Metal Assault: Album Reviews

By Andrew Bansal

Maryland rockers Clutch released their tenth studio album ‘Earth Rocker’ via their own label Weathermaker Music, and have been riding high on the success of the album ever since its release, with multiple tours across North America and Europe. Such has been the positive response to this new album that they’ve performed almost all of it on these tours. Unanimously and rightly hailed as their best effort since the fan-favorite 2004 effort ‘Blast Tyrant’, Earth Rocker brings forth the talents of Clutch to a greater extent than most of their previous efforts, owing to naturally developed songwriting skills and excellent production by Machine. Continue reading “‘Top 50 Albums Of 2013’ Countdown – #3: Clutch – Earth Rocker”

By Andrew Bansal

Los Angeles-based traditional metal band White Wizzard have had quite a unique year, wherein the first half was amazing and the second half completely fell apart. They started off 2013 with the solidification of perhaps the best five-piece lineup they’ve ever had, with vocalist Joseph Michael and guitarists Will Wallner and Jake Dreyer joining forces with bassist/founding member/principal songwriter Jon Leon and longtime drummer Giovanni Durst. The quintet delivered a studio album called ‘The Devils Cut’ via Earache/Century Media Records in the middle of the year, easily the best set of tunes White Wizzard has released in its career and hands down one of the finest albums of 2013, and looked all set to take the momentum on the road. Continue reading “‘Top 50 Albums Of 2013’ Countdown – #4: White Wizzard – The Devils Cut”

By Andrew Bansal

North Carolina metal road dogs Valient Thorr have built up a cult following over the past 12 years of their existence, through sheer hard work, whether it be in the form of non-stop touring or working on one studio album after another. This prolific outfit has already toured with the likes of Motörhead, Mastodon and many others, presenting their unique brand of punk-laden Southern metal to masses around the world, and this year they released their sixth studio album ‘Our Own Masters’. Continue reading “‘Top 50 Albums Of 2013’ Countdown – #5: Valient Thorr – Our Own Masters”

By Andrew Bansal

Ohio’s finest musical exports Skeletonwitch came out with their fifth full-length studio album ‘Serpents Unleashed’ via Prosthetic Records earlier this year. In the past, the blackened thrashers stayed consistent to their specific style of music but kept allowing more and more newer elements to creep into every subsequent album they wrote. Continue reading “‘Top 50 Albums Of 2013’ Countdown – #6: Skeletonwitch – Serpents Unleashed”

By Andrew Bansal

Based out of Stockholm, Sweden, classic heavy metal band Enforcer began in 2004 and following the ‘Into The Night’ and ‘Diamonds’ full-length album releases in 2008 and 2010 respectively, they decided to buckle down and give the next album a little more deliberation and time. The result is their newest creation ‘Death By Fire’ which came out via Nuclear Blast (Europe)/Earache Records (North America) earlier this year, 36 minutes of sheer heavy metal awesomeness that’s worthy of several repeat listening sessions at a time. ‘Bells Of Hades’ is the calm before the unrelenting storm that ensues once the album gets into gear with the first full track ‘Death Rides The Night’. Continue reading “‘Top 50 Albums Of 2013’ Countdown – #7: Enforcer – Death By Fire”

By Andrew Bansal

Canadian old-school heavy metal warriors Cauldron released their third full-length album ‘Tomorrow’s Lost’ via Century Media/Earache Records in North America earlier this year. A huge leap forward from their previous efforts, this 39-minute set of tunes is fast, relentless, to-the-point and in-your-face. Starting with the opening track ‘End Of Time’ all the way through to the title track which ends it, ‘Tomorrow’s Lost’ encapsulates all the enjoyable aspects of classic heavy metal, and presents nine extremely catchy and enjoyable tunes that fill true metal hearts with nothing but pure joy. Continue reading “‘Top 50 Albums Of 2013’ Countdown – #8: Cauldron – Tomorrow’s Lost”