Reviews

REVIEWS BEFORE 2015:

ASOMVEL- Full Moon Dog (Miskatonic)
Bought this ten incher in 2009 at the British Steel Festival in London. This kind of material appears and is gone before you’ll know it. I had never heard of this band before, but this is a pleasant first introduction. The five songs sound very similar to MOTÖRHEAD. Just listen to opener “Feel The Chill”, which comes waltzing in at high speed. “Behind The 8 Ball” is on next at the same high speed. I can’t say anything more than that the band has listened to MOTÖRHEAD and TANK quite a lot in their youth, I guess, but hey that’s no shame. Guitarist Lenny (no, not Lemmy) Robinson even looks like the godfather of bulldozer bass guitar Lemmy in his younger days. I don’t even remember, if Lemmy ever was young in his life. I guess, he came crawling out of his mother with a glass of whiskey in his hand….. Jack Daniels of course. Anyway, the highlight of this first attack is “To Hell With All The Rest” and I can’t agree more with a statement like that: to hell with them all (including the devil). “How The Mighty Fall” sounds raw and takes us to the title track, which closes this ten inch vinyl disc, called “Full Moon Dog”. And you know what happens when the moon is full: dogs start howling and barking at the moon. And the band plays their last song at full speed. Great stuff - no pretentious high flyers, instead just pleasant to listen to heavy metal songs. ASOMVEL is a name to remember, if you’re a MOTÖRHEAD fan and well, who isn’t?? ASOMVEL consists of Lenny Robinson on guitar, Ian Wright on drums and Jay Jay Winter on bass and vocals. Website: http://www.myspace.com/asomvel.
(7,5/10- Toine van Poorten)

BATTERING RAM- Back Through The Main Gate (High Roller Records)
We know, that Holland has a great underground metal scene. In Belgium however, they also play some good heavy metal stuff, that’s for sure. If you’re not convinced yet, just listen to this album by BATTERING RAM and you’ll agree with me all the way. BATTERING RAM consists of Jo Luycks on vocals, Eddy Scheire on guitars, Wim Gerolt on bass and Walter Baeyens on drums. Opener “Power Of Evil” already bowled me over. A very powerful, high speed heavy metal sound enters my room. What a fantastic introduction! “Behind The Styx” follows, a song with interesting mood and speed changes and above all some nice axe work, too. “I Came For You” starts off as a ballad, but soon it changes into a powerful rocker with a crazy guitar solo and a MAIDEN-like sound. The song was released as a single by Eat Metal Records as the flipside of “Power Of Evil”. “Black Knight” contains more exciting speed and mood changes. There’s a lot happening in this song. “Condemned To The Gallow” sounds a bit more straight forward. The B-side of this album consists of four songs, recorded in a different line up. Vocalist Jo Luycks is being replaced by Alex Fifi, who comes from the punk scene and brings along a lot of different influences. The band even recruited a second guitarist, called Bart Schaillée. And guitarist Eddy Scheire adds some keyboard playing as well. Next on is “Killing Fields”, which shows some progression in their sound, to my opinion. The rhythm section sounds tighter than ever and the song structures are definitely better. “One More Beer” may sound like a very simple title, but it’s a very powerful rock song with a burp in the beginning, which does do justice here. Bands like VORTEX or JEWEL will come to mind, if you listen carefully to the way, that Fifi articulates in this song. “Towerghost” is a good metal tune. Just listen to the opening riff and you’ll get that good old time feeling! “The Fighters From Shaolin”, dedicated to the masters of kung fu from China, closes the album. BATTERING RAM was recently re-established and brought back to life. Original members Eddy and Walter have found a Peruvian guitarist, called Juan Carlos Galdos (ex-DISTORSION) and the band is rehearsing for live shows in the near future. It would mean another resurrection of a great old school metal band.
(8/10- Toine van Poorten)

