SAVAGE GRACE - SIGN OF THE CROSS

In the Eighties, this band straddled the line between traditional metal and burgeoning thrash, leaning towards the speed and aggression of the latter camp, without forsaking the endearing melodies and clean voiced lyrics of the former. Needless to say (satisfying neither divergent mentality) they sadly fell through the cracks. If you know nothing of the band, Master Of Disguise album is the place to start.

Now after decades of start-stop (in)activity, and a tell-all saga, sold exclusively online, guitarist Christian Logue (as the lone original member) has resurrected the moniker with a trio of young bucks. Apart from the title track (Yes please, MORE of that vintage, speedy guitar driven sound!), which is easily the best of the bunch, the current incarnation opts for a dolled up power metal sensibility. Sure, it would be great to hear some of the old tracks again, live, but not sure how many of those can be carried off, by this line-up. Elsewhere, only "Slave Of Desire" approaches the old school intensity/delivery, like the titular choice.



While quick mover "Barbarians At The Gate" screams out of the gate (literally), musically, I get more of a later day Helstar vibe. Even the more tame material contains a few searing chords, courtesy of Logue. Historical voiceovers introduce two of the songs. George HW Bush's '90 speech to the UN greets the modern heaviness of "Automoton" and an old TV interview with Polar explorer Adm. Byrd kicks off "Land Beyond The Walls", another dose of happy grooving.

STEVE VAI SHARES INVIOLATE EURO TOUR DIARY, PART 3

 

Guitar legend Steve Vai, wrapped up his latest European tour on May 7th in Helsinki, Finland at House of Culture. He has shared the Inviolate Euro Tour Diary, Part 3, which can be viewed below


https://www.facebook.com/watch/stevevai/

BURNING WITCHES - THE DARK TOWER

 

There's been some line-up juggling within the Swiss Misses: some permanent, others temporary, but the influx of ideas (along with guidance from members of Destruction) has created the strongest, most consistent platter of their short career. A baker's dozen offerings (although a pair are simply short intros) can often be too many choices, but these are all strong efforts, heavy on riffing and gritty vocals (courtesy of Laura Guldemond, the real star here).

Tortured and heavy takes on traditional metal, with plenty of showy guitar flourishes, it all begins with a cryptic voiceover, the 63 jangly seconds called "Rise Of Darkness". Mood set, Guldemond greets the listener with one of her larynx shredding screams, a call to arms heralding "Unleash The Beast". A more accurate moniker would be hard to find. A fast moving cut built around speed riffing and double bass drums, come the chorus. Make no mistake, this isn't thrash (or any heavier sub-genre), although there are moments when it borders on such, but there's a strong sense of melody throughout each composition.

A mid-paced, locomotive clickety-clack inherent in the best Teutonic metal resides within "Renegade". Musically it's not far afield of long running, like-minded Swedish veterans, who possess a song/album of the same name. What stands apart is the harsher female voice. Evil chant and cackling crone kick off one of the strongest moments, "Evil Witch". Aggressive and delivered in a flurry, it's built for the stage, with fist pumping chorus and plenty of guitar interplay. Twin trilling guitars give way to a Painkiller era Judas Priest inspired "World On Fire

BURNING WITCHES DEBUT MUSIC VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE "WORLD ON FIRE

 

Today, Swiss heavy metal outfit, Burning Witches, sets the “World On Fire” with the diabolical third single taken from their upcoming fifth studio album, The Dark Tower, out this Friday via Napalm Records. “World On Fire” gets the listener’s pulse pumping immediately due to the rising tension of flashy guitar work, before melodic six-string solos unite with unbeatable guitar onslaughts and sophisticated drum attacks - underlining conjuring vocal lines that call out for an evening zombie dance.

The chart-cracking five-piece has had an exemplary seven-year career - topped by their most famous song, “Hexenhammer” (2 million clicks on YouTube). Aside from their first American tour with The Iron Maidens in 2022, they have also supported Grave Digger and excited fans with their explosive performance at the world-famous Wacken Open Air festival. Currently, the witches are preparing for their album release shows in May - watch out.

