The Heavy Metal Thread

Cirith Ungol - "One Foot In Hell" (1986)

My experiences with highly regarded Californian heavy metal legends Cirith Ungol have been fairly inconsistent over the years to tell you the truth. I struggled with their 1981 debut album “Frost & Fire” quite a bit, failing to understand the widespread appeal that seems to follow the band wherever they go. It was obviously a much more commercially focused offering compared to later releases though & I found the doomy, Black Sabbath-inspired 70’s atmosphere of their classic 1984 sophomore album “King of the Dead” to sit a lot closer to my musical sweet spot, even if there was far too much filler to see it becoming an essential release in my opinion. That album's more up-tempo material was significantly weaker than the slower, heavier tracks but I liked where Cirith Ungol were going with things so I always intended to follow-up on their 1986 third album “One Foot In Hell” at my earliest availability. Well, I’m afraid that earliest availability has ended up being six or seven years later now but better late than never as they say.

“One Foot In Hell” was Cirith Ungol’s first record with legendary US metal label Metal Blade & I was led to believe that this had resulted in a stronger production job based on the consensus drawn from other people’s reviews. I don’t see it personally as the release has clearly maintained a pretty rough-&-ready, live-in-the-studio aesthetic that kinda buys into Cirith Ungol’s retro-cool vibe, particularly during the more proggy moments where we find the band reaching out into jam territory. There are a lot fewer of those moments than I was expecting here though with the band opting to explore a more straight-forward sound for the most part. There isn’t as many touches on genuine doom metal as I’d hoped here with a good three-quarters of the tracklisting residing in more up-tempo heavy metal territory although when the band do opt to get their Sabbath on we find some of the best parts of the record, particularly on the crushing album highlight “Chaos Descends” but also on “Doomed Planet” to a lesser extent. The lone US power metal number “Blood & Iron” is also pretty strong though which is an indication that I’m simply into a heavier sound if I’m being honest about it.

The tracklisting isn’t the most consistent you’ll find with a few obvious fillers being chucked in amongst the eight tracks & the effects of that are accentuated by the short run time. In fact, much like Judas Priest’s heavily overrated 1977 “Sin After Sin” third album, “One Foot In Hell” is a great example of the "quality canyon" concept, only this time we see it having a greater effect on the overall result with a more than decent start & finish to the album being somewhat ruined by a very poor middle. “Nadsokor”, “100 MPH” & “War Eternal” all sit well below par in comparison to Cirith Ungol’s best material & the album sounds thrown together as a result. Apparently the band’s musical direction was heavily influenced by the label’s demands if we’re to believe the band’s reports & that may well be true because there are a few very simple Motorhead-style heavy metal tunes included that aren’t half as appealing as Cirith Ungol’s more expansive & challenging works. Perhaps it’s that divisive front man Tim Baker simply can’t pull this shit off but I don’t think that’s entirely fair as the song-writing sounds pretty flimsy & lacking in inspiration while Tim at least maintains a level of street-cool that adds a little interest, even if he struggles to fit his wild howls over the top of some of the more accessible song structures. The longer tracks certainly offer more scope for the band to experiment with a few lengthy guitar solos offering some much needed respite.

I’ve been disappointed with “One Foot In Hell” as I expected more from such a highly regarded heavy metal record to be honest. I have no doubt that diehard fans will still enjoy it, as will those with a strong penchant for the more epic 80’s heavy metal acts like Manilla Road, Pagan Altar & Brocas Helm, but be warned that this isn’t half as epic or heavy a record as “King of the Dead” was & it’s not nearly as enjoyable either. I’d probably take it over “Frost & Fire” but not by much as neither are exactly my cup of tea.

3/5

Dark Quarterer - "Dark Quarterer" (1987)

The idea of Italian heavy metal trio Dark Quarterer has long been a source of fascination for me to be honest. How they avoided causing any sort of blip on my radar back in the 1980’s & 1990’s but have somehow managed to build such a committed & loyal following over the many years since has left me intrigued as to what they could possibly offer, particularly given the comparisons to some of the more reputable & epically inclined acts from the US scene. I’d never given them a chance up until now though strangely enough so my recent decision to start spoon-feeding my three young kids some less extreme metal releases during drive time seemed like the perfect opportunity for some blind experimentation. It’s proven to be a rewarding experience too, significantly more so for myself than for my kids though it has to be said.

Dark Quarterer’s self-titled 1987 debut album has been gifted with an almost enigmatic reputation in the heavy metal scene. It’s production job is as raw as fuck with the rhythm guitars sitting much too far back in the mix, the vocals trying their best to drown out the instrumentation & a generous coating of distortion layered over the top of everything thanks to some inappropriate use of levels in the studio. Somehow though, this all seems to work to Dark Quarterer's advantage by giving the album an additional touch of underground street credibility but I have to say that I’m a little on the fence about it personally. You see, people are dead right to refer to Dark Quarterer’s sound is being a particularly epic one with bassist Gianni Nepi possessing a soaring voice to rival the most metal claw-inducing power metal front man & the three musicians producing lengthy, layered & extravagant pieces that sit as much in the progressive rock space as they do the heavy metal one. Now, when you take that description into account, I can’t help but feel that a big, clear prog production job might have brought out some additional complexities in Dark Quarterer’s music, even though I can definitely see the appeal in the super-underground packaging too. Perhaps I’m just looking for a little more warmth given that “Dark Quarterer” sounds very much like it was recorded & released in the 1970’s. 1981 would probably have been the very latest I would have guessed this record to hail from in a blind test given that both the prog rock & heavy metal influences are clearly drawn from that era.

In saying that though, Dark Quarterer have still managed to produce a very complex, mature & organic sound for just a trio of instrumentalists. The compositions aren’t technical as such but they are heavily expansive & often improvisational in nature with all three men contributing creatively to the holistic package. Guitarist Fulberto Serena is clearly the protagonist from an instrumental point of view though as these pieces are overflowing with lengthy & quite capable lead guitar solos that any 70’s prog/fusion shredder would be happy to claim as their own. Opener “Red Hot Gloves” sees Nepi’s vocal approach seemingly drawing upon Rob Halford’s efforts on the first couple of Judas Priest albums while the more epic pieces see him achieving quite a bit of crossover with the most epic of the epic in Manowar’s Eric Adams. It all works well too (particularly on album highlight “Gates Of Hell”) & there are no weak songs included on the very consistent 43 minute tracklisting.

Perhaps what holds me back from scoring “Dark Quarterer” a little higher is that it never sounds all that heavy. There are some hints at a doomy edge at times with the vocals occasionally even drawing comparisons with Candlemass’ front man Messiah Marcolin but I don’t feel that the trio ever quite get there, leaving things feeling a touch more mind-mannered than I'd like. The guitar tone doesn’t help as it’s a little more rock than it is metal while the guitar solos I mentioned would fit fairly seamlessly within the context of a prog rock or jazz fusion outfit. Early US heavy metallers Legend are probably a pretty good point of comparison as they always seemed to have one foot in the prog rock/jazz fusion camps & suffered from similar production issues. Dark Quarterer's riffs & vocals are undeniably metal though with their epic atmosphere reminding me a lot of Manilla Road & their heavier, doomier moments touching on Cirith Ungol. These attributes will no doubt appeal a lot more to others than they do to me so I think “Dark Quarterer” is definitely worth a few listens for the discerning listener that enjoys a distinctly 70’s based sound.

3.5/5

Running Wild - "Under Jolly Roger" (1987)

I've become familiar with six or seven of German heavy metallers Running Wild's more well-known releases over the years but have invariably struggled to see their appeal. They just seem to lack the sort of class & x-factor required to see me finding interest in such a mild-mannered brand of 80's metal. Their third full-length "Under Jolly Roger" is no different with guitar-slinging front man Rock 'n' Rolf sounding particularly clumsy & second-rate & the song-writing offering little in the way of excitement. Admittedly the track programming on the Spotify version of the album I've been exploring sees the only three tracks that I enjoy being kept right until the end of the tracklisting so I was kinda bored by that stage. There are no unequivocal disasters here with Running Wild's no frills brand of heavy metal being pretty much in line with the likes of Grave Digger, Judas Priest & Accept but it's more that "Under Jolly Roger" offers little in the way of depth or sophistication & I can't see myself ever coming around to them to be honest.

