Spirit Adrift : "Curse Of Conception"

When the first song opened I had to go check and make sure this wasn't the singer from In Solitude. There seems to be more of a longing in his wail this time, he lets his voice crack right from the first phrase. The melody to  the title track comes dangerously close to ripping off Sabbath's "Megalomania" ,but it breaks away from this when they pick up the pace. "To Fly On Broken" is the first song that really speeds up out of what I consider doom tempo and leads them more in the direction of NWOBHM bands. The twin guitar harmonies further enforce this. Around the songs' four minute mark there is an excellent dynamic shift towards a more melodic introspection. Then things go even further into a melodic direction. This reminds me or Judas Priest's more blues tinged side. The vocals have great clear resonance to their tone. There is a slight power ballad mood to the song though like say "Beyond the Realms of Death" or "Fade to Black" it's done with more of a melancholy.

One thing about this record that I like are all of the guitar solos are in context of the song and tasteful for what they are rather than using the song as bookends for adolescent wanking. Things get heavier for "Graveside Invocation" now they are more of an early thrash tempo and have forsaken doom altogether . This brings In Solitude back to my mind. The vocals have begun to win me over , as much of the more power metal like singing that pays homage to the greats like Halford and Dio come across too polished and feel more like Journey. This is an instant turn off for me. Nate Garrett doesn't venture up into the metal yodel, and keeps an angry tension to his vocal chords most of the time. There is more of a mid-temp swing to "Spectral Savior" which is more of a straight up rocker.

They get some interesting tones and it's certainly well executed as a stand alone song I think "Wakien" would have worked better as part of a larger work. "Onward, Inward" is heavier and darker. The guitar tone gets pretty fucking dense for these guys. The vocals sit over the riff more like something Candlemass would do. Garrett reaches down into his guts for a lower more forceful gruffness for the chorus. The only slightly obnoxious moment on the album is the brief solo burst preceding the breakdown. This is quick so largely forgivable. The end result is this album rocks pretty hard, I mean I am putting it on my iPod for Dragon-con so that has to be worth something and by sheer merits of that fact alone I can round it up to a 9.5. It comes out Oct 6th on 20 Buck Spin.

Classics? - Accept : "Restless and Wild "

Here is a new column where I am going to give another listen to album long hailed as classics and see if they have rightly earned their places in the revered halls of hollowed metal worship. This German band I have always respected, and liked some of their stuff but never clicked with me I picked this album because it does have my favorite song "the Princess of Dawn" on it. I caught these guys in the late 80's opening for W.A.S.P , but Udo wasn't in the band so it almost doesn't count. I always thought of them as a poor man's Judas Priest and while I can hear that on the opener "Fast as a Shark" , I like the title track better. Udo 's rasp gives them more of an edge than most Priest, though Halford is twice the singer he is.

"Ahead of the Pack" kind of wants to be "Heading out On the Highway"  which only proceeded this album by a year. The riffing is pretty straight forward arena metal, which now almost borders on hard rock when put in the context of today's metal. I like the reverse delay put on the song before the solo. As 80's metal guitar solos go , they are not memorable, but tasteful for what it is. "Shake Your Heads" has the deliberate Scorpions like beat with the pulsing bass following it. Udo's goes up higher into more of  AC/DC like register. The sing along chorus is a little on the silly side and if some did that today it would seem dated.

I think their songwriting is at it's best on a song like "Neon Nights". It has a darker side than the more cock rock bluster we have heard on this album up to this point. I think Udo's voice sounds great in the lower croon here as you can feel more emotion in his singing. But then there is the clownish "Get Ready" . You tend to forget about this song as it's followed by the much heavier "Demon's Night". This song hits all the right places for when it came out. For 1982 this was some pretty heavy shit and you can hear how it certainly influenced a band like Exodus.

When it comes to song titles it certainly doesn't any dumber than "Flash Rocking Man"  It is dumb Camaro drinking beer rock, "Don't go Stealing My Soul Away" is marginally more metal. Lyrically it is not as silly. Then comes the best song" Princess of the Dawn". The longest song on the album has some stunning guitar interplay.In how this album finally pans out I'll give it a 9 so it falls short of living up to "Sin After Sin" or "Number of the Beast" if we are talking about what the truly classic metal albums are, but to know where your metal came from it's worth a listen or 3.

Darkthrone : "Arctic Thunder"

Their 16th album opens with a song that debuted on the inner-webs "Tundra Leach" . This one churns at more of a Celtic Frost pace, even when it shifts into higher gear. Nocturno has more of a gurgling gruffness to his voice than we heard on "Underground Resistance". The pick up the pace up to an almost blackened punk charge on "Burial Bliss" . It doesn't really strike me as being as inspired as "Tundra Leach". The guitar tone shifts and things gets darker going into the more NWOBHM guitar melody of "Boreal Fiends" the double bass that swells up in this song is impressive. It also features the first place where cleanly sung vocal surface, though only for a second. The majority of the vocal are in a more Tom Warrior like rasp.

