Rammstein - S/T (2019)

I could not believe it myself when I saw it, but it really has been ten full years since we saw any new music from Rammstein. Sure, it was not exactly yesterday since we last heard news from our favourite industrial group from Germany, but time has just flown by in an extra ordinary pace. The gap between albums does show one thing, that this is a band that is more than willing to take their time, only making a record when the time is right. It is a band that clearly defines the meaning of harmony, as they have not made a single member change in their 25 years of existence, and can also go off to different projects without losing touch, something that definitely shows here.

Before we go into the album itself, let us talk about the fact that despite the band having ten years to think of a future album title and a possible cool album cover, THIS is what they come up with! I really dislike when bands just slap on a self titled release far into their career, because there is no real reason to do so, except maybe when the band is starting from scratch again with a completely new sound, or they just had made a major line up change, and even then it is not appreciated. Then we have the cover, which is just a match. Just... a god damn... match. Come on guys, put at least 5% of effort into the look of the record, you will get far if you do.

Fortunately, most of the focus has seemingly gone towards the music, which is all that matters. Opening track and single "Deutschland" might be one of the most brilliant songs Rammstein has ever put together, talking about the mixed feelings Germans have for their country and its history. It is also just as catchy and heavy as you would expect, with some excellent work in the riffs and back up vocals. It does not get better from here, but the quality throughout "Rammstein" is just astonishing, especially since the band is not doing anything to much different from what they usually do. Ten years may have gone, but the band is still true to their sound.

The thing that makes "Rammstein" so excellent is that it is a very dynamic record, blending everything that makes the band so great. We have the heavy and fast track "Zeig Dich" that takes you for quite a spin, while "Ausländer" is leaning more on the keyboard, creating a whole different heavy mood. There is also a much softer part of the record in the second half with the trio "Was Ich Liebe", "Diamant", and "Weit Weg", allowing the band to show their more gentle side. Of course, it would not be a Rammstein record of there was no filth in it, and while the band is surprisingly restraint in that part of their image, they do let lose in the subtle song "Sex", showing once again that they have not lost their immature side. Also, it does not surprise me one bit that the most chaotic song of the record is named "Puppe", going away from all expectations.

Ultimately, we have to ask this final question, was this album worth the ten year wait? I would say it definitely was, because while their last couple of albums were not exactly bad, they did not live up to what the band was capable of. "Rammstein" however does so, displaying a band that is loving life and each other, a band that can step away from the scene in several years and come back just as good, if not better. It is great to hear these crazy Germans back in action, and even greater to see that the album itself did not represent its cover. Rammstein über alles!

Songs worthy of recognition: Deutschland, Zeig Dich, Ausländer, Sex

Rating: 8,5/10 Tattoos

truck.rammstein.de/de/
twitter.com/RSprachrohr

Grave Digger - The Living Dead (2018)

It seems like the Germans in Grave Digger are trying to revive the zombie hype again with their 19th record "The Living Dead", and I certainly would not mind, if it was not for the fact that the zombie craze has tried to revive itself for the last decade or so. Zombies feel a little outdated these days, and unfortunately, so does Grave Digger it seems. After a couple of mediocre albums in "Return of The Reaper" and "Healed By Metal", it gives me a bad feeling when they are unveiling another new album only one year after the last one. Let us hope my gut feeling is wrong this time.

So it should come as no surprise that "The Living Dead" is pretty much like every other Grave Digger album, classic German heavy metal with catchy choruses, sweet riffs, and a little cheese sprinkled in between. It is certainly comfortable for me as a reviewer, since I do not need to listen through the album a billion times to get me an opinion on it (I do it anyway). You sit there, bob your head from time to time, and let their age old tricks entertain you.

At the same time though, it is kind of boring to listen to this record, since you already know what it is going to sound like, and you also know that they have done this formula better previously. It does not seem to matter that songs like "When Death Passes By", "Hymn of The Damned", and "The Power of Metal" are of good quality, you are still more likely to go back to other songs the band have made half a year from now. Most of the songs in here work for the moment, but are unlikely to have a lasting impact on fans, or live setlists.

Neither the lyrical themes seem to excite, with most of them being already explored in previous outings, and other being slightly strange. "Fist In Your Face" is one of the more confusing ones, not only for the title that would be more fitting on Anthrax's debut record, but also that the lyrics do not match up with the music at all. You would think it is a hard hitting tune, but nope, it is one of the more mellow songs on the album. All of this is just weird.

Speaking of weird, when the final track "Zombie Dance" hits my ear drums I get treated with... polka? This is the only original injection from the band in this record, a strange and infectious folk metal song in the style of Trollfest that must be a homage to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". It is an incredibly strange song that has gotten me hooked, getting me into a trance that sounds wrong, but feels right. And like that was not enough, the video for this track is pretty strange as well, which is topped by the Grim Reaper leading a conga line, whilst playing the accordion. This is definitely a track that will divide the fan base.

Yes, this is another Grave Digger album that is certainly not missing any passion or skill, but it has very little new to offer, which makes "The Living Dead" a fairly anonymous outing amongst the rest of the band's esteemed discography. It has a lot of enjoyable things, and even a wtf moment, but it is a comfortable record from a comfortable band. They know who they are, and that is fine in itself, but if they expect to make any "best of the year" lists, then they have to step up their game significantly. The fans will be happy, the rest will go back to their coffins in the wait for something more powerful.

Songs worthy of recognition: Hymn of The Damned, When Death Passes By, Zombie Dance

Rating: 6/10 Fists In Your Face

www.grave-digger.de/
twitter.com/GRAVEDIGGERclan

More reviews of Grave Digger
Return of The Reaper
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Metal Allegiance - Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty

The super group formula is a concept that has been done what feels like a million times in recent times, with side projects, collaborations, and friendly experimentations popping up here and there at a consistent pace. Most of these are fairly harmless, a chance for the people involved to express themselves a little bit more outside of their main bands, but there are also those that feels like instant cash grabs, a way to push the fan's nostalgia buttons. Metal Allegiance might not be a pure cash grab, but it is easy to see it as one, knowing how they have been promoted by Nuclear Blast, so even if this group feels like a friendly get together, there is still something bugging me about it all.

So the talent pool in Metal Allegiance is certainly no laughing matter. The group consists of Alex Skolnick (Testament), David Ellefson (Megadeth), and Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), but as far as the vocals go, the trio hires vocalists from all around the metal globe to do the job. In this installment, we have Johan Hegg (Amon Amarth), John Bush (ex-Anthrax), Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (Overkill), Mark Tornillo (Accept), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Max Cavalera (ex-Sepultura, Soulfly), Troy Sanders (Mastodon), Trevor Strnad (The Black Dahlia Murder), and Mark Osegueda (Death Angel). Wow, that is quite a cast, especially when you also have a little guitar work from Joe Satriani, Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper), and Andreas Kisser (Sepultura).

