Album Review: Warkings - Revenge

I'm going to ask you for a little patience right now, because I'm not sure how much I'm actually going to talk about the music on this record. I had an issue with the first Warkings album, and the reality of the current moment have made that even more unbearable. Philosophically, this record is entirely questionable, and rather difficult for me to accept.

War is the worst human invention. The mass-scale death, violence, and horror that war has created is not something we should celebrate. War is the truest form of evil we have perpetrated. That isn't to say wars have not been necessary at times, nor that the costs could not be morally justifiable, but let's not deny reality. War is an evil, and being good at war is not praise-worthy. Having proficiency at killing your fellow human beings is not a talent. It might be a fact, but there is no positive connotation to it.

Warkings is a project that writes songs dedicated to war and the heroes war has created, both real and mythological. I'm sorry, but as we are living in a moment where people are finally rising up and demanding an end to the violence and discrimination that 'warrior culture' has created in our society, it feels completely tone-deaf to be lionizing that very attitude. When you hold up the worst of us as something to celebrate, it's a rather revealing statement of your own beliefs. Not a flattering one, either.

So I find myself asking what I'm supposed to think about this album. Can any level of songwriting overcome the glorification of violence contained therein? I don't know the answer to that, and it's not something I want to spend a lot of time thinking about. I found the first album rather bland, but this one is quite obviously bouncier, catchier, and far more fun. From a purely surface level view, this is a pretty darn good power metal record. But we aren't here just to look at what's on the surface.

When I reviewed Serenity's album early in the year, I mentioned how no matter how good the record was (and it is, truly), I find it hard to make much of an attachment to songs written about knights and battles. That same feeling applies to this album, but is amplified by the more explicit focus on war. Even if I wasn't put off by this subject matter at this moment in time, what emotional connection am I supposed to make with songs written about warriors and mythological gods? Music stands with us because it becomes the soundtrack to moments in our lives, and this music will never be able to do that.

The other issue I have with this album is the band using the gimmick of anonymity, branding themselves as 'The Tribune', 'The Crusader', 'The Spartan', and 'The Viking'. The voice powering these songs is so unique and identifiable that trying to put on the air of mystery is worthless. When Ghost started out, few people knew who Tobias Forge was, so he was able to get away with the schtick for a little while. I'm not super plugged-in to the power metal scene anymore, but it's damn obvious to me who he is.

So that's a lot of words to say this; "Revenge" is an album that succeeds on one front, but fails miserably on another. It's fun to listen to, but horrifying to think about. It makes a good first impression, but leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. If the band had decided to write about nearly anything else, I would be giving this a hearty thumbs-up. However, since they have chosen the route of cheerleading stories of violence, I'm not going to recommend the album. You can follow your own conscience, but mine is telling me to put this one aside.

Album Review: High Spirits - Hard To Stop

Certain approaches to music are a double-edged sword. If you are a band like High Spirits, who follow many of the traditions of early heavy metal as it transitioned away from hard rock, doing so means two things. First, you have a built-in audience who will like what you're doing. Second, you are putting yourself in comparison with every band over the last fifty years that have played the same style. By taking on a sound that is so well established and populated, the bar is set higher than if you were doing something that only you could be known for. Familiarity breeds comfort, but it also breeds contempt.

When the record opens with "Since You've Been Gone", we're immediately hit by the band's high energy sound and classic 70s rock meets 80s metal aesthetic. They make fun music that has simple hooks to pump your first along with. That title is rather revealing, though, since the song does have a little bit in common with Rainbow's classic of the same name, and that very style is exactly the comparison High Spirits both wants and wants to avoid.

The post-Dio version of Rainbow is the sweet spot High Spirits is aiming for. The guitars aren't as classical as Blackmore would sometimes get, but they have the same growl that makes the anthemic choruses sound powerful. And given that Rainbow quickly fell from their heights once they started down this road, High Spirits maintaining their quality is a win in my book. We get some music that sounds classic, but doesn't come with the disappointment attached to it that those latter-day Rainbow records carried.

Over the course of nine songs, the band delivers us the kind of experience Slough Feg has always been trying to, but always fails to achieve. This music is simple, fun, and a good time. I know how that sounds, but I mean it as a compliment. There's nothing wrong with wanting to have some fun and entertain people. Not everything needs to be high art, nor challenging conventions. High Spirits is supposed to be a good time band, and they deliver on that promise time and time again.

There isn't a lot more to say than that, even though it's my job to do so. You know what this kind of music sounds like, and you know whether or not you like it. The only question is whether High Spirits is doing it well enough to justify giving this album a listen. I can answer that unequivocally; yes. If you're a fan of old hard rock and early heavy metal, this is absolutely a record you're going to like. High Spirits is the right kind of throwback.

Album Review: Creeper - Sex, Death, & The Infinite Void

The story of Peter Pan is not a fairy tale, it's a tragedy. There is nothing romantic about the idea of being trapped as a boy for eternity, unable to grow up, unable to develop the emotions and experiences that come with age. Peter can never know love, or loss, nothing of what makes the human experience what it is. He lives trapped in amber, existing without living, which is about as sad a thought as there could be. Creeper referenced him on their breakthrough album, but they understood the truth about him, which is why they have killed themselves to undergo a transformation on this new record.

Creeper as they were couldn't continue on, they couldn't just make more records that sounded the same and accomplished the same task. They needed to grow, learn, develop into more fully realized people. The result of that process is "Sex, Death, & The Infinite Void", an album that is still Creeper, but is a more evolved take on their brooding emo/punk sound. If "Eternity, In Your Arms" was a soundtrack for coming of age, this album catalogs the complicated feelings once you have gotten there.

