Author: UberAdmin

Swallow The Sun – ‘When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light’ (Century Media)

Swallow The Sun – ‘When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light’ (Century Media)

Posted by | Jan 30, 2019 | , |

The old aphorism that suffering makes for great art may well have validity in certain instances. After all, recent years have shown this to be the case with artists as diverse as Mastodon, Touché Amoré and Mount Eerie all using circumstances of significant loss as the catalytic inspiration for wonderful creative outputs. With that said, it’s worthwhile considering how much, if any, consolation these achievements are to the bands in question. In the case of Swallow The Sun’s, Juha Raivio, ‘When A Shadow Is Forced Into the Light’ is an album that he would rather not have had to ever exist.

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John Diva and the Rockets of Love – ‘Mama Said Rock Is Dead’ (Steamhammer)

John Diva and the Rockets of Love – ‘Mama Said Rock Is Dead’ (Steamhammer)

Posted by | Jan 30, 2019 | , |

Gerald S’s first experience with John Diva and the Rockets of Love was watching their video for their song ‘Lolita’ which immediately took him back to the days of David Lee Roth solo albums. Autograph, ‘Summertime Girls’ by Y&T, etc. Some further research took him to videos of them covering ’80s classics at Wacken. It has caused him to wonder where exactly the line gets drawn between parody, especially reading Diva’s bio, and a new band seeking world domination. Steel Panther has shown that there is business to be had by being ridiculously over the top, but the joke can wear really thin really fast. Lyrically, Diva avoids the offensive lyrics of SP which is what makes part of this so much more confusing. Sometimes it is best to stop pondering all of this and just dig into the music…

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Bang Bang Firecracker – ‘Welcome to the Slaughterhouse’ (Self-Released)

Bang Bang Firecracker – ‘Welcome to the Slaughterhouse’ (Self-Released)

Posted by | Jan 29, 2019 | , |

Between the name of the band and the name of the album, Gerald S wasn’t quite sure what to expect back when he listened to this for the first time. This hits as a modern hard rock album with nods to the classic rock of the past as well as some of the elements of bands like Lamb of God. It definitely could create some interesting dynamics if some changes were made, but the guitar work by Kieron Berry here is extremely well done. Berry credits Chris Holmes with really inspiring this album after being on tour with him, as it kickstarted him writing the songs for this project. At the end of the day though, it just doesn’t do it for our man in Texas…

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Ravager – ‘Thrashletics’ (Iron Shield)

Ravager – ‘Thrashletics’ (Iron Shield)

Posted by | Jan 29, 2019 | , |

In 2017, Germany’s Ravager released their debut album, ‘Eradicate…Annihilate…Exterminate’; a solid collection of Euro-thrash tunes with a lyrical tone that leant towards the more jocular end of the spectrum. Mad scientists, zombie hunting – let’s just say it wasn’t exactly ‘Peace Sells…’. Nevertheless, it was a fun little outing from a promising group that suggested better things were to come in future. With ‘Thrashletics’, the lads have largely left behind the more tongue in cheek elements of their songwriting and delivered a much more expansive and overall successful follow-up.

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