Melencolia Estatica 'Hel' review

MELENCOLIA ESTATICA

'Hel'

(Temple Of Torturous)

Ambient black metal hailing out of Italy and is the vision of Climaxia (now there is a name, heh), whose vision is Melencolia Estatica, she handles the overall concept, guitar, bass, and “vocal orchestrations”. I guess that last bit means she plans out and coaches the vocalists every move and emanation? Speaking of which the vocals, they are really often more of the dark death metal variety, set to sometimes ambient and other times noisy harsh aggression. Something about the music does not flow for me, maybe that is the way it was intended to be, but often the guitar patterns and tones are just grating rather than atmospheric, the different instrument sounds seem to clash again at times and step upon one another’s toes. For me, rather than finding that harsh and extreme, it just came off grating and annoying, sort of headache inducing. I do not so much mind headache inducing music, as long as the music pays off and is awesome in it’s extremity, that is not the case here. This more often then not comes off like a cluttered mess and displays a muddled musical direction or possibly lack of direction I suppose. The more atmospheric moments (and some of the vocal work), where they slow down the din of silver wear cascading down a set of stairs, is actually decently done and enjoyable, yet it is a little hard to enjoy at the same time, because you know the mess is going to start up again soon. Yes, maybe I just do not see or understand what they are going for, but to me this is trying to do a bunch of things at once, not doing them that well, suffocating the musical whole and not letting the individual parts much room to breathe, rendering them nearly useless. I would pass on this, but give their MySpace a listen and see if you agree with me before writing them off.

(Dale Roy)

Melencolia Estatica on Facebook 

 

Deceased 'Supernatural Addiction' review

DECEASED

'Supernatural Addiction'

(Hells Headbangers) 

I reviewed this album for Canadian Assault, the first time was back when it was released in 2000, now some twelve years later it gets it’s re-release through the cult label Hells Headbangers. Actually that brings back a memory, as I got the promo for the original release one day, listen to it, then go to the NJ Metalfest the next day and I end up hanging out with King Fowley himself briefly and letting him know I loved it. This album really featured the death metal kings Deceased feeling and sewing their heavy metal oats, which is where they came from. If you know much about these guys they were just as into heavy metal back in the 80s when this band formed as they were into thrash and death metal. They could have went either way, but chose to form a death metal band, what I am saying is this was no retro jump because it was cool at the time, these guys had lived it for decades. As for the music as I said this is a heavy metal record, not a death metal record, though you can kind of tell it is a death band at times playing it. But they do it so well, so fucking smoothly and write such catchy riffs and harmonies, that it blow your hair back. King Fowley’s vocals are great as ever, he is a talented drummer, but he really showcases his vocal talents on this album, sure you have a slight base of his gruff growl, but he conveys such emotive range on here, that I am just hypnotized and haunted by his vocals. The lyrical content on here sort of reflects the bands music choice, they reach back into classic metal for this album and the lyrics similarly reach back into classic horror of it’s early days, you know Poe, Lovecraft and that sort of old school horror story telling. If you made the mistake of missing this the first time around, you have received a second chance in this life to correct your mistake.

(Dale Roy)

Deceased 

Children Of Technology 'Mayhemic Speed Anarchy' review

CHILDREN OF TECHNOLOGY

'Mayhemic Speed Anarchy' 7"

(Hells Headbangers)

