JUDAS PRIEST - INVINCIBLE SHIELD

50 years and counting, the mighty Metal Gods are back! All told, there are 14 cuts to disseminate, three more than the standard version, leading off with pre-release single "Panic Attack". It begins with another bout of guitar synths, but certainly not "Turbo" Mach II. Rob Halford practically shrieks the titular chorus. "The Serpent And The King" seem hellbent on recreating "Painkiller". It's of a similar speed and intensity. Good to see the old guys didn't forget how to rock! More of the same on the title track, kicking off with a flurry of guitar, before settling into a head bobbling riff. Easy to sing-along chorus, should make it a live concert staple.

Downshifting, "Devil In Disguise" is a gritty, mid-tempo number. "Gates Of Hell" quickly locks into the Priest hallmark sound, at least the easy going structures inherent since Halford's return to the band. Richie Faulkner gets a fleet fingered solo squarely in the final third of this one. Next up, another song teased, prior to release, "Crown Of Horns", an autobiographical piece about how seriously Halford takes his responsibility as the Metal God, anointed with a crown of horns: the Dio inspired two-finger salute that bands/fans freely exchange as a sign of respect/affection. It's as close as Priest are going to get to a power ballad these days.

Back to the ‘90s, get a "Leather Rebel" vibe (especially as it jumps off) from "As God Is My Witness": built around a stout, speedy riff. The tolling of a bell and a sustained, old school high note from Rob are part of "Trial By Fire", unleashed on the public since last Fall. The moody, pedestrian stomp of "Escape From Reality" feels more like fellow Brummie, Ozzy Osbourne, than Judas Priest. Only the six-string flourish separates the two, Double O not having anything so dynamic, since the early days with Zakk Wylde. Speaking of spirited fretboard runs, check out the opening to "Sons Of Thunder", an ode to motorcycles, which utilizes backing gang vocals, come the chorus. A meandering, bluesy riff starts "Giants In The Sky", which closes the proper album. There's even an acoustic guitar passage, before ending with exaggerated Halford scream.

VADER BRINGS THE DEATH METAL MAYHEM IN RETURN TO MONTREAL!

VIEW GALLERY

Barely one year has passed since the last time Vader played in Montreal. Fans of death metal were back in the Studio TD on February 9 to see them once again as well as Inhuman Condition and Origin.

The first band of the night was Tampa’s Inhuman Condition and fronted by the energetic Jeramie Kling. The band kicked things in motion with “Recycled Hate” and the small crowd went bonkers. Their death metal is brutal and fans push each other as the band kept the ball rolling with a succession of pounding riffs. As usual, Jeramie does not stand still for one second and that is one of the reasons why bassist Terry Butler (Obituary) and Taylor Nordberg (Deicide) give him all room he needs by staying in their respective spots as much as possible.

He also interacts with the fans as much as possible and stated that a metal concert needs three things, headbangers, circle pits and crowd surfers. He put the emphasis on the fact that we had the first two elements, but we were missing the crowd surfers. That was resolved as soon as they played the song “The Neck Step” and “I’m Not The Monster”. Their cover of Death’s “Pull The Plug” was well received by fans and they pushed each other furiously during that classic. Their short set ended with their amazing cover of Blue Öyster Cult’s “Godzilla” and one of their biggest hits “Tyrantula”, where Jeramie took a pair of drumsticks and played the opening drum parts on the monitors. This short and intense set was exactly what was needed to start the night and I hope that Inhuman Condition will come back as headliners.

Origin was the most technical band of the night, and fans were really excited to see them once again. The band played three selections from their most recent album entitled Chaosmos and spread them evenly in their set list. Signer Jason Keyser is very dynamic on stage and does not hesitate to interact with the crowd, he instructs the fans to make circle pits and to stage dive. He also controls the exact moment when the fans should stage dive to match their music as much as possible. Bassist Mike Flores and drummer John Longstreth were terrific on the rhythm section and were the backbone of the technical performance. Their fast music is intense and so intricate that is does not reach everyone, but most of the fans are really enjoyed their set. Jason even did a little crowd surfing before asking for a wall of death for their last song. Another great show from these guys and you could tell they had a blast doing it.

