If I am going to listen to power metal, which I have started doing a bit more than I used to, then it is invariably the USPM version I turn to. I have come round to USPM rather late in life as I have spent an awful long time concentrating on extreme metal genres like doom and black metal, so I haven’t really got any contemporary history with the early USPM classics. The latter part of the eighties having saw me diving down the thrash metal rabbit hole and quickly abandoning traditional heavy metal styles almost completely. This is a great shame because there is a lot that appeals to me in any number of the earlier classics of the genre.

Standing tall amongst the formative USPM releases is Jag Panzer's debut full-length, “Ample Destruction”. It took the more uptempo riffs of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and, taking its cues from the energetic, fast-emerging thrash metal scene, cranked it all up to 11 and delivered an exuberant celebration of heavy metal thunder as a result. Any vestige of hard rock that had survived into the NWOBHM era had been well and truly exorcised by the Americans in this fresh new take on the traditional style, giving it a more epic, harder and just downright more metal edge as a result. The riffs come thick and fast and are generally memorable, fist-pumping bangers. When these riffs are then complemented by some electrifying and exhilarating solos and an effusive vocal performance by Harry Conklin, it is surely impossible for anyone with a true metal heart not to be stirred into headbanging ecstasy.

 Coming to this after decades of being immersed in the extreme metal scene feels kind of liberating in a life-affirming way with the rediscovery that metal doesn’t always have to be po-faced and depressing or just so damned intense, but can actually be joyful and celebratory too, with absolutely no loss of integrity. It may sound a bit hyperbolic, but I am finding albums like “Ample Destruction” to be revelatory, their sheer infectious effusiveness providing some degree of relief from the daily assaults on mental wellbeing that modern living entails.

Thrash is not a genre I spend a lot of time with these days. The favour continues to grow thinner with each passing year. But every so often, an album will pop up, whether it be through Metal Academy's featured releases, or a record that just continuously gets rammed down my throat by the online algorithm. And just so we're clear, if that later option happens, you certainly would not be seeing a review for an album, but rather a concerted effort by myself to push it as far away from my vision as possible!

I come from a background where my appreciation of crossover thrash comes from the punk family tree. I absolutely fell in love with the Black Flag's, Husker Du's and Rites of Spring during my exploration of the genre many years ago. So crossover thrash had an appeal to it that was novel, but really had an appeal to me; traditional thrash was always too long with not enough substance. Modern outputs like Power Trip were punchy, relentless, and straight-to-the-point. And while Zerre show promise of that here with Rotting on a Golden Throne, it feels lacking in other aspects. My main criticism towards thrash is how bloated it becomes, and I was worried at first glance as "Pigs will be Pigs" storms out with riff swapping, guitar solos after every stanza, and a hard to follow through line. Ironically, "Mental Vacation", the albums longest song, is far more connected. There were a few times while listening to this where I was surprised just how quickly and smoothly the album was passing by. Songs like "Rotting on a Golden Throne" and "Concrete Hell" were so easily digested that I lost track of how much time had passed; I thought for sure there was supposed to be another four minute guitar solo after!

Alas, it can't all be good. The mixing is very much in the style of the old thrash giants like Exodus and Slayer with tons of reverb, along with high treble and not a lot of bass. The riffs themselves are sporadically solid, but without that thud of a foundational bass line, the album just sits there. This is most egregious during the guitar solos where the lead is not allowed to build and transform into the Kerry King/Jeff Hannenman solo it desperately wants to be. If Zerre could tighten up their mixing, or find a new producer altogether who values those sweet bass tones, while continuing in the same vein as Rotting on a Golden Throne, they very well could be on their way to ascending to the top.

Best Songs: Deception of the Weak, Mental Vacation, Rotting on a Golden Throne, Killing Taste

For Fans Of: Power Trip, Exodus, early Kreator

You know what, I have never really been the biggest fan of these german heavy metallers. There, I said it. I know for an awful lot of worshippers at the altar of traditional heavy metal these guys are the dog's bollocks, but I have never managed to board that train. I never listened to them much in their 80s heyday, so I have no nostalgic attachment and over the last three decades or so I have been interested in the more extreme ends of the metal world, so any exposure to Accept has been only in passing.

So, has listening to "Restless and Wild" forty plus years after its release had any impact on my tinnitus-wracked ears? Well, kinda, but its impact is more of a ripple on a pond than a tsunami. I can't fail to register the infectious nature of the riffs and the anthemic choruses but, in all honesty, these sound just like a german Saxon to me and that style of metal only has a very limited appeal now and at least I have the benefit of a nostalgic attachment to the Yorkshiremen's early stuff. Added to that is the fact that I find Udo Dirkschneider's voice pretty annoying. Now I am not so picky when it comes to metal singers, enjoying King Diamond and even Cirith Ungol's Tim Baker, but there is something in Udo's screechy singing that is a bit like fingernails down a blackboard to me. In fact, I actually enjoy some of the later Accept albums without Udo more than these earlier ones.

Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann undoubtedly knows what he is about, his solos are concise and effective and he is obviously a master writer of memorable riffs, but it all sounds so safe and I never find anything here that ignites my passion or soul. It is just kind of there and even though I may occasionally find my toe-tapping or my head nodding it never feels even close to setting the hairs on the back of my neck on end, being more of a Pavlov's Dog kind of a reaction to a catchy riff than any kind of deep engagement with the art. Now, it isn't that I dislike this album, or the band as a whole, in fact I have respect for their contribution to 80s metal and the adulation they inspire in their fans, it is just that I am unable to share in it. If I had been more exposed to their early albums at the time of their release then I may well feel better disposed towards them but, as things have panned out, they are just a footnote in my metal listening history, a band I respect more than enjoy.

Holy shit this is a beautifully bleak collection of music!

How would I describe this album?... It's on the level of movies like "Hamburger Hill", "Grave of the Fireflies", and "Requiem for a Dream"  where you know that you have witnessed a masterpiece, but instead of coming away with "I can't wait to see that again", you come away with "I never want to see that again." The emotional toll is just too heavy. 

The album Title "Watching From a Distance" alludes to the narrator deeply desiring a relationship with someone he can not obtain. It's a break up album about someone that you can still see, smell, and hear, but will never again taste or feel. There is an illusion of hope that the relationship could be rebuilt-but you know it's a mirage. Unrepairable damage has been done, and maybe it was your fault.

Now, this type of longing is nothing novel to the realm of doom metal, it's well-trodden subject matter. The difference here is that there is no wall of distorted guitars and muddy production to hide behind. There are no extravagant figures of speech in the lyrics that cheapen or soften the subject. There is no deep indecipherable growl that allows you to evade paying attention. No, this is very thick production, but it's also crystal clear, as are the vocals. It's as emotionally raw as it gets. You are going to hear this man's pain, and you are going to feel it.

"I want to be master of my own emotions with a fire that fills me

But I don't understand myself and I don't know

I don't know what my heart is anymore"


I have heard a masterpiece, and  I don't ever want to hear it again. It's too perfect and it's too real.

I first discovered Tennessee brutal death metallers Brodequin through their 2001 sophomore album "Festival of Death" back in 2009 & very quickly found myself indulging myself in the rest of their back catalogue. I'd only recently returned to metal after spending a decade in the electronic dance music scene & was looking to satisfy my long-standing urges for the sort of devastatingly brutal death metal I'd drenched myself in during the mid-1990's. These guys produced some of the most brutal death metal you'll ever find during the early 2000's so I perhaps gave them more time than they actually deserved if I'm being honest. This debut album "Instruments of Death" is a clear case in point because it's nowhere near as good as it's made out to be.

There are two main gripes that I have with it that prevent me from being able to connect with a release like "Instruments of Torture" in 2026. The first & most obvious is the ridiculous vocal performance of bass player Jamie Bailey who makes no attempt whatsoever to enunciate actual words here, instead producing an almost never-ending drainpipe pig-grunt that I find enormously annoying, single-handedly destroying my chances of finding any genuine enjoyment in "Instruments of Torture". The second is the sloppy drumming of Chad Walls who doesn't seem to possess the endurance to consistently keep up with Michael Bailey's at times very solid death metal riffage. This is a real shame because the pieces are all here but Brodequin simply can't manage to put them all together in a similar way to how they've done with their much cleaner 2024 comeback record "Harbinger of Woe" which I really enjoy. There is certainly better brutal death metal out there than "Instruments of Torture" so perhaps it's for the best that its runtime is limited to just twenty-five minutes. Oh well... I guess you can't win 'em all.

For fans of Liturgy, Disgorge & Orchidectomy.