Dead Cowboy Sluts

A destructive death metal band from Paris Dead Cowboy Sluts are a very tight and go for the throat band who emphasize the importance of a satanic and unholy speed and heaviness that is oftentimes reminiscent of Slayer. With a sound that is filled with rage, songs like I Will Hunt You Down or the breakneck The Hand of Death should appeal to any fan of brutal death metal. Their is a certain groove embodied here too that allows  the band to really shine. The rhythms allow for movement that is not strictly moshing, while there are lots of speedy thrash metal inspired passages the groovier parts, while still mosh friendly, allow for a bit of a change of pace and help to keep Dead Cowboy Sluts music fresh and appealing. I love the bone crushing quality that the riffs on songs such as This Hate have, they embody at once the best of old school death metal while mixing in some more Lamb of God-like groove metal aspects. As a whole, this group is very tight and their destructive riffs should start many a circle pit when I go to see them on Friday night!

Listen to them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/deadcowboyssluts/app_178091127385

Midnight Realm

Midnight Realm is a symphonic melodic death metal band from Newcastle. Their sound can only be described as epic. The combination of the shredding guitar riffs, powerful bass guitar, the heavy drums, mindripping keyboards and brutal growls mixed with clean parts allows for some of the best melodeath that I have heard in a long time. The guitar riffs are probably my favorite part of this group, while they are rather simple from a theoretical standpoint they are completely metal from a listening point. The rhythm guitar shows off some really heavy too that really help make the music brutal. Part of what makes this rhythm section so aggressive is the bass that helps drag the band down just enough to touch them with evil. The drum work is truly incendiary too, I love how there are so many fills and some of them are just so beautiful it makes me smile. Yet it is the keyboards that truly make the band shine, their crazy riffs and varied solos take the band to an entirely new level and make them groundbreaking. Finally the vocals are excellent, the growls are very aggressive and really help to metallize the sound, another great aspect of them is their contrast with the clean vocals. This band reminds me of Scar Symmetry in the way that they use both growled vocals and clean vocals to create a balanced sound featuring some awesome choruses. In conclusion Midnight Realm is a FANTASTIC band that any melodeath fan should go check out right now!

OVERALL 10/10

https://www.facebook.com/midnightrealmband?sk=app_2405167945

Karkaos

Karkaos is a Canadian melodic death metal band (another one I know) featuring one of the best sounds in the underground melodeath scene! They have some sick guitar playing, nice bass lines, amazing keyboards, great drums and some mindripping female vocals. The guitar work features a lot of cool riffs, however the guitars form the basis of the attack not the melody. That is not too say that there are no melodic guitar riffs, there are quite a few and they are all EXCELLENT. The solos are fairly good and very melodic I like how they show some nice technical chops too. The bass work is great and you can hear some amazing bass lines if you listen closely. The drum work is actually one of my favorite parts of this already awesome band. There are just so many different fills and rhythms going around that the music attains a whole new level of power. The keyboard work is undoubtedly the best part of Karkaos though. The riffs here take the Melodic in Melodic Death Metal to a whole new level! The keyboard lines are really what give this band the symphony it needs to be great. My favorite song keyboard wise is on the track The Tempest. The growls are stellar, admittedly you can sometimes tell the singer is female (partially because of some of the lighter growls) but they are still brutal and most excellent. I almost want to say that they are what would happen if the singer of In Flames was a girl. There are also some clean male vocals that are less common but still very good. In fact they remind me of the clean parts on the latest Devil Wears Prada album. In conclusion, Karkaos is an insanely awesome Melodic Death Metal band with a godly keyboardist. All you metalheads out there MUST check this band out!
10/10

Nembience

Nembience is a killer melodeath band boasting an extremely aggressive rhythm section. One might describe their sound as “like In Flames only more aggressive” or in other words “Like In Flames only better” (note: I'm referring to Clayman era In Flames not the crappy new stuff). Yeah, Nembience is that good. The guitars of Nembience are a key aspect of their attack. Their high energy riffs make Nembience at once brutal, melodic and fun to headbang too. The solos feature some seriously heavy duty shredding. In brief, they take everything you love about the guitars in In Flames, so the melodic riffs, the heavier riffs, the cool solos, and do it better. The bass work on this record is much like that of Soilwork, it is very heavy and very aggressive but it could do with more of a role. The drums are extremely well done, they have a crazy no holds barred attack that make the band seem hectic. The growls are a bit heavier than those of In Flames but they are still very well done. They show a lot of skill and their fast pace helps boosts the bands attack. The clean vocals give the band a bit of a Scar Symmetry feel and are pretty well done. Overall, Nembience is basically everything In Flames should be.

