What can I say? Unleashed have always been one of the most influential bands from Sweden, and after more than two and a half decades, they are still sitting on the throne of Battle Metal. Throughout the past years, their efforts became somewhat darker in approach and execution, and evidently this path continues.
Since these two albums were released on the same date, I’ve decided to write one review for both albums.
As a matter of fact these are not new albums by this Finnish band, but rereleases of their 2007 ‘Angels’ album, and their 2002 ‘Paris Kills’ album. I foind the ‘Angels’ album the better of the two, but I leave you the choice. There will be a re-release of two of their other albums as well.
This band surely does not need any introduction anymore. It’s them who made the whole Black Metal scene more accessible to an ignorant audience, with both positive and negative aspects in consequence. My personal opinion – no, I won’t go deeper into this subject. Let’s say that, despite the catchiness and commercial aspects, this band created a handful of acceptable compositions in mean time, especially during the earlier years. Lots of pulp too, unfortunately, but – no, I promised myself to censure…
Line up :
Olof Wikstrand – Vocals / Guitars
Jonas Wikstrand - Drums
Joseph Tholl - Guitars
Tobias Lindkvist - Bass
Hailing from Arvika, Sweden, Enforcer play a brand of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal with an injection of punk. Founded in 2004, Enforcer describe themselves as being devotees of “real metal”. They've since gathered four albums under their belt, with their new album 'From Beyond' continuing down the path created by 2013's 'Death By Fire'.
Formed in the mid eighties in Krefeld, Germany, Blind Guardian continue releasing some very fine albums. They started under another name however, calling themselves Lucifer’s Heritage at first, changing their name to Blind Guardian shortly after signing their first record deal with No Remorse Records.
Line up :
Ricky Warwick - Vocals
Scott Gorham - Guitars
Damon Johnson - Guitars
Robbie Crane - Bass
Jimmy DeGrasso – Drums
I’ll be very short about this release. Devilment were formed by Daniel Finch in 2011. Since he was looking for a singer that could fulfil his ideas, he contacted his friend Dani Filth, you know, that pretty boy from Cradle Of Filth, who immediately agreed to co-operate. After Dani finished his part for the Cradle Of Filth-album The Manticore And Other Horrors, he did the vocals for the Devilment-demo Grotescapology.
Surgical Remission / Surplus Steel is some kind of compilation, or as Jeff Walker states ‘tying up loose ends’. This EP consists of previously unreleased songs taken from the Surgical Steel-recording sessions (though there have been some occasions to meet this stuff, like the Japanese edition, if I am not mistaken), but considered to be too good not to use.
So you play in a famous German metal band but you feel bored between tours and recording new albums. Some people take up golf or another hobby but drummer Stefan Scwarzmann (Accept) takes his phone and calls around to see if he can find some colleagues to jam with. Vocalist / Bassist Schmier (Destruction) guitarist Herman Frank (Accept / Victory) were all in for some fun and so The German Panzer was born. Three seasoned German musicians and a name like The German Panzer give you enough clues about what kind of music these gentlemen play.
Bury Tomorrow are a five piece British melodic metalcore band that was formed in 2006 in Hampshire, England. Their initial line up was consisting of guitarist and clean vocalist Jason Cameron, drummer Adam Jackson, vocalist Daniel Winter-Bates, bassist Davyd Winter-Bates (his brother) and lead guitarist Mehdi Vismara. They released their first album in 2007.
