REVIEW OF THE ALBUM GUILTY AS CHARGED BY IRON CURTAIN

Iron Curtain is essentially a speed metal band formed back in 2007 and released 2 albums so far, Road to Hell and Jaguar spirit. Now three years after the second full length, these Spanish quartet are back with another dose of genuine 80s speed heavy metal. Guilty as charged will be out the next 14th October via Pure Steel Records. In the meantime you can check out their single Wild and Rebel from their Youtube Channel:

As mentioned their style is a perfect constructed speed metal, with influences from Motorhead and Iron Maiden to Accept backed with catchy gig ready choruses. Good example of that is the first track Into the Fire, submerging the listener to the true sound of Iron Curtain: fast paced and headbanging shot of adrenaline. Notice here a perfect Lemmy style on the vocals at some points. 

These accelerated paradise becomes contagious to the rest of the album, Lion's Breath and Take it back are a good proof of the best of the record and you will feel like going into the pit and scream those choruses out loud. Instrumental are in remarkable harmony and guitar virtue are at 50/50 leadership with vocals and rhythm.

Relentless start as a change of pace with a mid tempo song, and not a doubt this shot sounds like Accept from start to finish; voice, drum beats, guitars and even the structure of the song is made to sound like the German heroes. A run of the mill track but always enjoyable to listen.

The album won't let you down at this point, as the best track is about to start: Iron Price combines very Iron Maiden'ish riffs with the best of Mike's vocal styles. Fast and lighter track, with really straightforward and catchy sections being followed by Outlaw and Wild&Rebel, continuing the raw and fast strategy with back vocals that will catch your attention.

The tittle track Guilty as Charged follows in velocity but increases in vocal melody, even bringing the band style to the early eighties, when the NWOBHM exploded like Big Bang; definitely one of the best songs of the album and letting the last song continue the same path of its preview shot: Turn the Hell On makes the best of the riff melodies combining awesomely good with the back vocals, and bringing up one of the most catchy bridges and choruses of the band, being well structured and leaving the listener hungry for more... In my case I just restarted the album for my second listen.

I can say Iron Curtain just nailed it with this record, Guilty as Charged is very solid and well produced, being raw and sharp in style combined with a crystal clear production. If you like true speed metal obviously you will love this band and my suggestion for you: get the album because you will really enjoy it. It's clear the likes of these Spanish band, and they use their influences in a perfect combination to generate their own sound, and that sound is really well created in this headbanging electric gem,

8.5 / 10

Iron Curtain lineup

Mike Leprosy Vocals, Guitars (rhythm)
Joserra Bass
Alberto Fuentes Drums
Miguel Angel Lopez Guitars (lead)

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REVIEW OF THE ALBUM DESECRATOR BY AMBUSH

Ambush is a Swedish heavy metal band formed in 2013 creating a classic Heavy Metal style melting power metal touches; they soon released their first EP Natural born killers, that catapulted them on the first line of NWOTHM bands last year following with their first full length Firestorm.

Now Ambush just released their second full length called Desecrator,

And what to say about it, actually no words could describe better this album

As a pure heavy metal masterpiece, its not only the best material they’ve created,

It's a demonstration of how one of the new wave of traditional heavy metal bands

can be at the same page as giants like Accept or Judas Priest, because we all need to understand

a new age of metal is arising with loads of new bands, and i'm proud of these bands

that keep the essence of heavy metal like the metal gods did long time ago.

Saying this, lets focus on Ambush, these guys combined clearly Accept instrumentals

With impulsive touches and power speed metal vocal style (sharp and clean, mid and

Superhigh pitched skills), all this combined with catchy choruses that will make the crowd

Crazy singing along, good examples are Possesed by evil, with galloping riffs and a perfect

Shot for live performance, or Night of the defilers, with genuine Accept structure on guitars

And halfordish vocal style, just brilliant.

Master of the sea and Chain reaction combines the same key points but with a remarkable vocal interpretation, and awesome drum shots on the verses, as Desecrator, the tittle track, bring you a the best guitar Performances of the album, just keep attention to the bridge and chorus guitar details, outstanding.

