into what I guess is as close to a title track as we're going to get, as “Foundations” introduces us to main vocalist Brett Campbell, and contrary to my fears, his voice is just as pleasant and decipherable as Holt's. Speaking of Devin, some great guitar work from him opens up this second epic.

“Foundations” runs for nearly nine minutes, and is slower and harder than the opener, Holt's guitar growling all over the song while Campbell sings in a somewhat slightly higher register than his bandmate, a vocal really more suited to AOR or prog metal I would have thought, though I'm certainly not complaining. When I saw these guys were doom metal I feared the worst, but this is not at all bad. In fact, it's very good. It might even be very very good. So good is it in fact that we're halfway through this second track and I hadn't really noticed. It's certainly not dragging, that's for sure! Even less predictable is the soft, laidback guitar passage that takes the song in its sixth minute, and although this winds up into a harder, more punchy riff as the track moves towards its conclusion, it's an unexpected turn, and very welcome.

I'm actually finding it hard to call much of this doom metal, or at least what I have come to see as traditional doom metal. It's more upbeat, musically, and clearer, and even a little faster than the doom metal I've listened to up to now. Definitely enjoying this. Hmm. I may have been wrong about the lead vocals changing per track; looks like both Holt and bassist Joseph D. Rowland contribute backing vocals, but I wonder why the Wiki page goes to such lengths to point out on which tracks each sings? Well, duga can probably clear that up later for us.

“Watcher in the dark” has a heavier, broodier feel to it and runs on a grinding guitar for about three of the almost eleven minutes it spans, with vocals only coming in at that point, the Ozzy sound back which makes me rethink the above paragraph. Does Holt return to take lead vocals on this song? Well I guess in a way it doesn't matter, as they all appear to be good singers. There's a darker, more dramatic feel to this, and although piano and Fender Rhodes have been mentioned I have to admit I've heard neither so far. An absolutely superb guitar outro that could very well have this song taking standout for me so far, something of a feat given how great the other two tracks were. Sense of Gilmour in there too, if you listen real hard. Again, it's a long song that's over before you even realise it, and we're into another (thank the metal gods) in “The ghost I used to be”.

Very reflective, almost oriental in ways opening, and I could really hear a violin here (though there isn't one: I just think it would have fitted in so well) as the song again rides along on a heavy but very melodious guitar line from Holt. Mustn't forget the vocal either, because it's quite excellent. In fact, just about everything about this is wonderful, and I am surprised, as I did not expect it to be anywhere near this good. There's a slowdown to almost a crawl in the last few minutes of “The ghost I used to be” with a kind of echo in the vocal that gives you the impression of chanting, then a really slick little guitar passage before the percussion thumps back in and the song moves into its eighth minute. Yeah, eight: already.

Ah, now we hear the Fender Rhodes, and it has been worth waiting for as the shortest track on the album by a long way, “Ashes”, a mere three minutes and change, provides a lovely change with a soft vocal and what definitely sounds like violin but may be on synth. A ballad on a doom metal album? You'd better believe it. The closer then is the longest track by a little bit, as with a Sabbathy guitar riff unaccompanied “Vanished” kicks in and runs for almost twelve minutes. Some more beautiful Floydesque guitar here, the drumming suits it perfectly, almost like a heartbeat, and the singing is, dare I say it on a doom metal album? Yeah, I dare: angelic. The singing is angelic. There, I said it. Oh my fucking god I think I'm in love with this album. It is just amazing. No, I will not say it. No. Never. I don't use that word. Yes I know it applies, but I refuse on basic principles to use that overused word --- ah fuck it okay. It's awesome. Satisfied? Yeah. It's awesome. In fact, I'd go further: it's fucking awesome. I mean it.

TRACKLISTING

1. Worlds apart
2. Foundations
3. Watcher in the dark
4. The ghost I used to be
5. Ashes
6. Vanished

I feel about this album kind of the way I did when I first listened to Doomsword, or Stormbringer, or Urfaust recently. Just did not expect it to be this good and am really blown away by how incredible this album is. Again, whether it would fall under doom metal for me or not is debatable, however I am slightly disappointed that Pallbearer only have two albums, which means I only have one other I can check out. But certainly at the moment one of the albums of 2014.

And again, sorry duga for nearly missing you out. And thanks for the rec. I mean it.

Contemporary Christian music is mostly laughably artificial. I personally find more God in a song like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" or that Proclaimers song, "All Hail the Chief". And I'm a Christian.

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Well so far we've failed, in my view at least, failed utterly to find a decent Irish metal band, so I'm turning to that font of all things Metal, The Batlord, who suggested these guys, whom I must admit I didn't even know existed, even though they come from my home town. Formed in 1993, Primordial became the first Irish black metal band and have since added touches of folk and of course celtic music to their sound. The album I'm going to look at, for no particular reason, is this one, their third of currently seven, with a new album due later this year.
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Spirit the earth aflame --- Primordial --- 2000 (Hammerheart)

Interestingly --- and this had no bearing on my choice of album, as it holds true for nearly all their albums --- this has only eight tracks on it, though half of those are over seven minutes and two are over eight. A rolling, deep drumbeat takes us into the title track, one of the shorter ones at just under two and a half minutes. Squealing guitar joins the melody --- and it is melody; this does not sound like black metal, and in a good way --- before the vocal comes in from Alan Nemtheanga, and I'm surprised and delighted to hear he is not a growler, nor a screamer, but that I can very easily listen to his voice. He sounds defiant and angry, but that's about it. Soft jangly guitar and what sounds like keyboards though none are mentioned opens “Gods to the godless”, with a strong powerful guitar and thrashing drums, Ciaran MacUllaim racking off the riffs and Simon O'Laoghaire taking drum duties. It's another fine melodic piece with a lot of power and a very dark but completely intelligible vocal from Alan.

Ah, now he ramps up his vocals into a real black metal scream, but it's not quite as jarring as it could be, and he soon returns to his “normal” singing voice. You can definitely see the influence of celtic music and lore on this track, though from what I can see Primordial shy from bringing in the obvious whistles, uileann pipes and other instruments associated with Irish music. Refreshing, though I actually think their music could benefit from same. Sort of a reel on the guitar there from MacUiliam, the drums pounding slowly in counterpoint as it all builds up to a big finish. With a scream from Alan we're off rocking through the last minute or so, and I'm mightily impressed. “The soul must sleep” comes in on a gentle acoustic guitar and uses a quote from French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, spoken rather than sung, as the atmosphere in the song builds. A chugging, grinding guitar takes up the melody as the intensity increases before the music settles into a galloping beat that pulls it along.

All through the song Alan more or less speaks the vocal, making it kind of like Shatner doing celtic black metal --- now there would be a record! There's a real wall of sound being constructed here, and it's very effective as the song goes on, layer after layer being added until you're left with something really quite special. The last two minutes or so of the song are completely instrumental, MacUiliam taking us home on a punchy guitar line, and into the longest track, “The burning season”, which clocks in at almost nine minutes. This song seems to sing of human sacrifice and ancient rites, with the opening lines ”Bring the women/ And children before me/ Let us make rivers of their blood/ Bleed for me...I wish it so “ A hard, hammering guitar introduces the song with an ominous tone, before being joined by the drums as the first two minutes are taken in completely instrumental. Alan's vocal is much clearer and higher in his role as the chief druid or whatever he's supposed to be here, and the song rocks along on a sort of romping rhythm. Primordial seem to be another band who can play a long song and yet make it seem quite short; as we hit the seventh minute I'm surprised to see that we've come so far so quickly. Mark of a good song, and a good band.

Hard guitar bites through from a fade-in as we head into “Glorious dawn”, again taking the song two minutes in before any vocals are added. There is a sort of “druids' chorus” I guess you could say, with male vocals singing in unison before Alan begins to sing, which is not until the third minute almost, and is dark and growly this time. You can still make out what he's singing, but this time he sounds I guess like a proper black metal singer. Like all of Primordial's songs, or all on this album so far anyway, this song has a great sense of drama and power to it, and you can almost see the high priest standing in the stone circle invoking the ancient gods. There is some confusion here about guitarists: Wiki says there are two, citing Feargal Flannery as the other one, but EM maintains there is only one, and doesn't even include Flannery in the extended list of bandmembers, so I'm not sure who to believe. But if that's one man on the guitar he certainly creates one hell of a soundscape by himself!

The only instrumental on the album, “The cruel sea” is relatively short, just over four minutes, and rides on a very celtic-sounding guitar and rolling drums like crashing thunder, the tune itself like some ancient Irish lament. I feel the use of uileann pipes would really have helped here, but Primordial, though they are said to use them on other albums, don't seem inclined to include them here. The tune sort of reminds me of “She moves through the fair”, and I wonder if there are elements of that traditional song in there somewhere? Halfway through the booming drums fade out and MacUiliam takes the tune solo on acoustic picked guitar, almost like a bard strumming a lute in a forest somewhere deep in the heart of Ireland. The sound that follows that is very like uileann pipes, but I really think it's the electric guitar making it. The susurrating drums are back to help the piece to its conclusion, and take us into the closer.