The initial single to the record, "Born Cold", quickly established this was a new chapter in Creeper's story, and the subsequent releases showed us the band was spreading their wings in every direction. The eyeliner might remain, but instead of emo tears, they are there for old-school glam. Creeper has brightened their sound, pulling from sounds and eras that have echoed through time because they could survive in both sun and moonlight. Creeper is stepping out of the shadows, and daring us to look.

"Anabelle" is a perfect embodiment of this new attitude, as it's a song that could not have exited in Creeper's previous incarnation. The synths and jangling guitars set up an almost joyous tone, which becomes reverential when the song's chorus turns into a revival-tent hymn singing "God can't save us." You can imagine Will Gould dressed as a faith-healing preacher, only instead of being a fraud taking advantage of the desperate and meek, he is being an honest messenger and telling them there's nothing that can be done. The God that created this mess isn't going to be the one to clean it up. Like Nietzsche's famous declaration that "God is dead, and we have killed him", Creeper is delving into the darkest of possibilities. It's a startlingly deep and mature take on what could have been done with all the nuance of a chainsaw.

In a way, this record serves as a soundtrack to a film noir no one has yet put on celluloid. We can hear the beats of the story and how it builds in "Be My End", how it falls away on the emotional climax of "All My Friends", and the cathartic B-story of "Cyanide". That particular thought was driven home in my mind during the spoken word section in "Anabelle", where the vocal cadence and the drum beat sounds quite similar to a part in Brian Setzer's imaginary film soundtrack album "Songs From Lonely Avenue" (I am by no means accusing the band of anything - I don't think hardly anyone has ever heard that album other than me).

On "Paradise", the guitars take on the tremolo of vintage surf music, but this time sounding deeper, and more like the soundtrack that would come as you are gripped by the undertow, your brain shutting down as you run out of breath. The paradise is the image you create to fill the black void, and the sinister guitar notes are there to keep you from forgetting it's all in your imagination. When the horns kick in near the end, Creeper is taking on the guise of The E Street Band, if they were transformed by the moonlight.

"Thorns Of Love" is a bizarre mashup of almost Motown soul with the epic madness of Jim Steinman. The song goes from the soft stabs of guitar and a shuffling rhythm to a chorus rivaling anything Meat Loaf sang, which is made all the more obvious when the spoken word section is pure Steinman, and the following guitar solo, complete with bells,  is right out of "Bat Out Of Hell". This stuff plays right into the cracks of my heart, and I ate it up.

Creeper takes us on a trip through many chapters in olden music history, and what's amazing is how they do it so well. We saw Lordi try this same sort of thing, with a far more obvious gimmick behind it, and the results were disastrous. Creeper, however, are able to convince me they are Peter Pan, they have been around through all these episodes and eras, and that's why they can inhabit the various sounds and make them feel natural. It's quite the accomplishment to reinvent yourself not just once, but several times across the same album. I haven't heard it often, and maybe never as well as Creeper has done it here.

The story of Creeper is the one I most enjoy writing. A band I heard promise from on "The Stranger" blossomed into a great band on "Eternity, In Your Arms", and now they have shattered expectations and emerged as grayscale butterflies shimmering the moonlight off their iridescent wings on "Sex, Death, & The Infinite Void". Those wings are fully stretched, and they span as wide as I can see. Creeper has make a remarkable record here, whether or not it winds up being the best of the year, it very well might be the most impressive.

Bloody Good News: Manowar Still Sucks, And So Does Absu

It seems like I could write a column practically every week about musicians being horrible human beings. Here's this week's entries:

Our Top Story: Former(?) Manowar guitarist Karl Logan has admitted in court to possessing child pornography, and now faces up to twenty-five years in prison. This does not put an end to the story, however, as there is another angle besides justice being done in the legal system. I wrote an angry missive against Manowar and their handling of this issue, and I stand by everything I said then. With this new development, it reinforces everything I thought at the time, and makes the band's position even more untenable.

I checked their online presence for any sort of statement regarding Logan, and found absolutely nothing, which means their previous statement last year stands as the last comments they made on the subject. That statement, if you remember, raised many questions of morality, because it never said Logan was officially removed from Manowar, only that he would no longer be performing with the band. The issues I had at the time, mostly that the band was trying to sell new music without revealing if any of the money would be profiting Logan, still remain. Manowar has had a year to address this, and has failed to do so. Instead, Manowar is busy touting the new console they installed at their recording studio.

With a former member of the band now admitting to being a sex offender, how is it that Manowar can feel comfortable staying silent? I don't mean how the lousy people in the band can continue to be lousy people, I want to know how the music press hasn't latched onto this story and demanded an explanation from Manowar. How have we let them get away with this?

I find this especially puzzling in light of recent circumstances, where women are coming forward and telling their stories, and Burger Records now shutting down in light of their role in the perpetuation of sexual abuse. We have seen the pop and indie worlds reckoning with the despicable people in their midst, but metal is lagging behind. Manowar harbored a man we can probably call a pedophile, who we can definitely call an abettor of child sex abuse, and the band never has to address what they knew or what they did about it. That is indefensible not just of them, but of us.

In the years I've been writing about music, I think this story is the most disheartening, because this is an indictment of everyone. I get that bad people are going to do horrible things, but it's the job of good people to call them out and hold them to account.

Where are the good people?

In Other News: Texas underground 'legends' Absu have broken up, and it apparently stems from band leader 'Proscriptor' McGovern's anti-trans beliefs. The band's latest guitarist, Melissa Moore, came out as transgender, and soon thereafter the band broke up, with McGovern starting a new group to be called 'Proscriptor McGovern's Apsu". He is rebranding himself in an effort to avoid playing with Moore, but why?

