New Music to Check Out (2)!

Yngwie Malmsteen will release his new studio album titled "Parabellum" on July 23 via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group. The disc's second single, "Relentless Fury", can be streamed below.

Cite: www.blabbermouth.net/news/yngwie-malmste...ong-relentless-fury/

Bring Heavy Rock To The Land" was first released in 2012, and is the title track of the album. The 7 minute long epic and majestic heavy rock song is often included in the live set, and is considered a classic from the JORN catalogue.

Album has been out for awhile now, but cool to see a new vid!

AC/DC's official music video for the song "Witch's Spell" can be seen below. The clip was directed, edited and animated by Wolf & Crow, with live action band footage production by Collider.
"Witch's Spell" is taken from AC/DC's latest album "Power Up", which was released in November. The LP features AC/DC's current lineup of Brian Johnson (vocals), Phil Rudd (drums), Cliff Williams (bass), Angus Young (guitar) and Stevie Young (guitar).

Cite: www.blabbermouth.net/news/watch-ac-dcs-m...eo-for-witchs-spell/

Seems all of the killer power and epic bands are coming out of Japan and Italy. The talent level is insane (see Frozen Crown and Lovebites! to start!). This band, called Fate Gear, has been around since 2011 and have a catalog already, but thought I would share this one to check out because it kicks major ass! Steampunk theme metal at it's finest

Another from Fate Gear...the ladies got some fuckin skill

New Helloween release out today!!! About to give a listen on Qobuz.

tcmann wrote: New Helloween release out today!!! About to give a listen on Qobuz.

I pre-ordered the cd (I still like hard copies of purchased music) off Amazon (14.99 and free ship). Should be in the box pretty soon!

tcmann, if you give it a good spin, give us an album review with your thoughts

edit

Enjoying the new self titled Helloween album. I always have loved Michael Kiske's voice, so great to hear him along with Andi and Kai. Some of the vocal melodies remind me of John Arch on the Arch/Matheos works, most notable on the track Angels.

Brief review, the album kicks off with Out for Glory, the intro riff reminds me of the intro to Slayer's South of Heaven, before launching into the classic Helloween power metal sound.

I love the long version of Skyfall even more than the single version. I'm a sucker for long epic tunes though. The intro to Skyfall is a tune called Orbit, an instrumental very much in the vain of the Dio/Gillan versions of Black Sabbath, think E5150/Stonehenge/The Dark.

This is a solid release, that blends the various eras and sounds of the band nicely. There are really strong moments in almost every song. My biggest critique is that there are not a lot of excellent tunes start to finish. No stinkers, but not sure there are any future classics beyond Fear of the Fallen and Skyfall.

In end end, tunes like Skyfall rekindle the zeitgeist of mid 80s metal for me. I love that Helloween still exists and creteas new music that makes me want to bang my head!

Ironskulls, looking forward to your take!

tcmann wrote: Enjoying the new self titled Helloween album....
In end end, tunes like Skyfall rekindle the zeitgeist of mid 80s metal for me. I love that Helloween still exists and creteas new music that makes me want to bang my head!

Ironskulls, looking forward to your take!

tc, thanks for the through review! I have been a fan of the band since I grabbed Jericho from my brothers record pile back '86 and then the first Keepers dropped and holy shit!

Have to admit the last batch of albums has been a bit come and go for me. Gambling with the Devil is one of my top 3 Hell Boyz albums (saw that tour with Gamma Ray downtown Baltimore!!), but 7 Sinners was a huge disappointment. Straight out of Hell was really good although gave it a spin again last week and there was 2 or 3 tunes that could have been dropped and it would have been more solid overall. Then My God-Given Right...man, I think I really like maybe 3 tunes on the whole album. This is all of course, my sole opinion.
So my expectations for this release are super high, especially since Michael and Kai are onbaord. this should have been the best album since Keepers I. My copy got back ordered for a bit and am trying real hard to hold off listening online so I can give the cd a good spin in the car on the way home from work to give it a strong, uninterrupted listen. My expectations are still super high, but we will see.
There are some other newer epic/power bands that are dropping absolute masterpieces (Lovebites, Frozen Crown, Epica, Heart Healer, etc) so the competition is out there too, Hell does not have a monopoly anymore.
I will post a review follow up once I have a listen and thanks tc for all the info!

Ironskulls wrote:

tcmann wrote: Enjoying the new self titled Helloween album....
In end end, tunes like Skyfall rekindle the zeitgeist of mid 80s metal for me. I love that Helloween still exists and creteas new music that makes me want to bang my head!

