STEEL INFERNO – Arcade Warrior 7” Vinyl review

 STEEL INFERNO – Arcade Warrior 7” Vinyl

Independent

http://steelinferno.bandcamp.com/

STEEL INFERNO is a multinational band formed back in 2012 in Denmark and its members come from Denmark, Greece, Poland and France. In 2014 they released their first demo and this 7” vinyl release which includes 2 songs. At the moment the band also works to release its first full length studio album.

THE COVER: The cover of this release is really interesting and beautiful since it looks like a painting and it is something that we don’t see often to heavy metal releases. It shows a guy playing an arcade game on a good old arcade consol. So, I don’t have to explain anything more here since the cover says it all.

MUSICAL STYLE: STEEL INFERNO is a crossover band in my opinion. They do have strong influences from the N.W.O.B.H.M. sound and the early days of IRON MAIDEN, but on the other hand you can’t ignore their punk rock influences too.

COMPOSITIONS: In this release you can find 2 compositions under the titles “Arcade Warrior” and “Across the Wasteland” and both are influenced as I mentioned above by heavy metal and punk rock. So their sound is raw, old fashioned and straight to the point. Also the interesting thing with STEEL INFERNO is that they have a female vocalist which does her job just fine.

 CONCLUSION: STEEL INFERNO offer here a release that can bring close both the fans of the N.W.O.B.H.M. and punk rock sound and they prove that these 2 different sounds of rock music can also find common ground. I think the people who love old school music will appreciate them a lot.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis

BROKEN LINGERIE - Lying Words EP review

 BROKEN LINGERIE - Lying Words EP

Independent

http://brokenlingerie.bandcamp.com/

Let me take you to Spain, a country that has many economical problems in common with Greece since we compete in the rate of who has the highest unemployment rate. More specifically we will go to Madrid in order to find a young all female band under the name BROKEN LINGERIE. The band was formed in 2012 and they combine many different rock and metal styles in their sound. Here I will present to you their first studio release which is the 5 track EP under the title “Lying Words”.

THE COVER: It is a vague image which shows some of the band members playing their instruments in a live event, I think. It is simple enough and yet straight to the point.

MUSICAL STYLE: As the band states, BROKEN LINGERIE were created with a purpose to create a sound that combines many different styles of the rock and metal sound and I think this statement is accurate enough. The sound basis and intentions of the band is good old rock ‘n’ roll, but in order to achieve that they mix it with hard rock and punk rock and there are some times that they also flirt with traditional heavy metal. I can say that BROKEN LINGERIE reminded me of a more melodic and popish version of good old GIRLSCHOOL.

COMPOSITIONS: The first studio release of BROKEN LINGERIE includes 5 songs that balance among punk rock, rock ‘n’ roll and hard rock and they have a modern and dynamic production. The main characteristic that these compositions have is that they breathe out a party mood and an optimistic feeling.

CONCLUSION: BROKEN LINGERIE is a young band and has some good ideas and enthusiasm and of course it is talented. The thing though with this release is that although it is a very pleasant, up tempo listening it fails to be something more. It is the kind of release that I will listen to without being bored, but I don’t think that I would ever play it on my own.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis

BOOZE CONTROL – Heavy Metal review

 BOOZE CONTROL – Heavy Metal

 Kernkraftritter Records

http://www.boozecontrol.de/

Even in our wildest dreams we could never have imagined that we would see an era when the 80’s metal sound would be back for good. BOOZE CONTROL from Germany are one of these new bands that have answered the call of traditional metal sound and they grabbed their instruments and are ready to offer us 80’s heavy metal tunes in their own way.

THE COVER: The cover looks cool and it is sci-fi oriented. I think that you can say that it draws inspiration from 80’s cartoons like Transformers and movies like The Terminator. It shows the back of a female warrior that holds guns on both hands and is ready to confront a huge robot. The painting also has a western feeling and I mean the duel between the machine and the human.

MUSICAL STYLE: As I have written above BOOZE CONTROL is a new band that answered the call of the 80’s heavy metal sound. If I want to be more specific, I have to say that these guys love the N.W.O.B.H.M. sound, but they also don’t forget that they are Germans too and so they pay their respect to the musical legacy of their country too. In a short way I can say that BOOZE CONTROL give us a taste of how N.W.O.B.H.M. would sound if it was created in Germany.

COMPOSITIONS: In the sophomore release of BOOZE CONTROL that has the straight to the point title “Heavy Metal” you will find 10 compositions of traditional heavy metal whose their riffs and melodies are baptized in the 80’s sound. The main characteristics of the band’s sound are the memorable twin leads and melodies and of course the successful “marriage” between the 80’s British and German metal sound.

