HEAVEN'S FORCE - AGGRESSIVE ANGEL

Back in 1983/84 there was an unknown Christian Thrash band in Texas called Heaven’s Force. Heaven’s Force recorded two demos and apparently disappeared without a trace. That is until now. As someone who was very heavily involved in the Christian Metal underground from 1983/84 onward hearing about this has really intrigued me. How could they have flown under the radar?

Well they only performed a dozen or so shows and only made half a dozen copies of their demo. That’s pretty underground!! The sound quality is good, especially if you’re used to demos. I will tell you that this sounds better than some of the new stuff I hear recorded in 2009.

Clearly with influences like Venom, Exciter and early Metallica this CD by Heaven’s Force entitled ‘Aggressive Angel’ reeks of early 80’s thrash metal. It sounds like something I would’ve heard on Combat or Neat or early Metal Blade records back then. These are demos but they fit in with that old school thrash sound. I’m sure the mastering has cleaned them up a bit, but it still grinds and screams like 1983.

‘Slaughter the Beast,’ ‘In League With the Priest,’ ‘Heaven’s Force’ are all stand outs for me. Heaven’s Force delivers it fast and brutal (for 1983 that is). After listening to some Venom and Exciter you can really hear the closeness in style and sound. Frankly it’s too bad that these guys didn’t push this a bit more.

David Cryder (drums/vocals), Chris Ritchie (guitars) and Kelly Berger (bass) were Heaven’s Force. This Open Grave release is limited to only 500 copies and if you’re a collector or love old school thrash this is the release for you.

Before Vengeance Rising, even before Tempest (Ohio) there was Heaven’s Force. Even 25 years later show they could hold their own. I wish I’d heard it 25 years ago…

BUY IT!!!

7 axes (only because the typeset of the lyrics is beyond miniscule… and there are only seven songs….)

MAINLINE RIDERS - WORLDSHAKER

There is a fine line between homage and parody. That is, many bands who flout their influences do more to damage their own reputations (as unoriginal rip offs) anyone remember Kingdom Come? On the other side however are those who take those influences and make‘em their own.

On this the 2nd release of Delaware’s MainLine Riders we have the later. The Riders bring us a sound akin to Rose Tattoo, AC/DC, Angel City (the Angels) and a little George Thorogood for measure. Cliffy and crew have put together a great collection of driving hard rocking gems. From “It All Ends Tonite” to “It’s a Revolution” this disc is made to be played LOUD.

The guitars are placed well in the mix, right in the front which just drives this whole project along at a solid clip. Matthew Kenenske and Cliffy get the groove happening and you can’t help but start tapping your foot or swinging your head, back and forth….. Even busting out the ole air guitar. Mike Walter and Adam Dee provide that solid rhythm section without a lot of excess that doesn’t fit this style of rock n roll.

I myself was weaned on the boyz from Down Under. Having been a listener since 1980 onwards and I hear some of the ‘Dirty Deeds’ and ‘Let There Be Rock’ era AC/DC influence on some of these tracks. When Shawn Browning starts to crank those vocals out it’s a mix of Bon Scott and Taime Downe from ‘Faster Pussycat’. It fits the sound perfectly. The production is clean and crisp and one thing I really like (which is from the mastering phase I believe) is that there is very little time break between songs, they just flow right into each other.

“Hell Ain’t a Good Place to Be”, “Power Surge”, “Chrome & Steel”, “Rhythm-N-Blues” are the highpoints for me. Energy, power and great hooks. When I heard “Hell Ain’t a Good Place to Be” I ‘bout fell over. A combination of several influences that came out sounding like gold. Don’t misunderstand there isn’t one weak song on this disc, the Tesla sounding ballad “Coming Home” even rings true. This is really what my friends and I call ‘driving music’, put this bad boy in turn it up and just DRIVE! Like the first Montrose album or AC/DC’s “If You Want Blood You’ve Got It”. Great song order that demands a 2nd and 3rd listen. Tell me you can’t listen to “Power Surge” and just press replay on your IPod or CD player.

Lot’s of great anthems and those come from great lyric writing and great melodies. It looks like Shawn Browning might’ve written most of the lyrics and cheers to him for the lack of cliché’s. Truly more Christian anthems without the overused phrases are needed and there are several on this disc. Imaginative lyric writing that makes this album the complete package, we’re not talking Shakespeare but simply well written and thought out material.

