While it seems like every week or two, we learn of some new musical genre, there are still bands who recognize some fundamental elements that make the overwhelming power of rock ‘n’ roll so irresistible. Rokets hail from Helsinki and have channeled the Hellacopters (around the ‘Payin the Dues’ days), Motorhead, and other action rock forefathers so convincingly that this EP needs to be heard. While they are not reinventing the wheel, they are taking the template that comes with a fistful of rock ‘n’ roll and giving us 5 reasons to celebrate the power of rock ’n’ roll. I think it is impossible to not be smiling when this EP ends, which is also why you hit the play button again so you can hear it all over again.
‘Speed & Sound’ revs up the engine and then storms out of the gate with some excellent guitar riffs by Sakke Vanttinen as Jaani Kaukonen lays down the rhythm guitar. Sami Mustonen possesses an awesome vocal tone that fits this style perfectly. There is an edge to it but also an ability to create some really good vocal hooks. Not to be outdone, the rhythm section of Georgios Aspetakis (drums) and Heikki Nyman (bass) gets plenty of room in the mix and will get your body moving. It is no secret that I am a huge Electric Frankenstein fan, and this EP constantly gives me the same kind of rush their EP’s and albums do. ‘Burn to Death’ may initially feel like a little bit more of the same approach as the tempo feels like being shot out of the cannon, but the verses give the vocals a little more space, and there is more meat on the bone of the chorus here. The magical moment for me though follows the second chorus where there is a breakdown to a quieter interlude, and Vanttinen lays down an awesome solo that finds me in air guitar heaven each and every time I play it.
‘Rest in Beast’ lays down some thick rhythm guitar while the riffs fall a little bit lower in the mix. While this would seem to be counterproductive, it works extremely well as it gives the lead guitar even more authority when it gets turned up in the mix around the guitar solo. If there is a fault in the song, it is that the two minutes fly by too fast. My possible favorite from the EP follows in ‘Loose Cannon’ which initially with the bass and drums reminds me a bit of an AC/DC beginning before the guitar riffs let loose and take us from 0-70 mph in an instant. The riffs recall the likes of the Hurriganes or Chuck Berry if he had been exposed to the joy of action rock. The hooks are huge here, and my whole body is compelled to move every time it plays. Final track ‘Lost Control’ slows the tempo down a notch with a great staggered beat giving the band a different feel, and I love the section where Nyman gets to really let the focus be on the bass before some more great riffage by Vanttinen gets an extended solo section in this three minute epic. One final chorus bashes in our heads and leaves us craving more.
While the Rokets do not do anything new here, they have clearly identified their sound since forming back in 2017 and do it extraordinarily well. If you enjoy a fistful of powerful rock ‘n’ roll, the Rokets should hit the sweet spot just like they did for me. You might want to make sure anything that’s breakable is out of the room though because these songs will get your body moving. The EP even has a really friendly digital price so get this one in your rotation now, and let’s play the crap out of it.
It takes something of grave importance for my nomadic self to make a guest appearance from its self-imposed limbo (think Van Helsing at the end of classic Eighties flick, The Monster Squad), and that something today is the new five-track extended player from nefarious noiseniks, Grandmother Suplex.
I’ll make my writings on the history of this band as quick as the quintet of lowbrow yet high-quality tunes on offer: loitering around Derbyshire venues since 2015, Grandmother Suplex now finds itself pared down from a four- to a three-piece (with two of those three former members of infamous troublemakers, Scutty Neighbours) yet the would-be numerical disadvantage couldn’t be further from the truth as this now-six-legged monstrosity has fashioned its best output to date.
Did I mention quick? The five songs on this self-titled EP have a combined playing time of around nine minutes, and, if you’re one of the cool kids who will trouble your ears with this highly-recommended noise (via all major digital streaming platforms from June 28th, limited compact disc directly from the band, with vinyl release to follow), it’ll be one of the most frenetic, fucked-up, yet friggin’ glorious nine minutes of your recent history.