According to her, after she made her transition, McGovern told her she ruined the band, and that "there is no place for a woman in this band".

I cannot understand what kind of small-minded 'men' hold these beliefs. How does it matter to the music whether it is being played by a woman or not? Does he think the audience can hear the lack of testosterone bleeding through the guitar pickups?

Someone more interested in psychology, and crossing dangerous lines, might be inclined to ask how the most aggressive and chest-puffing of men can only stand to be in the company of other men. That might be a telling attitude. I'm not going to go there, though. I'll let you do that for yourself.

I think McGovern has more than exposed himself for the small, weak, pathetic, and insecure excuse for a man that he is. I don't need to say anything more. His intolerance speaks for itself.

Album Review: Primal Fear - Metal Commando

Primal Fear is an institution. They've been around for decades, released album after album that their fans have loved, and for a while filled a void that metal needed. That window sort of closed when Judas Priest returned to their old form, but do you think such trifles are going to stop Primal Fear from soldiering on? Just looking at the title of this one, that pun should make things rather obvious. Despite the small window of time where the band tried to do something a bit different, they have reliably been providing the world with all the Judas Priest we didn't know we still wanted. Their dedication to being so traditional can get in their way sometimes, but it's also why they are as big as they are.

Speaking of big, that's how the record sounds. The production of "Metal Commando" is massive, with thick guitars and immense drums. Unfortunately, the production can't do anything to make Ralf Scheepers' shrieking sound any less painful. The guy can sing, and sing well, yet he continues to mar so many of their songs with his high-pitched caterwauling. In fact, on "Along Came The Devil" it's either his voice breaking as he tries to hit those shrieks, or the recording is so hot it's audibly distorting. Either way, it sounds horrible.

The record is exactly what you would expect from Primal Fear. They settled into a groove a long time ago, and we get another album full of songs that try to punch you in the face with simple, snarling metal tracks. If you think about 'meat and potatoes' heavy metal, you wind up with Primal Fear. That's not a criticism, per se, but at this point the band has given us so much music that sounds just like this it's a bit played out. The only way for a record so in line with everything they've ever done is for it to be so sharply-written that it's unquestionably the best thing they've ever released. That's not this record.

These guys are old pros, so they know what they're doing. "Metal Commando" is a good record, but it makes some of the same mistakes Primal Fear has been making for ages. The shrieking is one of them, but not the only one. They also get so focused on sounding heavy and proving their metal credentials that some of the songs never develop the melodies and hooks that are necessary if you're ever going to have songs stick around. "The Lost & The Forgotten" is a perfect example of that. It has one of the band's heaviest riffs, and it actually plays with dynamics in the verse, but then the chorus is a barren wasteland of melody, where Scheepers and the others chant a simple line that falls completely flat. The balloon doesn't deflate so much as disintegrate.

Metal traditionalists will love a lot of the material on this record, but that's not who I am. Just having something heavy isn't enough for me, and Primal Fear's songwriting on this album once again feels like it's on auto-pilot. I know they can do better, because I've heard it from them. They have all the pieces to make a great album, including songwriters, and yet they continue to put out these records that are completely boilerplate and done to death. I may not be a big Judas Priest fan, but even I can say this record and "Firepower" are doing exactly the same thing, which is the problem. Why would I listen to this when Judas Priest's album is better?

Primal Fear is obviously happy doing what they're doing, and their fans are happy with it to. But for myself, it's not enough to win me over. I keep expecting something more, and I feel disappointed every time when it doesn't come through. "Metal Commando" is fine, but not for me.

Singles Roundup: Elvis Costello, Creeper, Amaranthe, & Yours Truly

Elvis Costello – No Flag/Hetty O'Hara Confidential

Artists flit in and out of our own mindsets, and Elvis is now on a different side of the world from me. Despite how much of his music I have loved, these new songs follow a lengthy period of time where he hasn't interested me, and do nothing to buck the trend. Recorded by himself, Elvis is back in exprimental mode, which means he's trying to tell stories in his songs over a mess of noises. These songs lack his flair for melody, and his formerly sharp wordplay. It's so watered-down from what he's capable of that I don't even know what I'm supposed to feel; anger, disappointment, or outright sadness.

Creeper – Be My End

The last(?) single before the record drops, "Be My End" continues to fill in the picture of what the greater work is going to be like. In a way, it is the anchor point everything else will revolve around, taking their previous sound and dialing down the emo just a hair. That leaves us with a song that is half pop/punk and half classic rock, a perfect blend for a rollicking hook that has just the right amount of 'camp' to it. A review of the album is coming soon.

Amaranthe – Viral

After "Helix", Amaranthe was clearly established as the best of all the hyper-modern pop metal bands. There have been several trying to do the same thing, but none have done it as well, and this first single for their upcoming album shows the gap hasn't narrowed. Amaranthe write the slickest earworms in all of metal right now, and they have the vocal prowess few could hope to match. Their blend of voices, along with the sharp writing, create unforgettable songs that burrow into your head. At least with this song, they are still the standard.

Yours Truly - Together

With Creeper's album close enough at hand, there is nothing I'm looking forward to more in the second half of 2020 than Yours Truly's first full-length. Their "Afterglow" EP was the best EP of last year, and the two songs they've released for this album continue marching to the top of the mountain. Yours Truly are everything I think pop music should be, and this song embodies that with its heavy enough guitars, bouncing energy, and sticky chorus. Mikaela can sell a hook with her bright vocal tone, and the production makes this sound arena-ready. If this is an indicator, we might be looking at an Album Of The Year contender. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to share my thoughts on the full record in September.

