THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: February 2022 (Page 12 of 12)

TEXTURES – Polars

February 2, 2022 /

This is the 10th anniversary reissue of the band’s debut effort from 2004, and the first thing you notice compared to later releases is how goddam heavy they were.

Opening track, Swandive, is Pantera on acid. The vocals, riff, and groove are brutal – epic stuff! Ostensibly Impregnable is more like their future selves in places, with the beautiful soundscape melodies separating the brutality. Young Man is off at breakneck speed as the aural assault continues, and yet the beauty is just below the surface. Lots of heavy palm muted aggression starts Transgression (possibly the most brutal track yet), with a really cool saxophone interlude. Another Pantera groove greets us in The Barrier, and this track is so fast it ends before it starts. The weird soundscape of Effluent leads into the album’s showpiece and title track, Polars. Fat monster riffage mixed with melody and great soundscapes make this the best on the album.

This is territory the band would make their own on Dualism, which is and absolute beast of a record. Unfortunately the band are no more as they have called it a day.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

SAVATAGE – Power Of The Night

February 2, 2022 /

This is the second album, released in ’85, from one of the most influential bands in the progressive metal scene. Formed by brothers, Jon and Criss Oliva, as Avatar back in ’79, they have always tried to push themselves to produce metal that was slightly different from the norm. Originally produced by Max Norman, this reissue has been remastered specifically for this release and sounds awesome.

Power Of The Night starts things off nicely with a nice fat riff and a really cool melody. Unusual (as the title says) does have a different feel to the metal normal groove with a really cool instrumental section. Warriors is a straight up metal assault with an earworm chorus. Necrophilia is up next, and I think you’ll agree, its something we all talk about around the dinner table, and carries on from where Warriors ended. Washed out closes out Side 1 and its an all out double kick fest speed assault.

Hard For Your Love starts Side 2 with a Judas Priest style groover and a very commercial sounding chorus. Fountain Of Youth is up next and is the weakest track on the album. Skull Session on the other hand has a killer riff and groove that makes it my favourite track on the album. Jon Olivia sounds remarkably like Russel Allen on this track, plus the bonus of great guitar from Criss Oliva. Stuck On You has a wicked groove and riff to the intro with a Trampled Under Foot vibe. The album closes out proper with the anthem, In The Dream. For this edition there is a bonus demo track of No More Saturday Nights.

The band’s masterpieces would follow later with Hall Of the Mountain King and Gutter Ballet, but this is still a solid album.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

VAN HALEN – Balance

February 1, 2022 /

Before we get started, I’ll just put this out there: if it ain’t Roth, it ain’t Van Halen!

The first six albums are untouchable, and are all classics in my book. Yes, even Diver Down! I’m not the biggest Sam The Sham fan for reasons that I wont mention here. This is the only VH album with him singing that I really like, and that’s because Ed’s guitar sound is incredible.

5150 must have been shaking when this album was recorded, as the guitar tone and sound is just mean and angry. Seventh Seal opens the album and the groove and feel is epic, and the guitar…jeez! The riff and tone to Don’t Tell Me What Love Can Do is off the scale. What a killer sound and the solos…damn! The groove, feel, and tone to Amsterdam is killer, and Reverend Al’s drum sound is huge. Aftershock is on the money musically, and the riff and groove are killer, but I’m pretty sure the vocal line is from some old rock n roll tune. Great to see a full instrumental track on a VH album, and I’m pretty sure there are a lot of those in the VH vaults.

I wrote this on Ed’s birthday, and its still hard to believe that he is no longer with us, but he sure left is a great body of work. It’s the best Hagar era album.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

ECLIPSE – Wired

February 1, 2022 /

This is the latest release from Sweden’s finest exponents of melodic rock. It still amazes me that this band are not more well know. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not sure why they don’t get a mention on a radio show like Eddie Trunk’s, as they are head and shoulders above some of the bands he has on there – I guess he doesn’t do his own research.

It’s more of the same from Eclipse here, basically great rock songs with big hooks and melodies and a killer production. I’d be interested to know how big they are in Sweden, if at all, or is this just a project that comes together so Frontiers can release an album.

There is a bonus track for vinyl only, Ain’t No Fun, which believe it or not is one of the best tracks on the album. It has a great melody and hook plus a superb solo. I was having a conversation with a friend and he mentioned that he doesn’t like the band as they sound too “Eurovision Song Contest”. I sort of get that, but surely a great song is a great song right?

Anyway, I love them and I think this is a great record. My favourite track is Bite The Bullet, which has a huge monster riff, a massive guitar sound, and an awesome melody. If you like your rock with big hooks and melodies, then give this a try.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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