Artist: Sick of it All Album: Death to Tyrants Genre(s): Rock Subgenres(s): Hardcore Punk Released: 2006 Length: 37 minutes Language(s): English Label(s): Abacus Records
Track List:
01. Take the Night Off
02. Machete
03. Preamble
04. Uprising Nation
05. Always War
06. Die Alone
07. Evil Schemer
08. Leader
09. Make a Mark
10. Forked Tongue
11. The Reason
12. Faithless
13. Fred Army
14. Thin Skin
15. Maria White Trash
16. Don’t Join the Crowd (European Bonus Track)
Sick of it All Death to Tyrants Cover
Sick of it All Death to Tyrants Review
Death to Tyrants is a testosterone fuelled rage fit by Sick of it All. After the first few songs you’ll come to realise that Sick of it All are content with playing short, snappy bursts of hardcore punk and aren’t trying to do anything else. While the passion is clearly there, the lack of desire to diversify their sound leaves each song on Death to Tyrants sounding all too similar to the ones before it.
However the biggest grievance on Death to Tyrants has to be vocalist Lou Koller, who insists on spluttering over what could have been some well-crafted songs without his constipated gorilla cries. Instead, Death to Tyrants turns into nothing more than an endurance test to get to the end of it.
Death to Tyrants is best left to the hardcore punk enthusiasts as it will leave the rest of us feeling sick of it all before the album is halfway done.
Artist: The Beat Tornados Album: Pole Position Genre(s): Rock Subgenres(s): Surf Rock Released: 1998 Length: 20 minutes Language(s): N/A Label(s): Amigo
Track List:
01. Oppa Fjellet
02. Throttleman
03. Pole Position
04. El Nino
05. Kon Tiki
06. Pihen T Dalen
07. Reinlender
08. The Cruel Sea
The Beat Tornados Pole Position Cover
Beat Tornados Pole Position Review
Pole Position is the debut album by the Norwegian surf rockers The Beat Tornados. Pole Position is almost entirely instrumental with the exceptions being the subtle wordless voices on Oppa Fjellet and a quiet yell followed by a much louder one on El Nino. This works to the albums advantage because there isn’t much space for actual singing as the songs take on new directions quickly and aren’t structured with a singer in mind.
While all of the songs are up tempo with reverb drenched guitars taking the lead, there is plenty of variety in the song-writing department over the course of this short album. The lazy sounding Kon Tiki is the only slow song on Pole Position and it follows on from El Nino, a song that builds itself into a flurry of cymbal crashes and drum rolls before launching into the optimistic Phin T Dalen that is guaranteed to make you smile.
Clocking in at 20 minutes, it’s hard to consider Pole Position to be a full length album but The Beat Tornados offer the listener a great deal of replay value with some excellent musicianship that does everything right without the need for any excess.
Artist: Spiritual Beggars Album: Ad Astra Genre(s): Rock Subgenres(s): Stoner Rock Released: 2000 Length: 60 minutes Language(s): English Label(s): Music for Nations
Track List:
01. Left Brain Ambassadors
02. Wonderful Word
03. Sedated
04. Angel of Betrayal
05. Blessed
06. Per Aspera Ad Astra
07. Save Your Soul
08. Until the Morning
09. Escaping the Fools
10. On Dark Rivers
11. The Goddess
12. Mantra
13. Let the Magic Talk
Spiritual Beggars Ad Astra Cover
Spiritual Beggars Ad Astra Review
Ad Astra is the fourth Spiritual Beggars album and the last to feature original singer Christian “Spice” Sjostrand. It is a fitting final album for him that sets the standard in terms of his own performance and that of his band mates which have all improved leaps and bounds in the time since their debut album, Spiritual Beggars, was release in 1994.
There is no build up or easing off with Ad Astra. Spiritual Beggars go in at full throttle and after the third song, Sedated, you’re already half expecting the group to throw in a ballad but we’re in luck – there aren’t any. Ad Astra is almost an entire hour of face melting guitar riffs, authoritative percussive blows, dense bass and lively keyboard work to fill in any semblance of quiet.
The first parts of Until the Morning and Mantra would have you thinking otherwise before you get floored by brooding doom metal force on the former and flashy solo work on the latter. Given that Spiritual Beggars don’t slow down on Ad Astra and focus primarily on the guitar, it is hard to call it sonically diverse. What they lack in this department is more than made up for with their finely honed song-writing skills and stunning musicianship that will blow your mind straight out the back of your head.
Ad Astra is a staple of the Spiritual Beggars discography with the single-minded, full throttle approach to the song-writing actually being the Spiritual Beggars greatest asset that doesn’t fail them for a single moment.
Artist: Opeth Album: Pale Communion Genre(s): Rock Subgenres(s): Progressive Rock Released: 2014 Length: 56 minutes Language(s): English Label(s): Roadrunner Records
Track List:
01. Eternal Rains Will Come
02. Cusp of Eternity
03. Moon Above, Sun Below
04. Elysian Woes
05. Goblin
06. River
07. Voice of Treason
08. Faith in Others
Opeth Pale Communion Cover
Opeth Pale Communion Review
Pale Communion is the eleventh studio album and third progressive rock outing by Opeth. Following on from the Damnation and Heritage albums, Pale Communion sees Opeth once again exploring their progressive rock influences without any traces of their death metal side which thankfully excludes the grunts and growls too. There is also some jazz fusion influence creeping in, which could be due to co-producer and guest backing vocalist Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, solo) following his own taking to the genre in the last few years.
After appearing in a guest role on Heritage’s title track, keyboardist Joakim Svalberg has now joined the ranks of Opeth as a fulltime band member following the departure of Per Wiberg (Spiritual Beggars). The overall sound of Pale Communion is most easily described as a continuation of what is heard on Heritage. The big differences are that Opeth are more confident in embracing their progressive rock roots and the songs are more fine-tuned with many of them having a longer running time to reflect this.
Like many of the songs on Pale Communion, Cusp of Eternity has a myriad of passages woven together seamlessly but for no reason it ends with a fade out. Given how many directions some songs on Pale Communion take, it almost comes across as Opeth brushing it aside for the ambitious 11 minute Moon Above, Sun Below, which does not feel like it’s half as long as it is.
Still not content with their new sound, Opeth takes a breather on Elysian Woes by introducing elements of folk music and keeps a steadier pace to bring Michael Akerfeldt’s voice to the front. River is written in the same vein with a stronger emphasis on vocal melodies (which is another major addition to the album that gets its biggest spotlight on Faith in Others) and has a bit of a jam session part way through to mix things up even further.
Goblin tips its hat to the Italian progressive rock outfit of the same name and is the only instrumental track on Pale Communion. It centres around a steady build up and drummer Martin Axenrot throwing in plenty of short and sharp fills to keep you on your toes. With all the songs before Voice of Treason being much lighter by comparison, it takes an uncharacteristically tense twist that is reminiscent of the song Closure from Opeth’s 2003 album Damnation. The atmospheric keyboard work at the end bridges it with Faith in Others to create a 16 minute 2 part song.
The complete lack of heavy metal will be a disappointment for long-time fans that haven’t embraced Opeth’s progressive rock side but for the rest of us, it’s another exciting chapter in Opeth’s discography as well as the modern progressive rock scene as it seems that Opeth has its collective heart set on this path for the time being.
Performers:
Fredrik Akesson: Guitars, backing vocals Mikael Akerfeldt: Vocals, guitars Martin Axenrot: Drums, percussion Martin Mendez: Bass guitars Joakim Svalberg: Keyboards, backing vocals Steven Wilson: Backing vocals