Southstreet brotherhood take the hard rocker style to light, also with a catchy chorus and a crescendo structure, as Rose of the dawn and Faster develop the strong and high speed and impulsive metal, that's how to deliver the power and glory of true metal, but just leaving the best for the last track,The Seventh seal, as a slow to mid to fast paced masterpiece that goes in crescendo developing a solid and powerful vocal capacity, everything on this track is fascinating, every sound is clockwork synchronized and in harmony, all this to explode at the end with a fast paced ending of pure speed metal, just perfect, honestly will drive you crazy if you are a classic heavy metal fan, just wow.

Overall Desecrator by Ambush is their best work, with more solid compositions and better structured choruses, it's also really hard to improve but looking at their evolution as a band, they are on the top and fresh to continue at this level, and i could say they are one the best albums of the year, and the best word to describe it is Masterpiece.

9,5 / 10

Line up

Ludwig Sjöholm - Bass 

Linus Fritzson  - Drums  

Olof Engkvist  - Guitars 

Adam Hagelin - Guitars 

Oskar Jacobsson  - Vocals

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REVIEW OF THE ALBUM OVERDRIVE BY RUNNING DEATH

Finally the long awaited full length from the German Thrashers Running death is out, full of improvements from their last EP Call of extintion (2012), read that review following this link.

What the listener will notice right after the first intro called It begins is the high level of technical performance on the instrumentals and that important progressive thrash feeling, Hell on Earth is just about this stuff, combining fast and mid paced sections with an excellent job by guitars and drums leaving vocals attacking with a high pitched harsh power; continuing with Psycho on the same line of fast pace but clearly more modern influence combined with strong mid tempo verses, slightly darker and melodic at some points.

Remote Controlled develops diverse riff combinations including palm muted galloping and melodic links with verses, creating headbanging parts and building a good chorus, clearly improving what we've seen on this album up to now, Simon nailed it on this one on the vocal interpretation, continuing with Close minded, reminding to those genuine Metallica riffs, being a clear influence for the band, strong palm muted shots and really good lyrics.

Raging nightmare explodes suddenly in a galloping headbanging bomb, that's pure moshpit thrash on fire, right in the middle of the album this is what a metalhead is waiting for, outstanding job on guitars and vocals, noticing the excellent production here is clearly better than their previous jobs, crystal clear drum details and bass performance, one of the best shots of Running death.

The instrumental acoustic track Deludium opens to Mercenary, creating an awesome crescendo straight away from the first second developing a mid thrash metal mayhem including progressive shots on the guitars, on the line of the general band's style serving as a good highlight of the album; linking to Pray for death, this time creating a doom/evil sound and accelerating the machinery to good speed thrash metal territories, it will call the attention of the listener in terms of composition.

But at my point of view the best is yet to come with the last three tracks of the album, starting with Reduced as a rhythm changing powerful shot, where palm muted and melodies dance around a pure thrash metal machine on drums, denoting a very intense vocal performance and enjoyable instrumentals all over the song; continuing without rest with the tittle track Overdrive as an old school thrash metal anthem creating an awesome job on drums including double pedal parts, with an insuperable Simon growling and singing in clean and sharp parts.

The last and best track of this album goes to I see a Fire, as the increscendo is being built from the darkness and evil style in quasi doom metal influence but soon exploding in the best riff of the album using palm muted parts in high sophisticated sections combined with excellent drum details, changing pace continuously until the epic end.

All in all Overdrive is a clear improvement and the best album up to date by Running Death, the production is crystal clear and the compositions are sophisticated, becoming a top class album by a professional thrash metal band.

8 / 10

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REVIEW OF THE ALBUM UNSTOPPABLE BY STEEL RAISER

Steel Raiser is a power heavy metal band from Italy founded in 2006 and releasing one demo and three full lengths to date, Race of steel (2008), Regeneration (2013) and Unstoppable (june 2015) with Iron Shield Records.

Steel raiser is feed from the flames of 80s speed metal strength and 90s power metal melodies, they got very much a combination of influences from Judas Priest, Gamma Ray and Grave Digger; impulsive speed metal always perfectly melted with strong German true metal, guitars are forceful using lots of palm muted patterns as the drums in general work awesomely well in harmony with the rest of instrumental, but the key point of this band is the vocalist, the vocal range is immense, from low sharp with hints of Udo style through clean mid pitched sides on the melodic power metal style, and surprising the listener with sharp high pitched screams on the Halford line that will blow out your mind.