3/5

Ария - "Герой асфальта" (1987)

Russian heavy metallers Ария are a great example of one of those super-cool underground bands that no one had ever heard of at the time but whose reputation has slowly built up over the years, predominantly through word of mouth. Some of their mystique is most certainly contributed to by the fact that they’ve opted to deliver their vocals in their native tongue but there’s a little more to it than that. All four of their 1980’s albums were released independently & only in a reel to reel format too. If you’ve got no idea of what I’m talking about then go & Google it because the only people I knew that still had reel to reel technology in their home when I was a kid back in the 80’s were my grandparents. Ария didn’t pick up a record deal until their fifth full-length in 1991 & by that point they should already have been superstars in their home country based on the current reception of records like 1989’s “Игра с огнем” & this, their highly acclaimed third album in 1987’s “На службе силы зла”.

I’m ashamed to say that I’d never actually heard much of Ария before finally giving into temptation this week but had always been intrigued by their reputation as the Iron Maiden of the Iron Curtain. And, as it turns out, that reputation is completely warranted but this band are more than just a tribute act. You see, Ария were a highly skilled group of musicians who clearly knew what they’re doing. They appear in complete control throughout the record &, even though they most certainly borrow many of their tools from the kings of the NWOBHM, they also have a fair bit to say of their own accord too.

The production job isn’t perfect of course & you wouldn’t expect it to be with an independent release from the mid-80’s. It does have its charms though with the tone sitting in a happy medium between raw & warm. The guitar tone is lovely & organic, despite the fact that the rhythm guitars often slip too far back into the mix with the vocals & rhythm section dominating proceedings. Bassist Vitaly Dubinin was very clearly inspired by Steve Harris but competes quite well with his prestigious idol to be fair with Ария’s gallops being a particular highlight of their sound. Another highlight is the very capable guitar solos which take full advantage of the lovely warm lead tone & display some quite significant chops too. The focal point of the band though, particularly given the fact that the guitars are a little far back in the mix at times, is front man Valery Kipelov whose delivery reminds me a of a Russian version of Scorpions’ Klaus Maine. When Ария get everything right (as they do on the strong opening title track & the epic & quite progressive closer “Баллада о древнерусском воине”) it’s usually off the back of Kipelov’s most soaring & memorable vocal hooks. When they get it wrong however (as they do on the disappointing “1100”) it’s more to do with the instrumentation sounding a little too tame.

Despite the Russian language vocals which are certainly a limiter when it comes to the potential an album like “На службе силы зла” has to achieve my higher scores, Ария prove themselves to be some of the more capable heavy metal musicians around at the time & present their art in a highly professional & sophisticated format that was crying out for some decent label backing. If you’ve heard Kipelov’s solo work under his Кипелов moniker then you’ll know what to expect but diehard Iron Maiden & Loudness fans should also find a fair bit to keep them entertained here.

3.5/5

Dio - "Dream Evil" (1987)

As a long-term metalhead with a life-long relationship with the genre, it’s almost a rite of passage that you become heavily involved with the various works of the great Ronnie James Dio. RJD is rightfully known as one of the greatest metal front men of all time & I don’t think too many people would dispute that. Whether through his fantasy-fueled work with Rainbow, the doom-laden classics he created with Black Sabbath & Heaven & Hell or the legacy he built with his anthemic solo work, Ronnie proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that he possessed the talent & drive to be deserving of his position at the very top of the metal pile. As a result, I’m well versed in most of his back catalogue, at least the releases that are considered to be essential listening for anyone claiming themselves to be a metal historian or aficionado. But for me there’s always been one glaring omission… I’d never heard Dio’s classic 1987 fourth album “Dream Evil” until a few days ago, a record that’s widely regarded as Ronnie’s last essential studio album. I had heard a few songs from the album on the excellent “Dio at Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987” double live release & enjoyed them all thoroughly but, despite placing “Dream Evil” on my must-hear list shortly after that experience, I’d never gotten around to ticking this one final box until the last week. Let’s see how it fared?

“Dream Evil” represented Ronnie’s first solo work without highly underrated guitar shredder Vivian Campbell who had experienced a major falling out with the Dios since 1985’s “Sacred Heart” album. Ronnie would replace him with the relatively unknown Craig Goldy of Los Angeles-based hard rockers Rough Cutt & heavy metallers M.A.R.S. & I had reasonable hopes for Craig after hearing his performance on the live release. Returning once again would be former Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain, former Black Sabbath & future Kill Devil Hill, Last in Line & Heaven & Hell drummer Vinny Appice & Goldy’s former Rough Cutt bandmate in keyboardist Claude Schnell, all of which had been involved with Dio’s previous albums. I’d imagine that this would have put a bit of pressure on Goldy given the big shoes he had to fill, particularly given how highly I rate Campbell as an artist of the highest quality. To his credit, Goldy does a pretty reasonable job & proves himself to possess some impressive chops too but I can’t say that he stands out quite as much as Campbell did as he was one of the very rare musicians to not have been forced into a purely supporting role when paired with Dio.

It becomes apparent very quickly after pressing the play button on “Dream Evil” that you shouldn’t expect anything drastically different to Dio’s previous works as everything sounds so familiar. In fact, I’d go so far as to use the word formulaic as the style & song structures are so cookie-cutter in their approach. The educated ear will likely pick up some moments of self-plagiarism too which isn’t something new to Dio with the last couple of albums also being guilty of this crime at times. The verse riff in the title track is a classic example of it as it sounds oh so similar to Rainbow’s classic “Man On A Silver Mountain”. There are also references to the work of other artists here too though. Check out the chorus of “Sunset Superman” & then compare it with Accept’s “London Leatherboys” or consider whether “Overlove” might be an attempt to emulate Van Halen’s hard rock stomp. That’s not to say that these tracks are poor examples of their type however as the tracklisting begins pretty well with the A side being very consistent. The B side is a little more hit & miss with the clear album highlight in hard rocker “Naked In The Rain” making for a fantastic mid-album peak even if I don’t think it reaches the same dizzying heights as the 1987 Donington live version which is nothing short of life-changing. Radio-friendly AOR single “I Could Have Been A Dreamer”, on the other hand, jumps well & truly over the cheese line while the cheap synth accompaniments in disappointing hard rock closer “When A Woman Cries” sound horribly dated. Now, you’ve probably noticed me using the word “rock” quite a bit here so I should probably clarify that. Despite what most people seem to think, Dio’s early solo albums generally contain a combination of hard rock & heavy metal songs & “Dream Evil” is no different in that regard, so much so that the album should receive a dual tagging in my opinion. The metal tunes tend to sit at a fairly consistent quality while the rockier numbers are a little more up & down.

So, how does “Dream Evil” compare with Dio’s other solo material? Well, I haven’t heard anything later than this album so I can only compare it to Dio’s first three records & I’d have to say that it’s another reasonably entertaining (if inessential) effort that sees Ronnie & the band making very little effort to expand their repertoire. I mean, there’s not much that I haven’t heard before included here. I’d also suggest that, while Dio clearly peaked very earlier with his best album “Holy Diver”, each successive record saw the quality dropping just a touch from the previous album. He hadn’t come close to releasing anything that might be considered to be a failure as yet but it would seem quite likely that he might have achieved that in subsequent releases if he continued with the downward curve. 1985’s “Sacred Heart” is generally considered to be a weaker record than “Dream Evil” but, despite the fact that “Sacred Heart” reached some lower points at times, I think it offered more genuine highlights too so I slightly prefer it. Regardless, if you’re a diehard fan of classic heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath & Iron Maiden or the gritty hard rock of Rainbow then you’ve likely already spent a fair bit of time with “Dream Evil”. If not then it’s definitely worth a few listens. Just don’t expect it to compete with Dio’s best work.

