ENFORCER "Death By Fire" (2013)

Everything amazing is happening in Sweden.

I am a long time Enforcer fan, and I consider their 2010 LP, "Diamonds" (which I happily own on vinyl) to be a very strong and ripping heavy metal album without looking like a shitty retro-wannabe band (a.k.a White Wizzard). When news hit of the new Enforcer album I was very glad, but got to be pretty dissapointed when I saw that the band had changed their lyrical themes from gambling, Jappanese culture and adrenaline to more occult and satanic stuff, as that was not the Enforcer I knew and loved.

Yet somehow, "Death By Fire" managed to top off "Diamonds", be extremely catchy, fast and well-written and earn its place as one of the best albums of the year. Simple as that. The guitar riffs are even better on this one, and the choruses are just pure gold. How can a freaking instrumental track ("Crystal Suite") become one of the best things on this album? and that's saying a lot. EVERY SINGLE TRACK (except for the last one) pack an amazing punch and are just perfect swedish heavy metal. 

The single off of this LP, "Mesmerized By Fire", has gotten its own music video which is beautifully constructed and filmed. I hope they make it big enough to tour Romania, yet small enough to not be like Ghost. I do not want to see any Enforcer-brand butt plugs. :^)

9.5/10

METALCHRIST "Nihil Sine Deo" (1994)

The Romanian metal scene is about as bland as a pound of sand. Just sand. But if you dig through it like a fucking maniac you're damn sure you're gonna find some hidden gems. The heavy metal kind. And NO, I do not like to take Iris, Holograf and early Compact as heavy metal, just like I do not like to think of Bon Jovi as heavy metal. They are just some hard rock aimed at the feminine public. I'm not saying they suck, but it's not what I'm looking for.

You see, in the 90s there was a TV show called "Intâlnirea de la Miezul Nopţii'' ("The Midnight Meeting") who invited metal acts to play on their stage. Some of the recordings of those bands leaked on youtube a couple of years ago and, when I saw the Metalchrist one, I remained speechless. For mid-90s Romania it was amazing to see fast and heavy riffs, powerful drumming, screeched-metallic vocals and double guitar solos, while all of the bandmates looked like some filthy 80s thrash outfit (pictured above).

The whole album resonates of very cool guitar harmonies, even to my utter amazement sone Mercyful Fate-like ones and very good vocals, though a little silent at times and even if they drift a little into 90s power metal, they really do the job surprisingly well. I can trully say this album is THE hidden gem for the entire Romanian metal scene.

Final Ratting: 8.5/10.

Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance (2013)

I'm not entirely sure every item on my list of anticipated albums of 2013 will actually be released in 2013 - there's no info about the new Arctic Monkeys album :((( - but either way, the albums I was chomping at the bit for are slowly trickling down the pipe. February saw the release of Darkthrone's new album and, as always, people were praising it left and right. As per usual, I preferred to let the waters settle before digging in and having a feel for it myself.

It's not my favorite.

The Underground Resistance is yet another step on the Norwegian duo's own carved path of incorporating various influences into their music. The last years saw them infuse their music with punk-ish, Venom-ish, speed metal-ish vibes, and it was great. I loved the shit out of Circle the Wagons. This time around, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto went for a more traditional, heavy metal-inspired sound, bringing back fond memories of Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol and Bathory.

Word.

Unfortunately, memories alone were not enough to fight the utter boredom instilled by the second half of the album. While it starts out really promising, delivering some sweet dinosaur metal worship and plenty of clean vocals - Valkyrie is my favorite track by far - it gradually loses steam until the anti-climax called Leave No Cross Unturned hits you like a pillow thrown by an old man with its 13 minutes of boring, repetitive riffs that go absolutely nowhere. The disappointment that settled in my soul upon the ending of said track was akin to the one I felt that day I tried to be br00tal, but my mom didn't let me. The lack of any memorable riffs or any memorable anything, for that matter - except, again, for Valkyrie - is what will forever deter me from listening to this album ever again. There's simply nothing here to grab my attention.

And of course, I know. This is Darkthrone. These guys are living legends. You can't say anything bad about them, lest you anger the legions of trve metal warriors and get trampled under a thousand black combat boots for your insolence. With this in mind, I can agree that The Underground Resistance is an alright album, but it's definitely not the jewel of the crown.