Like a crazed dark alley dust-up between Wounds and Cancer Bats, Grandmother Suplex spits out (a self-described) “trashy, thrashy punk” of a kind that always sounds great in a sweaty club full of ne’er-do-wells yet doesn’t always translate to the recording studio. Well, scrub that thought because this five-tracker (recorded at JT Soar in Nottingham by Phil Booth, and mastered by Daniel Husayn of North London Bomb Factory Mastering) sounds as diabolically wicked as anyone with a keen ear for extreme music would hope for.
Fear not, though; the music might be the best that this band has ever produced, but the lyrics and their subject matter are still as ludicrous and of the lowest common denominator as expected. Songs about the presidential man-baby’s absurd Space Force and, of course, kicking other people’s bags of shopping, make for a perfectly preposterous listening experience. Sure, listeners may find themselves observing concussion protocols after this nine-minute ear clobbering, but it’ll be worth it, trust me.
The decision to self-title this essential EP, I hear, came as a result of the band members believing that this new release provided the strongest point of the Grandmother Suplex legend to date and wanting to honour it so. Now, after listening,
I’m a believer too. I’m off to kick some fucker’s shopping… with Grandmother Suplex on my Walkman. Join me!
What could be better than a new Spunk Volcano album to help cheer us all up during this rain-drenched summer we’re having here in the UK? Well, how about two Spunk Volcano albums?
That’s right folks ‘Double Bastard’ is not only Spunk Volcano And The Eruptions fourth studio album to date but it’s also a double (bastard) album.
Containing twenty five tracks of pure Spunk Rock ‘Double Bastard’ flips effortlessly from punk to metal to Oi! to some good old mondo bongo rock ‘n’ roll (more of this later) whilst never once straying too far from the semi-legendary SAW (Spunk’s Anthem Writing) formula we have all come to revere the masked madman for.
Of course, a lot has happened in the Eruptions camp since 2017’s excellent (and Ginger Wildheart endorsed) ‘Not Wired Up Right’ album, for starters they’ve changed record labels, then came the shortening of their name (to S.V. And The Eruptions) after some venues refused to book them, and most recently the acquisition of both ex-FDC Joey Strange on bass and rabid Faxe drinker Scott Russell on guitar – makes this line up perhaps the band’s most insanely perfect yet.
‘Double Bastard’ then is the larger than life sound of this loveable bunch of antiheroes captured in the studio, and before I delve into the nitty gritty of the album I’d just like to say “if there’s anyone out there right now who is writing more memorable punk rock hymns dedicated to this disaffected country of ours I’d certainly like you to point them in my direction.”
Away from the constraints of Dirtbox Disco’s “swing your pants” feelgood punk rock the darker more introverted side of Spunk Volcano has always been where I’ve found some of his most interesting work and here tracks like ‘Road Rage’, ‘You Think Your Rock N Roll But You’re Not’, ‘Independent Fire’ and ‘Personality Black Hole’ turn the noise levels up way past critical with the first three tunes having more than just a hint of Motorhead about them and the latter thrashing away like an in their prime Slayer.
Ole Spunk chops has certainly not forgotten his punk rock roots though and tracks like the Pistols meets Sparrer riot that is ‘Sucking Up’, the whoa-oh-waddytastic ‘TCP’ ‘and the infectious genius of ‘Scared Of Needles’ are some of the very best tunes the masked marauder and his mob of misfits have ever committed to CD.
Elsewhere the dissonantly melancholic pop of ‘Red Rings’, ‘99%’ and ‘Shit Excuse’ provide an almost sugar free alternative to the full on assault of their surroundings and in ‘Old Wives Tales’ you have the band’s most bongo-bonkers tune to date somewhere where the true genius of what makes Spunk Volcano such an amazingly prolific songwriter is condensed into 2 minutes of 30 seconds of….well, you have to hear it for yourselves.
At 25 tracks long ‘Double Bastard’ could perhaps be accused of being Spunk Volcano’s very own ‘(Ab)Use Your Illusion’, however unlike those overblown pieces of GN’R released stadium rock bollocks where you could have made one decent album out of the two, nothing could be further from the truth here. Although I must admit the idea of the Eruptions spunking a ‘November Rain’ sized budget on a video for the stupendously silly ‘Sooper Dooper’ (a song with one of the very best opening lines of all time) certainly wouldn’t be without its charms.
Released on 21st of June 2019 ‘Double Bastard’ is an expansive (not expensive) celebration of gloriously catchy potty-mouthed punk rock ‘n’ roll, providing the perfect pick me up to our depressing UK summer.
Wow, maybe one of the most contentious movies associated with rock/metal ever. If you only have a passing interest you will be familiar with Norweigan Black Metal that came to prominence in the early ’90s and what went down. well, music fans, ‘Lords of Chaos: Truth And Lies’ is really gonna split the audience (those who know and those who don’t give two shits). It’s dark, It’s goofy, it’s horrific but most shockingly it was real.
Sure from a movie perspective, it’s Hollywood and glossy and slick which is everything that Norweigan Black Metal wasn’t. It’s not the kind of movie you would want to take that girl on a first date. You wouldn’t want to put on your best Waynes world baseball cap and those high tops and go with your mates to watch a Metal movie especially if they’re true Black Metal and to be honest, it doesn’t paint the community in a very good light at all not to the uninitiated it doesn’t – No sir.
There is a certain authenticity with this move in some of the cast are fans of the genre and knew the story and the Director was an original member of first wave pioneers Bathory so they know their shit before the purists jump on it.
Casting Varg as a larger Jewish actor couldn’t have been a coincidence, Whilst in the main, the acting is excellent its not the most PC of communities to begin with (tolerance wasn’t exactly a motivator) and they generally lived by their own rules (or so they thought) It mostly focusses around Øystein Aarseth otherwise known as Euronymous the leader of Mayhem one of the forerunners of the second wave of Black Metal and the people who circled around his orbit.
Right enough of the back story. One thing I struggled to get my head around was the Americanisation and the accents, that was a shame, seeing as they were Norwegians no attempt to even put an accent on was made which might have added to the whole Bill and Ted goofy-ness of parts of the film. I thought the writers made a good fist of making it unglamorous and painting the main baddie (Varg) in a suitably bad light. The guys political beliefs are extreme as are a lot of the people in this genre they don’t come across as welcoming – accepting people and the whole church burning is dangerous criminality.
There is very little that was cool about what happened back in the early 90s especially to four of these people (one suicide, two murders and a firefighter who died trying to clean up their handiwork) The film doesn’t cover him (Varg) in glory at all and he comes across as an unstable loser and help was what he really needed not women feeding his narcism. The scorpions patch made me giggle as did the fact that one of the most Black Metallers real names is Kristian – and not The Count – perfect. Not the nicest of people and that really comes across in the movie. I also think that needed to be the case you couldn’t make what these guys were doing acceptable and paint them as victims I do think a lot of the time it was one-upmanship that got out of hand and they aren’t really full-on criminals just a bunch of sheep being led by a few truly dark characters and it got way out of hand. If it were a made up story from start to end you’d be commending the writer on such a twisted dark story but the fact that it’s based around true stories is staggering.
The casting is engaging (that’s not to say likable) there is a certain amount of Goofy Bill and Ted about the whole thing (the way its narrated) but that’s the point – its not gone down well within the metal community (was it ever going to?) The thing is there doesn’t seem much inward reflecting going on in extreme metal, quite the narcissists I mean c’mon, to the man on the street kids running round in corpse paint is gonna look a bit goofy and dorkish – its cosplay for extremists isn’t it? Venom took the piss people didn’t really think their misogynist ways were real and they didn’t sleep in coffins and I don’t think they ate sacrificial virgins either. If you can’t see the humour and piss-taking then you’re maybe a bit of a lost cause. Sometimes its good to take time to have a bit of a laugh at ones self isn’t it?
The church burnings look convincing and the bloody scenes are hard to watch. It has to be said that the Director has gone the extra mile in the attention to detail especially on things like the record shop ‘Hellvete’ time period t-shirts, patches, the transition from famous pictures from the scene cutting to real-time acting is excellent. As for the cast, Rory Culkin is spot on and his portrayal of Euronymous and is really watchable as is Dead and he does make the character engaging and believable.