The album begins straight with a fast paced and headbanging tune, really well done on the verses, as the word Inexorable in the chorus will bring your fists up in the air, truly one of the highlights of the band's sound, as Decapitator explodes with chorus as intro, mid to fast paced shot on the strategy line of German metal style, remembering Grave Digger moments, as they use an addictive chorus really effectively.

Fast as the light continues the metal madness as they develop interesting power metal melodies with a remarkable job on the vocal performance, clean and sharp changing constantly, creating a melodic chorus, long and effective; as one of the best tracks begin, Scent of madness, creates a really catchy riff that harmonize perfectly with the vocal performance, that in fact is the best of the album, developing melodic clean parts and evolving to a sharp and very well played theatrical sections to create another effective chorus, all adorned with synth violins, masterpiece guys!

Continuing with the same strategy, Dreaming of you kicks in with nice palm muted riffs and potent vocals that mixes with falsetto parts forging a dark atmosphere, following the power metal based chorus patterns, and continuing the action with Thousand blades, with airs of US metal in every note, epic and headbanging track from the first second.

Unstoppable takes out the fury, Judas priest style, to develop aggressive verses and a long restless chorus, guitars are powerful and so the whole track, continuing with another catchy shot Mole breaker, mixing grave digger and Wasp, really the chorus reminds me to Battlecruiser, but all on all another top shot from Steel Raiser, with probably the most addictive chorus of the band, following a simple and effective formula, Mole breaker!!

The last tears is a mid tempo ballad that introduces clear patterns from gothic sounds, on the vocal vibrato and also on melodies, giving a power -gothic metal touch, and finally the last track is the second version of Scent of madness, which is the same excellent song we listened before but with a change in the solo, the bassist come into scene to perform a more than prodigious bass solo, outstanding in every note.

Steel raiser new album is forged from the true metal and is gonna keep you banging your head from the beginning, compositions are rich and different in every song which is something great because many bands use to keep a formula in every song but Steel Raiser managed to give a different touch in every track of the album, taking influences from priest to maiden and gamma ray, jag panzer or accept, Steel Raiser are back more solid and stronger than before, with an excellent production for what can be one of the best albums of this year.

8,5 / 10

Line up

Salvo Pizzimento Bass

Gianluca Rossi Bass, Guitars

Antonio Portale Drums

Giuseppe Seminara Guitars

Alfonso Giordano Vocals

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REVIEW OF THE ALBUM "FACING THE FALLOUT" BY SHADOWBANE (16/1/2015)

Shadowbane is a power metal band from Germany formed in 2007 and releasing only their demo Dystopia independently in 2010,becoming a really promising band, and now ready to conquer Europe with their upcoming album Facing the Fallout, due to be release next 16th of January of 2015 via Pure Steel Records.

Shadowbane breath from the flames of the authentic heavy-speed metal mixing German and US power metal effectively, having similarities with bands like Accept, Helloween or Grave digger combined with epic Manilla Road or Queensrÿche, high pitched clean and sharp vocals, contrasting melody and powerful choruses with technical guitar riffs and fast pounding drumbeats.

The album opens with the Red alert instrumental apocalyptic shot linked to Beyond the winds of war, powerful heavy start on the line of Accept including palm muted and galloping riffs, changes of pace and good drum performances, but being eclipsed by Traitor, one of their best tracks, including some outstanding riffs and shreddings (remember the Spanish power metal band Avalanch riffs?) headbanging as hell with an excellent structure, better chorus, and remarkable guitar performance.

Under bleeding skies evolves in a straight high speed heavy metal shot with memories of Judas Priest, very well composed on the bridge and the slow paced chorus, special mention to the vocal work on the clean and sharp styles combining aggressive and melodic sections really well; continued by After the fallout, comprising a mid fast tempo pattern of pure US power metal, amazingly well composed and headbanging and coming back to the German Grave digger influence with Dystopia, totally addictive riffs and chorus, forging a memorable bridge.

Tears down the wall explodes like an authentic speed metal track with melodic power metal added to the mixture, the clean vocals are amazing here as the progression with the guitar shredding and the emphasizing drums create and endless headbanging anthem, linked with another highlight of the band style, Badlands law, mid fast shot with a chorus to be shouted on the gigs, drum and guitar structure reminding to the ram it down era of Judas Priest but keeping the powerful sign of the band.