You see though, the talent pool was not exactly poor last time around either, but the song writing was, making the band look like a glorified cover band. That is something Mike, David, and Alex has worked on, because "Volume II..." sounds a lot more cohesive, like it has a clear cut identity to build upon. Sure, the songs get tweaked a little bit to fit the vocalist, but it never feels like a poor b-side track that the vocalist just scooped up from the bottom of the drawer, except for two songs, the slower Overkill rip off "Mother of Sin", and the heavily "Roots" inspired "Voodoo of The Godsend".

There is otherwise a good amount of quality tracks in this record, which certainly surprised me. Sure, nothing in here will make you lose your breath over its suffocating excellence, but there is some golden moments in here, like the beautiful solo in the otherwise dark and heavy "King With A Paper Crown", or Portnoy's nifty drum work in "Terminal Illusion". However, there are as many strange decisions as well, like not giving the amazing Floor Jansen more room to work on in the second part of the title track. The sound consistency is there, but the same cannot be said in terms of quality.

I still see Metal Allegiance as a deluxe version of a cover band, a chance for a bunch of buddies to drink and play music (the drinking part is not confirmed). "Volume II..." is certainly a serviceable album that has a playful attitude, but it still has a major problem, that there is no real reason for it to exist. Mike, Alex, and David takes a step towards establishing this project into a real band, but I still would rather hear them in their respective main bands (which for Mike must be Sons of Apollo? The Winery Dogs?). They got power, and they might be drunk, but a majesty this band ain't.

Songs worthy of recognition: Terminal Illusion, The Accuser, King With A Paper Crown

Rating: 6,5/10 Liars & Thieves

metalallegiance.com/
twitter.com/metalallegiance

Metallica - Death Magnetic (2008)

So after the extremely turbulent time during the making of "St. Anger", Metallica was ready to move on. First on the agenda, recruit a new bassist, and after a three month long search, the band settled down on Robert Trujillo, who at that time was most known from Suicidal Tendencies and being the touring bassist for Ozzy Osbourne. Looking back at it, I think most of us are happy the band chose Trujillo, he is a fantastic showman on stage, and did bring some extra energy to the band, which was certainly displayed on their 9th studio effort, "Death Magnetic".

To help out the band in the recording process, they reached out to Rick Rubin to produce the record. Rick ordered the band to go back and listen to their older stuff, to be inspired when the time for writing was nigh. The result ended up being kind of a direct opposite to the primal nature of "St. Anger". Instead of simple, angry songs with no solos, "Death Magnetic" offers a style that is more like "...And Justie For All", long and complex songs with riffs to the absolute brim.

So all is well, right? Wrong, because everyone started to find new ways to complain. The songs are too long, they all sound the same, the production is way too clean. Out of those three main complaints, I can only really agree with the last one. Sure, Rick Rubin did a nice job on the production, but just like with most of his recent productions, the cleanliness takes away the soul and personality of the album, turning it into a sparkling clean machine, something that certainly does not fit Metallica. It does not bother me that much though, but I would have liked it even more if it had some dirt under its nails.

As for the two other complaints, I can only agree to disagree. Sure, the songs are long, and so is the album (1 hour and 14 minutes), but unlike "Load" and "Reload", there is a pace to the songs that makes that time go by much more smoothly. Instead of getting bored to death, you fly by at the speed of sound, so while the "Load" brothers might feel like 1 and a half hours, "Death Magnetic" feels more like it sits just around the hour mark. And while I do understand that there are similarities between the songs in structure, they still have their own personalities thanks to the riffs, solos, and choruses being as strong as they are. Songs like "End of The Line", "That Was Just Your Life", and "The Judas Kiss" certainly have a similar feel, but are still strong, catchy efforts.

This is certainly no flatline record, and one song that definitely shows that is "All Nightmare Long", a riff fest that transitions smoothly from segment to segment, turning out one of the heavier performances from the band in several albums. Also, that second solo gives me the goosebumps every time, makes we wanna live this nightmare over and over again. Then we have "The Unforgiven III" as another stand out, and it is pretty clear that the "Unforgiven" series are sort of like the "Toy Story" movies. The first one was good, second one was arguably better, and the third one is the best, but both number two and three are completely unnecessary. I do like though that there is a new structure to this song, even if the opening piano intro is overstaying its welcome.

Unfortunately, we also do have some lows in here. Besides the production, I feel like the song "Cyanide" could do better with a tougher chorus, the current one is really lame. It is not as lame as the instrumental track though, because "Suicide & Redemption" is literally all suicide. This is a 10 minute instrumental that repeats itself a couple times too many, and never really seems to go anywhere. There is no real emotion to the song, so it becomes an agonizing slog. Worst part is that it might have the best solo in the entire album, buried 6 minutes into the song, with Kirk taking the first half and James the second, creating a sort of guitarist duel that is cool to see. Two guys, same segment, two completely different solos.

Despite those issues, I still love this album to death. This is an extremely consistent record that knows what it is, and knows what it want to accomplish. After a bunch of bad and boring records, "Death Magnetic" was the fun pill that not only the band needed, but that the fans needed as well. It is not a full on back track to the glory days (I consider this to be more of a straight up heavy metal record than a thrash one), and it might be one of the less experimental albums from the band in a while, but there is one simple fact it has going for it, it kicks ass, a lot of it. That is good enough for me, time to take it for another spin (minus the instrumental).

Songs worthy of recognition: All Nightmare Long, The End of The Line, The Unforgiven III, The Judas Kiss

Rating: 8,5/10 Cyanides

metallica.com/
twitter.com/metallica

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Kill 'em All
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Metallica - St. Anger (2003)

Everyone handles setbacks differently, trying to tackle the hard times as good as possible, but in almost any case, it ends up changing yourself in one way or another. Metallica certainly experienced a lot of hard ships between "Reload" and their 8th studio effort, "St. Anger", starting with bassist Jason Newsted leaving the band, then singer James Hetfield was forced to enter rehab because of drug and alcohol issues, which eventually sparked a lot of internal struggles within the band (and let us not forget the whole Napster thing, which forced this album to be released 5 days before the intended release date). Out of these dark days emerged a rugged Metallica, a more passionate band that had a ton of anger to ventilate, and they used their new record to do so. But as Kratos from the "God of War" series would tell all of you, anger can cloud one's judgment.