'It's Time To Face The Doomsday', the Italians debut outing for Hells Headbangers, was embraced with open arms by Dale, as can be attested by the positive review he gave them. COT's punk/metal mixture isn't exactly unique sounding, a thing that seemingly isn't bothering the band at all and they're still proudly wearing their influences on their collective sleeves on this 7". Rest assured the usual suspect influence of Broken Bones and English Dogs are here on the title song, but what I'm most reminded of, whilst listening, is The Exploited. Resemblances to that band's 'Death Before Dishonour' / 'The Massacre' era, both production and riff/solo-wise, are pretty obvious - and what about having "anarchy" in the lyrics? Competently played and energetic, for sure but I reckon I'd rather stick to the true and tried Wattie's gang - and his harsher and fucked up pronunciation. Side B is COT frantically covering "Computer World" by Black Uniforms - good to see these Swedes getting some more exposure and appreciation! Frankly speaking, 'Mayhemic Speed Anarchy' is a rather good stop-gap type EP (and vinyl is king, simple!) but it's also hardly the most addictive drug the market offers. If you love your crossover being more on the punky side this will get you high enough, though. [7]

(Vladimir Petrov) 

Children Of Technology Facebook 

 

Silencer 'The Great Bear' review

SILENCER

'The Great Bear'

(Vanity Music Group)

This is Silencer, the new age thrash metal band from Denver, Colorado. Not to be confused with the now split up, and also vastly superior atmospheric black metal band Silencer from Sweden. I am honestly not sure how this band got signed, this is some of the most simplistic, slowed down and ultimately very boring thrash I have heard in quite some time. The drumming is pretty good, but outside of that the riffs are uninspired in both creation and performance, they sort of sound like some guy pulled out his riff cassette tape out of the closet that was recorded only for himself and decided to make an album out of it on short notice. The vocals are lame and limp, seems like they are caught between trying to decide if they wanted to be heavy metal vocals and/or commercially friendly vocals, there is an undertone of both, but both lack style or any real emotion, it just sounds like the vocalist is going through the motions to be honest. I do not think I have been this hard on an album in a while, might be getting soft in my old age, but screw it, this is a piece of shit guys, avoid this like it is going to spend all your drinking money and give you herpes to top it all off. I even find their logo and cover artwork to be dull and bland.

(Dale Roy)

Revolting 'Hymns Of Ghastly Horror' review

REVOLTING

'Hymns Of Ghastly Horror'

(FDA Rekotz)

Well upon picking up this album, the cover artwork immediately assaults the senses with an upright headless nude corpse holding large knives in each hand and a half naked horrified woman being strangled as she holds the child’s decapitated head in her hands. Some really extreme and disturbing stuff, hopefully the music evokes similar emotions in me, in a good way. Well the music is solid, not sure it quite matches the sickness of the cover though, but I suppose few bands do. Having said that this is some pretty clean, yet heavy and driving old school Swedish death metal with a bit of the new school melodo Swede dm mixed in. Maybe you could say this bands sort of sounds like the transition Sverge death metal took from the early days to the late 90s / early 2000s, which for me was not a turn for the better. That melodic mix definitely takes the rough edges off a little bit, but it still retains some of that old school harsh aggression to at least keep things worth listening. Not one of my fave Swedish dm releases, but there is enough good stuff and that old feeling in there to at least be worth a listen on their ReverbNation page at least, to see if you want investigate any further.

(Dale Roy)

Revolting Facebook

Deserted Fear 'My Empire' review

DESERTED FEAR

'My Empire'

(FDA Recotz)

I seen these guys band name, then seen these blokes are from Germany and I am thinking gotta be a straight up old school German thrash band. I hit play and I heard some slashing, powerful guitars build to a crescendo and busting through my headphones. Nope I was wrong this is some really good old school Swedish death metal influenced sickness. I mean not entirely that sound, you can hear some old school American influence like Repulsion or Autopsy going on, so in other words only the finest do they draw from. Just like those influences the vocals kind of differ from the usual but also sound rather similar to the bands vocals above, plus maybe some Martin Van Drunen from Pestilence thrown in for good measure. These guys know how make some killer riffs, not going a million miles a minute, no they sit down on a good riff and milk it, I like that. 'My Empire' has a cool as a rotting corpse atmosphere to it and it really takes me back to the old days, which is a place I like to be with my music. Check this the hell out.

(Dale Roy) 

Deserted Fear Facebook 

 

Eugenic Death 'Crimes Against Humanity' review

EUGENIC DEATH

'Crimes Against Humanity'

(Heaven And Hell Records)

I do not get much thrash metal for review these days, but North Carolina’s Eugenic Death deliver exactly that with aplomb and bring back some memories for me. They actually remind me of that time when thrash had been the thing, firmly entrenched, but some thrash bands were beginning to let this new sound, death metal creep in just a little bit. The vocals make me think of that partially, they are those clear yet rough ‘n gruff yelled vocals, but in this case have a tiny hint of the death metal grow to their seedy underbelly. 'Crimes Against Humanity' will take you right back to the late 80s and early 90s thrash metal sound, they sound like they burst straight outta the Bay Area scene from back then. Some bands that spring to mind are Exodus, Defiance, Vio-lence, Death Angel, Righteous Pigs, Testament, Dark Angel and the like. It is definitely American sounding, no mixing of German thrash sound from back then as so many old style thrash bands do, no this is made in the USA all the way. This is some energetic stuff, nothing new or outside the box here, but the material is really good, some of it will stick in your head, you can rock out to it and headbang along. I am not sure if you can ask a whole lot more out of the classic thrash sound. There is some fine guitar work on display here as well. Thrash fans of old, that need something new to listen to, you will definitely want to give this one a listen straight away. This is only for old school thrash maniacs, all others need not apply.

(Dale Roy)

Eugenic Death Facebook 

 

The Fat Dukes Of Fuck 'Honey From The Lips Of An Angel' review

THE FAT DUKES OF FUCK

'Honey From The Lips Of An Angel' 

(Self-released)

This is not generally the kind of thing musically I listen to. But everything from the artwork to the lyrics, to the song titles, to the band name drew me in right from the start. But then again I am the type that is into extreme and sleazy things. But as an example of what I mean, search the song “Cigarette” by The Fat Dukes Of Fuck on YouTube (before it probably gets taken down! haha) to get an idea what I mean. You have a preacher puppet ala the Muppets TV show rocking out, then he starts fucking a puppet chick in every way you could imagine before blowing his load (they show everything!) into her mouth, both him and the chick are licking some of cum out dripping down her face. Then later in the video he is screwing her while she is on the rag and there is blood everywhere. Holy shit these guys rule!! I love The Fat Dukes of Fuck! So yes tons of great window dressing that turns me on, but what does the music sound like? A lot of it as I mentioned, is outside of my normal purview, but I can hear some classic Faith No More influence, seen another review say Fu Manchu, that sounds like a reasonable elemental influence as well, probably shit like Primus could be thrown in there. They are decidedly hard rock and metal sounding, but I think you could throw even more spaced out stuff like Zappa and The Melvins in the melting pot that spat out this greasy super cool band! I just know I love it for all the things I mentioned, but the music is pretty killer and memorable too and for me something different than what I usually get off on. Not bad that it can win me over like that in a genre I do not listen to much. But these guys do rock and yes they do it with their cocks out, dripping with pussy juice, blood and semen. You want to check out something different, but still sick and extreme? Get this!!

(Dale Roy)

The Fat Dukes Of Fuck Facebook 

Reign Of Vengeance 'Disemboweling Swine' review

REIGN OF VENGEANCE 

'Disemboweling Swine' 

(Brain Damage Films) 

