Heavy Metal Album & Concert Reviews
SLIPPING TONGUE - My Kingdom Falls
(Finest Hour Records)
A slab of sheer brilliance, My Kingdom Falls is pure listening pleasure. A concept album of sorts with some beautifully powerful songs well weaved together.
Moody and huge with sweeping themes this album is well recorded and certainly highlights the incredible talents of vocalist Jennie Skulander. 'Fixx' really pushes all the right buttons right from the start with the line "You talk of me as if I'm gifted.." which you'll be singing all day. 'Swallow The Sword' is a catchy driven rock track again with a hell of a hooky melody. 'Bitter' is a great single already getting lots of airplay on C4, Alt and the Bayrock stations. Easy to see why the videos have become the most requested on the tv shows here and in Australia as well. Slipping Tongue take themselves very seriously and they have done a seriously good job of this album. Divided into 4 chapters, My Kingdom Falls is a journey through four emotion and angst charged seasons. From sweetness to gravel and anger to reason, the band have a firm grip on the importance of dynamics and playing with feel.
Insistent drumming motivates and grooves the songs to life and some killer guitar tones colour them, but it's the purity and beauty of the vocals that will stop you in your tracks. Alluring and compelling, the songs have real heart and soul.
Slipping Tongue tour a lot, work hard, have a massive fanbase as well as an unshakeable belief in their own talent. They have also done everything themselves with no help from the 'industry' including funding their own recordings and videos.
This band have exactly what it takes to be huge, its just a matter of time until an offshore record company signs them up. This album is epic, a masterpiece that deserves its rightful place as one of NZs best rock releases.
5/5 
DOWN - Over The Under
(Roadrunner Records)
The mighty beast from New Orleans DOWN rip us a new one with this gargantuan collection of riffs and metal sludge. Phillip Anselmo seems to have recovered from the demons that have plagued him in the past and lord knows he's had his share.
More confident than contrite these days, he exudes a more controlled vibe and the band sounds collectively like they are in a better place than they were on the second album. All five members were directly affected or displaced by hurricane Katrina which delayed the recording of this album and obviously lent a more poignant slant to life for these guys. The tunes are incredibly powerful and run deep and dark.
The guitar skills of Pepper Keenan (Corrosion Of Conformity) and Kurt Windstein (Crowbar) always knit well, swaggering, duelling and swirling in heavy blues and grime. Action packed with great songs Over The Under sees Phil Anselmo back to his best vocal work, a real pleasure to listen to. From heavy funky blues ('Never Try') to pure crush (Pillamyd') and all the grit in between. A huge step forward from their second album this is the guys really cooking.
5/5
CAVALERA CONSPIRACY - Inflikted
(Roadrunner Records)
Believe the hype. This is the album the Cavalera brothers Max and Iggor (Sepultura) promised alright. This is the first time these two Brazilian thrash legend brothers have spoken, let alone recorded, in 12 years. The talk was big and loud and the album definitely lives up to expectations. They promised us the angst of early Sepultura, out of control heavy punk influences and a modern thrash metal approach, check, check, check.
Wicked! Max on vocals and guitar and Iggor on drums are joined by Joe Duplantier from French monsters Gojira on bass and Soulflys extraordinary six string slayer Marc Rizzo. This guy is incredible. The guitar playing on this album is so tasty I could eat it! F##king stunning. Rex Brown from Pantera/Down guests on a track also.
Album opener and title track 'Inflikted' is anthemic and will be undeniable to any Soulfly and Sep fans. 'Nevertrust' is out and out angry punk (real punk, I'm not talkin Avril Lavigne here). 'Black Ark' has some classic Iggor jungle toms, 'Ultra Violent' and 'Hex' are just storming, and album closer 'Must Kill' is pure hypnotic driving metal. All in all its just BRUTIFUL!!!
5/5
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE - Scream, Aim, Fire
(sony music)
Welsh four piece BFMV are described as metal-core. If you were to ask me, I'd say new school old school. Call it what the hell you like, it makes no difference but you can't deny its brilliantly played and recorded. For want of better comparison and just to simplify, it's the new school of A7X or Trivium meets the old school of Judas Priest or Metallica. Its fast, furious and refreshing.
Catchy tunes and state of the art shredding (on guitars, drums and vocals) make this album fat from start to finish. Matt Tuck on lead vocals and guitar has it well under control and has a demon voice. Theres plenty of fist pumping moments and some dazzling performances all round. Production is handled by Colin Richardson at Sonic Ranch who is responsible for some massive albums by some massive artists (Machine Head, Fear Factory, Slipknot, Cannibal Corpse) and this release will sit easily in the company of greats.
If you're quick you'll get the digipack with bonus dvd including the video for 'Scream Aim Fire' and some funny moments on the road with 'Bullet TV'. I wouldn't have a clue what they're saying in their thick Welsh brogue but they're having a laugh.
4/5
EMIGRATE - Emigrate
(pilgrim/rhythm method)
Richard Kruspe, founding member of Rammstein kicks out with a solo album of epic sonic proportions. Musically not far off where Rammstein is at, without the mega low vocals of course. But the fine German precision is still evident with the drumming and crisp Kruspe guitars.
He's even retained the services of Rammsteins producer and mixer duo Hellner and Glaumann. Lacking the attack of his significant other band, this album does have some defining moments but overall a watered down version of our favourite Kraut-core machine.
It is moody and mysterious in a sterile industrial kind of way and tracks like opener 'Emigrate' and 'This Is What' rock out alright but 'Let Me Break' suffers with a lack of vocal power. 'Babe' is just weird in a Gary Numan kind of way. 'My World' is just creepy enough to get a main spot on the new resident Evil feature.
Not quite metal enough for me, and I am a huge Rammstein fan but this just misses the deutsche mark.
1/5
Retro Review
KISS - KISS ALIVE III
KISS! The originators of the stage show extravaganza. The first real rock band to combine theatrics, horror and music all in one spectacle. Their first two live albums (Alive 1 and Alive II) reached legend status and propelled the band into superstardom. KISS hit rock'n'roll immortality and (Gene) made themselves undisputed rulers of band merchandise, proving the power of the KISS name.
KISS ALIVE III came out in 1993 and of course featured the band unmasked with new members Eric Singer on drums and Bruce Kulick on lead guitar. Recorded live in Cleveland, Detroit and Indianapolis this album catches the band sounding hotter and a lot tighter than they ever could've with the original lineup. The sloppy drunks were now out of the band and musically KISS had hit top gear.
