Live 4 Metal - Reviews May 2010


	Stormzone - Death Dealer Record Label: SPV Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/stormzoneuk Record Label Website: www.spv.de/eng/news.html Reviewer: Steve Green
Co-produced by NWOBHM DJ Neal Kay, this is the 2nd album from Belfast based rockers Stormzone and I kid you not, this is one of the best slabs of Melodic Metal I've heard since the 80s. Borrowing heavily from the chant-a-long style of Iron Maiden, the grittier side of the mighty Saxon and with a melodic core which is comparable to Uriah Heep's Head First (one of my favourite albums from the early 80s), this album has blown me away. It's as if the past 25/30 years haven't existed and Heavy Metal once again rules the world... The familiar tones of Iron Maiden and Saxon, the latter mainly due to the little nuances in frontman John "Harv" Harbinson's voice which remind me of Biff Byford, makes this a no-brainer for me straight away, but it's the melodic side of Stormzone's sound that really do it for me. I have to confess to not being a huge fan of this style normally, but you cannot argue with the high quality performances on this album. Best of the bunch is (probably) The Memory Never Dies, which isn't a million miles away from Iron Maiden's sound when Adrian Smith provides backing vocals alongside Bruce Dickinson, but where this succeeds and allows for a more original sound is in the chorus. Man, it's fucking lush and it's a note perfect display of how good this style can be, without being too soft... and well, girly. My second favourite track on the album is Stand Up And Fight, which has a bit more of an edge to it and yet another cracking chorus. But to be honest, all 12 songs on Death Dealer are superb. Stormzone have mastered the tricky art of creating melodic tunes, with balls and they've mixed that up with Metal with a genuine 80s feel to it. Ok, admittedly they aren't creating anything new here, but their marriage of melody and aggression is superb and their songwriting skills are absolute top drawer and Death Dealer is highly recommended to all fans of 80s Metal.


	The Ocean - Heliocentric Record Label: Metal Blade Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/theoceancollective Record Label Website: www.metalblade.com/uk/content.php Reviewer: Steve Earles
Progressive metal has become something of a buzzword on the metal scene of late. This isn’t unusual, every year we have more and more sub-genres of metal, oftentimes something we’ve heard before with the word ‘core’ added to it. Now hitherto, the term ‘progressive’ referred to hoary shite like Genesis or Marillion. Now it seems to refer to anything from Dream Theatre to Opeth to Porcupine Tree. The Ocean sound like none of those bands to me, but I am highly impressed. They create huge swathes of music which is usually a term for ambient noodling nonsense (you try reviewing albums of fifty minutes of one note, that’s not music, that’ ‘emperor’s new clothes syndrome’). The one thing that The Ocean do have in common with a soundtrack is Heliocentric needs to listened to a body of work rather than as single tracks. But it’s highly impressive from the hugely emotive Firnament, the incredible The First Commandment of the Luminaries, to The Origin Of The Species. There are a huge swath of musical ideas and moods. The concept of the album is about the heliocentric world view, the idea that the earth revolves around the sun, and the sun is stationary and is the centre of the universe. Lyrical inspiration is provided by a variety of sources, Charles Darwin, Copernicus and Richard Dawkins. Brave and thought-provoking music, and a pleasant change from some of the subject matter some bands use.