Last division take the Teutonic riff style and mix it with the US power melodies to create a true masterpiece of sophisticated drum shots, epic guitar performances and outstanding bridge and chorus, to finalise with Source of Grief, accelerating the metal machine to a high speed pace; this last bomb combines very well the elements that Shadowbane have used before,rhythms changes, aggressive and frenetic powerful in crescendo verses that make you break your necks in a breathtaking pulse.

Shadowbane managed a really professional production forging an excellent work in every aspect, the album contains masterpieces like Traitor, Last Division or Source of grief being highlights of the album. Shadowbane will step forward to the top of the true power metal scene with Facing the Fallout.

9 / 10

Shadowbane line up
Stefan - vocals

 Lukas - lead- and rhythm-guitars 

Markus - lead- and rhythm-guitars 

Moritz - bass and backing vocals 

Renè - drums 

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Release by Pure Steel Records

Review by Daniel Ortiz from Metalheads Union and Metalheads Union FB

REVIEW OF THE ALBUM CRAWLING OUT OF HELL BY FALLEN ANGEL

Fallen Angel is a power metal band formed in 1983 in New York, releasing their first demo in 1985 and split-up in 1986, being in the shadows until they reunited in 2009, working hard to create their first album Crawling out of hell, first part of three in a conceptual epic saga, followed by the trilogy of fictional novels written by the guitarist John Cruppe. This first album didn't have a major impact when it came to light in 2010, but now in 2014, it has been re-released via Killer Metal Records, bringing this album to light to the main metal scene. The second part is coming, under the name Cast out of heaven.

Fallen angel is inspired by the late 80s and early 90s heavy metal combining power metal and speed metal creating sophisticated compositions , introducing a mid to high pitched raw vocal style, on the line of bands like Warrant, Halford or Exciter. Guitars bring melodies from US power metal including the epic side to the mixture as the drums follow effectively the pace of the band, enriching the sound with excellent technical performances.

The album is completed with twenty tracks, six of them are instrumental introductions developed almost without breaks between the songs, as a concept album; the atmosphere of the winds of Crash to Oblivion take you inside the world of Fallen Angel as the thunder roars to Sinner's vengeance, straight and heavy speed metal bomb that will make you bang your heads with one of the best songs from the band, remarkable job on the drums details and the powerful voice, continuing with the troops marching of March into hell leading to Blood on my soul as a mid tempo US power metal, with a real forceful sound and Halford-like vocal screams.

The grinding wheels of war continues the epic sound to introduce The reapers shall Gather, another highlight for the album, a piece of pure heavy metal with an outstanding high pitched vocals, giving it all and creating a real piece of true metal with excellent chorus to be played again and again.

Arrival raises the dark evil feeling to the battle as the Dark Lord come to scene, with another astonishing speed metal furious style, totally neck breaking on the verses and mid tempo catchy chorus as the Darkness reigns in a mid paced shot, with powerful melodies on the vocal line, showing mid to high sharp screams and progressive instrumental with galloping patterns.

The one who walks alone, with a dark feeling to start, evolves in a mid tempo melodic shot with progressive drippings on the instrumentals, not as aggressive as previous tracks but perfect on vocal performance,continued by the ballad The answer, ascending in intensity from the acoustic to the melodic chorus with influences from Queensrÿche.

The cold orchestrated introduction Respiration Desperation leads to another mid tempo US power metal, The neutral zone, with headbanging force and galloping chorus and drippings of Mercyful fate and Judas Priest as Life or death acoustic notes start exploding in a mid fast shot of pure heavy metal, with really good job on the drum performance and addictive chorus in one of the best vocal combination of styles.

On and on is a slow to mid paced shot, pure strong, powerful heavy metal of those that make you bang your head under an ascending epic feeling, remarkable the clean vocal technique; as Ashes to ashes whispers introduces you to the ballad Leaving all behind, another Queensrÿche style ballad, in crescendo and really intense and well forged, specially in the second half, memorable melodies and perfect creation even reminding the Dio and Iron maiden influences.

Watching mid tempo heralds a good quality on technique and powerful structure, the vocal melodies reminded me to Oliver Magnum on the verses, so good performance linked with Sad wings, ballad with acoustic start and ascending to another intense, amazingly epic anthem to finalize with Grant me Peace, combining the power metal with the aggression of Judas Priest, bringing to light one of the best bridges and most forceful chorus, completing the first part of Fallen Angel's concept works.