It was now time for Vader to get on stage and celebrate forty years of Polish death metal. The band started their fiery set list with some old classics from The Ultimate Incantation album. Fans pushed each other to the intensive riffs of “Decapitated Saints”, “Chaos”, “Vicious Circle” and “Dark Age”. Peter interacted with the crowd and introduced most of the songs they played. The next batch of songs came from the album De Profundis and fans went wild during the songs “Silent Empire” and “Sothis”. From that point on, we kind of figured that this celebration was played in chronological order and that was fine with all of us. Spider and Hal were very dynamic on stage and swapped sides on multiple occasions. Crowd surfers repeatedly landed close to the pedal board of Peter or Spider so it did not take long before security appeared on each side of the stage to redirect the surfers back in the crowd in order to protect the band’s gear.

Drummer Michal Andrzejczyk was a wild animal behind the kit and his precise and speedy drumming was a performance by itself. Considering the short length and the pace of many of their songs, the band was able to play titles from almost all of their discography. The crowd showed a lot of emphasis during “Cold Demons” and “Epitaph” before taking a little breather during the introduction of “This Is The War”. Their impressive performance ended with “Come And See My Sacrifice”, “Triumph Of Death” and their most recent song “Shock And Awe”.

Vader did not have any issues this time, and their flawless show was impressive from beginning to end.

HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: In The Nightside Eclipse – Emperor

In 1993, black metal (or the second wave to be specific) made headlines for all the wrong reasons, sending shockwaves around the world with incidents including murder and church burnings. Yet the actual music was released that year, away from all the sensationalist headlines, was the sign of a change in extreme music, and this was basically as extreme as it got. With albums like DARKTHRONE‘s Under A Funeral Moon, IMMORTAL‘s Pure Holocaust, and BEHERIT‘s Drawing Down The Moon making a splash with their epic darkness, this nascent second wave was already gathering pace at a rapid level.



The stakes were raised higher still for black metal in 1994 with a slew of exemplary albums released. This included ENSLAVED‘s Frost, SAMAEL‘s Ceremony Of Opposites, and ROTTING CHRIST‘s Non Serviam. With quality like this on offer, the music was the main focus instead of the controversy.

In February 1994, there was quality in the shape of DARKTHRONE‘s Transilvanian Hunger, CRADLE OF FILTH‘s debut Dusk And Her Embrace, and ENSLAVED‘s debut Vikingligr Veldi. Released within the same week of all of these was EMPEROR‘s debut In The Nightside Eclipse. Though the album would stand alone with their black metal onslaught exemplified with flourishings of keyboards. This would be one of the first examples of symphonic black metal and the band was able to create a sublimely haunting atmosphere. The mature and grandiose feeling still sounds timeless after all these years.


The band weren’t immediately hyped up as masters of black metal though as may have happened in subsequent years. In fact, the mainstream metal media regarded EMPEROR and entire second wave of black metal as an object of humour. This humour turned increasingly sinister as news broke of the seeingly weekly crime reports come in; even involving some memebers of EMPEROR. However, it’s all about the music and In The Nightside Eclipse still not only stands up but stands tall as a masterpiece all these years. The album is not only a perfect example of the grandeur of black metal and how powerful it can be, but of metal in general.

Ihsahn (vocal/guitar/keys), rhythm guitarist Samoth (guitar), Faust (drums,) and bassist Tchort (who replaced previous member Mortiis) entered the studio with producer Pyrenees (who also worked with MAYHEM, ENSLAVED and IMMORTAL) to create the album. The results were groundbreaking in bringing an element of vast splendour to the rawness of black metal, something which would ultimately influence many bands in the future. Some even outside of the black metal realm which is impressive.

The album as a whole is a breathtaking piece of work from start to finish. Listening to it from start to finish is similar to a cinematic experience when combined with the artwork of In The Nightside Eclipse adding its own layer of ambience. From the atmospheric intro segueing into the immediate dark grandeur of Into The Infinity Of Thoughts all the way through to the closing Inno A Satana, this is EMPEROR at full throttle. In terms of making a statement, they did this without a shadow of a doubt. Tracks like Cosmic Keys To My Creations & Times, Beyond The Great Vast Forest and The Majesty Of The Nightsky were all vast soundscapes while the evergreen I Am The Black Wizards, EMPEROR had something akin to a metal anthem.

Ultimately, In The Nightside Eclipse still stands up. While the three follow up albums made when EMPEROR whilst active were grander in terms of their outlook, their 1994 debut was the spark which make them such a special band.



In The Nightside Eclipse was originally released on February 21 1994 via Candlelight Records.

Like EMPEROR on Facebook.

Slayer está de volta

O Slayer está de volta e já confirmou dois shows, em festivais, nos Estados Unidos.

