THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: November 2024 (Page 4 of 5)

AGENT STEEL – No Other Godz Before Me

November 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Agent Steel are another band that were around for a couple of albums then disappeared for years only to creep out of the woodwork and do the whole cycle again. This is their latest comeback album from 2021, and to be fair it’s not too bad. If speed metal with seriously over the top high wailing vocals is your thing, then you may have found your nirvana.

It’s Judas Priest on copious amounts of speed while travelling on a rocket ship to mars. There is no way on this or any other planet that vocalist Johnny Cyriis could do this live. There are way too many vocal parts crammed into the album to allow the guy to breath let alone grab another shot of helium. The Devils Greatest Trick is just insane vocally. There are many many takes done to achieve this but kudos to the guy as it’s mightily impressive. The speed never lets up, it’s relentless from beginning to end and the band must be total athletes.

I may pull this out to play once a year just to put a smile on my face.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

SAM MILLAR – Virtual Summer

November 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

It still blows my mind that Earache Records have started signing acts as commercial as Sam Millar. I mean, back in the day they were the go to for extreme metal music and nothing else. This album is about as far removed from extreme metal as it gets. Feel good pop rock is the order of the day with Sam Millar. He’s an uber talented guy, he wrote and played all instruments on the album.

The overall vibe that comes to mind when listening to the album is 80’s American radio bands like Toto, Journey, and a million others but there is something else that latches itself on to the grooves and sounds of that period. Sam has the knack of writing pure pop hooks and melodies wrapped in that AOR rock feel. When Summer Ends is the most perfect AOR song I have heard in eons. The chorus and hook are perfect with that feel good pop melody that just drives itself into your brain.

The track that got me hooked was The Killing Floor. It’s quite a dark themed title but the music is totally the opposite; a superb example of how to write an eighties FM radio smash. Chardonnay takes me back to the late eighties it’s just pure pop rock perfection.

This is one hell of a fun record and I’m amazed that Escape or Frontiers never snapped him up. Great record! Well done Sam Millar.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

OVERKILL – I Hear Black

November 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I have to say I’m loving these half speed masters reissues from Overkill. For all the audiophile snobs who say it’s pointless to give metal music the audiophile treatment can do one.

I Hear Black was the Overkill’s sixth release and it came out in ’93 right in headlights of prime time grunge and yet it was one of the band’s best sellers. I’m sure I read somewhere that the title was a nod to Black Sabbath, hence the songs were also inspired by the band.

This album is definitely more groovier than thrash but that was the climate back in the early nineties for metal bands, and I love this album. The title track is worth the price alone. A killer heavy groove with matching riffing that just turns the groove muscle to 10.

The whole album is a killer heavy groovy beat down and I can’t recommend it enough.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

KING KOBRA – We Are Warriors

November 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

King Kobra are another band that pops up occasionally to release a record. It has been ten years since the last one, and there was a gap of 23 years between the third and fourth album. They were a working touring band for the first three albums but then they became a project band that filled a gap in between the schedules of its members.

The only guy who played on all the albums is Carmine Appice. He is joined here by guitarists Carlos Carvazo and Rowan Roberson, Johnny Rod on bass and Paul Shortino on vocals. So, what does this rendition of the band offer us mere mortals this time around? Well, for fans of the heavy blues groove all your boxes will be ticked. All original songs apart from Love Hurts, this is quite a solid album although the production is a bit muddy in places.

Music Is A Piece Of Art opens up the album with a heavy Zeppelin groove, very reminiscent of Badlands. That groove continues with Turn Up The Music and I really like the hook and chorus on this one. Favourite track time next with Secrets And Lies. A nice change of pace changing through the gears and I really like the solo. Drownin’ follows and the hook and chorus are superb, I love the main melody. One More Night ends Side 1 and it’s a straight up and down blues rocker.

I could have done without Love Hurts but I guess Shortino’s raspy style suits the song. Dance has a very deep heavy low end groove with those Zeppelin drums again. If I played you Darkness before the vocals kick in, you would swear this was a Zeppelin outtake. We Are Warriors is the best song on Side 2 because it sounds like them. A nice riff, with a great guitar sound, a cool driving tempo, and a catchy hook and chorus. The album closes out with Drive Like Lightning and it’s a return to the Bonham drum sound.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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