This is the result of a really hard work, reflecting a gigantic production That not only will make you bang your head, Fallen Angel are introducing the listener to an epic adventure story that will catch you from the beginning. Looking the album as a whole play, I can Say they forged a masterpiece of authentic heavy metal, introducing speed, power and classic heavy metal defining the true metal in every sense.

9 / 10

Line up

Steve Seniuk (vocals)

John Cruppe (guitar, keyboards)

Robb Lotta (guitar)

Joe Surace (bass)

Frankie Quaggs (drums)

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Release by Killer Metal Records

Post by Daniel Ortiz from Metalheads Union and Metalheads Union FB

REVIEW OF THE ALBUM INSOMNIA BY EDGE OF THORNS

Edge of Thorns was formed in 1996 in Germany, releasing three demos until the first full length was released in 2004. Ravenland, being well recieved by the media, the band had line up changes for their following album Masquierading of the wicked in 2007, and after seven long years and hard work, the band, reformed as the definitive line up with Dave Brixius and Jani Nackel as axemasters, Dirk Schmitt on the vocals, Achim Sinzinger on the bass and Joachim Litcher on drums, releasing Insomnia the last 4th April 2014.

Edge of thorns kicks in as a pure power metal band with German influences from early Helloween and Gamma ray, and also drippings of Grave Digger and Accept in terms of structural compositions, guitars in general create a curious and awesome contrast of upper Technical quasi progressive and some times neoclassical style with impulse and raw sound elements; the drums and bass follow the mid fast pace at all moments effectively and finally the vocal style will remind you to Mr Udo vibrato and vocal range but also its appreciable elements from a higher pitched Blackie Lawless from WASP; combining all these factors together you'll find Edge of thorns have their unique sound, even though they are not creating something new to the scene, its a fact that this album heralds a  high quality of genuine german heavy power metal.

After the introduction the band attack straight with Dark side of your life, kicking with a fast pulsed heavy metal anthem with catchy chorus to make an idea of what Edge of thorns have in this album as a good highlight, connected with another mid fast paced power metal shot, Yearning has begun, this time with more epic and melodic power, on the line of Gamma Ray, with remarkable on the vocal sound and the great combo with the back vocals, the guitars demonstrate perfectly the technical progressive side together with the sharp impulsive guitar notes as mentioned above, one of the best of the album.

After a breathtaking guitar shredding introduction, Insomnia comprises one the most modern heavy power metal styles of the album, perfectly fitting on the last Udo or Accept albums, the chorus is intense and powerful, and the vocals work truly sophisticated and theatrical as the gem of the album explodes like a missile of pure heavy speed metal, Metal Unity is literally a masterpiece of the genre, headbanging and moshpiting authentic teutonic style, the vocals are brilliant and the composition is really amazing, guitars make the perfect job producing palm muted riffs and technical solos.

The watchmaker is another top shot of the band comprising part ballad part slow mid pulsed anthem in an ascending intensity boosted by sophisticated guitar shredding and background violins, vocals are amazingly well performed in clean techniques followed by A Carees of souls, starting as a ballad but evolving In a dark, forceful and aggressive track with awesome melodic verses, good progression and harmony within all the band with special mention to the guitar solos, just outstanding.

Walking like a ghost bring some thrash metal drippings in another headbanging fast paced song with a good vocal highs and lows, as Death dealer even improves the pace with excellent double pedal drum performance that lead very well the verses as the chorus comes intense and epic to catch you in the moshpit.

Of hearts that burn will make you break your neck banging your head with a non-stop pounding rhythms with long instrumental intervals as the seven Sins of Arthur mc Gregor epic start bring you to the top going in crescendo with galloping and complex riff and drum combo, the slow mid tempo vocal parts are astonishing and epic but clearly dominated by the virtuous guitar performance.

Is this the way it ends is a good name for an unusual kind of song, but in reality is a melancholic and beautiful act with one of the best vocal interpretations coordinated with piano and violins that finalise the album leaving the listener with the feeling of playing the full length again and again.

Overall the album is all you want to listen for any speed heavy and power metal preferences, the production is crystal clear and the good quality of the record is constantly high, the highlight tracks are numerous but specifically better in the first half of the album, being tha track Metal Unity their best song, so if you like Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, Accept or Tyran Pace, this album should be a must-have in your collection.

