The Bonding

Remastered edition with 2 bonus tracks."Easily one of the most important heavy metal albums ever released, Stained Class marks the peak of Judas Priest's influence, setting the sonic template for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal more than any other single recording. This is the point where Priest put it all together, embracing their identity as the heaviest band on the planet and taking the genre to new heights of power, speed, musicality, and malevolence. Not until Painkiller would the band again be this single-minded in its focus on pure heavy metal. Their blues-rock roots have been virtually obliterated; largely gone, too, are the softer textures and gothic ballads of albums past. The lone exception is the morbid masterpiece "Beyond the Realms of Death," on which the band finally finds a way to integrate the depressive balladry of songs like "Epitaph" and "Last Rose of Summer" into their metal side. Starting out with quiet, mournful verses, the song's chorus is ripped open by a blazing guitar riff as Rob Halford shrieks about leaving the world behind, a dramatic climax that sounds like a definite blueprint for Metallica's "Fade to Black." Yet it wasn't this song that inspired the ridiculous 1989-1990 court case involving the suicide pact of two Nevada teenagers; that honor goes to the Spooky Tooth cover "Better by You, Better Than Me" (penned by none other than the "Dream Weaver" himself, Gary Wright), on which the band allegedly embedded the subliminal backwards-recorded message "Do it." Astounding implausibility aside (as the band pointed out, why encourage the suicides of fans who spend money?), it isn't hard to see why Stained Class might invite such hysterical projections. On balance, it's the darkest lyrical work of the band's career, thematically obsessed with death, violence, and conquest. That's not to say it's always approving. Sure, there are battle cries like "White Heat, Red Hot," horrific nightmares like "Saints in Hell," and elements of the fantastic in the alien monsters of "Invader" and stone classic opener "Exciter." But the band stays philosophical just as often as not. The twisting, turning title track adopts the biblical view of man as a hopeless, fallen creature preyed upon by his baser instincts; "Savage" foreshadows Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" in depicting violent colonizers as the real savages; and closer "Heroes End" laments the many legends born from untimely deaths. So in the end, what really cements the celebrated morbidity of Stained Class is the sinister atmosphere created by the music itself. Never before had heavy metal sounded so viciously aggressive, and never before had that been combined with such impeccable chops. Seemingly at will, Tipton and Downing spit out brilliant riffs that cut with knife-like precision, usually several per song. This means that there's a lot to take in on Stained Class, but if there's nothing here as immediate as the band's later hits, there's also a tremendous amount that reveals itself only with repeated listens. While the album's overall complexity is unrivalled in the band's catalog, the songs still pack an enormous visceral impact; the tempos have often been jacked up to punk-level speed, and unlike albums past, there's no respite from the all-out adrenaline rush. Heavy metal had always dealt in extremes -- both sonically and emotionally -- but here was a fresh, vital new way to go about it. It's impossible to overstate the impact that Stained Class had on virtually all of the heavy metal that followed it, from the NWOBHM through thrash and speed metal onward, and it remains Judas Priest's greatest achievement." - All Music Guide

"With their timeline stretching back to 1997, and now 8 releases under their belt, our Celtic brothers have stood the test of time in the ugly realm known as the Music Business. It is a harsh mistress, but lo, Peter Scheu and his fellow mates have persevered and ridden out the storms, with good reason. "The Call" is their latest release, combining some interesting aspects of metal, Celtic, and Folk themes to bring forth a rugged, almost rustic sounding album. This proved to be an interesting journey for yours truly.I am quite fond of the Pagan / Folk / Viking bands, and relish the opportunity to review such music, with this being no exception. As a whole, I found "The Call" to have some bright moments of metal mixed with a few not so shining moments. The vocals are very traditional, with a few songs such as "Princess Of Destruction" having a few screams to rile the listener. The backing vocals weren’t always on the mark, and at times, a wee bit painful, especially on "Varus Battle". The guitar work is pretty good, driving and free spirited, with at times, a Power Metal feel to it such as on "Love Song". "Chains Of Captivity" has some great solos on it. The keyboards are almost non-existent, which is unfortunate since they can lend so much to a song. Drum work is good but standard, which the same for the bass. Not bad by any means, but throughout most of the songs they are just, there. The production quality isn’t the best with the album sounding very bottom heavy. Again, not bad but not stellar either.  For a rating, I would say a 6 out of 10. Until next time, stay well, and live free! " - Metal Temple

Virtuoso keyboardist Vivien Lalu has created a new progressive metal epic featuring an all star cast:Band [A-Z]---Martin LeMar (Mekong Delta) - VocalsMike LePond (SymphonyX) - BassSimone Mularoni (DGM) - GuitarsVirgil Donati (PlanetX)- DrumsVivien Lalu (Shadrane) - KeyboardsGuests [A-Z]---Jens Johansson (Stratovarius)Joop Wolters (Shadrane)Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater)Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie)Mike Andersson (Cloudscape, Fullforce)Peter Wildoer (Darkane, James LaBrie)Born of Noelle and Michel Lalu, musicians from the ‘70s French progressive act Polene, Vivien Lalu has released a surplus of recordings through an array of different bands and projects since 1997, as the keyboard player for underground black/doom band Time For A Change. At the turn of the millennium Lalu played keys for two underground progressive metal bands from Paris, Sad Warden and then Mind’s Orchard, and in 2002 was hired by Hubi Meisel (ex-Dreamscape vocalist) to compose and record the keys for his solo album EmOcean, the following year doing the same for Meisel’s sophomore album Kailash, both of which were released by Lion Music.It was at this time Vivien Lalu begins recruiting his own associates from major prog and metal bands — some of which he shares time composing music alongside in progressive metal act Shadrane — and forms his own solo project, LALU. The first full-length Oniric Metal was released on Lion Music in 2005 and began an entirely new chapter for this composer and his insatiable need to create mind-expanding, cinematic music.These accomplishments helped Lalu to begin securing score and soundtrack work for film and television; over the last few years he’s written many cues for the orchestral soundtrack for the Warner Bros movie Seuls Two, for the show Science X made in association with Lucasfilm Ltd. Additionally he joined the production team behind Laszlo Jones in order to assist the recordings and production of Banana Nation (Universal Music Group). He’s composed many soundtracks for French television, music and sound effects for Neko Entertainment, worked as a sound designer for Ubisoft Entertainment and much more.After collaborating with Shadow Gallery for a song on their Digital Ghosts album, and working with Canadian drummer Chris Nalbandian for his Paralysis of Analysis solo album — recording all keys and sharing solos with Derek Sherinian and Alex Argento — Vivien finally settled in and began work on the second LALU opus. Handling all composition and songwriting duties, as well as all keyboards on the massive production, Vivien weaved the cloth of the new album with vocalist Martin LeMar (Mekong Delta), bassist Mike LePond (SymphonyX), guitarist Simone Mularoni (DGM), drummer Virgil Donati (PlanetX), the album’s parts recorded in several countries including the United States (Los Angeles and New York), Germany and Italy, produced by Lalu in his own studio, and mixed at Boumbox Studio in Paris by Yan Memmi (Dio’s Lock Up The Wolves, Marcus Miller’s The Sun Don’t Lie, etc.). Additional contributions from Jens Johansson (Stratovarius), Joop Wolters (Shadrane), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie), Mike Andersson (Cloudscape) and Peter Wildoer (James LaBrie) were also carefully built into the album, the final product boasting over fifty minutes of exceptional, massive  cinematic, atmospheric metal Lalu has dubbed, Atomic Ark. 

"After last year’s glorious live album/DVD Swedish Empire Live, Sabaton return with a new studio album, Heroes. It’s their first effort following the mass exodus of four members who left and formed Civil War.Vocalist Joakim Broden and bassist Par Sundstrom rounded out the lineup with guitarists Chris Rorland and Thobbe Englund along with drummer Hannes Van Dahl. With plenty of touring under their belt, including the aforementioned live album, the transition into the studio was a smooth one.There are no big surprises on a Sabaton album. You know you are going to get bombastic power metal with lyrics based on war and battles. That’s exactly what you get with Heroes. It gets off to a potent start with “Night Witches,” and the momentum continues with “No Bullets Fly.”The songs have huge melodies, singalong choruses and top-notch musicianship, and the lyrics are about real-life war heroes. Those featured on Heroes range from American World War II hero Audie Murphy (“To Hell And Back”) to a Belgian infantry group that fiercely resisted the Germans (“Resist and Bite”) to Polish soldier Witold Pilecki, leader of the resistance movement in Auschwitz (“Inmate 4859“).Sabaton change things up with the arrangements, sometimes emphasizing big orchestral parts, and other times going more straightforward. “The Ballad Of Bull” comes about halfway through the album, a nice change of pace before things crank back up with “Resist and Bite.”Peter Tagtgren has worked with Sabaton for a while, and does another yeoman’s job behind the mixing board. The production is crisp and punchy with a big drum sound. The guitars shine through, mixing effortlessly with the symphonic and atmospheric elements.It’s a streamlined effort with little if any filler. The 10 tracks clock in at a brisk 37 minutes, with the longest song just over 4 and a half minutes long. Heroes shows that Sabaton have carried on nicely after the lineup changes, with their patented style and sound fully intact." - About.com