LISTEN TO THEM

OVERALL 10/10

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NEMBIENCE/164736726928?sk=app_2405167945

Chromatic Massacre

Oh yeah, technical Death Metal FTW y'all. Chromatic Massacre is an extremely brutal death metal band straight out of Bangladesh. These guys represent one of the greatest unsigned technical death metal acts that I have heard in a very long time. lets start with the guitars. there are insane aggressive riffs with great fills and licks going up and down the fretboard. The guitarists in this band are amazing, they can make all sorts of riffs up seemingly on the spot. And his solos boggle the mind. The sheer technical skill represented here is at least on par with that of the old In Flames or Hammerfall. yet they know when to hold back on the shredding fills and they have some extremely cool power chord based riffs during the verses. The bass is solid and gets a pretty big role in this group. One song where the bass really gets to shine is in the track Internal Vomitory where he really digs in and anchors the band down. The drums are rock solid and have a ton of great fills and they go at an unbelievably fast rate just ripping down barriers and driving the music ahead at manic pace. Then there are the vocals which are brutal on the level of Children of Bodom. They are INSANE, they are black and evil and contain ALL THAT IS DEATH METAL!  The lyrics are typically twisted and following in the footsteps of Slayer and Cannibal Corpse. Overall this is a really sick death metal band with an amazingly technical guitarist and powerful sound. I pray to god that they one day get signed.
 OVERALL 10/10
http://www.facebook.com/Chromatic.Massacre.BD?sk=info

Shadowmind

You know there's a reason I love Norway, and this band is pretty much the biggest reason right now. Shadowmind is a killer Death Metal band from Norway. And while I normally prefer Melodeath to Death this band is sufficiently brutal that they have won over my heart and made me swear fealty to them. These guys are gods. The guitar sound is aggressive and brutal with some solos and fills that just blow my head off. There is so much sheer attack from the guitars that my brain is literally melting off. The bass is incredibly powerful and there are some riffs here that blow my head off, the bass has a great sound in this band. One of the coolest aspects of this group is that the bass is pretty audible and the bassist can't pull a Murderface and “Pretend Play”. The drums are fast and angry and pretty great, while not always original they are so well executed that I have to acknowledge my appreciation of the drummer's prowess. There are some extremely fast and brutal fills here that are truly excellent. The vocals are easily my favorite part of this band though. There is an excellent mix of brutal harsh growls and then some brilliant clean vocals. The vocals in Shadowmind are a treat for the ears. As is pretty much everything else in this band. The general mixing of these tracks is also brilliant and I really like the sheer power of the group. Overall this is a killer group that I am totally going to share with my friends in The Playground. \m/

OVERALL 10/10

The Neologist

I am now reviewing a pretty brutal melodeath band called The Neologist. (That is like the coolest name for a band that I have heard in a while). They have an incredible sound that is very much influenced by In Flames. In essence the sound of this band can be summed up as In Flames, but even more melodic and awesome. They have a roaring guitar sound, an epic synthesizers a killer drummer and some brutal vocals. The guitar sound of this band is heavily In Flames inspired, they have some solos that are just magical and so extremely melodic that I have to gasp. In the simplest form, the guitar is amazing. The synthesizer is also fantastic, it helps make the music really full and creates a level of melody that is simply mindboggling. The drums are also excellent, there are lots of powerful fills that are simply brutal. In short the instrumental portion of this group is truly excellent. Then the vocals in this band are fantastic, they are brutal and aggressive and make me clutch my ears and beg for mercy from their latent evil. The clean vocals are also majestic and very well done. The singer in this band has a way of attacking ones ear drums that is reminiscent of In Flames. In addition the lyrics of this band are well thought out and very dark. In short this is a great band which is basically extra melodic In Flames. So kudos to you guys, you rock.

OVERALL 10/10

http://theneologist.bandcamp.com/album/the-26-letters-of-your-universe

Instant Witness

And this band is one of those groups that makes this blog worthwhile. This is a group with an amazing garage rock sound and they have so much raw energy and power and all the magic of those 60s garage bands I love so much. This band is incredible. The guitar sound is excellent, it is heavy in a Jack White way, that is to say that some songs use lots of distortions and others significantly less. The best part of the guitar is that it just has an incredible structure. It is very catchy, it just blows my head away. The sheer energy of the guitar is beautiful, it reminds me a lot of the raw power found in the White Stripes music. There is even a solo in the song Looking At You that I had to listen too twice because it is so good. The bassist in this band is great, he features a lot of walking bass lines and he really fills out the music giving it a very full feel. The drums are typically very simplistic, reminiscent of the Stripes. However there are some really nice drum fills and a sick drum solo that prove to me that the drummer in this band truly knows what he is doing. The vocalist of this group is probably Jim Morrison reborn, this singer has the sheer power and energy in his music that you only here in the garage rock gods. The vocalist for this band, Mack Kerman is a rare genius, but nobody knows it yet. I strongly recommend that every reader of this blog go and listen to them, these guys are gods and they need recognition.