Album Review: Thundermother - Heat Wave

A couple years ago, Thundermother put out a record that put the on my radar as a good, AC/DC style rock band, who just so happened to have a singer with the potential to be great. Fast forward to today, and those ladies are back with a new album that was produced by a described Swedish 'hit maker', and the first single was the catchiest song they had ever released at that point. All the signs are pointing to Thundermother being on the verge of a break-out moment with this record. So as the summer heat is settling in, they are giving us their own heat wave.

The things that were already good about Thundermother haven't changed. Guernica Mancini's voice is still a blues and whiskey soaked dart hitting the bulls-eye every time, and Filippa Nassil's guitars chime with the clear tones of AC/DC's best work. The record sounds flawless.

Between the band's chemistry coming together, the members all contributing ideas, and the change in producers, the impact is felt immediately. Maybe this record is slightly less of a classic rock jolt hitting you upside the head with riffs, but the songwriting has pumped these tracks up to new levels. "Dog From Hell" is a huge sing-along that the band couldn't have pulled off before now. The songs on this record are the band's most immediate, more memorable, and downright best work yet. While they were good before at what they did, they've upped the bar for what is possible. As they were, they had a ceiling. With this record, that is being shattered. This version of classic rock can take them far.

"Back In 76" could be a modern take on "I Love Rock & Roll". It's certainly sticky in all the same ways. That song serves as a good template of what Thundermother is up to on this record, except that they aren't playing covers. It's a mixture of 70s classic rock guitars and 80s hard rock choruses, which come together to make a sound that is more timeless than most of the more obviously retro bands. Thundermother sounds classic, but not old. There's a vibrancy and freshness to this record that pops in a way that we don't get from your Horisonts of the world. Rather than sounding like a record from 1976, this sounds like the evolution of that sound in the modern day. That's far more interesting than another retread.

We heard all of this when "Driving In Style" was released as a single, and it's so satisfying to hear it wasn't a one-off, but a proper reflection of the record. Like that song, this album is driving classic rock with big hooks and fantastic vocals. And coming when it does, it's a perfect summer rock album. This is absolutely the kind of record you can put on when the sun is high, the temperature is higher, and feel good about rocking out to. They've captured the fun elements of classic rock and brought them to life in a set of songs that has a lot of charm.

I'll put it simply; if you like classic rock, go listen to Thundermother. This album nails what modern classic rock can be, and it's a huge step forward for the band. "Heat Wave" is great, and should earn Thundermother a promotion to the next level. Well done, ladies.

Album Review: Dark Sarah - Grim

You would think that a band labeled as 'cinematic metal' would be doing something so epic and grand that it had no choice but to be memorable. Whether for good or bad, something about that kind of music has to make an impression, right? Well, the answer to that is no, it doesn't, and Dark Sarah is living proof of that. I covered their previous album, and in the time since I did so, I have forgotten everything about it. Despite reaching for the stars, they still came up short. So when this new album was sent to me, my first thought was in regards to whether or not I remembered enough of the last experience to justify spending the time covering this one. In the end, I decided to give them another shot, even though I can't tell you I came to that conclusion logically.

The idea of Dark Sarah is to juxtapose the heaviness of modern metal with an ethereal, classical voice. They do that, but they don't do enough to make the dichotomy really 'pop'. The music is heavy, but it doesn't go far enough to be the darkness to Heidi's light. They need to push both sides to the extreme to make it work, because Heidi's melodies on their own aren't strong enough to raise the songs. When the band sounds like every other metal band, they need better songwriting to stand out. Which gets me to the biggest complaint...

For being 'cinematic', this album doesn't feel any different from so many other melodic metal albums. The added instrumentation is restrained, and often so far in the background its disappearance would make no difference to the final result. They don't give any of the big themes or melodies to the parts that are supposed to be cinematic, which makes those elements feel tacked on for the sake of being artistic. They rarely sound integral to the construction of the songs.

The hardest part of being a musician is songwriting. There are countless people you can find on any social media platform whose skill singing or playing an instrument would put most of the greats to shame. What you won't find are many who can write powerful songs that move people, or get stuck in their heads. It's a talent that is rare, and I'm not entirely sure can be learned. So it should come as no surprise that if we look at a cross-section of a hundred or more bands, most of them are going to struggle with writing great songs. That is Dark Sarah's struggle as well.

Nothing on "Grim" is outright bad, and there are moments that are enjoyable to listen to, but there isn't anything that grabbed my attention. There were no big riffs or sticky melodies to hold onto. Everything was pretty, but in the kind of way that is a slick veneer that slips through your fingers when you try to close your fist around it. Like a lot of bands, Dark Sarah has talent, but needs sharper songs.

That's the same feeling I had with their previous album, and unless something changes, probably the same feeling I'll have with their next one too.

Images & Words: How VK Lynne Painted Her Masterpiece

When Beyonce failed to capture the Grammy for Album Of The Year for "Lemonade", one of the refrains that I heard was how the video component of the album made it a statement that rose above anything else released that year. While I didn't think that applied when thinking about awards, it did stir up thoughts about how important visuals can be to a song. How many songs do we remember from our youths on the basis of the video? I can count a few, without question. Whatever degree to which I'm a fan of Pink is directly tied to seeing the video for "Just Like A Pill", and being captivated by both her and the art.

I was reminded of the feeling I had downloading that video so I could watch it time and time again recently, when The Spider Accomplice released the video to go along with their new song I was already raving about.

"Crawl" is more than a mere music video put online for the benefit of YouTube clicks. Many songs get videos that mean nothing, and are put together to satisfy fans who don't want to watch a blank title card while the music plays. Here, the visual art is a vital component to the effectiveness of the song. Without the video, our experience would be incomplete, because we would be relying on some members of the audience with an incomplete understanding of metaphor having to decipher lyrical imagery on their own. The connection we form with the song is deeper as a result of being able to see VK's passion and emotion jumping off the screen. We reach a deeper level of music's humanity by absorbing it through multiple senses. It does to in three ways.

First, the video gives us greater context to the intent of the lyrics. The snake suit VK wears shines a light upon how we are our own tempting serpents. The true essence of ourselves may seem to us an outside force pulling us in directions we don't want to go, but they are who we are, and eventually we will crawl out and become our final form. The metamorphosis may be slow, it may be painful, but it needs to happen if we are going to find peace. Unlike the biblical story, this serpent is leading us into Eden, closer to the peace that comes from not having to hide who we are. The tempting fruit feeds us, with no repercussions.

Second, VK's skin baring is a layer of metaphor on top of the soul baring exhibited by the words. Music is, at its best, confessional. Art says something about the person creating it, and VK is able to deepen the meaning of the song by tying her voice and her body together. Words are not always clear in how honest they are, but images are harder to fake. Even the best actress has trouble replicating pain effectively enough to fool us for long. VK, in this video, makes it clear that "Crawl" is her, as she says, bleeding for her art.

Third, VK's skin baring also plays with our perceptions by taking a song with a panoramic scope, and making it as personal as humanly possible. She uses her small frame as a canvas upon which an epic statement is projected, concentrating the message upon her skin while we concentrate on the magnetic pull of her skin. Our eyes are drawn to the screen, focusing all our attention upon our senses, which allows the song to burrow deeper than if we were listening while distracted. By putting the attention on herself, VK has usurped our gaze to redirect our attention to the song. When we cannot take our eyes off her, we cannot shut our ears to the song. She has emerged victorious in psychological warfare.

"Crawl" makes a statement all on its own, but the video component adds layers of blunt nuance that shine like a lacquer upon a painting, revealing details that would otherwise remain hidden. The video stirs our blood as if thoughts travel through our veins, making sure we coat every nook and cranny with the song. VK is pretty in (and out of) pink, but it's all for a purpose. She is an artist, and the "Crawl" video is her masterpiece. As much as I loved the song when I first heard it, my affection has forged a crystal from the sands of time by watching the video. As it refracts a rainbow, pink is my favorite color.

See for yourself:

Album Review: UDO - We Are One

There are some figures in music who achieve legendary status, and for the life of me I can't figure out how it happened. Ozzy is always at the top of that list, but I do sort of understand it, since Black Sabbath was something no one had ever heard before, so Ozzy was the only voice you could hear singing such music. He won through sheer luck. What I have less an understanding of is just how in the blue hell Udo Dirkshneider ever became a huge figure in European metal. The man's voice is a warbling mess, and he didn't even have an image to fall back on. If he was starting out today, he would get laughed off the stage, and yet he continues to solider on as a beloved artist. I just don't get it.

This album might be his most laughable one yet, as he teams up with Das Musikkorps Der Bundeswehr, meaning this is a fully orchestrated attempting to be something epic and grand. Those words are incompatible with Udo's voice, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Everything about this record hinges on Udo. If by some happenstance you don't think his voice sounds like the gurgling sound made by victims who have had their throats slashed in horror movies, then you might actually like this. As for me, I would rather listen to my own voice than Udo's, and since everyone hates their own, is there anything worse I can say?

He always sounds ridiculous, but even more than usual with orchestral backdrops and angelic backing vocals highlighting how ill-suited he is to this particular task. This music requires a voice that fits in with a more classical setting, and Udo isn't just the proverbial fish out of water, he's like trying to get a sun-tan in the middle of the night. He's ok in the few moments where everyone is trying to chant a simple message, but everywhere else on the record he is simply outclassed and over-matched.

The other issue with the record is that it's just too damn long. With fifteen songs here, it's too much music to take in, especially with as epic as it's trying to sound. Getting blasted in the face by a metal band and an army band at the same time for an entire hour is asking a lot of the listeners. Maybe it would be worth enduring all of this if the songs were great, but they are held back by the album's conceit. Udo is not a melodic singer to begin with, but turning over half of the work to the non-metal instruments robs us even of the simple riffs that normally let us pump our fists. By trying to sound so big, the music actually sounds smaller.

I suppose I give Udo some credit for trying to do something outside his comfort zone, but that's about all I can say. It's ambitious, but that ambition doesn't pay off with great songs or great performances. This might have been salvaged by a better singer, but Udo is the wrong man to make this worth listening to. He wants this album to be something meaningful and serious, but he sounds like a cartoon character. I can't take it seriously with him singing, and that pretty much means it never had a chance to succeed.

Bloody Good News: Lady (Scarlet Letter) A & Iced (Flat) Earth

Our Top Story: The band formerly known as Lady Antebellum has erased much of the good will their name change has created. By changing their name to Lady A, and removing the reference to the plantation days of the south (sorry, they don't deserve to have that capitalized), the band was showing a level of concern and respect you don't often get in country music. Some thought it was going overboard, but most saw it as a sign the band wanted to be good people, wanted to do right by a community that doesn't listen to their music in large numbers, and wanted to be one less reminder of the horrific past we still deal with on a daily basis.

There was just one problem with that; there is already a long-established artist who uses the name Lady A. The band claims they own the rights to the name, and perhaps they do, but having not enforced the mark at all while this other singer was using it could easily render that moot. The bigger problem is this; Lady A, the singer, is an African-American woman.