I sense a lot of heart and blood and sweat on this release; it’s my hope that this is a bright beginning for MainLine Riders. Are there any t-shirts available as I’d wear one proudly.

9 AXES

ULTIMATUM - LEX METALIS

The latest offering from Ultimatum is a collection of heavy duty compositions entitled ‘Lex Metalis’ latin for “Metal is the Law.” These metal merchants from New Mexico have given us an insight into their musical past as this disc is a ‘covers’ album. 13 songs that have inspired and motivated them to play the type of music that they do. In the extensive liner notes vocalist Scott Waters explained how difficult it was to condense the huge list of possible selections for this recording. (If you want to know how difficult you’ll have to buy the CD!). One thing I will point out and Scott points out as well, they didn’t want to cover the typical songs most bands will cover. I applaud them for this choice.

Opening with the high octane thrash of Metal Church’s ‘Ton of Bricks’ and closing with Overkill’s ‘Powersurge’ this album is simply fabulous. A huge smorgasbord of metal influences from several different era’s of metal are represented. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal comes in with songs from Motorhead ‘Iron Fist’, Iron Maiden ‘Wrathchild’, Saxon ‘Denim and Leather’. I’d heard the Maiden cover on their previous disc ‘Into the Pit’ and thought it was great so when I heard the cover of ‘Denim and Leather’ I was doing cartwheels in my front yard. Simply a ripping version of that song…!‘Iron Fist’ by the ‘Head is another recognizable but not often covered song. This high energy early punk/thrash style tune that Robert Gutierrez’s guitar tone just spearheads the way. “The devils grip THE IRON FIST”!

Judas Priest is given their due with a powerful tune from their British Steel album, ‘Steeler’ is a highly underated and neglected song from their catalog, Waters vocals power the assault with the rythym section of Rob Whitlock on bass and Alan Tuma on drums barraling along for support. Songs by Megadeth “Moto Pyscho”, Twisted Sister “Sin After Sin” are reproduced in excellent fashion.

Hearing versions of several Christian Metal classics always peak my interest as often times I bought the originals when they first came out. In this case Vengeance Rising’s ‘Can’t Get Out’ really shreds and as does Robert on lead guitar! The lyrics to this song are hilarious and when Scott belts it out his annunciation is really rather good, as opposed to Roger Martinez whom if you didn’t have the lyric sheet you were completely lost. (I loved and still do the first two Vengeance albums). Songs by The Moshketeers ‘Locked In Chains’ (whom I’d not heard before) and Mortification ‘Gut Wrench’ are done with passion and intensity.

For me the highlights on this disc are Metallica’s ‘Creeping Death’ a vastly underated and often forgotten song in their catalog. I loved that song when Ride The Lighting came out in 1984, even bought the 12” picture disc with the songs from Diamond Head and Blitzkrieg on the backside. One of the best thrash songs ever and Ultimatum NAILS IT!!!!! Unmistakable energy and power, a pure piece of metal excellence. The second highlight comes from one of heavy metal’s true anthems Quiet Riot’s ‘Metal Health’. That was the first song by Quiet Riot I’d ever heard back in ‘83 and I had to buy that album immediately. That was way before their cover of Slade’s ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’ hit. To me ‘Metal Health’ is right there with ‘Balls to Wall’ as an anthem that every headbanger knows even if they don’t own the albums, they know those songs…. Amazing.

An album like this should accomplish several things, First it should make you want to listen to it again as the band hopefully have put their own stamp on the song. Second if you’re already familiar with some of the songs it should knock you up the backside and you think “That Was a GREAT song!” and you go and pull out the original version. Thirdly if you’re not familiar with a certain artist/song hopefully the version does justice and you think to yourself “How did I miss that?!?!”

The production is solid and clean. A very nice gem case for packaging with a cool 8 page booklet.
Buy this and turn it up because all men play on ten. Cheers!

9 AXES

BELIEVER - GABRIEL

After a self imposed 16 year hiatus Believer have returned with a Masterpiece. End of review.