OVERALL 10/10

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Instant-Witness/261733282617?sk=app_178091127385

Back Through Time-Alestorm

This album, is far and away the album of the year. I don't care if Sabbath releases an album this year, it will have nothing on this piece of brilliance handed down to us from the gods of metal. This Alestorm album is ridiculous and yet the best thing ever. IT is TRUE ROCK AND ROLL! This album captures the true MAGIC of ROCK! Its not just the instruments and the vocals (both of which are great) of this album that make it true Rock but the back story of the band as well as the sheer narmyness of the lyrics. This is the first album that I have heard in a very long time that triggers a feeling of awe from me. This is Alestorm's coming of age. This album represents Alestorm becoming a real band! THIS IS ALESTORM'S TRIUMPHANT ALBUM! When you get the back story of this band you then realize how much more rock and roll they are, they are the luckiest people ever, yet they stand for what rock and roll is.

Alestorm started out small, they were going to play a show at a bar and out of sheer apathy only told a couple friends about it. When they arrived to play the show the bar was packed out the doors. Even at their first show they were loved because they represented a new and magical type of rock and roll, PIRATE METAL. They didn't even have to fight to get signed, they just sent some demo's in and got a record deal! So what makes these guys so Rock and Roll? It's their sheer attitude. Their sheer, rebellion. But lot's of bands have sheer rebellions, so they add in a new layer, they create sounds that have never been heard before, they are the most piratey of the pirate metal bands and they create an aura that is so beautiful and so magic that I am filled with AWE.

Rock and Metal have both become so stale recently you wonder what has happened, but then you get a group like Alestorm, at first they seem like a bunch of idiots, but then you listen to them and realize that they are one of the greatest things to happen to the metal scene in this millennium! They bring both raw energy and rebelliousness to a novel sound! Alestorm is the most Rock and Roll band in this millennium! No other band has cared less than them and no other band is better. You may say that they are a bunch of spoiled brats but I tell you that they are geniuses. They know that music needs something beautiful and fresh and they give it to us! People said Iggy Pop was a spoiled brat, and he was, but he also gave birth to punk. Alestorm is perfectly capable of creating a whole new direction for rock and roll!

The sound on the first 2 minutes of this album show huge evolution in the bands sound. They have finally found balance between the synthesizer and the guitar sound. On the first album the guitars were too powerful and they controlled the music too much. The second album had barely any guitar work at all. This album finds the perfect balance, this album is a beautiful combination of all that makes Alestorm great on an instrumental level. The synthesizer and the guitar find balance. This is the first album where the guitar just goes and creates metal riffs and allows the synth to do all the piratey bits. This creates an amazing feel, we finally can respect the guitarist because there is a perfect combination here.

In addition the rhythm sections is no longer holding anything back, on the last two albums there were lots of bits were the rhythm section had to hold back for extended periods of time, but now with a high powered guitar the rhythm section has become a hugely powerful and dynamic section creating an extremely powerful sound. The tempos are now ragingly fast and they give this record a lot more power than previous ones by Alestorm. Also, there are real bass fills here! It provides a bit of juxtaposition in the music and bass fills are generally just amazing.

That is not to say that Alestorm has totally left behind their old sound, there are still lots of excellent pirate bits but they are just better now that the band has found true balance and sped up the tempos. Still fans of songs like “At the end of the Age” will find something to enjoy in the song “Scraping the Barrel”. Whose lyrics declare that Alestorm will never run out of material, they will always scrape the barrel for more music. While there is much evolution on this album, the sound still respects its pirate roots but it emphasizes the best bits, sing a long choruses and sick synthesizers, with guitar licks and a pounding rhythm section.

Another thing that often stays the same are the lyrics. They are as always ridiculous and always retain their piratey flair. Often though they make me laugh at loud, they are simply brilliant. One example is on the track Midget Saw, the name says it all. It is a song about a midget, sung by a pirate. HOW DO YOU BEAT THAT? HOW DO YOU GET MORE RIDICULOUS AND MORE ROCK AND ROLL THAN A BAND THAT IS WILLING TO SING ABOUT A MIDGET STOMPING ON A MONKEY? This band lets go of it all in its lyrics, they capture the pirate magic and give the music such a, insane and disturbing beauty that I just smile in admiration at this band. I mean the song “Rum” has the chorus, “Rum Rum, Give me more Rum, Rum Rum Ahoy!”. How do you get more rock and roll than smelly rapscallions running around looking for booze?

The vocals are also some of the best that I have heard in a while. Bowes is an actor, he captures the pirate aura with his vocals. He is so rebellious and so rock and roll that you start to feel embarrassed for him, then you realize that this is his goal, and he has won. His vocals will win against you every time. He is the metal pirate king and no one will ever be able to match that. The sheer pirateyness of the vocals blows my head off every time I listen to this band and it is why they have become one of my favorites. If you have never heard Bowes sing before, go listen now, if you want to hear the best new metal vocals go listen to this album.

The point I feel obligated to get across is that Alestorm has found themselves. They have discovered their sound on this album and if they keep this sound I could listen to them for a million years and not grow weary of them. They have a lot of beautiful things and they make the best of all of them on this album. They have sing a long choruses, excellent guitar work, and a novel sound. They are some of the last true rockers, they are some of the last true innovators because they truly get the point of rock and roll. Have a unique sound and have an amazing attitude. And they have that attitude, they say to society “Screw you, we're going to do our own thing, stare if you must, but we are still going to do this!”