CRYSTAL VIPER- The Curse Of Crystal Viper (Karthago Records)
A short spoken intro, called “….I See Him!”, leads us to the true metal hymn “Night Prowler”. A very promising start, if I may say so. This is the debut album of Poland’s new true metal sensation, CRYSTAL VIPER. And I must say, that I liked the album A LOT from back to forth. It really captures the true metal feeling in ten songs and forty-five exciting minutes. The voice of Leather Wych is a marvellous mix between Leather Leone (CHASTAIN) and Doro, when she was still the frontlady of WARLOCK. “Shadows On the Horizons” captures that old IRON MAIDEN feeling, mixed with the warrior vocals of MANOWAR and HAMMERFALL. In other words, this is true metal to the core! Except of wild frontlady/vocalist Leather Wych, CRYSTAL VIPER consists of Tommy Roxx on bass, Andy Wave on guitar, Vicky Vick on guitar and Golem on drums. The pedal is pressed to the metal in “The Last Axeman”. A song, that will raise many fists, when played live, I think. I can see it right before my eyes, in my imagination. In “Island Of The Silver Skull”, you can see the warriors rise their swords into the sky. A nice warrior hymn, in which the vocals reminded me of Jutta Weinhold in her ZED YAGO days. “I Am Leather Witch”, which has again some great twin guitar work, is some kind of a tribute to the frontlady of this band, I pressume. The spirit of old IRON MAIDEN sound wanders around in the fabulous guitarwork. While “Demons Dagger” sounds a bit darker. It’s the ballad on this album, which speeds up in the middle. Take a deep breath, because it’s time to bang your head again in the speed rocker “The Fury (Undead)”. “Sleeping Swords” closes this CD, which gives you the feeling that it is 1984 again. Starting off like MAIDEN’s “Strange World” (which is still one of the very best IRON MAIDEN songs to me), but it also switches to a more uptempo song and it has the same great drive. CRYSTAL VIPER is certainly a name to remember, and we can’t wait to catch the band live in action at the 2010 Keep It True festival. In the meantime, we can sit and enjoy this exciting tribute to the real true metal sound, by pushing the ‘play’ button again. The maximum score is well-deserved by this Polish true metal band. Thanks to Bart Gabriel of Dragonnight Agency for sending us a copy of this metal masterpiece.
(10/10- Toine van Poorten)

CRYSTAL VIPER- The Last Axeman (Karthago Records)
I already mentioned the song "The Last Axeman" in a previous review of “The Curse Of Crystal Viper”. This wonderful release spans over a full hour of loud metal mayhem from Polish true metal outfit CRYSTAL VIPER. It contains live tracks, new and previous unreleased songs, covers of VIRGIN STEELE, WASP and MANILLA ROAD songs and the official live, five track, bootleg “Live In Andernach 2007”. It’s almost too much to mention. Opener “The Last Axeman” is also the title track of this compilation CD. Which will later on appear in the Polish version as well. Already on the second track, the band will introduce you to two of their special guests. We have Josh Block (rhythm guitar) and David DeFeis (vocals and keyboards) of VIRGIN STEELE guesting on “Blood And Gasoline”.”The Anvil Of Hate” puts the pedal to the metal and in “The Banshee” we hear a new song. It opens with piano playing and develops into a slow ballad. After the Polish version of “The Last Axeman”, which is on next, we hear two other excellent covers. They start with “aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhh”- an utterly wild version of MANILLA ROAD’s “Flaming Metal System”, that includes a gorgeous guitar solo. Here they introduce their second guest. It is Piotr Luczyk of the Polish heavy metal band KAT. He’s responsible for that marvellous guitar solo. I think, he must have burned his fingers, while playing it. The second cover is “Wild Child” by WASP. Then it’s time for a five song live set recorded “Live In Andernach 2007”, containing songs like “The Island Of The Silver Skull” (including a drumsolo), “I Am Leather Witch”, “Shadows On The Horizon”, The Last Axeman” and “Sleeping Swords”. Here you can taste the great atmospere during a CRYSTAL VIPER show. The sound and production may not be perfect, but therefore it’s called an official bootleg. I mean, it’s the exclusivity that counts here and not the quality. The CD closes with another version of the MANILLA ROAD classic “Flaming Metal Systems”. This time it’s a live version with another guest added to the line up of the band. In this version, you will hear Gerrit Mutz of SACRED STEEL as a guest vocalist. The incredible guitar solo was left out this time though. I can only come to one conclusion: this is the perfect way to please your fans. They don’t have to miss out on anything by their favorite band. They are treated to a bunch of live songs, some cover songs and unreleased tracks and a nice CD booklet is there to accompany it all, including some great live pics and all the lyrics to the songs. CRYSTAL VIPER rules and I highly recommend this album to all the true metalheads out there! The band consists of Marta ‘Leather Witch’ Gabriel on vocals, Andy Wave on guitar, Golem on drums, Pawel Gocyla on rhythm guitar and Tommy Roxx on bass. Darek Kachel plays bass guitar on two songs as well. Check out the bands website at http://www.crystalviper.com.
(10/10- Toine van Poorten)