9 / 10

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Re;eased by Killer Records

Review made by Daniel Ortiz from Metalheads Union and Metalheads Union FB

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REVIEW OF THE ALBUM THE FINAL NIGHTMARE BY OVERDRIVE (2014)

Overdrive is one of the classiest NWOBHM bands in early 80s, formed in 1977, the quartet developed an early heavy metal style releasing their first single On the run (1981) which became a cult material for the years to come. The first album was then released nine years later, Dishonest words, and four years later their second shot called Home sweet home (1994) taking a lull until the release of another two albums, On wizard Ridge (2005) and Three corners to nowhere one year later.

Eight years later and with the new vocalist David Poulter in the band, Overdrive released Final Nightmare via Pure Rock Records last 22nd August 2014.

The new album continues exactly this authentic traditional heavy metal style, containing drippings of 70s hard rock and a few epic elements seen on bands like Saxon. Invited to hell is a demonstration of this early sound as they perform genuine heavy metal with influences, the chorus is really headbanging and catchy as the hard rocker Twice shy come to scene developing a late 70s strong pulsed mid tempo, the progression is excellent, alternating slow and mid paced drum beats and introducing keyboards in an excellent harmony.

Glass game heralds a never-ending headbanging structure, the mid tempo rhythms are one of the best of the band, and is also remarkable the work on the instrumentals, guitars and keyboards strike forcefully and linking the action to an increscendo track, Twisting my mind, creating one of their best chorus, vocal sounds even bring memories from Udo in his cleanest techniques, guitar performance is outstanding and well played along with the keyboards, showing a good instrumental fight, style also seen in Nightwalker, with a more modern influence but still under the old school patterns.

Wasted begins so powerful like a neck breaking blast of fast paced heavy metal, definitely a true masterpiece that will involve the crowd in every gig, with an addictive riff and chorus continued by Lost on a mountain, keeping you up again with some melodic strong pounding heavy sound being another highlight in the album.

Taken Young develops a really rich composition in an ascending intensity path, mastering a really good performance on the instruments harmony, curiously brings me memories from a unreleased track by Judas Priest called Mother sun, the orchestra with violins and piano forge a really powerful ballad and the neoclassical style at the end make it a masterpiece of the band.

The final nightmare end the album, creating a dark atmosphere evolving in an addictive riff, vocals work again on the epic side even showing a high theatrical performance level, the guitar and keyboards construct a really solid and rich sound, leading to an astonishing ending.

Overdrive came back stronger than ever and eight years after their last album, its unbelievable how these guys manage to keep the essence of their sound in early eighties, if you don't know this is new stuff you probably time this album immediately after their first single in 1981,

definitely this is a good lesson of classic heavy metal made for true metalheads, as overall the final nightmare is an excellent album that must be in the collection every NWOBHM fan.

9 / 10

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Overdrive are

Ian Hamilton Bass, Vocals, Vocals

Mr. Scratch "Animal" Padgett Drums

Tracey W. Abbott Guitars

Tim Hall Keyboards, Vocals

David Poulter Vocals

Released by Pure Rock Records, part of Pure Steel records

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REVIEW OF THE ALBUM SHOUT FOR HEAVY METAL BY MORTICIAN (14th november 2014)

Mortician is a genuine heavy metal band from Austria, formed in 1983 and releasing cult heavy metal materials on that time consisting in a demo and EP No War in 1987 with excellent media feedback, and changing line up for another demo in 1989 but without being as successful as their first EP, the band split in 1990. Twenty years after their last concert, the reunion of Mortician was a reality, forming a solid lineup with the two founder members Patrick (bass) and Thomas (guitar), joining forces with Daniel Khan on the vocals and Gergely Nagy on drums.


Soon the new Mortician released their first full length called Mortician via Pure Steel Records, a really high quality album showing a renovated energy from the Austrian quartet. Finally the band went again to the studio to forge their second bomb called Shout for heavy metal, released by Pure Steel Records and coming the next 14th November 2014

The sound of Mortician and their new album, is influenced by the greatest heavy metal bands from the 80s such as Accept and Judas Priest, combining the aggressive edge from those giants with the power metal showed on bands like Grave Digger, showing comparable composition strategy on verses, strong Teutonic guitar performance and catchy and repetitive choruses in general. 

Powerful is the word to use to describe the beginning of the album, the tittle track Shout for Heavy metal will make you bang your head straight away, mid strong pulse and catchy chorus in general, with a remarkable high pitched performance on the vocals, continued by Eagle Spy following similar patterns, excellent riff performance and really good progression on the verses, guitar riffs are outstanding and the drums do a good job on the pedals, a demonstration of true power heavy metal style.