All in all this is an incredible band that has a most incredible sound and if you do not like them I will rip your head off and feed it to a midget. A MIDGET! They are some of the last true rockers! They are some of the last rock heroes worth worshipping because they have a novel sound and a screw you attitude! Their sound has evolved so much it is amazing. The guitar is incredible now, there are killer solos and the synthesizer gives the songs a unique feel. And now with the balance between the two of them their sound is quite easily the best in the modern metal scene. They are aided by their rhythm section which now has a much greater attack and gives the songs a lot more energy. These guys are amazing rockers and you NEED to go listen.

OVERALL 10/10

Renegade Hammerfall

 Tonight I am reviewing one of my favorite Hammerfall albums, yes, their classic Renegade. It kicks off with the memorable Templars of Steel with it's amazing sing a long chorus. This album is the epitome of what it is to be Hammerfall, there are amazing guitar parts, extremely powerful bass riffs and solid drums. The vocals are mind boggling, they have a sing a long feel and a fiery passion behind them that makes you want to listen to this album all day, every day, until your brain leaks out of your ears. Yes this album is BRAIN-LEAKINGLY good. As a guitarist, I find Hammerfall's guitar parts, in particular their solos to be wonderful experiences.

The guitar work on this album is formidable. It has dozens of mind blowing riffs and beautiful solos. For each song there is typically a killer intro solo/riff and then it breaks into a powerful verse which uses some classic powermetal techniques to drive the music along. What is interesting is that there are a lot of fast bass lines however the music does not really have a thrash feel. The other impressive part about the guitar is the supermelodic solos. They have a beautiful feel and add a lot to the whole experience for me. The bass is steady, at times it has solid and angry riffs at other times it might have a walking line that gives the music a unique feel. The drums are unique on this album. Sometimes they make the song powerful, as in Templars of Steel, other times they just do their normal old job of keeping the beat. But always they are inventive and powerful.

The vocals of Joacim Cans are as I said previously, Brain-leakingly good. Usually they are soaring powerful on the almighty winds of his vocal chords. Other times they are soft and sad. Always they have a very melodic and beautiful feel. Cans shows his vocal range when he puts hard rockers like Living in Victory Right next to the beautiful acoustic track Always Will Be. The best part of Cans vocals is the sing a long feel you often get. You often find yourself chanting along with the easily singable choruses. The backup singing done by the band adds a lot to the music and makes the music layered. The lyrics are almost all fantasy based. However Hammerfall is willing to back off the fantasy elements at times and write some love songs.

Overall this album is … BRAIN LEAKINGLY GOOD, (ima write that down). This album captures the essence of Hammerfall in it's fantastic and beautiful glory. The guitar is colossal, it has riffs that are chunky and melodic, there are classic power metal verse bits and solos that are so beautifully melodic it makes me smile. The bass has a ton of killer riffs and fills and fills out the music. The drums are creative and powerful and create a great sound for the band. Cans has an amazing voice that you want to sing a long too and his great lyrics make this entirely possible. All in all this is a killer album, my favorite track is Templars of Steel.

OVERALL 10/10

Glory to the Brave-Hammerfall

 Okay, so I decided that this week would be power metal week. Also I will bet at my grandparents so you will be getting one review a day till Friday folks. The rip off with their song The Dragon is crying and they don't stop roaring. On their debut Hammerfall straight away shows themselves to be a formidable power metal group. They have soaring powerful riffs and a lot of technical skill. The guitar is powerful and possibly the best part of this album, however the bass and drums are also incredible. The singing is spectacular and provides exactly the feel that this music needs. The lyrics also are extremely good. They are mostly fantasy based.

The guitar is very loud, powerful and filled to the max with awesome riffage. If you want an album oozing metal riffage this is for you, every song has multiple colossal riffs and they create a truly beautiful sound. One of the greatest things about the guitar is that it balances harder speed metal type riffs with good symphonic metal parts. Essentially the guitarists of Hammerfall create a very nice sound by finding balance between symphonic metal and speed metal. The guitar has so many good solos you almost want to curl up in a ball in awe of the awesomeness that is Hammerfall. The bass is also very good, sometimes getting amazing fills and other times just getting a great groove on. The drums are fantastic, the drummer is at least as skilled as Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden. The instrumentalists on this album combine to create a spectacular tone that you have to love.

The vocals on this album are beautiful, they create a level of power and sound that is seldom heard on an album. Joacim Cans has a voice that has a certain power to it, a power similar to that of Bruce Dickinson. However the main difference between the two of them is that Cans has a higher pitched and cleaner voice. This allows Hammerfall to have a unique sound. All in all the vocals on this album are some of the best that I have heard in a while. The lyrics are equally good, they are beautiful and powerful. While they are primarily fantasy influenced they can cover a variety of topics. One of the best parts of the lyrics is the sing a long feel that you can often get on this album. The combination of Cans voice and the catchy lyrics allows for you to sing a long (loudly) with the music.

Overall this is an awesome album with so much going for it you almost want to scream. For me everything about this album rocks and it should be like, required listening. The guitar is spectacular unleashing some super extreme riffage, the bass is excellent getting in some awesome fills and otherwise just finding the groove, and the drums are wonderful, adding such a great feel to the music that one has to kneel in awe. This album has wonderful vocals courtesy of Joacim Cans, who is gifted with one of the best voice in heavy metal, and his lyrics make his music all the better. All in all this is a fantastic band with an awesome sound, they have everything that makes a metal band great.

OVERALL 10/10

Steel Trooper

Wow this is an amazing band, they did something unbelievable. I love bands that you can just sing with and these guys you can sing a long to. They are totally and completely awesome. While they are just traditional power metal they are so simply fun that you kind of have to love them. They play nothing that is super original, but they play with such emotion and power and might that you are required to be in love with them. One thing this band does a bit more of than most bands is that they use a bit more tapping than normal power metal bands. The guitar is awesome, it covers all sorts of sounds. The sound is almost Iron Maiden-esque on some tracks. On others they play more straight power metal, but they definitely have the ability to play more than same old stuff. In fact for me their Iron Maiden type stuff is some of their best. The bass has quite a few powerful bass lines that create some awesome music. The drums are powerful and have a nice feel, they make the music powerful. The vocals are phenomenal, sometimes they are just loud and powerful like those of Dio and at other times they are loud and powerful like those of Dickinson, what I mean to say is that they are great, The vocals also are well thought out and nicely executed. Overall this is an incredible power metal band with an awesome sound.
OVERALL 10/10
listen
http://www.facebook.com/Steeltrooper?v=app_178091127385

This Is Spinal Tap

 'This one goes up to 11'. That is but one of the many legendary quotes from This is Spinal Tap. There is nothing bad about this movie it is just 100% brilliant rock and roll stupidity. Everything that you want in a comedy is here, there are stupid characters, stupid lines and a stupid plot altogether creating a really dumb but hilarious piece. The plot is reasonable, it is humorous and generic, but it makes fun of generic plots so it's okay. Then there's the comedy, which is just brilliant, the writers manage to combine a lot of different elements to make a movie that any metalhead no matter how goth has to laugh at. The plot on its own is really ridiculous as well.

The plot is very basic. At its bare bones there is a band that has been together for 17ish years, they are called Spinal Tap. They have 2 brilliant musicians at their core, Nigel and Dave, they are describes as 'fire and ice' and the bassist tries to achieve balance between them. Their most recent 6 albums have been poorly received and are mocked in the heavy metal world. They are touring trying to promote their most recent release however they manage to sufficiently aggravate their manager that he quits, and then Nigel quits. It looks like the end for Spinal Tap, to find out what happens you'll have to see the movie.

The humor is what makes the movie so perfect. There are jokes referencing classic rock across the board. David's girlfriend is like Yoko Ono. David acts like Robert Plant, and the bassist is a knock off Geezer Butler. So yes there are many humorous things involving characters stereotypes however there are also some very funny bits coming from some of the lines in the movie like 'This one goes up to 11'. The third thing they do is they show what would happen if a gigs set failed to work. They also have a drummer die every year, in parody of Keith Moon and John Bonham. In addition they have had 37 band members over the course of their career.

Overall this is a hilarious movie that anybody who is into heavy metal would love. Actually most people who are into heavy metal have scene this movie and they all love it. This is a movie made by metalheads for metalheads makiing fun of metalheads. It shows us what we want to see, a funny group of guys trying to make it and not accepting that they are a washed up rock band, its just hilarious. There is a good and funny plot that creates a good vibe and in addition the jokes are totally brilliant. This is is a movie that is awesome both in concept and in execution and so I have to love it a lot. WATCH THIS MOVIE!

OVERALL 10/10

Whom Gods Destroy

 Out of the pit of people to review, one band came out and with an incredibly awesome sound took my ears for a thrill ride of heavy metal. OH MY GOD THIS BAND IS COMPLETELY AWESOME! I AM READY TO KNEEL AND WORSHIP THEM! This band has everything that made Sabbath great in the 80s. The guitar is incredible, it has a slew of chunky and powerful riffs that create a humongously Black Sabbath feel. When you listen to the riffs you are reminded of the mustachioed master of riffing Tony Iommi himself. The guitarist creates a huge build up and then huge riffs to make the music awesome. One aspect of this guitar that differs a little from Sabbath is that some riffs have a bit more of a thrash feel. The riffs are in short awesome, and the guitar is fantastic. The bass creates a nice rhythm section with the drums and adds a bit of a thrash feel to the music. The drums are exactly like those in Sabbath hard but not to hard. Then we get to the vocals. The vocals,the VOCALS!! The lead singer has a voice that is much the same to Ronnie James Dio's. It is huge and powerful and beautiful. When I hear this guy sing I am instantly reminded of one of rock's most beloved figures. The lyrics are dark and pretty sabbath like. In short this is a really amazing band who has an amazing Black Sabbath like sound, they are unbelievable.