Because of how dull it is.

*runs away*

Midnight - Satanic Royalty (2011)

Meh, după cum se plângea şi Marco mai înainte, 2011 se apropie de sfârşit. A fost şi încă este un an extraordinar pentru toate lucrurile legate de metal. Este aproape incredibil cât de multe rahaturi super tari s-au lansat anul ăsta, iar eu nu am ascultat decât câteva din ele. Ce-i drept, în prima jumătate a anului, sau poate chiar mai mult, am ars-o exclusiv pe death metal din anii '90, luând la rând toate trupele importante ale genului şi unele bijuterii ascunse din underground. De fapt, poate că cei care ne urmăresc blogul de la începuturile sale îşi aduc aminte că misiunea mea era pur şi simplu de a-mi documenta călătoria prin death metal-ul oldschool.

În fine, cum ziceam, s-au lansat multe chestii marfă anul ăsta, iar eu am ratat multe dintre ele, aşa că luna decembrie o voi dedica în exclusivitate albumelor lansate în 2011.

Şi, desigur, nu aş putea începe decât cu albumul care a rupt baraka luna asta, şi anume Satanic Royalty, primul album full-lenght al golanilor de la Midnight. Albumul ăsta emană kvltness prin toţi porii şi nu-i greu să îţi dai seama de ce este pe buzele tuturor rocărilor în perioada asta: un melanj glamorous şi malefic de black metal clasic şi heavy/speed metal, plin de riff-uri mişto, refrenuri catchy, jeg satanic, piese cu titluri gen Rip This Hell, Black Damnation sau Lust, Filth and Sleaze şi o atmosferă de golăneală ocultă care-ţi merge fix la inimă - ce să nu-ţi placă?

Ah, şi logo-ul ăla făcut în Paint este suprem.

Speedwolf - Ride With Death (2011)

Dacă eşti fan Motörhead şi nu cauţi albumul ăsta, să te fută toţi caii. Speedwolf cântă heavy metal/speed metal/rock'n'roll/punk/pizdamăsii rapid, sloppy, murdar, alimentat cu alcool şi benzină şi este mai in your face ca Vin Diesel în filmul ăla.

Ăsta-i tot review-ul.

Elm Street - Barbed Wire Metal (2011)

Albumul de debut al australienilor de la Elm Street oferă un heavy/thrash metal modern, dar înrădăcinat puternic în muzica greilor acestui gen (în special Testament). Piesele de pe Barbed Wire Metal sunt rapide, agresive, variate, pline de riff-uri care-ţi atrag imediat atenţia şi solo-uri faine, dar, deşi l-am ascultat de trei ori până acum, de fiecare dată am rămas cu senzaţia că lipseşte ceva. Nu ştiu ce. Poate energia pură a unei trupe precum Municipal Waste. Elm Street par deseori cam lipsiţi de vlagă, dar oricum, este un efort lăudabil şi merită ascultat.

Scanner - Hypertrace (1988)

During World War II the military ordered the formation of a commando troop out of seven convicts. With scientific help these seven were trained to a super combat unit by genetic manipulation. They went berzerk, and the mutants directed all their strength and superiority against their commanders. They had to be annihilated, so they were shot into space, and their rockets exploded, except one, who was ("Locked Out"), was found by aliens ("Wizard Force"), and they taught him to bring peace to the world ("Retaliation Positive").

Cam asta-i tema albumului-concept Hypertrace, lansat de trupa germană Scanner în 1988. Sigur că tematica sci-fi nu încântă neapărat pe toată lumea, însă eu, ca fan greţos The Lord Weird Slough Feg ce sunt, o înghit ca pe plăcintă. Dar nu trebuie să fii pasionat de science fiction ca să poţi aprecia nişte speed/power metal nemţesc ca la carte, cu partituri extrem de variate de chitară, shredding cât încape, solo-uri fulminante, refrenuri catchy şi un super vocalist, toate astea beneficiind de o producţie fără cusur.

Şi pe lângă asta, uitaţi-vă la copertă. Mie-mi arată ca un Christopher Walken în rol de spacelord, arborând o expresie care combină surpriza şi furia, ţinând în mână un tun interplanetar şi ţintind către Terra. Win!