3.5/5

Ozzy Osbourne - "No Rest For The Wicked" (1988)

Another decent if inessential Ozzy solo record, this time featuring the wonderfully precise & powerful lead guitar work of Zakk Wylde. Highlights like "Breaking All The Rules" & "Fire In The Sky" are very solid but only "Miracle Man" (which was my introduction to Ozzy back in 1989) meets classic standard while the couple of rock tune are both disappointing, particularly the God-awful glam metal song "Crazy Babies". I actually like this one a touch more than the over-produced "Bark At The Moon" these days & it won't disappoint fans of classic heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath, Dio & Iommi.

3.5/5

Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force - "Odyssey" (1988)

1988’s “Odyssey” album represents my introduction to Swedish neoclassical guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen with my first experience being through a track that included on the cover CD from the initial edition of Australian metal magazine “Hot Metal” in 1989 (yes the same one that I spoke about earlier this week in my Ozzy Osbourne review). The song in question was an accessible & anthemic heavy metal number called “Heaven Tonight” that possesses some incredibly catchy vocal hooks & some truly transcendent guitar work. Despite my already having been converted to extreme metal in a major way, I couldn’t help but become a little bit obsessed with this song & it saw me purchasing the “Odyssey” cassette shortly afterwards which would subsequently see me exploring all of Yngwie’s back catalogue & each successive release right through to the middle of the 1990s. I’d soon find myself focusing most of my attention on the first couple of Yngwie records but in the back of my mind I’ve always held a strong passion for “Odyssey”. I’m not sure I realized just how powerful my feelings of nostalgia were for it until now though.

“Odyssey” sees Yngwie continuing to move in a more commercial direction than his earlier works with the focus being just as much on song-writing as it is on the band leader’s instrumental virtuosity. It saw Yngwie recruiting former Rainbow front man Joe Lynn Turner to front his Rising Force band with Joe putting in a stellar performance that I’d suggest even steals the show given that Yngwie’s solos tend to spend the majority of their time retreading old ground. This is highlighted in the fact that all of my favourite songs are those with strong & memorable chorus hooks. Anders & Jens Johansson are back once again & I’ve always enjoyed their jazzy & very musical contributions while former Rainbow & Black Sabbath bassist Bob Daisley also make a contribution by taking over the bass duties on a number of tracks.

The band explore a number of different sounds across the tracklisting from power metal (“Rising Force”, “Riot In The Dungeons”, “Faster Than The Speed Of Light”) to neoclassical metal (“Bite The Bullet”, “Riot In The Dungeons”) to progressive metal (“Krakatau”) to AOR (“Dreaming (Tell Me)”) to hard rock (“Now Is The Time”) but the major component of the album sits with classic heavy metal. In fact, it frustrates me that we so often see Yngwie's more vocal-oriented albums being labelled as neoclassical metal simply because of his lead guitar techniques. There really isn’t a lot of neoclassical influence in most of the song structures if you examine them closely. The tracklisting is pretty consistent with only the horribly dated hard rocker “Now Is The Time” failing to reach an acceptable level but it’s the mind-blowing singalong highlights that really get to me. “Heaven Tonight” is still my pick of the bunch but any time I hear songs like “Déjà vu” or “Crystal Ball” I inevitably find myself struggling to reach Lynn Turner’s range at the top of my voice & invariably make a dick of myself yet you’ll struggle to take the smile off my face. There’s an element of class about most of the remainder of the album too though & I’m not sure that I remember feeling as emphatically positive about an Yngwie tracklisting in all honesty.

“Odyssey” has definitely left me surprised at how strong my nostalgia is for it & I’d actually suggest that it’s my favourite Yngwie release these days. Who am I kidding? If this is a neoclassical metal record (which it’s not) then it’s the finest example that I’ve yet experienced. Apparently I don’t care much if Yngwie focuses on a more song-driven format & can even tolerate a little cheese in the interest of memorability. I’d strongly encourage fans of artists like Cacophony, Axel Rudi Pell & Alcatrazz to check “Odyssey” out while keeping an open mind as it’s a quality heavy metal release in its own right rather than simply being a platform for its illustrious band leader to stroke his ego.

4/5

Dark Quarterer - "The Etruscan Prophecy" (1988)

I only recently took my first steps into the expansive world of Italian heavy metallers Dark Quarterer through their 1987 self-titled debut album & found myself quite enjoying it too. The album was very consistent & offered a refreshingly organic timbre that was built on the sounds of 1970’s heavy metal & progressive rock. The main issue was the very raw production job which didn’t do much to highlight the nuances but admittedly gave Dark Quarterer an extra layer of underground street credibility. I wouldn’t say that the album left me completely convinced but it certainly offered enough potential to see me wondering how the trio had fared with subsequent releases so here we find me turning to Dark Quarterer’s sophomore album from the following year in “The Etruscan Prophecy”.

The first thing you’ll notice about this album is the improved production job. The guitars are much more up-front which is definitely an advantage for this ol’ axe-slinger. It gives the inventiveness of guitarist Fulberto Serena a much better platform through which to engage with his audience & is the main advantage “The Etruscan Prophecy” has over the self-titled album. Once again we see a prog rock-infused sound but the guitar tone is a touch more metal than before. Also like the debut, this is a very consistent record with no obvious duds however epically-inclined front man Gianni Nepi does his best to ruin the party on a few occasions with some badly out of key histrionics, particularly on the title track which does well to recover off the back of some excellent instrumental contributions. The clear highlight comes from “Devil Stroke” which is an especially good example of Dark Quarterer’s strengths. The two short acoustic/classical interludes are well executed & quite entertaining too.

As with the debut, I’ve found “The Etruscan Prophecy” to be a fairly rewarding experience overall without it ever threatening to become a regular feature in my future listening habits. In fact, I tend to slightly favour it over “Dark Quarterer” & feel that fans of the more epic & progressive end of the heavy metal spectrum might suffer from the odd drool. US power metal legends Manilla Road, Italian heavy metallers Vultures Vengeance & NWOBHM outfit Omega are a pretty good guide to what you should expect.

3.5/5

Vicious Rumors - "Digital Dictator" (1988)

Although Californian heavy metallers Vicious Rumors have been a fairly significant band in the US power metal spectrum for over four decades now, my exposure to their material has been fairly limited up until now. I think my general understanding of their sound amounted to a few tracks I may have heard on late-night underground metal radio programs in the early 1990’s, possibly taken from their 1991 fourth album “Welcome To The Ball” if memory serves me correctly. Given that I’ve filled a few other obvious gaps in my knowledge of US power metal in recent times though, I thought it might be time to give Vicious Rumors most highly regarded record a few spins with my enthusiasm levels being quite high going into listen one.

1998 “Digital Dictator” sees Vicious Rumors returning from nearly a three year absence following the release of their first album “Soldiers of the Night” in May 1985. The debut had been generally well received but some lineup changes had taken place since then with former Hawaii front man Gary St. Pierre making way for new singer Carl Albert & (perhaps more significantly) guitar virtuoso Vinnie Moore (UFO/Alice Cooper) being replaced by the relatively unknown Mark McGee. Despite not having heard Vicious Rumors’ debut, I’d have to suggest that fans would have been happy with the result because both newbies do a stellar job here. In fact, the vocals & lead guitar work are amongst the highlights of the album for mine.

