CD

Crowbar are considered to be the real inventors of the 'doom-core' genre, combining the heaviness of doom metal and the breakdowns of hardcore. Their first release back in 1992, Obedience Thru Suffering, set the tone for a whole new range of bands to arise from the depths of metal and hardcore. The album was an inspiration for many people to pick up an instrument and start making heavy music without following any rules. The record has been out of print since 1994, but now, the band re-released their debut masterpiece.

Like I already had expected, the official first album on Nuclear Blast Records is showcasing an improvement over the previous albums. Musically they haven't changed anything, but the songs sound more accessible, more mature and the production also has more crunch to it!  Stylistically they still reside in the NWOBHM and US speed metal of the eighties.

I do really appreciate the things Swedish band Grief Of Emerald has done since the second part of the nineties. Their characteristic Scandinavian-influenced Black Metal did always convince because of the nice symbiosis in between melody, aggression and persuasion, and the members’ craftsmanship is impeccable. Unfortunately, Grief Of Emerald have not been able to reach the upper top because of the overflow on same-minded bands, among which several that are at least as convincing, and probably slightly better.

Guns of Glory is a Finnish band made up of four young machos releasing their debut record. The album holds nine straightforward rock & roll songs. It is very clear that these guys get inspired by bands as Guns n’ Roses, Motley Crue, Danger Danger, Love/Hate, AC/DC, Rose Tattoo etc. The lyrics are also much straightforward with none of the ideological/political/philosophical themes about anything. They deal only with women, drinking, love/hate relation ships and partying in general.

Hailing from Berlin, Germany, Heat brings their brand of stoner /classic rock n roll to the table with a taste of Zeppelin, Cactus, Sabbath, Hendrix, the Beatles, Cream, Pink Floyd and more. Ingo Börner (guitars) Marco Rischer (guitars) Richard Behrens (bass) and Marcus Töpfer (drums) bring their varied backgrounds in music together in the form of Heat.

Although all the band members in celtic punk band Pipes And Pints look like tough guys, they still know how to include the beautiful sound of the bagpipes in their music. You might think that they are from Scotland, but actually, they are from the beautiful city of Prague. Found And Lost is their second full-length. Their first one, Until We Die, was released through the European label Wolverine Records, but already it got released overseas in the USA and even South America.

Sainte Anthony’s Fyre is a slab of molten Blue Cheer, Grand Funk and Jimi Hendrix inspired psychedelic bluesy, blistering rock. Each track roars or thunders off this disc, streaming off Gregg Ohm’s lead guitar, Tomm Nardi’s rolling, looping bass, and Bob Sharpless explosive drumming. This has to be one of the most aggressive and hardest albums the seventies have ever laid out on record.

Starting out somewhere on 2009, they had the intention of delivering the best heavy metal they could. And so Screamer grew into one of the hardest touring demo bands in Sweden (or so they say). However, they did release a demo after only 2 months and a truck loads of shows following after that release.

In total they performed well over a 100 shows in Sweden or the rest of Europe in witch they had their first headline tour last year. And their debut album should have gotten nominated for album of the year according to critics.

Seamount were formed about five years ago as a co-operative in between Germany and the U.S.aaj. In their short history, this band did perform on more than just a couple of great events, and they did release several albums, as from 2009 on their current label, The Church Within Records.

This is their fifth studio album since this Swedish band was formed in 2004.  And as before they’ve made a fine album.  Not that it brings anything new to us. Far from that. This album, as were their previous albums, is chock full of stereotypes and clichés of the genre.

Actually their music can best be described as a mix of Manowar, Iron Maiden, Sabaton, Judas Priest, and maybe I could name a few others.