Abraxxas – The Killing Fields

Australian thrash group Abraxxas has recently put forth their second release a little over a year after their first demo. “The Killing Fields” shows the band taking a step forward in every aspect: production, songwriting, and performance. Though it features just two tracks, “The Killing Fields” single is an impressive effort. The title track kicks things off with plenty of speed, power, and aggression. While the song has some twists and turns throughout it, much of its runtime is spent moving at full speed and thrashing everything in its path. The riffs may be somewhat standard, but they do feel more inspired than most other thrash these days. The verses in this song sync up the vocals with the riff that accompanies them, and this makes these sections especially potent, though the entire track is an immense thrasher.   

The other song on this release, “Grendel”, feels a little bit more calculated. While it also can reach some impressive speeds, the first minute or so of the song is spent on slower, headbanging-inducing riffs that incorporate plenty of trills before launching into huge power chords. Later in the track, the band makes use of very twisted leads underneath the vocals, which helps to keep things interesting. Though “The Killing Fields” comes out firing on all cylinders, it is actually “Grendel” that leaves the bigger impact. Perhaps more importantly, however, this single forges a much more positive impression of the band than their already solid demo. If Abraxxas could put together a full-length of this quality, they’d shoot to the top of the modern Australian thrash scene alongside Harlott.  

Be sure to check out and like Abraxxas on Facebook!

Highlights

"The Killing Fields"

"Grendel"

Final Rating

3.9/5 or 78%. 

Written by Scott 

Stratovarius – Eternal

Stratovarius is by far the most reliable power metal band in recent years. Almost like clockwork, every 2 years since 2009, the band has released a new record, which manages to make subtle changes to the band’s overall sound, while still sounding definitively like Stratovarius. “Eternal” marks the fourth such effort. Interestingly, this album’s unique identifier is that is almost shows the band going back to the sound they became famous for. Many songs on this record are reminiscent of albums like “Fourth Dimension” and “Episode”; in other words, there is plenty of high-speed, blazing power metal driven by eccentric keyboards and large amounts of double bass. This is no more evident than on the opening song, “My Eternal Dream”, which kicks things off with triumphant fanfare from keyboardist Jens Johansson. This song also shows that lead vocalist Timo Kotipelto has not lost a step. His voice soars with ease, and while he may not go after some of the high notes he did earlier in his career, he knows how to work within his range (which is still of impressive width).

Though quite a few songs also display this tendency towards old-school European power metal, the band does manage to mix things up a little bit. “Shine In The Dark” is the prototypical Stratovarius single, not dissimilar from “Unbreakable” and “Darkest Hours” before it. As always, this means a song with a chorus that transcends catchy, an almost bouncy beat throughout, and a very upbeat feeling. Another highlight is the sole composition from bass player Lauri Porra: “Lost Without A Trace”. This song is a little bit darker, alternating between cleaner sections in the verses, and heavier sections in the rest of the song. Once again though, it is Kotipelto’s voice that steals the spotlight.

Aside from these songs, another track of note is the nearly-12 minute closer “The Lost Saga”. The band’s previous epic, “Elysium”, is without a doubt one of the best songs they’ve ever written. While “The Lost Saga” doesn’t quite stack up, it is quite worthy of being called epic. The song starts off slow, but once the band comes in, guitarist Matias Kupiainen hits you with one of the all-time great Stratovarius riffs. It almost reminds me of the riffs from the early Metallica records, simply because of how classic it is. As the track progresses, the band continues to deliver largely the same things they have been providing earlier in the album, culminating in an epic slow section not unlike the grand finale to “Elysium”. As great as “The Lost Saga” is, the band easily could have cut off the first or so minute as well as the last one, neither of which feature substantial musical contributions relative to the rest of the track. Nevertheless, these are small complaints on an otherwise stellar song. 

In terms of disappointments, “Eternal” has few. The only slight letdown is that the Jens Johansson-penned tracks are not quite up to par this time. On the previous two albums, songs like “The Game Never Ends” and “Dragons” were easily among the highlights. This time around, “Man In The Mirror” is a very serviceable song that fits in with the rest of the record, while “Fire In Your Eyes” is a bit of a weaker ballad-esque song. But this is part of what makes Stratovarius great; on “Elysium”, Lauri Porra’s song was easily my least favourite, while on “Nemesis” and “Eternal”, his contribution to each record were amongst the best. The variability in writing shows that everyone in the band is a good songwriter. Likewise, Kupiainen and Kotipelto/Liimatainen have their share of hits and more standard songs (but these two songwriting groups tend to write more of the material, so there’s usually a good share of winners and more predictable songs on each album). Ultimately, however, all of these guys have a perfect understanding of Stratovarius’ sound and what makes it so great. Sometimes they write a better song than others, but they never miss the mark completely, and even an average Stratovarius song exceeds what many other bands are doing. “Eternal” may be the weakest of the latest 3 records (though I like it more than “Polaris”), but it once again shows a fresh take on a familiar sound, and that’s more than enough to keep it in regular rotation!