“Children of the harvest” is another long song, the second that runs for over eight minutes, and pounds along nicely on hard angry guitar and thundering drums, that vocal chorus or choir returning, and again it's three minutes before the vocal comes in, as Alan tells the sad myth of the Children of Lir. Cursed by their jealous stepmother to spend a thousand years as swans, the Children of Lir wandered ireland until released from their spell. The song of course is steeped in anger, despair, impotence and disbelief as the luckless children travel the land in search of redemption. A great basis for a song by an Irish metal band, and carried out with enthusiasm, talent and pride.

TRACKLISTING

1. Spirit the earth aflame
2. Gods to the godless
3. The soul must sleep
4. The burning season
5. Glorious dawn
6. The cruel sea
7. Childen of the harvest

Finally, after days of fruitless searching, an Irish band that doesn't make me cringe and wish I was English or Scottish or Welsh. What, American? Are you insane?? Primordial have a great slant on ancient Ireland and its myths, and if there is such a thing as Celtic Metal, then they're proponents of this for sure. Despite their being labelled as black metal, apart from the odd scream or dark growl from Alan Nemtheanga I don't see it, at least on this album. The themes are certainly not really those you would find in that subgenre, although they do speak of ancient pagan gods, so there is that.

But as a band from Ireland, and more, a band from my home city of Dublin, and even more, just down the road in Skerries, I'm glad to say Primordial have finally given me something to be proud of when it comes to Irish metal.

And it only took an American to unearth them for me. :rolleyes: :shycouch: Thanks, Batty!

Well yeah, mostly. But you should really listen to Narnia...

And YOU need to listen to Warlord.

Have done, remember? Ok but kind of meh... not sure why you're wetting yourself over them to be honest. I've heard far, far better.

Since time immemorial (well, since 1970 anyway) Man has struggled in vain to answer the burning question that will not go away. That question that keeps us up at night, tossing and turning, grinding our teeth until we have to get up and put on the albums and listen to them again, and even then we don't know for sure which is better: Black Sabbath's debut or Paranoid?

Now, at last, this question will be answered for all time. Thousands of people --- well, hundreds --- well, a lot --- well, a few --- well, okay, one --- one person has laboured ceaselessly over the last few months to unravel this enigma and come up with a definitive answer. Using scientific logic and empirical data, we will pit these two legendary albums against each other, to see who comes out on top.

Take your places, sportsfans! It's time to
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Although debate has raged through this forum, and others, as well as other media, as to which album is the best, I am not making a personal choice here. Each album will be rigorously tested under the criteria shown below, and points awarded for each. At the end, we'll total up the points and see who comes out on top. Could be a shock, could be a foregone conclusion. Even I don't know the result at this time.

Some of these may seem frivolous concerns, but they all go to make up part of the picture, so bear with me.

The first point is Year Released. This is easy. “Black Sabbath” came out in 1970, so did “Paranoid”, leaving the contest a dead heat.
Black Sabbath1, Paranoid 1

So no blows are struck. Each dances around the other, probing, feinting, looking for an opening.

Next we move on to Number of Tracks.
Black Sabbath has seven, eight if you include the CD reissue, but Paranoid has eight on vinyl, making it the clear winner in this section.
Black Sabbath 1, Paranoid 2

Paranoid lands the first blow. Black Sabbath reels back.

Now let's look at Album Lengths. It's all very well to have eight tracks when the other album has seven, but what if your eight run for less than its seven? This is clearly a case where size does matter, and the score comes out thus:
Black Sabbath runs for a total of 38 mins 12 seconds, while Paranoid hits in at 42 mins 7 seconds, so once again Paranoid takes the round.
Black Sabbath 1, Paranoid 3

Paranoid hits out again; Black Sabbath ducks but is unable to avoid the blow.

