Meduza - Now And Forever

Meduza

Now And Forever

Massacre Records

From the ashes of Autumn Lords, guitarist Stefan Berg, bassist Jonas and drummer Ola quickly assembled the new group Meduza. Keyboardist Jan and Greek born vocalist Apollo were eventually recruited to finalize the line up, the latter of which had already achieved success to a certain degree after singing on Majestic’s ‘Trinity Overture’. It wasn’t long before Meduza (From Pilea, Sweden) secured a label deal and headed into Andy LaRoque’s Los Angered studio in Gothenburg. Mike Wead (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Memento Mori) was roped in to co-produce and engineer.

From the opening double kick-drumming opener ‘Shed No Tears’, you can pretty much tell what the whole album has in store. It’s pure straight up power metal. Not that there’s anything wrong with power metal (I’ve got a few classics in my own collection), but there’s no denying the tried and true guitar formula style of Yngwie J. Malmsteen that Stefan Berg serves up at every opportunity. ‘Sleep’ and ‘Holy Ground’ are so much like Malmsteen that I needed to double check which album I was listening to.

But it’s not all bad news. ‘Twilight Of My Mind’ displays Apollo’s strong vocals, while ‘Land Of Forgotten Dreams’ provides plenty of guitar attacks. Both ‘Burn In Hell’ and ‘Curse Of Pharaoh’ also show Meduza can slow the tempo down to a atmospheric smoulder, allowing Stefan to loosen up and play an alternate to the fast paced Malmsteen carbon copy solos.

Meduza has been compared to Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius in recent times, and while they may well be close to the mark style wise, it would be only fair to wait until the band shows a little bit more originality before putting them in the same league as established acts.

Fore more information on Meduza, check out - https://www.facebook.com/massacrerecordseurope.

© Justin Donnelly.

Lacuna Coil - Comalies

Lacuna Coil

Comalies

Century Media Records

Italy’s Lacuna Coil certainly hasn’t wasted their time following up 2001’s Unleashed Memories. The band have once again teamed up with producer Waldemar Sorychta (Sentenced, Samael, Tiamat) hence the clever blend of gothic, progressive and metal is masterfully handled.

The opening number ‘Swamped’ is a perfect example of Andrea Ferro’s deep-seated growls contrasting with Cristina Scabbia’s sultry melodies. Unlike Unleashed Memories, the vocals seem to be shared equally, thus allowing a nice mix without having one dominate over the other.

'Heaven’s A Lie' is the lead off single, and shows that Lacuna are not afraid to combine heaviness with an accessible chorus. Elsewhere on the album, there’s a touch of latter day Paradise Lost on tracks such as ‘Tight Rope’ and ‘Entwined’, while ‘Angel’s Punishment’ displays the groups many styles combined in the one track.

There’s plenty of metal amongst the lush melodies, and the production seems to suite the band to perfection. While the band has only been around a short six years, there’s no denying that Comalies is the sound of a band on top of their game.

For more information on Lacuna Coil, check out - https://www.facebook.com/lacunacoil.

© Justin Donnelly.

Iced Earth - Tribute To The Gods

Iced Earth
Tribute To The Gods
Century Media Records

Tribute albums can be either great, or a complete waste of time. Thankfully, Iced Earth has provided us with one of the great ones. This eleven-track album gives Iced Earth fans the chance to hear some of the bands that helped shape Jon Schaffer’s musical background.

This particular album was first available as part of the five CD retrospective box set Dark Genesis. The bands covered include AC/DC (‘Highway To Hell’ and ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top’), Black Sabbath ('Black Sabbath'), Iron Maiden (‘The Number Of The Beast’ and ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’), Blue Oyster Cult (‘Burnin’ For You’ and ‘Cities On Fire’), Alice Cooper (‘Dead Babies’), KISS (‘Creatures Of The Night’ and ‘God Of Thunder’) and the legendary Judas Priest (‘Screaming For Vengeance’).

All tracks have been given the Iced Earth makeover, and while all the cover versions are true to the original, vocalist Matthew Barlow certainly adds his distinctive stamp to them all. Jon Schaffer and the rest of Iced Earth give the accompanying music a much-needed punch, and the production is certainly sharp. Of particular note is the version of KISS’ ‘God Of Thunder’ where Matthew sounds very much like Gene Simmons. The other is the odd inclusion of Alice Cooper to the mix.

Iced Earth injects plenty of freshness put into every one of these old classics, making the whole album a classic in its own right.

For more information on Iced Earth, check out - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialIcedEarth.

© Justin Donnelly.

Living Sacrifice - Conceived In Fire

Living Sacrifice
Conceived In Fire
Solid State Records

While Living Sacrifice have been around in one form or another for the last thirteen years, their brand of extreme Christian metal never really did all that much for me. Their last album, 2000's The Hammering Process was good, but still failed to ignite anything above my curious interest. That has all changed!

Conceived In Fire, their sixth album, amply displays exactly what the band is capable of, and truly delivers. The death metal element still appears at the start of 'Imminent War', but takes a backseat while the band stretch the song writing into something more digestible. 'Symbiotic' is one of the defining moments on the album, and conjures up the image of Testament with the heavy riffing.
The album is pretty relentless, but there are moments of melodic death metal. 'The Poisoning' is one of those moments, with its irresistible "All the world is for sale!" chant. Another such moment comes in the closing track 'Reach For The Sky' with its spoken word passage. After the quiet gentle melodic tones of the instrumental 'Into Again', the band do an about face with the speed and aggression of 'Separation'. There's a slight nod to Slayer with the lead break, and 'Distrust' and 'The Martyr' features the most powerful drum sounds Living Sacrifice have recorded to date.
It would be fair to say that Living Sacrifice have been honing their skills and are getting better as each album is released, but that would be only half the story. Producer Barry Poynter has given the band a heavier, meatier and cleaner sound, while the legendary Andy Sneap has done an amazing job with the mix.
The band must also be given credit for ditching the shit album covers that have adorned their previous albums, and using Travis Smith. As one of the masters of modern art, Travis has provided surreal images for Devin Townsend, Opeth, Nevermore and countless others in recent times.

Living Sacrifice has finally created an album worth shelling out your hard earned cash for.

Fore more information on Living Sacrifice, check out - https://www.facebook.com/livingsacrifice.

© Justin Donnelly.