Vicious Rumors’ sound is much like many other US power metal associated bands in that it tinkers with a few different subgenres. The main one is that of classic heavy metal with most of the ten tracks fitting reasonably comfortably under that tag. There are not quite as many tracks that tick all of the boxes required to be classed as US power metal but the muscular metal riffage is still a major component of the album’s appeal so I feel that a dual tagging is appropriate on this occasion. Speed metal also raises its head here & there, particularly on the pacy “Minute To Kill” which should be of interest to members of The Pit. When taken holistically though, I’d suggest that the best points of comparison can be drawn with bands like Liege Lord, Metal Church & Helstar, all of who tend to tip toe along the same greyed-out lines between the various subgenres.

The tracklisting kicks off beautifully with the Iron Maiden-esque instrumental guitar harmony piece “Replicant” leading into the wonderful title track (my personal favourite) which sees Albert’s vocals possessing a Geoff Tate-like higher register sheen & the song-writing being ably assisted by a production job that almost feels like progressive metal, despite the compositions showing few genuinely progressive elements. The remainder of the A side is pretty good too with only the more commercial “Towns On Fire” failing to deliver but the B side is nowhere near as strong, struggling through the middle with a number of filler tracks appearing in quick succession. It’s these inconsistencies that see a record with huge early potential ending up being just another decent 80’s heavy metal record. This style of music lives & dies by the quality of its hooks & there are too many flat ones here to justify my higher scores, despite the instrumentation being right up my alley for the most part.

3.5/5

Yngwie Malmsteen - "Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad" (1989)

My relationship with the music of Swedish neoclassical guitar icon Yngwie Malmsteen began way back in 1988 through his fourth studio album “Odyssey” & would lead to me very quickly becoming infatuated with him. Well… to be fair it was more about his technique than it was the song-writing because I’d honestly never heard anything quite like it. Albums like “Rising Force”, “Marching Out” & “Trilogy” all offered a unanimous level of appeal for a budding young shredder like myself & I’d invariably check out everything Yngwie would put out for the next seven years before losing interest through the middle of the 1990's. In more recent times though, I’ve found myself retreating to these records & have been a little surprised at how enjoyable I still find them to be. Yngwie’s 1989 live album “Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad” is perhaps the release that I’ve spent the least amount of time with from his peak 1980’s period though. Being a live performer myself, I’m generally open to live releases as they can sometimes bring new elements to the music, often through imperfections that aren’t always a bad thing & that’s certainly the case here. On the contrary, the very slight blemishes in Yngwie’s performance here only provide further proof of his absolute mastery of his chosen instrument.

“Odyssey” is my favourite Yngwie studio album these days so the timing of “Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad” couldn’t have been much better really, particularly as it features very much the same lineup with bassist Barry Dunaway (Joe Lynn Turner/Saraya/38 Special) being the only addition in order to reproduce Yngwie’s bass lines. Former Rainbow & future Deep Purple & Sunstorm front man Joe Lynn Turner proves himself to be a class act, putting in a highly professional performance that rarely puts a foot wrong while the wonderfully talented Johansson brothers Jens (Cain’s Offering/Rainbow/Stratovarius/Dio/Silver Mountain) & Anders (HammerFall/Manowar/Silver Mountain/Stratovarius/Blue Murder) absolutely slay in their roles behind the keyboard & drum kit, Jens often challenging Yngwie in the chops department.

The tracklisting is fairly heavy on the last two studio records “Odyssey” & “Trilogy” with “Rising Force” having just the two instrumental tracks included & “Marching Out” being overlooked altogether. There’s also an admittedly pretty solid cover version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Spanish Castle Magic” included right at the end of the album too while Yngwie takes the opportunity to showcase his undeniable talents with a ten-minute guitar solo section. I haven’t traditionally found as much appeal in Yngwie’s more neoclassically inspired instrumental pieces & that’s still the case here but there are no weak tracks included. It’s in the material drawn from “Odyssey” that you’ll find most of the highlights though along with Yngwie’s signature instrumental hard rocker “Black Star”. My personal favourite is “Heaven Tonight” whose hooks have lost none of the power of their studio counterpart. “Déjà vu” & “Crystal Ball” are also wonderful examples of the melodic European heavy metal sound.

It's honestly hard to go past a live album like this one given that it showcases most of Yngwie’s best material on the one record. I would have liked to hear a track or two from Yngwie’s very solid “Marching Out” sophomore album but I’m gonna assume that the decision not to go down that path was related to Lynn Turner’s ability to replicate Jeff Scott Soto’s voice as I doubt it had anything to do with the strength of the material. Regardless, it’s hard not to feel like I’ve been missing out over the years when you consider that I haven’t given this record the same level of attention as Yngwie’s studio albums. In fact, this may be my new favourite Yngwie record overall which was certainly unexpected. If you’re into guitar shred artists like Cacophony, Axel Rudi Pell or Alcatrazz then “Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad” comes highly recommended by this ol’ shred-head.

4/5

Ария - "Игра с огнем" (1989)

It was only a couple of months ago that I finally investigated one of Russian heavy metal icons Ария’s highly regarded albums & I generally found it to be a pretty enjoyable experience too. They proved themselves to be a very capable group of musicians who had clearly paid their dues & knew exactly what they were doing. I felt that it was a shame that Ария hadn’t secured overseas record label backing because 1987’s “На службе силы зла” certainly deserved more attention than it received at the time. It did however pique my interest in what Ария’s other classic period releases might have to offer though which brings us to their 1989 fourth full-length “Игра с огнем”.

As with “На службе силы зла”, “Игра с огнем” is once again produced by guitarist Vladimir Kholstinin & bassist Vitaly Dubinin, only this time they’ve achieved a more professional result with the very raw guitar tone of the previous album having been replaced with a crunchy yet far more cohesive one on this occasion. There’s been only the one lineup change since their third album with drummer Sergey Mavrin having been replaced by Alexander Manyakin who would stay with the band until Mavrin's return in 2002. The high-quality musicianship that was a feature of “На службе силы зла” is once again on show on “Игра с огнем”, perhaps even being a little better highlighted by the improved sound quality. Ария were certainly a class act at the time & I’d imagine their live shows (if they played any) would have been well worth seeing.

If you do a little online research you’ll very quickly discover that Ария are generally regarded as an Iron Maiden clone. I could see how people might say that after spending some time with “На службе силы зла” but Ария really doubled down on that approach for “Игра с огнем”, so much so that if you replaced front man Valery Kipelov with someone that sounded a little more similar to Bruce Dickinson then you’d find it hard to tell them apart from the NWOBHM legends. In fact, some of this material is so close that you can pick the exact Maiden track that Ария are trying to emulate at any one time but the fact that they pull it off to a comparable level of quality to their idols is a pretty major feather in their caps. I mean, despite how popular & influential they are, there are relatively few bands out there that have the skills required to accurately recreate the melodic complexities & progressive atmospherics of Iron Maiden in their prime but Ария seem to do it with ease & the fact that they’ve stopped short of recruiting a Bruce-clone & choose to maintain their native language gives them a reasonable point of differentiation. Valery Kipelov is a talented front man in his own right &, despite the instrumental prowess on display, most of the best moments are aligned with Kipelov's more successful vocal hooks. I believe I mentioned it in my review of “На службе силы зла” but it's worth reiterating how much he reminds me of a gruffer version of Scorpions' front man Klaus Meine.

There are a few clear highlight tracks included amongst the seven on offer in the fast-paced opener “Что вы сделали с вашей мечтой?”, the lengthy progressive number “Игра с огнем” & the anthemic “Бой продолжается” (my personal favourite). It’s a real shame that the tracklisting finishes up with clearly the weakest song on the album in the lethargic “Дай жару!” as “Игра с огнем” seemed to be heading towards a very solid four-star rating prior to tripping at the finish line. I also wonder whether I might have rated an album like this one a touch higher if not for the foreign language vocals. I don’t dislike them in any way but I do think metal records with clean-sung, foreign-language vocals are at a slight disadvantage with me in that I’m not sure I can quite reach the intended climax with a chorus hook that I can’t connect with from a lyrical perspective. I think it’s an even playing field until you start to hit that four-star threshold though. It’s not the same with harsh vocals as there’s far less of a reliance on melodic chorus hooks.

