THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: June 2022 (Page 12 of 14)

INTRONAUT – Prehistoricisms

June 6, 2022 /

This is the 2nd by Intronaut, and they are one of my favourite bands in this genre. Prog metal is a very wide ranging, and broad tidy little box that reviewers put bands in when they haven’t got a clue how to categorize said band. Intronaut try to squeeze as much differing grooves and styles into one of their tunes as possible.

Their first album was a lot more hardcore. Some of those vibes spill over here, especially on Cavernous Den Of Shame which sounds very hardcore until you listen to the riffs and grooves, and the odd time signatures. This is a killer track with some superb bass and drum patterns. The intro to Prehistoricisms does indeed sound like dinosaurs tramping through your garden with the main groove of the piece being almost jazz metal. The most outstanding piece on the album is The Reptilian Brain, which takes up the whole of Side 4 and is split into five parts: Sleep, Eat, Shit, Fight, F…k – which just about sums up life today! The piece just builds from the opening Indian rhythms to the crushing deep riffs and grooves, and all points in between, epic stuff. I urge people to check the band out, they are a very rewarding listen.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

COLOSSEUM II – Strange New Flesh

June 4, 2022 /

This is the first of John Hiseman’s Colosseum II project with Gary Moore on guitar.

Dark Side Of The Moog opens up the album with a very busy jazz fusion groove, and features Don Airey on keys. Down To You is up next which is a smooth jazz version of the Joni Mitchell track, and features some great playing by Moore. Gemini And Leo closes out Side 1. A very funky jazz groove to this, and it’s great to hear Gary play other grooves than blues and rock.

Secret Places opens up Side 2 and is the most melodic track on the record, with a vocal by Mike Starrs but it’s Gary’s playing that really turns your ear. On Second Thoughts starts really slow with some off the hook playing from Gary. In fact, this whole track will blow your mind. His playing is just incredible with a very clean tone. Winds closes out the record and this is the best track on the album. This is just everyone going for it right from the get go with a killer drum pattern from Hiseman to start the ball rolling, then Airey has a turn in the spotlight, before Don and Gary trade licks. Projects just usually do the one album and they’re gone, but this one gave us three great records and sadly Jon and Gary are no longer with us.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

DIAMOND HEAD – Canterbury

June 4, 2022 /

Diamond Head were the darlings of the rock press, especially Sounds and Kerrang magazines, where they fell over themselves praising the band’s early EPs, self financed first album, and their major label debut Borrowed Time.

When this came out however, the reviews were mixed  to say the least. They had come up with an album that was removed from their metallic sounds to a more experimental, dare I say, Zeppelin 4 vibe. Makin’ Music has a very indie feel to the track, and Out Of Phase does sound Zeppelin until the chorus and middle eight where it’s almost pop. The band go very medieval with the intro to Kingmaker and you have to wonder what they were thinking when they wrote this. The only normal songs on the album are Knight Of The Swords, which is a great song, and I Need Your Love which sounds like The Cult. Of course this album bombed and they basically committed commercial suicide with its release.  If you take it for what it is, it’s a decent album to listen to.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

KING KING – Reaching For The Light

June 3, 2022 /

This is the third album from Scotland’s finest blues rock quartet. The main feature of the band is the amazing vocal and guitar skills of Alan Nimmo, that’s not to take anything away from the rest of band it’s just that Alan is visually and sonically front and centre.

Hurricane is a nice opener with a great groove and riff, with a killer vocal. You Stopped The Rain is as near to a ballad as this album gets. Waking Up has an almost country vibe to add to the mix. A really killer tune with a very tasty solo. Rush Hour starts with a picked riff and just Alan’s superb vocal. The dynamic just builds into a monster tune with a huge guitar sound and epic ending. Crazy is all squealing feedback until the funky groove takes over and the middle eight is awesome. Lay With Me is old school RnB. A Stevie Wonder keyboard vibe starts Just A Little Lie with a very funky under groove. Take A Look is power ballad territory with a superb melodic solo. Stranger To Love closes out the album and it’s the best track on the album. Superb vocal, killer groove and riff, man this track just hits the spot.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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