Movies And Metal

Posts Tagged ‘Metal’

Ever since the classic Danzig line-up disbanded in 1994, it could be argued that the bands output has been, at best, patchy.  1996’s Danzig 5: Blackacidevil was a pretty terrible cacophony of industrial bleeps and forgettable songs, whilst 1999’s Danzig 6:66 – Satan’s Child had a few glimmers of hope, but ultimately failed due to a lack of a proper guitar player (frontman Glenn Danzig himself handled most of the guitar duties) and a severe lack of the atmospherics of old.  Danzig 777: I Luciferi and Circle of Snakes followed and nodded towards a more traditional Danzig sound, but it all seemed to be too little too late.

And now we get Deth Red Saaoth.  Along with the Evil Elvis, the band now feature former Prong guitarist Tommy Victor, Glenn’s former Samhaim bandmate Steve Zing on bass and ex-Type O Negative drummer Johnny Kelly, so the band’s pedigree is without question.  And it doesn’t take very long for opening track Hammer of the Gods to put you back in those early 90’s glory days, with Glenn’s clean, bluesy vocals underpinning one of the most stomping cuts that Danzig (the band) have done for some time (it could also be said that the heavier end of Rob Zombie’s output would be a good reference point, but let’s remember who was doing this first).  Second track The Revengeful does lean towards the band’s latter output with its pinched riffing and clunking pace, although it’s still better than anything from the previous few albums.  It’s also on this track where the album’s most obvious flaw starts to reveal itself, and that is the uneven production job, courtesy of Mr. Danzig himself.  There just seems to be very little oomph in some of the songs when you expect there to be some, and Danzig albums with little in the way of dynamics have become a bit too commonplace in recent years.

Anyway, regardless of sound issues, there are a few faith-restoring gems to be had here; lead single On a Wicked Night oozes an erotic swagger that has been sorely missing for a long time, and sounds a little like classic The Cult before Glenn’s powerful pipes crank the song up a gear, whilst Pyre of Souls: Incanticle sounds like it’s straight from a movie score, with the main man harmonising over a strummed acoustic passage before the song’s part two – Pyre of Souls: Seasons of Pain – kicks in with it’s epic, brooding verse and wicked guitar solos.

Overall, Deth Red Sabaoth can be called a huge step in the right direction rather than the complete return to form that many were expecting.  Much like Ozzy Osbourne’s recent Scream album, it starts off well and ends solidly but somewhere in the middle there’s a bit of a lull where some of the songs start to sound like filler material, or could even be labelled self-parody.  Considering the combined talents of all the band members there is a sense that they seem a bit underused here, but hopefully that will remedy itself if the line-up can stick together for a while and then maybe, just maybe, Danzig will become a cohesive unit that can make consistently great albums again.  On this showing, they’re on their way but not quite there yet.

Rating: 6/10

Standout Tracks: Hammer of the Gods, Rebel Spirits, Black Candy, On a Wicked Night, Pyre of Souls: Incanticle, Pyre of Souls: Seasons of Pain.

For Fans of: Rob Zombie, Ozzy Osbourne, The Misfits, The Resurrection Sorrow, Heaven & Hell, Type O Negative, Paradise Lost, Volbeat, Black Sabbath.

For more information on Danzig go to: www.danzig-verotik.com

Click on images to purchase Deth Red Sabaoth.

Does anybody really care that there’s a new Ozzy Osbourne album out in 2010?  Admit it – when Ozzy became an unlikely reality television star in the early part of the last decade and suddenly started appearing at all manner of events, you thought it was all over didn’t you?  And when his former Black Sabbath bandmates went on to cement their reputations as metal lords with their excellent Heaven & Hell project, as well as Ozzy’s long-time guitarist Zakk Wylde getting replaced by the largely unknown Gus G. (Firewind) and the knowledge that the last few Ozzy albums have treaded water a bit, it added more fuel to the argument that the Prince of Darkness should hang up his crown and gracefully retire.  Well, shame on you ‘cos Scream is the best album the Double O has put his name to since 1995’s majestic Ozzmosis.

It takes approximately 20 seconds of opener Let it Die to play before you realise that you’re hearing probably some of the heaviest solo Ozzy material ever.  Although Gus G.’s style doesn’t veer too much from Wylde’s (close your eyes and it could be the bearded one at the fret board) there are less of the squeals and pinched harmonics that Wylde was keen on peppering everything with, and as such the guitars sound a bit more focussed.  Still, Zakk Wylde is a hard act to follow so we’ll just have to hear how Gus G. progresses in the future.

First single Let Me Hear You Scream has been around for a while now and still sounds great as a rocking piece of modern mainstream metal, but it’s when Ozzy veers off into less straightforward territory that things start sounding a bit more interesting; Ozzy’s Beatles – and Paul McCartney in particular – influence comes to the fore in the acoustic passages of Life Won’t Wait before giving in to a hook-laden chorus that showcases Osbourne’s gift of creating glorious melodies, whilst the modern metal sheen of Latimer’s Mercy shows that even at 61, the great man can do intense and contemporary without sounding desperate.  Elsewhere, Soul Sucker harks back to the apocalyptic thud of Black Sabbath’s Iron Man before breaking into a thrashy mid-section that’s sure to send the dandruff flying if given a live airing.