“Игра с огнем” is another pretty decent album from a highly talented group of Russian metalheads who weren’t willing to allow politics to dictate to them on how they spend their spare time or express themselves creatively & artistically. I’d suggest that it’s a slight improvement on the already enjoyable “На службе силы зла” from two years earlier although there’s not a lot in it with the improved production perhaps being the clincher. If you’re a fan of Valery Kipelov’s other band Кипелов, don't mind a bit of foreign-language heavy metal like Japan's Loudness or simply wish that Iron Maiden's incredible run of 1980's classics had never ended then I think you could do a lot worse than to give “Игра с огнем” a spin or three.

3.5/5

Anthem - "Hunting Time" (1989)

Prolific Tokyo-based heavy metal outfit Anthem have been on my radar for many years but I’ve never taken the plunge by giving any of their twenty full-length albums a fair crack until now which is a shame because their 1989 fifth album “Hunting Time” has proven to be a bit of a cracker to be honest. The band returned with the same lineup that recorded their previous record in 1988’s “Gypsy Ways” with their Japanese label Nexus Records once again calling upon English producer Chris Tsangarides to oversee the recordings. Chris was very well respected in the metal scene at the time given his previous involvement with records like Tygers of Pan Tang’s “Wild Cat” & “Spellbound”, Anvil’s “Metal on Metal” & “Forged in Fire” & Black Sabbath’s “The Eternal Idol” so Anthem were certainly in good hands & the results speak for themselves because “Hunting Time” sports a ripper of a production job (particularly for 1989) which takes what could have been a just another heavy metal record & thrusts it into the global spotlight.

“Hunting Time” is a ball of bright, energetic metal fury that jumps straight out of those speakers, grabs you by your late 80’s mullet & forces your head to bang in time with its up-tempo metal assault. The musicianship & arrangements show Anthem to be very capable & highly experienced exponents of their craft with the consistent tracklisting containing no weak moments. Anthem's sound sits very much in the metal-for metals-sake space that Judas Priest’s “Defenders of the Faith” built its reputation on & I don’t think we have enough records like that to be honest. The riffs & solos of guitarist Hiroya Fukuda are face-ripping, ball-tearing monsters that possess a weight that often pushes the limitations of the heavy metal subgenre to their limit.

The tracklisting contains just the eight songs & kicks off in very strong fashion with the first three songs being arguably the best on the album. There are a few filler tracks that pop up after that initial barrage however none of them can be considered to be duds. Front man Yukio Morikawa doesn’t seem to be able to decide on whether he wants to sing in Japanese or English, sometimes going for a mixture of the two but delivering his lyrics with confidence nonetheless. He’s quite engaging though & pulls it all off with aplomb, even if the Japanese sections are a little harder to engage with & some of the English lyrics are pretty poor.

“Hunting Time” has proven itself to be a breath of fresh air with its concentration on undiluted molten metal being very much in line with my preferences for your more conventional style of heavy metal. I think it just lacks the presence of a few genuinely classic songs in order to push it up into my more elite rating bracket. It’s consistency & proficiency are commendable though & fans of Japanese heavy metal bands like Loudness, Seikima-II & Metalucifer shouldn’t hesitate in checking it out.

4/5

Cloven Hoof - "A Sultan's Ransom" (1989)

English heavy metal outfit Cloven Hoof have been floating about since way back in the very late 1970’s & are generally referred to as being a part of the NWOBHM even though their self-titled debut album didn’t hit the shelves until just after the movement had subsided in 1984. I’ve been aware of them for decades but didn’t give them much dedicated attention until I reviewed "Cloven Hoof" as a part of my research for the Metal Academy podcast back in the mid-2010’s. It certainly sounded like a NWOBHM record with its Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, AC/DC & progressive rock influences being par for the course while their lyrics tended to veer towards the darker side. Vocalist David Potter opted for a masculine delivery rather than the operatic approach of a band like Iron Maiden too so Cloven Hoof sat very much in your classic heavy metal space. It wasn’t a bad record either but it suffered from some inconsistent song-writing & relied too heavily on its highlight tracks to carry it over the line. I’d not attempted another Cloven Hoof record up until now but have always been fascinated by the links I've seen being made with power metal as I don't recall much of that on the debut. In fact, Cloven Hoof's 1989 third album “A Sultan’s Ransom” has often been placed on somewhat of a pedestal by fans of the American variety of power metal which interests me significantly more than the European model so I finally decided to take the plunge this week & see what this record has to offer.

The impact of the change in style is immediate upon venturing into the first track “Astral Rider” with Cloven Hoof now sporting a much weightier sound. The production issues that plagued their debut have been overcome with a sound that’s still quite raw but possesses plenty of power & definition. The band were now with the Paul Birch-fronted FM Revolver Records label & recorded the album at Mad Hat Studios in their local town of Wolverhampton under the guidance of house studio engineer Mark Stuart who had some minor NWOBHM experience producing Dark Star’s “Reel to Reel” but wasn’t exactly heavy metal royalty. The result is much more agreeable though with “A Sultan’s Ransom” benefiting from an upfront & chunky yet still inherently raw guitar tone & a metal-as-fuck atmosphere. There’s an in-your-face, electric energy to Cloven Hoof’s sound here that sits much closer to the US power metal movement than it does to the band’s NWOBHM roots & this excited me.

It shouldn’t really be all that surprising that Cloven Hoof sound so different to how they did on their self-titled debut because the lineup had changed drastically with only bassist Lee Payne remaining from those sessions. Vocalist David Potter had left to join French heavy metallers H-Bomb immediately after the release of the debut while guitarist Steve Rounds & drummer Kevin Pountney had also disappeared prior to Cloven Hoof’s 1988 sophomore album “Dominator”. In their place they’d recruited two members of Welsh heavy metallers Tredegar in vocalist Russ North & guitarist Andy Wood as well as drummer Jon Brown, all who were still around for “A Sultan’s Ransom”. This has presumably resulted in Cloven Hoof taking an all-new direction for “Dominator” & from the sound of “A Sultan’s Ransom” I’d suggest that it was a good move too. The hard rock crunch of AC/DC is no longer evident with the band now taking a metal-at-all-costs direction that sees them playing in a similar space to US power metal acts like Liege Lord, Omen & Crimson Glory more than it does their NWOBHM roots, although the influence of Iron Maiden & Judas Priest are still the predominant figures looming overhead while Cloven Hoof power through a succession of melodic metal anthems.

Vocalist Russ North possesses a soaring, theatrical & operatic voice that sounds uncannily like Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson a lot of the time & it’s his presence as much as any that draws Cloven Hoof towards the power metal links. The other key power metal component is the muscular riff work & guitar tone of Andy Wood, particularly during the first half of the tracklisting. Opener “Astral Rider” is pure power metal while clear album highlight “Silver Surfer” reminds me heavily of “Painkiller”-era Judas Priest & is far too heavy for a mere heavy metal tag. The fast paced “D.V.R.” sees Cloven Hoof drawing upon speed metal as their vessel while the ambitious “1001 Nights” opts for more technicality & a progressive metal format. Despite this variation in genre, at least half of the album fits very comfortably under the more traditional heavy metal tag, particularly the back end of the tracklisting with songs like “Notre Dame” & “Highlander” being very much in line with classic Iron Maiden, particularly in the strong use of guitar harmonies. The short & simple "Mad, Mad World" reminds me of some of Judas Priest's more commercially accessible tracks like "Breaking The Law" & I'd imagine it was included for similar reasons too i.e. radio play.

