Detritus
Issue #306
Week of February 28, 2005
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Detritus/

To subscribe to the e-mail version do one of the following:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Detritus/
Detritus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (send a blank e-mail here)

To unsubscribe from the e-mail version:
Detritus-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com (send a blank e-mail here)

To contact us:
Detritus-owner@yahoogroups.com

*
*** CAST OF CHARACTERS ***
*
Patrick Brower, Editor
patrickbrower@...

Sean P. Gahgan, Editor
lof@...

Tim Wadzinski, Owner
tsw512@...

Steve Shumake, Co-owner
vongoober@...
http://www.vongoober.com/

*
*** LET IT BE KNOWN ***
*
Light on the press releases but monstrously heavy on the reviews! And
now, thanks to Rick's review, I need to check out the Hanzel und
Gretyl disc I previously overlooked. -Patrick

*
*** PRESS RELEASE #1 ***
*
- CHRIS CAFFERY NEWS
Chris Caffery has been very busy in the studio again. Last year marked
the release of his solo debut "Faces". The CD contained an 8-song
bonus CD called "God Damn War". Another 7 songs will be added to this
CD and it will be released separately in early Summer 2005 on Black
Lotus Records. The songs include the first ever studio recording of a
lost Doctor Butcher track "Iraq Attack". The song features Jon Oliva
and Chris on vocals as well as original Doctor Butcher bassist Brian
Gregory! Along with the additional music the CD will include the full
GDWAR story and all of the lyrics.

The band is currently booking its first ever world tour. The band
includes the "Faces" studio line-up of Savatage/Trans-Siberian
Orchestra drummer Jeff Plate and Trans-Siberian Orchestra bassist Dave
Z. The first official shows are already announced. The band is
headlining a tour in the US called "It's All Good". Other acts on the
bill include The Alex Skolnick Trio and other TSO members outside
endeavors. April 28th marks the first date in New York City at the
infamous BB Kings Concert Club. The following weekend Chris Caffery's
"Faces" are headlining the first night of the Brave Words and Bloody
Knuckles "Six Pack Weekend" in Cleveland Ohio. European dates and
additional US will be announced shortly.

http://www.black-lotus-recs.com
http://www.chriscaffery.com

*
*** PRESS RELEASE #2 ***
*
- HEAVEN & EARTH ON ROCKLINE
Heaven & Earth will be appearing on Rockline with Bob Coburn on March
23rd and can be heard on affiliate stations throughout the States. To
find the Rockline station near you go to:
http://www.rocklineradio.com/affiliates.html

Classic Rock Revisited has also featured an interview on Black Star
Records with Stuart Smith and Richie Onori which you can see at:
http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/Interviews05/BlackStar.htm

Hard Beyond Driven has a review of the new CD which you can see on
review page 17 at: http://www.hardbeyonddriven.com

www.heavenandearthband.com
www.blackstarrecords.com

*
*** PRESS RELEASE #3 ***
*
-DEATH ANGEL & RAVEN ADDED TO BW&BK 6-PK WEEKENDIII
In what will be their ONLY summer appearance of the 2005 concert
season, reunited San Francisco thrashers DEATH ANGEL have been added
to the third installment of North America's premier Heavy Metal
magazine showcase, the BW&BK 6-Pack Weekend, set for May 6-7 at The
Odeon in Cleveland, OH.

NWOBHM pioneers RAVEN will also be on-hand, for a rare concert. In
conjunction with The Odeon, the fun returns to Cleveland, in a
slightly different format. Unlike past years, single day tickets will
be available, although for the month of February, a discounted Early
Bird two-day pass ($55) will be available SOLELY through
www.belkinproductions.com/bravewords.html. Beginning March 1, tickets
can be purchased as follows:

REDUCED price 2- day tickets, available EXCLUSIVELY online, end
February 28th. So act now!
As of March 1, the price of a 2-day pass reverts back to full price - $60
As of March 1, 2-day pass and individual day tickets will be available
ONLY thru the Odeon box office, all Ticketmaster locations or charge
by phone.
Friday - $30 advance/$35 day of show
Saturday - $35 advance/$40 day of show

Other confirmed acts include:
TROUBLE
JAG PANZER - ONLY North American appearance
CHRIS CAFFERY
SOILWORK
DARK TRANQUILLITY
HYPOCRISY
EXCITER - rare US date
MNEMIC

Once again, the Hilton Garden Inn is the official hotel of the BW&BK
6-Pack Weekend. A special ($65 per night) rate can be had by calling
Hilton Garden Inn toll free at 1-877- STAY-HGI. When making your
reservation, mention the festival and room code, BWC for the discount.
Come stay the with the bands!
In addition to two nights of heavy metal, the BW&BK 6-Pack Weekend
provides fans the opportunity to hang out with the musicians, both in
formal signing sessions and just wandering through the crowd. Those
arriving early are invited to the kick-off party/concert on Thursday,
May 5th. For complete up to date information on this year's event,
head here: www.belkinproductions.com/bravewords.html

*
*** PRESS RELEASE #4 ***
*
- ANGRA AND CONCEPTION COMPLETE PROGPOWER USA LINE UP
ATLANTA – Brazil's Angra and Norway's Conception will round out the
lineup of this year's ProgPower USA.

Conception will feature the entire original lineup, including Roy Khan
(Kamelot) on vocals and Tore Ostby on guitar (ex-ARK), in their first
performance since 1997. "After having experienced some real blasts at
ProgPower with ARK and Kamelot, we are honored and excited to be back
and perform the first ever US gig with Conception!" said Khan and Ostby.

Angra is returning to ProgPower after making its US debut at the
festival in 2003.

Stratovarius, Therion, Orphaned Land, Pink Cream 69, Manticora, Circus
Maximus, Symphorce, and Stride have already been announced for the show.

ProgPower will take place on Friday and Saturday, September 16 and 17
at Earthlink Live in Atlanta.

Tickets will go on sale April 2 at 10 a.m. EST via all Ticketmaster
outlets. Only 900 tickets will be made available to the public.
Advance Gold Badges are already sold out.

One of America's most highly praised festivals, ProgPower USA has
sold-out for three consecutive years over five months in advance.
There is currently a three-year wait on the Gold Badge waiting list.
Last year ProgPower USA drew fans from 32 states and 12 counties
including Japan and Australia.

ProgPower USA is sponsored by Pacific Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Shure
Microphones, Planet Waves Gear, J.'Addario Strings, and Evans Drumheads.

www.progpowerusa.com

*
*** NEWS/RUMORS ***
*

- Steve sent this very interesting clip in and I urge you all to go
and sign this petition!

I am one of the leaders currently supporting a campaign for an
exclusive heavy metal video channel. Our goal is to achieve an outlet
so that our metal artists no longer have to fight the industry to get
their music out to their fans. This would be such a great opportunity
for our past artist to be able to have their OLD and their NEW music
heard. We have (5) artists that have signed the petition. Many of
you will recognize the names. They would like this as much as the
fans. We are pushed for time because Eric Sherman, Vh1 Sr. VP,
responded to us yesterday. He has the proposal in hand. He is on
vacation this week, but he will be getting back in contact with us
sometime next week. This could very well be it. Whether we tweak
their eyebrows or not. We are pushing for a Vh1 Metal Mania Channel
with no "nu-metal" to be played. By definition, Rock/Metal is known
for its distinguished guitar solos which "nu-metal" over looks this
definition...When Mr. Sherman takes a look at the petition this week,
what fan base we have out there (and we know there are so many more),
will be what makes or breaks this decision as to whether we can get
our favorite bands a home or not.

Here is the link:
http://www.petitiononline.com/01131995/petition.html

I have been asked this a lot. If any of you are on any other forums,
you are more than welcome to copy/paste this. The sooner we can get
this word out, the better it will be for us come the end of this week.