OVERALL 10/10

listen

http://www.myspace.com/whomgodsdestroy

Santa Muerte

These guys are phenomenal. They've got influences from every conceivable kind of heavy, hard music. The vocalist is quite probably one of the best that I've ever heard, signed or not, with a phenomenal black metal scream, a solid death growl, a good generalized scream, and very solid, mellow clean vocals.

The guitar works is very heavy, thrashy material, Santa Muerte has a really good progressive sound with heavy riffs that would put Dying fetus to shame, solos are your typically squealing, soaring solos. There are nice hard rock influences riffs. Everything feels fresh, everything feels metal. The drums are pounding, could improve with an increase in speed, but otherwise just fine. The bass is growling in the background.

I'm not keeping this review short because these guys are unsigned (which I try not to do); I'm keeping it short for the sake of having more time to listen to it. Also with albums like this, you need to actually listen to understand how good they are, it isn't practical to describe this kind of thing with words. Kudos Santa Muerte, you have surpassed a level of quality 98% of signed guys can't. One comment, the recordings are really quiet, the quality is definitely beyond any standards I have for unsigned artists, but the volume needs to go up, i need my volume to be up about 5x higher than my typical listening levels to get the same effect on these recordings.

10/10

http://www.myspace.com/santamuertega

Elephant-The White Stripes

I felt like doing some White Stripes, and so I'm reviewing whats probably their best album Elephant. From the opening notes of Seven Nation Army you know that Jack White has truly found himself as a rock god. While this is not the Stripes breakthrough album this is indeed the album that made everybody kneel to Jack White. This album is an awesome combination of blues and metal. Jack White is a genius, and shows himself as one on this album. The guitar is fantastic and defines the Jack White sound, in addition his keyboards really compliment the music. Meg's drums are awesome and help drive the music along. You cannot forget there are the really cool lyrics which provide a great vibe to the album. Jack of course has a great voice which he shows on this album.

While a lot of the guitar has a blues influence you also feel the influence from Jack's days as a journeyman musician in the 90s when he was big in his local cowpunk scene. Despite the punk style of some of the songs White keeps to his old blues influences and adds a nice classy touch to the album. With his guitar he proves himself as a true rocker who can take the musical world by storm. The sheer power seen in his work is amazing, especially when it is offset by the times of extreme quiet. It shows an awesome juxtaposition and it really rocks. I love the guitar on this album because it combines my love for blues and heavy metal. Meg is great on her drums keeping the music going on the hard rockers and adding a nice touch to some of the quieter ones. Overall the instrumentalism on this album is awesome.

The lyrics are typically rather sad. Many of the lyrics seem to have to do with the disappearance of the concept of the sweetheart. A lot of them are simply talking about lost love and dealing with life in general. Some lyrics talk about the problems with fame as well and the difficulties that the two band members face dealing with all of their newfound fame. (And there was a lot of it.) This album has lyrics that are very inspiring but also sad. The vocals done by Jack are awesome and really show him as one of the best modern vocalists. His voice is both caressing and smooth as well as powerful and capable of destroying anything. In the song Ball and Biscuit Jack invokes the aura of Robert Plant and classic folk music, and then breaks out into a very Jimmy Page like solo. Meg's vocals, while very good are very gentle and soft. They provide an offset to the masculine vocals of White.

Overall this is an album that really can be best described as Led Zeppelinesque. There are quiet acoustic tracks and then loud rock anthems. I love that juxtaposition, for me it makes the album truly great and simply beautiful. The guitar is awesome, a combination of blues and heavy metal, a lot like Zeppelin, only heavier. Meg White plays the drums very well, driving the songs along and providing a nice feel to the music. The lyrics are great, they are mostly sad but they are very deep. Jack is a great singer, at times he is like Robert Plant and other times (more often) he is like Bob Dylan. Meg also has a good voice when she does her share of the singing. Anybody into heavy blues or heavy metal should love this album.

OVERALL 10/10

Elephant

Reign in Blood-Slayer

 So now I'm doing my 2^nd review of the day and I'm covering the classic Slayer album REIGN IN BLOOD (which is a really cool album name. The music is high powered and fast and has a very very explosive doom ridden feel. There are some classic metal songs on this album, like Angel of Death and Raining Blood among others. This was the breakthrough album for Slayer, they broke through when the other members of the Big 4 where breaking through 86-88. This is an awesome thrash album that is loud angry and features one of the worlds best metal bands at their peak. This is a spectacular album.

