Week 48: Solstice - Cromlech

The artist: Solstice from the UK are an epic doom metal band who despite only ever releasing two albums and an EP, have made a recent comeback. Not a whole lot happened with them in the 00s but with the recent tours and writing one new song for their live shows, you can tell they've returned to the metal realm and are ready to kick even more ass sometime in the near future. The third album named Englander is highly anticipated considering it's been 13 years since they released New Dark Age and they're well overdue.

The album: New Dark Age is the superior album out of the two Solstice albums. If you hear this record first, there isn't much to care about Lamentations. New Dark Age has some monstrous doom metal numbers including The Sleeping Tyrant (which had a low budget music video), Cimmerian Codex, Hammer of Damnation, Cromlech and New Dark Age, Pt. 2. These are the main five tracks of the album and could have just left it at that but Solstice added a whole new dimension by adding an individual section with an acoustic interlude, a very folky ballad and a spoken verse with sounds of wind blowing. Afterwards, the album immediately returns to its doom destruction. Another thing to note about New Dark Age is the unusual choice of words. When reading the lyrics, you'll come across many words that you may have not heard of all your life and extra credit should be handed out to them for acknowledging such words. Lastly, by getting the re-release of this album, you will be rewarded with an excellent cover of Iron Maiden's The Prophecy.

The song: Cromlech starts off rather moody with the bass and clean guitars. The bass is certainly one of the finest performances for it from Solstice and this intro is justified. The heavy guitars kick in after a minute but it's not long until the band pick up the pace. The rhythm may be fast for doom metal but the song endures itself long enough, especially when some lines are repeated several lines. This isn't bad, though since it's hard to get enough of "LEND ME YOUR STEEL!" Now that just screams heavy metal. Even if the song is faster than an average doom metal song, Richard M. Walker and Hamish Glencross do not halt with the crushing doom riffs. The song does slow down within 6 minutes and this is where we're given the beautiful solo by them. The main rhythm isn't done yet, though as it returns afterwards to finish off the full lyrics. Some parts may be repeated several times but it still offers a lot within 10 1/2 minutes. Overall, Cromlech just proves what this heavily overlooked band can do with their music and here's hoping Englander will take notes from songs like these.

Week 37: Carcass - Death Certificate

The artist: Carcass are a death metal/grindcore band from Liverpool, the English city that's most well known for The Beatles. Carcass have been praised for being highly influential in grindcore as well as melodic death metal. They implemented melodic death metal to their music with Heartwork around the same time metal bands from Gothenburg such as In Flames and At the Gates were only starting to record albums. Besides The Beatles, this is one band that makes me happy to live very close to Liverpool.

The album: Heartwork is the album where Carass played death metal in a more melodic style. Although some melodic death metal bands may not sound like standard death metal, Heartwork is one where you can relate to the more traditional death metal with killer tracks such as Carnal Forge, Blind Bleeding the Blind and today's metal song Death Certificate. Heartwork is a melodic death metal album that nicely stands out from the subgenre.

The song: Death Certificate starts with some twin guitars where one has a simple two note riff while the other is a melodic tune that eventually clash each other some fast riffing. Now this is a riff that slays and shows some brutality. The lyrical lines are rather minimal and may not have much to them but it's a good sign since Carcass were more focused on writing some shining guitar work. The song enters a melodic solo phase where both Bill Steer and Michael Amott both play side by side. These are solos that stick out from the album so well along with the crazy solo on Carnal Forge. Overall, Death Certificate is song that will offer many death certificates around due to it being such a killer track with riffs and solos.

Week 25: Saxon - Machine Gun

The artist: Saxon are one of many bands who were part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement in the late 70s/early 80s. Although they never had the critical acclaim Iron Maiden and Judas Priest had during their golden days, Saxon have managed to stick around since the formation of the band and have released 19 albums throughout their time and recently released Call to Arms. Saxon have their top hits with 747 (Strangers in the Night), Princess of the Night and Wheels of Steel. However, there is more to Saxon than that. Listen to Battalions of Steel from Into the Labyrinth and realise the great material Saxon have going beyond their classics. The later days of Saxon have a touch of power metal to their music and considering they have Charlie Bauerfeind for their sound producer (also the producer for Blind Guardian, Helloween and HammerFall, some of the biggest power metal bands out there), the slight change of direction is no big surprise.

The album: Wheels of Steel is part of the Saxon classic trio (Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law and Denim and Leather). Unfortunately, the lesser known songs don't stand out that well in the album barring one. With songs like 747 (Strangers in the Night), Motorcycle Man, Machine Gun and the title track, it's still an album worth hearing for traditional metal fans.