KRLEŠ- Perunovo Requiem (Sia Production)
This is the fourth full-length album by the Czechian heavy metal band KRLEŠ. It contains ten new songs and has a playing time of about forty-five minutes. It’s great to hear, that there are still bands out there, that play traditional heavy metal. I don’understand the lyrics, but the different songs contain a lot of power. Since their last album “Sizy Arkony” came out, the band went through some line up changes. They have a new guitarplayer, called Libor Daniš and a new singer, called Lucie Roubièková. Lucie replaced former singer Zuzana Martincová. Besides Libor and Lucie, KRLEŠ consists of Radek Sady Sádovský on guitar, Jiøi Mráza Zima on bass and Jiøi Smìlik on drums. The music of KRLEŠ shows some resemblance to the old sound of ACCEPT and JUDAS PRIEST. Powerful, ‘fists in the air’ heavy metal with catchy hooks. The album opens with the short instrumental title track, followed by “Saumrak Bohu”, which obviously contains some ACCEPT influences. The JUDAS PRIEST-like riffs appear in “Posedlost”. While “Nechte Mĕ Bejt!” has got that pounding rhythm, that will also remind you of the good old PRIEST sound. In this song, they turn up the speed a little. “Prokletá” is introduced by a tearing guitar sound. Traditional hard rock and heavy metal fans, who are not too happy about all the different styles, created in the past few years, will be delighted by the down-to-earth sound of this band. “Ekokalypsa” opens with a rather doomy drum intro and a darker light shines in this one. At the end of this song, a child choir sings some harmony vocals. While in “Vykoupeni Kruí” the speed goes up, until it reaches great headbanging speed. A great warming up for your neck muscles! The ACCEPT-like twin guitar solo explodes right in your face. For sure, my favorite song of this album! “Za Servskeju Golu” is the obligatory ballad with harmony vocals by the male members of the band. The harmony vocals return in “Poločas Rozkladu”, which has also got some riffs of MICHAEL JACKSON’s “Beat it”. “Perunovo Requiem” is a real treat for people, who like honest and true-to-the-bone heavy metal. I think, this is a worthy album between all the gothic, nu-metal and alternative releases and I would highly recommend it to everybody, who reads these lines. Both thumbs up for KRLEŠ, which means a full score for this mighty fine album. Website: http://www.myspace.com/krlesband.
(10/10- Toine van Poorten)

