FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
A quick run down on Dragonslayer: this four piece English band was originally called ‘Heavy Thunder in its infancy, then in 1980 they changed their name to Slayer. In 1983 to stop any confusion with the American band named Slayer, who had just released their debut album Show No Mercy, they changed their name to Dragonslayer.
“I get so many emails a day, through Facebook and even through my personal email account from people who don’t know me – and even people who do know me,” explains music journalist Amy Sciarretto, who teamed up with her friend and colleague Rick Florino to pen Do the Devil’s Work for Him: How to Make it in the Music Industry (and Stay in it) (McCarren Publishing). “I was giving advice away so much that I realized I was giving the same advice over and over again, so obviously there was a need for this information, so why don’t we put it in a book?”
Yes, the concept of Scottish Pirates may be silly – although, pirate metal straight outta Jersey (hello, Swashbuckle) is infinitely more ridiculous – and that they don’t dress in pirate garb on stage is more disappointing than any measure of falseness, but in the end they have infectious, sing-a-long anthems and that’s all that matters.
Raspy and ravenous, Germany’s Minotaur have been belting out blackened thrash metal since the early 1980s. However, unlike cohorts such as Kreator and Sodom, this power trio slipped between the cracks, never receiving the same degree of recognition.
The new album from Finnish band Amorphis fits in perfectly with their recent sound and albums. In fact, Skyforger sounds like it could easily be the third entry in a trilogy that would begin with 2006’s Eclipse and continue on with 2007’s Silent Waters.
Combining folk elements with catchy song writing and haunting keyboards, underneath another brilliant vocal performance by Joutsen, Skyforger is set to be another classic in the Amorphis discography.
The claims about being “one of the fastest shredders of all time” and “a musical genius” The Great Kat (nee Katherine Thomas) lays down are always up for subjective debate, no matter how much she yells and screams and claims them as fact.
If there is any potential still to be found in metal that is distinguished by a vague fantasy and mythology themes with an emphasis on female-fronted operatic vocals, it isn’t terribly obvious when listening to Romania-based Magica’s album Wolves & Witches.
Released in 1978, Thin Lizzy’s Live & Dangerous is considered essential. An about-face to the band’s hit-and-miss studio output of the time, that offering boasts a tight, almost untouchable act. Therefore, news of a follow-up effort recorded around the same time, Still Dangerous: Live at the Tower Theater Philadelphia 1977 comes across as a double-edged sword.
Here is a another fantastic slab of progressive metal via the fine folks over at Sensory. Actually, more accurately, this is a perfectly tuned mixture of both prog and power metal.