First Spin Impressions

[Fat Freddy]

Temple of Brutality - LETHAL AGENDA

 

Well, this was pretty awful. Temple of Brutality (what a stupid band name!) is a new project featuring Dave Ellefson of Megadeth on bass and Stet Howland of W.A.S.P. on drums. With that kinda pedigree I'd expected a lot better than this. The music is pretty standard, mid paced thrash that may not have been totally mind blowing, but it sounded pretty good...that is, until the vocalist (Todd Scheithauer) opened his mouth and COMPLETELY ruined everything. He has a montonous tough guy grunt that sounds like Popeye with his nuts caught in a vice. Once he started babbling over the top of the music I completely lost interest.

 

Avoid, avoid, avoid!

[heaven&hell]

Temple of Brutality - LETHAL AGENDA

 

Well, this was pretty awful. Temple of Brutality (what a stupid band name!) is a new project featuring Dave Ellefson of Megadeth on bass and Stet Howland of W.A.S.P. on drums. With that kinda pedigree I'd expected a lot better than this. The music is pretty standard, mid paced thrash that may not have been totally mind blowing, but it sounded pretty good...that is, until the vocalist (Todd Scheithauer) opened his mouth and COMPLETELY ruined everything. He has a montonous tough guy grunt that sounds like Popeye with his nuts caught in a vice. Once he started babbling over the top of the music I completely lost interest.

 

Avoid, avoid, avoid!

 

 

Didn't Stet leave WASP to form this band or am I thinking of another band he has?

[eaglesfan3000]

 

Crimson Glory - Transcendence

 

I've never heard this band before, even though I've always been interested in what they sounded like.

I have to say on first impression I'm very very impressed. A great mixture of Progressive Metal and Classic/Power Metal, which is right up my alley. The singers voice is kicking my ass. Thanks for hookup on this one Keef.

 

Glad you're diggin' it bro. That there is one of the finest Power Metal CDs ever recorded IMHO.

 

OH YEAH Transcendence and the self titled discs are just amazing Midnight has some of the best vocals you'll ever here. Great prog band.

[Geoff]

Seventh Day Slumber - 'Once upon a shattered life' ; wow these guys have to have some of the most self-pitied, "I'm pathetic" sort of lyrics around. This is a good solid modern rock disc. Of the 10 tracks I counted maybe 7 ballads and 4 blatantly annoying songs about religion, but aside from that it was very pleasing. It definately could use a few more uptempo tunes like the killer 2nd track. I think it's called 'Rescue Me' or something. By far the standout on a pretty good modern release.

[TIM (2)]

MACHINE HEAD - The Blackening

 

This one's had an awful lot of hype & quite simply it's the best thing they've done by a million miles. The songs are pretty long but Flynn is like a man possessed, & the riffs are just so fresh-sounding. This is not nu-metal or modern metal in any shape or form, its just a band taking thrash metal into new directions. They finally stepped up to the plate & delivered something essential. Buy the CD/DVD pack too, as you get a cover of "Battery", which shreds. Awesome.

 

THRESHOLD - Dead Reckoning

 

Another career highlight here, even on first listen. This is heavier & punchier, but also more accessible with some pretty catchy choruses. Their last album never really grew on me as much as it did some, but this sounds as if it will...

[heaven&hell]

MACHINE HEAD - The Blackening

 

This one's had an awful lot of hype & quite simply it's the best thing they've done by a million miles. The songs are pretty long but Flynn is like a man possessed, & the riffs are just so fresh-sounding. This is not nu-metal or modern metal in any shape or form, its just a band taking thrash metal into new directions. They finally stepped up to the plate & delivered something essential. Buy the CD/DVD pack too, as you get a cover of "Battery", which shreds. Awesome.

 

 

That sounds awesome. I need to pick that one up for sure. Most reviews I've read have been very positive.

[Fat Freddy]

Intense - AS OUR ARMY GROWS

 

This is one of several promo CDs that I got in the mail last week but didn't get a chance to listen to it till today. They're a power metal band from the U.K. so at first I feared a hyperspeed DragonForce ripoff, but it sounds more like Iced Earth to me. (They even close the CD with an epic length "trilogy") If you can imagine early I.E. that leaned heavier towards the Iron Maiden influence and less on the thrash influence, you should dig Intense. (Terrible band name, though.)