Over the 15 years that "St. Anger" has been out for the world to see, it has gotten a very rotten reputation, one that I hoped would try to counter at the end of the day, but nope, I can only agree with most of the negative criticism that has been spewed all over it. Let us tackle the two most common complaints first, the drumming, and the lack of solos. Now, an album certainly does not need solos to be good, and with the more punk vibe that this album has, I kind of get why the band did not add any, but I think it is a waste of talent when neither Hammett or Hetfield get to show their chops. As for the drumming, I have been trying my hardest to stay away from it in previous reviews, because it is like beating a dead horse, but here, it just cannot be ignored. The ringing sound of Ulrich's drums sounds like those modified oil drums you find on Caribbean calypso bands, and they do stick out like a sore thumb. God damn it.

But there are more problems with this album, unfortunately. Just like with the last two albums, the length is a huge issue here, but unlike "Load" and "Reload", where the albums where filled with dull fillers, "St. Anger" do have a good amount of energy, but a lot of repetition that feels completely unnecessary. Several songs just repeats themselves way too much, making you feel like you are stuck in an endless loop. "Invisible Kid" is the perfect example of this, a pretty fun song actually, but it has a length of 8 and a half minute, every line in the verses start with the title, and it goes on and on and on and on, IT NEVER ENDS! A good idea completely wasted.

And that is probably the saddest part about "St. Anger", that there is some amount of good, or at least interesting, ideas in here, once again showing that Metallica is not afraid to experiment with their music. Even if most tracks in "St. Anger" feels really strange coming from Metallica, like they do not belong at all with this band, there are still songs like "Frantic", "The Unnamed Feeling", "All Within My Hands", and even the title track have some really neat tricks that certainly works, but I feel like the anger of the band kind of ruins the quality of the craft. Hetfield does not sound as crisp as usual (in fact, he sounds really, really bad in some places), Hammett does not get any room at all to shine, and Lars... is Lars. It is perfectly obvious that this is not a band in harmony, a group that still needs some healing before being 100% again.

With all said and done though, there is one thing that I do not agree with most naysayers about "St. Anger", that it is a candidate for the "Worst metal album of all time" award. Sure, "St. Anger" is a rotten album, it is a record only a mother could love, and it is without any shadow of a doubt the worst Metallica record out there ("Lulu" not included, because it is more of a Lou Reed album), but it does at the very least have some neat ideas that might not have been given the best opportunities to shine, but they are still there to behold. This is an angry record that tries to maul everything in its path, without any real sense of direction, which makes it difficult to get a grasp on. So let us all do what Hetfield say in the title track, flush it out.

Songs worthy of recognition: Frantic, The Unnamed Feeling

Rating: 2,5/10 Sweet Ambers

metallica.com/
twitter.com/metallica

More reviews of Metallica
Kill 'em All
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Master of Puppets
...And Justice For All
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Ghost - Prequelle (2018)

It has certainly been a bunch of eventful years for Ghost since their last full length release. Besides releasing an EP (which contained the magnificent track "Square Hammer") and a live album, the mask behind the band was finally pulled off after several former members took the leader, Tobias Forge, to court for not getting enough compensation for playing. This probably would have hurt the reputation of any band out there, but the shining star of Ghost is as high as ever, with the band now seen as the future main act for arenas alla across the globe, so the legal mumbo jumbo just seems like a small speed bump for a band that has turned into a monster truck. No, the bigger concern lies instead in the mystery behind the band, because even if most rumours already pointed towards Tobias Forge being the leader of this entity, we still enjoyed the spectacle that the band presented, so would we now see this band with different eyes once that we got confirmation on who was all of the Papa's (and the new front man for this record, Cardinal Copia) up on that stage?

Obviously, it does give you some other perspective on things, but Ghost is still mainly about the image of the band, not necessarily the music. It is a band that lures you in with its albums, but offers the live shows as its main course, so I do not think it will make that much of a difference, because in the end, you will still enjoy the spectacle around it, with each show serving as a satanic mass that is yet another stepping stone towards world domination.

But to get people to the shows, you need good music, and Ghost has certainly delivered so far in their career, and their fourth album "Prequelle" opens up promising. After the small intro "Ashes", we get treated with the lead single "Rats", a classic Ghost tune with great riffing, some brilliant drum beats, and a catchy as hell chorus that will go down really well in a live setting. It is a song that sticks with you instantly from first listen. "Faith" follows it up with what could have been a guest appearance from Yngwie Malmsteen, but much slower. It is still the heaviest track on the record, and it has a very nice flow to it, a flow only the first instrumental track "Miasma" can match, a song that fluently moves to different styles and tempos, even throwing in a sexy saxophone solo at the end.

The first half of "Prequelle" is fantastic, definitely matching what the band has done previously, but it all turns sour once the second single "Dance Macabre" enters. From here on out, the band goes a little too much ABBA, emphasizing the pop aspect of their sound way too much, which will certainly make a lot of trve metal fans cringe. Ghost has shown that they can incorporate pop into their music in a good way before, so the problem is that they become too cheesy for their own good, especially in the lyrics, like being with someone in the moonlight, or how about this horrid chorus line from "Pro Memoria".

Don't you forget about dying
Don't you forget about your friend death
Don't you forget that you will die

It continues on with "Witch Image", which is a nice little tune in it self, not taking too much attention, but enough to be enjoyable. Another instrumental kicks in after that, "Helvetesfönster" (Swedish for "Hell Window"), and I find it to be quite dull, but serviceable for a ending track... if it had been that. Nope, the band crammed in another song after it called "Life Eternal", and it is an okay song with some religious emotion behind it, but why is this the last song of the record? It feels misplaced here, probably would have worked better a little earlier in the album, or maybe just as a bonus track.

I get that Ghost is in this state where their fan base is extremely big, and it consists of almost any type of music fans, from metal lovers to casual radio listeners, so they feel like they have to please everyone, which is why we get an album that is basically schizophrenic. The first half is classic Ghost stuff, great, groovy, and spooky doom rock that you can put on anytime and enjoy the hell out of it. The second half is more for those who enjoyed "He Is" and "Cirice" from "Meliora", in other words, the more poppier side of the band. I am afraid that this album will not really speak to anyone without them finding a part that they will not like, and most fans will probably label "Prequelle" as the worst Ghost album thus far, which only confirms how damn good those first three albums are. However, it is not likely that it will affect the popularity of the band negatively, their place as the metal juggernauts of the 2010's is still secure, and will be so for some time to come.

Songs worthy of recognition: Faith, Rats, Miasma

Rating: 7/10 Helvetesfönster

ghost-official.com/
twitter.com/thebandghost

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Lordi - Sexorcism (2018)

The Finnish monster band Lordi has certainly established a place within the metal sphere, and by most they could be seen as the "80's slasher film" of metal. They are pretty corny, their effects are far from the best, and they are not scary at all, but damn, they are entertaining. Their original brand of unoriginal metal works quite well most of the time, and in recent releases they have been incorporating some new elements here and there to gain an extra spark, but just like any slasher film, the countless of sequels tend to be one of two things, forgettable or out right ridiculous.

