Having performed with the likes of BB King, Johnny Winter and Buddy Guy. Often, being compared to the greats of any particular genre can weigh heavily and become a burden however, Albert Cummings seems to be positively thriving and this latest release, Believe, shows just why his stock is continually rising.
‘Shout’ is a thumping, call to action, epic of a track, which is sure to be a crowd pleaser when the guys tour later this year. Whilst ‘Shitstorm’ has that kind of intro that you know is going to build to a kick ass tune and it does not disappoint.
While I was initially a bit worried, Curse of the Crystal Coconuts has turned out to be yet another excellent Alestorm album. At this point, fans know what to expect, as this is yet another collection of insanely goofy, wildly entertaining pirate themed tracks, with a steady balance between power, folk and symphonic metal, as well as the occasional more epic sequences. Despite a couple weaker tracks, the album is amazing overall, with some of the band’s absolute best work to date, spread out fairly evenly throughout the album. Fans of the band are sure to love this, while anyone looking for fun pirate themed metal would be highly recommended to give this a listen, as it’s every bit as good as any other Alestorm album.
It’s always a bit of a bold move when an already well-established brand, with a lengthy discography, decides to make a self-titled release, especially when such a release comes after a major lineup change. Needless to say, that’s exactly what’s happened with multi-national power metal band Firewind, a very well known, rather popular band within their field, who are now set to release a self-titled album as their ninth full-length release. After being quite impressed with their last album, Immortals, I was interested to see whether this new album would be as good as that one and after several listens, I am quite pleased to say it is indeed every bit as good, if not even better in spots.
“Verminious” is not the album that conquers the listener from the first moment. Listening to the tracks with more attention shows that this record has a particular scent. “Verminious” sounds like the deepest but also dramatic and melodic work of the band to date. It might be difficult to identify any outstanding tracks, maybe those could be “Child Of Night” or the title track. This is a sharp, smart collection of songs in an album that is made to listen in its entirety. Moreover, it provides a much more rewarding and listenable experience in comparison to some of the band’s old material. It will undoubtedly please the band’s crowd, but it could also become a more accessible record for fans of other genres of metal music.
“V” is a solid thrash metal album that confirms that Havok is one of the most interesting bands of the genre. The American band continues their successful career with a more conventional studio album in comparison with its more adventurous predecessor. Despite being a safer choice in relation to “Conformicide”, “V” is a compact old school thrash offering enriched with sounds from various genres of metal music. Even if there is a modern production, the roots of the Bay Area and Teutonic thrash metal are very intense. This new record will please the fans of the genre.
Polish death metal legends Vader has undoubtedly been one of the leading forces in extreme metal worldwide for almost four decades. The Polish quartet, led by Piotr “Peter” Wiwczarek was formed in 1983 in Olsztyn
Katatonia is one of the most interesting acts that were standing at the border between the streams of doom, black and death metal in the early nineties.
I can only imagine that this hard working band were too busy making music and playing sold out shows to stress over album artwork, yet it’s clever, in fact, in summation of this record, its perfect.