EP Review

Mastodon - Cold Dark Place

What a year its been for Mastodon fans. First, a new album, not just any album but a frankly offensively good album in 'Emperor of Sand', secondly, spying them in walk on roles in Game of Thrones, somehow their presence making the epic show even better, and now, a new EP to take us into the cold months ahead. Winter is coming after all.

The EP features four songs, three of which ('North Side Star', 'Blue Walsh' and 'Cold Dark Place') were recorded during the sessions for the 2014 album 'Once More Round the Sun', and the other ('Toe to Toes') was recorded during the aforementioned album 'Emperor of Sand'. This EP being the fifth the band has released, all of which being welcome bonus' for all fans.

The EP opens with the Led Zepplin sounding 'North Side Star', all acoustic guitar and familiar vocals building up to a classic sounding Mastodon riff and guitar solos after four minutes, taking the song up into a different stratospheric plane altogether, the sheer musicianship of this band never ceases to amaze, and before you know it, the 6 minutes are up, and you're straight into 'Blue Walsh'. The second track on here is a floaty, wavey collection of harmonies and guitars pulling you around the stratosphere the first track took you to, before smashing you back down to the planet below with a driving, forceful ending, still holding you in its melodic arms, a frighteningly controlled expression of power and subtlety.

'Toe to Toes' features the first truly heavy moments of the album, an opening riff which Robert Johnson which have sold more than his sole for at the crossroads, this is four minutes of Mastodon flexing their muscles and showing that they really are one of the most riveting bands around. The final song is the title track 'Cold Dark Place' and is six minutes of introspection and consideration of the journey the band have taken you on, building up to the final minute of the EP, exploding into a cataclysmic guitar solo, before its over. Just as suddenly as it started. 21 minutes of perfection, Mastodon manage to create more ideas and emotion into a four track EP that some bands do in a career. 

This EP is a prime example of exactly where this band are right now, everything they touch turns to prog-tastic gold, and all we can ask from them is to come back soon, because every new release makes them more vital to the alternative music scene.

KC

9/10

Top Tracks - All of them

New Shit

Cannibal Corpse - Code of the Slashers

Well smack my ass and call me Ace Ventura, if it isn't time for band spanking new material from everyone's favourite gore obsessed Death Metal band.

Cannibal Corpse have unleashed this new little ditty on us which is from the upcoming album 'Red Before Black' out November 3rd on Metal Blade.

The song is exactly what you want and expect from the titans of Death Metal, and if it sounded anything different to what we were expecting, there would be uproar, a perfect Cannibal Corpse song to get us all wet for the upcoming tour to support the album. Bring on the album, the tour and the gore!

Listen and watch the fantastic video here

Prophets of Rage - Prophets of Rage

The biggest travesty from the demise of Rage Against the Machine wasn't the loss of one of the most incendiary rock bands in the world, it wasn't that a great band had stopped just as they were getting into their stride, denying the world the great music they were going to create and it wasn't that we weren't going to get more Tim Commerford antics on MTV, only being broadcast live over Twitter rather than a week later in the latest episode of Kerrang! It's that ever since RATM left stage right, the world has become an increasingly bizarre political fuck up. Just imagine what we would be getting from them in this post-Brexit Donald Trump led caricature of thoughtful political ideas hell hole which is currently dissolving the walls of humanity around us. They stood naked in protest or the PMRC at Lollapalooza, they would be doing unspeakable things with carrots to effigies of the carrot faced POTUS today if they were still around.

So the news that we are getting three members of RATM back writing was exciting (bassist Tom Commerfold, guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk), adding in two members of Public Enemy (DJ Lord and rapper Chuck D), and a member of Cypress Hill (rapper B-Real) meant that this is a debut with a touch more interest surrounding it than you usually see reserved for rap-rock groups these days. Even the omission of RATM rapper Zack De La Rock doesn't dampen the spirits too much, as great as he is, Chuck D is one of the greatest rappers to ever live, and they surely have plenty of material to fire up the embers of insurrection in all of us in the current political landscape.