Just kidding! When I had heard that Believer was going to re-unite and put out a new disc to say I was excited would have been an understatement. I've been a fan ever since they sent a demo to the White Throne offices back in the late 80's, I was anxiously anticipating this release. Honestly I was hoping this would bowl me over like the first time I heard a pre-release of the debut album ‘Extraction from Mortality’.

When I heard the first single ‘Focused Lethality’ I was nearly banging my head into my desk and computer. Yet when I heard the second single ‘Stoned’ I wasn’t so sure at first. I shouldn’t have worried a bit.

Kurt Bachman and company have come up with a fabulous slab of progressive/technical/intense/thrash infectious metal. With his (in my mind) trade mark brutal guitar tone Kurt has really put it all out there on this one. Joey Daub is back with some pretty amazing drumming.

I can say that for me listening to this album is sorta like watching a Stanley Kubrick film. If you’ve ever seen any of Stanley Kubricks films you know exactly what I mean. Whether it’s ‘Eyes Wide Shut’, ‘The Shining’ or ‘2001: A Space Odyssey” you know there is layer upon layer of intricacy and depth. In this case Believer starts things off with the 7 minute tune ‘Medwton’ and the table is set. There is alternate strumming and upbeat and downbeat changes, whispers and background mythical sounding voices, keyboard samples for effect. It’s fast and off beat.

‘A Moment in Time’, ‘Redshift’, ‘A History of Decline’ all lend themselves to metal brutality that move and shift like chasing a vapor in a whirlwind blindfolded. Just when you think you know what’s coming it changes and the music path moves in another direction. ‘Redshift’ has a nice jazzy breakdown complete with piano, vocal samples, eerie keyboard samples just like your traveling through the depths of space itself. Yet again that fierce Believer guitar tone just tears it up. Heavy riffs and great songs make this a must get.

The more straight ahead thrash sounding material like ‘Focused Lethality’(a brutal slice of metal pie) and ‘Stoned’ (which itself has an off tempo piano component) are the odd pieces here because they are more straight through. These tunes will get the pit moving like a hurricane.

Jeff King (keyboards) has brought a new texture to the band. Don’t think I’m implying a heavy keyboard element I’m not. They add texture and depth, almost at times a gothic feel, to the material for the lyrical content. They also provide something else for Kurt’s vocal to belt over.

The last actual ‘song’ is ‘The Brave’ with Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage lending a hand on the vocal duties. Kurt sings in a cleaner style on this tune as well. There is a little more modern vibe to this tune. I like.

This is definately a musical progression from what has come before, but not unrecognizable to any previous fan of the band. Their trademark sound is intact but a 2009 version, not a rehash of what was given in the past. The lyrics are more obscure, but fit the musical passages they reflect. There are a couple of 'what the' moments after 'The Brave' that in the past would be called 'hidden' tracks. In the age of MP3's and ITunes there is no such thing.... oh well.

The production is fantastic with loud grinding guitars, smooth bass lines, and pounding drums. I gotta tell you that the more I listen to this album as a whole I enjoy it more and more. Gabriel is one of the most outstanding releases in 2009 so far.

9 AXES
Get it !

DRIVER - SONS OF THUNDER

Here's another disc that came out in 2008, but I've only recently been able to pick it up. I have a copy of the original Driver demo that came out nearly 20 years ago and I played it to death then, It truly was a shame they weren't signed. Yet things change sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse (grunge????!)....

I'm not going to bore you with a rehash of Rob Rock's career exploits, I'm sure most of you are more than well aware of them. My bud Dave Johnson truly said it best in describing Rob as
"the power of David Coverdale and the delivery of Ronnie James Dio but somehow (he) outshines them both." Roy Z shines as the bands solo guitar wiz ( brilliant playing). Also joining them are original drummer Reynold "Butch" Carlson and new members (but hardly new to the metal scene) are keyboardist Edward Harris Roth and bass player Aaron Samson (formely of Odin).

Opening with the instrumental "Titans Of Speed" the band tears into a superb version of "I'm A Warrior". Yes it's appeared on Rob's solo stuff and an early Impelliterri disc but this version cranks just as well. All of the tunes from the original demo are here. "Hearts On Fire", "Only Love can Save Me Now", the aforementioned "I'm a Warrior", "Fly Away" (which appeared in a slightly different form on Rob's solo disc 'Holy Hell' entitled 'When Darkness Reigns'), "Tears That I Cried" and the ballad "I Believe in Love".