Be sure to check out and like Stratovarius on Facebook!

Highlights

"My Eternal Dream"

"Shine In The Dark"

"Lost Without A Trace"

"In My Line of Work"

"The Lost Saga"

Final Rating

4.6/5 or 92%. 

Written by Scott 

Satan – Atom By Atom

“Atom By Atom” marks the second album for the legendary NWOBHM Satan since their return a few years ago. The good news for fans of the band is that this album largely follows the path forged by their previous record. Many of the same types of melodies and rhythms that the band has used in the past appear on this record, almost to the point where “Atom By Atom” is simply an extension of the previous album.

Perhaps the biggest similarity this album has to the previous one in the production. The guitars still have that incredibly satisfying crunch that sounds distinctly like Satan (one listen to the opening riff of “Ruination” will make this incredibly clear), and they deliver a plethora of riffs and solos. Beyond the guitars, Brian Ross’ epic vocals are the other primary driver of the album. His voice is unmistakable, and he even still manages to throw in a few high-pitched screams (like the one that opens the record). The drumming is also on-point, with the tons of interesting fills, and an overall style that is a bit more laid back, giving all of the instruments room to breathe (the main riff of "My Own God" being a great example of this relaxed style).

The strange part of “Atom By Atom” is that even though the execution is spot-on, it just doesn’t have the same impact that “Life Sentence” did. Perhaps it’s because that album was far more unexpected, and especially given how authentic it managed to sound in 2013, it was a breath of fresh air. This album is more of the same, which is fine, but even the songs don’t stick quite as well. In fact, pretty much every song has a catchy chorus, and some solid riffs, but there’s nothing worth revisiting as often as songs like “Siege Mentality” or “Testimony” from the band’s last album. This album is a little more consistent quality-wise, but its highs are nowhere near as high. That doesn’t stop songs like “The Devil’s Infantry” and “Atom By Atom” from rocking incredibly hard though. It just means that this is a solid addition to their catalogue rather than a career-defining album.

Be sure to check out and like Satan on Facebook!

Highlights

"Fallen Saviour"

"The Devil's Infantry"

"Atom By Atom"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott 

Torchia – Ending Beginning

“Ending Beginning” is demo number 2 for Finnish melodic death metal band Torchia. Unlike their fellow countrymen, Insomnium, who are perhaps the leaders of the scene at the moment, Torchia largely avoids melodeath’s modern tendencies towards overly emotional, less chaotic music. Instead, the band comes from the school of groups like At The Gates who wrote music that caused absolute carnage, while still injecting melodic lead guitars. The title track sets the tone for this almost instantly, as the band launches into a high-speed thrashy riff. Later on in the track, the guitars shred and sweep along with perfect accuracy. About halfway into the song, things slow down for a short interlude, but the feeling remains quite different from the melancholic state that melodeath is currently obsessed with. It isn’t long before the band returns to their previous tempos to create a strong finish to the song. 

Though “Ending Beginning” is the best of the three tracks, the two that follow it are also solid. They’re not as good, but they display many of the same tactics: riff-driven, aggressive melodic death metal. Melodies come in the form of awesome harmonized sections (“My Land Shall Burn” has a great pounding example), as well as more technically dazzling moments. The band’s sound is propelled by a truly stellar production. This doesn’t sound like a demo, let alone one from a small band. In fact, it would be right at home alongside at Nuclear Blast or Century Media melodic death metal band (both in terms of production and quality). Nobody is fighting to be heard (bass included), and it doesn’t matter whether the guitars are playing on the lower strings or the higher ones, as it all sounds good. The most impressive thing about Torchia’s sound is that it is so professional. As a casual listener of this subgenre, if you had played this to me and told me it was Dark Tranquility or (old) In Flames, I would have believed you. That’s not to say Torchia apes those bands, but simply that their songwriting and sound is up to par with them.

 Be sure to check out and like Torchia on Facebook!

Highlight

"Ending Beginning"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott