Veronica “The V” Freeman will be familar to some as the vocalist with power metallers Benedictum, a US/Euro outfit who often favour bombast over decent songs. Her first solo release, 2015’s ‘Now Or Never’ (released via Frontiers Records, home of the previous two Benedictum discs) retains a fair amount of heaviness, but brings in a much welcome melodic element. The dozen featured numbers hark back to the days of classic eighties sounding metal, with tunes regularly casting Freeman in a Doro Pesche-esque mould.
Tag Archives: metal
Mastodon: Summer tour schedule
Mastodon are playing a huge run of dates from next month through the summer and into September, including appearances at the UK Reading and Leeds Festivals. All confirmed dates are listed below.
ALTER EDEN – Fearless EP
After his band Blue Origin called it a day after the best part of a decade, vocalist Nick Pilgrim set about forming a new outfit. Teaming up with guitarist Alex Coleman, Alter Eden began to create their own brand of alternative rock sounds, heavy on the guitars, but even heavier on the angular intensity. Their 2015 EP release ‘Fearless’ is a loud, confrontational affair set to please those who love hard rock tunes that tease with an almost math-rock complexity.
KEVEL – Hz Of The Unheard
Kevel are a Greek quartet specialising in a style of metal that crosses several subgenres to create a huge slab of sound. On this debut release, there are moments of progressive metal complexity fighting to be heard against huge blocks of instrumental post-metal and sludge. While there isn’t a vocal acting as a central element from everything to pivot, the tunes are huge and often demanding on the listener; each one exploring different intense musical terrains.
IMPELLITTERI – Venom
For fans of shred-metal, Chris Impellitteri is a man who needs no introduction. With his eponymously named outfit, the Californian fretboard melter has been issuing discs filled with bombastic Euro-inflected metal for years, often with either ex-Joshua mouthpiece Rob Rock or ex-Rainbow man Graham Bonnet on vocals. Heavy and fast are Impellitteri’s two favourite styles – usually demonstrated together – and 2015’s ‘Venom’ (the band’s tenth album, breaking a six year silence) follows that expected pattern.