MARTYR- Fear…For The Universe (Rusty Cage Records)
“For The Universe”, should be considered as a cult album in the Dutch heavy metal history. In the tape traders scene, MARTYR was hot and so were SAVAGE and SWORD, because of their great guitarists. MARTYR was being referred as a Dutch band, that was very heavily influenced by MERCYFUL FATE. And when you listen to the “For The Universe” re-release on CD, there’s no doubt about it. Next to VANDENBERG, BODINE and VENGEANCE, their sound is really a lot different. These guys digged in the underground and found out that there was more to it than the well-known names. They explored their borders and came up with a fantastic album, that easily stood the test of time. “Speed Of Samurai” and “The Awakening” are real classics and they gave the band the cult status, that they earned so well. Just listen to the spooky horror organ outro of “For The Universe – Requiem”. Nobody had ever done that before, MARTYR just did it and became immortal to me, after hearing these songs. The main reason why I am reviewing this CD is, that the “Fear” CD contains five new songs. The band line-up has changed a bit over the years, but those who pulled the strings remained. There is Rick Bouwman on guitar, Marcel Heesakkers on guitar and ‘tearaway’ Toine van der Linden on bass guitar. Gerard Vergouw is replaced by another great singer, called Rop van Haren, on vocals. Wilfried Broekman plays the drums on this almost twenty-five minutes mini CD. The sound of MARTYR has become more heavy and less MERCYFUL FATE. Listen for example to the groovy riffs in opener “The Most Evil” and the slow doomy intro of “Fear”. The speedy riffs have changed for more powerful riffs. In “Different Kind Of Rain” I still hear an icely high KING DIAMOND-like scream and there’s some more riffing in this song. Also a name like METALLICA pops up in my mind every now and then. The METALLICA feeling gets stronger in the beginning of “Take Me Home” and in the refrains of “Eaten Alive”. MARTYR puts some new influences in their still very recognisable sound and they prove, that they still have the right to be out there in the heavy metal scene after all these years. And that’s a great accomplishment! Way to go, guys!! Website: http://www.martyronline.nl.
(8/10- Toine van Poorten)

PICTURE- Old Dogs, New Tricks (DMI Records)
It certainly has been worth the wait. The new PICTURE album is a true killer and the band launches themselves back to the premier league of the heavy metal scene world wide. The album contains twelve new songs and over fifty minutes of pure, old school heavy metal. Opener “Old Dogs, New Tricks” is already a public’s favorite during their live shows. Hear the bloodhounds growl during the intro of this headbanger. “Blood Out Of A Stone” contains one of the many magic guitar riffs by Jan. He is a true maestro on guitar and no one comes close to his recognisable style of playing riffs like that. Pete Lovell sings the song with that very well-known PICTURE like timbre, which makes it all up. “High On Fire” is another typical PICTURE song with a siren-like guitar part in the middle. “Live By The Sword” is one of my absolute favorites. It reminds me of a slow headbanger like “The Blade”, which is true classic in my book. The only marginal comment I’d like to add to this review would be about the rather mellow ballad “Now It’s Too Late”. Each good metal album should have one, but you wouldn’t expect it to be on a PICTURE album. Okay, it will probably bring back fond memories of great songs like “Different World” or “Burning Heart” (VANDENBERG) in a way, to name two legendary Dutch ballads here. But it’s just not PICTURE to me. I do like the guitarsolo and I very much like the passion, that Pete puts in this song. And also when playing live, it didn’t sound bad either, but when I heard this song for the very first time, it really came as an unpleasant surprise to me. I want to be honest here and they may hate me for my honesty, but this song is definitely not my cup of tea. “Just Incredible” is a good hard rock tune, while the band gets into the fifth gear with the fast and furious “Who Can You Trust”, which has a great guitar solo. The CD continues with another mighty guitar riff, introducing you to “Opposites Attract”. “Choosing Your Sign” is slowly becoming another public’s fave, when playing live. While “A Better Soul” is very suitable for radio airplay. It’s easy on the ear and contains a very nice guitarsolo as well. “Celtic Cross” is one of the songs I already knew from their recent live shows in Holland. The CD closes with another fast speed devil, called “Never In A Million Years”, which is also a real highlight to me. I think, that PICTURE can be very proud on what they have accomplished with this album. It sounds like it has been written in the eighties and it will definitely please all the metal heads out there, old and young. PICTURE consists of Pete Lovell on vocals, Jan Bechtum on guitars, Laurens ‘Bakkie’ Bakker on drums, Rien Vreugdenhil on bass and Rob van Enkuizen on guitars.
(9/10- Toine van Poorten)