Despite the clear potential I’ve mentioned above, “A Sultan’s Ransom” doesn’t end up delivering as much as I’d hoped & seems to me to be a touch overrated as a result. There aren’t any disasters but tracks like “Forgotten Heroes”, “D.V.R.”, “1001 Nights” & “Highlander” don’t do a lot for me to be honest, all suffering from some lackluster song-writing. Thankfully the wins outweigh the losses though & there are a couple of clear highlight tracks in “Silver Surfer” & high-quality heavy metal number “Jeckyl & Hyde” which ensure that “A Sultan’s Ransom” ends up being a predominantly positive experience. I certainly like it a little better than the self-titled album but there’s not a whole lot in it & I’m not so sure that I’ve found enough here to see me proceeding to investigate much further into Cloven Hoof’s remaining back catalogue in the future.

3.5/5

Leatherwolf - "Street Ready" (1989)

The last decade has seen me developing a bit of a penchant for US power metal which is a movement that I wasn’t always that well versed in. It’s tendency to see what are essentially classic heavy metal bands at their core dabbling in chunkier guitar tones & more modern & extreme brands of metal such as speed metal, power metal & thrash metal is something that offers a fair bit of appeal to this ol’ metalhead so I’ve found myself exploring a lot more of these releases than I would have anticipated previously. It’s also funny that I occasionally stumble across acts that are held in fairly high regard by US power metal enthusiasts but have somehow managed to completely avoid my attention in the 35+ years that I’ve been infatuated with metal music. Californian heavy metallers Leatherwolf definitely fall into this category & I thought I’d better check them out post haste based on the unanimous praise I’ve seen them drawing from some of the more trustworthy Twitter members I follow in recent weeks with their 1989 third album “Street Ready” in particular being held up as some sort of underground classic these days. Let’s see if these dudes can walk the talk then, shall we?

Leatherwolf are a five-piece outfit hailing from Huntington Beach who formed way back in 1981 with their independently released self-titled debut full-length seeing the light of day three years later. They’d maintain a fairly stable lineup through their early years with the only change leading up to their 1989 third album “Street Ready” being that bassist Paul Carman would take over Matt Hurich’s position for the band’s 1987 sophomore album (which, strangely enough, was also self-titled based on Leatherwolf’s new English label Island Records treating the debut as more of a demo). So the band had a fair amount of time to find their sound & gel as a group prior to the recording of “Street Ready” & it certainly shows too. Island had engaged Canadian producer Kevin Beamish (who had previously produced Saxon's 1984 "Crusader" album) for the recording of “Leatherwolf” & elected to go that way once again for “Street Ready” so one would assume that he must have made a pretty reasonable fist of things on his initial engagement. The evidence for that can be found in the stunning results here too as “Street Ready” sports a spectacularly bright & vibrant sound production that is one of its major drawcards, even making some of the less impressive examples of song-writing much more tolerable than they may otherwise have been.

The musicianship on “Street Ready” is also immaculate & often saw me wondering how I could not have heard of some of the individual instrumentalists before given just how capable they are with their chosen tools. The guitar solos of dual axemen Geoff Gayer & Carey Howe are particularly invigorating which begs the question as to why they didn’t receive more coverage in the US guitar magazines I used to read fairly religiously at the time. Perhaps they did feature but I didn’t pay attention to those articles given my lack of familiarity with them? It’s certainly possible but I’d suggest it’s probably unlikely as I generally used to read those mags from cover to cover. Front man Michael Olivieri possessed exactly the sort of voice that you’d want from a melodic US heavy metal singer too with his tone beautifully combining the accessibility of Motley Crue’s Vince Neil with the snarl of Exodus’ Steve Souza.

Although I mentioned the links with US power metal earlier in the review, I have to admit that I can’t really see it on the evidence here. The only track that sits comfortably under that tag is the wonderfully complex & unbelievably well-executed instrumental piece “Black Knight” (which also happens to be my personal favourite) with the rest of the album rarely exceeding the intensity levels of your more traditional heavy metal model. In fact, four of the ten songs included actually veer over into a more poppy glam metal space which leaves Leatherwolf’s sound being somewhat of a cross between glammy hard rockers Icon & the more heavy metal-inclined US power metal bands like Lizzy Borden & Banshee. After consideration I’d suggest that a dual tagging seems pretty appropriate for “Street Ready” too.

The potential for the album to score very highly was actually looking really good when I was halfway through my first listen with all of the highlight tracks sitting on the A side & even the couple of early glam metal tracks being catchy enough to be deemed acceptable. Things take a bit of a dip for the B side though which is a little disappointing, particularly the inclusion of a couple of more disposable glam metal ballads in “The Way I Feel” & “Lonely Road”. Thankfully there’s still enough quality in the tracks around them to keep me engaged but it’s a shame that there wasn’t anything to compare with earlier songs like “Wicked Ways” or “Take A Chance” during the back end of the album which has seen my initial hopes of a high score being dashed.

Look… while it may not take the US power metal direction that I’m led to believe Leatherwolf’s first two records did, there’s no doubt that “Street Ready” is a high-quality example of the middle-of-the-road, radio-friendly American heavy metal record. In fact, I’m baffled that they didn’t become household names on the basis of this release alone as its polished precision is just so easy on the ear. Presumably they were just a little late in the game with the grunge movement about to explode & cause the commercial hard rock scene to do the exact opposite. Perhaps that’s why Leatherwolf dropped off the map altogether after “Street Ready” & have failed to recover ever since? I’m not sure but at least they left us with this hint at what might have been.

3.5/5

Yngwie Malmsteen - "Eclipse" (1990)

The first Yngwie record that I would buy upon release also happened to be his weakest to date. I don't recall having too much of a problem with it back in the day but in more recent times I'm finding myself struggling a bit. He's returned with an entirely new band (most notably missing the Johansson brothers) which has taken the more commercially accessible sound of "Odyssey" a little further for most of the album while attempting to balance it out with a few faster & more aggressive power metal numbers. It's the stuff that sits in between in the traditional heavy metal space that I really dig (see "Making Love", "Devil in Disguise", "What Do You Want", "Faultline") but I find the rest of the album to be pretty patchy, particularly the AOR/glam metal number "Save Our Love" which is nothing short of an atrocity. New frontman Goran Edman does a pretty reasonable job while keyboardist Mats Olausson struggles to compete with his well-known predecessor. The quality of the song-writing is noticeably weaker than on "Odyssey" with even the neoclassical metal instrumental title track falling short of the mark. "Eclipse" marks the first blemish on the guitarists resume for mine.

3/5

 Motörhead - "No Remorse" compilation (1984)

An excellent double compilation album that represented my initiation with the London heavy rock icons back when I was a kid. The five or six unreleased & non-album tracks are mostly high-quality while the best-of selection is impeccable to say the least. It's an outstanding introduction to an essential player in the history of heavy music.

4/5

Anthem - "Bound to Break" (1987)

I’ve been very much looking forward to investigating some more of Tokyo heavy metal four-piece Anthem’s more widely celebrated releases after thoroughly enjoying my initial experiences with their highly regarded 1989 fifth album “Hunting Time” recently so I decided to give their 1987 third full-length “Bound To Break” a crack this week. It features a slightly different lineup with Eizo Sakamoto handling the microphone duties before Yukio Morikawa had entered the fold & Sakamoto proves himself to be a talented & powerful singer with his masculine tone being a highlight of the record. As with “Hunting Time”, English producer Chris Tsangarides has produced a particularly metal sounding album here too. It feels a lot like Judas Priest’s “Defenders of the Faith” in that way. The quality of the song-writing isn’t quite as strong as “Hunting Time” though with most of the tracklisting sitting a step down from the best material on that record, despite the fact that there are no weak tracks to speak of. The best moments appear during the one-two punch of faster power metal number “Empty Eyes” & chunky heavy metal anthem “Show Must Go On!” while the progressive electronic interlude “Limited Lights” is also a welcome addition.

Anthem were clearly a force to be reckoned with back in the 1980’s & are probably the best Japanese heavy metal band I’ve heard to date but “Bound To Break” doesn’t feel as essential as “Hunting Time”. It’s not that different in its approach but it doesn’t deliver the knockout blows through powerful chorus hooks as regularly which leaves it sitting as a nice-to-have rather than a buy-or-die.

