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THE NUTS & Bolts |
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MONTHLY COLUMN by Diane Demeter
METAL NEWS YOU CAN USE
This past spring, Amon Amarth won an award for the “Best Death Metal Act 2004”, presented at the French Hard Rock Magazine’s, “Hard Rock Trophies”. Three years have elapsed and finally Boltthrower is in the studio, as I mentioned in last month’s column. I didn’t know it at the time, but Karl Willetts has rejoined the band. Check out www.boltthrower.com for an exclusive interview (the first interview), from Willetts, since his comeback. Metal Maniacs presents Soilent Green, A Perfect Murder, Into the Moat and Watch Them Die, July 26, in Arlington Heights, IL at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Last month, In Flames, the 5-piece band of hell-raisers from Sweden, re-issued Lunar Strain and Subterranean (both with bonus tracks) on Candlelight and Regain Records. These are the first two discs the band released. Paths Of Possession, another Death Metal band from Florida, fronted by Cannibal Corpse vocalist, George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher recently recorded, Promises In Blood, in Tampa, FL. Look for a late 2005 street date. Century Media’s Nevermore will be at the Tweeter Center, in Chicago, August 12 as part of this summer’s OZZFEST I bet my last dollar these guys put on an incredible live set! Another new GWAR album has hit the stores, Live From Mt. Fuji. I haven’t heard it, but can you really go wrong with Gwar? As most Chicagoland metal fans already know... Terminal Fix vocalist, Q-Ball, left the band and has yet to be replaced. He however, wasting no time, has started a new band. That project, Fueled By Hate, expects to be ready to hit local stages by mid-winter. According to a recent e-mail I received, Q-Ball says, “We will have a CD and merch at our first show.” I’ve listened to more new releases in the last six months than I have in a long time. Along the way I’ve discovered that first impressions aren’t always consistent. I don’t mind listening to the mellower stuff in the wee morning hours, as I’m more objective, but I like the heavier music the rest of the time. I usually listen to a CD twice, just to be fair. DEMETER’S TEASERS
THE DUKE – My King Fu Is Good – Spitfire
This ‘70s-flavor, vocal-driven CD from Rich Ward, Stuck Mojo and Fozzy (features WWE’s Chris Jericho) guitarist is too light and nowhere near the metal genre. It’s okay rock ‘n’ roll but I expected much more. It’s too polished, with too much piano for this kind of music. The little bit of female backing vocals didn’t help matters. The track “Suicide Machine” was promising, but it can’t support the rest of the disc. I’m sad to say it’s pretty much a forgettable effort.
EXTOL – The Blueprint Dives – Century Media
This is the 4th full-length recording in ten years, from this Norwegian band. Not your typical approach. The vocals alternate between hardcore screaming to pretty fluffy. It’s really hard to listen to as the mellowness of it brings me down and ruins the too few hard - hitting moments. It’s too fractured, as the momentum continually gets stalled. The ninth cut, “Essence” is the only good song. I can’t say the CD is bad but merely mediocre.
SHADOW GALLERY – Room V – Inside Out Music
This band’s fifth album is on the tamer side of prog-rock. It’s a concept album that continues where they left off, on the Tyranny release of 1998, even though their last actual CD between those projects was the unrelated Legacy from 2001. Almost half the cuts lean towards heavy with the rest of the effort being somewhat soft on the ears. “The Andromeda Strain” is the standout on the CD. “Death Of A Mother” has lightning fast keyboards and is impressive. “The Archer Of Ben Salem” is a little reminiscent of Uriah Heep, which was a pleasant surprise. As standard form, with prog-rock albums, lots of keyboards, guitars that shred and weep with grand solos. The songs range anywhere from one to nine minutes in length. Some bands can’t pull off a 3-minute track let alone a long version. Shadow Gallery succeeds. The production is excellent, which must be mandatory with this genre, to catch all the intricate details. Room V is available as a standard CD and a special edition double CD with slipcase, extended booklet, bonus tracks and video segment. The label refers to this CD as, “compositional elegance”. That’s it in a nutshell.
IMPELLITTERI – Pedal To The Metal – SPV Gmbh
Chris Impellitteri, 1980’s virtuoso guitar hero is having fun with this lighthearted, but heavy recording. Vocalist Curtis Skelton is very versatile as he pulls off sounding like Jeff Scott Sota and then the next thing you know, it’s Lane Staley or Dave Mustaine. You couldn’t guess what will hit you next, but it’s all-good! Standouts are “The Iceman Cometh”, “Destruction” (FYI: riffs almost a carbon copy of Yngwie Malmsteen’s “I’ll See The Light Tonight” from the Marching Out CD) and “Hurricane”. Overall, this is an excellent CD, with a little something different, big bonus for us! ‘
Till Next Time…ONE
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