Antioch
Antioch VI: Molten Rainbow
July 21st, 2023
Iron Shield Records
I missed the boat on this album by the Canadian heavy metal brigade by the name of Antioch. They have two EPs and four albums, including this one. They have been at it since 2013. They get good reviews on their recordings, especially from fans of headbanging, rocking heavy metal, and in 2023 the band continues to deliver the fun energy that their audience expects. If you are looking for a band that likes to keep the music rocking, with the spirit of heavy metal, then you are probably going to enjoy the new music. The vocals are kind of wild, not super clean, and the songs do not waste time going off on tangents. I, for one, find that the recording is entertaining and keeps up the good energy for the entire duration. This is another solid effort from the band.
Antioch VI: Molten Rainbow
by Antioch
https://www.facebook.com/antiochmetal
Necronomicon Ex Mortis
Silver Bullet
11 August 2023
I have not heard this EP enough to know it very well, but the couple of times that I have been listening to it now, it sounds like a good proposition for fans of thrash riffing and shredding, done with a death metal vibe, including the vocals. They seem to be horror movie nerds, or at least the person writing the lyrics and doing the artwork is. I don't really keep up with movies, and don't know enough about horror movies to know the references. Yes, the artwork looks stupid and the lyrics are probably really dumb, too, because what do you expect from horror movies, anyway? Regardless, if you want to hear guitar players that have spent time really learning their instruments and pouring their blood, sweat and tears into giving people metal that shows attention to detail, quality and songwriting, then you might be pleased by this band.
Silver Bullet
by Necronomicon Ex Mortis
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090172921055
Sinheresy
Event Horizon
Scarlet Records
25 August 2023
On their fourth album Event Horizon the melodic band Sinheresy (Italy; 2009-present) presents a solid collection of catchy tunes featuring female and male singing and songs that tend to stay in memory after the music ends. The band turns in a great effort to make audiences sing along on song after song. In large part, they achieve their objective. A contemporary band, they use the pairing of female and male singing to win over the listener. In terms of style, this is ear-friendly melodic music, heavy rock that sometimes showcases the riffs, sometimes the grooves, with a direct, pop-oriented approach. Check out this band, if you want catchy, uptempo and melodic songs.
In my opinion, the following song exemplifies their melodic style and their vocals.
SINHERESY - Brighter Days
Below are some videos from the album.
SINHERESY - Castaways (Official Video)
SINHERESY - The Life You Left Behind (Official Video)
Event Horizon
by Sinheresy
https://www.facebook.com/sinheresy
Active since 2011, Nuclear Winter (Zimbabwe) is now at four full-lengths and two EPs. At this point the sound of Nuclear Winter is Gary Stautmeister's vehicle for whatever he wants to do, working by himself for a groove-oriented melodic extreme metal. While some of the music may sound like melodic death metal, there is a certain element of machine music going on, from the programmd drumming and background sounds. In addition, Gary Stautmeister has some melodic singing, and a certain attachment to doing some unexpected things, like covering pop music or adding a few unexpected twists every now and then. There is probably no one genre that the music fits in really well, and that likely one of the main of objectives of Nuclear Winter: to keep the heaviness, but add melody, some backgrounds sounds, and sprinkle things with some pop infuences, even though the pop sounds are not always upfront, certainly not as much as the grooves and growling.
Seagrave
by Nuclear Winter
https://www.facebook.com/NuclearWinterZim/
Trouble
Run to the Light (Expanded Edition) (CD, vinyl and digital)
Metal Blade Records
16 June 2023 (first released in 1987)
In the 1980s the Chicagoland area band Trouble was rather different with their decidedly traditional and anti-trend sound. At a time when bands were following mainstream and smaller-scene fashions and trends, whether glam or thrash, as is often the case, trends were pervasive. In other words, Trouble sounded rather unusual in the 1980s because everything else around them was so typical 1980s, in one way or another. However, Trouble did not sound like a typical 80s band at all. They sounded like a band weaving together three different decades of music into a whole new package called Trouble. They made no secret of their love of The Beatles and Cream, of 1970s heavy and classic rock, and of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
Here is the album, as well as some videos that you might find interesting because they present the sound of the band and how they represented themselves, as something along the lines of heavy metal hippies promoting peace and love, an anti-war and anti-violence aesthetic, and also a message opposed to the glorification of evil.
Trouble - Run To The Light
Run to the Light
by Trouble
Trouble (US) - 1982 TV Cable Show (Full)