"Have we reached the verdict regarding our future? Was George Orwell right? Has the big brother been watching over without us know, as if we were citizens in a global silent dictatorship? And what about the social networks, are those enough to be considered as the beginning of a certain end to our healthy minds? Too many questions and plenty of answers, maybe some would be left in the air for sure. Possibly the only thing left is tell about it, warn the commonwealth of probably future's dangers and hazards. Under the veil of melodic Metal, the Bavarian POWERWORLD created various perceptions of the future to come. Several views have been seen in movies over the years, others have been preserved for impending use, maybe to write songs about. POWERWORLD created the next revolutionary hysteria of the cyber world with their brand new album, "Cybersteria", via SPV / Steamhammer Records. Nothing too innovative musically, but this album, as the previous before it, is enough to encourage the listener to appreciate the band's profound talents for their version of Heavy Metal."Cybersteria", as the band's new album, served also a cornerstone for the change the engulfed the group. In 2011, after suffering from a continuous illness and bad health, the band's previous vocalist, Andrew McDermott, died. David Reece, known from his single work with ACCEPT and a constant member of BANGALORE CHOIR, stepped in as a replacement. Yet for the reason of musical differences, the ex-JADED HEART Bluesy voice of Michael Bormann, took charge of the vocal recordings. Furthermore, Guitarists, Andreas Rippelmeier (HEAVENWARD) substituting for Barish Kepic, and Keyboards players, Marco Grasshoff coming in for Nils Neumann, were replaced for the recording, possibly as new band members under the leadership of bassist, Ilker Ersin. In comparison to the previous "Human Parasite", this has been quite an uplifting experience, as this unified group generated a decisive, partly intricate and complex, concoction of Euro melodic, but heavy duty, Heavy Metal in range of ACCEPT or VICTORY, Bluesy furbished Hard Rock of whether 70s DEEP PURPLE and 80s WHITESNAKE, aside to a variety of Power Metal attributes of STRATOVARIUS and darkened features of EVERGREY. Not what I would call an explicit musical skirmish, but surly this particular one is a fresh air in a cool summer night."Cybersteria" enabled smooth catchiness just as the previous release, yet the dimmer veil that hovered above of the Blues created an atmosphere of something that might resemble sorrowfulness and emotional distress. One might also notice fear, especially within the theme of the lyrics, and Bormann's raspy tone of Jorn meets Coverdale tone of voice seemed to be the right choice to go along with. The album's rising star, "Coast Of Tears", is an aching, hooking, slow to mid tempo rumpus of emotional distress, a slight murky, powerful riffing and impressive vocals, reminded me a bit of EVERGREY but with a bleak PURPLE aloofness. "Back On Me" seemed endless at first, but ended up being highly articulate and melodic. Similar to "Human Parasite", POWERWORLD remained modernly produced in terms of sound, but for songs such as this one, nothing sounded as better. "Not Bound To The Evil" and "Like A Shadow" drenched in 80s Metal boundaries. Andreas Rippelmeier seemed quite capable of writing past oriented riffing. There have been several signatures of the 80s throughout the album, but these songs took me back to the hey days more than the others. The latter being a catchy speedster with an amazing main riff, a mere classic with an incredible lead guitar line, but with an even better was the vocal line. There you have it, dripping with the right volume of Blues, along with an expressional version of melodic Heavy and Power Metal, the pristine hysteria is delivered and here for your receiving and understanding. " - Metal Temple

I can't remember a buzz on a band's debut since Circus Maximus.  Perhaps due to the album being released in Japan a year ago and its unavailability elsewhere, maybe because they are lined up to play ProgPowerUSA.  Whatever the reason the album finally gets a wide debut and it was worth the wait.  Damnation Angels is a British symphonic metal band fronted by a Norwegian singer.  He goes by the name PelleK and was a contestant on Norway's version of X Factor.  The band's stock in trade is epic sounding metal that pays a huge debt to Kamelot.  The instrumental passages take on the grandeur and scope of Nightwish.  PelleK does a sold job out front - he's obviously listened to a Khan quite a bit.  Highly recommended.