Artist: Anvil Title: “Back To Basics” (remaster) Label: The End Records Release Date: 8/14/2012 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 3.25/5
The mighty Canadian Metal band Anvil is in the process of re-issuing their entire back catalog on The End Records and for fans of the band this is a very good thing because many of these albums have not been available for a very long time. Having reviewed this particular release when it first came out, I am re-presenting those original thoughts with some minor edits to reflect the new issue.
When it came to getting ones fair share in terms of touring the USA, Anvil seemed to be one of those bands and with “Back To Basics” one finds them returning after a very long absence to the public eye as far as the Metal Industry is concerned. While the release is chock full of steady rolling Heavy Metal that’s presented in an Old School, there is little impact in any of the tunes when one compares to their earliest work. We don’t get anything as musically capable as we did on “Hard N Heavy” like “Metal On Metal”, “Jackhammer” or “March Of The Crabs”. We do have several decent rockers such as “Keep It Up” , “The Chainsaw” and “Bottom Feeder” however, the rest is just OK in my opinion. I guess I had expected a little more from them due to the duration in time that I have heard them doing anything. In the end I guess that it is still nice to see them able to generate a steady amount of Metal in any case. The Old School sound or “Traditional” as it is considered nowadays gets a continued life because of their efforts and we cannot complain about that. Continue reading “Back To Basics” (remaster) by Anvil→
Artist: Anvil Title: “Anthology Of Anvil” Label: The End Records Release Date: 8/14/2012 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 4/5
The mighty Canadian Metal band Anvil is in the process of re-issuing their entire back catalog on The End Records and for fans of the band this is a very good thing because many of these albums have not been available for a very long time. Having reviewed this particular release when it first came out, I am re-presenting those original thoughts with some minor edits to reflect the new issue.
With all the hoopla that surrounded the Canadian Heavy Metal band Anvil thanks to the documentary “Anvil; The Story Of Anvil”, I was originally compelled to dig this release out of my personal archives and once again bring it to light for those Metal mavens of the world who might have interest in finding themselves a copy. As many fans already know, the band’s documentary was a blockbuster hit and a film that breathed some new life into their music and career on the whole. The juggernaut of a documentary took the band to the front pages of the magazines once again and had the younger fans saying “oh wow, they are still together?” I admit that even I was a little surprised and after seeing the film myself sat in front of my own music library to see just where this release was because I was very simply dying to blast “Jackhammer” and “March Of The Crabs” at maximum volume once again. For me it was a happy discovery because at the time it was one of three Anvil CD’s that I owned and most of their output was very difficult to find on CD anywhere. If memory serves me correctly this particular compilation was released on Metal Blade Records a little over a decade ago and gave a fantastic view of the band thanks to its eighteen tunes. Granted I was only one of the casual fans when compared to my friends but I liked what I liked and most of those tunes were on this release and that made it a win, win purchase and now thanks to the re-issue, finding this one time gem is no longer like finding a needle in a haystack. The new fans of Anvil will really enjoy this one for sure. Continue reading “Anthology Of Anvil” (remaster) by Anvil→
PiercingMetal is giving away some tickets to the Anvil show that is happening over at the Highline Ballroom in the coming days. The giveaway comes care of our friends in the marketing department at the venue and is being held on our Official Facebook Page. Click the embedded image below to participate.
If you still haven’t given our Page a proper “Like” yet we ask that you please do that straight away because Facebook is a really important Social Network for building and engaging the website’s audience. The higher that the number of likes go the more chances there are for us to keep this kind of stuff happening. Thanks in advance.
Artist: Anvil Title: “Anthology Of Anvil” Label: Metal Blade Records Release Date: 11/21/2000 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 4/5
With all the hoopla that surrounded the Canadian Heavy Metal band Anvil thanks to the documentary “Anvil; The Story Of Anvil”, I was compelled to dig this release out of my personal archives and once again bring it to light for those Metal mavens of the world who might have interest in finding themselves a copy. As many fans already know, the band’s documentary was a blockbuster hit and a film that breathed some new life into their music and career as a whole. The juggernaut of a documentary took the band to the front pages of the magazines again and had the younger fans saying “oh wow, they are still together?”. After seeing it I sat in front of my own music library to see just where this release was because I was very simply dying to blast “Jackhammer” and “March Of The Crabs” at maximum volume once again. I was happy when I re-discovered it because it is one of three actual Anvil CD’s that I even own. A lot of the bands output is hard to find on CD. This was released a little over a decade ago on Metal Blade Records and gave a fantastic view of the band thanks to its eighteen tunes. Granted I was only one of the casual fans when compared to my friends but I liked what I liked and most of those tunes were on this release. For me, it was a win, win purchase. Continue reading “Anthology Of Anvil” by Anvil→
Artist: Anvil Title: “Past & Present Live” Label: Metal Mind Productions Release Date: 9/21/2009 Genre: Speed Metal/Heavy Metal Rating: 3.5/5
With all of the buzz being generated for the band Anvil based on the movie “Anvil: The Story Of Anvil”, it seemed to be only a matter of time before some of their releases made an appearance again. One such example would be the bands 1989 live recording which by the year of its performance show that the kind of music that Anvil did was already on its way out in the public eye. Yes, by this time in music history, the educated music fan will quickly realize that Metal was passé and the wonderful sound of Grunge was in full sway. Of course I am being somewhat sarcastic, for while I enjoyed some of the killer Grunge acts I saw no reason for it moving Legendary Metal bands aside. Even though this was not the best decade for Metal, we still get a rock solid performance from Anvil during this show and how could this be anything but the case – the band was still on their own quest for glory and the proper respect from the industry giants who could make them the success that was still managing to elude them. Originally released on Metal Blade Records, the album now comes to us in remastered format care of the fine folks at Metal Mind Productions and now in a slim digipak case with some expanded liner notes. Continue reading “Past & Present Live” by Anvil→
