Metal Assault: Album Reviews

By Jaide Alicia

Metal Blade Records has provided us with yet another solid comedy release from former ‘That Metal Show’ host and comedian Don Jamieson. Having seen Don perform live a handful of times, I can say that his stories never get old- be it the infamous Keifer Sutherland story or simply him talking about being inebriated, the laughter just pours in. His new album ‘Communication Breakdown’, slated for release on April 21st, contains perfect 2-4 minute somewhat R-rated comedy bits, and with titles ranging from “Vagina No-No’s” and “Threesome (Almost)”, how can you not want to listen? Continue reading “Album Review: Don Jamieson – Communication Breakdown”

By Ryan Falla

Junkyard is a band with quite an interesting story. Starting out in the ’80s on the Sunset Strip, the band released a small handful of releases under Geffen records, but since fading away from the limelight while continuing their musical career playing occasional live shows, before hitting full steam with a multitude of “reunion” shows that escalated into tours and highly successful gigs across America. Continue reading “Album Review: Junkyard – High Water”

By Francisco Zamudio

While it probably shouldn’t be described as avant-garde, there’s always an attempt to be different and shy away for the norm. And in that comfort zone, it’s all strictly opinion on how you define successful, never mind if it could still considered “good”. And going the safe route for many bands will likely gain you more fans just as many as those you lose by playing it safe. By having a mixed identity in the music, you cater to that current A-D-D music listener – and I feel you lose something. Those moments when you do hit your stride, it’s nearly on point. 28 years and 10 albums into their career, Chicago based November’s Doom have hit a stride with their new album ‘Hamartia’, the second record with a maintained line-up, the previous being the 2014 release ‘Bled White’. Continue reading “Album Review: Novembers Doom – Hamartia”

By Ryan Falla

Cirith Ungol and Metal Blade Records are celebrating the first ever Cirith Ungol show to grace European soil with the re-release of the band’s second record ‘King of the Dead’. Not only is this a beautiful remastering of Cirith this Ungol album which originally came to life in 1984, it’s a fantastic record to begin with that is only enhanced with the brand new packaging its now being presented in. Besides the remastered tracks, there is a plethora of new content for Cirith Ungol fans to indulge in and for newcomers to experience more out of this band than a simple record. Continue reading “Album Review: Cirith Ungol – King of the Dead (Ultimate Edition)”

By Rosie Walker

The American black metal act, Ghost Bath, is at it again. Conjured in 2013, the band released their first album through a Chinese label; causing confusion, but also intrigue. Their sound is as obscure and mysterious as where they’re from, i.e. a town called Minot in the state of North Dakota. The band is wrapped in perplexity and prefers to keep it that way. Mainman Dennis Mikyla has been quoted as saying that they do not wish to put actual faces onto the music. Their third studio album ’Starmourner’ captures the band’s mystery and highlights their brooding spirits in an enchanting, curious manner. Continue reading “Album Review: Ghost Bath – Starmourner”

By Doug Walker

Deep Purple. One of the founding fathers of heavy metal. I don’t think there’s much about them that hasn’t been said thousands of times over. They are one of the quintessential pioneers of what would become heavy metal, and later, the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. The band has been through many line-up changes over the decades, they’ve broken up a few times… but it always comes back together. Their latest offering is “Infinite”, and the press release that goes along with is it full of hyper-philosophical self-discussion about the meaning of it. My eyes glazed over as I read it. Unfortunately, the record didn’t do much to cure that sensation. Continue reading “Album Review: Deep Purple – Infinite”