Ironskulls, looking forward to your take!

Finally got a good, uninterrupted spin of the new Hell Boyz release this week. Here is my take:

First off, the packaging is awesome, I got the standard cd case package and the liner notes booklet is glossy thick paper and is loaded with pics, lyrics and such. I like to read all of this but have not yet, but overall, the presentation, from the cover artwork, to the liner book is super nice!
I have had only one full listen; I usually revisit new albums a week later and then again to get a good feel, but here is my fist impression, Let's review the tracks:

01 – Out For The Glory
Nice launch right into typical Hell Power metal. Cool tune!
02 – Fear Of The Fallen
Liked this tune as soon as I heard it a few weeks ago with the vid. Classic!
03 – Best Time
Remember Happy metal phrase that was going around about some power metal bands? Hell has more than one tune like this in their catalog and this one is right there among those. Fun tune, sing along type. Looks like this will be the next "single" from the release.
04 – Mass Pollution
Heavier tune, crunch, crunch, and could not really put together what the song was about (was either an environmental song or a song about heavy metal, not sure).
05 – Angels
Old school epic style, decent tune, a bit over the top on lyrics.
06 – Rise Without Chains
No idea what this is about either (thinking is about overcoming oppression) but sound weird, I did not really like this one at all, the vocal blending with the guitars on the course sounded muffled and odd.
07 – Indestructible
Like the music and song theme (overcoming life obstacles), but again, the title word just does not work as a singable word, sounds forced and odd to me.
08 – Robot King
Another one where the music kicks major ass, but the lyrics seems forced. Cool story line, but just seems...silly.
09 – Cyanide
Almost forgettable, don't really recall this one in my brain today, so not impressionable.
10 – Down In The Dumps
Fast, classic power metal tune, in your face kick ass. Again, lyrics lack a bit.
11 – Orbit
Cool instrumental lead into Skyfall. In my opinion, it would have been awesome to have this as the opener tune to call back the old Hell days of having a killer instrumental to lead off the album.
12 – Skyfall
Have to admit, I enjoyed this tune way more when not distracted by the story-line video. Just the music and the guys swapping vocals. My appreciation for this tune increased dramatically when just jamming it in the car alone. I think I agree with tcmann now on this; this is the highlight of the album for sure and would have been awesome as tune #2 right after Orbit.

Overall:
Being a huge fan and I think all of us do this with our fave bands, we want every album to be a kick your ass, holy shit 10. High expectations for anyone to do that, but having Kiske and Kai onboard set the bar WAY high. IMO, they did not get there. On first listen I give this a 7 / 10. Kiske sounded amazing, even Andi reached new levels on vocal range, but there was not nearly enough Kai vocals and some of the songs were, well, forgettable or "forced". So as s whole album, they have done much better (I still gravitate to Keepers I, Gambling with the Devil and Jericho as most listened too).
It does not help that other "competing" bands like new on the scene Frozen Crown, the incredible Lovebites, Tate's Sweet Oblivion, Epica and Heart Healer, just to name a few, put out absolute masterpieces the past year; makes the bar even higher. So I try and not compare, and tough not too when reviewing, but even looking at the Helloween catalog as a whole without reaching to other bands, it's still not the highest standard that was expected from this reunited lineup that has been together now for almost 4 years.

Great review Ironskulls. I've been listening to the download everyday for about a week now and would agree with your assessment on the stretch of songs from Rise Without Chains through Cyanide, although I really think Robot King is cool despite the silly lyrics.

Ironskulls wrote:

Ironskulls wrote:

tcmann wrote: Enjoying the new self titled Helloween album....
In end end, tunes like Skyfall rekindle the zeitgeist of mid 80s metal for me. I love that Helloween still exists and creteas new music that makes me want to bang my head!

Ironskulls, looking forward to your take!

Finally got a good, uninterrupted spin of the new Hell Boyz release this week. Here is my take:

First off, the packaging is awesome, I got the standard cd case package and the liner notes booklet is glossy thick paper and is loaded with pics, lyrics and such. I like to read all of this but have not yet, but overall, the presentation, from the cover artwork, to the liner book is super nice!
I have had only one full listen; I usually revisit new albums a week later and then again to get a good feel, but here is my fist impression, Let's review the tracks:

01 – Out For The Glory
Nice launch right into typical Hell Power metal. Cool tune!
02 – Fear Of The Fallen
Liked this tune as soon as I heard it a few weeks ago with the vid. Classic!
03 – Best Time
Remember Happy metal phrase that was going around about some power metal bands? Hell has more than one tune like this in their catalog and this one is right there among those. Fun tune, sing along type. Looks like this will be the next "single" from the release.
04 – Mass Pollution
Heavier tune, crunch, crunch, and could not really put together what the song was about (was either an environmental song or a song about heavy metal, not sure).
05 – Angels
Old school epic style, decent tune, a bit over the top on lyrics.
06 – Rise Without Chains
No idea what this is about either (thinking is about overcoming oppression) but sound weird, I did not really like this one at all, the vocal blending with the guitars on the course sounded muffled and odd.
07 – Indestructible
Like the music and song theme (overcoming life obstacles), but again, the title word just does not work as a singable word, sounds forced and odd to me.
08 – Robot King
Another one where the music kicks major ass, but the lyrics seems forced. Cool story line, but just seems...silly.
09 – Cyanide
Almost forgettable, don't really recall this one in my brain today, so not impressionable.
10 – Down In The Dumps
Fast, classic power metal tune, in your face kick ass. Again, lyrics lack a bit.
11 – Orbit
Cool instrumental lead into Skyfall. In my opinion, it would have been awesome to have this as the opener tune to call back the old Hell days of having a killer instrumental to lead off the album.
12 – Skyfall
Have to admit, I enjoyed this tune way more when not distracted by the story-line video. Just the music and the guys swapping vocals. My appreciation for this tune increased dramatically when just jamming it in the car alone. I think I agree with tcmann now on this; this is the highlight of the album for sure and would have been awesome as tune #2 right after Orbit.

Overall:
Being a huge fan and I think all of us do this with our fave bands, we want every album to be a kick your ass, holy shit 10. High expectations for anyone to do that, but having Kiske and Kai onboard set the bar WAY high. IMO, they did not get there. On first listen I give this a 7 / 10. Kiske sounded amazing, even Andi reached new levels on vocal range, but there was not nearly enough Kai vocals and some of the songs were, well, forgettable or "forced". So as s whole album, they have done much better (I still gravitate to Keepers I, Gambling with the Devil and Jericho as most listened too).
It does not help that other "competing" bands like new on the scene Frozen Crown, the incredible Lovebites, Tate's Sweet Oblivion, Epica and Heart Healer, just to name a few, put out absolute masterpieces the past year; makes the bar even higher. So I try and not compare, and tough not too when reviewing, but even looking at the Helloween catalog as a whole without reaching to other bands, it's still not the highest standard that was expected from this reunited lineup that has been together now for almost 4 years.

Side note, I'm having a hard time getting into Epica-Omega. I thought Quantum Enigma was amazing and that Holographic Principle was great, but Omega is not as strong to me. It feels to me there's more prominent guttural vocals on Omega, and that gets in the way for me.

tcmann wrote: Great review Ironskulls. I've been listening to the download everyday for about a week now and would agree with your assessment on the stretch of songs from Rise Without Chains through Cyanide, although I really think Robot King is cool despite the silly lyrics.

These folks were a bit more positive on the reviews

www.metal-rules.com/2021/07/01/helloween...loween-staff-review/

I keep thinking about this in terms of Bruce's and Adrian's return to Iron Maiden(my favorite band). I loved Brave New World when it was released, and it is one of their better releases start to finish to me still today.

I wonder if there had been Maiden United tours and a live release prior to Brave New World if it would have had the same impact on me, especially given that all the studio albums since then have been a mixed bag for me.

tcmann wrote: I keep thinking about this in terms of Bruce's and Adrian's return to Iron Maiden(my favorite band). I loved Brave New World when it was released, and it is one of their better releases start to finish to me still today.

I wonder if there had been Maiden United tours and a live release prior to Brave New World if it would have had the same impact on me, especially given that all the studio albums since then have been a mixed bag for me.

You make excellent points tc! Agree on both, Helloween and Maiden have both been a mixed bag of; really liking albums, to I rarely pull it out of the cd case. Still two of my all time fave bands, but yea, it's interesting how things play out with members or circumstances that may affect the musical flow or direction.

Have not followed these guys much for years and what I have heard on and off has been pretty uninspiring.
This is in classic style and kicks ass! Need to check out more of this release!

N

ight Ranger "Breakout" - Official Music Video From the album ATBPO

Cite: www.youtube.com/channel/UCBLAoqCQyz6a0OvwXWzKZag

Is Iron Maiden Preparing to release new music? Is the Writing on the Wall?

Writing on the Wall