3.5/5

Mercyful Fate - "The Beginning" (1987)

I know I'll likely be in the extreme minority here when I tell you that the first release I purchased from legendary Danish heavy metal icons Mercyful Fate was this 1987 compilation back in the early 1990's. It brings together the band's very strong 1982 self-titled debut E.P. with three alternative versions of tracks taken from their 1983 "Melissa" album that were recorded for the BBC's "The Friday Rock Show" & the B-side from the "Black Funeral" single. It also succeeds in its intent due to the very high quality of everything the band attempt.

I've always rated the self-titled E.P. very highly. In fact, I place it a cut above Mercyful Fate's widely celebrated sophomore album "Don't Break The Oath" these days which is saying something. "Melissa" is my favourite Fate record too so I really couldn't go wrong with this material. The BBC recordings are well produced with the versions of "Curse Of The Pharaoh" & "Satan's Fall" being particularly strong. The B-side "Black Masses" suffers a little in the production department but still possesses that classic Mercyful Fate aura which gives it enough appeal to make it interesting too. The highlight is undoubtedly "A Corpse Without Soul" from the E.P. though as it's one of the great heavy metal anthems from the early 80's.

All of the qualities you look for in a Mercyful Fate record are here in spades. The soaring vocals, the dark atmosphere, the searing solos... You can't really go wrong with "The Beginning" & it should be regarded as essential listening if you're a devotee of those first couple of Fate releases.

4/5

Cirith Ungol - Dark Parade (2023)

Cirith Ungol were originally formed in 1971 and split in 1992 after releasing a string of reasonably well-received albums. They reformed in 2015 like so many other legacy bands, but unlike a lot of those their first album after reforming, 2020's Forever Black was actually pretty good. Three years later the guys are back with another offering, having once more defied the odds and turning in a terrific album that is even better than Forever Black and stacks up pretty well against the band's '80's "classics", King of the Dead and One Foot in Hell which is good going for a band that is over fifty years old.

Dark Parade is chock full of hooky riffs that stick in the memory and give us old metalheads some decent headbanging action, often switching down gear to a more considered, almost trad doom, pacing to give our aging neck muscles some respite. The riffs aren't all there is to DP though, there is plenty of nifty and often extended soloing that should satisfy the most demanding of six-string enthusiasts, in a couple of places reminding me a bit of Blackmore's brilliant soloing during Rainbow's Stargazer, especially on second track Relentless and the later Sacrifice. The Blackmore reference isn't the only Deep Purple related influence though, the fast section of the album's epic Sailor on the Seas of Fate, with it's soaring keyboard overlay takes me back to the days of Highway Star and Burn.

Of course you can't talk about Cirith Ungol without addressing the elephant in the room that is Tim Baker's vocals, his screeching style not being to everyone's taste. Personally I have got used to him and now even view him as having a distinctive and unique style that works really well on it's own terms. But even if you aren't the biggest Baker fan, I think you would find his singing less irritating here, maybe age has mellowed his voice to a degree and rendered it less grating.

All in all this is a really good trad metal album that flaunts it's roots whilst still sounding modern and vital, which is quite a feat for a band four-fifths of whom are well into their sixties (yes even older than me). Gives me great hope that metal blood is never diluted!

4/5

I'm in full agreement here Sonny, this one kept creeping up my year-end list as it's just a solid collection of tracks through and through. I think it starts to get a bit redundant and monotonous if you really start to spin it consistently cover to cover, but it's still impressive nonetheless. I wasn't really aware of Cirith Ungol until Forever Black which then prompted me to do some digging and find their classic stuff. Like you said, Forever Black was good, but it felt like it treaded on simple pandering to the bygone Traditional Metal ideas and being nostalgic for the sake of it. I'm glad the band was able to take that energy and build on it as it feels like Dark Parade deserves some genuine praise for being a Heavy Metal experience that is both old and new at the same time. Sure, the ideas have been done to death, but since the crux of the genre is performed so well here, I think the band did a great job of creating a standout album 40+ years past its supposed prime-time.

Running Wild - "Blazon Stone" (1991)

I'd suggest that some of our regulars would already be aware of my long-time struggles to understand the appeal in German heavy/power metal legends Running Wild by now. Their 1980's & 1990's releases seem to be unanimously claimed as pillars of metal but I've always found similar obstacles standing in my way when checking them out for myself. Sometimes I find them to sound a bit lethargic with the song-writing leaving much to be desired but I feel that this is possibly a bi-product of Running Wild's vocalist Rock 'n' Rolf simply not being a tier one singer &, more often than not, I find myself wondering if the band might be missing a trick there given that they can certainly produce some stellar riffs at times. As a result, all of Running Wild's first five albums have stalled at a three-star rating while I couldn't get their 1990 "Wild Animal" E.P. up above 2.5 stars. 1994's "Black Hand Inn" came closest to breaking out of mediocrity but was still confined to that dreaded three-star curse. All may not be lost though as I recently noticed one of our most educated & trusted members Sonny praising 1991's "Blazon Stone" sixth full-length. Sonny & I generally share pretty similar thoughts on the more accessible brands of metal so I felt encouraged enough to investigate "Blazon Stone" myself in the hope of finally discovering a Running Wild album that I can say that I genuinely enjoy.

I have to admit that I've questioned the power metal credentials of Running Wild's previous couple of albums in 1987's "Under Jolly Roger" & 1988's "Death or Glory" over the years but "Blazon Stone" is a slightly different story as I can now see enough elements of the power metal model to warrant a dual tagging with your classic heavy metal sound, even though the dial clearly sits further over to the heavy metal side of the equation. Fellow Germans Grave Digger & Rage are a good comparison although the more power metal-oriented material unsurprisingly sounds a lot like Swedish worshippers Blazon Stone. The links to power metal sit largely behind the regular incorporation of speed metal techniques in the rhythm guitar work but Rolf's vocal style is noticeably missing the theatrics & histrionics of your average European power metal front man so this feels much more like the US brand of power metal than it does the German one.

The tracklisting begins quite nicely with the A side being surprisingly strong so I was feeling pretty good about the potential for a respectable score by the halfway point of my first listen. Unfortunately, the B side was a lot patchier with the back end of the album petering out pretty noticeably. I have to say that I love the crunchy rhythm guitar tone though & feel that it somewhat carries the album, particularly given the inclusion of some pretty classic heavy metal riffs at times. The highlight tracks are really enjoyable too with the very solid heavy metal anthems "Little Big Horn" & "Rolling Wheels" being my clear favourites. I can certainly do without the folky guitar melodies that pop up from times to time though, seemingly intended to remind me that "Blazon Stone" is supposedly a European power metal release & I shouldn't really like it. "Billy The Kid" is a particularly silly track that I find I struggle with more than the rest of the weaker material.

Sure, there are some flat moments to be found on "Blazon Stone" which didn't come as a surprise to me but for once I've found the wins to outweigh the losses which is a first for a Running Wild record & has finally led me to cracking that elusive 3.5-star threshold I'd so hoped it would. I can't see Running Wild building on that for even higher ratings any time soon but at least we can always fall back on this record when we reminisce about old times over a German lager in decades to come.

3.5/5

Ария - "Кровь за кровь" (1991)

I finally got around the investigating highly regarded Russian heavy metallers Ария over the last twelve months with both their 1987 third album "На службе силы зла" & their 1989 fourth album "Игра с огнем" offering me a fair bit of enjoyment. With that in mind, I felt that I'd better complete the trio of the band's most celebrated albums with 1991's "Кровь за кровь" & it's once again proven to be worthy of my time. The production is quite raw but is effective nonetheless with the excellent vocals of Кипелов front man Valery Kipelov soaring over the top. The obvious Iron Maiden worship of the band's previous work is still as clear as day although there are very few who can claim to do it as well as Ария do so I'd be lying if I said that I didn't experience some warm feelings of nostalgia while listening to the Russian's take on what were some pivotal records for me as a teenager. The musicianship is excellent throughout, particularly the guitar work of Vladimir Kholstinin & Sergey Mavrin who both prove themselves to be quite accomplished musicians but it's Kipelov that is the clear focal point here with his tone reminding me a lot of Klaus Meine from Scorpions as usual.