Now let's go track-by-track for length comparisons:
Black Sabbath Track 1 (“Black Sabbath)” 6:20
Paranoid Track 1 (“War pigs”) 7:57
Black Sabbath loses out to Paranoid's first track, so we have a score of Black Sabbath 1, Paranoid 4
Black Sabbath Track 2 (“The Wizard”) 4:24
Paranoid Track 2 (“Paranoid”) 2:53
Black Sabbath starts fighting back! Black Sabbath 2, Paranoid 4
Black Sabbath Track 3 (“Behind the walls of sleep”) 3:37
Paranoid Track 3 (“Planet caravan”) 4:32
Paranoid takes it again! Black Sabbath 2, Paranoid 5
Black Sabbath Track 4 (“NIB”) 6:08
Paranoid Track 4 (“Iron man”) 6:00
Black Sabbath edges it, just!
Black Sabbath 3, Paranoid 5. Closing the gap, but can the debut maintain this momentum or will it slip behind again?
Black Sabbath Track 5 (“Evil woman”) 3:25
Paranoid Track 5 (“Electric funeral”) 4:53
Paranoid hits back! Black Sabbath 3, Paranoid 6!
Black Sabbath Track 6 (“Sleeping village”) 3:46
Paranoid Track 6 (“Hand of doom”) 7:08
Clear winner for Paranoid, taking the score to
Black Sabbath 3, Paranoid 7
Black Sabbath track 7 (“Warning”) 10:08
Paranoid Track 7 (“Rat salad”) 2:30
Big fightback from Black Sabbath as it crushes Paranoid with its final track! Even if the seventh AND last tracks on Paranoid were added together they would STILL be shorter than the epic closer on the debut.
Final score after the individual tracks:
Black Sabbath 4, Paranoid 7
Although Paranoid has the extra track it has already scored its hit for having more tracks, so it's unfair to compare “Fairies wear boots” to an nonexistent track on the debut.

Paranoid is now raining blows down on Black Sabbath, which seems unable to avoid them and defend itself. Could this contest be over before it even begins?

Next up: Hit Singles. Yeah, we know where this is going don't we? :rolleyes:
Black Sabbath, despite being the emergence of both this band and doom, indeed heavy metal itself, has absolutely no hit singles on it, while Paranoid scored a big top ten hit with the title track, giving it a clear victory here.

Black Sabbath 4, Paranoid 8

Another uppercut takes Black Sabbath and its eyes are a little bleary now.

But let's forget hit singles. Sabbath were never a band who were about chart hits. Which of the albums has the most Sabbath standards on it? Let's take a look.

With one track less, Black Sabbath is probably not in the greatest position, and other than the title track and NIB, I think that's it, two tracks. Whereas Paranoid has of course the title, “War pigs” and “Iron man”, so again it takes the prize.
Black Sabbath 4, Paranoid 9

Seems like Black Sabbath is about to go down...

How about Album Sales? Which of the two albums shifted the most units? Well, Black Sabbath was possibly a two-edged sword: first, nobody had really heard anything like this before, so it was unanticipated and some people might have wondered about buying it, whereas by the time Paranoid rolled around almost eight months later, excitement would have been at fever pitch, and everyone who had bought, or wanted the debut would buy the new album. Add to that the chart impact of the title track going to number four and it was likely that Paranoid reached more new fans than the debut had. It looks like this could be another bloodbath!

Well, not quite. Paranoid does get it, but Black Sabbath does not disgrace itself. The latter sold 1.6 million copies, while the debut could (only) manage one million. So again, Paranoid gets it.

Black Sabbath 4, Paranoid 10

A vicious punch to the chest, Black Sabbath is winded, legs shaky...

How about Status? Surely both albums went at least Gold, if not Platinum? Let's see; Black Sabbath Platimun in both the USA and the UK, Paranoid Platinum in Canada (sounds like the name of a prog rock band!), Quadruple Platinum in the USA and SIX TIMES Platinum in the UK! Oh yeah, Paranoid knocks it out of the park here! No contest.

Black Sabbath 4, Paranoid 11

A sneaky little rabbit punch almost floors Black Sabbath, but it keeps its feet and the ref sees the illegal move, orders both fighters back to their corners for a minute. Gratefully, Black Sabbath sucks in breath and spits out teeth.

I'd take Volume 4 over both of them, faults and all.

ROUND TWO!

How about Album Covers? Well Black Sabbath wins it easily here: a dark, scary, somewhat ambiguous picture that manages to be both evil and harmless at once, while with Paranoid there's an out-of-focus blurred shot of some guy with a sword. :rolleyes: Get in!
Black Sabbath 5, Paranoid 11

Black Sabbath comes out swinging at the bell, surprising an overconfident Paranoid, which thought its opponent down and out. Paranoid reels back, unaccustomed to taking punches, and Black Sabbath presses home its advantage.