The musicality of this album is very good. There are insane guitar leads and spectacular riffs. This album basically defined the whole thrash genre at the time and continues to be one of the best albums ever made. The guitars just blow your head off, with their insane power chords and solos that seem impossible. The guitars writhe and scream like 2 dragons battling to death creating sounds that boggle the ears of normal man. The bass does have a few good riffs but is not overly prominent as it is taken over by the might of the guitars. The drums are fast paced and spectacular and provide a barrage of explosions and might that just makes the album that much better. The music is so fast paced that right now I am typing significantly faster than I normally do.

The lyrics are very dark and doom ridden but cover a variety of topics. The lead track Angel of Death talks about the torturing and experimentation upon holocaust victims at Aushwitz. The lyrics are often graphic and describe torture and the torture and destruction of people. Angel of Death is the most in depth but others like Piece by Piece discuss being chopped up into little pieces so that the singer may die. The actual vocals are classic thrash that just define the album and make it awesome. They compere with the guitars and make it like a clash between words and guitars. This makes an interesting conflict that provides more anger to the music.

Metal Hammer called this “The best metal album in 20 years” and I have to agree that this is easily one of the best pieces of music that I have reviewed. It is loud pure and angry thrash metal that explodes and makes for very powerful and dark music that you can not stop listening to. The music is high paced and amazing and the lyrics are dark and angry, the vocals help shape the music and make it awesome. In essence, I love this album, it is loud spectacular and rocks from the start with Angel of Death to the classic ending track Reign in Blood. Go listen to this now, or your head will explode with depression at not having heard this spectacular and very very heavy thrash metal album that helped define a genre.

OVERALL 10/10

Reign in Blood

Rock In Rio-Iron Maiden

Yeah I'm doing a 3^rd. Ok so I finally realized the live album I love the most in the world that features spectacular music and a couple of the worlds best recordings. It has a spectacular intro and only gets better. OH MY GOD I love this album. It is my favorite live album of all time and features AMAZING sing-a-longs that make you just want to pick up and play guitar and sing a long as loud as you can! This album is Rock In Rio by IRON MAIDEN. This was recorded in front of 250,000 people and gives you the true concert feel. You can feel yourself standing in the huge stadium with thousands of fellow Maiden fans. You can almost smell the sweat and feel the mad joy as people rush for the mosh pit at the center of the stage. It fills me with energy and is the ultimate suppressant. I have stayed up nights playing chess and listening to this album. It is beautiful and it really captures the true essence of the worlds greatest pure metal band. Just start listening to it now from the beginning and you'll be pulled in.

Before this album I liked Iron Maiden. But to me they were still not really what I was into. Back then I pretty much only listen to Zep and such. Then one day I heard the live version of Brave New World off this album. I started singing along, loudly, at school. My metalhead friend Dave (Dan knows him too) was like “Yeah” and I was in. This album truly got me from liking heavy metal to LOVING heavy metal. Heck, my CAT loves this album. But really, I can almost see Adrian rocking out on his guitar in front of me and I can see Dickinson's face go red as he screams “I CAN'T HEAR YOU!”. If you want to get someone really into metal who already likes Led Zep and a few metal songs this album will draw them in. Actually scratch that. This could make a pop lover drop their Justin Bieber and start wearing Maiden shirts.

The recording quality of this album is remarkable. In some live albums you lose bits, but here everything is recorded perfectly and you can hear the roar of the crowd so you feel as if you are really there. The first 3 tracks of the album are all pretty amazing but it goes from a great live album to my favorite live album just through the song Brave New World which explodes with thousands of people singing along. The overall track selection is very good. They play a lot of their classics but they miss some which would have made this album like I dunno worshiped in several small dictatorships. We do get to hear long-time classics Iron Maiden, Run to the Hills, The Trooper and Hallowed Be Thy Name and many others, but I feel if there was Children of the Damned on here as well as Paschendale, and some of the other sing-a-long classics it would be worshiped in those small dictatorships.

Overall I love this album and if you listen to it you will hear why. It rocks and no one can argue how metal and amazing it is. So just shut up and go listen to it. In the words of Dan “If you don't like it you're a crack head.” That pretty much sums up this album. It gives you the feel of a Maiden concert and the adrenaline. You can feel it and it makes you want to jam and just live a heavy metal life, so go listen.

OVERALL 12/10

Better than 11/10

I SAW ROBERT PLANT!

THIS ARTICLE IS IN CAPS LOCK TO REFLECT MY EXCITEMENT UPON SEEING A ROCK GOD! TONIGHT I SAW ROBERT PLANT IN PARIS FRANCE WITH HIS BAND OF JOY!!! IT FRIGGIN ROCKED!!! HE HAS PROVED THAT IS VOICE WHILE IT MAY NOT BE WHAT IT ONCE WAS IS STILL SPECTACULAR! HE ROCKED THE ENTIRE HOUSE AND HAD A MOSH PIT WHICH LASTED FOR AN HOUR

FYI I DOMINATED THE 50 YEAR OLDS IN THE MOSH PIT I WAS LITERALLY 10 FEET AWAY FROM ONE OF MY SUPERHEROES!!!!!

HE PLAYED A VARIETY OF CLASSIC BLUES, AMERICANA AND GOSPEL SONGS THAT ALL SOUNDED GREAT WITH BUDDY MILLERS SICK GUITAR. ALL 6 OF THE BAND MEMBERS OF BAND OF JOY HAD SINGING PARTS 3 OF THEM ACTUALLY HAD SONGS WERE THEY WERE LEAD VOCALISTS!!!! THERE WERE ALSO SONGS FROM THE ACTUAL BAND OF JOY ALBUM WHICH WERE ALL PRETTY AWESOME AND SHOWED SOME MAJOR TALENT ON THE PART OF THE MUSICIANS. THEY VARY FROM BLUES TO HARD ROCK ALL WITH A REAL LED ZEP FEEL. IT COMES OUT REALLY NICELY AND I DONT SEE HOW ANYBODY COULD HATE THOSE BRILLIANT PARTS THAT HAVE KEPT ME SMILING FOR HOURS NOW!

BUT TRULY THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT WAS THE LED ZEPPELIN SONGS THAT HE PLAYED. IT WAS THE BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. FIRST HE PLAYED MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP WHICH HE INTRODUCED BY SAYING 'THIS IS A SONG FROM A TIME WHEN EVERYBODY WAS CONFUSED' THIS STARTED THE MOSH PIT!!! LATER HE PLAYED TANGERINE! AT THAT POINT I REALIZED I WAS NOT THE ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD WHO KNOWS ALL THE WORDS TO ALL THE LED ZEP SONGS. TOWARDS THE END OF THE CONCERT HE PLAYED HOUSES OF THE HOLY WHICH REALLY ROCKED AND HE SHOWED OFF HIS AMAZING VOICE!!! BUT THE HIGHLIGHT FOR THE WHOLE CONCERT FOR ME AND MY FATHER (WHO IWENT WITH) WAS WHEN IN THE ENCORE PLANT SANG 'ROCK AND ROLL' ONE OF OUR FAVORITE LED ZEP SONGS! I REMEMBER THE FIRST DAY I GOT INTO ZEP THAT WAS THE THRID ZEP SONG I HEARD SO IT MEANT A LOT FOR ME TO HEAR IT FROM THE GUY WHO WROTE IT!!!!!!!

THIS WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE AND I WLL NEVER FORGET IT!!! JUST GO YOU WONT REGRET IT IT ROCKED SO HARD I THOUGHT I WAS GUNNA DIE! RBERT PLANT GAVE ME MY BEST DAY EVER AND HHE DESERVES A GREAT KUDOS

ALL HAIL ROBERT PLANT!!!!1!!!11!!!!!!!

OVERALL 10/10

(IT WOULD HAVE BEEN 11/10 IF PAGE WAS THERE)

Number of the Beast- Iron Maiden

Right, so today I felt like listening to some Maiden and getting a review in. So we are doing what is pretty much universally accepted as the best Iron Maiden album, The Number of the Beast. This is a sick album featuring some classic Maiden songs. Actually 5 of the 8 songs on the album are classics and some of the best songs ever. Also this Album features the introduction of Bruce Dickinson. It starts out with a hard metal song Invaders, a classic and super loud metal song and it ends with Hallowed Be Thy Name probably the best metal sog ever which I am 95% sure that it is in fact about the book Tale of Two Cities.

This album just epitomizes Iron Maiden. It has all of the explosiveness and awesomeness of a metal album but with beautiful lyrics and tones that make me love Iron Maiden so much. Children of the Damned is the first song on the track and right away it shows Bruce Dickinson's amazing voice off. You get the sense that this is for those anxious fans afraid that he might wreck the band. He did not in fact wreck it. He made it. Bruce Dickinson changed Iron Maiden from a pretty big metal band into THE metal band. The music is amazing, it features some of the best intros and some of the strongest solos and choruses that I have ever heard. This album really has 'meat' if you will. It gives you a feeling of satisfaction from listening to it. It just brings me joy and a tingly feeling into the base of my stomach.

I like this album because it is loud and dirty. It has the amazing tones that make Maiden who they are, and who they are is the best metal band ever, shut up all who argue. And while the guitar and bass is all excellent and the drums are great ESPECIALLY in Run To The Hills Dickinson makes it special. Just try it, listen to a Dickinson Iron Maiden song and then listen to a non Dickinson Iron Maiden song. The Dickinson one is better 9 times out of 10. (Please note I am still a fan of Paul, but not Blaze, Blaze sucked and that's all there is too it.)

Overall this album rocks really really hard. It also features some of the best Iron Maiden ballads of all time, theses include Children of the Damned and Run to the Hills. And it also shows the true power of metal, really for the first time. It proves with the song Hallowed Be Thy Name that metal can do anything. The music is great and you really need to listen to it, it is that good and just makes me happy when I listen too it despite the darker subject matter. Just listen to this album everything about this album is amazing.

OVERALL 10/10

ps. I would like to note that Two Guys does not support satanism in any way shape or form.

The Number Of The Beast (Album Version)