Trollheart

Well, if you'd bothered to read the piece you'd have your answer, wouldn't you? No melody I CAN HEAR. Happy? Next time read something before making a smart snarky comment on it; you might not even need to post after it. I think I answered all questions there. No melody, to me. Can't make me hear something I can't discern. Not saying there is physically no melody, just none I can hear.

Oh, and I could go on for pages about your terrible logic, comparing Phil Collins playing the drums to there being melody on an album, but, you know, whatever.

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Trollheart

On to June, and one of the Batlord's favourite artistes, who released their seventh album this month.

Luminiferous --- High On Fire --- 2015 (E1 Music)

Introduction: I experienced these guys as, I believe, part of Janszoon's Members' Top Ten last year, and was suitably, if I recall, impressed. This will then only be the second time I've heard them, so let's see what it's like.

Track-by-track

1. The black plot: Well, there's no settling in is there? Guitar and drums pound you across the room from the first chord and there's an abundance of energy in this. It's just a little too chaotic for me. Good fretwork certainly.
2. Carcosa: More a kind of rolling beat to this; reminds me of Metallica in places.
3. The sunless years: Hmm. Much of this is tending to sound the same to me.
4. Slave the hive: This is faster, has a lot of bite. Reminds me of Slayer.
5. The falconist: Kind of a nice melody in this one. Not bad.
6. Dark side of the compass: Very heavy and chaotic again. Meh.
7. The cave: Now this is different! Restrained guitar, almost a ballad, and I can actually make out what the vocalist is singing.
8. Luminiferous: Almost punk in its aggression and speed.
9. The lethal chamber: Meh, just too bored now. Most of this sounds too similar.

Conclusion: I get that HoF are big on many people's radar but I really don't see it with this album. I actually enjoyed Hate and Drudkh much more, which you would have to say is odd, because if I'm leaning (or believed I leaned) in any direction other than power/progressive/trad metal, I would have thought speed/thrash would have been my stepping-stone to more extreme subgenres. And yet here I am, praising Black Metal and calling Thrash metal boring!

Who is this, and what have you done with Trollheart???

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Trollheart

Right, I've had quite enough of Black Metal and guys screaming their lungs hoarsely at me, so I'm looking for something a little more traditional, assuming the twenty-seven bands left aren't all Black Metal ones!

Well, you know, most of them are! But I've managed to find these guys, who are described as progressive/melodic metal, so who knows, might be worth a shot.

The Revelations --- Ambrotype --- 2015 (Independent)

At least it's a full album: most of the bands here either have demos or three or four-track EPs. This has nine tracks, and opens with a nice sort of acoustic guitar and keys, sort of a romping melody, and they sing in English hooray and I can make out what they're singing. Kind of a, I don't know, CSNY feel to the melody? The opening track is called “Wretch”, and there's a very Gilmouresque feel to the guitar solo that explodes at about the second minute and runs into the third. I'm even more impressed to find that this is another one-man operation, and while it's not too difficult to do that in the likes of Black Metal to an extent, where you can just roar over a guitar, to have this level of complexity and melodic accomplishment from one guy is special indeed. The man in question is Adel Sarflou, and if he can find the right backing he has a bright future in the world of melodic metal.

OK, hold fire for a moment here. Seems for some reason my copy was playing in reverse, ie last track first, so what I just described above was the closer, “Illusion of grace”. The album actually opens, as I said, with “Wretch” and it is in fact an acoustic lament with some amazing vocal harmonies (considering this is one guy doing all of this) and some ethereal keyboards. “Crown of thorns” has much more of the metal in it, and Sarflou makes his voice darker, more ragged and more in the style of your death metal singer. The song marches along on a gritty, grindy guitar tha later rips off a really fine solo which is, however, nowhere close to death and more at home in melodic metal or even AOR territory. Great though. Another fine vocal harmony attended by expressive synth, then “Cry me a black tear (For my brother)” is a beautiful guitar-driven ballad, and over way too soon.

“I am the beast” then returns to the hard, raw sound of “Crown of thorns”, as Sarflou revels in his role as the devil, growling and snarling against a snapping, spitting guitar line that really rocks along. Eleven minutes of this may be too long (would have preferred the previous song to have been that length) but we'll see. Well, he does drop the devil persona about three minutes in, and the song becomes far more melodic and tuneful, actually becoming a sort of ballad in part, then in the fifth minute he goes back to the death vocal and harder guitar. Very versatile that's for sure. Now in the ninth minute we get a superb little acoustic guitar passage with wind sounds. Well, eleven minutes is certainly not too long. Love this.