[Dr. Feelgood]

Hotshot - S/T

 

Released in 2005, but it takes me right back to the 80's...correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe most songs were recorded back then as well. The first comparision that comes to mind is Danger Danger. On first listen, i find that the album is divided into 2 parts...the first half, till track 9 is more hard-rock oriented with a couple of very good ballads thrown in, while track 9 onwards it mainly consists of mid-tempo numbers which would almost classify as heavy ballads. i would have preferred a hard rock approach throughout, but i do like a couple of those mid-tempos already, so i'm hoping that the others will grow on me with further listens. My favourites on first listen are : "Love By The Numbers", "Too Much Is Never Enough" and "Bring On The Night". This'll be getting a lot more spins in the coming days, i'm sure.

[Geoff]

Skin Kandy - 'Matters of the flesh' ; At first, I thought this was really average new hair metal, trying to recapture the days of old (released in 2006, but sounds like mid 80's) and then track 5, the ballad, 'Little Eyes' hit my ears. Amazing. In the spirit of the best 80's metal ballads around... I just love this song. And from there the album did pick up a bit. 'Alone Now (Without you)' was another gem. This album ain't great by any means but it's not the worst. Just love 'Little eyes'...

[heaven&hell]

Night Ranger- Hole in the Sun

 

 

I'm not sure what to think about this one. I'm not blown away but I don't hate it. I always liked Jack's voice more than I did Kelly's, but there are a few good Kelly songs on this one with one of those being "There is Life" which is a solid ballad. The opening song "Tell your Vision" is a solid rocker and gets things started off nicely. I'm probably gonna have to give this cd a few more spins before I decide what I think overall.

 

 

 

Joe Lynn Turner- Second Hand Life

 

 

Another solid JLT release. Great vocals and great songs. Overall it falls in between his Sunstorm project and some of his more Bluesy Hard Rock releases. I'm not sure yet if it's as awesome as Sunstorm but upon first listen I really do like it, but then again there isn't a whole lot that Joe does that I don't enjoy.

[Swazi]

Leverage - Tides

 

Sensational ! I wouldn't have recognised the vocals of Pekka Heino (Brother Firetribe) either, but it is a phantastic performance with very strong songs. WOW !!!

[heaven&hell]

Leverage - Tides

 

Sensational ! I wouldn't have recognised the vocals of Pekka Heino (Brother Firetribe) either, but it is a phantastic performance with very strong songs. WOW !!!

 

 

I think it's much better than Brother Firetribe but I'm sure I'm alone on that around here.

"Horizon" is my favorite song on the album but "Follow Down that River", "Fifteen Years", "Dreamworld", "Stranger", "Sails", "Superstition", and "Twilight Symphony" are also great songs.

I read a few weeks ago that Pekka and the rest of the band is working on album #2 right now, and I think he's also working on the next Brother Firetribe as well.

[Geoff]

The Academy Is… - ‘Santi’ ; Another good solid album from these guys. Definitely not as instant as the debut, and the sound is rawer too. On first listen, I don’t think this does match debut but it’s a good solid release anyway.

 

Cute is What We Aim For – ‘Same old blood rush with a new touch’ ; Much better than I thought. I guess these guys are in the same league as Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco, but they’re a lot better than the latter. Nice “power-pop” with good melodies and catchy choruses. These guys may just pass as a guilty pleasure. Not great, but pretty good.

 

Coheed and Cambria – ‘Good Apollo, I’m brining IV’ ; Finally got around to this one. These guys are pretty good and the ballad at track 8 was very nice, as were some of the other harder tracks… but overall the band didn’t overly work for me. Passable, but not excellent,

[Geoff]

Crash Romeo - 'Minutes to Miles' ; well, after hearing this band be compared to Cauterize for a few years now (even though, as far as I know, this is their debut from 2006) I've finally heard it! And I have to admit, this is the closest sounding band to Cauterize I have heard so far. They're definately not anywhere near as good, but there is a good feel to this album. Million dollar production, good songs... nothing at all I disliked about it. No poor tracks. On first spin nothing blew me away, but this'll be a grower and may end up being big news for me. Damn my list of the best of 2006 needs to be updated soon. Good stuff.

[Swazi]

Magnum - Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow

 

Wow !! Magnum did it again ! What an awesome album !!! All tracks are absolutely stunning ! Definitely one of the highlights of 2007.

[Jez]

Magnum - Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow

 

Wow !! Magnum did it again ! What an awesome album !!! All tracks are absolutely stunning ! Definitely one of the highlights of 2007.

 

 

It's growing on me play by play. There are undoubtedly some great tracks on here like 'When We Were Younger' and 'Your Lies' but it is very one paced all through. More plays and I am sure it will all sink in. Some are claiming it is as good as 'On A Storytellers Night' and Wings Of Heaven' which is way off the mark, but it is a good album all the same.

