In recent months I have learned something, I really dig this 70's throwback style acts that have been coming across my desk. It is not like there have been an overwhelming number of them, but the ones that I have listened to I really like. They benefit from modern production techniques and still fit in with the current music scene. The latest act to fit this bill is Blood Ceremony. They are like the love child of Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull, complete with flute solos.
Drummer and co-founder of Type O Negative (RIP Peter Steele) and current member of Life of Agony, Sal Abruscato has stepped out from behind the kit to create a project like none other that he has been involved in. The "band" is called A Pale Horse Named Death and it is no more than an entire solo project conceived, written, produced, and performed by Sal alone. It is a pretty solid piece of dark, edgy rock. It reminds one of the darkest tunes that Alice in Chains ever turned out crossed with some of Type O Negative's dark, gothic edge, all while sounding pretty fresh.
Who is Scale the Summit? I don't rightly know. I do know that a year or two back I was able to listen to a copy of their last album Carving Desert Canyons. Now here I am listening to their follow up, The Collective. Listening to this album makes me wish I paid more attention to the prior release. Simply put, The Collective is a beautiful and sublime piece of music that will quickly grow on you. There is just something absolutely exquisite as the album progresses from one movement to the next, flowing like water, allowing each piece to shine through in the final work. Take it individually or as a complete album, there is no wrong way to consume this creation.
I swear I have head of Bronx Casket Company from somewhere, I am just not sure where. I am pretty sure that this is the first time I have ever heard them, though. Come to think of it, I might be thinking of Casket Crew, which I believe is the Type O Negative fanclub. Whatever the case is the bottom line is I have the band's fourth release, Antihero, blasting through my headphones and I like what I hear. The sound is familiar yet fresh, incredibly catchy and something I am going to want to listen to over and over.
A lot of bands that are perceived as Satanic are usually anything but. Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi has his interest in the subject, but is not a satanist, Marilyn Manson is a priest of the Satanic church, but I don't buy his commitment beyond its use as a marketing tool, Glenn Danzig has been said to be a Satanist, but I don't really buy it from him either. Then there is Behemoth, which strike me as more anti-Christian than Satanic. What does this have to do with Ghost? Well, they could possibly be the real deal. From their lyrical content, artwork, costumes, and the fact they are not named all seems to point towards something a bit more legitimate. It is also possibly they are just really good at making the perception appear to be reality.
In 1990, when my development should have been well on its way towards some level of maturity, I was only reaching a crossroads. That is what happens when your enjoyment of music gets a late start. I was still pretty entrenched in the hair/glam era with bands like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Poison (all of which I still have a lot of affection for). However, my best friend was introducing me to heavier bands like Metallica and Slayer.
It has been nearly six years since I was first confronted by the band known as 3 Inches of Blood. It was a live show that had them opening for Metal Church. I was impressed but not necessarily crazy about them. A few months late I checked out their major label (Roadrunner)debut album, Advance and Vanquish. It turned out that I really liked the sound they delivered, modern but with old school flourishes. Somehow I managed to miss the follow up, 2007's Fire Up the Blades (something I will eventually rectify), and went right on to the 2009 release Here Waits thy Doom.
Lillian Axe is one of those 80's era bands that slipped under my radar as I was making my first in roads in to music. At the time, I was getting into the more popular acts at the time, so while I remember the name kicking around, but they never made it to my player. Now, fourteen years removed from their last studio album, Lillian Axe is back with their 6th full length, and it sounds good. Very good in fact. It is a strong album with focus on the song writing, finely crafted rock songs without any excessive frills.
I recently came into possession of a number of new and upcoming releases from Locomotive records. Among the group of disks was a pair of albums from Waltari. First thing I did was find out which one was older, since I had two, I figured it would be best to listen to them in order. This was the second, so it is not my first experience with the band, although it was really close. My first real listen was Blood Sample, and what an experience it was. It was like getting hit upside the head with a baseball bat. It had been some time since I heard a band that possessed so much talent and had a sound that was so over the map and cohesive at the same time. Needless to say, I was quite impressed. Having enjoyed the wild diversity of that album, I eagerly anticipated slipping this one into the player. Was Blood Sample a one shot deal? Was it possible that there could be more creative energy waiting to explode on another album?
Wasn't sure what to expect when I first slipped this disk in, as I am completely unfamiliar with the band. Their name, Lake of Tears, would lead me towards a progressive style, while the album name, Moons and Mushrooms, would indicate a dark psychedelia. The cover would lead credence to the darker possibilities with a black, white, and grey cover featuring a field of mushrooms with a man in a spacesuit in the lower corner, and a burst of light emanating from the horizon. It is actually a pretty cool cover, and one that does accurately visualize the music contained within. As for the sound, there are progressive and dark gothic elements, but they are played towards the middle in a hard rock format. It is pretty good, but nothing mind blowing.
What was that? Did you get the number of the truck that hit me? Listening to Blood Sample is nearly akin to hearing music for the first time. Perhaps it would have been different had this not been my first introduction Waltari, a long active band from Finland. The music is all over the map, and it is all good. They cover so much ground in their style that their style is almost all styles. The run the gamut from alt rock to hard rock, thrash metal to death metal. If it has rock or metal associated with it, Waltari has figured out a way to incorporate it into their music. The most amazing thing about it, is that no matter where in the spectrum the song resides, it always sounds like the same band. Some bands can try to pull off the variety of styles that Waltari does, but they genrally sound confused.