They touch on the more Motorhead side of classic metal with flourishes of almost tremolo picked tension in the verses of "Inbred Vermin". The doomy plunge this song takes is an effective shift in dynamics. There is more of a powerful proto-thrash feeling to the powerful riff that propels the title track. They slow down into and lurk around the more doom tinged riff on "Throw Me Through the Marshes". It eventually builds into a more black metal like passage. The darker cloud  that haunts this album hovers closely over "Deep Lake Tresspass" which is one of the album more classic black metal moments. They go back into more of a Celtic Frost like place to close the album with "the Wyoming Distance".

Overall I would say this is a heavier and darker album that takes us back to more of a "Circle the Wagons" like place. I will give this album a 9.5 for me as there are some songs that are going to need to grow on me as "Wyoming Distance" and "Burial Bliss" seem a little more dialed in after the first listen. I have to ask myself when I want to listen to Darkthrone that is not from their classic era of second wave black metal am I going to reach for this album or "the Cult is Alive" ? Only time will tell, however Fans of the band will find this sit well next to their other work.

Denner / Shermann : "Masters of Evil"

Here is the full length from the two ex- Mercyful Fate guitarists. Former King Diamond drummer, Snowy Shaw is playing drums on this and I'm a little confused why he didn't at least take care of the vocals in the studio as he is a better singer than this guy from Cage, who coated their first EP in a ton of cheese. Singing lyrics like 'we drink the angels blood" this should sound dark not like frilly pirate shirt wearing power-metal. The bottom line is obviously this guy isn't King Diamond, nor do I expect them to find some one to rival King Diamond, I just want something better than what this guy does. The problem with wasting time to put out mediocre metal is this is prolonging the Mercyful Fate re-union that may or may not come after King releases his next album. They do capture an ounce of the theatrical flare with a shade of darkness on "Son of Satan" , but most of this is lost when they launch back into to the more power metal like gallops. To Sean Peck's credit he hits some very Ripper Owens like notes.

There is a little more thrashing attack to "the Wolf Feeds at Night". Lyrically this is really rough. The riffs on this album are an improvement from the EP. When their singer goes into a more Ozzy like tone, he sounds much better. Once again the guitar solos are the most ripping aspect of their music. Shaw's drumming is good, the mix is a little weird his kick sound could have been given more love. "Pentagram and the Cross" is a less impressive display of their legendary status, as it's like pumped up hard rock. The title track is more metallic. The drumming fills the chorus perfectly and it sounds like the bass player is pretty on point when he emerges from the edge of the mix. Though when everything drops out later on in the album so his tone lays bare, it's kinda shitty, but it might be more of an issue in how it was eq'ed.  I guess this answers the question of what would Candlemass sound like if Ripper Owens started singing for them is answered here. Peck goes after some of the higher notes in his register with a strained grit that reminds me a little more of  Matt Barlow.

There is a darker guitar tone to the opening of "Servants of Dagon". The mood is not maintained for long and begins to fall apart at the chorus. They at least get more aggressive on "Escape From Hell". Lyrically it's another less thoughtful moment as it deals with drag racing against the devil. The main riff reminds me of "Painkiller". The album ends with "the Baroness". Five minutes into this one they try to pull off a melodic section similar to "Melissa" and it goes horribly wrong. This is however better than the ep, but can't come close to even touching King Diamond's least inspired solo work,so I'll give it a 7.5.

Witchsorrow : " No Light, Only Fire"

This is the third full length from this trio out of England. Witchsorrow  has a wide range from the almost In Solitude like proto-thrash they open the album with to the more dismal doom like rumble that crashes down on 'the Martyr" these guys are not a one trick pony.It is a little odd for me that they sound awkward going into the more up tempo ending of this song after opening the album with more a thrash feel. The more mid-tempo thump of "Made of the Void" is to lively to really be doom. The vocals are not growled , but not as dramatic in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sense as In Solitude there is some punk attitude about them. He calls out the song title in a chant, not really a melodic hook , but it works for their sound.  Once they make it to "Negative Utopia" it feels as if they are trying to establish their footing more solidly on doomy ground. The guitar becomes more melodic and carries the mournful quality the genre demands. Singer Necroskull gives a more solid attempt to sing on this one. His voice strains , but this gives it character and more of a punk feel.

"To the Gallows" finds the genres blended in a manner more like Primordial. They carry an almost power metal chug to their trashing."Disaster Reality" finds them relaxing into a darker place by letting the song breathe more as they go into a more doom ridden place. The vocals have more of a dark punk grit to them, than anything that really feels metal to me. At eleven minutes it might have the dynamic depth you might think is needed to keep it from dragging , but does seem to posses the most honest anger expressed on the album making it feel like on of the albums heaviest songs.They close the album with an fourteen minute monster. The guitar solo that comes in add some sonic dynamics to what other wise is a song that pounds its path in a grim yet straightforward manner.

These guys are doing their own thing, even if they are on the fence as to where their heart lies. I'll give this album an 8, the vocals come to a solid middle ground to make the songs interesting and the thrash parts do hit the right punches in some cases. They get a lot of credit for not hoping on  the nearest bandwagon even though they are within earshot of a few.