It may not be up there with the aforementioned Ozzmosis, 1991’s career-highpoint No More Tears or 1980’s classic Blizzard of Ozz, but Scream is definitely an improvement over his previous two original studio albums, namely 2001’s Down to Earth and 2007’s Black Rain.  There are moments on here when the over-produced vocal effects and processed riffs do start to sound a little soulless, and one or two of the tracks around the halfway mark could be described as filler material, but considering how lame this album’s predecessors were it doesn’t drag the overall effect down.

Overall, this is a better album than expected from a singer that many had written off as past it.  Having always surrounded himself with the best musicians (his band completed by bassist Blasko and former Rob Zombie/Alice Cooper drummer Tommy Clufetos) and songwriters available at the time, Ozzy has delivered a set of rollicking tunes that are all played with renewed energy and a sense of adventure that has been sorely lacking from a lot of the Brummie legend’s output for the best part of nearly two decades.

Rating: 7/10

Standout Tracks: Let it Die, Let Me Hear You Scream, Soul Sucker, Life Won’t Wait, I Want it More, Latimer’s Mercy.

For Fans of: Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, Black Label Society, Danzig, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper.

For more information on Ozzy Osbourne go to: www.ozzy.com

Click on images to purchase Scream

Ever since Soulfly mainman Max Cavalera decided to do away with the blatant nu metal-isms of the band’s first handful of releases and return to his thrash metal roots with 2004’s Prophecy, the band has enjoyed a consistent run of top-notch albums proving why Max is held in such high regard by metal fans the world over.

Omen –Soulfly’s seventh studio album – kicks straight in with Bloodbath & Beyond, a raging slab of hardcore-infused thrash that literally comes screaming from the speakers. The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato guests on the hook-laden Rise of the Fallen, adding a little diversity to proceedings, while Prong’s Tommy Victor contributes to Lethal Injection, with its stop/start riffing and manic time changes. Apart from these and the obligatory self-titled instrumental chill-out that closes each Soulfly album, the rest of the album is pretty straight-up metal in the vein of – yes, it needs to be said – classic Sepultura, which is a good thing as the Seps themselves don’t make albums this good anymore. Mention must also go to guitarist Marc Rizzo, whose distinctive style of shredding permeates every track without ever sounding gratuitous or unnecessary.

Even though all the boxes are ticked, however, the album isn’t without a few niggles. There are one or two tracks that border on filler, most notably the underwhelming and by-the-numbers Great Depression, and the slightly ridiculous Jeffrey Dahmer which does raise a question or two about Max’s lyrics; probably best to leave the serial killer stuff to Slayer.

Maybe not quite as satisfying as their last few releases, Omen is still a great piece of brutal, stripped-down metal that will please long-term Cavalera fans. It won’t break any boundaries or push the envelope in the way that their early works tried to do, but that isn’t the point any more. Max knows what this band does best and is happy to give it to you. Considering that this is his full-time band, it makes you wonder how brutal the next Cavalera Conspiracy album will be…

Rating: 7/10

Standout Tracks: Rise of the Fallen, Lethal Injection, Kingdom, Mega-Doom, Counter Sabotage, Soulfly VII.

For Fans of: Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy, Machine Head, Slayer, Megadeth, Carcass, Morbid Angel.

For more information on Soulfly go to: www.soulfly.com

Click on images to purchase Omen.

It has just been confirmed that legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie Jame Dio has sadly passed away today. Beginning his singing career back in the 1950′s, Dio came to prominence fronting Rainbow from 1975 to 1979 before replacing Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. After leaving Sabbath in 1982 he formed his own band called Dio and recorded such metal classics as ‘Holy Diver’ and ‘The Last in Line’ before rejoining (and subsequently leaving) Sabbath again in the early 1990′s. In recent years Dio rejoined his Sabbath bandmates under the moniker Heaven & Hell (named after the classic Black Sabbath album) and recorded the critically acclaimed ‘The Devil You Know’ album, whilst still touring with his own band.

A statement from his wife/manager Wendy Dio reads:

There are some things in life that you can always depend on, and one of those things is that when a cracking album of fist-pumping street anthems from Sick of it All is released, you know it’s going to kick major ass. The first thing that should be said about this album is that song wise there are no major surprises here, but when talking about SOIA that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Being to hardcore what AC/DC and Motörhead are to hard rock, Based on a True Story rages like a pitbull with anger management issues as vocalist Lou Koller snarls his vitriolic lyrics over guitarist brother Pete’s razor-sharp riffs, with the bands typically bouncy breakdowns and shouted gang-vocal choruses all present and correct.  The only real difference to any previous SOIA album is the edgy, thrash metal production courtesy of Tue Madsen (The Haunted/Halford) that fills out their sound, making the songs heavier, yet still raw and snappy.

With some of the catchiest songs the band have written since their classic 1994 breakthrough Scratch the Surface, Based on a True Story can justifiably claim to be up there with the best of the band’s output, and with the crushing new production values adding extra weight to their already considerable punch, it goes to show that when firing on all cylinders there’s still nobody to touch these world-weary veterans of the New York hardcore scene.

Rating: 9/10

Standout Tracks: Death or Jail, A Month of Sundays, Lowest Common Denominator, Nobody Rules, Dirty Money.

For Fans of: Biohazard, Machine Head, Sepultura, The Haunted, Life of Agony, Anthrax, October File.

For more information on Sick of it All go to: www.sickofitall.com

Sick of it All’s new album ‘Based on a True Story’ is out on April 19th via Century Media.