Album Review: "Wick" by Royal Thunder

I had never heard of Royal Thunder until a couple of years ago when I had the opportunity to see them as the opening act for The Sword.  The outstanding feature of this performance was Mlny Parsonz’s haunting, angst filled vocals, which straddled the line between being sung and being shouted, but always in perfect key, and always with the gravitas of a tortured soul.  

I resolved at the time to investigate Royal Thunder further.  Tragically, by the time headliners The Sword had finished pummeling my brain with an onslaught of mighty riffs the openers had slipped my mind.  I failed to give them the attention they had earned.  When I saw the promotion for their latest album WICK hit my in-box, I was grateful for the chance to remedy this oversight. 

The band has made a point of noting this album is somewhat of a departure from their previous offerings, but it certainly reminds me of everything I liked about their live set.  Moody, dark and rumbling guitar tones, hypnotic drum beats and Parsonz’s spooky vocals.

Album Review: "Breakin' Outta Hell" by Airbourne

For the most part I try to approach these album reviews with some sort of journalistic objectivity.  Often I am not familiar with the band and have never heard the songs nor anyone else’s opinion of them before reviewing.  

This is not true of Airbourne, as I had the opportunity to see one of their famous live performances in August on the opening leg of their Breaking Out of Hell tour in Bergen, Norway.  (You can read my review of this show elsewhere on Glacially Muscial.)  So before the new album even arrived in my in-box they had already completely won me over.   

I went into this album already knowing at least the title track was top notch rock-n-roll.  The only question was would the rest of the album  live up to what I had already heard.  The answer is yes.

It bears repeating from my first postings on Airbourne, they are heavily influenced by their countrymen AC/DC.   There is no shame in this.  There is plenty of room in the world for more raw power hard rock anthems of this type.  As AC/DC sails off into the sunset, Airbourne, in every manner, is their heir apparent.  Fittingly, the album was recorded and mixed in Australia, and it seems to have harnessed the magical aura of Angus and the boys.

LP Review: "Brothers In Farms" by Steve'n'Seagulls

Brothers in Farms

Remember that time your wore your KISS tie to Christmas dinner with your entire extended family?

Man, your family was looking at you, thinking, damn Nik, you're 20 years old and can't even dress properly for this occasion.

The only support you're getting is from your stoner cousins who think it's awesome that you're letting your freak flag fly isn't really helping your situation.

Your mother always complained about you not dressing up for these things, so you decided to wear a tie, the only tie you owned and look what happened.

Geez. You just can't do any thing right. Well, that was me, and let me say that I miss the family members from that day who no longer walk among us. Our family was big, strange, and varied. My mother and I were the Town Mouse contingent.

Album Review: "Desire's Magic Theater" by Purson

Desire's Magic Theater

It is regrettable the evolution of music usually tends to bury its forbearing styles in the past.  

If 50s rock was great in the 50s, why can’t a band play that same sound now and attract the ears of the world. Sure there are some bands trading in on this style, but they don’t seem to get much traction.  Similarly, Steel Panther has acquired a significant fan base by mirroring 80s glam metal, but I am not quite sure if they are in tribute to this glorious era or mocking it. 

I think there is room in the musical landscape for reinventions of many sounds left in the wake of progress.  The music of the late 60s and early 70s has never spent too much time in my cd player, still I would prefer the sounds of this era not be left to die on dusty record shelves.  

Perhaps there has never been a band to more perfectly retroactively capture an era and a style than Purson has with their modern take on late 60s psychedelic rock.  And they have seemingly done this with enough flare and edge to win over even metal fans such as myself.

Album Review: "Mountain Czar" by Karma To Burn

Mountain Czar

Could you imagine being a tsar in Feudal Russia?

Back then, all of the little nobles were called tsars and of course, there was the Great Tsar living in the Kremlin.

The Feudal Eras in any culture intrigue me.