The thing with ‘Lords Of Chaos’ is I can’t say I enjoyed watching it but did find it well done and captivating. I kept having to remind myself that it’s real and these things did happen. My God (sorry satan or Odin), they barely touched upon the horror of Faust’s murder of an innocent man in Olympic Park and it seemed like it was added as an afterthought and what went down is truly shocking. I find myself questioning whether I should be listening to their music I know they were kids when all these things happen and you’d like to think that what they did in their teens they’ve learned the lesson that it isn’t acceptable and you hope they are sorry for their crimes and today they are decent humans who aren’t just nice to their mams.
I think since the early ’90s there has been an amount of the rewriting of history and revising of beliefs and the whys and wherefores to justify what happened but at no time does Lords Of Chaos glorify what happened.
The one thing this movie does is it manages to make the main players in the scene look daft as brushes (albeit sinister and unrepentant cold-blooded dangerous people) They started out a bit childish none of the people come out of it in a good light and there isn’t any back-patting going on in the writing and performing.
Years in the making its a shame that the bands didn’t sign off their music except for the opening bit of ‘Deathcrush’. Take care kids – treat Black Metal with care and continue dissecting genres into subgenres then subgenres of the subgenres and making the metal more extreme than before but remember, the general public is indeed sniggering behind your backs. and why not look in the mirror laugh at yourself it’s not the be all end all (all the time) so for now party on dudes!
Now let the metalheads bicker over the shape of the actors -the music genre labels and how authentic the metal is. but if you haven’t got a clue about the detail and took the movie for being just a movie as an uninitiated then it makes for a great Horror flick based around a music scene in a beautiful yet dark part of the world – hail Santa! it is Santa isn’t it? Christmas metal now that’s a genre not investigated. shockin? You bet. To unravel what went on is mindblowing for some quite literally – Prepare to be shocked.
How about some Junkie Logic on a Monday morning with this new video from Spike Fuck
Having just played The RAH with Buzzcocks it seems fitting to play the new video from Penetration which just happens to be their take on the classic Shelley track. You can catch the band at –
12.07.19 LONDON 100 Club
13.07.19 LEWES Con Club
14.07.19 HALIFAX Lantern
03.08.19 BLACKPOOL Rebellion Festival
06.10.19 SHEFFIELD O2 Academy
18.10.19 NEWCASTLE Cluny
19.10.19 GLASGOW Audio
Check the video out below.
I guess it’s only fair and fitting that after the remaining members of the band paid their respects along with past members at the Royal Alber Hall recently we leave you with this stone cold classic. Rest In Peace Pete we’ll miss you
UK black-metal outfit Necronautical have announced details of their latest offering, new album ‘Apotheosis’, set for release on 30th August through world-renowned extreme metal label Candlelight Records.
The album was recorded, mixed & mastered by British producer Chris Fielding (Winterfylleth, Witchsorrow, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard) at Skyhammer Studio. Adorned by the foreboding artwork of David Thiérrée (Behemoth, Gorgoroth), ‘Apotheosis’ serves as a sonic epitaph to the human experiences of hope and faith. It details a melancholic journey through an empty and brutal existence, taking inspiration from the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Chuck Palanuik and Neil Gaiman.
‘Nihil Sub Sole Novum’ is the first single to be shared from Apotheosis with the band adding,
“We feel that this song acts as a perfect microcosm for the direction of the album and of Necronautical itself: a relentless combination of punishing riffs and melancholic euphoria. The title translates as “nothing new under the sun”, directly challenging the conclusion of Ecclesiastes 1:9, and instead seeking to elevate the bleak and repetitive nature of life and humanity to the dais reserved for its gods. The song draws on the concepts of anamnesis and of a mythical pre-human golden age, and asks if such rediscovered knowledge can break the monotony of existence.”
So the time is here for a new batch of 45’s to spin and /or new videos I guess as there seems to be a bit of a drought lately yet we get video submissions all the time. First up is the new video from The Membranes ‘Black Is The Killer’ taken fro the band new long player ‘what Nature Gives …Nature Takes Away’
Dead Furies – Stay Gold, Ponyboy Well this is like a breath of fresh air blowing through the Singles roundup. Whilst it might not be pressed on a slab of wax and run at a speed of 45 RPM the new single from Dead Furies is easily the finest slab of noise in this bunch of singles. With the classic one-fingered piano honk and a rollicking Stooges riff that Ron and Iggy would have been proud to have written and it hits you like a steam train. ‘Stay Gold Ponyboy’ is majestic and guaranteed to get the blood pumping its classic scandi rock and traditional formula. simply Write a top tune and then play the fuck out of it – Hey presto! Single of the month hands down – buy it!