A smattering of classics like Rock'n'Roll All Night, Deuce and Detroit Rock City are complimented with newer tunes like God Gave Rock'n'Roll To You, Lick It Up, Creatures Of The Night, I was Made For Loving You and my fave, I Still Love You. The band are simply on fire (no pun intended Gene!) Bruce Kulick is an awesome guitarist and really pays due homage to KISS's legacy and stuns with some of his own brilliance. This is a wicked testament to one of the greatest live shows you could ever witness, even if it was touched up in the studio...
5/5
Heaven & Hell
LIVE at Radio City Music Hall
Ok, let's get this right from the start. This IS BLACK SABBATH.
It's the 1981 lineup where Sabbath replaced the errant Ozzy Osbourne with vocal god Ronnie James Dio. The album 'Heaven & Hell' and their next release 'The Mob Rules' took the faltering metal legends to new heights and gave the band the push they needed to continue their climb to the immortal status they enjoy now. Regarded by many (as evident on this dvd) as the best, and possibly most musical Black Sabbath lineup, they released a live album in 1983 entitled 'Live Evil' as the relationships between the band, mostly guitarist Tony Iommi and Dio soured til eventually Dio was replaced.
Sabbath continued on with a succession of vocalists until Dio found himself back in the band in 1992 when they reformed to record the brilliant Dehumaniser album, before leaving again…. Sabbath continued on with a succession of vocalists until Dio found himself back in the band in 2006 where they reformed to record and release three new songs, a Dio-years greatest hits album and tour the world. (Dizzy yet?)
So by August 16 2007, when we FINALLY got to see these guys live in NZ (at the Logan Campbell Centre with Down and World War Four!) these figures in black that stand before us were well worth the 26 friggin year wait!
The show was sublime. Black Sabbath (Trading as Heaven & Hell so Ozzy doesn't sue) were dramatic, majestic, intense and superb. The masters proved their worth alright. Iommi was more inspiring than he even is on record, grand in his little blue glasses and long black leathers, his every note was captivating! And to actually see how LITTLE Ronnie James Dio is, and to hear how M A S S I V E his voice is, was pure magic. Vocally, he was stunning, and better than any of us dared imagine, inspiring more talk among us of collusion with the devil...
So if you missed it (for shame!) you get the whole deal (with the full stage show) right here. Recorded at a sold out Radio City Music Hall in New York earlier in the tour it features their full set including your favourites, The Mob Rules, Voodoo (Go Ronnie!!), Die Young, Neon Knights, Children Of The Sea, Heaven And Hell (bloody epic!) and one of the brand new tracks, Shadow Of The Wind. There's some extra footage of the guys, the rehearsals and some great interviews plus you get to meet the crew and fans. But it's the performance that is going to blow your little scarred and withered mind. Live they absolutely slay, 119Db of Iommi's guitar coupled with the prodigal bass playing of Geezer Butler, it's simply mesmerising. A relentless attack of monstrous riffs. Dios stage presence and virtuosity breathe new life into each of the songs while bringing the thunder is Vinnie Appice, set on destruction he rules, battering and brutalising the drums and killing anything in his way.
Brilliant! And by Christ, after 26 years we bloody deserve this!
This dvd ranks as one of my faves already, a must have for any Sabbath fan.
A brilliant performance from the consummate legends who prove the old alchemy just gets stronger (and speaking of old alchemy, Geezer's 58 years old! Tony's 59 and Ronnie James Dio is 65! Jolly good effort chaps!).
10/10 \m/ J
BRASS April 2008
ROCK2WGTN 22,23 March Review by
A monumental weekend in every respect, Rock2Wgtn pulled over 53,000 people over two days, testament to the loyalty and integrity of NZs bogans, metallers, rockers …whatever you wanna call us. Wellington swelled with metalheads in black t shirts everywhere you looked, pubs, Subway, the airport, strip bars, Te Papa, it was great everyone was checking out each others KISS or ZAKK WYLDE t shirt and a friendly lift of the brow between us acknowledged a fellow music nut about to get his wildest dreams met when some of the biggest rock icons take the stage. I mention integrity because the atmosphere was really friendly and welcoming, no matter where you bumped into these folks. I saw ZERO in the way of fights or trouble the whole weekend. We were there for a common purpose, the music.
The sat night started well with the six lead guitarists selected from all over the country having a shred off, 5 mins each of their most impressive stuff, and there was some stunning stuff! It was the guitarists that played their own licks that impressed me most.
A great idea but the sound could’ve been heaps better. Sonic Alter from Auckland had to play on a stage hovering high and to the left of the main stage, they gave a worthy performance and one song in particular really grabbed my attention.
The Symphony Of Screams did the same thing from the right side of the stage, it looked precarious but they seemed relaxed and confident although again the sound was bad and so we sort of missed the point of their dramatic opening complete with opera singer! Beats me why they weren’t put though the main PA but instead had a small sound system God knows where that we had to strain to hear. Its the typical lot of support acts, crap sound and 10% (or less) of the sound system.
It saddens me cos with a little effort on the production side of things the support acts would’ve sounded really good, I mean, why would you not want them to??
LORDI hit the main stage dressed to impress and the theme was grotesque! The crowd really took to them and made them feel loved. Their music, best described as melodic hard rock’n’roll came across well and the pyro was a nice touch. “Hard Rock Halleluja” had the place heaving and they got a rousing send off after their set. The sound was starting to improve.
A troupe of firedancers put on an impressive show between bands as did the Zombie cheerleaders….a great look!
When the sun went down out came Weta Workshops huge masterpiece Drucilla the dragon. She faced the crowd from the back of the stadium and looked brilliant with large flapping dragon wings and lasers shooting out of her eyes. A nice touch.
ALICE COOPERS set was slick and suave. He was cool and creepy and his band were superb. All the classics were there No More Mr Nice Guy, Schools Out, Only Women Bleed, I Love The Dead and lots more. He adds a theatrical, almost vaudeville slant to his performance that really sets him apart from the rest. Throwing his top hat for his drummer to catch on his drumstick at the end of Schools Out was gold. Hail Alice!
KISS! Wahoo. A KISS Koncert is an experience to be enjoyed not over ‘analised’ or critiqued to pieces. Its most effective when you give in to the theme and just enjoy.