I believe this is the first album released by Brain Damage, apparently a company that makes and releases indie horror films. Reign of Vengeance features members of bands like Cephalic Carnage, Rebirth, Decrepit Birth etc… So they have been around the block a time or two already. The thing that immediately strikes me and draws me in to the band is the vocals. There are two sets of vocals, both take influence from two of my fave bands of all time, the deeper growling ones take their cue from Glen Benton of Deicide and the nasal-y higher pitched ones clearly give a healthy nod to the almighty Macabre. Those vocals got me in a good mood. There is some good technical, catchy guitar riffing that reminds me a touch to Gorguts ‘Obscura’ album. I already mentioned Macabre, but I think there is some influence from them in the music as well. Reign of Vengeance may be a little more brutal than Macabre, but they clearly worship this band. Reign try for that stop and start quirky sort of turn around sound and sometimes it works and other times, it comes off a little clunky. The drumming is like a constant pounding tornado, swirling and ripping full force at all times, scarily impressive with its destructive precision. With the influences I mentioned and the label releasing this record, you will not be surprised the lyrics are horror / gore influenced. Some titles are “In The Club With A Chainsaw”, “A Massacre Of Mormons”, and “A Tradition Of Bloodshed”. 'Disemboweling Swine' is nothing innovative or mind blowing, but it is a good album and will appeal to brutal death metal horror hounds. 

(Dale Roy)

Reign Of Vengeance Facebook 

Brain Damage Films 

Stalwart 'Manifest Of Refusal' review

STALWART

'Manifest Of Refusal'

(PRC Music)

Upon hearing 'Manifest Of Refusal' the most lasting impression I come away with is their anvil destroying brutal backbone. Yes these Russians are not quite your usual death metal band, they mix in some minor influences from time to time from the industrial genre and goth sounding bits and weird synth. The goth type tidbits are few and far between, which is a good thing because they are out of place, sound a little forced and are distracting. When Stalwart hit straight on, albeit in a technical fashion, they are at their best and this is the mainstay of the album. Just fucking raging death metal that brings to mind things like old Napalm Death (Old Napalm Death? You sure mean mid '90s here, Dale? - ED), Strapping Young Lad, Carcass, Meshuggah, Theory in Practice – though these guys may be slightly more brutal and not quite as technical as some of those influences I mention. All in all this is a pretty impressive record, some of the material might not be the freshest sounding stuff you heard, but the way it is presented does sound fresh to these ears.

(Dale Roy) 

Stalwart 

 

Manilla Road 'Invasion' review

MANILLA ROAD

'Invasion'

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

I consider myself a Manilla Road fan, but I also admit I only have a few of their albums, which are classics in their own right, in my view at least. So 'Invasion', a re-release of their 1980 album is a new one for me. As the bio states the band were a rock ‘n roll band at this point and the material on here was written in the late 70s. You can hear hints of what would come for Manilla Road as the 80s wore on and they adopted a more metal sound. Thanks to Shadow Kingdom for pulling this out of obscurity for fans of the band and fans of late 70s/early 80s rock in general to hear. The fans that are hoping to hear vintage in their prime Manilla Road metal may be a bit disappointed. As for myself I am a fan of 1970s hard rock and this is a neat little time capsule for me. There are some cool effects and sounds on here for the time period. You can definitely feel the band attempting to find their way, it is beginning of the power that the band would become. There are strong hints at this on the awesome thirteen minute album closer "The Empire". It is an epic and ambitious tune that is finely crafted with a superb main riff and plenty of dynamics, such as duelling guitar effects, some tasty fills and mystic, moody atmosphere that keeps you interested the entire length of this marathon song. That brilliant song alone is worth the price of this album, it is well ahead of any other tune on here, this song "The Empire" is fucking fantastic I am telling you. I dig the vintage band and rehearsal photos too. I would say this is a must have for Manilla Road fans and 70s rock aficionados alike.

