Metal Assault: Album Reviews

By Andrew Bansal

With their self-titled debut album in 2010, Norwegian hard rock band Kvelertak caught the attention of many in the world of heavy music, and now they’re back to carry out the daunting task of following up such an impressive debut. Their sophomore effort ‘Meir’ is set to release on March 26th in the US via Roadrunner Records, and this is also the band’s debut on the label. For the uninitiated, Kvelertak is basically a six-piece hard rock band with elements of black metal and hardcore punk in the music to go with Norwegian lyrics and song titles. But the three-pronged guitar work is their standout quality, and this is showcased in the first album on tunes like ‘Fossegrim’, ‘Blodtorst’, ‘Offernatt’ and others. Back when I heard it for the first time in 2010, it came across as one of the best debut albums I’d heard in a long time, but based on the musical style, at the time I thought Kvelertak had opened up a number of possibilities and could take their music in pretty much any direction. With that curiosity in mind, I started listening to ‘Meir’ as soon as I got hold of it. Continue reading “Album Review: Kvelertak – Meir”

By Andrew Bansal

Legends of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal Movement in the late 1970s, Saxon have always been one of those bands that enjoyed a cult following and are revered by fans of the genre to this day. They still release solid albums and tour around the world. The band never broke out into the worldwide ‘heavy metal mainstream’ so to speak, but that doesn’t matter to any of the fans whatsoever, myself included, and throughout their honest, hard-working career Saxon have struck the right chord with us old school fans. One of their most celebrated albums is the fifth studio album ‘Power & The Glory’, which came out exactly 30 years ago on March 21, 1983. It’s not like I ever need a reason to listen to Saxon, but today I’ve got a great reason to do exactly that. Continue reading “Retrospective: Saxon’s ‘Power & The Glory’ Turns 30”

By Andrew Bansal

California-based hardcore punk/extreme metal band Nails released their new album ‘Abandon All Life’ yesterday via Southern Lord Records. If their 2010 full-length release ‘Unsilent Death’ was anything to go by, this new album promised to deliver the goods, and that coupled with my experiences of seeing the band perform live on a few occasions, my expectations from this were quite high. But when a band is as unabashed, as fearless, and as expressive as this Todd Jones-led quartet, there is not even a possibility of failing to live up to expectations. Once again, Nails have given it their all, and the result is this vicious 17-minute wall of heavy music called Abandon All Life. Continue reading “Nails – Abandon All Life”

By Andrew Bansal

Yesterday, a lot of people were posting pictures and videos of Randy Rhoads on various social networks, March 19th being his death anniversary. It’s been 31 years since that horrific plane crash took his life. On a musician’s death anniversary, his or her contributions to music come to mind straightaway, and in Randy’s case I was instantly reminded of his main pre-Ozzy era band Quiet Riot, the band he co-founded with Kelly Garni in 1973. Obviously, I enjoyed a listening session comprising of the Quiet Riot I and II albums, but somehow I kept going and continued listening to the band’s next album ‘Metal Health’, the first one to be released after Randy’s 1979 departure from Quiet Riot and subsequent death. I realized, it’s been almost exactly 30 years since the release of this monumental heavy metal album. Continue reading “Retrospective: 30 Years Of Quiet Riot’s ‘Metal Health’”

By Jason Coldiron

What started as a side project has become the main dish in the California rock scene. In December, 2011 a group of musicians came together from five other bands looking to create another outlet for their artistic expression. Hailing from bands like Skinlab, Deconstruct, Colma and Ratchet, the men went into the lab to do what had to be done. Jump ahead a year and half and skip over a couple of lineup changes and a million hours of their own hard work, Dedvolt sits poised to stake claim among today’s rock giants.   Continue reading “Dedvolt – Let It Burn EP”

By Andrew Bansal

Longstanding Maryland-based rockers Clutch are ready to release their tenth studio album ‘Earth Rocker’ on March 19th via Weathermaker Music. This one has taken a long time coming, with the previous album ‘Strange Cousins From The West’ dating back to early 2009. Being a band that has experimented and progressed through varying styles of heavy music, a new album by Clutch is always an interesting prospect, and raises curiosity about the kind of musical direction they’re going with. This time though, it’s extremely difficult to even categorize the record into a specific sub-genre, and it’s a wholesome, rock n’ roll record in every sense. Continue reading “Clutch – Earth Rocker”