I’ve seen them three times now and each time its uplifting and just pure fun. Yes they’ve had their lineup changes, that’s why they have survived. Yes its cheesy in places, that’s why they have survived. Gene and Paul did their best I thought and it’s the little things they get right that make them a class act, the pyro, fire, choreography and the harmonies were all pretty much there, although Paul Stanley did sound like he was struggling in a few places, he got points in my book for not backing off vocally, he just went hard, gave it shit and what we got was at least honest. It wasn’t quite as spectacular without Aces Frehleys rocket firing guitar but for the most part new guy Tommy Thayer (in Aces makeup) did an ok job of the rhythm but for me the leads didn’t quite hit the mark, he’s no Bruce Kulick but to his credit he did a fair Ace when he sang Shock Me. Eric Singer was fantastic on the drums, pure class and even sung Peter Criss’ Black Diamond. Gene is always wicked just to behold, he pranced, he growled, he spat blood. Their outfits were cool and they defied gravity in their high boots. Like I say I have seen ‘em 3 times now so I feel I can say it was a great KISS gig but just not their greatest. I’m fully rapt just to be able to take my two boys (14 and 12) to a Kiss concert, it’s a bona fide rock’n’roll event you don’t forget in a hurry!
I got to the Sunday show just in time to catch Poisons second song, bummed I missed The Valves apparently their set was good. Poison are not one of my favourites in fact glammy hairspray bands never have been but I have to say but they put on a good show and singer Brett Michaels seemed sincere with his appreciation of the crowd. Drummer Rikki Rockett was impressive and Bretts voice hung in there but personally, I have never rated CC Devilles guitar playing. But I tell you, there were some in the crowd that could barely contain their excitement to see Poison in NZ. They had their staunch fans alright and they loved every minute of them. Again Sonic Alter got a shafting with their sound mix and their set didn’t seem to come through as well as it did the previous night.
Whitesnake hit the stage with a hiss and a roar, David Coverdale claiming the stage and the crowd for his own and swinging his mic stand with great aplomb! The mix definitely got better with their set and the standout for me was the brilliant guitar skills of Reb Beach and most especially Doug Aldritch. Wow. What a player! All their biggies were on the list, Still Of The Night was awesome, Coverdale nailed the vocals and Doug of Doom nailed the guitar solo and then some. Crying In The Rain, Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City and Bad Boys went off and the crowd loved them. A very polished act and I was damn tempted to sell my kids bike so I could go to Melbourne to see them the next week. Its taken Whitesnake forever to get here and for me it was well worth the wait.
The Symphony Of Screams played again from their lofty lair and I couldn’t believe the sound was worse than the night before. I think they may have even been shut down early to make way for Ozzy.
A funny as hell montage of Ozzy in scenes from Pirates Of The Carribean, Dancing With The Stars (with a legless Heather Mills), The Office, Lost and a clip of Ozzy with his head up the Queens skirt had the whole stadium in hysterics before his intro came on loud. Carmina Buranas commanding tones shook the whole place and we quivered with glee when the band burst on. A few tracks from the new album Black Rain and a smattering of his greatest hits had the crowd whipped up into a heaving, screaming beast. Great to watch.
Zakk Wylde was on fire, his guitar squealing and wailing like a metal banshee. The crowd, ever aware of his guitar god status gave him maximum goats as he mesmerised with his unique style of genius. Ozzy favourites including Crazy Train, Bark At The Moon, Mr Crowley, Suicide Solution, Road To Nowhere, Mama I’m Coming home were rolled out, great song after great song. The highlight for me was the blinding version of War Pigs. The crowd went mental!!! Paranoid finished the set and we left satisfied and drained from screaming and metal fatigue.
Overall an awesome event and top marks to the promoters for doing such a great job. Logistically it would have been a nightmare to organise and I think these guys put on one hell of an amazing couple of days like we have never seen in NZ. Take a bow Phil and Andrew from Capital C.
Its got to be a positive for NZs international rock cred and with all the bands leaving happy I’m sure they’ll be keen to do it again. Really my only gripe would be the raw deal the Kiwi support acts got. My family and I as well as all my mates had a brilliant time and feel privileged and thrilled to be a part of it.
Easter has never been like this before.
It was the massing of Hard Rock and Metal giants to Wellington. Anticipation was high.
It was a line up to challenge Download, Monsters of Rock and Reading.
Day 1 - LORDI, ALICE COOPER, KISS
Day 2 - POISON, WHITESNAKE, OZZY
This was a line up that had much to offer and much to loose if not pulled off correctly for a crowd with different ages, expectations, hair and waist lines.
With Local bands The Symphony of Screams, The Valves and Sonic Alter filling the time between main acts they served NZ well but being stuck on stages high up in the stands you either could not see them or feel the passion that they clearly were trying to get across.
Special effects from Weta were much hyped and did well given the setting although I had hoped to see something like an arm or leg fall off the odd cheerleader.Then there was the eighty foot laser firing smoke breathing dragon called Druscilla. I for one would like to know what they will do with a eighty foot dragon - my suggestion is sell it to the Australians for Druscilla Queen of the Desert The Rock Opera - LOL. The event kicked off with 6 guitarists dueling across the stadium with original and classic rock riffs.
LORDI smashed the front five rows with Bringing Back The Balls to Rock and proceeded to do exactly that for the next hour. Many in the crowd looked a little bemused and probably knew little if anything about these guys except that they wore monster outfits. Using only half the stage Mr Amen still managed to galavant all over the place. The rest of the band strutting in Kiss-esk fashion in their platforms. By the end they had at least a few - me included, monster moshing.
With ALICE taking the stage for an hour he continued the theatrics theme introduced by Lordi by hanging himself, abusing a small child in a pram and anything else he could get his hands on. The general consensus of everyone in the pub the next day was that this was the best performance of the day. With hits like No More Mr Nice Guy, Under My Wheels(my personal favourite), Billion Dollar Babys and Poison to name a few who would deny it was great set delivered by the master of disaster himself. Last up, and who most of the crowd had come to see given the Tshirt sales and painted faces, was KISS.
KISS was everything you would expect Pyros, Gene with blood or flame spewing out his mouth at any one time, flying Paul Stanley across the crowd, the works. They included 100,000 years and Tommy Thayer sang Shock Me (I feel he did it better than Ace), both of which were unexpected. Other than that they delivered what everyone expected - the hits, glitz and flashing bits. Can't go wrong with that. And if you wanted something different then you should have gone see Immortal the night before.
DAY 2
POISON were first up and rolled out the usual hits - Unskinny Bop, Every Rose etc. Prior to this there was three camps - we love poison, we'll watch them cause we have bought a ticket, and the we can't be stuffed with poison. However the stage performance and choice of song seemed to hit a chord across the crowd and they responded. Brett and co. were clearly enjoying the crowds reaction and in response played a top notch set. Poison were the surprise I think for many on the field of battle that Easter Sunday including me (I was in the middle group). Well done Poison for flying the glam flag so proud 'least we forget' all those cans of hairspray.