Producer? No, the same producer (Rodger Bain) worked on both albums, so it's a no-score draw, leaving the overall total unchanged. What else?
Let's pit the Opening Tracks against each other, then the Closing Tracks. Opener on Black Sabbath is of course “Black Sabbath”, and how can you win against that? Well, Paranoid has “War pigs”, so it's closer than you would think. But for sheer impact upon the world of heavy metal and for those scary, disturbing but wonderful first three notes that heralded the birth of Heavy Metal, Black Sabbath has to get my vote.
Black Sabbath 6, Paranoid 11

Black Sabbath punches, ducks and dives, lands a few killer blows. Blood in its eyes has turned now to bloodlust, and it fights like a thing possessed. Unsure after all this time, and having anticipated an easy victory, Paranoid dances away...

Closers then? Black Sabbath has “Warning” while Paranoid has “Fairies wear boots”. I think this has to go to the underdog (at this moment) again, not only for the sheer epicity of the closer on the debut, but also the fact that the closer on Paranoid mentions fairies. Ugh!
Black Sabbath 7, Paranoid 11

Black Sabbath follows Paranoid around the ring, murder in its eyes and Paranoid, seeing the change in its opponent, flinches back, looking for an opportunity to get some blows in. But Black Sabbath's defence is good and Paranoid cannot land a single punch. The crowd rises to its feet, suddenly cheering the underdog. Those who have bet on Paranoid sulk grumpily or exhort the opponent to make a fight of it!

Lyrical Content is very important. On Black Sabbath we have a song about, possibly, Satan being chosen or something, the antichrist maybe? Who the hell knows? But it's dark and unnerving. Then we have a song about a wizard, nightmares and then the devil getting married? Followed up with a really pastoral little lyric about, well, a sleeping village and ending on the big heavy broken love affair in “Warning”. Mind you, they do have to lose points for having a cover version on their first album, so let's score the tracks out of 10 for lyrics, where 10 is a great and different and interesting lyric, and 1 is pure crap.

“Black Sabbath” 10 (obviously)
“The wizard” 8
“Behind the wall of sleep” 8
“NIB” 10
“Evil woman” 1
“Sleeping village” 10 (I award it such a high mark because it's so unexpected and so simple, yet it works so well. It's the last thing you'd expect to hear Ozzy singing about on this dark album of dark albums)
“Warning” 7 (It's a little cliched, though not too much)

So that's a total, out of 70, of 54. Not bad. Now how about its rival?

Start off with “War pigs”, totally class anti-war song, followed up by the title track, with warning of manic depression and possibly suicide, then “Planet caravan” earns points for being totally different and a real change of pace, before we hit another classic, the superb “Iron man”, about, well, a man of iron. A giant man of iron, of course. And that's just the A side!
So, scores then:
“War pigs” 10 (of course)
“Paranoid” 10
“Planet caravan” 8
“Iron man” 10
“Electric funeral” 8
“Hand of doom” 8
“Rat sald” 6
“Fairies wear boots” 5
A grand total of 65 out of 80.

So it's very close, and I'm going to call it a draw. However, rather than last time, with a nil-nil deal, I think both albums have earned their points here so we'll make it a 1-1 score. That leaves the current standings at
Black Sabbath 8, Paranoid 12

Caught in a clinch, each fighter strives to best the other, but neither can land a blow. After some moments, the ref blows his whistle and forces them apart. The two opponents eye each other, warily, tired, but determined, and return to their corners.

ROUND THREE!

Now we come to what I like to call “Off-tracks”, that is, tracks that seem out of place or that don't quite look or sound like they belong on the album.
Black Sabbath has the cover version “Evil woman”, but everything else is pretty cool. I would venture to say “Sleeping village” is an off-track though. Paranoid on the other hand has really only “Planet caravan”, so it looks like Paranoid takes it again.

Black Sabbath 8, Paranoid 13

Determined to go on the offensive, Paranoid launches at Black Sabbath, a flurry of blows landing about its head and shoulders. No, not the shampoo! :rolleyes:

Chart Positions you say? We don' need no steenking chart positions! Ah but we do, and here we find Black Sabbath topping out in the US at 23, UK at 8 while Paranoid does considerably better, making 12 in the US and topping the charts in the UK, giving Sabbath their first number one album. Again, Paranoid wins this round.