- From the Century Media Email list: BLIND GUARDIAN
www.blind-guardian.com
Century Media released three of the band's early albums Battalions Of
Fear, Follow The Blind, and the Forgotten Tales, previously
unavailable in the U.S. on February 8th. Both Battalions and Follow
have a bonus track to celebrate the domestic release. Forgotten Tales
doesn't contain any extras, however the 13 cover tunes are an
exceptional compilation that includes the band's rendition of Surfin'
USA.

Additionally Century Media released BLIND GUARDIAN'S epic double DVD
Stateside in November 2004, the mighty German Powerhouse have received
a round of outstanding reviews from press. Additionally, you can
register for your chance to win a copy from the Ferrante Power
Equipment website.

- According to www.live4metal.com Ronnie James Dio, one of the most
instantly identifiable voices in rock music, has confirmed a VERY
SPECIAL October UK tour. There will be no support acts on the 'An
Evening with Dio' tour, which will feature two live sets from Dio,
including not only a host of classic songs from across his HUGE back
catalogue, but also ALL of his classic, debut solo, multi-platinum,
'Holy Diver' album from 1983.

Dates are:

October 9th - Sheffield Foundry
October 10th - Nottingham Rock City
October 11th - Norwich UEA
October 13th - Newcastle University
October 14th - Glasgow Academy
October 15th - Manchester Academy
October 17th - Exeter University
October 18th - Bristol Academy
October 20th - Southampton Guildhall
October 21st - Birmingham Carling Academy
October 22nd - London Astoria

- Dream Theater has finished recording their new untitled CD. It is
currently in the mixing stages and is scheduled for release around
May. A World tour is to follow.

- Enertia will reissue its 1999 album FLASHPOINT this spring through
Animated Insanity Records, LLC. This version will include the disc's
10 tracks, the video for the song "Real," and "high quality MP3 files"
of all the songs on LAW OF THREE, the band's out-of-print debut. See
http://www.enertia.cc/ and http://www.animatedinsanityrecords.com/ for
more.

- Force of Evil: A follow up to last weeks snippet on, this Danish
super group featuring Mercyful Fate members Michael Denner, Hank
Shermann, Bjarne Holm, King Diamond bass player bassist Hal Patino and
ex-Ironfire vocalist Martin Steene have finished their new CD BLACK
EMPIRE. BLACK EMPIRE will be released on March 21 in Europe and March
29 in the U.S. Black EMPIRE was recorded at Jailhouse studio in
Horsens, Denmark with producer Tommy Hansen (HELLOWEEN, PRETTY MAIDS)
and was mixed by Neil Kernon (Nevermore, Queensryche, Heaven's Edge).
Check out the cover artwork at www.forceofevil.net

- www.melodicrock.com reports that Harem Scarem's new album OVERLOAD
is mixed, mastered and in the can! The tracks to be included on the
album are: Dagger / Afterglow / Rise & Fall / Don't Come Easy / Can't
Live / Forgive & Forget / All Your Calling / Same Mistakes / Leading
Me On / Understand You / You Shook Me All Night Long (Cover of the
AC/DC classic!). Running order and Japanese bonus track to be announced.

- Judas Priest news: Here is the reported set list (according to
www.metalsetlists.com) for Judas Priest who kicked off their 2005
World Tour Wednesday night (Feb. 23) at the Valbyhallen in Copenhagen,
Denmark.

01. The Hellion
02. Electric Eye
03. Metal Gods
04. Riding on the Wind
05. The Ripper
06. A Touch of Evil
07. Judas Rising
08. Revolution
09. Hot Rockin'
10. Breaking the Law
11. I'm a Rocker
12. Diamonds & Rust (acoustic)
13. Deal With the Devil
14. Hellrider
15. Beyond the Realms of Death
16. Exciter
17. Victim of Changes
18. Green Manalishi
19. Painkiller

Encore:

20. Hell Bent for Leather
21. Living after Midnight
22. You've Got Another Thing Comin'

- Kamelot has re-launched their website in anticipation of the March
15th release of THE BLACK HALO on SPV, check out www.kamelot.com for
details. Also, they have announced that German keyboardist/guitarist
Oliver Palotai will be joining Kamelot for The Black Halo Tour 2005

- From the official Mad Margritt Newsletter:
Mad Margritt have been busy doing lots of press and radio interviews
to promote their latest release STRAIGHT THROUGH THE HEART. Scott
Banks will be filling in on guitar for the remainder of Mad Margritt's
southeast tour due to the unexpected departure of guitarist Davay Ray.
The band is currently looking for a permanent replacement. Any guitar
players who are interested in auditioning can contact the band at
mad4u2rock@...

Upcoming Shows
Friday, February 25, THE WILD WING CAFE, Asheville, North Carolina
Saturday, February 26, SIDELINES, Kennesaw, Georgia
Friday, March 5, THE DIXIE TAVERN, Marietta, Georgia (with Ratt
vocalist Stephen Pearcy)
Friday & Saturday, March 11-12, GIPSONS, Douglasville, Georgia
Friday, March 18, THE WILD WING CAFE, Charleston, South Carolina
Saturday, March 19, THE WILD WING CAFE, Augusta, Georgia
Saturday, April 2, THE WILD WING CAFE, Marietta, Georgia
Friday, April 8, THE WILD WING CAFE, Augusta, Georgia
Saturday, April 9, EL AZTECA, Macon, Georgia
Friday, April 15, THE WILD WING CAFE, North Charleston, South Carolina
Thursday, May 5, EL AZTECA, Macon, Georgia, (Cinco De Mayo Festival)
Friday, May 13, THE MODJESKA , Augusta, Georgia
Friday, May 20, THE WILD WING CAFE, Augusta, Georgia
Friday, May 2, THE WILD WING CAFE, Hilton Head, South Carolina

-Babbermouth.net reports that Manowar has just revealed some of the
incredible things that are scheduled to happen at the Earthshaker Fest
2005, a two-day event set to take place July 22-23 in Geiselwind,
Germany. Manowar will invite all of the original members from each
lineup to join them on stage for a once-in-a-lifetime event. Ross The
Boss and original Manowar drummer Donnie Hamzik will perform, and so
will Rhino and David Shankle.

Speaking of special guests, the legendary actor Mr. Christopher Lee
will narrate the original parts recorded by Orson Welles in the songs
"Dark Avenger" and "Defender" live on stage with Manowar. The festival
will be filmed in high definition with 30 cameras and recorded live in
Surround Sound with Germany's best mobile recording truck. This will
be Manowar's biggest production ever that will feature a 100-piece
orchestra and a 100-piece choir.

Famed stage and lighting designer Rick Smith is working with the band
at this very moment on an incredible stage and lighting design that is
sure to be one of the, if not the biggest PA, lighting and staging
ever for a metal festival. Manowar's DVD "Hell On Earth Part 4" will
be released around the time of the festival and will include a brand
new MANOWAR single with some possible additions of a few other
surprises. And those are just a few of the very special moments
MANOWAR has planned for you.

- Neal Morse's new CD LEAD ME LORD (Worship Sessions Volume One) is
now available on Radiant Records. In January 2005, Neal and some of
his friends got together to worship the Lord, follow the spirit, and
play some music. With a little overdubbing and the addition of some
older tracks, this CD was created. It has a certain live feel which is
what Neal was going for. While recently visiting churches in Europe
Neal played many of these songs. If you were blessed by them then,
you'll be blessed by them again and again. If you haven't heard any of
these songs, we think you'll enjoy them for the first time as well.
The track listing is as follows; God Won't Give Up / Lead Me Lord /
Taste and See / Medley: I Bless Your Name, Breathe, Create in me a
Clean Heart / Cleanse Me / Come Let Him Love You / Because You Loved
Me / Have Your Way / Further / Jesus - This is Your Life Now.
Available for donation only (plus S&H), If you want to support Neal
and his family in the work they are doing, or if you just want to hear
some great inspired songs, order this fine CD and contribute whatever
you'd like. www.radiantrecords.com

- Go to www.andysneap.com to check out a video of Nevermore in the
recording studio working on their new CD "This Godless Endeavor".