Yes, the band changed their name to be respectful of that community, and are now suing a member of it to take away the name she has used for decades as a performer. The band has been in negotiations to find a settlement for them both to share the name, but talks have broken down, and the band is now running to court to take Lady A's livelihood away from her. The optics of this are so awful I'm shocked (though I shouldn't be) the powers that be didn't game-plan this out before they moved forward.

It was premature and irresponsible to announce their name change before these negotiations were completed. They put themselves in an untenable situation, where they have made the change public, therefore they need to carry through with it, even though it now loses the purpose behind the move. If they had waited, they either could have come to better terms with the issue not in the public eye, or they could have picked a yet different name that doesn't have such a conflict surrounding it. They jumped the gun, and because of that now look like bullies telling a minority to give away their lunch money to a group of white people. It's a shockingly ugly look, and one I expected the band to immediately apologize for once the story came out.

They didn't happen, though. Right now, things are full speed ahead. Disgusting.

In Other News: The train of musicians showing their delusional thinking continues, this time with Iced Earth mastermind Jon Schaffer going on a conspiracy theorist's radio show to voice his opinion that COVID-19 is "psychological warfare", and that the steps being taken to slow the virus are going to lead to the downfall of society.

We've known ever since he made his anti-government side-project that Schaffer is hanging off the fringe, but never before has it come in a form this dangerous. He isn't just distrustful of the government, he is now denying reality. Millions have gotten sick, by the time we're done with this pandemic there will likely be at least a million dead, and Schaffer is literally saying, "people die every day".

Here's the thing about libertarians like Schaffer; they're full of shit.

Schaffer is in a band that tours by rolling down public highways. That was the government building roads. Private businesses and citizens didn't do that. He sends his music to fans all over the world over the internet, which was developed and subsidized by the government. The satellites that let him do that, or even talk on the radio to his other reality deniers, they were also developed and put up by the government.

Libertarianism is only possible as a philosophy because of thousands of years of governments moving us forward. You cannot start from scratch as libertarians and accomplish anything. I have had this argument with several people for many years; the libertarian idea of total freedom is incompatible with being a good person. That kind of freedom doesn't just mean not paying taxes, it logically follows that people are also free to be racists, misogynists, and every other disgusting form of 'humanity' under the sun, so long as they don't physically harm anyone. I'm sorry, but that is not society, it's the talk of a man of privilege who knows no one is going to be trying to make life harder for him.

Schaffer might not care if you get the virus and die. Heck, it sounds like he'll find every reason to deny you ever had it. But I'm going to illustrate what being a decent person is. I could very easily reflect his attitude and hope he gets the virus, and gets seriously ill, maybe even dies. But I'm not going to do that. I don't wish ill on anyone. That's part of the social contract.

Maybe he should brush up on that.

Album Review: The Jayhawks - XOXO

In previous occasions I've had the opportunity to talk about The Jayhawks, I have mentioned that I have an odd relationship with them. "Hollywood Town Hall" is one of my favorite albums ever, "Rainy Day Music" is a fabulous summer treat for me, and their last collection "Back Roads And Abandoned Motels" was one of the best albums of its year. But despite that, I have never been able to embrace "Smile" or "Tomorrow The Green Grass" the way most fans did, and the sonic experimentation of "Paging Mr Proust" was baffling to me. So what do we get from this latest sojourn, where the band is more collaborative than ever before?

This album is The Jayhawks as I know and love them; a rootsy, Americana band playing simple songs that float by with beautiful melodies and harmonies. At their best, their music is rather ethereal, a timeless soundtrack to a country that at present times doesn't seem like it exists. There's a nostalgia to the sound, even if we know that feeling is a longing for a time that never was. In a sense, these songs are a time machine to somewhere better than anything we have known.

There are the traditional Jayhawks songs like the single, "This Forgotten Town", where Gary Louris' voice is the gentle breeze pushing the boat forward. There are also some wings being spread, like on "Dogtown Days", where Tim O'Reagan takes the lead for a more rocking track where the electric guitars are sharper than usual, to accent the tone of his voice. Likewise, when Karen Grotberg takes her turn in front, her piano is more up front in the mix, wisely tailoring the song to best fit her tone.

My favorite moments are still the ones where the band blends their folk and classic rock influences, where Louris puts a bit of fuzz on his guitar and showcases his melodic soloing to add even more layers to the mix of voices. There has always been a wistful quality to the band's music, but that is made more of a focus on this record. This is The Jayhawks playing some of their softest music, which might sound boring, but it plays into the strengths of the current incarnation of the band. They are players who excel at making beautiful music. They don't have the same biting tones or upbeat swagger of the early days, but what they do now is wonderful in a different way.

"XOXO" reminds me most of "Rainy Day Music", both in terms of the band sharing vocal duties and songwriting, but also in the tone the record takes. This album is one for a lazy day, a soundtrack for sitting around and thinking. It calms the blood rather than get it flowing, and for that purpose it hits the mark. In a crazy time, when we all have our minds racing a hundred miles an hour from one bad news story to the next, "XOXO" is a decompressant, a moment to stop and breathe.

The Jayhawks and I ebb and flow, and right now our waters are flowing in the same direction. "XOXO" is the band focusing on their roots, and that is where strength lies. As someone who regularly gets a welcome feeling from their music, the band has added another entry on the positive side of the ledger. The ink runs black on this one.

Album Review: Michael Grant & The Assassins - Always A Villain

I walk into this album confused. I understand a 'star' branding his music as "____ & ____", separating himself from his backing band. I also understand artists who are talented and controlling enough to want to play every instrument on what is truly a 'solo record'. What I don't understand is Michael Grant, who has combined both of these things. "Always The Villain" is a solo record where he plays every instrument, yet it is credited to a band. It leaves me asking questions. Is there actually a band called The Assassins he has locked up somewhere? Is he such an egotist he considers himself as important as an entire band? Is he just afraid of putting this out under his own name, in case it fails, so he can blame the non-existent band when he reinvents himself yet again? I'm scratching my head.

Considering that Grant spent several years as a guitarist in LA Guns, that should tell you what this record is going to sound like. I've listened to that band's recent releases, which were some of the worst rock music of these last couple years. LA Guns plays stripped-down rock without any hooks or melodies, and their ear for production is completely shot, so the records also sound dreadful from a production standpoint. Most of that is also true of this record, though not quite as bad.

The record is a bit muddy, with the guitars sounding especially brittle. There's no brightness or sharpness to the sound, and it doesn't sound particularly heavy either. That's not a great starting point, but then the songs give us little more to enjoy. Grant's vocals drone on over some generic sleaze guitars, where none of these songs have anything approaching a hook. I don't want to sound harsh, but they sound like the songs written by a guitar player. Trust me, there's an insult in there.

Even the better material on the record is merely adequate. It's a record that doesn't reach very deep into Grant's artistic soul, and it sounds like it could have used someone else's ears to push him towards something more than this. It's not terrible by any means, but it's all faceless rock you can hear in any bar in any small town. Other than his connection to LA Guns, I don't hear what about this record would deserve any attention. Being better at this than LA Guns isn't anything to hang your hat on. That bar is pretty damn low.

Really, there isn't much else to say about this record. It's incredibly generic rock that doesn't try to do anything new, or even anything great. It's happy being decidedly average, so if that's what you want, go ahead and listen to it. Myself, I have better things to do.

Album Review: Shining Black - Shining Black

Despite having been around for a long time, my only real exposure to Mark Boals as a singer comes from the album he made with Magnus Karlsson under the name of The Codex. That album was good, and Boals was a more than capable singer, but for whatever reason I never felt the need to seek out any of his other work to see what I was missing. So when I saw his name pop up as being in this new project, I figured the time was right to give him another shot. For this album, he is joined by Olaf Thorsen of Labyrinth and Vision Divine as his songwriting partner. Let's see what that means for the record.

The music of Shining Black sits on the balance of hard rock and metal, where I can hear elements of both sides coming into play. Honestly, I wish they would have picked one or the other, because some of the hard rock instrumentation doesn't mesh so well with the power metal vocal melodies. "My Life" was chosen as a single, but it doesn't work for me. The music getting through the verses is fine, but that chorus doesn't have the bounce or flair a rock song needs. It's a power metal hook, but without enough instrumental 'oomph' to propel the melody.

"A Sad Song" and the title track (Can we say that naming a song, album, and band the same thing is lazy?) are far better, where Boals' melodies have movement and bite to them. Those are the songs that are most focused as rock songs, and that approach works out for the best. When they rely on Boals stretching his voice, which also stretches the notes in the melody, the songs aren't as appealing. They aren't bad, but they sound like everything else, and aren't so well done they stand out from the pack.

Several of the songs feature hooks that are very similar, and completely standard. Power metal isn't known for innovation, and the more of that sound finding its way into these songs, the more they grow stale because of it. Boals sounds great, and the record is more than competently played and put together, but it's never exciting. Even when it's done to perfection, there are so many albums that follow this exact blueprint I can't say it would ever be exciting. This isn't that album, though.

Shining Black is yet another one of these project bands that has a few good songs, but not enough of an identity to make me believe they have a future ahead of them. They sound like a dozen other of these groups, and frankly, their songs aren't enough to set them apart. This is a record that is fine, enjoyable enough, but ultimately forgettable.

Album Review: Maryann Cotton - Hallelujah

I don't know if I've ever gotten the opportunity to comment on the topic, but with Maryann Cotton being billed as the "prince of shock rock", I can say a couple of things regarding that. Shock rock was always a terrible way to brand your music, because it removed any of the quality in favor of being titillating or offensive. Yes, Alice Cooper is famous to this day because of his stage antics, but how many of his songs have remained in the public consciousness? KISS has a string of them, but shock rock doesn't. Plus, after so many years, is anything actually shocking anymore? It's become such a misnomer that I have to groan at it. They are describing a sound that once existed that is not completely divorced from the meanings of the words involved. But enough about my issues with language.

There's another issue regarding shock rock that comes up pretty quickly; not only is the music not shocking, it doesn't really rock either. This is a rather soft album that relies as much on the cheap synth accompaniments as it does on the old-school riffing. When you see the imagery and the description, this is not the sound you expect to hear. There's a very real cognitive dissonance going on at first.

That being said, Maryann Cotton does have a way with a song. Though they might not be what you expect, the songs have a soft rock appeal with plenty of charm. The vocals have a lot of Alice Cooper in them, but the melodies are written smartly enough to work around those limitations, and enhance the best qualities. When they lean into their softer side, the songs really work. The title track and "I'm Your Saint" are both lovely tracks that use the extra sounds and the vocal harmonies to build a bigger track. There's even some power-pop to them, which only enhances the experience. Compared to the very straight-forward "Night In California", there's no comparison which direction is the best way for them to go.

In a way, this sort of reminds me of Lordi. You have a gruff voice singing rock with a heavy influence of pop melodies. The difference is that Lordi has seemed to become ashamed of what made them famous, which has only made them a worse band as time goes on and they try everything under the sun to avoid doing what they're best at. Maryann Cotton is, right now, happy to exist in a place where 'cheese' isn't a dirty word. It isn't overwhelming, but you know there's some tongue-in-cheek attitude in all of this. Not that it's a bad thing.