Well, I would say that "Sexorcism" lands somewhere in between that scale, because most of the lyrics are really strange, but the music is surprisingly laid back, not at all showing any real interest. Let us start with the lyrics, because they are more fun to talk about. Just like the album title hinted, "Sexorcism" is without a doubt the dirtiest Lordi album to date, singing a lot about making people (and beasts) cum, keeping girls locked in the basement, and other stuff the band has not really touched on before. It is dangerously close to Steel Panther level of sleazy sexism (the album cover itself is just disgusting), but they do balance it out with some horror puns and mentions of Satan, so it is all good.

Just such a shame that the music is mostly stale and predictable. Sure, Lordi may not be known for their ability to twist and turn a song structure, but at least they have shown some growth in later records, especially in the instrumental department with some nifty guitar work and haunting keys. Both of those are still the strong point of the record, but there are not many sections that I can truly remember, so they are not exactly helping the album to become memorable.

This makes "Sexorcism" a very flat lined album, not really bringing out any real emotion out of me. The entire record is okay song after okay song, with close to all of them not really standing out. The band is obviously trying, but the material is hard to work with, like how can you take an awful pun like "Poterchrist" and make a good song about it, or how about the horror swing known as "Hot & Satanned", a very strange song, even with Lordi's standard.

Fortunately, there is always a couple of songs that do have enough power in them to save the record, and "Sexorcism" has its fair share as well. The title track is a great opener that really sets the bar, and I also love the comedy that "Romeo Ate Juliet" brings (a play I would love to see). Both "Hell Has Room" and "Naked In My Cellar" has some nice power to them so that you will not fall asleep, and "Haunting Season" ends the album well with a nice creepy atmosphere. None of these songs will most likely not be any future classics, but they do offer enough quality to a record that is starving for some.

So while "Sexorcism" is not in the embarrassing levels of an album like "Deadache", it is definitely not gonna go down in history as one of Lordi's proudest achievements. It is an album that tries to be shocking with its dirty humour, but the music just does not match up, over shadowing the lyrics to give this record a very grey aura. I would not say this is a disappointing album (it sounds like Lordi after all), but i definitely hoped for more since they had a good streak going. I really sure hope the demon who possessed that poor lady had fun, cause I was only mildly amused.

Songs worthy of recognition: Romeo Ate Juliet, Naked In My Cellar, Sodomesticated Animal

Rating: 6/10 Polterchrists

www.lordi.fi/
twitter.com/LORDIOFFICIAL

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Five Finger Death Punch - And Justice For None (2018)

So I am still sitting here wondering why the hell the immensely popular Five Finger Death Punch chose "And Justice For None" as the title for their 7th full length record. The band claims that they ended up with the title after the legal battle they have had with their previous record label Prospect Park, which sort of makes sense since that event did influence the album, but did they really have to be this close to the classic Metallica record "...And Justice For All"? Why not name it "Justice For The Blind", "Justice Inc.", or "Give Me Justice Or Give Me Death", just do not make people question your title!

Well, the title does serve one purpose at least, telling the listener what you should expect of this 13 song disc. It is more or less the exact opposite from the Metallica record, so instead of being a complex and innovative album with piss poor production, "And Justice For None" is a very straight forward album with very predictable 5FDP material, all presented with sparkling clean production. In other words, it is exactly what you would expect from the band, even with the chaos that has surrounded them in recent years.

Seriously, there is very little evolution here from last album, it is the same type of macho metal that we have gotten to know from the band, only that it is not as impactful as before. The impact is gone because the band is using the same techniques over and over again, without making any significant changes, which steers the mind to better, similar tracks from the guys. You will definitely not find anything in here that will match up to what songs like "Lift Me Up", "Hard To See", and "Under And Over It" achieved.

Now, I would not say that the entire album is under qualified, we got a couple of songs in here that certainly stand strong. "Will The Sun Ever Rise" and "When The Seasons Change" are two great tracks, with some real nice emotional performances that do show what the band is capable of at their best, and "Top of The World" show the other end of the spectrum, a heavy party track with some nice weight behind it. I would also recommend "Fake" in that latter category, but only if you ignore the extremely juvenile lyrics that uses the word motherfucker more often than Samuel L Jackson. It is one thing when a band like Strapping Young Lad, a very childish and angry band, does it, but these guys are supposed to be serious. God damn.

In some way, I almost wished that they would just go full "fun mode", because you never know how it will turn out when the band goes more serious in its expression. Some times it works, some times it does not, and some times it is all over the place, like in "Sham Pain" where they try to hit back at all their haters (including Prospect Park), but it has this rap aura over it that makes it kind of... interesting, to say the least. If they would just ease off a bit more, then it probably would be easier for us to swallow their music.

What makes me the most mad about this album though is not the macho style, not the uneven quality, not even the childish lyrics, but the two covers. 5FDP feels more and more like a cover band in the making, because they do make some great covers, but it starts to take over from their own music a little too much, and it is very telling when the two covers ("Blue On Black" by Kenny Wayne Shepherd and "Gone Away" by The Offspring) are arguably the best tracks of the record. They have passion, great instrumentality, everything you would love to see in any original material they make, which is just strange to think that they put all this heart and work for two useless covers. It would be one thing if they were a part of the deluxe version of the album, but nope, they sit nicely in the official release as well, taking up two spots that could have been used for something more original instead.

So yeah... this album is sort of a mess I am afraid, but it is a step forward at least from the really lack luster "Got Your Six". It feels more and more like the band's original style is being watered down more and more for each release that surges up to the surface. It probably will not affect the band's popularity, but they do secure their spot as the 10's perfect gateway band for young and hopeful metal heads, and that is not too bad at all. Another positive thing, President Knucklehead has a bigger button than Trump, and more muscles too.

Songs worthy of recognition: Will The Sun Ever Rise, Top of The World, Blue On Black

Rating: 5,5/10 Rock Bottoms

fivefingerdeathpunch.com/
twitter.com/FFDP

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Wrong Side of Heaven And The Righteous Side of Hell - Volume 1
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Metallica - S/T (1991)

It seemed like every legendary metal band fell flat on their asses as soon as the 90's began, with one after another churning out mediocre records and losing popularity. Well, somehow Metallica only became more popular, at least amongst the more mainstream crowd, and most of that is thanks to their self titled fifth studio album (or as it is more commonly called, "The Black Album"). It saw a complete shift in the band's sound, from the progressive thrash that they have refined over the last three records, to a more direct, catchier, and slower heavy metal sound, a change that made this cheap rip off of Spinal Tap's "Smell The Glove" one of the most successful metal records of all time.