When you hear the words "heres a song for ya" in his distinguished english accent even a blind man would see it was Mr David Coverdale and WHITESNAKE. Some oldies, newies and blueis (is that a word). Coverdale strutted and played with the crowd like the guru of his art that he is. Doug Aldrich simply played out of his skin on every track for an hour long set that finished too early for me and many others. Interlaced with hits like Fool For Your Lovin' was new songs like Lay Down Your Love which held their own. New Zealand will keep you to your word Mr Coverdale to "be back very soon" - 32 years is a long time to wait. Whitesnake my pick of day 2.
And finally OZZY the lights went down and we all expected the orchestral crashes of Ozzys intro, tension in the air for the prince to summon his troops and go crazy. But no, we were treated to video skits of Ozzy taking the proverbial out of The Queen (the movie), The Office, Sopranos et al. It is a surprising thing to hear 35,000 howling mad Ozzy fans laughing their heads off (excellent). Of course we were treated to a thoroughly impressive set including some unexpected - Road To Nowhere, with classic Ozzy -War Pigs from Sabbath days and Mama as the encore amongst my picks.
It all ended way to fast and I found myself sitting on the train going out to the suburbs grinning furiously with a carriage load of similarly pleased punters.
Cheers to Phil Sprey for pushing the event you made a lot of people very happy this easter and it had nothing to do with chocolate eggs.
Thanks from me to Alice Cooper, Rikki Rockett and Awa, Ox and Amen from Lordi for taking the time to chat and sign stuff.
Neil McKelvie - NZmetalhead
BLEEDING THROUGH - The Truth
(trustkill)
Bleeding Through, from California, released this gem in Jan 2006 but I thought it relevant to revisit its glorious hardcore metal power as they are in NZ soon playing the mighty KILLERFEST 2 {at Aucklands Transmission Room 15/16 Feb}. This six piece list their top influences as diverse as Slayer, At The Gates, The Smiths, Joy Division, Megadeth and The CroMags, and in all fairness, their sound carries a bit of all of them if you look for it.
Mostly it's the intensity and the darkness of the themes. Marta's keyboards are ghostly and cinematic for sure, but the guitars are razor sharp metal, and so are Brandon Schiepatti's vocals. He flips easily between growling and singing without sounding sell-out or trend motivated. The album is deep and punchy and its flexing muscles are anchored to a spine of metallic melody.
Produced by Rob Caggiano (played with Anthrax, produced Cradle Of Filth and A Life Once Lost) this album was hailed as the album to "tear 2006 a new asshole!" according to Kerrang Magazine. Billboard even called it one of the four most important hard rock albums of 2006. The band solidified this by a world tour that year (got as far as Australia..) before joining Ozzfest and garnering some meanass kudos.
07 had more leaps forward with tours with Marilyn Manson and Slayer as well as HIM amassing an ardent army of fans, their Dearly Demented.
Track 1, 'For Love And Failing' takes no prisoners as Brandon screams "I DON'T GIVE A F**K" before the band attack and the relentless drums beat you about the head.
'Confession', the brilliant 'Love In Slow Motion' and the crushing 'Dearly Demented' follow and its powerful stuff alright, lots of grunt, very metal. They show their sensitive side with 'She's Gone' a classic power ballad complete with sweeping orchestration and a crashing chorus before smashing back to metal fury with 'Tragedy Of Empty', nice one!
The good news, apart from the fact they are coming, is that they are recording a new album soon with evil metal magician Devin Townsend.
Bloody hell! Fasten seatbelts for that one! And I'll see you in the pit, no doubt Bleeding… Through.
4/5
DVD REVIEW:
HELLYEAH - Below The Belt
(epic)
Vinnie Pauls first foray into music since the murder of his beloved brother Dimebag (on stage in front of him in 04) was the band Hellyeah, their debut album in 2007 was a rock'n'rollin lesson in spiritual healing if you like.
A celebration of life and booze and good times, the album kicked ass in my books. Vince, teamed up with Mudvaynes vocalist Chad and guitarist Greg Tribbett, got back to doing what he does best, hitting drums and partying. Its gotta be tough seeing he had only ever played in a band with his brother so I'm sure this album was cathartic for Vinnie Paul in a lot of ways. But being a staunch ol' Texan, he's come out shining.
Below The Belt is the visual documentary of how it came about and the subsequent recording, release party, videos and world tour. There's plenty of funny stuff and some pretty cool personal moments. It's a must for any Pantera, Dimebag and Damage Plan fans with some cool interview with the crew ( including Kat Brooks and Tongs, ex Pantera crew). Lots of booze, tittie bars and cowboy hats and a lot of laughs.
Definitely worth checking out. And look out for Auck barmaid and metal hottie Annakey, in their video for Alcohaulin' Ass. Hell Yeah!
5/5
JUST ONE FIX - The Price Of $ellvation
(jofmusic)
Some pretty direct messages in this debut offering from Auckland metal outfit Just One Fix. No holds are barred in their tirade as they draw our attention to the human evils of greed, corruption and deviancy.
The opening salvo that is Me$$iah Of Hate is fighting talk alright, with the line "Your lifes a f**kin lie, you gave birth to this rage, now we're four middle fingers on a mother f**kin stage." You get the impression you don't wanna piss these guys off.
One Man is a great track with a gutsy grimy grind, Dealer Of Lies is a spitting snarler of a song that name checks Brian Tamaki alongside David Koresh and Charlie Manson as liars and fakers, brilliant!
The Price Of $ellvation is a great testament to the indomitable spirit of our metal musicians. Pariahs that they are, doomed to be ignored and never funded by our proud NZ music industry because it's not ever going to get "commercial airplay". No, its scary Bogan music, so it's obviously more dangerous to our young than gangsta rap is…
Just One Fix isn't the only metal band in this metal boat either but they are fiercely proactive about it. They've earned their independence, have a great work ethic and obviously aren't afraid to use a bit of elbow grease. The great Kiwi go getters! This is the spirit of NZ right here, rather than some fully funded insipidly trite pop formula song that gets paraded gaily (YES GAILY) as NZs best music. This at least, has heart. As well as big swinging nuts! I like the way the Fix are being staunch to themselves and the music they love first and foremost and putting up their own cash to record this. They've gone to lengths to make a good job of it. The artwork's awesome and Paul Matthews has done a fine job recording them.
The playing is very metal with some fine shredding guitar, massive drums, a mean bottom end and huge roaring vocals. While overall its not as slick sounding as a mega produced, mega budget Shihad album for example, this has got some great moments that bristle with honesty and integrity and show just how dedicated and determined NZs metal muso community is.
Keep NZ metal!
4/5
W.A.S.P - The Best Of The Best
(snapper music)
Blackie Lawless never quits and after all these years has amassed a hellish collection of wicked songs and mean metal moments.
This is a primo collection that covers almost all the essentials. It kicks off like it means to continue with Animal (F**k Like A Beast) and the legendary I Wanna Be Somebody. All the best albums are covered and speaking of covers, I always find it a treat to hear a band do some cool cover songs. I hit the jackpot with this collection as they've included Locomotive Breath (Tull), When The Levee Breaks (Zep), Sat Nights Alright For Fighting (Elton) and The Real Me (The Who).
Blackies distinctive voice and Chris Holmes' sweet guitar solos bring back some great memories and tracks like Blind In Texas and Mean Man will have you rockin and reaching for your best spark spitting codpiece! Grouse!
4/5
MOTORHEAD - TSB STADIUM NEW PLYMOUTH Sat 20th Oct
With Duplo, World War Four, Sticky Filth, Cripple Mr Onion & Sinate.
By Paul (Axeman) Martin - World War Four
I was just as excited to see Motorhead for the 5th time as I was the first time. Larger than life and twice as loud, it's more than a concert; it's an experience, an audience with a legend.
Getting to play on the same stage… freakin priceless!
The Friday night show was unreal, a huge crowd and a slick and seamless show. The numbers were down a bit for the sat night but the crowd respectfully filled up in front of the stage early for the Kiwi bands kicking the show off. First up was DUPLO from NP, young guys with a technical metal approach that demonstrated they have a lot of potential and the skills to go far.
My band WORLD WAR FOUR was on next, a quick skull, deep breath, get possessed, hit the stage! Yeehaa! The PA was screaming, the sound was FAT and the band nailed it. New songs Pet Hate and Knife Fight seemed to go down really well with the crowd and a few people found our rifle mic stands disturbing. What more could we ask for! I can speak for the rest of my band when I say it was a wicked experience we'll never forget.
STICKY FILTH was next and they hammered out their unique brand of metalised punk. True pioneers of NZ music, they delivered an electrifying set of rowdy attitude driven punk tunes the old school way. They obviously have a lot of friends and they still command a lot of respect. Mean.
CRIPPLE MR ONIONs brand of high tech metal took things to a whole new level. Musically stunning, these guys deliver with everything they have. Their songs come to life as twisting snarling entities with many teeth and claws and they left a few jaws drooping and drooling on the floor. Jesus!
SINATE hit the stage with a fierce determination and, tight as a whitebaits arsehole, roared through an awesome half hour set of blistering metal with no thought for mercy for anyone. Big ups to Dawn Of Azazel, 8 Ft Sativa and Paris In Flames who were on the bill Fri night, top notch!
9.30 MOTORHEAD o'clock!! Looking the same as they always did (casual-metal-cool) and they simply walked out and ripped it up with Dr Rock. Lemmys bass slammed me and tried to kill me through the PA. Massive!
Stay Clean, Killers, Metropolis, I Got Mine, Going To Brazil and one of my faves Over The Top. They just kept belting them out.
"This is for Mr Philip Lynott, a good friend of mine." Growls Lemmy as they launched into 'Rosalie', a really nice surprise. Phil Campbell's' guitar solo was incendiary tonight, more edge and bite than the Friday night.
Drummer Mikkie Dee's solo was magic, he's is a true powerhouse and a treat to behold. Sword Of Glory from Kiss Of Death was a highlight too, demonstrating Lemmys knack for writing brilliant songs. Then of course, the onslaught of Killed By Death and Iron Fist before 3 encores, Whorehouse Blues, Ace Of Spades and Overkill. One hour 40 of Motorhead metal bliss. Lemmy's still the master, no doubt about it. That kicked arse!
5/5
8 Foot Sativa - Poison Of Ages
(8FSMUSIC/UNIVERSAL)
Gary Smith plays guitar. His band, no matter who is in it, will be good because Gary is good. Actually, hes brilliant. This new incarnation of our favourite metal heroes 8 Foot Sativa is undeniably Garys best work yet. Yes he has a new batch of players and yes, they freakin crank (as every 8ft lineup so far has)! Poison Of Ages is a guitar driven thrash monster of gargantuan proportions. Ben Reads vocals are huge and intimidating. His control and dynamics are exceptional and by rights, this recording should propel him, Gary Smith and the band to the international stature and respect they have worked so hard for. The production, taken care of by Pelle Saether at Underground Studios in Vasteras Sweden is sublime. The guitar and the vocals scream out of the speakers, the drums are the sound of pure evil, courtesy of Swede machine Stefan Westerberg (Carnal Forge). But back to the guitar, Garys searing riffs and rabid licks are at a new level of vicious and the opener Emancipate rips your face right off! Crosses For Eyes and For The Birds do the same damage, mint metal shreddage and that's the incendiary factor that makes this album so devastating.
Well worth the wait and worth all the hard yards for the Sativa crew.
5/5
The House Of Capricorn - The Rivers And The Rain
Wahoo! Sludge and swamp flavoured rock to get your groove on to! And groove you will! HOC from Auckland have hit gold with their first release, a wicked 3 track EP of grimy grandeur. Track one, The Rivers And The Rain is a ripper! I frickin love this tune! Groove, great playing and most righteous melodies give this song life and its a real showcase for the cool vocals of Marko Pavlovic. A sincere delvery and a warm and charismatic voice, Marko trips the song to life with the first lines.. "I lost my groove today/ caught up tied down/ blew the game". Compelling, classy and powerful, this track has got to go down in our recorded history books as a great Kiwi song. Period!
The second track is Lies Nazareth and it continues the dark and gritty theme nicely and shows off the talents, and potential of the band.
Recorded by Retractile Audio in NZ the EP was mastered at West By West Studios in New York by Alan Douches (Mastodon, Ben Folds Five, Fallout Boy, Chemical Brothers) and the band back it all up with a tour shortly.
The last track is Sleep, and it dooms slowly and drags you wretched and filthy by the withered scruff into the House Of Capricorns acid flecked dreams. And you will love it. This rules!
4/5
The Trial & Error - Hardcore Metal Compilation.