Black Sabbath 8, Paranoid 14

Suddenly, Paranoid sees an opening and darts in! Its newfound confidence its undoing, Black Sabbath is taken by surprise and reels back.

What about Critical Acclaim? Both albums were more or less slated originally, but time was much kinder to them and eventually both were recognised as important, even vital albums in the heavy metal genre, if not in fact the very first ones which could be properly termed as heavy metal. Who did best, or did anyone, with the passage of time?

Black Sabbath: panned on its release, later hailed as the coming of heavy metal and the album that started it all. Paranoid pretty much the same. Calling it a no-score draw here.

More dancing, more feinting, the crowd get restless as neither fighter commits to an attack, watching their opponent, waiting, waiting...

Are there any Bonus Tracks, or were any Special Editions released? Let's see... looks like there were three special editions of Black Sabbath, one released in 1986 with a bonus track (a live version of “Tomorrow's dream”) one CD reissue in 1996 with “Wicked world” as a bonus and two reissues in 2009, with separate and different tracklistings for both the European and US editions. Yeah, there seems to have been some other reissue in 2004, but the only “bonus track” on that was “Evil woman”, which wasn't apparently included on the original US version, so I'm ignoring that one.

Paranoid seems to have had just the one reissue, in 2009, and although there are extra tracks they're all just alternate versions of the original songs. Another 1986 reissue did however feature a live version of “Wicked world”. Nevertheless, I think Black Sabbath gets this one.


Black Sabbath 9, Paranoid 14

WHAM! Black Sabbath suddenly launches an attack, catching Paranoid off guard. Paranoid staggers under the unexpected blow, legs wobbling. The crowd begin baying for blood again. Men rise to their feet. People nervously think about the "sure thing" they bet on before the fight...


Let's go back to Track-by-track Analysis and look at the actual Structure of the albums. Though few if any tracks can be said to be bad, did the positioning of each work in the overall context of the album? For Black Sabbath you have the title track followed by “The wizard”, which is perfect, then “Behind the wall of sleep”, which is mostly more a kind of hard rock/blues boogie, but fits in well, and then NIB, again perfect. Unfortunately then comes the cover of “Evil woman”, which breaks the pattern, then the quiet reflective “Sleeping village” establishes a semblance of eerie quiet before “Warning” brings it all to a crushing close. So other than the cover, pretty much perfect.

Paranoid couldn't start better, with “War pigs” then the title track, with the flow broken nicely by the lush “Planet caravan”, and followed up by “Iron man”. One hundred percent perfect first side. The doomy and perfectly titled “Electric funeral” is a natural successor to “Iron man”, with “Hand of doom” keeping everything dark and bleak until “Rat salad” provides some light relief as the tempo increases and we get a blues rocker with some Santana in there, and closing on “Fairies wear boots”, great track with some fine humour.

So Paranoid has no bad tracks, in terms of flow, whereas Black Sabbath does suffer slightly from the inclusion of the cover, and therefore loses out this round.

Black Sabbath 9, Paranoid 15

Spurred on by the crowd's taunts, Paranoid steels itself and launches into an attack which takes its opponent by surprise. Black Sabbath was beginning to think there was no fight left in Paranoid, but now it's the one reeling back under a hail of punches...

Now we go to see how many tracks from each appear on Sabbath Compilations. Although there are eight collections in all, “The Dio years” covers, well, the Dio years, so we'll leave that one out. Also “The Sabbath stones” features material the earliest of which was released in 1983. That's out too. Not to mention that “Black Box” is a collection of every Sabbath album in its entireity up to 1978. Oh, and “The rules of Hell” is yet another Dio compilation, leaving us with four compilations to consider.

We sold our soul for Rock'n'roll (1976):- Black Sabbath, 5 tracks; Paranoid, 4 tracks.
Symptom of the universe (2002):- Black Sabbath, 5 tracks; Paranoid, 4 tracks


Greatest Hits (2006):- Black Sabbath, 3 tracks; Paranoid, 3 tracks
Greatest Hits (2009):- Black Sabbath, 4 tracks; Paranoid, 4 tracks

For some reason the collection I have, the cool one with the painting “El triumfo de la muerte” on it, is not included. Seems it's not an official version or something. Boo. Anyway, what have we gleaned from this then? Well, two of the collections offer equal space to both albums, using four tracks from each, but where there's a difference it's Black Sabbathh that gets the nod, with 5 tracks from it on two compilations whereas its rival only gets 4. So Black Sabbath takes this one.