SHADOW KEEP- The Hourglass Effect (Melissa Records/True Music Promotion)
My heart starts beating faster and faster. The new SHADOW KEEP CD is a fact. The line up of this progressive power metal band from England now consists of Omar Hayes on drums, Stony Grantham on bass, Chris Allen on guitars, Nikki Robson on guitars and former TYGERS OF PAN TANG frontman (and of course ANGELWICH bassplayer!) Richie Wicks on vocals. From the first notes on of opener “Shadowkeep”, I know that we have nothing to fear. You never know how a band develops their sound. Look at the strange sound changes of METALLICA for example. I don’t need to explain more, I guess. SHADOW KEEP keeps the metal flame burning. They even put some extra petrol on to make the flames go higher and higher. “Incisor” sounds like HALFORD or ICED EARTH with some great high vocals of Richie. What a great acquisition for the band. I really hope, that he’s a stayer, because until now the band didn’t have much success with singers, to say the least. “The Shades Of Black” contains with a lot of exciting speed changes and some breathtaking guitar work. The guitars are upfront in the mix and sounding better than ever. “The Hourglass Effect” is a concept album, which is beefed up with several sound effects, like a little piece of speech in the beginning of “Riot On Earth” or the short sound of a wolf growling in the beginning of “Incisor”. “Six Billion Points Of Light” is an acoustic ballad and it has some effects inserted at the very end of the song. It’s a short piece of rest before “Waiting For The Call” explodes. This song captures a lot of power. While ”Leviathan Rising” sounds quite like the early QUEENSRYCHE. Especially in the beginning of the song, where Richie sings out the first words. Then we’re down for some rest again in the acoustic track “Heart Shaped Stone”. “With Force We Come” and “How Many Times (Have We Tried To Save The World)” close this great power metal album. SHADOW KEEP will possibly not save the world with this one, but they definitely made at least one fan very happy with these eleven new tracks, which are worthy of a little over fifty minutes of powerful heavy metal. Both thumbs up for SHADOW KEEP. Website: http://www.shadowkeepmetal.net or visit their My Space page at: http://www.myspace/com/shadowkeepuk.
(9/10- Toine van Poorten)

THORAX- Test Of Time (High Roller Records)
THORAX hails from Belgium, in case you didn’t know. Okay, here’s the deal. Of course you are acquainted with bands like ACID, KILLER, OSTROGOTH and CROSSFIRE. But like the Dutch metal scene in the eighties, there were much more bands, that worked their asses off without getting the respect that they earned so much. However, things are changing rapidly these days with great releases like this one. The fourteen songs on this double vinyl compilation album will make you realize, that THORAX was such a great band from the eighties underground scene in Belgium. Just listen to opener “Metal / Powerraid” to get the idea. It’s a song in two parts, which reminded me of PICTURE’s “Rock And Roll / Under Your Spell” for a moment, because it also has a speed change between both songs. The name POWERAID marked the foundation of what later would become THORAX. THORAX was actually formed in 1985. “Black Sheep” is a powerful track, but I prefer a song like “Eyes Of Avatar”. This song really brings out the best in the band. Fast rhythms, flashing solo guitars and a very powerful beat. I hear some influences of MICHAEL SCHENKER in the guitar solo of that particular song and the riffs just breath metal like it is meant to be! The first six songs (on the first record) are taken from their first demo, simply called “Thorax”, released in 1986. This demo also contains the keyboards by Ludo Verbeeck. The other band members are Marcel Sprangers on vocals, Rudi Schrijvers on guitar, Chris Verstappen on guitar, Wics Rombouts on bass and Guido Schrijvers on drums. “Battle Waves” is an instrumental, while in “Nowhere To Run” there’s enough room to release some power. What a nice flashback to the mid-eighties by this remarkable band with a very recognisable sound! “Destruction” closes the first demo. The guitar solo will simply blow your brains out and get your mind clean. What a power! The four songs on the second demo “Crusaders Of Steel” date from 1987. Starting with the title track, which invites you to shout along to the chorus parts. While “Wasted Land” lifts both horns up again. Next on is a dangerous speed monster, called “To Hell With Tomorrow”. If the devil is leaving, then tomorrow will get the sack as well, they must have thought. “Fight For Peace Of Mind” probably has some IRON MAIDEN influences in the beginning, but the song develops in the best THORAX tradition, including some awesome guitar solos halfway through, that go on and on. The artwork for the front sleeve comes from the last demo, released in 1990, called “Borderline”. It was recorded in the well-known studio of former SAVAGE / HORIZON guitar player Jack Nobelen. It opens with “Damned Berlin”, the song from which the demo title was derived. What I like the most is that the band didn’t really change their sound too much, despite the fact that the metal scene has been affected by so many changes ever since. For example, grunge came along in the nineties and true heavy metal was as dead as a doornail for the average metal fan out there. THORAX however sticked to their guns and showed how fresh they could sound. You can still rock in Belgium, they must have thought. And luckily you can. “Computer City” contains a killer guitar solo, that you must have heard, before believing it. That’s the way I like it! “Actuaris” contains some nice mood changes, that I really enjoyed. And did I already mention the breathtaking guitar solos in this review?? If I didn’t, here’s one for sure! The double album closes with “Hammer Or Nail”, that has some odd drum riffs. But hey, that could be my imagination.. Also it contains some nice mood changes here and there. After the last demo, the curtain falls for THORAX. Still the memory remains with this very well-documented double album, that comes with many great pictures, extensive liner notes and information about the demos, that you’ve just heard. A real must for people, who have a heart for true metal and a nice start for those, who want to explore the rich underground scene of the Belgian heavy metal. You can even see this release as a nice tribute to the Belgian ‘Crusaders Of Steel’: THORAX.
(9,3/10- Toine van Poorten)