(Dale Roy)

Manilla Road 

Yellowtooth 'Disgust' review

YELLOWTOOTH

'Disgust'

(Orchestrated Misery Recordings)

Yellowtooth hails out of Indiana, but when you listen to the music I automatically figured they were from the South as they have that southern nuance to their sound. This band features Peter Clemens as some in the scene will surely remember him from bands like Shades of Grey, Sea of Tranquillity, Invasion (interviewed in Canadian Assault back in the day) and Skullview, while the other two members came from Chronic Disorder. Yellowtooth play a rocking type of sludge metal, but maybe not as heavy on the feedback as many sludge bands like Eyehategod, Iron Monkey, Cavity and the like. But 'Disgust' is rocking, the riffage is really heavy and crushing yet always quite catchy, seemingly keeping at bay the doom tag. By my ear you can hear the members death metal roots in the guitar tuning / playing and also the vocals are pretty deep death metal growling, but kept clear enough that you make out most of what is sung. This is just some good rockin’ simplistic sludge with some balls and nice groove riffs, but not over done or cheesy like that mallcore shit or whatever they call it these days. This is record is nothing spectacularly groundbreaking or mind numbingly great by any means, but it is a solid and even good album, a fine debut, but with a couple demos under their belt and countless years experience that should be expected. It is worth a listen.

(Dale Roy)

Orchestrated Misery Recordings 

Superchrist 'Holy Shit' review

SUPERCHRIST

'Holy Shit'

(Hells Headbangers)

I am a Superchrist fan I can tell you that up front. It should be no secret though; as with Autopsy Kitchen Records, the label I co-founded with Jeffrey Kusbel, we released a Superchrist album ha-ha. Superchrist has changed up their sound a little since those days though, back then they were more of a really killer, talented punk-y Motorhead mixed with Iron Maiden clone. They also had quite the raunchy, fuck you I will spit beer in your face attitude. The attitude is subdued but pretty similar, the sound on the other hand has taken more of a melodic metal, hard rock and punk (well the punk was there before but different influences now) directional turn. I mean you can still hear small hints of Maiden and Motorhead, but I also am hearing influences like Bad Religion, The Ramones along with maybe stuff like Saxon, The Rods, Thin Lizzy and Diamond Head. Definitely musically they have gone in a friendlier, less raucous direction. I gotta admit it really does work for them and I enjoy what I hear. I might like their old sound a little better, but this is good too. There is definitely more of a light melody driven punchy air to their sound and pacing now. I mean the closing track “Beer Metal” reminds me a little more of their old sound and that is a cool track. Yes it is a new direction but if you like the influences I mentioned (I realize some of the extreme metal fans reading this are cringing right now ha-ha) about then you can always be sure Superchrist will deliver it all with quality and conviction. Check it out.

(Dale Roy)

King 'Forged By Satan's Doctrine' review

KING

'Forged By Satan's Doctrine'

(Deathgasm)

The opening couple tracks of this Columbian bands album had me worried. Those first tracks came off very generic, unimaginative and even seemed to lack energy or emotion. I am pleased to report though that things really pick up from there and the rest of 'Forged By Satan's Doctrine' is a pretty intense listen. When the band turns up the heat the drummer goes pretty insane beating his drums into submission with rapid fire blitzkrieg legs. To me I hear influences like the early albums of Deicide, Morbid Angel maybe mixed with a little Blasphemy, Angelcorpse type music. Good thing you need to judge upon the whole album as after a slow start, this album goes off the deep end and kicks your ass all over the place. Just intense!

(Dale Roy)

King Facebook 

Pandemonium 'Misanthropy' review

PANDEMONIUM

'Misanthropy'

(Pagan Records / Gods Ov War Productions)