One reason to why "The Black Album" became so successful was that it had no less than five major hits in "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam", and "Sad But True", all of them becoming some of the band's most famous songs. Talking about them in an extensive way is pretty useless, so let me just put out my quick thoughts about them. "Wherever I May Roam" is hands down my favourite track of the entire record, with "Enter Sandman" right behind it. I can deal with the dark nature of "The Unforgiven", but for a band that has not written any ballads before, adding two is at least one too many. Also, "Sad But True", a sluggish boredom of a song, is one of the most overrated songs by Metallica ever.

Once you look past those spotlight stealers, you will realize that "The Black Album" does have some meat on its bones. Sure, it is not something you would want to brag to your thrash buddies, but there is certainly some serviceable metal in there. The heaviest of the bunch is "Holier Than Thou", one of few opportunities Hetfield and Hammett can go wild with their riffing, and also spark a fire under Lars' drums. A fun song that gets the blood pumping, for sure. I also like "Of Wolf And Man", it showed just how good this newer side of Metallica could be with a catchy beat, bone hard riffs, and a nice attitude. I do love the build up in the chorus as well, and I often replace the "shape shift" with "oh shit", it just sounds so much better.

The rest of the "forgotten" group are a mixed bag of sweet and sour. "Through The Never" is a fun little quick tune, and "My Friend of Misery" has some good moments too, but then we have "Don't Tread On Me", "The God That Failed", and "The Struggle Within", none of which really connected with me, being pretty forgettable. It is a trio of songs that I could live without, giving this album some mediocre moments that it does not need at all with its run time of just over an hour.

And that is probably my main problem with this record, there are simply too many songs in here. Metallica should have definitely dropped some songs to make "The Black Album" tighter, killing off the dead weight. So instead of going with several long songs that together made the run time too long, they went with a bigger quantity that also padded the run time a little too much. So in a strange way, that problem from "...And Justice For All" stuck around for "The Black Album", just in a different shape.

Now, it is easy to see why this album is so successful. The surprising amount of hits did give it a ton of buzz for a long time, and there are a bunch of nice songs to discover beyond them. Still, I feel like there is a little too much useless padding in this record, dragging it out a little more than it should.  Do I consider this as an all time classic? Absolutely not, but it is still an enjoyable record with some fantastic highs, but also some annoying lows. It is a reboot of the band that gave them millions of fans, but did not necessarily make them better, enough to get through the 90's.

Songs worthy of recognition: Wherever I May Roam, Enter Sandman, Holier Than Thou, The Unforgiven, Of Wolf And Man

Rating: 7,5/10 Gods That Failed

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Judas Priest - Firepower (2018)

Closing in on their 50th year of existence, Judas Priest is reaching the closing stretch of their magnificent career, and with the recent news of Glenn Tipton and his Parkinson disease, it feels really sad to acknowledge that. I know we are in the age of retiring metal giants, but it does not get any easier when another legend hangs up their equipment one last time. So every new release is for me kind of sacred, not because I have huge expectations of it, but because it is another chance for these old guns to deliver something that will go down to history with the rest of their discography. It is certainly something to cherish.

So when "Firepower" was announced, I was obviously excited, but I understood that the band would probably do another "Redeemer of Souls", a good record with some patchy spots. So call me stunned when I first went through the record, just completely baffled, because this is not what I expected. I felt like the band went back in time, stole themselves from 1990, brought them back to 2018, and said "go, start recording". What the bloody hell happened, this is insane!

Some of those emotions actually went through me before the release, when the band released the first two songs of the record, the title track and "Lightning Strike". Both were complete bangers, classic heavy Judas Priest straight out of the "Painkiller" era, smashing its way through my brain. The title track just opens the album in splendid fashion, a bone heavy riff and a speed that I did not think the band could execute anymore, while "Lightning Strike" is more typical of the band, with the trademarked dual blazing guitars and Rob Halford dominating everything. What an amazing opening one-two punch, one of the best ones in the band's discography actually.

So one would think that it does not get much better than this, that the album would just drop in quality. It definitely does not reach the same level of intensity, but the quality is incredibly consistent, not at all the up and down story that its predecessor was. Each song has something to offer, and the performances on each and every one of them are just marvelous. The chemistry between Faulkner and Tipton is just spot on, Scott Travis pummels on behind his drum kit, Hill and his bass is still the back bone of the music. And then we have Halford, who sounds much fresher and energetic this time around. The guy is 67 years for Christ sake, and he still has a range that would make any singer jealous. Hell, I would be glad if I sounded half as good in my 30's.

Most of the songs are more or less the bread and butter of the Priest, classic heavy metal focused around catchy hooks and memorable riffs. Songs like "Spectre", "Evil Never Dies", and "Necromancer" are simple, but highly effective, just like you want from the band. But "Firepower" is more than that, it has several songs that does more than what they really need to do. We got "Never The Heroes", an epic tune of what soldiers really are, packaged with some real emotion to it. "Rising From Ruins" takes the momentum from the small instrumental "Guardians", and turns into a very heartfelt ballad that strikes pretty hard. Also take note of the angelic closer "Sea of Red", another stand out among muscle packages.

With 14 songs, and just under an hour of run time, there is bound for some fillers, but they are surprisingly few. Many might consider "Flame Thrower" as one of them because of its Megadeth vibe, but I personally like it, it is like they had to include something out of "Turbo" in here, and settled with this groover. I am more indifferent towards "Children of The Sun", "No Surrender", and "Lone Wolf", those could have easily been cut out to make "Firepower" a little tighter, but they do not really ruin the album in any way, and thanks to good production and strong performances, it is easy to get through them.

Well, what can I really say? Judas Priest promised firepower, and they certainly delivered a butt load of it. This is not only the heaviest album since "Painkiller", this is the best album since "Painkiller", and it is not even close. The band just shoots song after song at you, oozing with nostalgia, yet feels modern enough to fit in 2018. It is not perfect in any way shape or form, but it has so much power to it that it does not matter all that much. It is not the album that we expected from the band, and I think that everyone will agree that this is a very pleasant surprise. If this turns out to be the band's final album, then what an incredible way to say good bye.

Songs worthy of recognition: Never The Heroes, Firepower, Lightning Strike, Rising From Ruins

Rating: 8,5/10 Necromancers

www.judaspriest.com/
twitter.com/judaspriest

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Blaze Bayley - The Redemption of William Black (Infinite Entanglement Part III) (2018)

So after about 2 years and 3 records, we are finally putting an end to Blaze Bayley's epic sci-fi saga about William Black and his fight to redeem himself from all the awful things he has done throughout his life time. It has certainly been a fun ride conceptually, but musically, it has been kind of a mixed bag so far. The first album grew on me as time went on while the follow up was okay, but not more, so I had My hopes on that Mr. Bayley would save his best for last, and bring an epic ending to his trilogy.