- Steve Patterson of the Chicago Sun-Times has issued the following
report:
Anthony Wester said he hoped to hear remastered versions of OZZY
OSBOURNE's "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman" albums. Instead,
he's a mad fan who says he and others were blindsided by a blizzard of
deceitful acts by Sony Entertainment and Epic Records. In a lawsuit
filed last week in Cook County Circuit Court, the Downstate man is
demanding compensation for himself and anyone else who bought
"remastered" versions of the Osbourne classics because the original
drummer and bassist on the albums were replaced.

The CDs, released in 2002, were marketed as crisp updates of the
originals, with no mention that the sounds of bassist Bob Daisley and
drummer Lee Kerslake were cut out and replaced by Robert Trujillo and
Mike Bordin. Loyal fans of Osbourne ridiculed the move, which came
after Daisley and Kerslake filed lawsuits in a dispute over unpaid
royalties from the original albums. Fans claim there's "a noticeable
difference" in the changed rhythm sections on the original and
remastered albums, while Wester says the change "forever alter[ed] and
stain[ed] the legacy" of the originals, as the new version "bears
little relation to the original." A Sony spokesman could not be
reached. Wester did not return a call to his Belleville-area home.

Wester's Chicago attorney, Ben Barnow, said, "consumers are supposed
to get what they paid for. ... For a product as treasured as these
albums, to change the ingredient is to change the product." Barnow
wants class-action status for the suit. He hopes to recover damages on
behalf of anyone who felt deceived after listening to the 2002 version
of the albums. Other class-action efforts have been filed here against
rock bands LIMP BIZKIT and CREED, who concertgoers said put on shows
not worthy of the price of admission. But in this case, a fan says he
was duped by a record company trying to remake classic albums. Bordin,
who once played with FAITH NO MORE, and Trujillo, now with METALLICA,
were hired to re-record Daisley's and Kerslake's parts on albums that
have sold more than 10 million copies since their original releases in
1980 and 1981.

A year after the updated CDs were released, judges dismissed the suit
brought by Daisley and Kerslake. Since their performances were cut
from the 2002 remastered CDs, they can't seek royalties from those.

- From the official Primal Fear website http://matsinner.rocks.de/:
Some more new songs are ready for the pre-production Signs Of Our
Time, Evil That Men Do, Higher Power and Sound Of Thunder. All of the
guys participating in the songwriting and the new album is shaping up!
Thanks to our fans & of course to our fan club for showing up at the
Metal Forever festival last weekend. Was great to be back on stage!
Hope we can tell you more details about some very limited and special
Open Air appearances 2005

- THE RODS (Ronnie James Dio's cousin David "Rock" Feinstein, Gary
Bordonaro, and Carl Canedy) will be back together for an exclusive
show at Mackenzy's (formerly known as Escape) in Cortland, NY,
Saturday, March 26, 2005.

Opening for THE RODS will be NASTY HABIT, Central NY's premier classic
hard rock/'80s "big hair" metal tribute band and THE RODS plan to
schedule a meet-and-greet after the show.

THE RODS released a few albums back in the '80s and opened for JUDAS
PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN.

- From the official Saxon website www.saxon747.com; SAXON has been
forced to postpone their previously announced March European tour as a
result of the band's front man Biff Byford suffering a major loss when
his house in the Normandie area of France burned down. Fortunately,
nobody was hurt. The European tour dates are expected to be
rescheduled for later this year. [Editor's note: Total bummer as I am
in Germany and was going to attend this show-Sean]

- From the Totalrock .com newsletter: SCORPIONS RETROSPECTIVE DVD
The Scorpions are putting together a DVD that will cover the last 25
years of their career. It has a working title of 'Rocking The Extra
Mile', and should be out in the Spring.

- From the official Soul Sirkus website www.soulsirkus.com comes the
following announcement: Final confirmation on the spring leg of the
WORLD PLAY tour will be announced next week. Additional shows are
being added therefore dates will not be displayed until routing is
completed. So far, cities included are Philadelphia, Boston, NY,
Detroit, Minneapolis, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles & San Francisco.
Stay tuned."

- Sum 41 U.S. Headlining Tour - Get Your Tickets!
The time is here...the time is now. The first group of tickets for the
Sum 41 "Go Chuck Yourself" U.S. tour are now available for purchase.
The tour also includes Unwritten Law and Hawthorne Heights. Keep
checking the www.sum41.com tour page for new dates being added as they
will keep rolling in.

- From the John Taglieri newsletter comes the following update: Hey
all! How are you?? I hope all is going well and life has been kind to
ya as of late!! Things here have been good. The tour bus (a.k.a. Jeep
Wrangler) blew it's motor after 180,000 miles, but is all fixed and
ready for lots more touring!! The CD goes out for mastering in a week
and I should have it in my hands by the end of March, barring any new
issues of course! And Here is a listing of all the gigs booked so far
to support the new CD, NOW:

3/2/05 CB's 313 Gallery, New York, NY
3/4/05 The Underpass, Elmwood Park, NJ
3/11/05 The Gallery, Rockland, MA
3/15/05 Circa, Rochelle Park, NJ
3/18/05 Tradition Field Stadium, Port St. Lucie, FL
3/19/05 The Berkeley Carteret Hotel Oak Lounge, Asbury, NJ
3/19/05 The Frozen Monkey, Hoboken, NJ
3/29/05 The Nutty Irishman, Bay Shore, NY
4/8/05 Park Deli, Hendersonville, NC
4/22/05 Borders Books & Music, Whitehall, PA
4/26/05 The Nutty Irishman, Bayshore, NY
4/29/05 Borders Books & Music, Ramsey, NJ
5/13/05 Borders Books & Music, Rockaway, NJ
5/18/05 Borders Books & Music, White Plains, NY
5/19/05 Zigs Bar, Alexandria, VA
5/22/05 The Stone Pony, Asbury, NJ
6/23/05 Zigs Bar, Alexandria, VA
7/15/05 Pine Needles Coffeehouse, Marlborough, CT
7/16/05 Sailing Through Summer Festival, Essex, CT
7/30/05 Quick Chek NJ Balloon Festival, Readington, NJ (tent)
9/3/05 Millennium Craft Festival, Tewsbury, MA

Thanks to Eric Vitoulis, Jessica Mears & Professor Metal for help
gathering this news.

*
***THE CLOCK TOWER***
*
by Terry Gant (docmidnight@...) "I'm not sayin, I'm just sayin."

Hello all and welcome to the second installment of The Clock Tower.
This week, it's just me, the disc drive, and the owner's manuals for
all the little electronic devices in my house. There is no comfy
chair, no books, no nice atmosphere. Just some old tortillas, a newly
dented refrigerator, and the scotch.

That's because its 2AM and I am sitting here listening to Dillinger
Escape Plan.

DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - MISS MACHINE (B+) Relapse Records, 2004
11 Tracks, RT 40:02 or "Hell Yeah, It's Time to Run"
[ www.dillingerescapeplan.com ]

Dillinger Escape Plan is here to prove that if a little knowledge is
dangerous, then, a lot of knowledge is cause for national emergency.
DEG are fast and too the point so I shall try and honor that style here.

Your Band:
Brian Benoit and Ben Weinman – Guitars; Greg Puciato – Vocals; Chris
Pennie – Drums; Liam Wilson - Bass

"Panasonic Youth"
The Opening track starts with a vocal attack that will leave an
impression on me for a week. This stuff would be great if there really
were an Itchy and Scratchy Video game. This song probably opens the
disk to scare away the weak sisters.

