THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

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OVERKILL – The Electric Age

December 22, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Another day and another Overkill reissue. This time it’s a 2024 Church Of Vinyl redo of this 2012 beast of a record.

I think out of all the “thrash” bands, Overkill are the ones that have stayed true to themselves over their 20 album career. And, to come out with something as good as this 16 albums in is a testament to what a great band they are.

I love every freaking groove on this record, and Electric Rattlesnake is one of my favourite Overkill tunes. It has everything: the big thrash groove with matching riff, a killer breakdown and groove change, and big chase to the finish. A true dandruff shaker!

I’m sure the band are big Sabbath fans because there are many nods and references to them, but the song Black Daze has a great old school Sabs vibe. Great packaging on the record as well. When you open up the gatefold, a pop up appears with the logo and skull symbol.

Great band and killer record.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

VIGILANTS – Run For Cover

December 22, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Here we have a 6 track EP from Brantford Ontario’s Vigilants. You may not have heard of them, I think this was the only thing they ever did. There is a very suspect video on YouTube for the title track with a guest appearance from none other than Lee Aaron.

They all look very rock ‘n roll with their ripped vests and bouffant hairdo’s but of the six tracks, only three of them are actually in that category. The already mentioned Run For Cover, Friday Night Crazies, and my personal favourite Coming Back On You with its Def Leppard vibes. The other tracks are more laid back ballads.

Who knows, if they had a hot shot producer like the Leps maybe they could have scored big, but I doubt it.

6/10 from The Grooveman.

VICE – Made For Pleasure

December 22, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Apparently there are quite a few bands called Vice, and until I bought this record I hadn’t heard of any of them.

The band formed in Germany in ’88, this album was released the same year. Although they are playing the same sounds as Bon Jovi and any other hair band of that era, they have that unique European sound to their music. Now, whether that’s down to the phrasing of vocalist Jan Ghiantine, I’ll let you decide.

The song that I heard first was Red Light Night, that crunchy riff and uptempo groove sounded great to my ears and I was curious to hear more. My favourite tune is Side 2 opener, Made For Pleasure. A heavier sounding track verging on metal with a Priest-style riff and groove, and guitarist Chris Limburg is showing off his chops.

I’m sure someone will correct me, but it seems that Mr. Limburg is the only member of this line up to keep going after Vice split up, because he joined Bonfire amongst others.

So overall, it’s not a bad album at all and quite entertaining.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

AXEL RUDI PELL – Lost XX111

December 19, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Alex Rudi Pell, is a very prolific artist who has released 22 studio albums, of which this is number 21. He was previously in Steeler (not the Yngwie and Ron Keel outfit) who released 4 albums, so he is no slouch when coming up with material.

He seems to model his sound on Ronnie Dio era Rainbow and he bows at the temple of Mr Blackmore. This album however, doesn’t get going until we get to Side 3 and the crunching track, Follow The Beast. Nice pounding double kicks, heavy crunching riff, and Johnny Gioeli screaming out those lyrics. The Rise Of Ankhoor is the other song that also stands out, with a folky Celtic vibe. The rest of the album seems to get lost in a mid-paced, very similar vibe.

It’s not bad per se, it just feels like going through the motions. My favourite period of Mr. Pell is with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals and this falls way short of that.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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