Jack Rabbit Slams – ‘Crackerjack’ Scottish three-piece like to make a noise as ‘Crackerjack ‘ will testify. Taken from their debut album that’s to follow this tense loud slab of Rock also has a cool video to accompany it and one that works well with the tune. Zombies – loud guitars – time changes – Blood – gang vocals what’s not to like?
Joey & The Rats – Stick To You (Stardumb Records) On their brand new 7 inch which we’re looking at right here, Joey and the Rats? Confused? what happened to Lucy? Fear not folks its just Lucy is taking a break from vocals and Joey has stepped up to the plate. With two glorious slabs of rock‘n’roll fun. Guitarist Joe Tolosa is taking care of the lead vocals of both songs, Its a punkier couple of tunes for sure, be it still got the power pop side of punk happening think The Boys, Teenage Head, Buzzcocks. Currently playing with the Rats as well as snotty punks Johnny Throttle. this is what 45’s were invented for. Sloppy, punchy and totally rockin’ – excellent single.
The Drippers – Bottled Blues (The Sign Records) From the ‘Action Rock’ album soon to hit the streets on Sign Records The Drippers kick the living shit out of ‘Bottled Blues’, coming on like the bastard children of Lemmy daddy daycareing early Hellacopters and Total 13 and having Zeke over for some foreign exchange. Rapid – exciting and ripped to the tits ‘Bottled Blues’ is all killer and no filler just like the album. Check it out and tell me I’m wrong. Who said gamblings for fools? If you want to know what Action Rock sounds like chew on this one for fun!
Piston – Rainmaker Rockers Piston come forward with a downloadable track off their new long player originally entitled ‘Piston’ its a hard-rockin’ wall of riff-a-rama that will have the fans of Rock radio drooling. Check it out in video form below.
Black Sheets Of Rain – Through The Storm (W.A.R. Productions) If Piston wasn’t enough how about more hard rock in the shape of Black Sheets Of Rain and ‘Through The Storm’. Taken from their debut EP its classic hard rock. sure it lacks originality but they can play obviously they’re rockers! Four and a half minute that felt like four hours. Not the best track I’ve had to review recently it reminds me of Queensryche (now that’s a band I never thought I’d mention on RPM)
Junky Love – Nowhere To Go (Red Thread Records) 4th single by London based psych/garage rock trio is a bit of a slow burner; a song about substance abuse comes to the boil slowly. Its a grower, not a shower and never gets ahead of itself. Interesting and a band to perhaps keep an eye on. A touch of early nirvana about the track which isn’t a bad thing at all.
Slaughter Beach, Dog – One Down (Lame-O Records) Not your typical single song. A real gentle yet seductive song. ‘One Down’ has a flavour of Neil young and more indie driven bands such as a gentle Dinosaur Jr maybe or Sonic youth go Eels as the song builds they control the feedback nicely and its a great introduction to the new album coming late summer. Although ‘Good Ones’ which has also been released to promote the album release is a mighty fine tune mixing acoustic with fuzzed electric really well like Lemonheads used to do so well.
Beauty in Chaos – ‘Drifting Away’ ft. Robin Zander (Synthetic Capricorn Mix)(33.3 Music Collective) Robin Zander and Michael Anthony (Synthetic Capricorn Mix) Remix by Paul Wiley (Marilyn Manson) and Steven Alexander Ryan (The Black Queen) Sounding more like A Pete Murphy song this is one that will test Cheap Trick disciples and people who wondered what Michael Anthony was up to lately. A pop experimental remix is about as much as I can say Fair play to the artists for stretching themselves and really stepping out of their comfort zones on this one. I’m sure many will be open-mouthed and gasp in horror. Oh well, I bet the artists had a ball. This remix really pushes the boundaries.
