As I mentioned here, 2014 is becoming an excellent year for Heavy Metal. The 53-year old German guitar player Axel Rudi Pell, who has been on the road since 1981, has just released his sixteenth studio album, ‘Into the Storm’, and the final result is so pleasant that it will be hard for any headbanger not to enjoy it.
Rebellious Spirit a very young metal band founded in the southern Germany. Never heard about them but I think not the last time. Current members are Jannik Fischer (vocals, guitars), his brother Jens (bass), Silvio Bizer (drums) and Corvin Domhardt (guitar).
Onkel Tom is a German group founded by “Onkel Tom Angelripper” playing metal versions of schlagers, drinking songs and Christmas carols. Maybe you recognize Tom Angelripper from Sodom. Yes this is his solo project alive and kicking.
Not contenting themselves with the re-release of ‘The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell Part One & Part Two", Steamhammer are also at the same time re-releasing Virgin Steele’s 1998 album ‘Invictus’.
The original release of these two albums, was in 1994 respectively in 1995, so it’s a good initiative by SteamHammer to reissue them together, including not only the original songs in the original running order, but also adding two live tracks and an alternative version of ‘The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell’. Nothing has to be said about the albums themselves, they were very good when they were originally released, and of course still are very good. That is if you like Virgin Steele, of course.
Magnum is a British progressice rock band founded in 1972 Birmingham, England. Yes from 1972 maybe your parents remember this band made more than thirty albums (Studio, Live and Compilation). The Current members are: Tony Clarkin from 1972 (guitars), Bob Catley from 1972 (vocals), Mark Stanway from 1980 (keyboards), Al Barrow from 2001(bass) and Harry James from 2001(drums).
I just got hit in the face by a wall of notes. That’s how I would describe my first reaction when I started listening to this record. The band is composed of Jake Foster (lead vocals), Patrick Somoulay (lead guitar), Charles Caswell (rhythm guitar, second lead guitar, backing vocals), Francis Xayana (bass), and Cam Murray (drums).
Nashville Pussy is a band that of course I’d heard of before, but never paid any attention. I thought with a name like that they would either play some indigestible mix of punk and heavy metal, or pure glam rock.
Fans of Axel Rudi Pell can buy this new album without any hesitation. Once again, this band, who started out in the late eighties, has brought us a very good album. If, like me, you’re old enough to have lived in the eighties, and are a metal fan, you might probably still remember Axel Rudi Pell’s work with Steeler (The German Steeler, not to be confused with the band that featured Ron Keel).
Running Wild could be called a dinosaur, because they were formed way back in 1976, and besides a hiatus of some three years between 2009, when they split up, and their reformation in 2011, have kept around, with many personnel changes over these years.
Merely a year has passed since the release of their ‘Shadowmaker’ album. This album seems to go back to their nineties releases, and as far as I’m considered, is not a bad album, but also an album that will not remain in your memory for too long. It’s some standard eighties/nineties metal no more no less.