Now, I did not really expect anything that was wildly different from the previous two outings, and I did not get it either. It is perfectly clear that this album belongs together with its brethren, having the same type of themes and sounds that we experienced in previous albums. Actually, there is probably a chance that they recycled riffs and beats as well, because it all sounds so similar. It definitely connects the album together in a very effective way, but it would have been nicer if each record had more of an own personality, maybe representing a phase of the story.

This makes "The Redemption of William Black" very familiar, almost too familiar since most of the same structures are used, so it is easy to mistake one song for another. In this album for instance, we have a new "Escape Velocity" in "Prayers of Light", a new "Stars Are Burning" in "18 Days", and a new "Human" in "Redeemer". Not all songs in here are copy cats, but none really stands out extremely from the rest (except for one, but we will get to that later).

One thing that this album does have is some more heavy tones, which does make sense with what the story is going for, and we get a lot more from the guys behind Blaze in here. Guitaris Chris Appleton shreds his ass off in this album, especially "The Dark Side of Black" and the solo in "Immortal One", but also puts in some gentler moments as well to weigh it all up. Drummer Martin McNee and Bassist Karl Schramm (whom just like Chris is from the band Absolva) both do a splendid job as well, making this record the best performed one of the three. We also get some nice guest work in the album as well from Chris's brother Luke Appleton, Liz Owen, a bunch of backing vocalists and narrators, and also Fozzy's own Chris Jericho, who really seem to fancy these sci-fi concept records.

There is still no problem in finding some personal song favourites in here, at least one or two will make its way towards your liking fairly easily. The catchy nature of "Redeemer", "Are You Here", and "Prayers of Light" is a nice fix, while those who like more heavier stuff should check out "Immortal One" and "The Dark Side of Black". Then we have the epic finisher "Eagle Spirit" that takes the saga to a very emotional and satisfying conclusion, one that leads William Black to the stars, for his final journey.

So what do we ultimately make of Blaze's "Infinite Entanglement" trilogy? While it might not contain the musical quality to really bring forth a grand following, I do think the story and the heart and soul that Blaze has put in this project is incredibly impressive. It is a huge job to finalize a multi album concept like this in such a short time, and fans of Blaze should really give all of their love to him. Individually, these three album are fine, not brilliant in any way, but together they create an epic experience that is thrilling from start to finish, a perfect binge listen (around 2 hours and 20 minutes), all three albums in one go, creating an epic sci-fi saga that is more than meets the ear. So thank you Blaze, and god speed to you William.

Songs worthy of recognition: The Dark Side of Black, Are You Here, Eagle Spirit

Rating: 6,5/10 Human Eyes ("Infinite Entanglement" trilogy as a whole gets 7,5/10)

www.blazebayley.net/
twitter.com/realblazebayley

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Saxon - Thunderbolt (2018)

Okay, I may not be suffering from OCD, but I have to start off this review with my uncomfortable feelings of that album cover. It is a cool piece of art, but the way the focal point of the cover is slightly skewed to the left just does not feel right. Sure, the bird might not have looked as intimidating if it was centered (unless it was magnified), and maybe this is a more dynamic take to the image, but it is still kind of annoying.

So with that stupid nitpick out of the way, how does the 22nd Saxon album sound? Well, if you have listened to any of the other 21 albums, you probably know how this one will turn out, it is just classic heavy metal that somehow never seems to get old. The guys keeps on reinventing the wheel, and still make the crowd roar cheerfully. There is just something with these types of bands that have created their own niche that is so admirable, and makes you appreciate them a little bit more, because you never know how long they will be around for.

Judging from "Thunderbolt" though, it seems like Saxon will be here for quite a while longer. They still have a drive that is as strong as it has ever been, and still find some neat tricks to make every song interesting (although I do think it was kind of weird that Biff tried some growling in "Predator", stick to what you do best man). The knack of creating a catchy and engaging song is certainly still there, and they add some sort of epic element to it all with this record. Songs like "Nosferatu (The Vampire's Waltz)", the title track, "The Secret of Flight", and "Sons of Odin" just adds a grand persona that raises the album a whole new level.

The lyrical content is also fun to discover, dealing with both Norse and Greek mythology, vampires, wizards, but there are two tribute songs that does catch my attention a little extra. First we have "They Played Rock And Roll", which is a clear homage to their fellow countrymen Motörhead, and one of the better ones to this date. Saxon carbon copies their style pretty well, while still keeping their own core sound, and the small nods here and there are fantastic for fans of both bands. Then we have the ending song "Roadies' Song", a tribute to the hard working man behind the stage that makes every show happen. This is not something new either (Motörhead and Tenacious D did it, just to name a couple), and the song is not my favourite in the record, but still a very nice tribute to the guys that never gets enough praise.

So yeah, "Thunderbolt" is nothing that will surprise you, and the second half might not be as exciting as the first, but the quality of the craft is still really good, and you will surely find a couple of new favourites in here. Biff Byford and crew has put together another really solid record with great heavy metal in their typical style, and keeps on trucking without slowing down even a little bit. It is surely a banger, and hopefully not the last one we will hear from the group.

Songs worthy of recognition: The Secret of Flight, Thunderbolt, They Played Rock And Roll

Rating: 7,5/10 Predators

www.saxon747.com/
twitter.com/saxonofficial

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GWAR - The Blood of Gods (2017)

It has been a while since we heard from the alien war masters of GWAR, and it is totally understandable. After all, they did lose their great leader Oderus Urungus to a tragic, non war related death, so there was no surprise to find that mad, over sexualized aliens also needs time to mourn their loved ones (the few they have). However, the plans for world domination cannot simply stop when one man falls, it is just like Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots always say, "It is next man up". The band did not seem to find the right replacement though, so they called in their old friend, The Berserker Blothar, to see if he could rejoin the group, and thus, a new era of GWAR was born.

Now, I never expect pure brilliance from this band, because while I absolutely love their image and style, GWAR has never really been famous for their keen sense of prolific song writing. They have always been good, but none of their previous 13 records are any classics, and "The Blood of Gods" is no different. No really, it is just another GWAR record, with groovy punk/thrash that has some great funny concepts thrown in. They have certainly not lost their touch, despite the gap between this album and 2013's "Battle Maximus" is the longest album-to-album gap in the band's history.