Baby Shakes – Baby Blue/ In My Arms Again (Surfin Ki Records) Classic two track slab of power pop. Crunchy guitars built around a dreamy melody and delivered by the softly sung vocals like a knuckle duster in a velvet glove Baby Shakes give it some of that sweet Johnny Thunders guitar breaks and who doesn’t love that? the flip side is a cover of the Shoes ‘In My Arms Again’ – lovely. Head over Here to pick up a copy from the label or the band’s Facebook page I’m sure they’ be delighted to have you. Besides, they’re heading out of New York and heading to Europe and Shit Island for a whole bunch of dates so how cool would it be to know a couple of tunes to sing along to down the front?
Ruled By Raptors – Ouroberos EP (Pulse Music) Noisy Geordie alt Rockers release new EP and accompanying video get an ear full of their angular alternative Rock or just check out their video below. Quite melodic yet bruisingly heavy the band get set to burst onto the alt-rock scene and make a lot of noise doing so.
MoLD – Breaking Bones (GMR Music) Hard ‘n’ Heavy is the order of the day. Built around a rolling riff the band cite the likes of Motorhead, Sabbath and The Cramps as influences whilst I can hear the first two in this track I’m intrigued as to where the Cramps fit in but this is only the first track off the new record they’ve aired. ‘Breaking Bones’ is the first track taken from the album ‘Horrors’ which is out next month. Oh, one thing. There seems to be one string too many on that bass.
Rat Face Lewey – Comfortable Taken from their second album this upbeat effort from alt-rockers who’ve been compared to the Manic Street Preachers (not a comparison I’d go for but hey ho) Its got a load of energy and who doesn’t like skateboard videos?
Para Lia – Hawk Hill (Bandcamp) Influenced by The Mission and a bunch of other alternative vagabonds Para Lia release this three track EP via Bandcamp. The use of the male/female vocals on the chorus is very All About Eve meets the Mish as is the guitar solo over a wall of harmonic guitars. The second track ‘Over It’ is a much stronger tune and I like the melody on the chorus but it sounds less cluttered that ‘Hawk Hill’.
‘On My Way Home’ has added cello if this wasn’t Gothic enough and sounding more Echo And The Bunnymen especially on the verses it’s a good tune with a decent arrangement. you can check out the songs via the bands Bandcamp page.
Psychobabylon – Is This All There Is? (Self Release) Four track EP is the way to go for this five-piece with a hard edge but melodic hook the band slam down the opening track ‘All There Is’ part Metallica part Almighty hard rock it’s a bruising affair yet has a strong melody as it weaves to its conclusion. There’s no reinventing the wheel here just bruising hard rock Released digitally and on CD you can find it at the link Here. ‘Die Alone’ is a hard and heavy riff that drops to reveal a filthy bass line rumbling away holding this one together before the inevitable gang vocals. Will please audiences up and down the country who want something loud and heavy.
GOON – ‘Check Engine Light’ (Partisan) LA-based scuzz rockers release video for the track ‘Check Engine Light’ off their album set for release mid-July. Check it out here and search out the band’s social media for details of their new album.
Finally, Welsh duo Henrys Funeral Shoes release a video for ‘Everybody Say Hi’ the first track off their new album ‘Smart Phone Rabbit Hole’ due for release on September 20th. Old school blues with a twist, fuzzy vibes and a simple chorus you can all sing along to and a rather addictive sound as it burrows into your ear cool soulful vocals is one way to describe this one check out the video and make your own mind up.
Until next time when we’ll bring you the new singles and videos – Stay sick!
OOOOOORGH! Black Metal. There are about a bazillion subgenres to Heavy Metal and fans of those Genres take it pretty seriously. Dare you cross over from one to the other or mistake speed metal for Black Metal for thrash then you will get your backside handed to you by a legion of fans waiting in the shadows ready to pounce so with that in mind I’m taking this here new album from “old School Second wave” black Metallers Dark Throne and give it a good listen. I won’t be downloading it onto my headphones and walking through any woods (obviously) just in case old Bealzibub doesn’t take kindly to my words and seeks to make amends.
There has been something of an upsurge recently with several movies being released about the subgenre as well as the granddaddies of them all Venom knocking out their most impressive box set ‘In Nomine Satanas’. Fenriz and Nocturno Culto making up the band in 2019 and have been the mainstay since ’93. Its as heavy as a kick from one of Bealzibubs hoofs and still a challenging listen (at times) but I have to say that the band remain fairly true to the roots of the genre and embrace their inner Venom and Celtic Frost, well, more than most they don’t try and growl deeper, more indecipherable than any other nor do they try to hit more bass drum notes or solo faster which happens to be quite refreshing.