Burning Witcheson their single, “World On Fire”: “We are starting the release-week with a roar: The new single ‘World On Fire’ features relentless double-bass power, massive guitars and catchy melodies - this is a typical up-tempo Witches banger that defines this new record really well! This forceful anthem will be for sure an epic live banger, that you can find in the set-list very soon. We hope you dig it!”

METAL CHURCH: LANÇADO NOVO SINGLE “MAKING MONSTERS”

 

A banda californiana Metal Church acaba de lançar o novo single “Making Monsters”, música que fará parte de seu 13° álbum de estúdio, intitulado Congregation Of Annihilation, que será lançado no dia 26 de maio, via Rat Pak Records (América do Norte) e Reaper Entertainment (Europa). O novo álbum marca o primeiro lançamento desde a trágica morte do lendário frontman Mike Howe, que faleceu em julho de 2021, marcando assim a estreia, em estúdio, do novo vocalista Marc Lopes e apresentando a nova formação com o guitarrista fundador Kurdt Vanderhoof, o guitarrista Rick Van Zandt, o baixista Steve Ungere e o baterista Stet Howland, além de Lopes, nos vocais. As novas canções são um retorno às raízes musicais da banda, remontando às vibrações do primeiro álbum. Sobre sua entrada na banda, Lopes declarou:

"Estou muito honrado em fazer parte desse legado para uma nova era do Metal Church. Trabalhar com Kurdt e uma banda que foi uma grande influência para mim enquanto crescia foi uma experiência surreal, para dizer o mínimo. Para para mim não adiantava tentar imitar o que já foi feito com perfeição. Então, com relação ao passado, avançamos para um novo capítulo e aqui estamos!"


Sobre o novo single, “Making Monsters”, Vanderhoof comenta:"Mantendo a tradição do Metal Church de combinar o som pesado e agressivo do thrash metal enquanto injeta uma boa dose de melodia e ganchos, 'Making Monsters' é uma faixa que mostra o que fizemos por mais de 30 anos. Tem o conforto da velha escola Metal Church enquanto mostra como nosso som característico evoluiu. A banda está disparando em todos os cilindros."


Lopes acrescenta:"Apenas uma música sombria, assustadora e pesada, que é liricamente baseada no livro 'Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power Of Dehumanization', de David Livingstone Smith - uma leitura verdadeiramente aterrorizante. É baseada em pesquisas reais da vida real . A desumanização dos outros que os transforma em algo tão aterrorizante que eles devem ser destruídos. Coisas profundas, filosóficas e psicológicas aqui, apenas mais um dia na minha linha de pensamento."

SKID ROW FRONTMAN ERIK GRÖNWALL SHARES COVER OF ALICE IN CHAINS CLASSIC "MAN IN THE BOX"

 

Skid Row vocalist Erik Grönwall has shared a new solo cover, this time taking on the Alice In Chains classic "Man In The Box". All instruments were played by Philip Näslund. Check out the video beloW

ROTTEN SOUND - APOCALYPSE

I'm not sure if anyone is grinding as great as Rotten Sound is these days, the band, as always, putting their heads down and blasting hard on new full-length Apocalypse. If Napalm Death are just getting better in age but spreading their wings a bit, Rotten Sound are getting better but more focused and precise here on their first full-length since 2016 (!), openers “Pacify” and “Equality” feedback-laden sharp knives of grind death, short fast and loud, no funny business whatsoever here.

There's 18 songs on this fantastic record and not a single one of them cracks two minutes, and that's what I like; I also like the biting, treble-heavy-yet-bottom-end-represented production sound, the ability to go low and slow when needed (“Sharing”), hurricane drumming (“Newsflash”), old-school Terrorizer-nodding grinding DM (“Denialist”), the total chaos of closer “Inflation”, the smarts on display despite the caveman sounds... Everything Rotten Sound always does is done to perfection here.

While I'm extremely hard-pressed to try to differentiate this record in any way from any others by this band (new bassist this time around), that doesn't really matter: this is an extremely top-notch grind album, one that will place high in my albums of the year list, Rotten Sound again showing they are at the top of the modern grindpile