Desde 2019 a banda esteve fora dos palcos, retornando para performances no Riot Fest, em Chicago, no dia 22 de setembro, e para o Louder Than Life, em Louisville, no dia 27 de setembro.

“Nada se compara aos 90 minutos em que estamos no palco tocando ao vivo, compartilhando essa energia intensa com nossos fãs”, disse Tom Araya em comunicado à imprensa (via Blabbermouth), “e para ser honesto, sentimos falta disso”.

Kerry King acrescentou: “Senti falta de tocar ao vivo? Com certeza. O Slayer significa muito para nossos fãs; eles significam muito para nós. Serão cinco anos desde que os vimos.”

Confira abaixo a publicação que a banda fez em seu Instagram oficial:

Problemas internos

No início do mês de fevereiro, Kerry King lançou seu primeiro single solo e anunciou o álbum From Hell I Rise para 17 de maio.

O guitarrista concedeu uma entrevista à Rolling Stone, na qual explicou que não falava com Araya desde o último show da banda: “Nem mesmo um sms. Nem um e-mail. Conversei com todo mundo da banda por telefone, sms ou e-mail. Se Tom me ligasse, eu provavelmente responderia. Provavelmente depende do que ele me falaria, mas não desejo que ele morra neste momento.”

Ele ainda afirmou que os dois nunca “estiveram na mesma página”

Freedom Call announce new album ‘Silver Romance’

FREEDOM CALL have announced a new album!



Titled Silver Romance, the upcoming album from the German power metal band is the follow-up to 2019’s M.E.T.A.L., and is scheduled to be released in May this year, via Steamhammer/SPV.

The moniker of their new record not only stands for the band’s 25th anniversary – referred to by singer/guitarist and band founder Chris Bay tongue-in-cheek as “our silver wedding anniversary” – but also applies to the content of the recording. “Qualities such as clarity, freedom and lightness are attributed to silver as a precious metal,” explains Bay. “Silver is also said to strengthen your self-confidence and imagination. These are all features that also suit FREEDOM CALL and that we’ve incorporated into our new material, both musically and lyrically.”

Alongside the announcement of the new album, the band have released a new music video for a new song lifted from the upcoming album; Silver Romance.

Watch the official music video for Silver Romance here:


Also, you can view both the track list and artwork for the upcoming new album below:

Track List:

1. Silver Romance
2. Symphony Of Avalon
3. Supernova
4. Infinity
5. Out Of Space
6. Distant Horizon
7. In Quest Of Love
8. Blue Giant
9. Meteorite
10. Big Bang Universe
11. New Haven
12 High Above
13. Metal Generation



Silver Romance is set for release on May 10th via Steamhammer/SPV. Pre-orders are available now and can be purchased here.

For more information on FREEDOM CALL like their official page on Facebook.

MISFITS TO HEADLINE NO VALUES FEST 2024 IN CALIFORNIA

The Original Misfits - featuring vocalist Glenn Danzig, bassist Jerry Only, and guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein - will headline No Values on Saturday, June 8th in Pomona, California at The Fairplex.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 23rd at 11AM PT at NoValues.com and start at just $49.99 down. All passes include free parking. GA tickets start at $199 + fees and VIP tickets start at $399 + fees.












For further details, visit No Values on Facebook.

ACE FREHLEY - 10,000 VOLTS

Ace Frehley has been in the news a lot as of late – due to a recent round of interviews for a variety of outlets in which he is quite candid (particularly, about his former band, KISS). But it turns out that the original Space Man has quite a few tunes to back up all the banter – as evidenced throughout his latest solo effort,10,000 Volts.

Working closely with Trixter guitarist Steve Brown (who co-produced the LP with Frehley), 10,000 Volts contains quite a few tunes that measure up well to his prior solo standouts – tops being the album's one-two punch of the title track and "Walkin' On The Moon" (not to be confused with The Police tune of the same name), as well as "Fightin' For Life" – a tune that is lyrically reminiscent of such past Ace "tales from the streets" tunes as "Hard Times" and "Bronx Boy." And as with most of Ace's solo albums, it ends with a melodic instrumental, "Stratosphere."

The only area which can use a bit of improvement is the vocals, as Ace appears to warble a bit off key (to catch my drift, compare his lead vocals on his classic '78 solo album – the best of his career – to those on 10,000 Volts). But upon further pondering, that's also precisely the charm of the guitarist – and what sets him apart from the largely same-sounding pack of rock/metal artists.