Promised land heralds an effective riff in good harmony with the vocals, developing galloping in crescendo progressions and another good job on the vocal performance with clean and sharp techniques as the fast paced track Rock Power kicks in with drippings of Accept and Saxon in a powerful and headbanging feeling.

The Devil you know is another full power-heavy metal track with extremely catchy chorus, the ascending intensity this track create is astonishing, changing vocal techniques on the clean side in one hand to be answered by Udo style on the other hand, being a good highlight of the album among other tracks like Black Eyes, whose powerful riff will be remembered, this time vocals act with short shots under a mid tempo forceful changing rhythms, being one of the best acts the band have created.

Inner Self attacks with thrash metal drippings and high and lows on the vocals, melodies contains some modern details, and the attitude remains wild all over this song, the quality on the composition is better and more sophisticated, applicable also to the next track Hate, where the band show a more complex structures adding acoustic parts that are transformed into speed metal sections, great guitar riffs bringing memories from the Children of the grave track by Black Sabbath.

Wrong way finalise the album bringing some hard rocker attitude to the mixture that Mortician have shown already, the mid pulsed track encapsulates well what the band's style is about, showing a really exceptional guitar work.

Mortician follow the path of true metal once again with this album, The compositions are brilliant, however that could be more diverse, the patterns are followed in similar ways on most of the tracks.

Overall, the result is marvellous, highlighting tracks like Black Eyes, The devil you know or the tittle track. Shout for heavy metal will be an essential not only Grave Digger and Accept fans but also for NWOBHM maniacs hungry for louder than hell true metal records.

8 / 10

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Release by Pure Steel Records

Post by Daniel Ortiz
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REVIEW OF THE ALBUM UNDER THE PENTAGRAM BY SKYCONQUEROR

Skyconqueror is a classic heavy metal band from Germany, formed in 1997 comprised by Carsten Stiens on the drums, Mirko Jankord on the bass, axemaster Jan Tappert and vocals by Daniel Hiller.

The band released three demos in their early years until the release of their first full length in 2008, Hellstory, taking the band to give plenty gigs in the following years and then releasing their second album Under the Pentagram at the beginning of July 2014.

The band forged a combination of hard rock and heavy metal sound as seen on the NWOBHM bands of the late 70s and early 80s, the influences are high from bands like Accept, Saxon or Dio which is something awesome!

The album break the silence with Monolith offering an excellent riff taken straight from the early NWOBHM when hard rocker tunes blue rock influenced melted with aggressive heavy metal blasts, great feeling with the vocals, mid range style in a melodic technique and then attacking fast with Demon, really epic song with forceful heavy structure and those kind of chorus made to raise your fists, remarkable guitar job on the second half bringing back that approach from the first line up of the germans Accept.

The Sanctuary of 83 develop a strong pulse mid tempo drumbeats, excellent composition as the guitars and the vocals dancing around this thunderous rhythm, linking to the galloping riffs on the vein of Iron Maiden, Horseman of the Grail, headbanging piece with one of the best chorus of the album; as the acoustic guitars of The Dusk take you to an intense ballad, offering a fantastic vocal perception that leads to the tittle track Under the Pentagram as another classic heavy metal headbanging act with strong drumbeats, also following the same strategy it continues with Fallen Rainbow Warrior developing NWOBHM genuine riffs with influences from Saxon.

Without a break the mid tempo pulse of Bells of Fate bring you up wrecking your necks adding a good catchy chorus, made to be shouted at the gigs. Outstanding tune guys!

Through different eyes is an in crescendo instrumental track that links with Running high in a fantastic hard rocker riff start  that is combined with early heavy metal at perfection, and following to the next and last song of the album, Blade of Black, following the combination of styles characteristic of the band, being the sign of their music and also adding some power metal elements.

Skyconqueror forged an exceptional album combining the hard rock roots with the sharp dangerous heavy metal sound of the early 80s, every single track is good and the guys made a good job together as a band. With Under the Pentagram I'm sure they will get to the next level, keeping the heavy metal roots intact demonstrating that the Traditional Heavy Metal is back and stronger than ever.

8,5 / 10


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PROMOTION BY METAL MESSAGE


Post by Daniel Ortiz from Metalheads Union and Metalheads Union FB