VORTEX- Drink Bat Blood (Mighty Monster Records)
So, and now I’m gonna have myself a cup of bat blood. Freshly squeezed and served hot, it tastes at its very best. Vortex is my main distributor of bat blood and they just had a new lot in. ‘Drink Bat Blood’ is the name of the new cd by Dutch’ Pride And Heavy Metal Glory: Vortex. And obviously, these guys are still alive and kicking. They only turn up at night, when the blood is hot and the beer is cold (or the Jack, in Martjo’s case). ‘Megalomizer’ is a good mix of Accept (for the riffs) and Vengeance (the choir vocals) and is a great opener. ‘Attracted To Fire’ has been played live several times and in this pyromaniac song, the guitar players have to work hard. Cult vocalist Jurjen Tichelaar pulls the high notes from out of his toes in this song. The cd booklet will give you a flashback of ‘Open The Gate’, but also musically, their glory days will relive on ‘Drink Bat Blood’. When ‘Fury’ starts, my mind directly goes out to the other brain child of Martjo, but there are no further links to this metal lifestyle webzine in this rocking track. ‘Unexpected’ is just like the Spanish Inquisition: it appears, when you least expect it (remember Monty Python?!). You can sing along to the song after only a few seconds, because of its very catchy character. ‘Drink Bat Blood’ is Vortex at its very best with a huge compliment for vocalist Jurjen, who handles the vocals in a miraculous way. Only he can do it like this. The choir at the end of the song ends kind of frightening… Before you know it, a glass of warm bat blood is already at your lips, while you actually asked for a nice cold soda. ‘Run Of The Metals’ contains that very recognisable metal riff, that was to be found in many metal classics from the eighties. You know, the one that keeps clinging to your head, once you’ve heard it. In ‘Live For The Day (All Night Long)’, we hear the fascination for old school metal bands like Saxon and Judas Priest. Just check out the solo in this song, ain’t that a killer?! ‘Oblivionimous’ (what’s in a name?) closes the album. Maybe the heavy choir vocals are a bit over the top, but the guitar solo definitely makes up for that. The growling voice of Tichelaar is mind blowing again. The very last sentence makes me worry a bit though. They sing ‘Closing The Gate’ and right after that a big, heavy door is closed. This isn’t a symbolic way to say, that Vortex is over after this, or am I the only one who’s seeing ghosts here? You’ll never know after drinking a crate of that bat stuff. ‘Drink Bat Blood’ is another classic album by these ‘Hammers of the North’. The only negative remark I have is, that the cd only runs for about thirty-five minutes. But these are thirty-five high quality music minutes. The vinyl version of ‘Drink Bat Blood’ will be released later this year. The metal bat flies again!
(8,6/10- Toine van Poorten)