Finally after a huge package of promo discs graciously sent my way by Gods Ov War, much respect for this label. I have at last arrived at the crown jewel, which I purposely saved for last, always save the best for last. I have been anticipating this album for some time. Pandemonium are not one to disappoint, they prove why they are one of the best and are leading the way for the Polish metal scene! As some will remember from my review of their promo, I am long time listener and fan of the band as I tape traded for their 'Devilri' demo back in the early 90s and loved it. These Polish maniacs are old school metal through and through and all I have to say to that is fuck yeah! The atmosphere on this record is fantastic, very dark, doomy and eerie death metal that is often mid paced, always placing an emphasis on emotion and the overall listening experience. They have not set out to be the heaviest, fastest or most brutal but they do set out to immerse you in a metallically heavy experience and create a world that is steeped in evil, in depression, in darkness and despair. This is some masterful stuff, it is hard to just single out the riffing or the drums or the vocals as Pandemonium have created this entire album as a whole, an experience, not just a collection of cool songs or killer riffs. You can not just pick out one song, the listener should either listen to the whole album or not at all. I mean sure the doomy riffs are great, the obscure excellently varied vocal performance is good, the drumming is well done and crafted in a minimalist way to make sure the song and not the performance is what is important, but none stick out above the other and it was designed that way. I wish more bands were able to achieve something like this these days. I would not call this music retro but it always feels like it has an old school vibe to me, maybe that is more due to the musicians coming out of the old school and it is in their blood rather than a conscious projection. I am honestly having a hard time finding words for this album, it is a journey and a journey I plan to take again and again. I recommend some albums, but I place this one in the must own category. Pandemonium truly have out done themselves.

(Dale Roy)

Pandemonium 

Coven 'Worship New Gods' review

COVEN

'Worship New Gods'

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

This is the Michigan Coven [Coven 13 nowadays - ED], not to be confused with the Pacific Northwest or Chicago bands that used the same moniker. Also up front you should know this is a re-release of an album the band released in 1987, but it was only ever released on vinyl! So does this fall into the hidden or forgotten gem category, I would say the answer is yes it does. I find their music very cool, quite hypnotic and leisurely paced but still heavy metal and not really slowing down into the doom regions. The vocalist has this very obscure, laid back trippy vocal delivery much of the time and I really like that, he does turn up the emotion now and then and even has an epic Norse (reflecting the lyric imagery) flair about his vocals. Now that I think about it I might have to take the doom comment back as now and then Candlemass comes to mind. But I must say Coven on this album have a sound of their own. I mean I can list a couple bands just to give you an idea of the type of melodic, atmospheric heavy metal they play. Some bands like Manilla Road, Omen, Cirith Ungol come to mind as having a vaguely similar sound and more than anything probably a similar pacing to their music. I'm not saying this was the ultimate find of all finds, but I am damn happy someone dusted off this cool album and brought it back out of obscurity for us all to enjoy and give the album some new life. This is my first meeting with Shadow Kingdom Records, going by this release and looking over their roster of releases I hope to be hearing again from this label and soon!

(Dale Roy)

http://www.coventhirteen.com/ 

Acid Witch 'Witchtanic Hellucinations' review

ACID WITCH

'Witchtanic Hellucinations'

(Hells Headbangers)

I am not sure if this just fell out of print from the excellent label Razorback Records or what? But the album goes from strength to strength and sees a re-release now through the almighty Hells Headbangers Records. It did not take me long to find out why this album is highly sought after by such quality labels. Acid Witch play a very cool and unique brand of death doom metal. The base riffs are slow motion bulldozers ripping up the ground like it is weak flesh from bone, so heavy, added to that are these crazy spaced out guitar leads all backed with out of this world sound effects. The vocals are really deep, slow but intelligible growls that give me a classic feel; you do not hear that many newer bands doing cool vocals like this anymore. This album sort of makes me think if you took the first My Dying Bride album, sent those bands members out to space and got them hopped up on LSD the resulting album would be 'Witchtanic...' ha-ha. About the only bad thing I could possibly say and it is a minor complaint, would be some of the keyboard / organ and sound effects are kind of piercing and a tad high in the mix at times. But really it is a petty little complaint as this is an amazing death doom album. I dig it a lot, for me it actually blows away their follow up sophomore album.

