Hyperdrive

"Archer are a hard rock/metal trio from Santa Cruz, California, consisting of Dylan Rose (guitar, vocals), David De Silva (bass), and Keyhan Moini (drums), with their third album Culling the Weak set to be released by Metalville Records. Though these guys are still pretty young, they've toured with the likes of Doro, HellYeah, Black Label Society, and are soon going out on the road with Annihilator, so the experience they are getting is surely helping them out in every way. Culling the Weak is an enjoyable platter of metal, compact with 8 catchy tunes filled with crunchy guitar riffs, blazing leads, pinch harmonics galore, powerful bass, and nimble drumming. Can't ask for more than that!Rose is pretty much the focal point, his inventive riffing seeming to draw inspiration from Iommi, Wylde, Dimebag, Mustaine, and Rhoades, and while his vocals aren't necessarily the strongpoint of Archer's sound, his gruff style more than fits the bill. Memorable riffs and a sizzling solo drive the anthemic title track, while "Belief" and "A World of One" feature can't miss melodies and arrangements that are almost like a meeting of Thin Lizzy & Black Sabbath. Other hot tracks include the raucous "Dawn of Dilution" and closer "My Atrocity", the latter featuring some lovely acoustic guitar during the intro and then loads of heavy riffs, gymnastic rhythms, blistering lead guitar, and passionate vocals.Overall, Culling the Weak shows a trio that is firing on all cylinders and ready to be taken seriously on the hard rock & metal circuit. With just 8 songs, this one doesn't wear out its welcome or contain filler, just rock solid from start to finish. Make sure you check this one out and also be sure to look for Archer at a live venue near you in the very near future." - Sea Of Tranquility

"Helloween really couldn't have picked a more appropriate band to support them on their 7 Sinners Tour than Stratovarius. There's more than a few parallels between their respective careers and not just because the two are among the most influential in power metal. While they've each had their fair share of successes, both Helloween and Stratovarius have also faced a great deal of (well documented) adversity. Between all the internal drama, which eventually saw the exit of important band members, as well as poor musical output, future prospects must have looked bleak. But Helloween was able to bounce back; 2010's 7 Sinners was their best record in twenty-two years, and the two that preceded it were worthy listens as well. Stratovarius isn't quite there yet, but with Timo Tolkki gone, and the songwriting reins taken up by pretty much every one else, they seem to be moving in the right direction.Elysium more or less continues where Polaris left off in 2009. Think mid-paced, European power metal they helped popularize years ago alongside groups like Helloween and Sonata Arctica. Hardly revolutionary, to be sure, but that isn't Stratovarius' aim. Unfortunately, this serves to limit the scope of Elysium. As far as middling power metal goes, the album is top notch. But at the end of the day, middling power metal is still middling power metal. Give Stratovarius credit for when they do pull through; Matias Kupiainen's guitar work is consistently excellent, particularly in "Darkest Hours", and keyboardist Jens Johansson is no slouch as well. Problem is, this doesn't happen often enough. In a song like "The Game Never Ends", while the riffing is quite good, the formulaic structure and bland chorus hold it back. This isn't a problem unique to Stratovarius (one might remember Helloween struggling with the same issue ten years ago), but rather comes with the whole melodic power metal shebang. Because of how derivative it is, it's difficult to be very impressed. That isn't to say it can't be done; Sonata Arctica very nearly perfected the style between Elicptica and Reckoning Night. But they were successful because they incorporated a far more spirited dynamic into their music, something that can't be said about Stratovarius consistently enough.Interestingly, Stratovarius shows the most promise on the album's title track. Given the uneven level of quality heard throughout Elysium, (and the unfortunate tendency of other groups to screw up this type of song) an eighteen minute track seems ill-advisable. But it works. Although not departing too far from the band's comfort zone, "Elysium" at least breaks out of the rigid power metal model that constrains a lot of the earlier material. In doing this, Stratovarius adopts a more progressive approach, seamlessly incorporating a number of different movements into what turns out to be the most satisfying song the band has released in years. Impressively, Stratovarius avoid sounding bloated and overbearing, a pitfall that traps so many of their contemporaries; what could have sunk Elysium instead emerges as its biggest highlight.As it stands, Stratovarius haven't quite recaptured the flare that helped them claim initial success. However, Elysium is at the very least a clear step above much of the material the band has released, and considering how weak Stratovarius was, it’s a start. The band still has trouble with consistency and variance, and given how keen Stratovarius seems to be on playing it safe, Elysium is unlikely to draw in new listeners. However, the solid songwriting in the title track is encouraging enough; whether Stratovarius can fully revitalize ala Helloween remains to be seen, but listeners finally have reason for optimism." - sputnikmusic.com

"IRON MASK stand out from many other artists of the neo-classical metal genre because they manage to combine high musical ambitions with a certain kind of accessibility and lots of variety. With 'Fifth Son of Winterdoom', Dushan Petrossi and his band manage the musical claim to be very catchy, so fans of Firewind, Dio, Iron Maiden, Yngwie Malmsteen and Rainbow will all have their joy in this extraordinary album."