CONCLUSION: The sense that BOOZE CONTROL gave me while I was listening to their album was not of a young band that tries to imitate its metal gods, but a band of heavy metal veterans that still have the same passion for the heavy metal sound as in the start of their career. I think that this is a great achievement for the band, but their greatest is this album which can move every fan of the 80’s metal sound.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis

LETHAL SAINT – WWIII review

 LETHAL SAINT – WWIII

Pure Steel Records

http://www.reverbnation.com/lethalsaint

Cyprus might not have a huge metal scene, but believe me lately it gave us some very nice releases. It seems that down there the guys love what they do and work very hard for it. LETHAL SAINT had released their debut album from the Cypriot record label Pitch Black Records. They had impressed me with their debut release and now I am happy to see that they have signed to the German label Pure Steel Records.

THE COVER: The cover is done by Dimitar Nikolov who has lately given us a lot of fantastic heavy metal covers and this one has a serious message to pass. It shows politicians, generals and religion leaders gathered around a table ready to push a button which writes WWIII. I think that the message is clear if we continue trusting these people then we won’t avoid destruction.

MUSICAL STYLE: The band in a few words moves somewhere between the traditional heavy metal, power metal and speed metal sound. They might be from Cyprus, but an expertise listener can easily understand that LETHAL SAINT are strongly influenced by the 80’s U.S. power/speed metal. The characteristic element of their sound is the use of powerful double bass and high pitched vocals.

COMPOSITIONS: The sophomore release of the Cypriot band includes 11 compositions and has over 43 minutes duration. As I have mentioned above their sound is U.S. metal oriented and I think that comparisons can be made to such bands like HELSTAR, ATTACKER and ICED EARTH. The album now is not bad, but yet I can’t say that any of the songs stuck into my mind or motivated me to listen to it again. It is a nice album to listen to but for me it doesn’t have the strong moments that will make me love it.

CONCLUSION: I am really happy to see bands from Greece and Cyprus move on and draw the attention of labels from abroad, because I believe that we have good bands and a strong metal scene. LETHAL SAINT is a talented band and I think they can do better than this release. This is an album that the only thing I can recommend is to check it out before you decide to purchase it.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis

SENTINEL BEAST - Depths of Death review

SENTINEL BEAST - Depths of Death

Marquee Records

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sentinel-Beast-Offical/103659469696612?sk=timeline

SENTINEL BEAST were formed in Sacramento U.S.A. in 1984. The band was discovered by Kerry King (SLAYER) and Kenny Powell (OMEN) and in 1986 they released through Metal Blade Records their debut album entitled “Depths of Death”. The album is considered a cult classic for the fans of underground metal. Later on the band broke up when Michael Spencer (bass player) joined FLOTSAM AND JETSAM as a replacement of Jason Newstead. Debbie Gunn (vocalist) departed for Chicago shortly after to front ZNOWHITE, then relocated to Europe to join the all female thrash band ICE AGE. The band with the original singer, Debbie Gunn, returned to action in 2007. So, as you can see this is a re-issue of an 80’s album that now you have the chance to discover or purchase in case you have missed it back then.

THE COVER: A friend of mine had a copy of this album and the cover impressed me due to its simplicity and ferocity. It shows a ferocious blue colored 3 headed dog, probably must be Cerberus, the guardian of Hades in the ancient Greek mythology. So, the cover shows its age, but is still nice and above all straight to the point.

MUSICAL STYLE: The band was formed in 1984. This was an era that thrash metal was rising in the U.S. and SENTINEL BEAST belong to the first bands that played this kind of music, although they have never manage to become so known as other bands of the same era. Actually, the band moves musically between the speed and thrash metal sound and they also have some traditional heavy metal elements. Their trademark in my opinion is their raw and yet sometimes melodic sound.

COMPOSITIONS: The re-issue includes the 9 compositions that were included in the original release of the album and here you will find as a bonus their composition entitled “Sentinel Beast” which was included in the compilation Metal Massacre VII. As I said above the main element of the compositions is their raw and aggressive sound, but also the bands throws in some traditional heavy metal oriented melodies. I think they had a sound that distinguishes, although a comparison with bands like EXCITER, early METALLICA and AGENT STEEL is obvious. Finally the cover of IRON MAIDEN’S “Phantom of the Opera” is close to the original and yet the band gave it its own speed/thrash metal character.

CONCLUSION: “Depths of Death” is already considered a classic in the underground metal scene and it is really strange how this band has never earned more attention by the fans since they deserve it and because I think they sounded quite original back then. Now that the 80’s are back for good, Marquee Records gives you the opportunity to discover this quality speed/thrash metal album. If you are into this sound, then you have to buy it.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis