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.
Tag Archives: metal
VOICE OF THE SOUL – Catacombs
Forming in the late noughties when the band were just teenagers – young enough to rival Def Leppard in the precociousness stakes – Voice of the Soul always had very grand musical ideas. Following three self-released EPs between 2009 and 2011, the Middle Eastern extreme metallers found themselves in a great position to expand on their previous works. Taking to the studio in early 2014, the band set about making their first full length release – and in melodic death metal terms, the dark and sprawling world conjured up on ‘Catacombs’ does not disappoint.
ANATHEMA – Fine Days 1999-2004
In the twenty-first century, Anathema have often been mentioned in the same breath as Opeth and Porcupine Tree due to their increased movement towards thoughtful progressive rock structures. It hasn’t always been that way, of course. Like Opeth, the band began life as a totally different musical beast, playing in a melodic death metal style. Shifting line-ups naturally resulted in shifting sounds, and by the time the band signed with the legendary Music For Nations label for their fifth album ‘Judgement’ in 1999, they’d settled on a rather tough but accessible blend of gothy and alternative rock.
LA MUERTE – La Muerte EP
Three songs, seven minutes, seven inches of black plastic. That’s all that’s needed for you to work out that Colchester noisemakers La Muerte mean business. On this debut EP, the tough musical trio blend garage rock, punk with a touch of metal for extra punch and come out sounding like a cross between Misfits, Killing Joke and Limb – a combination of gritty noise that’s guaranteed to leave an impression…one way or another.
CROWSAW – Karma EP
In 2014 UK rockers Crowsaw released ‘Smoke & Mirrors’, a blues-edged collection of songs which was well received in some quarters. For those expecting them to pick up where they left off and build upon their cult following, 2015’s ‘Karma’ may come as a bit of a surprise. Rethinking their game plan, the band have taken their melodic vocal and riff-based sound, dispensed with pretty much any Hendrix and Cry Of Love influences and heavied up the guitars about seventy percent. There’s a huge amount of rock at the core of the material – as is only natural – but all previous blues influences have been thrown out of the window in favour of channelling a defiant metallic crunch.