"Sunshine the Werewolf"
If a werewolf could use a band saw and arc welder, this is what he'd
listen to. I'm sure of it.
These guys may make you think that they are all about the "screamo"
but when they decide to break a section down for you they show that
they have more than enough Metal.

"Highway Robbery"
This track makes me think that every song starts on the same note the
previous one ended on. Lots of bas for those who like the punch along.
I used to wonder what Cop Shoot Cop would sound like if they were on
speed. Now I have an answer.

"Van Damsel"
Ok, I won't lie to you. This is chaotic Avant-Metal. It feels good
though. Canderia would be proud.

"Phone Home"
Through out all of these songs that make me want to take my microwave
oven apart, these guys are tighter than a shrunken wetsuit. There may
be nothing creepier than Puciato saying anything "Will just be baby,
baby, baby non-stop 'til the end of the night"

"We Are the Storm"
Yes, you are. You are a Storm of very talented musicians throwing
their instruments around the studio, catching them, beating the snot
out of them and throwing them again. All with German Precision. Then
you get so…MELLOW that I have to wonder if my computer has a virus.
Nope, drive is clean. You may be just that damn good. Oh wait here
comes the pain again.

"Crutch Field Tongs"
An instrumental that makes me think these guys were responsible for
crop circles.

"Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants"
They slide into this one nice and easy like. This track has a nice
build up. It's a great "Driving Down the Expressway to go pick up a
new radiator for an old Honda while trying to figure out who must be
made to pay" song.

"Baby's First Coffin"
After you know who will be made to pay, this is the song you may want
to play.

"Unretrofied"
There is a reason these guys have toured with Mr. Bungle. They move
smoothly from crunch to swing to groove back to crunch as easy as easy
as any band I've ever heard. Not many can pull it off and keep me
happy. There are bands that touch what these guys have touched but DEP
are marking the territory. Deftones are just too mellow these days.
Snapcase only have one speed. Where Canderia toss in Hip-Hop, these
guys take you inside a television tube.

"The Perfect Design"
This is where you open the blender, cross it with the spot welder,
throw in some Birth of the Cool, spread it on some GWAR and back the
hell away.

I am rather impressed.
It just goes to show that you can be technically proficient to a
terrifying degree without making a concept album or being Swedish to
prove it.
Get it.

Crap, look at the time. It's 3AM and I need to take the lawn mower apart.
Gotta roll.

*
***FLAMES FROM THE LAKE***
*
by Sean P Gahgan (lof@...)

Well my friends it has been a little while and even though I have not
run a column recently I have been here behind the scenes helping
Patrick keep the Detritus ship afloat. I have spent half of my year
2005 in Germany on business and other related activities and thus the
flames from the lake are burning very low right now. Now being in
Germany, I was going to check Saxon out on March 4th in Hamburg, but
unfortunately their tour has been postponed. My condolences go out to
Biff and his family as his house burnt down to the ground. I could not
fathom loosing my home and all of my belongings. Let's just be glad
the mighty Biff and his family were unharmed in the tragedy. On a more
positive note, www.pollstar.com has Saxon playing 5/11 and 5/12 in
California! Could this be the start of a U.S. tour? Let's hope so!

I will have a review of Enchant's Double DVD in next week's issue,
it's absolutely fabulous so far! These guys are so incredible and
write some great songs, look for it next week.

So how about this? Although it was not due until Tuesday, March 1st,
on Saturday, February 26th, I was perusing the CDs at a local
establishment here in the beautiful town of Flensburg, Germany, and
low and behold I find a copy of ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION by the Metal Gods
themselves, Judas Priest. It must have been my lucky day. I snatched
it up and immediately went to the car to give it a spin (nothing like
listening to Priest while flying down the Autobahn at 200 kph). While
I don't think it's fair to give a formal review just yet, as I would
like to give it some time to sink in, I will share my initial thoughts
on it with you.

Interesting to note that they managed to infuse previous song titles
from their past into this current set of lyrics, for instance Under
Blood Red Skies is in Deal With The Devi, Hellions and Painkiller in
Demonizer, the talk of Sad Wings (of Destiny) in Angel, Ram it Down in
Hellrider, and Stained Class and Sentinel in Eulogy. All quite
fitting for this reunion album. As far as the music goes, Halford
sounds awesome as always, I never had a question on him as he is a
total professional! My question was the guitar sound. I feel this is
the crux of what Priest is to me Heavy Metal, and Heavy Metal means
big, heavy, chunky guitars. SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE and DEFENDERS OF
THE FAITH had the best guitar sound in my opinion. TURBO was ok, the
sound on RAM IT DOWN was a little to processed for my taste, and
although the sound on PAINKILLER was quite heavy, Glenn seemed to be
going through a phase where he had no mid in the guitar sound at all,
very brittle and scratchy sounding which was heard even more so on
JUGULATER and DEMOLITION. Anyway, I was excited when Roy Z was given
the production duties because he is big into meaty guitars! Just
listen to Bruce Dickinson's A CHEMICAL WEDDING or Halford's
RESSURECTION CD. Well, the meat is back. The rhythms sound like a
cross between the guitars on Halford's first solo CD and DOTF. The
lead guitar sound is reminiscent of PAINKILLER but also has a little
more bite, but most of all it is definitely distinct.

This whole CD is very much molded as a traditional Priest CD in many
ways. 10 songs, as was the norm back in the day when all things metal
came out on vinyl. Judas Rising is the standard balls out, in-you-face
opener complete with a wicked intro with Rob's patented scream and
plenty of double bass slamming provided by Scott Travis. Deal With The
Devil is a catchy fast paced track and I am glad they are doing this
one live as it will go over well, the mood and lyrics reminds me of
Made In Hell from RESURRECTION. I am sure we all have heard Revolution
by now, this was obviously the song aimed for radio play. Not a bad
song, I would sure rather hear this live than Breaking the Law or
Living After Midnight ;-) Worth Fighting For is a more laid back, mid
tempo song with a decent melody but it seems to lack something. A
longer more emotional solo would have helped. It starts out with a
cool harmony lead but ends way to quick. Demonizer is Painkiller
resurrected. It's pounding and heavy and is growing on me. Wheels of
Fire is a through away. As generic as can be and should have no way
made it on this release. Angel is very cool as it starts off
acoustically with Rob singing and showing for a man 50+ years old, he
can still pull off a beautifully clear, clean vocal line as well as
the heart wrenching screams. Mid way through the drums come in and
lead into a heavy version of the chorus. This is a good song and
really fits well into the album flow. Hellrider start's of with a very
cool processed guitar effect and gives way to one of the albums
heaviest numbers. Eulogy again slows it down and is very eerie with
it's repetitive clockwork like guitar pattern. The piano in the mid
section adds a nice sorrowful effect, very somber and moody! I like
this song a lot! Lochness is the last song and weighs in at a hefty
thirteen and a half minutes. It is a very slow and heavy plodding
song. Don't quite know what to make of this one yet.

My biggest disappointment thus far is that none of these guitar solos
knock me out. I know I have only been listening to this for a few days
but after 6 or 7 spins nothing makes me want to rewind and listen to a
solo over. Hellrider showed some potential and has some very cool
parts in it but when half of the solo just sounds like someone
masturbating on the guitar I lose interest. Some of these songs will
grow on me and from what I have heard and what I have seen of their
current set list, the better songs are the ones being played live
which is a plus. Overall I can't help but feel a little disappointed
and most of this stems from the guitar solos, as I know Glen and KK
are capable of much better. I thought the over all energy level would
be higher and the whole record a little edgier. But hey, Rob is back
and playing live with them again! Isn't that what we all really wanted?

Quote of the Week: I entered in & my seed spread generations spawned
from the visions in my head / we raised it up and we pulled it down /
we advertised and marketed up town / she gave the reasoning to me and
now the guilt is all on me. R. W.

Song of the Week: Run up that Hill by Within Temptation

Playing in the Lake of Fire this week ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION by Judas
Priest, HYPOTHETICAL by Threshold, ALL THAT REMAINS by Fozzy, & THE
SILENT FORCE by Within Temptation

*
*** FROM THE MEGA-VAULT***
*
by Keith Abt (Keithabt@... )

This Week: AWAITING THE BEAST...

Good afternoon y'all, and greetings from the still-frozen New Jersey
tundra. By the time you read this column the new Judas Priest CD will
hopefully be spinning on my stereo (and everyone else's as well!), but
at the time of this writing I'm unfortunately still a few tortuous
days away from ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION's street date. (To make matters
even worse, they're predicting a major "Nor'Easter" snowstorm for my
area on March 1st, which may derail my plans to go shopping for a
first day of release copy. I'm praying to the Metal Gods to make the
snow go away!) So here I sit, chanting "PRIEST! PRIIIIEST!
PRIIIIIIIIEEEEEEST!" to myself, and that's starting to garner
some strange looks from passersby, so maybe I'd better move on and
talk about a few things that have been keeping me busy while I
anxiously await the return of the Defenders of the Faith. Smithers,
release the hounds!

...I had an unexpected "Metal Moment" while watching the Food Network,
of all things, a few Fridays ago...my wife is an avid fan of their
cutie-pie TV chef Rachael Ray, and Rachael's "Inside Dish" interview
program (where she hangs out and talks food with a different celebrity
every week) recently featured a chat with Cheap Trick guitarist Rick
Nielsen, who is co-owner of a gourmet pizzeria and microbrewery in
Chicago called "Piece". During her tour through Rick's restaurant,
Rachael asked what they should do while they waited for the chef to
prepare their food. Rick suggested they go to a record store down the
street (Rick's my kinda guy!) so Rachael said, "OK, cool, let's try
the beer here and then we'll go record shopping." (I immediately
looked at my wife and asked, "How come you never say that to ME?") As
Rachael browsed in the record store I had to laugh when I briefly saw
a vinyl Cannibal Corpse album prominently displayed on the wall behind
her in all of its gory glory. Disappointingly, she passed on the
Cannibal LP and wound up buying some vintage Cheap Trick vinyl for
Rick to autograph. Oh well. I was hoping Rachael might turn out to be
a metalhead. :-) By the way, if any of our Chicago area readers have
been to Rick's restaurant, I'd love to hear how the food is cuz the
pizzas that were coming out of that kitchen looked AWESOME!

...Last week's Detritus reported that MegaForce Records has re-issued
two of Anthrax's earliest (and most essential, at least in my book)
albums, 1984's FISTFUL OF METAL debut and 1985's ARMED AND DANGEROUS
EP, together on one disc, but did you know that Overkill have recently
gotten the 2-on-1 treatment from MegaForce too? I didn't until I came
across a new reissue of the Wrecking Crew's classic first album
(1985's FEEL THE FIRE) combined with the F**K YOU (AND THEN SOME) EP
during a recent shopping trip. The F**K YOU (AND THEN SOME) album was,
in and of itself, a jazzed-up reissue of the 5-track F**K YOU EP that
originally appeared in 1987, so does this combination qualify as a
"Re-Reissue?" Whatever you want to call it, it's nice to see those two
classics back in circulation and it looks like a nice package. I
haven't picked it up yet because I already have the F**K YOU material
on CD, but I still don't have FEEL THE FIRE on disc and that's a hole
in my collection that I've been meaning to plug for quite some time
now. By the time you read this, I may have already added this one to
my shelf.

...Speaking of Overkill, their new studio album, RELIXIV (pronounced
"Relics Fourteen") drops on March 24th, which also happens to be my
wife's birthday. I was thinking of buying it for her and telling her,
"If you don't like it, I'll keep it," but then I remembered that that
same tactic didn't turn out very well for Homer Simpson when he bought
Marge a bowling ball (with his name engraved on it) for HER birthday.
So unless I want to spend a week or two sleeping on the couch, I guess
it would be safer to just put aside some of my lunch money for the
next couple of weeks. :-)

Moving on to the CD pile... PRIMAL by NWOBHM stalwarts Holocaust (Edgy
Records) is a disc that's a bit past its freshness date (it was
released in 2003) but it's still worthy of mention. Until I received
PRIMAL, I knew little about Holocaust other than that they owed much
of their notoriety to Metallica, who covered their "The Small Hours"
on 1987's classic THE $5.98 EP: GARAGE DAYS RE-REVISITED. (Six Feet
Under also covered the Holocaust track "Death or Glory" on their first
GRAVEYARD CLASSICS album.) I did a bit of digging and learned that the
band has been active on a regular basis since the early '90s, (they
even came to the US for the first time several years ago for an
appearance at New Jersey's March Metal Meltdown festival/train wreck),
although I don't know if PRIMAL is their most recent album or if
they've released anything since then. I wasn't sure what to expect
when I popped PRIMAL into the player, but I was immediately impressed
and pleased with the combination of thick, pounding, crunchy riffage
(think old Sabbath played at 78 speed) and the aggressive vocal
delivery of John Mortimer (who sounds like a slightly less raspy
bastard son of Venom's Cronos). The lead-footed heaviness is offset by
occasional squeals of spacey guitar that bring VoiVod to mind (and so
do the wacked-out, sci-fi lyrics and titles like "They Colonize" and
"Colossus"). From this unexpectedly thrashin' musical attack it would
seem that Holocaust are forward thinkers, rather than just another
dusty nostalgia act content to repeat their past glories for the retro
circuit. NWOBHM diehards and collectors of grimy, obscure heaviness
would be well advised to check out PRIMAL. For more info on this
surprisingly cool little metal nugget, seek and ye shall find at
http://www.holocaustmetal.com or
http://www.cybercom.net/~breadfan/holocaust.html.

Here's an interesting trivia fact that I learned while researching
Holocaust, by the way: lead vocalist/guitarist John Mortimer, who I
believe is the only original member still in the band, can afford to
do Holocaust full-time these days thanks to Metallica, since he is
living quite comfortably off the royalties they continue to pay him
for their cover of "The Small Hours." Damn, that's pretty cool...
write a song that Metallica likes and you're set for life? Hey, Lars,
I got some song ideas you might wanna listen to...gimme a call man, my
kid is gonna need a college education someday!! :-)

That's all I've got for this installment, kids, so you can go outside
and play now. The fresh air will do you some good, and I promise I'll
be back soon with more metal-eating madness. Till then, repeat after
me... "PRIEST! PRIIIIEST! PRIIIIIIIIEEEEEEST!"

THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST: C.O.C. - AMERICA'S VOLUME DEALER; Debase -
UNLEASHED; Warrior Soul - SALUTATIONS FROM THE GHETTO NATION;
Nevermore - DEAD HEART IN A DEAD WORLD; Suicidal Tendencies -
LIGHTS...CAMERA...REVOLUTION.

*
*** ROCK HARD RIDE FREE ***
*
by Tim Wadzinski (tsw512@...)

-A couple weekends ago I was laid up at home with a bad cold, and
between that and taking care of my daughter I watched a lot of TV late
at night. I kept gravitating to VH1 for some reason and eventually I
caught part of the "Top 20 Video Countdown" show. Boy was this lame.
Most of the videos shown, including the #1, were actually just short
clips. Why bother? But then I left VH1 on and started watching their
overnight "Insomniac Theater" or whatever it's called. This is where
they just shut up and show actual, full-length music vids. What a
concept. I gagged at the repetition though! I swear in three hours I
saw the same videos from Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, Johnny Legend,
Eminem, John Mayer, and U2 two or three times each! My my, such
variety. (Aside #1: That Kelly Clarkson song, "Since You've Been
Gone," actually ain't half bad.) (Aside #2: U2 bothers me a lot. I
just can't stand their "We're Important" vibe. I laughed at the new
video where they're playing on the back of a flatbed truck that's
tooling around New York City. They must be big fans of Dokken's "It's
Not Love" video, eh? :) And actually, I just learned AC/DC pulled this
"playing on a flatbed truck" stunt back in *1976* in the "It's A Long
Way To The Top" video.)

