#174 Running Wild - Black Hand Inn

If you follow the way in which I conduct my reviews, you'll realise that quite often, despite a new-release by a band being hot off the press, I'll review one of the band's older albums. While making me a bit of a bastard, this is simply  the way of things, which I will now demonstrate. I've enjoyed the musical exploits of Running Wild for a while now, and in this review, I'm turning my attention not to the new album, but to one of the band's older works; "Black Hand Inn".

Running Wild are, contrary to the awareness of many a young metal-fan, including myself at one time, the original heavy-metal pirates, and were conducting their skulduggery decades before the likes of Alestorm or Swashbuckle arrived on the scene. Black Hand Inn is an album which has the sound of a mature Running Wild, further developed than their earlier works such as the undisputed classic "Under Jolly Roger", and perhaps a little more intricate and akin to power-metal than the band's speed-metal roots, which nonetheless still pervade the music excellently, in the riffs and song-structures, making an epic, highly melodic and monstrously catchy work which manages to combine atmosphere, catchiness and an engaging level of musical prowess, a trinity of musical virtues which exist on this album at what seems to be very close to the optimal ratio. Of course, perfection is subjective, but even the greatest detractor of the bands work has to grant the sheer solidity of the music on this album a certain respect - the factors align nicely to make an album which really oozes with the spirit of what heavy-metal is all about.

I picked this album at random from the band's back-catalogue, but I feel I've certainly inadvertently picked a classic of the band, with the speed/power metal combo and booming vocals really feel like the quintessential sound of  Running Wild, in the way that Powerslave might be considered a very quintessential Iron Maiden album. It certainly manages to illustrate what I enjoy about the band; As always, the choruses are massive, the riffs instantly memorable, and the album overall sounding so strongly like the band that made it, if that makes sense. I knew from the onset, that the album would be difficult to review without sounding like I have only positives to say; such is the consequence of Running Wild's streak of classic albums which runs for at least the first fifteen years of their existence. Certainly, the album is of quite a tried and tested formula, and is indeed very consistent with what came before it, in many sense, certainly having songs which wouldn't have been out of place on an album half-a-decade earlier. This perhaps denies the songs the ability to strongly attach to a single album's character, albeit only a little. Fortunately, Running Wild are the kind of band who have discovered a seam of something good, and for a long-time, at least, just kept at it, not unlike bands such as Bolt Thrower, who are afforded a similar cult status.

 I've not listened to enough Running Wild to know as much as I'd like about the band - Most of my listening comes from the "Best of...", and I didn't know what to expect when I listened to a whole studio-album. I can safely say I'm pleased - it's definitely an excellent album. It must, I think, have been tricky to select the tracks for a best of, when there are so many good tracks available.

This is a 9/10, definitely. 

Links:

Running Wild Official Site

Running Wild on Myspace

Running Wild on Facebook

Running Wild on Metal Archives

#173 Nekromantheon - Rise, Vulcan Spectre

Seeing Death Angel live last night has really got me into my thrash-state-of-mind. I felt I should review a thrash album, and fate arranged that it would be this one; Nekromantheon's second full-length; Rise, Vulcan Spectre, an album which has met a good reception worldwide, as one of the finer thrash-offerings of young bands in recent years.

Nekromantheon play an impressively fast and intense brand of thrash, with an overall dark feel, in the vein of bands like Slayer, Sadus and a good number of black-thrash bands such as Aura Noir. The band sit somewhere in the middle in regards to style - dark, certainly, but perhaps not full blown black-thrash, more akin perhaps to the works of bands like Sodom, like whom, Nekromantheon manage to play a style of the music is generally taken to be  pure thrash-metal, but still sounding caustic, evil and dark. One of the most striking things about the bands style is the solos; there are so damn many of them, and they're exceptionaly tight and well-played - rolling out of the guitar perfectly, with an agreable and oldschool tone. The solos often really dominate the songs, and are definiely effective in grabbing the listeners attention. There aren't too many thrash bands out there at the moment where I'd be prone to saying to my friends "Holy fuck, have you heard the solo in..." but Nekromantheon have certainly managed that in this album - the solos are talking points, not mere decorations. The vocals, too, really stand out nicely, with an angry, harsh edge, slightly remeniscent of Watain to me, which suits the head-over-heels madness of the music excellently.