They know their niche and they’re sticking to it like shit on a blanket, sure it’s dark, uncompromising, complex as well as being loud and above all true to Dark Throne and what they are about. Seemingly only dancing to their own tune and if the critics say left they will go right if they so wish. In fact, Dark Throne is more accessible than most in this genre which might just be why they remain towards the top of the pile. Oh and Fenriz wins for having a Hanoi Rocks Tattoo on his right forearm now that is zero fucks given in this genre right there.
Anyway, enough flannel on with the show. With the promotional material being released the night before it hit the shops was funny and one that would have wound up lots of people but a classic bit of Dark Throne right there. Whilst there are only six songs on this record a lot of those songs are prog lengthed weaving slabs of noise. ‘I Muffled YourInner Choir’ (obviously) opens with a fairly sprightly pace this six-plus minute epic has its doomier Sabbath inspired middle eight where the chug is humungous and sprawling as it takes the opener home.
Track two ‘the Hardship Of The Scot’ begins with a riff that is pure Dokken. I kid you not boys and girls go check it out then before the black metal brigade can reach for their bedside torch to light it up before heading out to hunt down the throne boys before they tease their hair up and start playing chavel Jackson and rocking out in unison things take a downturn and the vocals enter proceedings and no more mention of Don the Dream Warrior will be spoken – not round here that’s for sure.
The title track is pretty doomy and Culto delivers his best rasp on the vocals but what really is setting this aside from the rest of the pack is the production and it has to be said I like the fact that it doesn’t sound like it was recorded in a cardboard box using a Panasonic table mic to record everything and the lack of blast beats is refreshing as is the fast – faster – fastest nonsense that just tries to out-macho the last band ofter prevalent in this music. ‘Alp Man’ has a bit of the Slayers about its opening riff. Only a few notes needed and it’s heavy as and a bit different and Fenriz just hold the beat steady as without feeling the need to hit more drums than anyone else. The instrumental middle is a bit meh! for me making the song longer for the sake of it I dunno but its the weakest track on offer here that’s for sure.
I’m always intrigued as to what makes these fellas tick and find myself drawn towards the extreme outer edges and fascinated with the music they play and Dark Throne do this well and ‘Old Star’ is a winner and I’m sure will be very well received for staying true to what they’re all about and not vanishing up their own backsides with a bunch of cheesy quotes they rightfully leave all that to people like me. Horns up kids if you haven’t got this yet then get out there and get involved not that you’ll find it in Tesco or Asda you might still have to dig a bit deeper. Oh and I still think they are all missing a trick by not insisting this retails for £6.66 or £6.65 (not totally evil)
Man the opening track on this EP had me longing for some Role Models and Replacements because that’s exactly where Mono In Stereo are pitching this EP.
Hell, it’s on Rum Bar Records so it was going to be a no brainer for me and from the first play I couldn’t not be into this. It’s ragged – honest – anthemic without being cheesy and wholesome without being sappy its got grit and dirt under its fingernails it’s wearing its Replacements patch on its chest next to its Mellencamp one as the keys swirl and the distorted guitar chords ring out over the steady beat this is a winner in every which way. The only fault I have is its not a full-length album and only half of one.
‘Different Kind Of Man’ is anthemic but not cheesy as the band sound loose enough to have enjoyed a few pre-recording beers to celebrate such am impressive few tunes. Damn, they know it, Rum Bar knows it and I know it and if you have any sense you’ll be getting hold of this. ‘Not Your Fault’ has a great melody but its not any single part but the sum of all its parts that makes this record so listenable.
‘Fores’ amps it up and lets in its inner punk rock with neat gang vocals and a fiery tempo part misfits part Gaslight Anthem if there such a thing. (there is now) To take this home the title track brings up the rear and just puts a big exclamation make on proceedings Records like this should come with a health warning – This Rock and Roll will put a serious strain on your smile and fist pumping the air can be dangerous. Open another beer and turn it up!
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