(Dale Roy)

Acid Witch Facebook

Witch Cross 'Fit For Fight' review

WITCH CROSS

'Fit For Fight'

(Hells Headbangers)

'Fit For Fucking Fight' huh?! This is a blast from the past for me. I have been listening to this album for many a moon, for those that do not know about this fantastic metal album, it was originally released back in 1984 on Roadrunner Records. This album is so highly regarded that I believe Hells Headbangers is no less than the fourth record label to release this fucking thing! As you might guess this is classic mid 80s heavy metal, Witch Cross are from Denmark and you can imagine them fitting in that scene right next to Mercyful Fate and Maltese Falcon - can you imagine a gig with all three of those bands? My head would explode! The music on here is marvellous and just chugs along with speedy ripping music that commands you like an evil old witches spell to headbang and play air guitar. I mean seriously listen to the songs "Fight The Fire" & "Light Of A Torch" and tell me you were able resist rocking out those amazing tunes. Just some fantastic guitar work on here with some smoking solos. The vocals may be an acquired taste for some, they are very early to mid 80s dated vocals, quite high pitched with not a lot of range, some might even mistake them for chick vocals, but they are great and work with the killer music. Seriously if you have not heard this by now you better get it or you do not even like classic heavy metal and why are you still reading this review? This is a must own for 80s metal fans, get your grip on this intense fire ball of metal now.

(Dale Roy)

Witch Cross 

Hellwell 'Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin' review

HELLWELL

'Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin'

(Shadow Kingdom Records / High Roller Records) 

This is a side band of Mark "The Shark" Shelton, the singer of the mighty Manilla Road. Hellwell is definitely different than Manilla Road, much more punchy and dramatic. In fact, to be quite honest for my tastes it is overly dramatic. It sort of feels like Shelton wanted to write an exaggerated musical stage play, that is the feeling I get listening to 'Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin'. I mean, do not get me wrong, there are some fantastic sections and some quality music on here. Just the style and direction he took that material does not tickle my fancy, so to speak. The vocals follow suit with the music, they are pretty animated with real emphasis certain parts of each sentence, coming off sounding very staged and theatrical dialogue influenced to me. Think of a metal soundtrack to 'Phantom of The Opera' or something like that. Also there is a lot of punctuated for maximum flair keyboards (and some Hammond organ) use which also contributes that feeling. I don't know, some parts of tracks I really kind of dig here and there, but as a whole it is just not working for me. There is no doubting the talent that is behind this album though. I think Shelton was going for a real horror vibe, but missed the mark a little bit if this is supposed to sound really evil or creepy, it is more of a 'Dark Shadows' TV show melodrama atmosphere, rather than being bone chilling and malevolent. The production and everything is top notch, nothing to complain about technically or with regards to execution. I guess it is all boils down to do you like stuff like dark and over the top stage plays and metal mixed float your boat? Not mine it is sinking rapidly, time to push stop and move on to the next review.

(Dale Roy)

Pagan Altar 'The Time Lord' review

PAGAN ALTAR

'The Time Lord'

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

 

This is listed as an EP on the vinyl version in some places, but this thing is 31 minutes long roughly, some would argue that places it firmly in the mini-album or even album category. But never mind that, I dear readers am in rapture right now listening to this hidden gem! Anyone who knows me well knows I absolutely worship hard rock and doom from the 70s like Captain Beyond, Lucifer's Friend, Deep Purple, Pentagram and the like. Well I can now add 'The Time Lord' to that list of albums! This is an amazing collection of demo recordings from 1978, the recording and atmosphere / feeling of on here just screams of that found on those 70s recordings from the bands I mention above. Just amazing, flowing doomy 70s hard rock with that classic sound that makes my head spin. The vocals of Terry Jones are pretty killer and just bring me back to that time, a lot of emotion and sincerity in his delivery and they perfectly compliment these brooding, rocking tunes. Just have one listen to songs like "The Black Mass" and "Reincarnation" and if you are not hooked then you have no taste you wretched bastards. Thank you Shadow Kingdom for releasing this dusty piece of audio gold! If you are into 70s rock & doom, just get this right now son.

(Dale Roy)

Pagan Altar 

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