Ankit Sood

Seventh Angel – “Demo Collection”

 Posted by on June 11, 2017 at 22:40  No Responses »
Jun 112017
 

Seventh Angel, a British Christian metal band formed in 1987 by Ian Arkley, Andrew Blount and Scott Rawson, were coined as the pioneers of the Thrash metal scene in Great Britain and considered to be the best metal act in the UK (back in the days!). Their sound has a combination of Doom and Thrash metal, and had performed concerts at the Greenbelt festival, supporting the American rock band One Bad Pig and headlined the Metal Meltdown festival in 1990, played concerts in Germany and the Netherlands before disbanding in 1992.

The album titled “Demo Collection” surfaced the social media early in 2017, signed by the record label Bombworks Records and released on 25th April 2017. Bombworks Records had been pestering Ian to release some of the bands early demos, and when Ian finally relented, he blessed all his fans with these hidden demos. “Heed the Warning“ demo, which were released with some live tracks in past years, had been taken direct from Ian’s personal cassette and remastered so it’s a completely different version. Jeff Mortimer remastered these demos ranging from Red Demo (March 1989), Rehearsal Demo (November 1989), Heed The Warning Demo (1990), And Dust Of Years Demo (2008).

“Heed the Warning” opens with a bell chiming, swooshing in with a hypnotic tapping on the lead guitar, chunky and meaty guitar riffs, accentuates the heaviness with shrilling voice. The blitzing guitar solo is subdued within the loud rhythm guitars. Continue reading »

Taking the Head of Goliath – “Beyond Brutal Live”

 Posted by on June 3, 2017 at 22:24  No Responses »
Jun 032017
 

Taking the Head of Goliath, an American Christian Death Metal band originated in the twin cities, Minnesota in the year 2015. What started with Jake Martin, Matt Vangsgard, Nathan Sherman, Rob Blake became best known when they hired Bassist/Backing Vocalist Luke Renno of the band Crimson Thorn. The band signed up with Rottweiler Records when they were featured on the compilation called Kill the Ill a Benefit Compilation for Grave Robber singer and Rottweiler Records founder, Shawn Browning, to raise money for his medical expenses. By the way the compilation is a massive effort to gather 80 bands on to this mother of all Compilations. Do take a moment and check it out.

With caution and an open mind I take upon myself to review their first ever released EP, as it may set out the tone and expectation for the rest of the community. Starting off with “The Expulsion of Putrid Illusion” which has an array of blast beats with heavy guitar riffing and monster growls which are hard to miss at the opening of the song. The band is very tight and their crisp performance pulverises the grey matter of your head. Continue reading »

Demon Hunter – “Outlive”

 Posted by on May 7, 2017 at 20:22  No Responses »
May 072017
 

Before I get on with my review, I would like to mention that this band was a favourite of the late TMR Reviewer, Peter Willoughby, fondly remembered as the “WhiteMetalMan”, and in his honour I take it upon myself to hear this album through his ears and review it as he would have. So here it is.

Demon Hunter, an American Christian Metalcore band formed by the two Clark brothers, emerged the scene in 2000, and are out with their eighth studio album “Outlive” which was released by Solid State Records on March 31, 2017. Ryan and Don played together previously in Coalesce and Neurosis. Ryan had previously played guitar in hardcore band Focal Point, and released an album on Tooth & Nail/Solid State when he was still in his teens. Don left the band to pursue a career in Graphic design and family obligations.

As a headlining act, Demon Hunter helped introduce audiences to bands like August Burns Red. They’ve co-headlined with Red and toured as direct support for both In Flames and As I Lay Dying in the United States and parts of Canada. They’ve travelled to South America, Europe, and Australia, headlining major festivals and club shows alike. Continue reading »

Believer – “1 of 5”

 Posted by on May 1, 2017 at 21:11  No Responses »
May 012017
 

After a hiatus (Believer disbanded in 1994, when Daub announced that he and Bachman would reform the band), Believer came back in action in March 2005, and is recently making headlines with its first instalment of one of five EP which was released this March. They gained much worldwide recognition for their boundary-breaking, artistic form of progressive metal music. Their early albums had collaborations between metal and orchestral musicians which sealed the band’s legacy. Believer’s focus on creativity and innovation earned praise from fans and musicians worldwide.

Believer, which is an American technical thrash metal band from the late 1980s and early 1990s, is known for playing a hybrid of thrash and progressive metal, using innovative symphonic elements in thrash metal. Their lyrics deal with topics of philosophy, theology and social issues. The two primary members of the band are vocalist/guitarist Kurt Bachman and drummer Joey Daub, who were joined by several others after their 1989 debut album, Extraction from Mortality. Continue reading »

Kna’an – Orphaned Land & Amaseffer

 Posted by on April 9, 2017 at 21:05  No Responses »
Apr 092017
 

When the German theatre director, Walter Wayers, approached upon the subject of the biblical story of Abraham in the land of Kna’an, he started to play it out in his head a musical journey in collaboration with Middle eastern folk and metal bands, Orphaned Land and Amaseffer. This paved way for a collaborative effort between the two bands and resulted in an amalgamation of a folky classical sound that transcends many barriers and brings in life to the myth. The album was released on the 26th of August 2016 under the label of Century Media Records.

Orphaned Land is an Israeli Oriental metal pioneer, that have Arabic, Jewish and West Asian Influences, as they use Progressive, doom, death metal and Middle eastern folk music elements in their sound. After going through several line-up changes, the band currently comprises of two of its founding members Kobi Farhi on Vocals and Uri Zelcha on bass. Their music promotes peace and unity within the three main Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Each of their albums have some concept related to two extremes: a meeting of East and West, past and present, light and darkness, and God and Satan.

Amaseffer is an Israeli Progressive metal formed in the year 2004 by the drummer and percussionist Erez Yohanan, and guitarist Yuval Kramer. A year later, a second guitarist Hanan Avramovich joined and completed the line-up. This is also when the band got its name “Amaseffer” – from Hebrew “Am Ha’Sefer” – People of the (holy) book. Amaseffer was formed with the idea of a historical trilogy in mind – to tell the old testament’s story of the Exodus, from the Hebrew slavery period in ancient Egypt, through the years in the desert, and up to the entrance of the twelve tribes of Israel to the promised land of Canaan. Continue reading »

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