If you're at all familiar with the sound of Rob's solo material, the sound of Driver is very similar. An 80's flair but these songs are transendent of the time they were written. Driver's songs have good hooks/melody but the guitars are always UPFRONT and in your face. Keyboards are present but add to the textures of the songs and are not dominant. This is guitar driven Metal (Thank you Roy Z!) that is not afraid to be METAL, but Rob's vocal carry the melody that will stick in your head after it's over. Melodic METAL indeed!

Of the newer Driver tunes the title track 'Sons of Thunder' just rips it up. It's a fast paced concert opener if I ever heard one. It drives! With fabulous guitar playing. Smokin! ' Winds of March' has got that chuggin groove that just gets your head movin. Butch and Aaron lock in the rythym section and just groove, baby! Their playing on 'Winds' as well as 'Hearts on Fire' show how they lock together. Great musicianship.

Production is well, fabulous. Roy Z gets some fabulous tones that really puts the whole thing together. The drums pound, the guitar is screaming, the bass plows through with the appropriate amount of keys in the mix. Rob sounds wonderful.

Pop metal this ain't.... There is also an import version with 2 additional songs 'Thief in The Night' and 'Give Me Your Love'. These are 4 track demo's sound the quality is good but not the same as the rest of the disc.

Miss this disc at your own risk....

8 AXES

http://www.myspace.com/driverofficial

Theocracy - Mirror of Souls

I realize that this disc came out in 2008, but I didn’t get it until recently. Having heard so much hype about this release and the band in general, I’ve learned to take some of the hype with a grain of salt. Having said all of that, once I got a copy of Theocracy’s newest release ‘Mirrors of The Soul’ (through Amazon download… hey I had a $25 credit towards something there and this is what I finally chose… the rest went somewhere else!)

Boy I will tell you, this disc is phenomenal!! (I hope to actually get a real one but until then….). Now I’ve not heard the first project, but to give a description of what Theocracy sounds like on this release? Stratovarious in style with heavier guitars, beefier drum sounds…. (I really noticed it last evening because right after listening to MOS I listened to Strat’s ‘Infinite’ that’s when it hit me). The arrangements struck me as similar in style.

Yet I think Theocracy may have an even stronger sense of the ‘the hook’. Melodic with strong chorus’s such as ‘On Eagles Wings’ or ‘The Writing In the Sand’… simply fabulous.
The opening number ‘Tower of Ashes’ starts with crunching guitar, guaranteed to get the ole hair flying, before it takes off onto into an excellent fast tempo smasher with soaring vocals. The aforementioned ‘Wings’ is next which flows into one of the albums true highlights ‘Laying the Demon To Rest’… Shawn Benson and Jon Hinds really strut their stuff here. There are elements of progressive song structure with power/speed metal moments but not the excessive ‘noodling’ that drives some folks crazy. Combine all that with EPIC chorus’s that are stinkin’ infectious. A true winner.

“Bethlehem’ opens with an acoustic start but winds it’s way to a powerful conclusion. Matt Smith’s vocals simply are phenomenal. ‘Absolution Day’, ‘The Writing In the Sand’ is a classic , ‘Martyr’ and the epic closer ‘Mirror of Souls’. All simply carry the same high quality song writing and most important to me MELODY without sacrificing POWER! Those melodies stick in yer head long after the disc is over and you MUST hear it again. It's not optional.

The production end of things is of such high quality that I at a loss frankly….

There are fast songs, mid tempo, as well as slower tunes. I really sensed a European feel which only adds to the richness of the recording.

Lyrically a more sophisticated and deep release than most bands. Not the same surfacy 'Jesus Loves Me' rehash but depth that provides elements for reflection. Since my MP3's didn't come with a lyric sheet (ya think!) I've been able to discern many of the lyrics and undoubtedly the time put into constructing them was considerable.

Or just bang yer head! A definite buy if you haven’t already…. …. You can check some song samples on their myspace. Ok I'll for somemore to review....

9.5 AXES

http://www.myspace.com/theocracyband