-I recently got an e-mail out of the blue about a band from
Kazakhstan. Yes, Kazakhstan. Plastilinovy JiNN has four albums out --
GOROD MASTEROV, DIHANIE OSENI, RUSSKAYA RULETKA, and last year's WE
ARE -- and is comprised of vocalist Anzura, guitarist/vocalist
Alexander Zaplagin, guitarist George Golaev, bassist Sergey Shkutko,
and drummer Alexander Zavgorodny. There are two Web sites that I've
found so far, http://penumbramusic.net/jinn/main/ and
http://jinn.delusion.ru/ . The former appears to be newer and
"cleaner," and the latter seems older and more scattered, but has more
information. Both sites have free MP3s of the tracks from WE ARE, but
a bonus track called "Vechernie Ogni" is only available at
http://jinn.delusion.ru/ . In any event, check this stuff out. There's
kind of a Rammstein-meets-Rob Zombie vibe, some thrash, some balladry,
and the goofy keyboard tones need to be heard to be believed... :).
Plus, you can play a rousing game of "Spot The Riff" in a few songs.
(Sounds like "Smoke On The Water" there in "Nash Poezd," doesn't it?)

-Helix vocalist Brian Vollmer wrote an autobiography called "Gimme An
'R'" that was supposed to be released last year. I'm not certain if
the printed version ever came out or not, but Vollmer has been
gradually releasing individual chapters for free at the excellent site
http://www.planethelix.com/ . I don't know if you can find the
chapters through the "News" section or wherever, but the URLs to each
chapter follow this pattern: http://www.planethelix.com/Chapter17.htm
. It's a good read, quite light and breezy, and very funny. It's
amazing the man can remember so many obscure details of the band's
prehistoric days! Check out Chapter 12 for a hilarious story involving
King Kobra and "Weird" Al Yankovic. (Yes, you read that right.)

-Be on the lookout for a new four-CD, 80-track box set called
HOLLYWOOD ROCKS!, due in May from Deadline/Cleopatra. The set is a
companion to the 200-page book "Hollywood Rocks!: The Ultimate Guide
To The 1980's Hollywood, California Rock-N-Roll Music Scene" that came
out last year. According to a label rep the set will feature "rare,
unreleased demos, live recordings and some that you're also heard
before" from bands like Dokken, Quiet Riot, Warrant, Faster Pussycat,
Ratt, Keel, L.A. Guns, Spiders & Snakes, etc. Looks cool so far.

-And speaking of Spiders & Snakes, their new disc HOLLYWOOD GHOSTS is
quite the nice little package. The disc itself has 12 new songs plus
it's bundled with a bonus DVD featuring 15 (!) music videos, live and
backstage footage, interviews, and a slide show. I just got a copy and
it's impressive. It's due out in April on Sansei Records and will be
available from Super D Distribution. For more, contact
sansei-records@... or see http://www.spidersandsnakes.com/
and http://www.sdcd.com/ .

-Finally, PRIEST...PRIEST...PRIEST!!!

-Now in my current playlist: Judas Priest - ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION (Sony
BMG), Broken Teeth - BLOOD ON THE RADIO - LIVE (DVD) (Killingbird),
Millenium – THE BEST OF...AND MORE (Frontiers), Audiovision - THE
CALLING (Rivel Records), Visions Of Atlantis - CAST AWAY (Napalm
Records), Heartcry - LIGHTMAKER (Rivel Records), and Mennen -
FREAKAZOID (Escapi/Screaming Ferret).

*
*** REVIEWS ***
*

BEYOND THE FLESH – WHAT THE MIND PERCEIVES (A-) Screaming Ferret
Wreckords, 2005
10 tracks, RT: 45:42
[ http://www.beyondtheflesh.net/ ]
[ http://www.screamingferret.com/ ]
Beyond The Flesh was a pleasant surprise. They actually won me over
after spinning their new disc WHAT THE MIND PERCEIVES only two times.
At first glance they sounded much like any thrash/ death metal band,
nothing new or different. Then on my second spin, suddenly it hit me
that these guys are really good. Instead of being a cookie cutter of
every wannabe death metal band with harsh vocals and machine gun
instruments these guys have put a lot of different styles together
really well. There is some very good thrash, speed, death and at
points progressive metal but it all blends together like a different
pigments on a canvas. WHAT THE MIND PERCEIVES reminds me of harder
Testament, reminiscent of their fantastic album L0W or even DEMONIC.
And anything that reminds me of Testament is certainly a good thing.
There is even some stuff that reminds me of Slayer circa SEASONS IN
THE ABYSS (see track 6 "Wasteland "). Lead vocalist Justin Leary
growls better than most accomplished screamers that I love. His vocals
while definitively gravely and dirty are nearly totally
understandable! Unlike most guys I did not need to read the liner
notes for clarification on most of what he's yelling about. Justin
gets deep and angry but it never becomes painful to listen to nor does
he simply hide behind the music. Rick Flanegan the lead guitarist does
some great melodic work and his riffs are very catchy, even causing
some (gulp) air guitar on my part. He and Justin who is also the other
guitarist work very well together to produce a very clean sound hard
sound. The opening to track 4 "Is This Life" is a perfect example of
their work on the whole album. Bassist Brian Gawaski and drummer Senen
Solis are just as blessed with talent. Track 5 "The Sick" showcases
their tight rhythm work. Senen's drums rattle perfectly in conjunction
with the rest on the band. By utilizing great vocals, awesome bass
play, vibrant guitar work and satisfying drums Beyond The Flesh has
put together what I think is a great album. Beyond The Flesh has
totally won me over and I look forward to perceiving many great things
from them. - Rick Berg (strngbrg@...)

HANZEL UND GRETYL – SCHEISSMESSIAH (A+) Metropolis Records, 2004
11 tracks, RT: 40:00
[http://www.hanzelundgretyl.com/ ]
[http://www.metropolis-records.com/ ]
Hurray for "cyber industrial metal"! Whatever that means, I loved it a
lot. Hanzel und Gretyl kick ass! SCHEISSMESSIAH their newest effort is
awesome! Track one "Lust" starts off slowly with bells and a quiet
melody and some Dante's "Inferno" then BOOM! The second track "Fikk
Dich Mit Fire" explodes and I was bowing before this dynamic German
juggernaut. This techno/ industrial/ death/ cyber/ whatever the hell
this is metal album blew me away. If I smoked I would need to after
cranking this baby. Loopy "pressing buttons; metal riffs; detached
vocals" and Vas Kallas "Psycho diva; soprano; tenor; and baritone
screaming; ignorant guitars; pressing buttons Loopy forgot to press"
are the crazy musicians who created this decadent monstrosity. Their
newest baby SCHEISSMESSIAH is a powerhouse album that has everything
from awesome guitar riffs and hooks, to brilliant percussion, to
screeching melodies, to death metal vocals, to operatic vocals, to
spoken word, to samples from everything and all forms of synthesized
stuff coming out its ears. It combines all kinds of groovy good stuff
to blaze forth a fresh sound I uproariously welcome. Hanzel und
Gretyl's fourth album combines themes from Handel's "Messiah" (about
the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ) and Dante's "Inferno"
(about the descent into the nine rings of Hell) into a metal
masterpiece. I have no idea what it all means though, because half of
the album is in German but man do I like it. Yet even with the German
lyrics and a cover of "Hellalujah" (track 10) the entire album is
unbelievable Track after track you are pummeled with crushing sound
and blistering hellfire. Their gorgeous sound is very hard to distill
into simple words. It's easier to just say that Hanzel und Gretyl
bring to mind bands like Bile, Genitorturers, Powerman 5000, Ministry,
Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, MDFMK, Rammstein and the like. Just go out and
buy this album, and then buy their previous three efforts. Follow my
breadcrumbs for a great experience. - Rick Berg (strngbrg@...)