The song: Machine Gun kicks off with a short solo which is immediately ended by the killer speed riff for the song. This song is another fine example of ending off an album with a speed metal number. That's not all to the riffs, though as the vocal breaks show an even better riff that would go well with action movie sequences like bread and butter. When hearing this song, it's hard to not think of an Arnold Schwartzenegger or Sylvester Stallone action movie when listening to this part as well as the lyrics. The lyrics sound like Rambo going through an enemy base and doing what it takes to kill his enemies. Why hasn't this song been used in any action films? Overall, Machine Gun is one of Saxon's greatest songs for being the speed metal closer of the album and all around sounding like an ideal song for action films that make you want to go through a battlefield and start killing enemies like crazy yourself.

Week 8: Diamond Head - Sweet and Innocent

The artist: Diamond Head are both well established in heavy metal and underrated. Some may easily overlook the band as a whole but they have been known for not having much of a success after the release of Lightning to the Nations. The later commercial failure may have been the result of the band not getting enough recognition as they probably should for their first album or two, especially the debut album.

The album: Lightning to the Nations (sometimes known as The White Album) is Diamond Head's debut and most well known album. Containing seven kickass tracks with some of them being metal anthems (i.e. The Prince and Am I Evil?). Like Budgie, it's sad to think that Metallica's cover of Am I Evil is at least 10x more popular than the original. Sure, it's a good cover during the Cliff Burton days and The Big Four pulled off a great show with this song live but Diamond Head are the ones who write the damn song, they deserve just as much credit, if not, more.

The song: Sweet and Innocent is the song just right after Am I Evil. Starting off with the main catchy riff from the performance of Brian Tatler which has to be one of many highlights in Lightning to the Nations. The lyrics are a rather typical love song but to put it in a speed metal track such as this and sounding heavy as hell makes it a nice twist. Sean Harris does an excellent job singing this song as well as providing a chorus that will stick in your head the first time you hear it. Overall, Sweet and Innocent is an awesome song and makes a contribution to the album as great as the other songs.

Week 4: Motörhead - When the Eagle Screams

The artist: Motörhead are yet another band that should be easily recognised to anyone. The majority of metalheads will know Lemmy right away and if they're real fans of Motörhead, they'll know the names of other band members both past and present. Lemmy may be the centre of Motörhead but that doesn't mean his bandmates Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee can't be acknowledged. Lemmy and his band have been going on since 1975 and nothing seems to be stopping them.

The album: Motörizer is one of the most recent Motörhead albums and follows the louder and heavier style of Motörhead they went with since Inferno. For the new direction Motörhead took with Inferno and the success for that album, the band has stuck to the same sound production since and rightly so. Kiss of Death and Motörizer also sound great and as crazy as this sounds, I find myself to enjoy the last few Motörhead albums more than the classics (i.e. Overkill, Bomber and Ace of Spades).

The song: Starting with a strange voice clip but shortly followed by a killer intro. Infact, killer is the word that describes the song all around both musically and lyrically. Phil Campbell slays the listeners with the intro, riffs and solos. All of it is a facemelter and to contribute to the greatness, Lemmy puts in 100% to make this song very aggressive with his powerful voice and bass guitar and Mikkey Dee does his job to give the song a really good rhythm. The song is about war and how soldiers are ordered to fight, kill their enemies and earn rewards mindlessly to show how war isn't easy and the cost of killing others. Definitely a great song from the later Motörhead works and there's plenty more to check out from the recent era.

Week 3: Judas Priest - Run of the Mill

The artist: Every fan of metal should know these guys and like Black Sabbath, they shouldn't need an introduction. Just like Black Sabbath, however, there are many underrated songs in Priest's library. They have sixteen albums released and you can expect there's a dozen or two songs that need some good recognition. Recently, Judas Priest have announced retirement and are having a farewell tour before they call it a day for the band. To those that have never seen Priest live, your chances are very limited!

The album: Rocka Rolla is the debut album of Judas Priest released in 1974. Unfortunately, it's not a strong metal debut effort like Iron Maiden's self-titled or Holy Diver and the one thing that may be most remembered about this album is the album cover. This is because of the similarity of the Coca-Cola logo. There was an alternative album artwork which was either due to Coca-Coca passing legal charges or the band wasn't really happy with the original album cover. As for the songs themselves, the band's style wasn't fully developed so don't expect anything along the lines of Breaking the Law, The Hellion/Electric Eye or Painkiller. This is a time well before they even stormed the radio with such classics.

The song: Run of the Mill stands as the longest and most certainly a highlight in Rocka Rolla. One of the slowest songs Judas Priest have to offer but with the time they took to play this song, the outcome was worth it for an emotional and adventurous number. The main riff for Run of the Mill certainly has a spice of metal which is where Judas Priest must have gone from to work on heavier tunes for the following album Sad Wings of Destiny. The more adventurous part of the song is the mid-section when a slow solo is played and Ian Hill on bass is heard clear as day. To contribute to the depressing feel of the song, the lyrics question about one's failure and how as an old person you've failed all your life. Quite harsh but damn, they take those lengths just to make an outstanding song from the very beginning.