Exciter has gone through many
changes since their inception in 1978, and should have surrendered the moniker
in the late '80's. Of course, the classic era of Exciter was the early-mid-80's.
‘Heavy Metal Maniac’ and ‘Violence and Force’ are two of the greatest metal
albums of all time, and will never be beaten by any band. To those who grew up
in the early days of metal, no doubt Exciter holds a special place in your
heart. Dan Beehler's double-bass drumming while singing at the same time, John
Ricci's raging guitar, and Allan Johnson's pounding bass. "Blackwitch", "Rising
of the Dead", "Pounding Metal", "Iron Dogs". Fucking great music!!!! The only
original member now is Ricci, who should have known better than to release this
CD, which at first glance looks like a greatest hits cd. In fact, it is, but
they are new versions of old classics, along with some other material with the
new band. In my opinion this was a grave mistake. Jacque Belanger's vocals are
terrible, as he sounds like a power metal singer trying to sing thrash. What
they should do is change the name and write a bunch of new songs and go with
that. For those of the newer metal generation who have never heard Exciter, I
urge you to check out the above mentioned albums instead. (Mike Salamone)
Hatesphere – ‘Ballet of the Brute’
(Century Media)
Metal these
days (and to be fair, punk also) seems mired in some sort of musical equivalent
to the “Clone Wars”. Bands try so hard to be “true” to whatever subgenre they
belong to, that they would rather die than sound distinctive. Luckily there are
a few bands like Hatesphere out there. These guys see the whole spectrum of
metal as fair game. Eighties thrash, modern death metal, hardcore, and even an
occasional touch of classic power metal all figure into this band’s recipe. The
result is a surprisingly cohesive sound that clearly sets these guys apart from
the pack. The songwriting isn’t quite up to “classic” standards, but it’s not
bad, either. Songs like “Deathtrip”, “Only the Strongest”, and “What I See I
Despise” are raw and punishing, but feature some catchy riffs and even a few
vocal hooks that will stick with you. The vocals remind me of the guy from
Sacrifice most of the time, with occasional diversions into hardcore and death
metal territory. In addition to the listed songs, there are also a couple of
“secret” bonus tracks. The band puts their own stamp on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Bark
at the Moon” and Anthrax’ “Caught in a Mosh”. Overall, a pretty damn solid
release. Check it out. (Bob Ignizio)
Power metal...ya gotta love
it! Iron Savior's new CD "Battering Ram" is pure, unapologetic power metal,
from the Roger Dean on steroids cover art to the fist pumping anthems of
"Tyranny of Steel" and "H.M. Powered Man". This album is a fun listen, with
it's distinctly 80's-Euro feel, and the riffs are as chunky as you'd expect from
Iron Savior. My only problem is a lack of catchy vocal hooks. I mean, this is
a great album to have on in the background, but I got a little bored listening
to it closely. Metal anthems live and die by the chorus, and after listening to
the whole CD, I would be hard-pressed to sing even a single line back from
memory. However, if you liked that past releases from Iron Savior, you'll
probably like this one too. Non-fans should stick with their old Helloween
tapes. The Heathen Hippy gives it three (lightly) banging heads. (Taliesin
Govannon)
For
over 25 years, Motorhead have consistently delivered exactly what their fans
expect: Fast, raw, rock n roll. In that time, I don’t think the band has ever
released a bad album. Oh sure, there’s been a few that weren’t exactly great,
but no ill advised experiments with guitar synthesizers or embarrassing attempts
to jump on the latest trend. Not surprisingly, there are no surprises on
‘Inferno’. The music still sounds like Motorhead, and the lyrics are still
straight out of the philosophy of life according to Lemmy. For whatever reason,
though, this comes across as one of the better Motorhead albums. No ‘Ace of
Spades’, but at least on a level with ‘Iron Fist’ or ‘Orgasmatron’. Motorhead
have always known how to write catchy tunes that still hit you like a ton of
bricks. Songs like “Terminal Show”, “Life’s A Bitch”, and “Down on Me” continue
that tradition. I wasn’t impressed with the odd track out, the acoustic blues
number “Whorehouse Blues”, but otherwise one of Motorhead’s best. It ain’t
gonna’ win ‘em many new fans, but the loyal legions will definitely be happy.
(Bob Ignizio)
Exciter has gone through many
changes since their inception in 1978, and should have surrendered the moniker
in the late '80's. Of course, the classic era of Exciter was the early-mid-80's.
‘Heavy Metal Maniac’ and ‘Violence and Force’ are two of the greatest metal
albums of all time, and will never be beaten by any band. To those who grew up
in the early days of metal, no doubt Exciter holds a special place in your
heart. Dan Beehler's double-bass drumming while singing at the same time, John
Ricci's raging guitar, and Allan Johnson's pounding bass. "Blackwitch", "Rising
of the Dead", "Pounding Metal", "Iron Dogs". Fucking great music!!!! The only
original member now is Ricci, who should have known better than to release this
CD, which at first glance looks like a greatest hits cd. In fact, it is, but
they are new versions of old classics, along with some other material with the
new band. In my opinion this was a grave mistake. Jacque Belanger's vocals are
terrible, as he sounds like a power metal singer trying to sing thrash. What
they should do is change the name and write a bunch of new songs and go with
that. For those of the newer metal generation who have never heard Exciter, I
urge you to check out the above mentioned albums instead. (Mike Salamone)
Metal these
days (and to be fair, punk also) seems mired in some sort of musical equivalent
to the “Clone Wars”. Bands try so hard to be “true” to whatever subgenre they
belong to, that they would rather die than sound distinctive. Luckily there are
a few bands like Hatesphere out there. These guys see the whole spectrum of
metal as fair game. Eighties thrash, modern death metal, hardcore, and even an
occasional touch of classic power metal all figure into this band’s recipe. The
result is a surprisingly cohesive sound that clearly sets these guys apart from
the pack. The songwriting isn’t quite up to “classic” standards, but it’s not
bad, either. Songs like “Deathtrip”, “Only the Strongest”, and “What I See I
Despise” are raw and punishing, but feature some catchy riffs and even a few
vocal hooks that will stick with you. The vocals remind me of the guy from
Sacrifice most of the time, with occasional diversions into hardcore and death
metal territory. In addition to the listed songs, there are also a couple of
“secret” bonus tracks. The band puts their own stamp on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Bark
at the Moon” and Anthrax’ “Caught in a Mosh”. Overall, a pretty damn solid
release. Check it out. (Bob Ignizio) 
For
over 25 years, Motorhead have consistently delivered exactly what their fans
expect: Fast, raw, rock n roll. In that time, I don’t think the band has ever
released a bad album. Oh sure, there’s been a few that weren’t exactly great,
but no ill advised experiments with guitar synthesizers or embarrassing attempts
to jump on the latest trend. Not surprisingly, there are no surprises on
‘Inferno’. The music still sounds like Motorhead, and the lyrics are still
straight out of the philosophy of life according to Lemmy. For whatever reason,
though, this comes across as one of the better Motorhead albums. No ‘Ace of
Spades’, but at least on a level with ‘Iron Fist’ or ‘Orgasmatron’. Motorhead
have always known how to write catchy tunes that still hit you like a ton of
bricks. Songs like “Terminal Show”, “Life’s A Bitch”, and “Down on Me” continue
that tradition. I wasn’t impressed with the odd track out, the acoustic blues
number “Whorehouse Blues”, but otherwise one of Motorhead’s best. It ain’t
gonna’ win ‘em many new fans, but the loyal legions will definitely be happy.
(Bob Ignizio)