Sebastian Bach - Angel Down

Sebastian is your typical rock star, he loves his girls he loves his booze and can't handle either and that got him kicked out of Skid Row, what he does have is incredible stage presence and he is a naturally charismatic front man. This album isn't Metal, it's Hard Rock, but that's OK, it's better as an album than anything Skid Row have put out since he was fired, and just as good if not better as anything they did with him still in the band. It's clear he's trying VERY hard on this album, and his effort is noted. what i didn't like is the inclusion of Axel Pose on a couple of tracks, that really spoils the album for me. Over all it's an enjoyable listen.
As a metal album 0/10 (as it's not metal)
As an album 7/10 (mostly for Sebastian's performance)

Prong - Power of the Damager

I've never really been a fan of Prong, their early stuff never really tickled my fancy, though Snap My Fingers Snap my neck stood out from the rest and is clearly my favorite of their songs. Prong as a band have had multiple lineup changes and are also off and on again too often to really be considered an influencial band. That said Power of the Damager is clearly one of their better efforts which came as a suprise. I was thinking i'd have to struggle to get through it without the temptation of skipping, but i enjoyed it so much i heard it a second, third, fourth time and plan on hearing it regularly. Maybe not quite good enough for putting in the car, but a couple tracks could make it onto a mix tape.
6/10

Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted

It's Great to see (or rather hear) the Cavalera brothers back together.

When I first put on the CD i thought wow! and I haven't really thought that since I first put on Testament's The gathering. A pleasant surprise indeed. This album really seems to feel like the natural successor to Sepultura's Chaos AD. Combining all the tribal elements of Sepultura's post Chaos AD work but all the thrashiness of their Pre-Chaos AD work. Hearing Roots after Inflikted would be majorly disappointing.

Must Kill reminds me of The Hunt, a slower more melodic Sepultura song. But tipping the other end of the scale is the bonus Track The Exorcist which sounds like something of Morbid Visions, yes! Morbid Visions!

If like me you love the Thrashy almost Death Metal early Sepultura stuff you won't be disappointing by Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted in the slightest. Though it may be a tad to extreme for the casual Metal fan.
9/10

Annihilator - Metal

Another Annihilator album that doesn't really explore any new territory and doesn't really rekindle the Alice in Hell flame either. I have great respect for Jeff Waters, he's one of the most outstanding Riffers out there, but he really should have taken Dave Mustaine up on his offer to join Megadeth as it's clear Annihilator are running on empty, and have been doing so for a while.

The Canadian Thrash band have put out numerous albums with numerous different lineups, yet Alice in Hell, Never Neverland and Criteria for a Black Widow remain the only worthwhile efforts, OK and the title Track off King of the Kill too.

This new album titled Metal (great name for an album) contains what seems to be re-hashes of previous material and probably throwaway stuff which Jeff wouldn't really put out unless he was forced to.

Dave Padden's Vocals are really substandard, Jeff does much better on the albums he performs vocals on.

Jeff if Mustaine asks again, accept!
4/10

Death Angel - Killing Season

When i found out about a new Death Angel album I was pretty shocked, shocked in a good way! Death Angel has always been a favorite of mine but somehow always manage to slip under the Radar.

Killing Season is a very different album from the Art of Dying, it's closer in roots to Death Angel's stuff before they broke up in 1991, but with better production. I always wondered how different Death Angel's history would have been had The Ultra Violence sounded a bit clearer. This album is proof that Death Angel can sound great and could maybe take advantage of the current resurgence in old school Metal.

As with previous Death Angel albums each song stands on its own with some great rifs and powerful changes. The opening track Lord of Hate is one of the best openers on an album in a long time and sets you up for a very enjoyable experience. Death Angel clearly aren't afraid to express themselves and don't care what people think and there are some powerful lyrics throughout the album that prove this point, In Carnal Justice Mark Osegueda screams with brutal conviction, "Obsessed erotic with a mind possessed, Hug the blade one last caress, Cut the hand gouge the eye, Hung and whipped and burnt alive".

If you like old school Thrash Metal Killing Season is definately for you!
9/10

Judas Priest - Nostradamus

I've just been hearing the 23 tracks of Judas Priest's Nostradamus, pen in hand and paper ready to take notes, i note down "what an incredible buildup" Then I hear Prophecy and think to myself cool riff, Judas Priest rule! then the chorus hits and I'm like hang on are they gonna keep on saying Nostradamus throughout!? I remember around a month ago Notradamus (the song) became available as a single on Reverb Nation cool song but didn't they say Nostradamus a few too many times there too!

Then I hear Revelations, and it starts to take a quite awkward turn for the worse from then on track by track i just don't know what to think. Cool riffs here and there but on the whole I'm thinking, what are these guys on? Has something gone wrong with their heads, there's about 7 or so intro tracks to weird songs. I get the feeling this would be better as a soundtrack.

The orchestration is quite outstanding and most of the songs don't contain easy riffs or arrangments at all. But we all knew Judas could play, well at least us who've tried to play covers live.

This respect for them is why I am going to give this album a few more listens and if it deserves it i will give it another review. But as it stands i'd rather just listen to Angel of Retribution again

Weirdness factor 10/10
overall 6/10

Testament - The Formation of Damnation

I must admit Testament wasn't really on my play list until 1999's The Gathering, but since then I've collected all the albums and they have some pretty good stuff that i kind of missed out on earlier on.

Now on to the review of their latest effort "The Formation of Damnation" I've read some really impressive reviews about this album, I've had it for a while and I've given it a pretty good listening. Musically it is a fantastic album, great for putting on full blast in your muscle car while you tear around the neighbourhood chasing lepers! It's non relenting Thrash, heavy, fast, cool riffs, great drumming, it's everything I personally would wish for in an album... but... Just listening to it, sitting down listening, concentrating on it. There's something wrong, I can always enjoy the first half of the album but after that it tends to drop away a bit. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid effort and Testament have stuck with a formula that works which is good and it's well worth the money, but I read those reviews and maybe i expected better, there's no 'Alone in the dark' or 'DNR' type songs that will stand out.

7/10

Venom - Hell

Venom's latest album Hell hit the shelves in June and I've given it quite some listening. The first thing that stood out was that the mixing of the album is rather strange, the mixes don't have that continuity you usually expect from an album, it sounds more like a compilation but don't let that put you off, each song goes from strength to strength in true to Satan Venom style!

Cronos' vocals are a little less distorted than in their previous effort Metal Black, but he's strayed very little from the Cronos we love, unlike a certain Mr H who seems to have undergone intensive training of late and still isn't anywhere near his best. But that's a different story.

Overall I'd say the poor production and weird mixing taint an album of some very strong songs that can become Heavy Metal classics. From the Venomous opener Straight to Hell, to the Chugging Hand of God, Venom provide more than decent serving for anyone with a Metal appetite.
8/10