Melbourne’s Espionage don’t just fly the flag for old style heavy metal, they positively scream its praises from the Victoria rooftops with a shameless pride, not only as if the 90s never changed perspectives, but also as if Slayer had never actually existed. Hearing their second EP ‘Wings of Thunder’ for the first time, the traditional metal sounds are so rooted in the past, it’s even hard to tell whether it was recorded in 1984 (as is its core sound) or 2016 (as claimed in the sleeve notes). This, of course, isn’t necessarily a bad thing – especially considering that, even at such an early stage in their career, the Aussie rockers sound like masters of their craft.
Tag Archives: metal
MAMMOTH WEED WIZARD BASTARD / SLOMATICS – Totems (Split)
What happens when you take two doom bands whom have a mutual respect for each other and give them one side of an LP each? Possibly one of the heaviest records ever! ‘Totems’, from Black Bow Records, combines five previously unreleased tracks – three from Slomatics and two from Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – and presents the ultimate in doom, though somehow without things ever feeling as if they’re verging on a pointless macho pissing contest.
HIGHRIDER – Roll For Initiative
Highrider’s 2016 EP really meant business. Within twenty minutes, the Swedish In Flames obsessives growled, thrashed and pounded their way through four almost faultless tunes that owed so much to the past, especially with a root in classic thrash – and yet still sounded contemporary for the time of release. An unlikely soundtrack for the summer, that short look into a world that blended thrash with melodic hardcore and 70s hard rock organs promised so much for the inevitable full length debut. A year on, ‘Roll For Initiative’ expands on those musical themes and results in a more mixed album. Within the eight featured tracks, you’ll hear more of the things that made Highrider an instant success, but also a few experiments that aren’t quite as immediate.
Zhora reveal second video from ‘Ethos, Pathos, Logos’
Irish sludge metallers Zhora have released a second video to promote their second album ‘Ethos, Pathos, Logos’.
PARADISE ASYLUM – The Phoenix Rising EP
Paradise Asylum released their debut EP ‘The Storm Queen Cometh’ in 2013. The release was recorded on a meagre budget and vocalist Carla Warnes sang fairly flat throughout, but a couple of tracks demonstrated a can-do attitude that showed that even when they got it wrong, the band clearly loved playing together. Subsequent releases trod pretty much the same path.