This album just keeps getting better. “Your vivid soul” is another stark acoustic ballad, then the title track is a ten-minute affair that opens with a Queen-like vocal acapella chorus that then explodes into a death metal growler. Actually, not as such the title track: it's his signature song, called “The Ambrotype”, though what it means I have no idea. Great power and aggression in this song, but also great melody. How one man can turn his hand to so much is beyond me. I'm in awe, I really am. And it continues with “My nightmare chamber”, which runs again on a beautiful acoustic guitar and really showcases his voice, later changing to the death growl and toughening up the guitar. Finally, “Hymn” is an acoustic ballad with a bitter edge that just allows you to relax after all the power and chaos (though organised) of the previous track. The closer we've covered, as it was inadvertently moved to the top.

TRACKLISTING

1. Wretch
2. Crown of thorns
3. Cry me a black tear (Elegy for my brother)
4. I am the beast
5. Your vivid soul
6. The Ambrotype
7. My nightmare chamber
8. Hymn
9. Illusion of grace

I can't tell you how impressed I am with this guy, particularly that he's all on his own, and yet produces some incredible and eminently listenable music here. He has a great voice, able to switch from the deepest, scratchiest death roar to a clear, resonant tone, and his mastery of keyboard, guitar and drums is amazing. Deserves to be a star. One of the best albums I've listened to for Metal Month this year. Absolutely top class.

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Trollheart

Two years on, another Priest album, but this one would stretch the patience of many of their fans as the band decided to go in a more commercial, radio-friendly direction. Again. But this time more in-your-face, with guitar synths and more grounded lyrics. A love/hate album, this one has divided opinion ever since it was released, nearly thirty years ago now.

Turbo (1986)

The title track, as such, gets us underway as “Turbo lover” screams in, but you can already hear the insidious presence of the synthesisers. A hard drumbeat ushers the song in, but those bippy synth lines are already annoying. Halford's voice is more restrained, no screaming so far, nor growling. The song is kind of throwaway, and has a lot of AOR edges around it. It slows down near the end for an almost Meatloafesque choral passage, but does speed up before the end. Even so, it's kind of hard to equate Downing or Tipton's solos here with anything off any of the previous albums. Even Point of entry had better fretwork than this! Still, we are only one track in so I had better reserve my judgement for now.

“Locked in” has a more uptempo rock feel about it, but I don't really think I could comfortably call it metal. Kind of reminds me of later Tygers material when they went over to the AOR side of things. Okay, there are some very decent guitar solos here, nods back to the glory days of British steel and albums of that ilk. The synths are back for “Private property”, but they're pushed a little to the background after the opening salvo, and to be fair this has a great chorus and elicits some of the enthusiasm and swagger of previous Priest music. Probably the best track so far. Giving a finger to Tipper Gore and her pathetic PMRC, and echoing Floyd from six years ago Halford roars ”We don't need no parental guidance!” in the song of the same name. It's a fun ride, with some fine solos and an air-punching defiance about it, revenge for the controversy Gore and her self-appointed guardians of morality caused about “Eat me alive”.

Keeping the foot down hard on the throttle, “Rock you all around the world” is a good anthem with some screaming solos, and thankfully not too much if anything of the synthesisers in evidence, but they're very much in evidence for “Out in the cold”, which sounds like it could be a ballad. It's not though. Takes a while to get going, but when it does, it's very much a Foreigneresque mid-paced rocker, but it really does not sound like Priest at all. It does tick a lot of the boxes and it would probably be great on say a Night Ranger album, but I just don't hear Judas Priest in it. Halford's back to his Brian Johnson impression for “Wild nights, hot and crazy days” with certainly plenty of energy and power, but again there's that AOR/slightly Bon Jovi feel to the song that makes it seem like it's not one of theirs. Was it written for them? No, all songs written by the usual crew, so they can't blame an outside songwriter like Bob Halligan Jr for the terrible “(Take these) Chains” on Screaming for vengeance.

“Hot for love” is another kind of throwaway track, rock-by-the-numbers, very predictable and generic, right down to the guitar solo. There's a decent closer in “Reckless”, but the problem is that there's very little that's memorable on this album. It's all good hard rock, perhaps verging on heavy metal at times, but not enough to justify this as being a Judas Priest album. Something of a disappointment, though not as much as I had been led to believe.

TRACKLISTING

1. Turbo lover
2. Locked in
3. Private property
4. Parental guidance
5. Rock you all around the world
6. Out in the cold
7. Wild nights, hot and crazy days
8. Hot for love
9. Reckless

Coming hard on the heels of the superb Defenders of the faith this turns into something of a damp squib. That's not to say it's a bad album, but it's far from a worthy successor to their previous album. Led by music trends and I guess in search of radio airplay and even some more chart success, Rob and the lads decided to turn onto a different path, toning down the futuristic elements in their lyrics and focussing on more down-to-earth themes, but in doing so I think they lost a vital part of what is, or was, quintessentially Judas Priest. Hopefully it wasn't lost forever.

Oh yeah: this was also the album from which one of the tracks was picked to be included on the “Top Gun” soundtrack, but the band blocked its inclusion as they believed the film would be a flop. Hope you didn't bet too much money on that one, guys!

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Trollheart

Damn it! I really wanted to review Virgin Steele's new one, but they've made it very hard to get access to without actually buying the thing: not on Spotify, not on Google Play Music and not even on YouTube! So I have to go with something else. Ah, this will do. Bit of Doom Metal for a change.

The Plague Within --- Paradise Lost --- 2015 (Century Media)

Introduction: We've actually just encountered these guys in Wpnfire's top ten yesterday, and I have to say I was not that impressed, but I'm trying to keep a reasonably varied balance in this section, and so far we've had Power, Progressive, Death, Thrash and Black Metal, so I guess it's only fair to give Doom a go. This is Paradise Lost's fourteenth album, believe it or not, and the British outfit have been going since 1988, with their debut album released in 1990. Will they have changed that much since that debut? Let's find out.

Track-by-track

1. No hope in sight: Ah, what cheery titles! Still, this is Doom Metal after all. Hardly gonna be singing about their sweet baby now are they? Music to be fair is more uptempo than I was expecting, vocals are growly but then aren't they always in Doom Metal? Decent melody, quite like this. Actually, now we're getting cleaner vocals. Great grindy guitar work. Good to see that none of the tracks are a thousand years long, as in much music in this subgenre. Nothing over six minutes I can see. Well, one, but just by a few seconds. Good opener.
2. Terminal: Again, faster than I expect Doom Metal to be. Not at all plodding like I thought it would be. Some really nice riffs here, almost a style of boogie at times. Vocals this time do appear to be all cookie monster ones though.
3. An eternity of lies: This one is fucking immense. Almost progressive at the start (Progressive Doom?) with a really nice clear vocal. Slower, yes, but not going at a snail's pace
4. Punishment through time: Another great rockin' guitar intro, vocals this time are kind of half way between growl and snarl, but you can hear them fine. The pause is great, then the guitars kick up really well.
5. Beneath broken earth: I'm pretty much enjoying everything on this so far. Halfway through and I have no complaints at all. This song is heavier, slower but still bitchin'. Great menace in the vocal.
6. Sacrifice the flame: Now you can tell me that's not violin (none credited) and I'll argue with you. There is no way anyone, no matter how great a guitarist he may be, can make that sound on a guitar. There must be either a violinist or perhaps even a string section playing on this track at least. Gives it a really haunting feeling. One of the best on the album so far.
7. Victim of the past: More violins (they have to be violins) with mostly clean vocals, slower but again not sludgy or plodding.
8. Flesh from bone: Another great rockin' track, stomping rhythm
9. Cry out: Closest to traditional metal here with a real boogie vibe
10. Return to the sun: Big choir, very dramatic feel to this one. Seems like it could be a really powerful closer. Yeah. It's completely brilliant.

Conclusion: For a Doom Metal album I expected something much slower and drearier, and was pleasantly surprised by what I heard. Nothing at all like the debut; I wonder if they changed their sound that dramatically over twenty-five years? Maybe there's hope yet. Not, I'll grant you, a word you normally see associated with doom metal, but this was quite a revelation (now that's a word you do see associated with doom metal!) Seriously, great work guys!

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The Batlord

Boom.

http://valhallametaldownloads.com/vi...-2015320-kbps/

You know he's a convicted sex offender?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Holland_(drummer)

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Trollheart

Thanks man.
I did not.

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The Batlord

#ruiningtrollheartsenjoymentofmusic

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Trollheart

That scores on two levels, using Dean from Supernatural to trumpet your triumph.

However

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Key

Just in case you want it as an avatar.