'Prophets of Rage' is certainly an album with a lot to say, and the opening salvo of 'Radical Eyes' and 'Unfuck the World' gives you a large part of that message immediately. An irreverent approach to the subject matter featured in most of modern society, and a focus on discussing poverty, fascism and the fallout of war rather than the war itself, the opening tracks give you exactly what this band are about. Riffs which immediately bring home memories of teenage days first discovering RATM, the usual aberrant guitar tones which could only come from Mr Morello, outstanding bass lines and riffs from the standout performer on the album Mr Commerford and impressive dual rapping which works as well as anything Zack De La Rock could provide to these tracks. 'Legalize Me' is an ode to exactly what you imagine, a funky little catchy rocker, but it does feel like a swift change from what the previous tracks were exploring and seems to distract the listener from the flow of the album.

We move onto a song which was released prior to the album coming out in 'Living on the 110', which takes us back to a socially conscious mindset with the lyrics "There's no end to the poverty, stopping me. You pretend there's democracy, hypocrisy" with more of the same riffs and unusual guitar tones, its like 'Legalize Me' never happened and were back into the same protest march as the opening tracks. 'The Counteroffensive' is a 30 second intermission which leads us into 'Hail to the Chief'', the best track on the album, the catchiest riffs, a shout-along chorus, and ample amounts of groove take us into the Spanish guitar beginning 'Take Me Higher', a fuck rock song which sounds like its been taken right from an early Red Hot Chilli Peppers album.

B-Real puts in his best performance on the album on the next track 'Strength in Numbers', another song following the sounds-like-a-rage-song plan, 'Fired a Shot' sounds exactly like it was lifted from 'The Battle of LA', which certainly isn't a bad thing and 'Who Owns Who' is another one showing a deep concern for social consciousness, much more of a rocker than some of the other songs on the album providing some much needed depth and diversity to the album.

The last songs on the album end like the album starter, giving all RATM fans a healthy dose of what they came to this album for, classic guitar and bass melodies which you would expect from the musicians involved, a little bit of almost gang vocals on 'Hands Up' followed by 'Smashit', one of the highlights of the album, opening with an outstanding riff which makes you want to pick up an instrument to try and play it and a fist in the air chorus, a great ending to the album.

Overall, this is a good album, a very good one for a debut for a band, however this isn't just a band, this is much more and the sum of the parts on this album sometimes feels like it isn't quite reaching the height we all hoped. That could be because expectations from many people are too high for a bands first album, but this does end up feeling like a band who know what they want to do, but haven't quite found the magic which made Rage Against the Machine such a wonderful band.

If you come to this because you miss RATM and have been desperate for them to get back together, its a wonderful nicotine patch to ease your craving, but afterwards, you may just ed up wanting RATM to get back together even more.

7/10

KC

Top Tracks - 'Unfuck the World', 'Hail to the Chief', 'Smashit'

Kreator - Gods of violence

If ever there is a band you can count on to carry the burden of a diminishing thrash scene and fly the flag back to it's glorious heights, it's Germany's finest. After 14 albums, 35 years, thousands of riffs and millions of bangovers (sore neck the next day after a gig from head banging), you would be forgiven for thinking that these past middle-aged, denim clad thrashers might have a slightly more reserved view of the world compared to the fiery younglings who wrote 'Endless Pain', 'Pleasure to Kill' and 'Extreme Aggression' back in the John Hughes dominated 80's. But one look at the titles on 'Gods of Violence' give you 'World War Now', 'Totalitarian Terror', 'Army of Storms' and 'Earth Under The Sword' gives you the feeling that the unrestrained fury of youth still burns in these veins, especially in the current world on the edge of extinction. Never have Kreator felt more relevant than in these misanthropic times.

Album 15 is just as disgusted with the world as those 80s classics, 'Gods of violence' feels like the album the world needs to hear, take a long look at itself and as all the Mortys would say "sort it's shit out". This is a premonition of what is to come if we can't stop being a virus to this planet, the acne of Earth and the parasite of the solar system. Kreator have seen what is going to happen, and they have packaged it up for us to experience. And they have done a damn fine job of making the end of the world sound magnificent.

'Gods of violence' starts with an intro track in 'Apocalypticon', a 1 minute orchestral build up, featuring choir vocals which lead into a climatic ending to drive us into the first song 'World War Now'. Immediately we are in typical Kreator territory, a pure thrash song with a wad of riffs stuffed into their pockets, the band in their natural environment is as vital and exhilarating as ever, Miland "Mille" Petrozza screaming "6 billion souls at the abyss" makes you feel like one of those souls about to be obliterated from existence, this is the song Slayer have been spending the last 15 years trying to write. 'Satan is Real' opens with a Black Sabbath style church bell opening then hits the most groove laden triplets from the duel guitars you will hear this side of Austin Powers playing the 'Imperial Death March'. The use of the triples on guitar and the catchy as hell chorus feels almost Iron Maiden like, but still Kreator in execution. The song moves into a finger tapping solo as if Eddie Van Halen has donned a patchwork denim jacket and joined the band before bringing you back to the memorable chorus and having everyone listening singing along.

The fire isn't cooled one bit as we get 'Totalitarian terror', flying off at a million miles an hour into another fist in the air chorus, rivalling anything Arch Enemy have put to tape in the last 10 years, this is singalong, headbanging heavy metal at its best. As we hit the title track, we are finally given a few seconds of breathing space as the band start the song with an acoustic intro laden with some harp before the most Kreator chant in history of "We. Shall. Kill" takes us into a song which classes as mid paced for this band, melodic thrash riffs give way to more catchy chanting every time we hear the chorus and the obligatory outstanding duel guitar solos keep the album rolling. 'Army of Storms' stokes the fire even more, a short intro leads us into a maze of riffs which most bands would never find their way out of, even throwing in a Zakk Wylde style pinched harmonic for good measure, the song weaves its way around a central chorus hook which draws in the listener and takes us to 'Hail to the Hordes',  the slowest song on the album. More pummelling than the slashing of the rest of the album, this is a different serial killer altogether, but always feels more original than copy cat killer. The usual sing along choruses throughout the song keep it fitting in with the rest of the album.

'Lion with Eagle Wings' starts with the strangest part of the album, a dream like introduction, quickly turns into a nightmare as the vocals turn it into a thunderstorm or riffs yet again, 'Fallen Brother' starts off with a riff which could have sit along side anything on 'A Vulgar Display of Power', Dimebag would be headbanging with the largest glass of whiskey as soon as he heard this, one of the highlights of this incredible album, pinched harmonics, fantastic rhythm and melodic riffs intertwine with the chorus and are driven into your skull by the double kick drum of Jürgen "Ventor" Reil.

The final tracks of the album are the thrash platter of riffs that is 'Side by Side', sticking to the script of the album with impressive riffs, catchy chorus', great drumming, ferocious vocals and dual solos, most bands would kill to write one song like this, and Kreator have created an albums worth, the only issue will be fitting them into the already chocked full live set, and finally we hit 'Death Becomes My Light', a 7 minute galloping masterpiece, and a fitting way to end the album, the lyrics "Death becomes me, Death becomes my light" will be firmly branded into your brain by the end of the song, tempo changes and solos take place but constantly pull you back to those lyrics before dropping the pace down to almost a stop, with the bass really pulling through as the song slows to a distrustful and morose ending, a sorrowful way to end an adrenaline fuelled album.

Kreator have put together a modern thrash masterpiece, an album which if released in the 80's would be considered one of the all time great metal albums. You will not hear a better thrash album this year, a fundamentally brilliant band and provided us a monumentally brilliant album. Again. Thank that Satan guy they sing about for this band.

9/10

KC

Top Tracks - 'World War Now', 'Totalitarian terror', 'Side by Side'

Album Review

Sepultura - 'Machine Messiah'

Mathematics can be a difficult subject for some people, a downright nigh on impossible task for a certain section of metal fans. Ask them how many studio albums the magnificent Sepultura have for example, and the answer for many of them, even when provided with the full discography, will be six. Six wonderful albums they will say. Some others will actually ask if you are talking about Sepultura, or "Sepultura" (actually partaking in the abhorrent act of air quotes). The answer of course, is that 'Machine Messiah' is the 14th studio album for this legendary band.

Now some of those people who answer incorrectly refuse to put the newer albums in the same bracket as the Max-era albums, and I actually know a couple of people who simply resist listening to any new material from the band, and by being oh-so-metal, they are missing out on a barrel full of great stuff.