(Trial&Error/Stomp)
Champions of hardcore and metalcore Trial & Error records have released a mean compilation album here to give you a taste of the better end of the genre with a healthy dose of Aussie acts in there too. This is great party stuff alright, 27 songs of smash-you-over brutality and power. Poison The Well get the party started with the cerebral skullf**k that is 'Letter Thing' and before you can be put in the recovery position, the punky sneer of Jungle Fever hit you with '21st Century Babylon' a short sharp dose of Aussie angst. Job For A Cowboy are a band I'd not heard til this and its totally cool. Icepick add some class with 'Tomorrow Is Not A Promise' wicked! Theres some freaky cowboy/zombie/surf music from Zombie Ghost Train, not really my style…Blooduster contribute the brilliant ,My Space Your Face'. I Killed The Prom Queen have a live song here that's just insane as well.
A good and diverse range of some damn cool new school 'core acts worth checking out.
3/5
Dark Tranquility - Fiction
(Century Media)
Swedish Grammy award winners and pioneers of the 'Gothenburg sound' (which redefined melodic death metal back in the early 90s), Dark Tranquility have always stood their ground and boldly created their own style of brutal but melodic death with crazy dimensions and introspective themes ranging from mythology, science and sanity to self destruction. Fans of Opeth have embraced these guys for years and this new album shows they have no signs of taming their sound down at all. Intense, majestic and moving the band explores new and exciting dimensions so precisely that its scarey. A great follow up to the brilliant Character, Fiction shows why this band have been dubbed the best Swedish band on the planet!
4/5
Picture The End - They Swarmed Like Locusts
(Stomp/Rhythm Method)
The debut from Melbournes hard working Picture The End is as intense and wound up as a P freak on a month long binge! Brutal breakdowns and some trademark hardcore riffing are smoked with the shardlike voice of Rob Taylor (he with leather lungbags).
Easier to listen to than a lot of their contemporise PTE lay down a complex and pummelling barrage of hard out tunes. They give no mercy on this recording and at a guess, live they would be pretty damn good. Great use of old school influences (Maiden/Slayer/VOD/Hatebreed) without being trite and their sound is new and unique enough to have their own cred. My fave is the brilliant title cut and the brilliantly titled 'Lets Get Metal' with its galloping old school metalness yeahhhh!. A good album start to finish no doubt about it. I'll be there if they make the trip across the ditch.
4/5
Jaggedy Ann - Boiling Point
(Intergalactic)
With eleven tracks of stripped down hard driven guitar rock'n'roll, Jaggedy Ann from Las Vegas deliver the rockin goods with Boiling Point. Produced and mentored by Phil Rudd these four gorgeous gals show they mean business. The comparisons to AC/DC will be thick and fast and the ladies make no secret of their love for the old masters. In the finest traditions of Bon flavoured AC/DC, JA rip it up with a supercharged sonic assault of Gibson/Marshall riffage. The sound is fatter than the liposuction bin at Dr 90210s office! Great production, simple and snappy. The mix wants for nothing. The riffs, courtesy of Leona Maries' SG, are crisp and razor sharp, and oh so Angus. And that's a great thing! Way better than Airbourne at sounding like they mean it. Way nicer to look at too… Yes at the risk of sounding sexist I'm going to say it… "These chicks are freakin hot and you've never seen a sexier band play."
They've toured NZ twice now and made a lot of friends, live, they sound huge and the performance is captivating. If you've ever embraced the AC/DC rock guitar sound or the My Name Is Earl/Outrageous Fortune/Ford Vs Holden lifestyle you will LOVE this album, they even cover 'Sin City' for you. 'Distraction' the album opener gets to the beef straight away and the bass guitar sounds creamy and luscious under the staccato guitar groove. Gayla Dawns vocals are classy and convincing and her range is awesome. She does it with ease and the cool thing about this album is, the music is played like its meant to be heard, no pretensions or crap just great rock'n'roll. 'Shot Of Gasoline' is an asskicker. I'm bloody surprised (rock?)radio and TV haven't jumped all over these guys, talk about market friendly! You couldn't ask for better, 4 gorgeous and talented rock chicks living and breathing hot sweaty rock. A great soundtrack for summer barbies, cruising, drinking beer and (in yr best Stewie Griffin voice) being sexy!!
4/5
MASTODON - Blood Mountain
(Warner)
I was damnwell frothing from the piehole to hear these guys follow up the mighty symphony of bombast that was the Leviathan album. And sure enough, screaming and blasting they come!
As magnificent as their previous offering I beheld the cover artwork and booklet of doom and knew here lurked another chapter in the conceptual adventures of Mastodon! And as before, after just listen #1 I was in their net….
The musical themes are huge, from raw metal to grandiose in 8 bars. Theres a few heave ho’s to the Leviathan feel with riffs a plenty and some really crazy Bungle-ish stuff going down. They explore the gamut of their instruments and that drummer…he’s mad. Fast, furious, crazy, colourful, Brann Dailor kicks the album off with a mean drum piece that commands your attention, then he really starts freaking with your head. This album is frenzied and busy but maintains its watertight integrity and its heaviness but doesn’t get sloppy at all. That’s down to the brilliance of these 4 musicians and the absolutely mint mix.
Here is your classic example of a rollercoaster ride, twisting and seething, heaving brutality and high speed impact. Through all, the vocals are resolute and imposing. From the screaming ire of The Wolf Is Loose to the prog melancholy of Sleeping Giant and grim ferocity of Circle Of Cysquatch, the twin vocals of bassist Troy Sanders and guitarist Brent Hinds weave well with each other. Josh Homme guests on a really cool tune called Colony Of Birchmen that has a particular groove and stutter that’s irresistible. A mean album that will be massive for a bloody good reason… its massive.
6/5!
LAMB OF GOD - Sacrament
(sony)
Wow! This is the real deal right here! From the monstrous opener ‘Walk With Me In Hell’ to track 11 ‘Beating On Deaths Door’ these guys prove again and again why they are at the top of the metal heap these days. And hell they write mean songs! ‘Redneck’ the single is pure class and being the complete package with the bonus disc you’ll get to see the video for it, probably one of the best metal vids since Zodiac Mindwarp.
After 6 years of hard slog, Lamb Of God have still not sacrificed integrity for sales and they have continued to push their limits and boundaries. Singer Randy Blythe steps up awesomely with one of the best rip-your-face-off voices around. The praise garnered on guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler from Guitar World (best shredders, best riffs, most valuable players and best metal album for Ashes Of The Wake) is for damn good reason and big Willies brother Chris is true genius on the drums.
