Diesel Machine ““Torture Test”” (Steamhammer / SPV) Opening with the sounds of large machinery being turned on and warmed up, the harsh warning buzzers signal something mechanically dangerous is operating here. Diesel Machine. Even the name implies the dry, industrial…
Valley’s Eve “Deception of Pain” (SPV) Brilliant, bone crushing, very mosh oriented riffs interrupt what is otherwise very standard power metal faire. Waiting for the tantalizing heaviosity* of the guitar player’s finer moments is like listening to classical, say the…
Rhapsody “Power of the Dragonflame” (SPV) The album opens with a grandiose orchestral arrangement complete with choral chanting: in Latin, no less. It then proceeds into rip roaring power metal territory as the band weaves their conceptual tale that has…
Montany “New Born day” (SPV) Montany is yet (please, god, no!) another band representing the nauseating resuscitation in European Power Metal which itself is a genre of music that represents style over substance, and Montany is no exception to the…
The Company of Snakes “Burst the Bubble” (SPV) In case you didn’t know The Company of Snakes is more or less the original cast of characters that made up White Snake except without that annoying hollering vocalist. That said they’re…
The Quill “Voodoo Caravan” (SPV) The Quill falls somewhere between stoner metal and Soundgarden with vocalist, Magnus Ekwall, taking clear singing cues from Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and maybe a touch of a young Ozzy here and there. If this is…
Michael Schenker “Thank You 2” (SPV) Michael Schenker, for those who don’t know, founded the German rock band The Scorpions in 1971 with his brother Rudolph Schenker at the tender age of 15. Later, Michael went on to join UFO…
Jamie Clark’s Perfect “Nobody is Perfect” (SPV) Someone once told me that only arrogant musicians name a band after themselves, which is a pretty easy statement to agree with. Jamie Clark may not be arrogant, but he’s Irish, which is…
The Company Of Snakes “Burst The Bubble” (Steamhammer / SPV) With three of the original members of Whitesnake, Micky Moody (guitars), Bernie Marsden (guitars) and Neil Murray (bass), along with new additions Don Airey (keyboards), Stefan Berggren (vocals) and John…
Freedom Call “Eternity” (SPV) Just what are you expecting from a band who kicks off their album with a song called “Metal invasion”? I hope you’re expecting a big invasion of metal to rival the horrific madness about to be…