This is a stance which has always baffled me. I bought 'Against' the day it came out, and have listened to every album since as soon as I could. I've always seen Sepultura without Max as like Black Sabbath without Ozzy. I completely understand the love of those early albums, but if you write of the Dio albums without giving them the due care they deserve you are just depriving yourself.

The Derrick era Sepultura has been an up and down journey, from the aforementioned brilliant 'Against' and 'Dante XXI', to the disappointing (but still with some excellent moments) 'Nation', and of course the low point of Igor leaving the band and creating more fuel for the fanboy hate.

However, there are somethings which have never been in doubt. Firstly, Derrick Green is one of the most powerful and impressive vocalists ever heard in a heavy metal band. Secondly, Andreas Kisser is one of the greatest guitarists ever heard in a heavy metal band. So when you combine these two, you always end up with something which should be listening to, regardless of your love of the Max-era albums.

This brings us to modern day and 'Machine Messiah', which is probably the best album the band have released with Derrick Green fronting them. Ever since the band released 'Phantom Self' in December, there has been an expectation that this is album was going to hit all the right notes, and it doesn't disappoint.

We open with the title track, a sedate intro for the first couple of minutes compared to some of the fury to come, some causal baritone clean vocals and melodic lead guitar gradually build upon each other until Derrick shows off his full range and expands into the aggressive monsoon of fury we have come to hear. The song proceeds into the first outstanding solo, of which there will be many to follow on this album, with Green asking you to "bow down to Machine Messiah", on this evidence, how could you possibly refuse.

"I am the Enemy" is a quick 2-minute hardcore punch to the face, with multiple excellent solos and adrenaline pumping drumming, the sedate intro of the title track is well and truly forgotten. Tribal drumming and eastern influences are abound in 'Phantom Self', a classic Sepultura song, combining those musical influences from around the world and grove metal together perfectly before we hit 'Alethea', one of the slower songs on the album, another opportunity for Derrick Green to really show off his vocal prowess. The medium pace bludgeons the longer it goes on and allows Andreas Kisser to slay a noble and proud solo to its knees.

 'Iceberg Dances' is an instrumental juncture for the album, with no let up in power from the band or dexterity from the guitar, it's a storm of lead guitar, melodies and breathtaking riffs. An instrumental album from this band would be an incredible album on this showing. The vocals are back on 'Sworn Oath', a 6 minute epic, the proud centre piece of the album, and the linchpin which holds the whole thing in place, staccato chugging riffs and epic keys sounding like the band Sigh at times propel this through a maze of elusive defiance and majestic euphony, the rhythms and percussion are a high point on a cascading series of hits.

'Resistant Parasites' takes us back to a hardcore style and hits you with a shovel with which you are required to dig a shallow grave for all the fan boy haters of modern Sepultura, after which we hit a classic thrash riff and throwback in the excellently named "Silent Violence, combining speed and dexterity the band force you to think you've gone back two decades and they are writing Chaos A.D. After enjoying that trip down memory lane, the band then drop back even further in time and throw a brilliant, even thrashier, faster song, "Vandals Nest" is one of the songs of 2017, as perfect a song as anyone could want to hear from Sepultura.

But this album is far more than a throw back to good times past, they have evolved to a more mature monster these days, as shown on "Cyber God", the sort of track which presses home how far they have come, and how much a band can achieve with such a powerful vocalist, the song rises and falls through waves of intensity and is a fitting end to a great album.

The extended version comes with two bonus tracks, "Chosen Skin" yet again goes full thrash with some of the best riffs you will hear this year, a true neck breaker of a song which really deserves to have been included in the standard version, its not often a bonus track is one of the very best dongs on the album, and "Ultraseven No Uta", which is more of a standard bonus track, a 1 minute obscure cover song.

This album is probably going to be one which is preaching to the converted, those of us that know how special this band have become, will get to enjoy yet another great album, but hopefully an album this strong will get more recognition from the metal community and this version of Sepultura can be be appreciated for how special it is

9/10

KC

Top Tracks - "Phantom Self", "Vandals Nest"