Despite being a short album, it does feel longer than its running time. Especially when "Those Things To Come" comes along, where it spends four minutes with little energy and almost spoken vocals, there isn't enough energy to keep things rolling. And that song, like "Night In California", doesn't boast much of a melody when they do try to kick things up a bit. The best songs are the ones that go in the more dramatic, 'orchestrated' direction. That's when everything comes alive, and unfortunately they don't carry that through the entire record. An entire album of songs like "Hallelujah" and "Eternal Love Forever" would be a wonderful blast of retro fun, but that's not quite what we get.

So yes, "Hallelujah" is a flawed record. There are some really good things about it, and a few that bring things down. I think things tilt enough toward the good side to still say it's a record I enjoyed listening to, but the blemishes do mean it's not a record I can get overly excited about. It's a nice way to spend some time, which might be enough.

The Best/Worst Albums Of 2020, So Far

After what has seemed like an eternity, time has lurched from its standstill, and we have reached the halfway point in the calendar. It's been a trying time to be a music fan, as the worldwide pandemic has led to numerous albums being delayed for a future we all hope is going to be better than today. That may or may not be, but it does mean several albums that many of us would have otherwise been talking about at this point didn't come out yet. Does that mean the roster of releases to mention today are less than they would have otherwise been? I won't say that, both because I have no way of knowing which would live up to my expectations, and because there has been enough good new music to (mostly) carry me through. There have been more than enough bad albums, but that's the other side of the ledger.

With that being said, let's tackle the extremes, starting with:

The Best Albums So Far (even though all of them have a glaring flaw):

Allen/Olzon - Worlds Apart

A wonderful melodic metal album featuring two remarkable vocalists. There aren't any surprises, but the usual formula is done better on this record. It's a big, lush, gloriously hook-laden record that delivers expertly crafted songs. The flaw? The two only blend their voices on half the songs, when a true duets album could have been even more magical.

Harem Scarem - Change The World

Coming off their best record ever, Harem Scarem keep the hot streak going. This is melodic rock of the highest order, with sticky songs that don't leave your head. These veterans have never been better, and this record is a neck-and-neck competitor to "United", which earned #2 on my year end list in 2017. The flaw? It's nearly a carbon copy.

Illumishade - Eclyptic: Wake Of Shadows

This concept album features stunning vocals from Fabienne Erni, and some of the most beautiful metal songs of the year. Her melodies are enchanting, the band powerful, and her voice angelic. When Illumishade is on, they are remarkable. The flaw? Minus the segues/intros, there's only 28 minutes of songs, which isn't enough.

One Way North - To Light

Finding this album was a matter of luck; good luck, that is. Immediately upon hearing it, the songs struck me for being the kind of muscular modern rock that the mainstream tries and fails to give us. It's heavy, yes, but filled with great melodies and hooks, all without the worst qualities that make the mainstream so hard to listen to sometimes. This album takes what Mark Tremonti does in his solo work, and if you ask me, does it even better. The flaw? I could do without the pop song cover, even though it's well done, and it will go unappreciated while far lesser works get all the attention.

Serenity - The Last Knight

I've always liked Serenity, but never been able to fully embrace any of their albums. That changes here, as they have delivered their most consistently excellent release yet. Every song boasts a massive hook, with a couple of contenders for song of the year included. They've upped their game, finally, and hit their potential. The flaw? I can't really connect to songs about knights in battle.

We Sell The Dead - Black Sleep

After a dull first album that was paired with amateurish videos, We Sell The Dead strips things back and moves far forward by doing so. This record is slightly doom-influenced hard rock that wouldn't be out of place in the Dio-era Rainbow canon. It's engaging, memorable, and sung by the fantastic voice of Apollo Papathanasio, who hasn't had this good a platform since Firewind. The flaw? Apollo doesn't get the chance to sing the entire album.


And to balance things out...

The Worst Albums So Far:

Candlemass - The Pendulum [EP]

This release doesn't justify its own existence. We get three short interlude tracks that waste time on an already short release, two mediocre songs, and one song that was already released in superior form on Avatarium's last album. All Candlemass does with this release is show there's a reason why bands don't release every scrap of music they create.

Green Day - Father Of All...

This album is allegedly only to fulfill their contract, and it sounds like it. The half-assed songs are illustrated nicely by the vomiting unicorn on the cover. This is a lazy record that makes four of the band's last five that didn't have any real effort put into them. That's an insult to the fans, but it doesn't seem to be hurting business. What a terrible example it sets.

Lordi - Killection

Every album, Lordi gives us two or three good songs, and a bunch of cringe-worthy filler. With this one, the band tries to take on the guise of various sounds throughout the history of rock. Lordi has never mastered being Lordi, so it's no surprise them trying to be other bands is a disaster. And frankly, Mr Lordi's sexual predator schtick is getting more uncomfortable every year. I'm not sure how to justify it anymore.

Poppy - I Disagree

Sometimes you can put two random things together and find they work. Sometimes you do that and find yourself wanting to damage your own ear drums. That's what this record is, with a blend of modern metal and infantile pop that doesn't work whatsoever. It's supposed to be 'art', but it's the equivalent of the urinal installation on a gallery wall. Just because you call something art doesn't mean it isn't still something to piss on.

Witchcraft - Black Metal

This record honestly made me angry, not because it's a horrible collection of barely written 'songs' with not a single interesting thing about them, but because it's being promoted as an 'acoustic album'. They are trying to explain this record through the instrumentation, when the acoustic guitar doesn't have a damn thing to do with how awful it is. Playing acoustically doesn't mean you have to write such dull, depressing, vapid, worthless, unlistenable music. As a guitarist who plays primarily acoustic, I felt insulted having this record placing the blame on the instrument, and not the piss-poor effort that went into writing it.