Metal Assault: Album Reviews

By Andrew Bansal

Rising amongst a new crop of Los Angeles-based heavy metal bands, Legal Tender started out in 2009 and following the release of their ‘Lust In Demons’ EP last year they’ve been highly active in the local scene, playing plenty of gigs and putting on impressive performances. Whilst doing so, they’ve also written new material which they’ve presented as part of their live set in these shows, and ‘Swallow Your Soul’, one of the tunes they’ve played regularly over the past few months has been officially recorded and released to give listeners a taste of what the band’s new material sounds like on a studio recording. Continue reading “Legal Tender – Swallow Your Soul [Single]”

By Andrew Bansal

German heavy metal legends Accept forged a triumphant reincarnation with their 12th studio album ‘Blood Of The Nations’ in 2010, debuting Mark Tornillo as the new vocalist. The overwhelming and unarguable success of that album was followed by the stellar 2012 release ‘Stalingrad’ which went on to prove that the band’s return wasn’t a mere one-off, and now, keeping up with the consistency in turnaround, Accept are ready to unveil their 14th studio effort ‘Blind Rage’, the third chapter of the Mark Tornillo-fronted era and a set of tunes through which the band stamps their authority on the heavy metal universe with a force greater than ever before. Continue reading “Accept – Blind Rage”

By Francisco Zamudio

With about 15 years of existence behind them, it’s tough to call Origin one of the new breed of modern American death metal bands. You can, however, state them as a great example when it comes to describing the evolution of extreme and technical death metal. While other groups with just as many releases tone it down and call it “maturity”, Origin returns with just as much, if not more aggression and has evolved into a hyper-space demon. Their sixth full-length Omnipresent, released on July 4th in Europe via Agonia Records and on July 8th in North America via Nuclear Blast Records, is a display of
an extremely dynamic hybrid death metal that blends the styles of technical, brutal, slam and grindcore, and is about capturing the current time and space where Origin has nailed down their style as well as their line-up. Continue reading “Origin – Omnipresent”

By Andrew Bansal

Based out of Columbus, Ohio, alternative rock group The Slang are ready to release their self-titled debut EP on September 2nd, and are giving listeners a taste of what to expect with the single ‘Feels Like Work’ which is now streaming online. Continue reading “The Slang – Feels Like Work”

By Andrew Bansal

For the past three years, ever since parting ways with KK Downing and welcoming new guitarist Richie Faulkner into the fold as his replacement, metal gods Judas Priest have been talking about the possibility of a new album, a back-to-the-roots effort after the 2008 concept album ‘Nostradamus’ which was clearly a departure from the norm. All the hype and talk has eventually materialized and for the band and their fans, the moment has finally arrived. The seventeenth Judas Priest album ‘Redeemer Of Souls’ is about to be unleashed. I was given access to the album a week ago, and it was time to temporarily put aside the fact that I’ve always worshipped this band and always will, to give it a good number of thorough and objective listens for the purpose of this review. Continue reading “Judas Priest – Redeemer Of Souls”

By Andrew Bansal

The ‘rap metal’ genre had its heyday in the 90s, and while there’s no signs to suggest that it’s undergoing any kind of major resurgence, a handful of the older bands have kept it alive and this style of metal continues to have a fan-following. Aside from the 90s groups, new bands pop up every now and then with their interpretation of this type of sound. New York City’s Xombie is one such band, and their new album ‘Capital X’ is an honest, uninhibited effort to bring forth a fresh representation of the genre. Continue reading “Xombie – Capital X”