I do have to say though that there are several parts of this record that sounds more like other bands made it, and GWAR is vomiting their vile mucus all over it. The opening track "War On GWAR" opens up with clear cut early Black Sabbath riffs, riffs that Iommi himself would be proud of. It is surprising as hell, but it is pretty cool at the same time. I do have more doubt over the final song on the record, "If You Want Blood (You Got It)", a dumb AC/DC knock off that does not feel even the least bit like GWAR. I mean come on, this is your grand finale? It is boring and dated as hell, and it is a song that not even a magnificent Angus Young live solo could work its magic around. We also get touches of Motörhead, Dio, and Lordi too in this record, making "The Blood of Gods" a very divided record that does not seem to have a straight direction.

Despite some evidence of stolen goods, there are still some great songs in here, most of them residing on the first half of this 12 songs album. The opening third is really strong, with the previously mentioned "War On GWAR", the groovy "Viking Death Machine", the hard hitting "El Presidente", and the rocking "I'll Be Your Monster. It is a quartet of songs that is almost as good as any connecting quartet in any GWAR album. Later on we also have "Swarm" and its fantastic head banging aura, blasting out great riffs with a catchy chorus and your typical GWAR attitude (GWARtitude?). Also, who cannot love songs that are titled "The Sordid Soliloquy of Sawborg Destructo" and "Death to Dickie Duncan", two of the funnest songs when it comes to theme. Not the best songs overall, but fun nonetheless.

And that is exactly what a GWAR album is supposed to be, fun. You know that you are not gonna get wowed by this band's amazing instrumental skills or impactful song writing, you are here for a good head banging and a laugh or two, and "The Blood of Gods" certainly delivers on that. Sure, it is a slightly uneven record with some black spots here and there, but there is enough quality to go around. The only real disappointment I had with the album is that I expected the band to honor Oderus in some way or another (like they did with Flattus Maximus in the last album), but I guess the band wanted to move on, keep doing what GWAR does best. Deliver good metal, and crushing enemies.

Songs worthy of recognition: Swarm, War On GWAR, Viking Death Machine, El Presidente

Rating: 7/10 Phantom Limbs

www.gwar.net/
twitter.com/GWARofficial

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Act of Defiance - Old Scars, New Wounds (2017)

When guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover left Megadeth, it did not really take long until they got back up on the horse, creating a new band where their musical freedom was not interrupted by Mr. Mustaine. They added bassist Matthew Bachand (Shadows Fall) and vocalist Henry Derek Bonner (ex-Scar The Martyr) to the fold, and Act of Defiance was complete, quickly releasing their debut album "Birth And The Burial" about a year later. It is a nice debut with several cool songs, it is just not completely brilliant in its entirety.

So now they have released their sophomore effort "Old Scars, New Wounds", and it is more or less a natural follow up to the debut, where the band continue to build their sound of melodic heavy/thrash metal further and clearer. It was obvious that the band had not been together for long, because the sound was a little all over the place, and while this album is not fully cohesive, it is much more so than its predecessor. It is not the most original sound you will ever hear, but it has some nice bits and pieces that should please those who do not have too high expectations.

It is clear that these are talented people we are dealing with, because it all feels professional. The guitars are crunchy and strong, beefed up with some sweet solos, the drumming is incredibly solid, not missing a single beat, and the bass just smacks you down time and time again with its determined power. Just like with the short lived Scar The Martyr though, I do feel like vocalist Henry is one of those guys that some people just cannot get along with. His clean vocals are pretty monotone and boring, which does kind of work with this type of genre, but it is not something you can easily get used too. Fortunately, he uses more of his harsh vocals here, and they fit very well.

So the performances are solid, something I wish I could say the same about in the song writing. Most of the songs here are basic run of the mill metal, they are nice to listen to, but you forget them as soon as they end, and with eleven songs in total, it can become pretty tiresome to get through them all. I just wish there were something to grab onto, something memorable in the songs that can stick to your brain.

Most of the memorable stuff in this record is at the first half, starting with "M.I.A." that catches your attention instantly with its fast tempo and technical riffing, and the speed continues on in the excellent thrash anthem "Molten Core", an energetic song that gets you pumping. It does become more metalcore after that though with "Overexposure", a song that is sure to split opinions, because while it is the catchiest song on the record, it is a strange one just for how lame it is in its approach. After that though, it is fairly smooth sailing towards the end with some of the highlights being the technical "Lullaby of Vengeance" and the dark duo "Conspiracy of The Gods" and "Another Killing Spree".

I am not giving up the hope for this super group, but it is clear that they need even more time to figure out what they want to accomplish with this band. At times, they are a very dark thrash metal band with death metal elements, but other times, they are very melodic and more accessible in its approach, so it is not easy to fully enjoy their music. There are some parts in "Old Scars, New Wounds" that are great, even interesting, but it ultimately falls pretty flat because it lacks a clear cut personality. The guys will find their way sooner or later, but for now, they are shrouded in mystery, so I suggest that you take a spin and take out your own selection of favourites, that is all you need from this record.

Songs worthy of recognition: Molten Core, M.I.A., Conspiracy of The Gods

Rating: 6/10 Broken Dialects

metalblade.com/actofdefiance/
twitter.com/actofdefiance1

Motörhead - The Wörld Is Yours (2010)

For any other band, reaching the milestone of 20 full length records is quite an impressive feat, but for Motörhead, it was kind of expected. With a front man that only seems to stop when he drops dead (which he did, RIP), there was no surprise at all to see this band present their 20th release in only 35 years, while still maintaining the quality of course. And with a title like "The Wörld Is Yours", it is evident that their self esteem is as high as ever.

This is one of the band's albums that I am most familiar with, mostly thanks to the fact that it was released when my interest for metal started to rev up towards full speed, so I am gonna try to see this beyond my nostalgia goggles, but it is hard to look past it. Even though, I can still see that this album has some weaknesses, that the drop from top to bottom is a little steep and that the instrumentation is not the best that we have seen from the band, but to me, the strong points of the album sticks out even more.

The biggest strength of this record is without a doubt that more than half of these songs are really memorable, just containing their own special groove that makes you remember them for quite some time. Sure, we get tons of familiar songs that are just typical Motörhead products, but they are not simply "Ace of Spades" clones, they have personalities to really make this album a varied experience.

It is especially at the later half of the album where Motörhead start to flex their muscles, especially with the "Orgasmatron" oozing "Brotherhood of Man", a slow and heavy stead fast tune with a Lemmy who summons his darkest of vocals, creating this mysterious mood that hits just right in the gut. That one is followed up by the speedier "Outlaw" where Mikkey Dee and his drums takes the charge, dominating the verse with some fine technical work and blasts on through in both chorus and solo, creating a simple burner. We also get the really fun side of the band in the finisher "Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye". The title itself is just fantastic, but it is the ultra rapid rock n roll swing that sells the cake, making every listener rock their head in a frenetic manor, screaming those infectious words.

