Patrick Meuris.

Thanatos from Holland can be considered as one of the first wave of European Thrash bands as their history goes back as far as the mid eighties... GLOBAL  PURIFICATION  is the 6 th full length release since.

The 4^th full length from these Swiss prog/power , for a band that’s been around  for 15 years that’s not  a lot and for me it’s the first  introduction to the band.  There was a time in the mid eighties and early nineties that this sort  melodic  prog/power metal was  the playground of  a limited number of bands from the USA .  Indeed  like FATES WARNING, LETHAL ,CRIMSON GLORY  early DREAM THEATER have set a standard back then which in my opinion is still not matched by  any of  prog power  metal albums released the last 10  years or so….

A SLUDGE/DOOM  EP from BRAZIL is what I have on my platter, as  SLUDGE  it hard to chew and  even harder to swallow…  The  3 Tracks on ARCHAIC – good for  about 23 minutes of  heaviness are  a fine introduction to  the band  especially  CURRENTS OF IO   the longest and last  track  got my attention with his spoken intro ( seems like an introduction to a documentary of our solar system)  and continues monotone riffing which takes the listener on a  10 minute trip into deep space.

Uk groove rockers GRIFTER’s first album never reached this man’s ears thus “RETURN OF THE BEARDED BRETHREN”  is  for me  the introduction to the band.   Album opener “Black Gold”  is a clear statement for things to come. Hard rocking  southern grooving  boogie rock  from the school of the mighty CLUTCH or closer to home ORANGE GOBLIN  all be it that singer / guitarist Ollie STYGAL’s voice bares more resemblance  to – again CLUTCH ‘s Neil Fallon than to the infamous BEN WARD.

In spring 2015 we can expect a new full length from these southern / sleazy rockers,  until than we will need stay happy with this 5 track EP… and boy happy we are! Electric Mary are  yet again one of those  bands who raise the flag for uncomplicated hard rockin’  mania, as also brought to us by the likes of BLACKSTONE CHERRY, BLACKBERRY SMOKE , SCORPION CHILD …..  From Opening track SWEET MARY  to closer SO CRUEL, these guy’s  are  on fire, ALREADY GONE would be a DEEP PURPLE  classic on any record  they did since PERFECT STRANGERS.

The bandname, the artwork, the length of the 5 songs (shortest = + 8 minutes longest plus 12 minutes),  it all breaths  POSTROCK/DOOM and thus that’s what Mountains Among Us have on offer.  “Commision The Twelve” can be described as the  perfect – instrumental - soundtrack to the current weather,  cloudy, melting snow, wind gushes and  more grey then green. Mountains Among Us will prove to be hard to digest for the wider audience, but I am sure these guys earn their place in the ever growing postrock scene…

My first introduction to Brazilian thrashers Korzus  was their 1986 album “ao vivo”,  this was the result of extensive tape & vinyl trading. Back then Korzus where next to SEPULTURA the only Brazilian band I was really aware off. Now 2014, and !9!

Finally a power metal album which is worthy of the term Power metal, US power metal from Detroit that is.  So that means high pitched yet powerful vocals, (no DRAGONFORCE / BLIND GUARDIAN/ HELLOWEEN crap) ferocious guitar riffs and leads assisted  by  a tight rhythm section.

German power metal… even after 35 year or so it stays a story of some hits but mainly loads of misses.  So is FORENSICK a hit or a miss…?  Well let’s call it a bit of both..   On a positive note the band is not overdoing it with choirs, happy singalong choruses and pompous sounding  keyboards..

Already 4th album of the Norwegian rockers, for those who already  know the band you know what to expect, for the rest of you….