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Swedish hard rock and heavy metal bands have played a significant role in keeping our favorite genre alive and well for the past four decades, specially in recent times, as the country has produced a plethora of exciting young bands that have infused some much-needed passion and firepower. Putting their hometown of Växjö on the global heavy music map is the quintet Bullet, which has been in existence since 2001 and has proudly presented its brand of no-frills, no-bullshit, no-holds-barred hard rock/heavy metal, through five full-length studio albums and countless scintillating live performances. Bullet has just released their sixth LP ‘Dust to Gold’, and it absolutely does not disappoint. Continue reading “Album Review: Bullet – Dust to Gold”

High Priestess is a psychedelic power trio based out of Los Angeles, their self-titled debut seeing its release on Ripple Music. The all-female trio of High Priestess consists of Katie Gilchrest on guitar/vocals, Mariana Fiel on bass/vocals, and Megan Mullins on drums. The self-titled titled debut contains six tracks, the longest one clocking in at 10 minutes. Each track takes you through an intensely personal psychedelic trip by way of softly-tempo’d, completely immersive journeys through the ethereal musical landscapes presented by High Priestess. Continue reading “Album Review: High Priestess – Self-Titled”

The band Riot started out in 1975 and became one of the real originators of true American old-school heavy metal, and despite numerous lineup changes, they never faded away and persistently waved that flag and carried the torch of which the righteous heavy metal flame perennially burned throughout. Up until 2012, Riot still had one original and founding member in guitarist Mark Reale, but he passed away that year, and this is where the life story of this band took a pleasantly surprising and unexpected turn. With no original members left but a full lineup of undeniably excellent musicians, the new incarnation of Riot decided to move forward with the moniker of Riot V, aiming to pay tribute and homage to Mark Reale but with a clear focus on writing brand new material. The Riot V debut album ‘Unleash the Fire’ (2014) is glorious in every sense of the word and stands as one of the finest traditional / power metal releases to have surfaced since year 2000. Did this band have more than one album in them? As we get ready for the release of the follow-up LP ‘Armor Of Light’, I am pleased to report that the answer is an emphatic Yes. Continue reading “Album Review: Riot V – Armor Of Light”

It is rare for the metal world to get excited about a new album by a band nearing the 50-year mark in their career. And the reason is simple, the law of averages suggests that the modern-day output from bands of this category is far from satisfying, and more often than not, fails to live up to the band’s own legacy. But, ever since they announced their 18th studio album ‘Firepower’, metal gods Judas Priest have generated unparalleled excitement among fans worldwide, so much so that it has taken me over a month from the album’s release date to absorb it and come to an objective review. After their mid-’90s period of obscurity, Priest undoubtedly sparked renewed interest among longtime fans with their 2005 reunion album ‘Angel Of Retribution’, a quintessentially stellar member of their discography. But since then, in 2008 they put out the double concept album ‘Nostradamus’ which was a giant damp squib, and the long-awaited 2014 follow-up ‘Redeemer Of Souls’ was a lackluster attempt at recreating past glory. Is ‘Firepower’ any better? Unfortunately not. Continue reading “Album Review: Judas Priest – Firepower”

The grunge legends known as The Melvins have added another strange one to their wacked out discography, this time with the record ‘Pinkus Abortion Technician’. Like all Melvins before it, this record is jam-packed with absurd pieces of music which takes mainstream grunge to the absolute edge of madness without dropping off the cliff. That’s always been the specialty of the Melvins, pushing their music past the limits of kind, decent music into an attractively off-putting world of dissonance and personal insanity. Continue reading “Album Review: The Melvins – Pinkus Abortion Technician”

Holy hell.

There are no other words to describe what I’ve just witnessed.

This might be the best debut album I’ve heard in a long time. High Reeper is one of those bands you have a hard time detailing without resorting to passionate expletives, but I’ll try my best anyway. Continue reading “Album Review: High Reeper – Self-Titled”

Denver based extreme-stoner metal band Green Druid just released their first full-length under Earache records, titled ‘Ashen Blood’. It is a seven-track journey through the realms of stoner metal traveled by bands such as Bongripper and Stoned Jesus. Green Druid is the next band to join that particular fray, and with their mastery of the atmospheric doom and decay they’ve realized themselves as one of Denver’s premier stoner metal. Continue reading “Album Review: Green Druid – Ashen Blood”

Earthless have released their latest studio album, ‘Black Heaven’, with a bit of a curveball grip. Whereas previous Earthless existed on a diet of instrumental space rock jams, now we see the band in an evolved form. The space-jam doom rock is still ever present, but it’s supplemented with something else. A fresh addition to the winning formula of Earthless. Continue reading “Album Review: Earthless – Black Heaven”