I wouldn't want to give the impression in writing this that the band are for the most part defined by solos and vocals however, the riff's are equally impressive in places; Almost always dark, with hints of Slayer, especially in terms of the notes and scales used, but also packed full of black-thrash style tremolos and all-encompassed by a rabid, rampaging tempo which is in places mind-blowing, and at all times impressive. It may make the album whizz-past at incredible speed, sometimes a bit too quickly for me to wrap my brain around, but on the plus side, I'm very much aware that what just whizzed-past was a damn good album. The themes which the band use in the album appeal to me especially, with Greek-mythology being, without exaggeration one of my all-time favourite things ever, which render Nekromantheon's lyrics fascinating to me, in addition to being a refreshing change from beer, nuclear-war, and the other themes which dominate both modern thrash and thrash hailing from the 80's. It's excellent to hear something a bit different

All in all, I find Rise, Vulcan Spectre to be a solid, albeit quite quick, album. It's definitely a bit too intense to have on in the background, but that's a good thing, because when, like I finally got around to doing, you listen to the album free from distraction, it's a massively rewarding collection of music.

I'm giving this an 8/10.

Links:
Nekromantheon on Myspace
Nekromantheon on Facebook
Nekromantheon on Metal Archives

#172 Death Angel - The Ultra Violence

The Ultra Violence is quite a late debut as thrash-bands go, but 1987 is certainly still a year of important debut albums; Testament, Sacred Reich, and many others in addition to Death Angel, had much remembered debuts that year, and many will argue that while Death Angel aren't the biggest thrash band of that time, The Ultra Violence is certainly worthy of the status of a 1987 classic.

The album's first, and very lasting impression, is that the album manages to blend a very impressive level of technical ability with an almost chaotic sound and production style, very rough around the edges, but at the same time not losing any of the feeling that the album has very intricate guitar work. Effectively, this allows the album to harness the appeal of both the crunchy, energetic and rock n' roll values of conventional thrash and the impressive, head-turning capabilities of the high-octane breed of the genre. Not only is the album technically impressive, but it's also varied - often notably fast and energetic, but also boasts some forward-thinking sections, such as the intro to the title track, which not only sounds magnificent, but is also quite unlike anything I've heard in thrash, perhaps more akin to traditional metal. Aside from that example, there are countless moments on the album which you can tell happened quite obviously as a result of the band thinking out of the box, and often manifest themselves catchily, quirkily and almost always executed well, complimenting the song, as opposed to being "the wrong kind" of innovation.

The albums tempo is quite relentless, more so than many of the other thrash-bands of the time, even. At no point, if I have listened well enough, is the album ever truly "slow". Certainly, it slows down a little in places, but a lot of the time the music is consistent in being blisteringly speedy, and really captures what thrash is about - somewhat better, in places, than many of the classic albums which had already come into existence at the  point that the album was released. The riffs, on top of being memorable, really lend themselves to moving with the music, headbanging, and generally doing what good thrash metal is meant to do - and doing it well. The chaotic production really gives the feel of musicians playing in a non-sterile environment, not quite live, but with a great deal of character, with bits which sound partly improvised, and an all permeating feeling of refreshingly minimal post-recording editing and crease-removing - I often say that albums sound "organic" but this one exceptionally so.

While quite possibly one of the lesser known great-debuts of a time in which thrash metal was one of the rising forces across the world, The Ultra Violence is undoubtedly also one of the most solid and accomplished. The band managed to create a very mature but energetic work, without the juvenile feel which so many of the debuts around the same year had. A damn good record.

This is a 8/10 thrash album, I feel.

Links:
Death Angel Official Site
Death Angel on Myspace
Death Angel on Facebook
Death Angel on Metal Archives