SHATTERPOINT - CONSEQUENCES (B) Indie, 2004
6 Tracks, RT: 31:58
[ http://www.shatterpoint.net ]
[ http://www.metalqueenmgmt.ca ]

Awwww-RIGHT, kiddies, this band is the real deal! Toronto's
Shatterpoint are four pissed-off dudes who obviously grew up during
the Golden Age Of Thrash and have learned their lessons well from the
masters. The result is this fine slab of aggressive metal that
surprised and impressed the heck outta me. You'll find no
flavor-of-the-month stylin's on CONSEQUENCES. Nope, there are no
synthesized invocations to Satan, no Gothic women reading poetry, no
corpse paint and bondage gear, just meat-and-potatoes, straight up
THHHRRRAAASSSHHH the way it used to be! On my first spin of
CONSEQUENCES I could immediately hear the tight-as-hell,
machine-precise riffing of their countrymen in Annihilator, the
squealing solos of Slayer and ARISE-era Sepultura, with crunchy bits
of early Metallica, Testament, and COWBOYS FROM HELL era Pantera, all
rolled up into one big, nasty metal ball with spikes all over it.
(Which they then hurl straight at your head, "Extreme
Dodgeball" style, of course!) Plain and simple, these guys kick huge
amounts of ass! Shane Drake's vocals have a nice, dry, Chuck Billy
(Testament) quality to them most of the time, occasionally bringing in
a bit of Hetfield style croon. I could do without the bits where he
dips into a death metal growl, but thankfully those are used sparingly
and only for effect. (Sorry Shane, but grunt vocals were never my
thang.) I especially liked the title track and the epic "When I Die,"
which starts out mellow and moody and eventually builds to an
explosive all-out thrash finale, but the entire disc turned out to be
a well spent half hour. In addition to the quality of the tunes, I was
also very impressed with the cool artwork and professional packaging
of this self-released album. I've seen discs from legitimate labels
that looked far cheaper than this baby. Obviously CONSEQUENCES is
Shatterpoint's statement of intent to the metal world at large, and it
definitely screams "WE'RE HEEEERE!" Shatterpoint certainly seem to
have everything in the right place, and on the strength of this disc I
hope to hear that a decent label has picked them up in the near
future. Nice job, fellas. - Keith Abt (Keithabt@...)

STAN BUSH - LIVE AT THE GODS 2003 (DVD) (B/B-) Parker Productions, 2004
RT: 71:39
[ http://www.larecords.com/ ]
TALON - LIVE AT THE GODS 2003 (DVD) (B/B-) Parker Productions, 2004
RT: 70:03
[ http://www.talonrocks.com/ ]
Boy is it tough to rate releases like these... On the one hand, it's
awesome to get live documents of bands that don't play out very often,
but on the other hand independent releases such as these just don't
have the budgets -- and therefore, the bells and whistles -- to allow
them to compete with some label-backed DVDs. This sounds like I'm
ripping on these discs but I'm not; hopefully this will be clear soon.
These shows were filmed at The Gods festival held at Pennington's in
Bradford, UK, back in '03. Stan Bush was one of the headliners on the
first night, and Talon was one of the earlier bands on the second
night. Talon served as Bush's backing band for his set, hence the
intertwined DVD releases. Bush played a "greatest hits" set comprised
heavily of material from STAN BUSH & BARRAGE ('87) and HEAVEN ('98),
plus a few from LANGUAGE OF THE HEART ('01) and his 1983 s/t debut:
"What I've Got Is Real," "Hard To Find An Easy Way," "Joanna," "Love
Don't Lie," "Heaven," "Language Of The Heart," "Gates Of Paradise,"
"Love Don't Come Easy," "The Touch," "Primitive Lover," "All American
Boy." Aside from "The Touch" (which originally appeared on the
"Transformers" movie soundtrack), "All American Boy" (a song written
by Van Stephenson (Blackhawk) and also covered by Y&T on 1985's DOWN
FOR THE COUNT), and "Love Don't Lie" (which was covered by House Of
Lords), I really wasn't familiar with guitarist/vocalist Stan Bush,
but I was happily surprised by the hard-rocking AOR nature of his
songs played here. And it's just downright amazing how tight the band
-- Talon's Jim Kee (lead guitar) and John Parker (drums) stayed on
their main instruments, while Michael O'Mara (lead vocals) and Kory
Voxen (rhythm guitar) switched over to keyboards and bass,
respectively, and O'Mara's wife Kerstin supplied backing vocals --
was, considering they learned his songs without him and then only
practiced four times as a unit in Los Angeles before flying over to
England for the show! Talon's set list featured five songs from its
s/t debut ('02) and four songs from its forthcoming sophomore effort:
"Fire In Your Soul," "Mother Mary, May I," "Paradise," "Still You
Run," "Euphoria," "Hole In My Head," "Wrecking Ball," "Talon In My
Heart," "Evil." The band -- tweaked lineup listed above, but with Phil
Keller on bass -- shook off the effects of jet lag (and the previous
night's shenanigans, no doubt!) and delivered a top-notch performance
of their quality material. Think Dokken, Van Halen, Y&T, etc., with
blazing guitar work from Mr. Kee. Now back to what I was getting at
earlier... Each disc has bonus features, including backstage and
behind-the-scenes footage (the coolest moments are Bush leading a
pre-show backstage acoustic sing-along, and the Talon boys doing shots
and karaoke-ing to "Y.M.C.A." in a British pub), picture galleries,
and the House Of Lords video for "Love Don't Lie" on the Bush disc.
The audio is billed as a "Remastered Stereo Board mix," meaning a
"blended Outboard mic and Soundboard mix," and it does sound great.
But, 99% of the live footage here was filmed by a single, hand-held
camera. Yes, there are a couple cutaway shots to a different camera
positioned on the floor, but basically this is a camcorder job, so
despite the crisp picture quality it can't help but look like a
bootleg. Compare this to multi-camera extravaganza DVDs released by
other bands and you see my dilemma... Do I grade these by comparing
them to live DVDs from other bands, or do I grade them on their own
merits? (I've done a little video production in the past so I can
appreciate how much work Mr. Parker did making these puppies!) The
answer? A little of both. No, these won't be the best or most pristine
DVDs in your collection, but you have to respect everyone involved for
putting these together. I'm sure Stan Bush fans will love his special
and unique show, and people who dig Talon -- as well as those simply
looking for a cool new rock band to follow – will certainly get into
their performance. Both discs are NTSC and region-free, and can be
ordered at Talon's Web site either individually for $15 or as a set
for $25. (Prices are in US dollars and include shipping in the US;
international orders must add $5 per shipment.) - Tim Wadzinski
(tsw512@...)

BLIND DATE (B-) Perris Records, 2004
10 tracks, RT: 40:43
[ bustergrant@... ]
[ http://www.perrisrecords.com/ ]
The press kit for this release cracked me up with the line "In 1988
and 1989 [Blind Date] were voted best metal/progressive band in San
Antonio." I'm not saying the songs on this disc are bad, but by no
means are they at all "progressive." What we have here are 10 songs
very much in the mold of the commercial, hooky, glammy, radio-friendly
melodic hard rock of the late '80s and early '90s. The press kit
mentions Danger Danger and Warrant as comparisons, and while those are
certainly valid I'd also throw in Poison, and a heaping helping of
FireHouse. Vocalist Buster Grant sounds quite a bit like C.J. Snare at
times, although on "Dreaming" he employs a smokier, more Paul
Stanley-ish voice. Plus, there are some quality guitar licks a la Bill
Leverty, and heck, the awesome closer "When I'm Alone" sounds eerily
just like a heavy FireHouse tune (think "Hold Your Fire," "Overnight
Sensation," or "Call Of The Night"). Three of the songs here -- "She's
Walking," "We Keep Falling In Love," "When I'm Alone" -- are taken
from the band's original demo from the '80s, and the other seven are
newly re-recorded versions of songs the band had lying around on
eight-track tape until last year. Refreshingly, these "newer" songs
aren't given a "'90s" or "modern" update. There's a ballad ("She's
Walking"), some tasteful keyboards, and good use of background and
harmony vocals. Fans of the genre should like this album quite a bit.
Highlights: "Without Your Love," "Don't Wait Up," and the
aforementioned "When I'm Alone." - Tim Wadzinski (tsw512@...)

AUDIOVISION - THE CALLING (A) Rivel Records, 2005
10 tracks, RT: 43:26
[ http://www.rivelrecords.com/audiovision/ ]
[ info@... ]
Here go with another of those infamous "solo album with a million
guest starts"-type of releases...and boy is it cool! Seems like the
guys in Narnia are big fans of side projects, and vocalist Christian
Rivel is certainly no exception as he fronts this outfit, Divinefire,
Flagship, and possibly another one called Windy City. (And he runs the
label, too!) I must confess to a little confusion regarding how
Audiovision is presented, though. I've seen it called "Christian
Rivel's Audiovision," which implies it's his solo project, but the
actual album is credited to just "Audiovision." Further, the booklet
indicates the group is comprised of Rivel and four musicians:
guitarist Lars Chriss (Lion's Share), bassist Mikael Hoglund
(Punchline, Thunder, Great King Rat), keyboardist Andreas Lindahl
(Platitude), and drummer Thomas Broman (Hughes & Turner, Glenn Hughes
Band, Electric Boys). But then there are those million guest stars,
which again makes it look like a solo project... :) Anyway, THE
CALLING is chock full of rousing, punchy melodic metal with memorable
hooks, solid playing, big production (courtesy of Chriss), and
uplifting lyrics drawn from Rivel's spiritual beliefs. This is *such*
a cliche but there really isn't a single weak moment on the entire
album. Seriously! The opening 1-2-3-4 punch of the title track (with
additional vocals from all-star Mats Leven), "The King Is Alive" (with
a solo from Rivel's Narnia mate Carl Johan Grimmark), "Evil Or Divine"
(no true solo, but with a riff that beautifully nicks Ozzy Osbourne's
"Desire") and "The Rock Of My Soul" (where Mr. Chriss lets loose) is a
fantastic mixture of hard-driving fun and ballsy, mid-tempo heft.
Track #5, "Read Between The Lines," is sort of a power ballad with a
nifty solo from Freak Kitchen's Mattias "IA" Eklundh, and then "Face
To Face" (featuring two ripping solos from Kiss/Grand Funk Railroad's
Bruce Kulick) and "Show Me The Way" (Eklundh again) return to fine
head-banging form. Track #8 is a fun cover of the goofy Sweet song
"Love Is Like Oxygen," which originally appeared on Rivel Records'
2004 tribute album THE SWEET ACCORDING TO SWEDEN; it boasts a duet
between Rivel and Talisman/Soul SirkUS throat Jeff Scott Soto, and
guitar and keyboard salvos from Locomotive Breath's Janne Stark and
Europe's Mic Michaeli, respectively. (Honestly, I do not care for the
Sweet song but dang does this version stick in my head for days!)
"Hold Me," co-written by Tommy Denander (Radioactive), sounds like
heavy metal Queen and is the disc's last full-on rocker. The album
winds down with the beautiful instrumental -- on a singer's solo
album! -- "Colors," featuring ultra-tasteful guitar work from Chriss,
big fat fretless bass from Tony Franklin (Blue Murder, The Firm), and
swaths of keyboards from Lindahl, Linus Kåse (Narnia), and Sampo
Axelsson (Lion's Share, Glenn Hughes). Close your eyes and you can
almost see closing credits rolling up over the music... Other guests
on THE CALLING are vocalists Thomas Vikstrom (Stormwind, Brazen Abbot,
Candlemass, Talisman), Hubertus Liljegren (Crimson Moonlight), and
Eric Clayton (Saviour Machine), and keyboardists Michael Andersson
(Cloudscape) and Jorgen Schelander (Mercury Fang). This thing rules,
flat-out, and I'm certainly hoping it's not just simply a one-off
project! - Tim Wadzinski (tsw512@...)

ELIS - DARK CLOUDS IN A PERFECT SKY (B+/B) Napalm Records, 2004
11 tracks, RT: 47:29
[ http://www.elis.li/ ]
[ http://www.napalmrecords.com/ ]
I know female-fronted heavy bands were all the rage last year but I
really didn't get too caught up in the madness. So, although I'm not
really intimately familiar with the likes of Lacuna Coil, Nightwish,
Evanescence, etc., I'd still wager Elis will appeal to fans of these
bands, and not simply because it's a copycat situation. The band, from
Liechtenstein, now has two releases out as Elis and another (with a
different, previous lineup) as Erben Der Schöpfung, so they have some
history. Front woman Sabine Dünser is the focal point of Elis' brand
of "gothic metal," and while her vocals can get a wee bit too sickly
sweet (as on the piano-based ballad "Perfect Love"), they are mostly
very appealing, versatile, and expressive. The slick production of
Alexander Krull (Atrocity, Leaves' Eyes) does a great job of doubling,
harmonizing, and expanding Dünser's voice all over the album, and the
occasional supporting gruff (but not quite death metal, thankfully!)
vocals from bassist Tom Saxer add welcome color. Three tracks -- "Der
Letzte Tag," "Die Zeit," "Ballade" -- are sung in German, while the
others are in English. The German tracks shouldn't be overlooked
though, as the melodies are quite strong. In fact, the vocal groove
and hook in "Die Zeit" are undeniable and just might be the strongest
on the whole disc. Overall the songs are a seamless blend of heavy
guitar riffing, piano strains, dreamy atmospherics, keyboard tricks,
and the occasional drum loop and fiery guitar solo. There's even some
Dream Theater-flavored progressiveness and brilliant harmony guitar
work by Pete Streit and Juergen "Big J" Broger in "Lost Soul," one of
the standout tracks. It's a nice mix that certainly makes for an
interesting listen. Sweet cover art, too. - Tim Wadzinski
(tsw512@...)

WINTERLONG - S/T (B+) Lion, 2005
11 Tracks, RT: 44:22
http://www.faithbringer.com/Winterlong/index.html
http://www.thorbjornenglund.com
http://www.lionmusic.com

When I first put this in I was all ready to proclaim, "rehash" but
subsequent listens have me convinced there are some very original and
interesting things going on here. WINTERLONG is the third album from
guitar wunderkind Thorbjorn Englund and while there are some definite
stereotypical powermetal elements to be found here (song titles like
"Each Day We Die," "Bloodshred," and "We'll Ride From The Dead" kinda
give it away, along with the double-bass attack of drum legend Anders
Johansson), there are some classy melodic metal numbers to be found
here, Englund's Yngwie-drenched fretwork spicing up well constructed
pieces such as "Ten Digits Of The Future" and "Ragnarok." Vocalist
Mikael Holm reminds me of classic NWOBHM singers like Steve Grimmett
from Grim Reaper, especially on "Judgment Day," while Mistheria
handles keyboards tastefully. Unfortunately the disc I was sent was
defective and I was unable to hear the last two tracks, but I'm
assuming they are of similar quality to the rest of the album. The
production on here is pretty good for such a release but a little raw
in places, and you do have those nagging Yngwie comparisons but with
time I think these guys could be true contenders in the power metal
sweepstakes. Recommended for fans wanting a blend of traditional
metal with neo-classical and modern powermetal elements. Neal Woodall
(MysticX10@...)

*
*** OUT ***
*