Reviews | The Metal Resource

Reign of Glory – “All Will Bow”

Posted by TMR on March 30, 2023 at 17:24 No Responses »

Mar 302023

Reign of Glory was born in 2021 when bassist Roger Dale Martin (Vengeance Rising, Once Dead, Die Happy) and guitarist Nick Layton (FireWolfe, Q5) partnered up writing material for a classic metal album with a message of hope and faith in these trying times. They had just released Roxology, a metal instrumental album of hymns, earlier in the year and were eager to do something with a full band replete with singer. Through a happenstance Die Happy reunion interview on Sanctuary International, they got in contact with vocalist Robyn Kyle Basuari (Die Happy, Red Sea). To round out the band in the rhythm seat is Jim Chaffin (The Crucified, Deliverance, The Blamed).

All Will Bow is a solid album that gives a nod to the 80s with a modern execution. The ten songs on the album provide enough variety for this reviewer to enjoy without being bored. The core of RoG’s sound is a solid rhythm section, melodic guitars, and a quite capable vocalist singing on top.

First thing I liked about the album is the musical variety. “Forever and Ever” starts out with a somewhat thrash metal riff that sounded close to Megadeth’s “High Speed Dirt.” But once the drums and bass come in, it calms down a bit, but still quite metal. “Welcome to Reality” is a mid-tempo grooving rock tune that kept my foot tapping. “Samson’s Kryptonite” had RoG move into a bluesy southern rock territory and we have the requisite ballad in “Love Came to Die.” And that was just the first half of the album.

Primal – “Humachine”

Posted by John Jackson on March 22, 2023 at 19:21 No Responses »

Mar 222023

Primal return with their sophomore album Humachine, an album filled with elements from early thrash bands.

Primal first gained notoriety with the release of their self-titled debut album as they featured members from bands like HIrax and Deliverance as well as the Argentinian bands V8 and Logos. Just like with their debut, Humachine was produced by Grammy –winner Iggy Elisabetsky at D-Organization Studios in Los Angeles with mastering done by Rob Colwell at Bombworks Studios in Texas.

Humachine opens up with “The Cage”, a song with a catchy, heavy riff driving a song that retains a sense of melody. Being my first exposure to the band, I hear element of late 80s-early 90s metal and thrash and to my ears the overall sound and production seems a bit like a throwback to that era. Everything is clear in the mix but the low end seems a bit lost. Alberto Zamarbide’s vocals are smooth and mostly stay in relatively neutral space avoiding the high and low registers.

Redemption – “I am the Storm”

Posted by John Jackson on March 14, 2023 at 14:36 No Responses »

Mar 142023

Redemption are back with their eighth studio release I Am the Storm, an album filled with progressive metal goodness and not to be missed.

Those into progressive metal have enjoyed Redemption since the early 2000s, with the band performing at Progpower USA IV in 2003, the same year their debut album was released. In 2005 the band started gaining a following with the release of The Fullness of Time featuring Ray Alder (Fates Warning) on vocals and then released their third album two years later and toured with Dream Theater. More touring, a live album and three more studio albums followed and then in 2016 the band released The Art of Loss on Metal Blade records which featured ex-Megadeth guitarists Chris Poland , Marty Friedman, and Chris Broderick as well as some vocals by John Busch (Armored Saint, Anthrax). Orignal vocalist Ray Alder left the band in 2017 and was replaced by Tom Englund (Evergrey). The band originally started by guitarist Nick van Dyk has seen some lineup changes over the year in addition to the recent change in vocals and now features, Chris Quirarte on drums, Sean Andrews on bass, and Vikram Shankar on keyboards with Chris Poland and Simone Mularoni (DGM) adding in some guitar parts along with Henrik Danhage (Evergrey). I Am the Storm was produced by Nick van Dyk and Simone Mularoni at Linda Flora Studios Produced by Nick van Dyk and Simone Mularoni at Linda Flora Studios. Chris Poland (ex-Megadeth), Henrik Danhage (Evergrey).

Luteøks – “Barely True Norwegian Black Metal”

Posted by John Jackson on March 8, 2023 at 15:19 No Responses »

Mar 082023

When you mix parts Antestor, Grave Declaration, and Vaakevandring and then add in “boredom and bad choices” you get Luteøks and what amounts to a black metal masterpiece with a healthy dose of black comedy thrown in for good measure.

Norway is known for producing great black metal bands and two of them have gotten together in what could be a supergroup project with Luteøks. Having members from Grave Declaration and the legendary Antestor, sets expectations high. Then when you read about potential comedic elements for the album but most of the song titles are in Norwegian, one begins to wonder. Thankfully, there have been some posts on the band’s Facebook page with the song titles and from that one does see there may be some humor involved. I managed to get ahold of the lyrics and with the aid of google translate, it becomes clear.

From the very beginning of “Dritfjell”, the black metal in the vein of Antestor and Grave Declaration really jumps out and is unmistakable. From the characteristic guitar riffs, to the blast beats, to the raspy, growled vocals, this is black metal that I would have instantly thought was Antestor. Lyrically, the song is apparently about a mountain and has some great lines (in Norwegian). Roughly translated, we get,

Sacrificium – “Oblivion”

Posted by Ankit Sood on February 27, 2023 at 11:07 No Responses »

Feb 272023

German Melodic death metal band Sacrificium, formed in 1993, are out with their magnum opus “Oblivion” after a 10 year long wait. The album is being released under the Record Label of Nordic Mission on the 10th March 2023. The release celebrates the band’s 30th anniversary. The band have released three albums so far Cold Black Piece of Flesh (2002), Escaping the Stupor (2005) & Prey for Your Gods (2013) and has its roots in a band called Hardway, formed by Sebastian Wagner and Oliver Tesch. In 1991, the session drummer Markus Hauth took the direction more towards a hard rock sound. In 1992, Hardway performed at the reputive Steiger 14 club in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The band name was changed to Corpus Christi in 1993 and they began playing thrash metal. The style developed to death metal, and in 1994, after recording a demo, the name was changed to Sacrificium. After a few line up changes in 1996, Sacrificium recorded its second demo and in 1998 another demo titled Mortal Fear was released. Although the demos were well-received, the vocalist Roman Wagner left Sacrificium in 2000. The band played concerts with bands such as Extol, Dismember, Unleashed, The Black Dahlia Murder or My Darkest Hate.

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