	Those Who Lie Beneath - An Awakening Record Label: Metal Blade Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/thosewholiebeneath Record Label Website: www.metalblade.com/uk/content.php Reviewer: Chris Davison
Modern death metal, how I both love and hate you. It’s not often these days that the new breed of death metallers are able to emulate the glories of the old classics. Why? Well, it’s often not for lack of musical talent; today's generation are capable of amazing feats of dexterity and instrumental mastery that their forebears could only dream of. Actually, the main bugbear I have with modern death metal is the abandonment of atmosphere and attitude over smart arsed arrangements, ironic song titles and pretentious lyricism. Happily, Those Who Lie Beneath do not belong whole heartedly to the new breed of death metal. Sure, this, their first album has many of the elements of the bright young things – dizzying displays of technical ability (and in particular the flashy, stellar guitar lead work and seemingly effortless drum blastery), but has the good sense not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is, mark my words, a guttural, utterly brutal display of the most visceral type, but having the good sense to allow the songs to breathe and evolve in palpably evil ways. Amazing third track, “Through His Eyes”, for example exhibits the kind of breathless antagonism that inhabits many modern DM tracks, before giving way to more measured, creeping evil with a slowing of the pace and slow building of tension and dread. Elsewhere, on the rapid fire “Frozen Feastings”, the band illustrate aptly how an array of influences have gone into their attack – from the old school groove laden brutality of their North American cousins Cannibal Corpse, through to the hyper technicality spazz outs of Job For A Cowboy, along with some decidedly left field minor key harmonies bringing to mind the icy Scandinavian tones. Singer Jamie Hanks gives his all throughout the space of this ten-track trip through nightmares, possessing the kind of full throated hoarse roar that would likely make grown men shit their pants if they heard it emanating from their kids stereo-gram-o-mp3-omatics. When the music slows to a crawl, his guttural, retching tones provide the sermon to these hymns to the unclean and evil. Easier to listen to than most of their peers – if only for the fact that they've taken the time to craft some actual songs rather than just blast for irony – Those Who Lie Beneath are the best band of their ilk to have passed my rather sizeable ears in the last couple of years, and this is an album that deserves to catapult the band onto the main stages of a festival circuit near you. An accomplished, erudite and evil opening album.


	Thunderstone - Dirt Metal Record Label: SPV Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/thunderstoneband Record Label Website: www.spv.de/eng/news.html Reviewer: Steve Green
I reviewed Thunderstone's debut album back in the spring of 2002 and that was my last dealings with the Finnish Metal crew. A lot has happened the past 8 years, with Thunderstone nearly becoming the Finnish entry in the Eurovision song contest, a couple of hit singles, supporting the likes of Stratovarius and Symphony X across Europe and the obligatory appearance at Wacken. The most recent twist in the Thunderstone tail has been the departure of original vocalist Pasi Rantanen and the arrival of Swedish frontman, Rick Altzi. The one thing that remains from my brief crossing of paths with Thunderstone, is the fact that they are still labelled Power Metal, when in fact they are nothing of the sort. As with Axel Rudi Pell, who I've just reviewed, they sit somewhere between good old fashioned Hard Rock and the lighter side of Heavy Metal. I'm instantly a fan of Rick Altzi's vocals, which have a very slight rasp to them and his rockier approach keeps Thunderstone at a decent distance from the ball grabbing realms of Power Metal. There's no denying that Thunderstone live at the more commercial end of the Metal spectrum, but they do it without resorting to big choruses or clichéd ridden high pitched warblings. Dirt Metal, while not being especially heavy, compared to the likes of, say, Judas Priest or Saxon, does have it moments, with the likes of Star and not surprisingly, the title track, Dirt Metal, both cranking up the volume. The heaviest track, is arguably Dodge The Bullet, which a mixture of heavy Prog, meets Pantera, but with a very melodic chorus. The epic 8 minute finale, Suffering Song, is another album highlight, and is full of menace, despite its slower pace. For the most part, the music on Dirt Metal resides in Hard Rock territory, with the guitars sitting firmly in the Metal camp, which means this should appeal to those that like 80s Metal, as well as say Rock/Metal loving bikers, as I've heard this style quite a bit at biker festivals over the past few years. But whoever this appeals to, I certainly wouldn't class this as Power Metal. Dirt Metal is out on May 24th.


	Woe of Tyrant - Threnody Record Label: Metal Blade Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/wot Record Label Website: www.metalblade.com/uk/content.php Reviewer:
Woe Of Tyrant bring to the table well played modern death metal, with a pleasing mix of traditional and modern influences. Creatures of the Mire is both crushing heavy and musically diverse. Venom Eye is, alas, not a tribute to Newcastle’s most successful export since Brown Ale, but a sterling effort nonetheless. Where Woe Of Tyrants really score is the incredible twin guitar attack of Matt Kincaid and Nock Dozer, these guys cover all the bases. Chris Catanzaro’s has a good distinct identity as a vocalist but I feel he could go further and inject more melody, after all this is a band with something interesting to say, and it’d be good to hear it. Recent addition on bass Shaun Gunter impressed as does Johny Robert’s drumming. So, a progression from previous albums, but definitely a band that shouldn’t be afraid to go further in the melody and vocal department in the future.