My favourite tracks would be (today anyway) Walk With Me In Hell, Redneck, Foot To The Throat and the fascinating Descending. And there really is no low point on this cd at all! Technically these guys have surpassed the brilliant Ashes Of The Wake album (which sold over 275,000 copies), and I swear Sacrament is going to be bigger. Its more of a personal statement from the band rather than a political soapbox. With its searing riffs and rage and its pummelling aggression this album will leave you breathless, adrenalised and ass kicked! Must have metal!
5/5
SEPULTURA - The Best Of
(roadrunner)
Hardly a comprehensive collection of the bands 22 year career but definitely a great selection of their best work from 87s Schizoprenia the first album for the core lineup, through to Max Cavaleras last studio album the stunning Roots. I’m also hoping there will be a second album with tracks from the Derrick Greene era Sepultura, as they did continue to produce some killer songs after Max left.
This however is 13 tracks of unforgettable thrash intensity from the band that came from the ghettos of Brazil to become one of the most important factors in the evolution of metal. All your favourites are there (except Orgasmatron) Troops.., Beneath.., Inner Self, Biotech.., Refuse/Resist, Roots…. make this a must have album for the car, ipod or garden party. Perfect for annoying your neighbors with their wop wop cars and boom boom dance music. Get revenge! If this album doesn’t make you bang your head, I’ll come round and do it myself!
5/5
TYPE O NEGATIVE - The Best Of
(roadrunner)
..As opposed to the Least Worst Of I guess, but a poor compile in comparison. Yes some great Type O tunes but also not really put together so well. It kicks off with 13 odd minutes of ‘Unsuccessfully Coping With The Natural Beauty Of Infidelity’ which is a bit niche, then they cut the epic Christian Woman down from 8.55 to 4.28.. what the???
Must have tracks like Black No.1, Love You To Death, My Girlfriends Girlfriend and their wicked version of Neil Youngs Cinnamon Girl as well as newer tracks like 2003’s Life Is Killing Me and my fave, I Don’t Wanna Be Me (a truly outstanding video!!) give this album form but the coup de gras would have to be their majestically morbid interpretation of Purples Highway Star. Previously unreleased on a TON album it comes from a various artists comp called Nascar On Fox and it rules. That track alone makes this an essential album.
4/5
FEAR FACTORY - The Best Of
(roadrunner)
A nice short cut to some Fear Factory greats if you don’t have all the albums. As with all these Roadrunner Best Of albums, they’re arranged in chronological order. This one kicks off with the mighty Martyr followed by Scapegoat and Scumgrief from 1992s Soul Of A New Machine. They bypass Fear Is The Mindkiller and hit us with 4 cuts from the album that really put Burton and the boys on the map, Demanufacture. Ahhhh what an album!
Three tracks from Obsolete follow then their cover of Cars featuring Gary Newman is the final track and points out some glaring omissions from Digimortal. This album could do with another half dozen of their essentials. And we could do with another tour.. these guys owe us! And by the way, God, if you’re reading… thanks for Raymond Herreras feet. Best goddam kickdrum in the business.
3/5
SINATE - Violent Ambitions
(mgs records)
A smouldering offering of glorious and gory metal screaming madness!
More metal than most, Sinate return with album number two, 10 songs and 37 minutes of primo, violent metal. Vocalist Matt Sheppards howling, growling tirade is brutal and intimidating and takes the band up a whole level from their last album. Well structured and powerful riffs with all the right metal elements to give you the horn! Relentless double kick smatters and splatters every track from opener Spineless to closer Violent Ambitions. Its great to hear more attention being paid to the dynamics of this recording than their last and its shinier for it.
Drown The Prophets has a killer intro that builds into a twisted and blistering drama, and after being lulled into a false sense of peace by the 30 second picked intro to Mental Darkness its back to the studded fist to the face assault of a well tuned metal machine as Sheppard vehemently shrieks “Stupidity Of This Race Makes Me Sick!”. The subject matter is visceral and pointed, they tell it like it is, talk straight and punctuate with searing metal! Alright!!
The smoking lead guitar of Sean Parkinson is hellish throughout and sounding like he’s a lot more comfortable as he propels himself towards shred hero status and as a band, the boys are playing their incendiary licks seamlessly and with a more confident in-your-face attitude going on. Check out …Or They Will Die or the brilliant Prekill to see what I mean.
A more complete an album than their first, Sinate have found their feet (cloven though they may be) and are performing and writing as a formidable force that are well on the way to international acclaim. Unforgiving heavy metal that anyone who has ever liked a Slayer song will really damnwell enjoy. Line these guys up for a freakin medal! This rocks. F**kin buy it!!
5/5
TRIVIUM - The Crusade
(roadrunner)
This would have to rank as one of the most anticipated releases of the year after the giant metal strides these guys took with Ascendancy and with vocalist/guitarist Matt Heaphys work with the outstanding RoadRunner United All Star Sessions. The label has backed these guys all the way and I’m pretty sure they’ll be toasting their wise metal acumen now. Dang!
This is the album the band have been talking about doing, homage to the music they grew up with that initially inspired them to become the monsters they are today. All the flavours of the early Testament, Anthrax and Exodus are there, and lashings of Lightning and Master era Metallica. It’s a Bay Area moshgasboard! Riffs from hell harkening the listener back in part to the golden age of thrash. And what the hells wrong with that I ask you? Heaphys drawling, growling vocals are flecked with so much Hetfield in places its almost embarrassing. But they manage to save themselves by not overcooking things too much and there’s still their own brand of newschool metalness.
They have added their unmistakable razor edged shredalistic guitar assault. Sweeping, spitting guitars (that sound tighter than the proverbial whitebaits arse!) and the explosive locomotive drums just drip and drizzle sweetly out of your speakers when you crank this baby. And it sounds gooood loud. Some brilliant production techniques and a mature and expansive talent for melody and songwriting give this album a writhing, heaving life of its own. They will get bagged for the nod to Metallica for sure but as I say, What the hells wrong with that? ‘Anthem’ sounds like a Dio song, ‘Unrepentant’ starts off like a Megadeth tune.
But they soon give it their own buzz and these guys can bloody well play alright! ‘And Sadness Will Sear’ has the JW Gacy of all riffs to kick it off! Wahooo! The songs, 13 in all, are consistently good and consistently m.e.t.a.l! No doubt about it. Probably hard to beat for the crown of album of the year! And we get them at BDO!! I’ll eat your hat if they don’t kick your arse good and hard live!