The first half has its gems to, even if they are more of the standard that we have come to expect from the band. The first single "Get Back In Line" is about waiting, but somehow, Lemmy just turns it into a groovy and simple song that is easy to like, even with an underwhelming chorus. Opening track "Born To Lose" is a little more complex in its riffs and beat, and it is a nice start to the album, also displaying one of the best build ups to a chorus I have heard from the band. These two tracks are not super special or anything, but they do their work just how you would want it, so you cannot really complain.

But as stated before, the drop from the best songs to the worst are a tad bit too high. Songs like "Rock 'N' Roll Music" and "Waiting For The Snake" have some charm, but does not hold up for multiple listens. So this makes "The Wörld Is Yours" a little divided, coming off as half great, half meh. Still, I do enjoy this album a hell of a lot, and it has a flow that just works really well throughout its run time, mostly thanks to the really strong finish. It is far from the finest work the band has done, but it deserves more credit, it delivers some great metal that builds the Motörhead legacy even stronger, and while it might not be enough to take over the world, it is enough to conquer the Wörld.

Songs worthy of recognition: Brotherhood of Man, Born To Lose, Outlaw, Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye

Rating: 7,5/10 Devils In My Head

imotorhead.com/
twitter.com/myMotorhead

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Motörhead - Motörizer (2008)

After so many albums of more or less the same style of music, there comes a time when you just ask yourself when Motörhead is just gonna run out of ideas and start putting out pure gibberish. Well, "Motörizer" might have been the start of that, especially when you take a look at the lyrics for the opening track "Runaround Man" (hey, Lemmy himself said it is "nonsense set to an infectious beat"). It got some clever lines like "We're out of cokes, clean out of smokes/It's not funny 'cos we run out of jokes", but this song is just dumb fun with no sense what so ever.

Then again, that can work in small doses as long as the humour is there, and you can be sure that Motörhead is not clogging up this album with their high jinks. The only other song that is simply silly is, coincidentally, one of the best songs in "Rock Out", a fast paced 2 minute steam roller that goes by way too fast, but gives us all an important tip to end our measly singles lives with the line "Rock out, rock out, with your cock out/Impress your lady friends". Doing the double helicopter never fails.

Jokes aside, "Motörizer" is still serious business most of the time, with "Motörizer" being more of a groovy record than its closest predecessors. Sure, we got some more stead fast songs in here that does not make you swing your head, but it is pretty obvious what songs are the stars in this album. "(Teach You How To) Sing The Blues" is probably the grooviest song in the whole Motörhead discography (and that is saying something), with its fast tempo and frantic yet smooth riffing it captures your attention and gives it Stockholm Syndrome. And yes, we get yet another great one liner here ("If you wanna get your hands on a beautiful girl, you gotta use a Mastercard"), something this album is certainly not lacking of. And the grooves keeps on coming in several other songs here and there.

This definitely makes "Motörizer" one of the funnest albums the band has made, this despite some songs that drags the mood down a notch or two. "One Short Life" and "English Rose" are just two of these songs, and while they are decent, they just does not seem to fit in all that well. I could say the same about "Heroes", but this one is more well structured and just better all around. Besides, cannot blame it all too much, because the lyrics here are really nice and emotional. So yeah, this album sure has variety, even if it is for both better and worse.

Otherwise, there is not really much more to say about "Motörizer. The performances are spot on, production is sleek, and the album art is really nice too, with each part of the shield representing a band member (including Snaggletooth). It is a very enjoyable record that has several memorable and strong songs, but maybe it would have benefited with a more clear direction in its personality. Oh well, "Motörizer" delivers a lot of goods that are really good, Motörhead is once again Motörizing your life with rock 'n' roll.

Songs worthy of recognition: (Teach You How To) Sing The Blues, Rock Out, Buried Alive, Heroes

Rating: 8/10 Runaround Men

imotorhead.com/
twitter.com/myMotorhead

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Motörhead - Kiss of Death (2006)

So we are into album number 18 out of 22, and I gotta be honest, I am struggling to find things to say in the beginning of these reviews now, simply because it is Motörhead, what you hear is what you get. It might also be because the albums are starting to blend into each other, missing some distinct personalities. It is something I expected going into this band's discography, but I gotta say, there are surprisingly a lot of variety still in these albums, even if these later records are more... faceless (or in other words, as grey as that poster).

Not to say that "Kiss of Death" lacks any personality or distinct feature, it just does its job and continues on the slightly heavier path that "Inferno" started. The only difference between them is the quality of the songs, a department where "Inferno" really shined. "Kiss of Death" definitely have some quality songs in here, but they are not as great or memorable, which does confirm a statement I made in a previous review, that the quality of a Motörhead album ultimately rests on the impact of the songs.

That obviously does not mean that the songs on "Kiss of Death" are pure trash, most of them are just not too memorable. But there are several really enjoyable songs in here that entertain in classic Motörhead manner. "Sucker" is just another great opening track by the band, a ripper that gets things going quickly, while "Devil I Know" is pretty standard, but has some fantastic one liners that are so typical Lemmy in its humour, like "I might be a dog/but honey, you're a bitch". Lemmy's serious side gets to shine too in the song "God Was Never On Your Side", a well paced ballad that is a nice change of pace in the middle of the record. Definitely one of their stronger ballads. We also get a return of Doctor Rock, who first appeared in "Orgasmatron", in the adrenaline filled "Going Down", a strong finisher (unless you listen to the version that has a remade cover of "R.A.M.O.N.E.S").

But as said before, there are not too many songs in here that are too memorable, being lesser versions of other Motörhead songs. They are all enjoyable songs, for sure, but it is not easy to remember them, even after several listens. I think the most memorable of the bunch is "Kingdom of The Worm", just because of its strange lyrics and very, very heavy style. It is an interesting tune, but it is kind of confusing as well. I am also confused on how one song from one of the Tony Hawk games sneaked its way into the setlist, and called itself "Trigger". It is fun and all, but Motörhead playing skate punk? Just weird.

So this album does have a lot of stuff going for it, several different songs that contribute different things, from speed and heaviness to fragile ballads, but it does not really come together in the end. It is a bunch of songs that are fairly decent, but the inconsistent quality is hurting the album pretty bad. Still, I like "Kiss of Death", and even if none of the songs might be worthy of any top ratings or so, they are still fine. A harmless album that fills the silent void in your soul for a little while, until you find a record with a little more meat.

Songs worthy of recognition: Going Down, God Was Never On Your Side, Kingdom of The Worm

Rating: 7/10 Suckers

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