"Кровь за кровь" is predominantly a heavy metal record & a particularly metal one it is too I have to say. There's just the one track that veers away towards hard rock in the excellent Dio-esque "Всё, что было". My other favourite moments can be found in the one-two punch of "Антихрист" & "Не хочешь, не верь мне", both of which are high on Maiden worship but are emphatic in their creative statements nonetheless. As usual, there are a couple of failures included too though with "Бесы" & particularly "Зомби" falling short of the mark but this doesn't ruin the party for "Кровь за кровь" as there's still more than enough quality on offer to keep my attention. In saying that, I do feel that "Кровь за кровь" is perhaps the weaker of the three classic Ария albums with its 1989 predecessor "Игра с огнем" being my pick of the bunch. There's not all that much between them in terms of quality or style though so if you enjoy one then you'll likely find enjoyment in the other two as well, particularly if you're a fan of the classic Iron Maiden/Judas Priest heavy metal sound or Kipelov's other band Кипелов.

3.5/5

Testament - "The Ritual" (1992)

By 1992, Ben & I had been fans of Californian thrash metallers Testament for a good few years & were very familiar with their entire back catalogue. I found their trio of 1980's albums to be very solid thrash records indeed but, despite it still being reasonably enjoyable, I hadn't found 1990's "Souls of Black" to be quite as engaging. For that reason, I was a little cautious about racing out & buying Testament's "The Ritual" album upon release. There was an easy fix that would represent somewhat of an each-way bet for me though & I chose to act on it by purchasing the CD for Ben for his birthday & ripping it to cassette a good week before Ben had even received his present. What a great brother I am! By the time Ben received his present I was already well across "The Ritual" & didn't even try to hide it, the smug fucker that I was at the time (& arguably still are). Anyway... I'd suggest that my initial impressions of "The Ritual" kinda validated my cautiousness so let's spend a bit of time examining why.

The early 90's was a tough time to be a thrash metal band in the wake of the grunge & groove metal explosions. Where Testament's first four albums were predominantly thrash metal releases, "The Ritual" saw Testament taking a popular approach for thrashers in a post-"The Black Album" market by diluting their sound for greater accessibility, the result seeing the first half of the album sounding much more like Ozzy Osbourne or Metallica's infamous self-titled album than it does genuine thrash. Things get a little heavier across the B side but there's no question that this was Testament's least heavy record to the time. The other major talking point (at least for me personally) is Tony Platt's production job which leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. The most important component of any Testament release must surely be the guitars but here was see the riffs being smothered in the mix which sees them lacking the potency they deserve & this has clearly had a detrimental impact on the overall effectiveness of the album.

Thankfully, the song-writing isn't too bad with only the flat opener "Electric Crown" (seriously, why is this the most popular track on the album people?) & clunky thrasher "The Sermon" failing to see me entertained. As was the case with the last couple of Testament albums which both included a ballad, "The Ritual" actually presents us with two decent ones in the very solid title track (one of my album highlights) & the reasonably pleasant "Return to Serenity". The other album high points come from energetic heavy metal number "So Many Lies" (with its mind-blowingly superlative guitar solo) & the most thrashy number on the record in "Agony". There really isn't a classic metal tune to be found here though & I'd suggest that Chuck Billy's inability to stay in tune while attempting to sing over a more accessible sound doesn't help in that regard. He's always been overrated in my opinion & "The Ritual" is a pretty good example of why.

As with most Testament albums, there's an argument for listening to "The Ritual" purely for lead guitarist Alex Skolnick's stunning solos but there's probably enough interesting material to justify a few listens anyway. I can't say that I regard it as being an essential Testament release though. I'd suggest that I find it marginally more enjoyable than "Souls of Black" but there's not a lot in it to be honest. They're both merely acceptable more than they are impressive as far as I'm concerned but I can see "The Ritual" offering the most appeal to fans of post-2000 Megadeth, "Kin"-period Xentrix & the more accessible Death Angel albums like "Act III" & "The Art Of Dying".

3.5/5

Marty Friedman - "Scenes" (1992)

Washington-based guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman first came to my attention during the late 1980's when I stumbled across his Cacophony project with teenage prodigy & fellow shred master Jason Becker. Their 1987 debut album "Speed Metal Symphony" gave me a reasonable amount of pleasure, if mainly due to the ridiculously accomplished technique on display from both of the protagonists. I'd soon explore the duo's debut solo records with Becker's 1988 "Perpetual Burn" being significantly more interesting than Friedman's "Dragon's Kiss" from the same year. "Dragon's Kiss" is generally regarded as an essential release by guitar enthusiasts but I simply found its weaker tracks to overshadow the stronger material with his penchant for cheesy melodies having the final say on whether the album made the cut with me or not. Thankfully though, Friedman would join Megadeth soon afterwards & would go on to contribute to all five of their 1990's albums, the most notable being 1990's "Rust In Peace" which is still held up on a pedestal as one of the great thrash metal releases of all time in the present day. I also quite liked 1992's "Countdown to Extinction" & 1994's "Youthanasia" but in between those two commercially successful heavy metal records Marty would enter the Californian home studio of renowned Japanese new age music producer Kitaro to record his second solo album "Scenes" which would be released in November 1992. I'd forgiven Marty for the inadequacies of "Dragon's Kiss" by this stage, mainly because he absolutely blew my fucking face off with his performance on "Rust in Peace", so I picked up a copy of "Scenes" upon release, eager for more of Marty's exotic neoclassically-inspired stylings. What I got though was not what I was expecting at all because little did I know that Marty had been taken under Kitaro's wing & that "Scenes" would appear to be somewhat of a tribute to his master.

The metal credentials of "Scenes" aren't actually that straight forward because I'd suggest that the larger portion of the album is made up of genuine new age music of the Japanese variety. That's not necessarily a problem but the way it's been produced here sounds terribly dated & cheesy at times with cheap sounding synthesizers seemingly being the order of the day. Perhaps this shouldn't have been a surprise in retrospect given that the keyboards are performed by Kitaro's band mate Brian BecVar who has gone on to become known for his work with commercial pop artists like Celine Dion, Michael Bolton & Richard Marx. Friedman's clean guitar work appears to have been intentionally composed to reflect the whole Japanese theme & the way he uses string bends to accomplish this is really quite ingenius. His melodies are rarely dark or mysterious though. They're more often pleasant & uplifting which isn't usually my bag but I've made an honest attempt to overcome my preconceived notions here. The other significant component of the album is made up of heavy metal instrumentation with Megadeth drummer Nick Menza contributing the beats & most of the metal material is at least pretty decent. Hell, the short & brooding "Trance" is absolutely outstanding & I can't for the life of me understand why Marty wouldn't have elaborated on that idea any further as it's the clear highlight of the album for mine. Other strong inclusions include new age opener "Tibet" & "Realm of the Senses" which is very much a hybrid that explores both new age & Yngwie Malmsteen-ish neoclassical metal.

Look, there are actually more hits than misses on "Scenes" so it's not an absolute disaster. It's just that the weaker inclusions are bad enough to see them nullifying all of that good work which is a little disappointing to be honest. As I said, I'm not the biggest fan of "Dragon's Kiss" but I'd still probably take it over "Scenes" which doesn't say a lot for Marty's ability to produce a consistently compelling solo album. I mean, there's not even all that many moments where Marty shows off his dazzling technique here which would at least be something to grab onto for an old shred-head like me. Maybe I'm destined to never hear the great record that I'm sure Friendman has inside of him but you know what? I'm at peace with that.

3/5