[Faust]

The Ladder - Sacred ..... GREAT (thread here)

[Fat Freddy]

Type O Negative - DEAD AGAIN

 

This is the first T.O.N. disc I've listened to in quite awhile, as I started to lose interest in the band around the OCTOBER RUST disc, but I received the new one as a promo and it ain't bad. It sounds like a throwback to the BLOODY KISSES era, when I was still a big fan of the band. Fave tracks on the first spin: "Halloween in Heaven" and "Some Stupid Tomorrow"

 

The only thing that was distracting was that since this was a promotional CD, every few minutes through the entire album a voice would come in over the music that said "This recording is the property of Type O Negative, Brooklyn, New York." I can understand why they stick these voice overs on there -- to get you to eventually buy the actual CD, (and probably also to dissuade people from uploading/filesharing it) but it got really annoying after the first couple of tracks...

[Fat Freddy]

Engine of Pain - I AM YOUR ENEMY (promo)

 

Good grief, how did this band ever wind up on Lion Music, known mostly as a home for progressive/power metal and AOR ? Sounds to me like the label is trying to cash in on the melodic death metal craze with these guys. Too bad this is totally not my thing. If y'all dig stuff like The Haunted you might like this, but there's way too much WOOOOOOAAAARGH for me.

Adding insult to injury here is the fact that the label hype sheet that came with this disc makes much to-do about how "US Porn Star Tyler Faith will be featured in the album inlay and promotional pictures wearing Engine of Pain T-shirts," but all I got was a coverless promotional copy in a paper sleeve so I can't even see those pix for myself!!

[eaglesfan3000]

ZAR - From Welcome...To Goodbye

 

All I can say is God damn this is really good. Pick this disc up you guys haven't already.

[Nick C]

REO Speedwagon - Find Your Way Home.

 

Pretty solid album, nothing spectacular or WOWEEEEEE, but a good set of songs which just seemed right on a sunny drive to work tonight. While the songs may not be as instantly infectious as some of their mid career stuff I can imagine some of them really getting their hooks into me after a few more plays. Kevin Cronin's voice is still in fine fettle. I have a feeling I'll prefer this to The Earth a Small Man and his Chicken (and I like that quite a lot), and so far it holds much more promise than Building the Bridge.

[swriter]

agree Nick, not fantastic, just a good one from a good band, still miss Gary though, but I guess I gotta get over it, some good songs, about half are wonderful!!!!!

 

now I gotta find the new Stan Bush!!!!

[Swazi]

ALLEN-Lande - The REVENGE

 

Same formular as "The Battle", so if you liked that one, you will also like "The Revenge". Those two shining stars on the micro are absolutely stunning !

[Jez]

REO Speedwagon - Find Your Way Home.

 

Pretty solid album, nothing spectacular or WOWEEEEEE, but a good set of songs which just seemed right on a sunny drive to work tonight. While the songs may not be as instantly infectious as some of their mid career stuff I can imagine some of them really getting their hooks into me after a few more plays. Kevin Cronin's voice is still in fine fettle. I have a feeling I'll prefer this to The Earth a Small Man and his Chicken (and I like that quite a lot), and so far it holds much more promise than Building the Bridge.

 

 

Completely agree matey, although I haven't heard 'The Earth a Small Man' disc (must get that one). This was a lot better than I was expecting and there are some great tracks on here (the title track is one I especially like). I like the addition of the Live album and DVD in the package as well - value for money definately. OK, It won't set the world alight, but in this day of fewer and fewer quality AOR discs, this restores a little faith in the genre (Yet again the Old Boys show how it should be done!!!)

[TIM (2)]

ALLEN/LANDE - The Revenge

 

Some awesome vocals yet again, & the formula is remarkably simlar to the last album, so if it grows on me as much as that one then it should be great. A touch heavier than the last album...

 

GOTTHARD - Domino Effect

 

A good solid album this, with some excellent ballads. "The Call" is a great tune,& generally the first half is much better - & yet again they could culled 3 or 4 tracks off this. But I was expecting something radically different but its simply another solid MHR album...

 

STAN BUSH - In This Life

 

This sounds great. Absolutely no surprises here, but another collection of killer AOR with the title-track really standing out. A slightly rough-round-the-edges production & a slight fall-away in quality after half way, but a great disc.

 

THE LADDER - Sacred

 

Overland is on great form here, & this is a high quality album. Lush production & some great melodies make this well worth getting. It couldve done with a few more up-tempo tracks - as it gets a bit samey - but on first listen this is great stuff.