Black Sabbath 10, Paranoid 15

After a brief and sudden flurry of attack Paranoid is driven back by the fury of an opponent growing in confidence. Black Sabbath has it on the ropes now.

The last criterion I can explore is how various magazines, websites and even personal lists rate the two albums against each other. So I've gone trawling the web and the results are below. Some rate one album over the other, while some don't rate one at all while rating the other. I'll tally up the total at the end.


VHI Top 40 Metal songs: "Iron man" and "Paranoid"

Kerrang! Top 100 metal albums: Paranoid 39, Black Sabbath 31

Metal Hammer same: Paranoid 9, Black Sabbath 13

Guitar World Best 10 metal albums: Paranoid 1 , Black Sabbath not there

Some loser on RYM: Black Sabbath 46, Paranoid 13 (He also has “Close to the fucking edge” on his list!!! :rolleyes:

Another loser (Seriously? Marillion? Queen??) Black Sabbath 56, Paranoid 9

Metal rules.com --- Black Sabbath 17, Paranoid 24

metal descent.com: Black Sabbath 8, Paranoid 1

Village Voice: ten metal albums you must hear before you die: Black Sabbath 1, Paranoid nowhere

Vinyrevinyl: essential metal albums: Paranoid 3, Black Sabbath nowhere

Digitaldreamdoor: 100 best heavy metal guitar riffs: Black Sabbath 2, Paranoid 4

Music radar.com: Black Sabbath 37, Paranoid 7

So altogether then we have a total amount of votes from these lists --- where one was placed above the other or one did not feature while the other did – of Black Sabbath: 4
Paranoid: 8
So Paranoid clearly gets it here, leaving the current standings at
Black Sabbath 10, Paranoid 16

Thought to be on the verge of defeat, Paranoid finds reserves of strength from somewhere and fights back, pushing Black Sabbath towards the other side of the ring. The crowd goes wild. THIS is what they came to see! What a contest!

One more thing to factor in; well, two really. Impact on the genre/music as a whole has to go to Black Sabbath, so it now stands at
Black Sabbath 11, Paranoid 16

Black Sabbath rallies, throwing a series of punches at its opponent, who moves back...

and finally, and definitely least, your own snipings on my thread about Metal Month II, wherein the general consensus was that, of those who bothered to vote, Black Sabbath came out on top by 4-2, so one more for the debut.
Black Sabbath 12, Paranoid 16.

... onto the ropes, where Black Sabbath continues to pound on its opponent. The fight has turned completely 180 now. Are fortunes, thought safe, about to be lost at the death?

But no: the extra points count in Paranoid's favour and it rallies its strength, forcing its legs to bear it up and deliver a series of pummeling punches that floors Black Sabbath.

Eight ... nine ... TEN! You're OUT!


So we have a clear winner at the end. Although Black Sabbath took an early pounding and looked likely to be left choking on Paranoid's dust, it rallied well and by the end there's not that much separating the two. But in the end there can only be one, and though I don't personally agree with the result, science cannot be ignored and this is what it says:
The winner!
http://www.trollheart.com/paranoidwinner.jpg
Not quite by a knockout but still by a vote of 16-12.

Note: If anyone thinks there is some other method I could have used, or some criteria I did not employ, well it's too late now! I honestly went through absolutely every aspect I could think of of each album to try to make sure that I covered every possible, um, possibility. I don't think there's anything more I could have done. No doubt those who agree with the verdict will nod and say justice was done, whereas those who believe (like me) that the debut is far superior will shake their fists and cry “Fix!” But in the end, it was simply a case of letting the facts do the talking, and this is their unavoidable conclusion.

Whether or not you agree with the outcome though, one thing I think we can all agree on is that these are two of the finest and most seminal albums ever to grace the genre, and for Sabbath to have recorded both in the same year is, quite simply, a phenomenal feat that I believe was never equalled.

No you haven't. Warlord have a dark, dense atmosphere that just makes all of their songs sound epic. Warlord is the sound of the end of the world.

Popularity isn't relevant when it comes to quality, and Paranoid is overrated in my opinion. Also, long albums aren't necessarily better than short ones. Reign in Blood is a short, but effective brutality attack.

Wait, so you've been spending half of metal month whining about how long a lot of the tracks on the albums are but you award a point to the longest track in the track to track length comparison?