6/5
BOOK REVIEW
Rat Salad - Black Sabbath The Classic Years
Paul Wilkinson (Random House)
The thing with Black Sabbath that you really have to understand from the start, is that for so many people, Black Sabbath are more than just a band, they are bigger than their songs and even bigger than any of the individual members or their subsequent offshoots. Black Sabbath is hallowed ground to many, young and oldish.
A teenager turned on by Paranoid in 1970 would be in their fifties right now. You can bet they probably still like it too. That’s enduring rock’n’roll right there ladies and gentlemen. My theory for their longevity is, aside from sound and credible musicianship and songwriting, Black Sabbath were at the right place at exactly the right time. Modern culture wasn’t entrenched with blatant consumerism and pop/fad disposable marketing as it is now. Your Dad still wore a suit. Rolf Harris and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were in the charts. … Music was.. safe. Then along comes Ozzy singing ‘MY NAME IS LUCIFER, PLEASE TAKE MY HAND!”
The profound impact of their first record, took the Cliff Richard generation and sat them on their arse with a good dose of Birmingham doom and gloom and introduced a morbid and intimidating flavour to the pop language of the English working class. The tangible melancholy of their music reflected the reality of the times, Vietnam, Martin Luther King, Watergate, tension in Northern Ireland, Enoch Powell, Librium and working class poor. Flower power had been the big revolution of the youth til now, pretty and non threatening. Now along come Black Sabbath with blasphemous imagery, power and a dark mystique that was just damn h-e-a-v-y.
Sabbath helped kickstart a new subculture that kicked and screamed its way into heavy metal. People embraced the imagery and the powerful music and they still do, it’s a love affair that doesn’t end. Which is where the author Paul Wilkinson steps in. Growing up a dweeb of a character in some muddling, cold English town, Paul fell spellbound into their grip in his teens and has purged himself like some spotty lovesick schoolboy and professed his love of this band with his book. This book (and consequently you and I, the readers) journeys through his awkward early years and first fumblings with the opposite sex as well as a breakdown on news events of each year, the latter keeps a perspective on things in the world at the time and where these likely lads from poor working class families were going.
Now I’m convinced the writer must’ve had alphabet soup every day for breakfast while he wrote this. Check this action scene out for extraneous verbosity.. “whilst in the former the livid hues of terrestrial meltdown are viewed from afar with pronounced emotional detachment – and are phrased in terms of incongruous spectral beauty – here the listener is inescapably restrained within the apocalyptic arena, and the images are both brutal and terrifying.”
Or this, his breakdown of Paranoid “the topic of the severed relationship accounted in the first line is not subsequently revisited: it is merely listed as one of a number of symptomatic ailments which characterise the singer’s disassociated paranoid state”
Dude, go with it, they were out of it.
Its really going to help you understand this guy if you play or understand music theory, with lots of talk of the relative use of dominant tones with mediant and supertonic overtones in Ozzys melisma’s. If you get your head around it early on it really is a nice insight to the chemistry of Iommi’s playing.
Conspicuously light on all the good goss, the groupie stories and the nitty gritty drug expose’s, the book nonetheless provides us with a few true gems. Like this, again about the track Paranoid “Butler, the songs lyricist, fondly recounts that, when he came up with both the song title and the lyric, none of the other band members knew what ‘paranoid’ meant. He himself wasn’t all that sure. It was, he recalled merely a vogue word at the time.” Priceless.
There’s also some cool wee snippets and facts to enlighten the staunchest and best read Sabbath afficianado. These alone make the battle with the wordy Wilkinsons dribbling, looseness-of- the-vowels almost worthwhile.
A tough read, and he’s left out a lot of the blood and guts and the thrilling adventures we all heard legend of, plus, he only covers his personal favourite era stopping in 1975 and completely ignoring the last two albums Ozzy did with the band because he thinks they’re bollocks! So that makes him bollocks in MY book. To be read and ingested with a grain of salt or two.
2/5
Slayer - Christ Illusion
(warner music)
Probably responsible for more scaring more parents than most bands could dream to, Slayer are back with new ammunition for the moral majority to use against metal. Brilliant! And with all the sincerity and vehemence that they brutally displayed from their very first album intact, Slayer prove they have never compromised their convictions or apologised for their unabashed anti religious and anti political views.
Reunited with original drummer Dave Lombardo, Slayer are back to their menacing best, bashing the bible bashers and punishing mankind for its ugly realities.
Some say Christ Illusion is Slayers first three or four albums rolled into one. I’d have to say its never going to disappoint their diehard fans but is more a continuation, an evilution (sic) if you will of the Slayer that gave us Seasons In The Abyss, South Of Haeven and their last, God Hates Us All. Tom Araya’s delivery is just as barbed as it ever was, check out ‘Jihad’ for proof, their music, even tighter and more venomous than before (Flesh Storm, Catalyst, Catatonic) and although the last drummer, Bostaph was awesome, Lombardo is the king of metal drumming, end of story.
This is an album of unbridled fury, fierce and compelling and evidence that Slayer have not softened, mellowed, commercialised or become suddenly infirm (as if!). Everything we expected from this band and double the attitude, Christ Illusion pulls no punches as it headbutts itself into metal legend. Owing no one nothing, happy to antagonise, dissect and destroy, its Slayer at their best!
Now all together, in your best doom metal voice…. Slayyyerrrr!!!
5/5
Agent - Expand/Contract
A compelling album with more hooks than a Korean squidboat. Agent have crafted some fine and memorable songs together for their first album release and by Christ it does this hardworking band justice. The playing is mint, drummer Zane Read and bassist Matt Flower make a menacing rhythm section leaving plenty of soundscape for guitarist/vocalist Jimi Donaldsons moody guitars and emotive voice.
A great understanding of dynamics and the confidence of being seasoned musicians makes this recording sparkle. Theres plenty going on musically yet it never sounds cluttered or hurried.
This is quality, enduring Kiwi rock. Its passionate and deep and a boasts a unique sound that’s been blended and crafted not set up to some kind of record companies pop model.
Agent have been around since 2003 and describe their music as a mix of hard rock, metal and alternative stylings with a twist of funk. If you like the sound of Deftones, Tool, Handsome, System, Floyd, Live and Mudvayne you’ll find plenty in here to sink your teeth into. Not content to be mediocre, these guys certainly aren’t afraid to try new things and think outside the square. A classy and gutsy effort these three ‘Naki boys, and NZ music as a whole, can be well proud of.
5/5
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