Artist: Paul DiAnno Title: “The Beast Arises” Label: Metal Mind Productions Release Date: 11/18/2014 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 2/5
A few months ago I offered up some thoughts about the Paul DiAnno “The Beast Arises” live audio CD and it was an experience that I hope I will never have to repeat because that recording was world’s and worlds of awful. It bothers me to say this because I am an ardent admirer of those first two legendary Iron Maiden albums that featured the singer but now some three decades later Paul has truly lost his voice and ability to put on a rocking show that is deserving of the fans hard earned money. If you want to see the larger thoughts about the concert I will refer you to the CD review HERE because with this one I just wanted to see if the video aspect of it was any different and honestly I was foolish to expect anything better of this performance. Continue reading “The Beast Arises” [DVD] by Paul DiAnno→
Artist: Coldseed Title: “Completion Makes The Tragedy” (re-release) Label: Metal Mind Productions Release Date: 6/9/2015 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 4/5
Originally released in 2006 on Nuclear Blast Records, the debut album byColdseed was recently re-issued by Metal Mind Productions. The album now comes in a Digipak holder and features no additional tracks, so with that being the case my original thoughts on it remain the same. I have restated those views in the review that follows. The edition is limited to 2000 copies so diehards or the collecting curious might want to act fast if interested in purchasing.
“What is it about side-projects from any of these European bands that make them better than some of the main band around the world? Generally, when you have a member of a popular band who goes solo you find the end result a far less gratifying experience. Not so in the case found here with the unique power in the band Coldseed. This project comes from the unification of lead singer from Soilwork Bjorn “Speed” Strid and drummer Thomen Stauch (Blind Guardian/Savage Circus). Immediately the listener will realize that while truly a Heavy Metal album, it does not possess many of the similar qualities that they have come to know from either of these performers. Yet despite this, the entire release is an enjoyable thing with numerous hooks and tremendous amounts of melody. “Speed” as a singer is the commanding presence we all love from Soilwork but on this album he gets to use more of the melodic side we saw coming to the front a lot more on “Stabbing The Drama” (SW’s most recent effort). The same applies for drummer Stauch who everyone knows is a thundering powerhouse. On the Coldseed debut he takes different approaches at a more conventional level of playing and during songs like “Nothing But A Loser” he shows the ability of being quite restrained when necessary. This very groove-laden release owes some credit to Thrash and Old School Metal and uses a twist of the Nu stuff of merit. Continue reading “Completion Makes The Tragedy” (re-release) by Coldseed→
Artist: Mendeed Title: “The Dead Live By Love” Label: Metal Mind Productions Release Date: 6/9/2015 – (Originally 3/6/2007) Genre: Melodic Metalcore Rating: 3.5/5
Originally released in 2007 on Nuclear Blast Records, the second and final full length album Mendeed was recently re-issued by Metal Mind Productions. The album now comes in a Digipak holder and features no additional tracks, so with that being the case my original thoughts on it remain the same. I have restated those views in the review that follows. The edition is limited to 2000 copies so diehards might want to act fast if interested in purchasing.
Just when you find the world being overrun by the veritable sea of Metalcore bands you get to hear something fresh like the guys in Mendeed and intense throttling that they seem to adeptly deliver. The first thing you will find as interesting is the band’s point of origin being from Scotland where they showed on their previous release “This War Will Last Forever”, that Metal strikes just as hard on either side of the Atlantic. Having heard that album as well, I admit to liking the progression they had made musically over it with this one. Yes, the brutalization is still very present and shows forth on tracks like “Gravedigger” but when you hear the guitar leads on “Through Dead Eyes” you will agree that the band has wisely chosen to up the game in this brand of Metal music. The track also possesses some great harmony chorus sections. Mendeed also chooses to change the way this is delivered a little more in using more of a clean growling that more can understand rather then the guttural stuff and that aspect makes “Reload And Kill” a very accessible and potential fan favorite to hear in concert. Continue reading The Dead Live By Love (re-release) by Mendeed→
Artist: Paul DiAnno Title: “The Beast Arises Label: Metal Mind Productions Release Date: 10/21/2014 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 2/5
Unless you have been living under a rock or are a Metalhead that is far too young to remember this sort of thing, Paul DiAnno was the original voice of the mighty Iron Maiden and he recorded both their debut self-titled album, its follow up “Killers” and the “Maiden Japan” live effort during his tenure. It was legendary stuff back in its time and began the process of Iron Maiden eventually becoming one of history’s greatest Heavy Metal bands. That was then, this is now and since that time Paul has toured as a solo artist doing “Best Of” shows that feature his Iron Maiden works along with tunes from his solo band Battlezone. “The Beast Arises” is a live set that was recorded in April 2014 at the Lizard King Club in Cracow, Poland and joining Paul for his band are Robert Kasanowski (guitar), Michael Wrona (guitar), Dominik Wojcik (drums) and Artur Pochwala (bass). I’m going to assume that Paul assembled these musicians from the local area circuit for a group of shows based on how he had done his appearances in the USA. During the gigs that I attended he had the guys from a band called Icarus Witch doing all the material behind him and while the band sounded fine for the task that had been assigned them, Paul appeared to be having some difficulty during the show. This experience that I speak of is now several years ago, now let’s discuss the more recent recordings. Continue reading “The Beast Arises” by Paul DiAnno→
Artist: Psycroptic Title: (Ob)Servant (re-release) Label: Metal Mind Productions Release Date: 5/5/2015 Genre: Technical Death Metal Rating: 4/5
Originally released in 2008 on Nuclear Blast Records, the fourth album by those Tasmanian Devils of Metal Psycroptic was recently re-issued by Metal Mind Productions. The album now comes in a Digipak holder and features no additional tracks or liner notes and does not include the bonus DVD that was a part of the initial release. With that being the case my original thoughts on it remain the same. I have restated those views in the review that follows. The edition is limited to 2000 copies so diehards might want to act fast if interested in purchasing.
Proving that Metal’s reach is as vast as the imagination is wide we get the fourth molten slab of material from the Tasmanian export Psycroptic. The band is one that immediately assaults the senses of the listener with a mind-numbing display of extreme technical chops. I had to say that I was impressed by their “Ob(servant)” CD quite a bit and I was amused at this for when I first caught them a couple of months ago I was not particularly impressed. Let me explain how this possibly happened – the guys were second up on a bill that I felt buried much of the talent involved and with the sets blasting by so quickly there was hardly any time for the bands to win you over with the display. That being said I was glad for the spine-tingling that this CD offered because it was really something impressive. The band doesn’t seem to follow the standard of many of their Extreme Death Metal counterparts, because they pick up and slow down the tempo a lot more than most others. There is a lot of groove happening between the growling and just when you think the band is going to speed up a little more they instead offer you slight respite by bringing it down about five notches. Across the board the drumming is outstanding and presents some truly speaker destroying double bass drum runs that manage to be the time keeper for the equally blistering guitar riffs. Continue reading (Ob)Servant (re-release) by Psycroptic→
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