"2014 surely seems to be a year of fruitful reunions; CARCASS is one we could see coming from a mile away, but alas, one name stood somewhat overshadowed by the band’s guitarist-mastermind’s main band, ARCH ENEMY; Chris Amott has brought ARMAGEDDON back to life, “Captivity And Devourment”: the first new material from the band since the last album, “Three”, in 2002. A band known for each album being a completely separate entity, genre-wise, “Captivity And Devourment” retains the blistering Melodic Death Metal from the first album, but combines modern nuances, and Chris’s own clean vocal performances, first heard on the last ARMAGEDDON album, and later, on his solo album work. This release is what ARMAGEDDON and the more aware of ARCH ENEMY fans have been waiting for the past 12 years.Fully unified and re-energized, the frontman position now takes the form of thunderous coarse vocalist Matt Hallquist provides the majority of the vocal delivery; a supermassive, unrelenting delivery of harsh growls, yet Chris’s clean singing deliveries are thoughtfully emblazon a number of tracks; the man is a master guitar player, and that is what this album shows. That being said, he a skilled vocalist in his own right.The title track opens the album, and what a monster of a song it is; hinting that this will be the band’s heaviest album to date, it explodes forth with a blast-beaten intro, before subsiding into a pummelling series of groove-ridden riffs. A powerful reminder that the ex-shredder of one of the world’s biggest Melodic Death Metal bands has once again made a foray into the Extreme Metal world, as such, the guitar work on this track drew a smile to my face.  “Locked in” is a bit more mellowed in the heaviness department, but is thickly substantiated with meaty riffs, and soaring, double-kicked sections, though the top dollar are the deliciously-catchy chord progressions .“Thanatron” was one of the first tastes we were given earlier this year, of the band’s new material. Beginning with a crisp, acoustic passage, some of the riffs on this track are as heavy and robust as you’ll hear on the album; a strong Groove Metal sound drives the main riffs. The necksnapping headbangery of this track shovels the coal into the massive engine that powers this album, from the beautiful and up-beat acoustic interlude of “Background Radiation”, through to one of my two favourite piece on the album, “The Watcher”. Seemingly more epic in stature, as the massive, thrumming intro riffs would give away, it certainly pulls no punches. This track happens to be strongly-embellished with clean vocals, not necessarily provided in the lead vocal sense but noticeable nonetheless. Chris commands the lyrics with an unusual style of delivery, sitting somewhere in the mid-range and capable of powerful belts, but with a mysterious, almost Gothic nuance about his singing. Quite frankly, he sounds like no one else I’ve ever heard; the grandiose, soaring section partway through the track will surely convince of this.A power metal enthusiast at heart, I was secretly hoping for more vocal belts; I was met with this and more on “Equalizer”, my other favourite. A virtuosic guitarist at heart, fans of his guitar playing will be at the very least satisfied and sated with the stellar lead work on this track. Chris certainly made no mistake in taking on the  best musicians for the job, either; I couldn’t be more pleased with the line-up after listening to this album, particularly the thundering bass tone provided by Sara. In fact, the overall production of this album is to be highly commended; seemingly, deliberately raw, it is far from overproduced, and everything comes across as far more organic, definitely playing a part in the heaviness factor.Am I approaching this with rose-tinted glasses/headphones? Hardly; ARMAGEDDON is a different band now. Something bigger, something stronger, and hopefully that little bit more infinite. Either way, this is the calibre of comeback I had been hoping for." - Metal Temple

""Two years after Iridule, finally the italian band Yugen comes back with its first live album. The cd captures the show at RIO Fest 2011, in Carmaux, France, and presents the group in an extraordinary seven-member line-up.As Sid Smith writes in the liner notes, Mirrors is "a dizzying cavalcade of turn-on-a-dime rhythms, intriguing harmonies and striking, anthemic melodies that have a habit of drilling down deep into the consciousness of the listener"."Yugen represents an exciting forward-looking trend in European music", Smith underlines, "marrying both intellect and emotion in one seamless and coherent partnership. How successful they are in this endeavour you can judge for yourself by playing this remarkable and frequently thrilling live souvenir.""

This one has been out of print for many years but recently brought back in limited quantities by Cuneiform. L'Ethique is a great album from what was at the time The Richard Pinhas Band. It featured members of Magma plus a number of musicians that had floated in and out of the Heldon/Pinhas axis over the years. It rocks out mightily in a King Crimson direction interspersed with Pinhas' sheer sound treatments. One of the best albums of the 80s!