Ancient VVisdom – A Godlike Inferno

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Texan quartet Ancient VVisdom, despite spelling their name strangely and using equally silly stage names, are just about one of the freshest sounds linked to the metal world to come out of America in the last few years, even if they aren’t strictly speaking a metal band. Their core sound, primarily driven by acoustic guitars, blends neo-folk with only-mildly-distorted electric guitars (think 1,000,000 Miles Away from Zakk Wylde‘s Book of Shadows) and drums when harder rhythms are needed and dark lyrics which have immediately drawn them to the attention of the doom rock/metal faithful. Every track is probably catchier than music which appeals to doom fans would probably tend to be, but the mood is certainly one of melancholy and even doom metal fans like a sombre sing-along from time to time. The more repetitive choruses are likely to stick in the head most readily (World of Flesh, Devil Brain, and Alter Reality), but more thoughtful songs like The Opposition and Necessary Evil demonstrate just as much staying power. At just over half an hour the record is perhaps a little short and certainly feels like it’s over too soon, but that’s just another mark of the quality of the music. They really do need more material though. It would perhaps be prudent to follow this release up quite quickly to build on the momentum support tours with Mastodon and Ghost have afforded them, but until then this short record is nearly perfect, and amongst one of the most exciting releases on 2011.

Written by Andy Lye
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Andre Matos – Mentalize

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While this may only be Andre Matos’ second solo release, he is of course a well known veteran of the metal scene, getting his start at the age of thirteen in Viper, then obtaining worldwide success in Angra and Shaman, as well as his countless guest appearances, side projects and collaborations with many artists across the globe. There is no doubt that Matos’ is a force to be reckoned with in music today as not only a phenomenal vocalist and front-man, but also a classically trained composer and pianist. For fans of Matos, Mentalize will not disappoint, and for those unfamiliar with his past work, it will serve as a great introduction to what Andre Matos is all about. There is a lot of variety here from both ends of the spectrum including blazing power metal tracks one would expect, such as Shift The Night Away, Leading On and Powerstream to heartfelt ballads, A Lapse In Time, and Back To You. Reminiscent of Matos’ later work with Angra are the tracks Violence and The Myriad, both of which easily could have been prominent songs on Angra’s Fireworks. Without a doubt the catchiest song on the album is the upbeat I Will Return, while the title track, Mentalize, is much heavier and a bit dark, with a distinct classic Savatage sound. Possibly the only downside here are the vocal effects on the verses of Someone Else as they seem out of place making an otherwise melodic and memorable song fall a bit flat. Oddly, the main riff in Mirror of Me is nearly identical to Black Sabbath‘s The Mob Rules, yet somehow still maintains its individuality and the end result is classic Andre Matos. When The Sun Cried Out is quite epic and will no doubt be a stand out track for many. There is surely something here for everyone. Mentalize is a solid album containing all Matos’ signature elements spanning his career to date, yet still manages to sound fresh.

Written by Heather Lee
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Angels of Babylon – Kingdom of Evil

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This new project achieved immediate notoriety due to the presence of David Ellefson on bass, but Angels of Babylon are genuinely strong in every area, and their debut album contains all of the elements of classic heavy metal. David Fefolt’s Jorn Lande-esque vocals are a real highlight and his performance is flawless throughout the disc, while former Manowar bassist “Rhino” and Ellefson form one of the most muscular rhythm sections that will probably be heard all year. The final piece is guitarist Ethan Brosh who spends most of the disc playing solid metal riffs, with occasional groove (stand-out track Tarot) with elements of the traditional and power genres, and when he delivers a solo they are either emotive and thoughtful (Apocalypse 2012 intro) or blistering (Oh How The Mighty Have Fallen). The main aim of the album is melodic metal without sacrificing heaviness, and that is achieved, but in addition there are more expansive moments like dark, brooding closer Second Coming, the Spanish guitar intro to the title track and piano/orchestral instrumental The Remnant. Although touring seems, at the moment, unlikely, Kingdom of Evil is a surefire traditional metal classic.

Written by Andy Lye
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Angelus Apatrida – Clockwork

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Young Spanish outfit Angelus Apatrida earned their label debut with two well-received sell-financed releases in 2006 and 2007 before signing to Century Media, which will see their music released outside of Spain for the first time. Intelligent, technical thrash, Clockwork mixes healthy amounts of prime Slayer, Anthrax and Destruction with a little Overkill groove into a sound that bridges the European/American thrash styles. Every track here is as fast, aggressive and sharp as anyone could want from a thrash album, while being far from one-dimensional. All of the playing is first class, packed with wailing solos, and Guilermo Izquierdo’s vocals are a mix of Steve Souza and Matt Drake, meaning they’re angry, nasty, but perfectly understandable and not at all the blatant Paul Baloff copycat attempt a lot of new thrash bands aim for. Each track goes through as many different riffs as the more single-minded thrash bands do in a whole album, and the band have the same vocal hook sensibilities as Overkill and Annihilator, meaning there’s something to sing along to as well. The special edition version of the album adds a suitable thrashy cover of Iron Maiden‘s Be Quick Or Be Dead which rounds out an album that, against incredibly stiff competition in a year that has seen a lot of excellent thrash releases, could very well turn out to be the best come Christmas.

Written by Andy Lye
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Annihilator – Live At Masters of Rock

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Finally arriving some time after the North American and mainland European release Live At Masters of Rock is Annihilator’s first ever full concert DVD, and a far better prospect than the Ten Years In Hell collection of clips, which represent their only other venture onto DVD and was rather disappointing in all areas. Filmed at the Masters of Rock festival in the Czech Republic in 2008 this is their complete 80-minute set on a brilliantly no-nonsense DVD which isn’t over-burdened with superfluous extras; just the show. As with most things band leader Jeff Waters produces the sound quality here is superb (and similarly razor-sharp to production legend Andy Sneap), and the camera work and video quality courtesy of local companies T.N.T. Media and Wide TV, and directed by The Campbell Brothers, are both excellent. The 2008 setlist was very similar to the 2007 one, if in a slightly different order, but with the welcome addition of Shallow Grave, of which the version here is one of the best. This is the perfect live product, combining first-class audio and video quality with excellent camera-work and editing, a great performance by the band (particularly Dave Padden, who was the best thing to happen to Annihilator for years when he joined in 2003) and a complete disregard for wasting everyone’s time with extras. It’s the first live document of the band since 2003′s Double Live Annihilation album, and the first with Padden on guitar and vocals (that album was recorded in 2002 when Joe Comeau fronted the band), and a must for any Annihilator fan, or indeed thrash fan.

Written by Andy Lye
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Anterior – Echoes of The Fallen

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Anterior are one of those bands who you can quite easily blink and miss. Some of the reason for this, bluntly speaking, is that Anterior’s style of music doesn’t allow for them to stand out amongst the crowd. They are yet another band playing a style stuck on the borders of melodeath, metalcore and modern US metal, leaning closer to the American sounds than they do the European – despite being Welsh. Still, what is noticeable about Anterior is their generally decent songwriting skills, as well as their stunning dual-lead guitar techniques that make the likes of Children of Bodom look mundane. Echoes of The Fallen doesn’t really add anything to the mix that debut This Age of Silence didn’t already have, albeit perhaps being marginally more consistent. It is indeed more of the same – plenty of great riffing, a high quality production and everything that is required to make a serviceable metal record. The lead guitar parts are at times staggering (the harmonizing dual-solo on Of Gods And Men is utterly breath-taking), which is really Anterior’s biggest selling point. Everything else is ticking the modern metalcore checklist, chugging guitars, a few breakdowns, positive and uplifting melodies, etc. It’s all in working order, there’s nothing new being added, but you know what you’re going to get. It would be nice if Anterior would do something that elevated them a bit further – they clearly have the technical capacity to do something amazing, they just need to the artistic creativity to really break out.

Written by James Donovan
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