And so it begins...
Like I said, I based THAT section on a comparison of how long each track was, as an indicator of value for money. It's not perfect, but how could it be? Also, the only long tracks I whined about were on albums I did not enjoy. If you don't like something then the longer the track is the worse it will be to you. I never whined about Marillion's "Grendel" or Pendragon's "Wishing well" or It Bites's "Once around the world". I don't whine about long tracks, just long tracks I don't like.

I don't think I whine, do I? Do I?
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...dzUhDnGVqySSaw

When did I ever say that? In any comparison of this sort you have to take popularity into account, though it was by no means the only criterion used, as you can see.
You know, to paraphrase Urban to me a day or so ago: all the work that went into that, all the time spent on it, all the data collected and all the factors involved, and THIS is all you got from it? Bitching about two small areas which, while certainly relevant, did not by themselves determine the outcome. I loked at as many different angles as I could, tried taking into account every aspect of each album, and came to my logical conclusion --- which I don't agree with, but it is what it is.

You know what? If you two are so smart, try doing it yourselves. It was not easy I can tell you.

Also, at Frown: remember when I reviewed the Sigh album? I was worrying about "Slaughterhouse suite", which ran for 15 minutes, but when I got to it I loved it, and didn't want it to end. I take a little offence at your contention that I bitched about the longer songs. I think I gave everything a fair listen, skipped virtually nothing and in some cases completely changed my mind on the longer tracks, in some did not. It's all relative anyway.

http://s5.postimg.org/42atoo6zb/thealbatrossmetal.png
It's always the same, innit? You mention a band, particularly a heavy rock or metal one, and someone who's totally clueless about them says “Oh yeah, aren't they the ones who did [insert name of hit single here]?” People like them think this is the only song the band had, or at least the only one that's known outside of the genre, and sadly sometimes it's true. Sabbath's “Paranoid”. “Motorhead's “Ace of spades”. Metallica's “Enter sandman” and Fleshgrind's popular chart-topper, “Duct taped and raped”. Nah just kidding: that just missed the top forty! :rolleyes:

But the point is valid, and it doesn't only hold true for metal bands of course, which is why this is the “Metal edition”, but as we're in Metal Month II we're concentrating on only metal bands, and though this band might be considered more hard rock than heavy metal, they can certainly engage a headbang or two.
http://rgcred.files.wordpress.com/20...per-single.jpg
(Don't fear) The Reaper
Blue Oyster Cult
Released July 1976
From the album "Agents of fortune"
Backed with "Tattoo vampire"
Chart position: 12 (US) 16 (UK)

They've been around since 1972 and have fourteen albums, have sold 24 million albums and had a major influence on some serious names in the genre, yet they are and always will be remembered for their hit single from their fourth album, the classic “(Don't fear) the Reaper”. While it is a fantastic song and has a superbly hooky melody, it's sad in a way that many people will love this song to death (pun intended) but go no further in their exploration of the band. It's the “big hit single syndrome”, the event that, while it can make a band and open them up to new and unimagined audiences --- to say nothing of drastically improving both their market share and their personal bank balances --- can end up dogging them for the rest of their career, as they either try to top that single or measure everything else they have done after that against it.

Even if they don't, and their fans certainly don't, mainstream success after the big single may elude them, as the record-buying public frown on anything that's different from the single and wait for its successor, which may never come. Worse, the band may try to specifically write something that recalls the single in the hope of regaining that chart success, and wooing the fickle chart hunters again. Most times, this effort is doomed to failure, and could very well end up alienating their longtime fans as the band are accused of selling out.

Thankfully, Blue Oyster Cult have never done this: while obviously delighted with the success of “(Don't fear) the Reaper”, they have continued on their merry way for a further thirty-eight years and ten albums and, while they have not repeated the chart success or cult status of that single, they would go on to have two other hits. Nevertheless, when people speak of BOC they do not talk of “Burnin' for you” or even “Godzilla”. To those outside the fanbase, there's only one song that encapsulates the band, and perhaps it's no bad thing. It is an amazing song, after all.

The lyrical content of the song has been drastically misinterpreted though, with some people taking it as an anthem or even encouragement for suicide. When writer Buck Dharma discovered this he was shocked, explaining that he wrote the song merely as a result of getting older, and realising there was no need to fear death: it finds us all in the end. He did not, he categorically and rather worriedly stated, write it as a “blueprint for suicide” and it should not be taken as such. The song has passed into popular culture, being featured in every movie about death from “Halloween” to “Scream”, every other documentary that deals with death or the macabre, and was even used by urban artist Banksy for one of his installations.