Being a daimyo in then Sengoku Era of Japan or a Lord in Feudal England.

The very idea of being your own island is something very brave. At any given time any of the citizens of these fiefdoms could be killed, captured, or conscripted.

Such a life they must have led. This is not to say that I would gladly give up my Twenty First Century Life for Fifteenth Century Japan. No matter how pretty Edo Castle was!

Album Review: "Farm Machine" by Steve'n'Seagulls

Farm Machine

It's an amazing world that we live in nowadays.

Think about the concerts you've attended or the hundreds or thousands of shows that your favorite bands have performed and how much was never recorded or saved.

Now anything that happens in front of an audience is immediately captured in stunning high definition on devices that also double as our PDAs, instant messenger, music player, and shockingly enough, phones.

So, is it any real surprise that Steve'n'Seagulls started because a group of Finnish musicians decided to play Thunderstruck by AC/DC whilst wearing the most ridiculous costumes they could think of and put it on YouTube?

I really don't think so. So here's what we have: A group of accomplished musicians from Finland playing a bunch of classic songs on banjos and the like.

Album Review: "Bloodsuckers" by Vamps

Bloodsuckers

Otaku Mode Engaged. 

Like Canada, Japan has always held a lot of intrigue for me. I grew up watching many anime (often times without knowing it), samurai movies, ninja movies, etc. 

In 4th grade we had a Japanese Springboard teacher. In the St. Louis City Public School District, they were people who lived in other cultures and came to teach us about them.

It was the first time I'd learned about Obon.

Today, we have a Japanese rock band that's currently based out of New York City.

Vamps have come together from the bands L'Arc~en~Ciel and Oblivion Dust. Bloodsuckers their first album under the brand new moniker. I think most of my readers are aware that I tend to shy way from albums with provocative covers, but I just couldn't help myself on this one.

Album Review: "Time & Trauma" by 36 Crazy Fists

Time & Trauma

There are few things as cool as metal to me.

One of the reasons is because of all of the crazy subgenres of metal and how nitpicky people can get about them. I personally recognize about 10 subgenres of metal and I do not think that I take them seriously.

Today, 36 Crazy Fists has introduced me to a new heavy metal subgenre: The New Wave of American Metal.

Wouldn't that be like, well every brand of metal ever? Well I guess I do accept The New Wave of British Heavy Metal...

Look, I'm not sure if I can take that name or that subgenre seriously, but I'll definitely give the band some serious consideration. Somehow, this band has escaped me for over two decades.

I  hate that.

Album Review: "From The Very Depths" by Venom

From The Very Depths

It's fun to think of my favorite bands and then picture them when they were very young. Many times when I do this, the picture contains them wearing other bands' t-shits.

When I picture Metallica from way back when, they're wearing Venom Welcome To Hell shirts with pentagrams as big as life on the front.

In those days, Metallica often spoke of the NWOBHM. Not many of those bands became more than someone who influenced thrash metal.

It's unfortunate. Venom is one of those bands that could not escape that movement and join the wider world.

Though they are often credited with coining the term "Black Metal," they didn't create it, but had they played black metal, would they have been pigeonholed there too?

Most likely.

Album Review: "Silent So Long" by Emigrate

Silent So Long

Again, we're reviewing music from Germany. Home of Per Mertesacker, Mezut Ozil, Lucas Podolski, and the rest of the World Champion German Footballers.

This feels like about the eleventh German record I've reviewed this Fall.

I also already made my David Hasselhoff joke, so that's right out. Can I take a moment to congratulate Per, Mezut, and Lucas for their World and FA Cup double?

Well, this record shockingly has nothing to do with my soccer fandom. (I know right?) Today's album is the side (solo) project of Rammstein's Richard Kruspe.

I'm  no going to give the same mention I gave when reviewing Mark Tremonti's solo record, but moreso. I do not like Rammstein at all. I have nothing kind to say about their music. More than that, I do not like electronic music, typically.