COMP SWAP XII Reviews Thread

Chroming Rose started as power metal quintet, with first two albums being a fine addition to anyone who likes Keepers, a 3rd one being somewhat a transitional, and then they went weird. This track is from New World, which I can't describe at all, other than it is being one of the best 90's metal LP's. And then there was Insight, which is even stranger. I really encourage you to check them out, and also Voyager - they grew to be one of my absolute favorites, phenomenal band. Wurthless will back me up here.
Finally I mostly hit with my comps Glad you liked, as my key was to push those bands presnted on first 2.

Bump for Short-Fuse....

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

I really encourage you to check them out, and also Voyager - they grew to be one of my absolute favorites, phenomenal band. Wurthless will back me up here.

Yes! Criminally underrated band. Nothing they've released can top Univers for me, though.

Will be posting reviews of the discs corplhicks sent this weekend. I'm enjoying them so far.

Hopefully the ones I sent to him have arrived. Kinda looking forward to his thoughts.

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

Will be posting reviews of the discs corplhicks sent this weekend. I'm enjoying them so far.  

Hopefully the ones I sent to him have arrived.  Kinda looking forward to his thoughts.

Yup!! They came in on Sat, but I haven't had a chance to listen to them, or any music, thus far. I know for sure I'll be spinning them on Wed since I have long trip for work (that seems to be the only time I actually get to listen to music). Very excited; reading the playlists for each discs, I saw only three names I'm familiar with. This is gonna be awesome!

Glad you're enjoying mine, especially since I couldn't be more diverse with selection.

I finally have a free moment, so it's time to do some reviews! Here is Disc 1 from corplhicks, with Disc 2 and 3 to follow early tomorrow (it's about 8:30 pm for me upon posting this).

Track 1. Accept - Demon’s Night
I’ll start by admitting that I’ve never listened to much Accept over the years. I can’t say exactly why, just one of the bands I’ve known about but never gotten around to. I’ve heard several tracks, but never sat down with a full album. With that out of the way I shall begin. Overall, I enjoyed this track. Classic heavy metal with no frills. Udo has a VERY distinct voice. I liked the lead work here, as it was all over the place.

Track 2. Accept - Turn Me On
Another track from Accept, and I’m still enjoying what I’m hearing. Classic 80’s metal from the album I’ve probably heard the most from, Balls To The Wall. Again, the lead work is well done here. I’m beginning to wonder why I’ve never gone through Accept’s catalogue before….

Track 3. Accept - Rolling Thunder
A newer track from Accept here. Still cranking classic sounding heavy metal after all the long years. Surprising how a new vocalist can slot in, yet the band sounds the same. Heavy, chugging riffs with Mark Tornillo snarling, shouting, and howling like a banshee. What’s not to love? Time to start hunting down their albums… As if I didn’t already have a big enough want list, and an overburdened wallet….

Track 4. Accept - Hellfire
We have yet another newer track Accept, and this one begins with a slower pace. Nice slightly haunting riff with a siren going in the background. From there, here comes the chugging mid-paced attack. Mark’s vocals suit Accept quite well, IMO. Aggressive, yet still retaining melody, and can nail some piercing screams. I’m still loving me some of that lead guitar work. I also like how the tempo is occasionally kicked up a notch.

Track 5. Ashes Of Ares - The One-Eyed King
A completely new one to me. I’d heard that Matt Barlow was involved in a new project, but that was about it. His voice is still instantly recognizable. This actually doesn’t seem a far cry different from what he’d done previously in Iced Earth. It’s decent enough, but Iced Earth did it much better in the past. I kept wanting the band to jump on the throttle, which I thought would add a bit of flavor to the track. Still, for a one-off it was pretty good.

Track 6. Fear Not - Give It Up
This is a band I had heard of, but never looked into. I gotta say, I was caught up in this one right off the bat. I am HEAVILY reminded of Skid Row here, and I always did enjoy Skid Row. Very solid old school heavy metal. The riffs here were catchy as hell, and the vocalist gave a forceful performance. The leads here were decent, but nothing to write home about. Pleasantly surprised here!!

Track 7. Fear Not - Suicide Sunshine
Things get started out quite mellow, and was really more of a laid back rocker than the previous track. Not too bad of a track, but not something I could listen to very often. The other track by them beat this one by leaps and bounds.

Track 8. Iced Earth - Infiltrate And Assimilate
Iced Earth completely lost me between Horror Show and The Glorious Burden. Jon Schaffer’s writing became WAY to pretentious for my tastes, and I was always enamored with the bands more power/thrash past anyway. There is nothing WRONG with this song, per se, it’s just too……I don’t know. Bombastic? Overblown? I like Ripper’s voice, so that’s a highlight.

Track 9. Iced Earth - Greenface
One of the few tracks I liked from The Glorious Burden here. Being the first album without Barlow, there were always going to be unfair comparisons. That seems to be the story of Ripper Owens life… Anyway, this was still very accessible with nice chugging riffs, and no real pomposity to the music. Iced Earth should have kept doing this…

Track 10. Jag Panzer - The Scarlet Letter
I’ve always meant to get around to checking these guys out. This is a pretty nice introduction! This is what you’d get if Iron Maiden and mid-era Iced Earth had a baby. I don’t think this is something I could constantly listen to, but for an occasional listen it definitely tickles the pickle.

Track 11. Rival - Reach
This is a band I’m not familiar with at all. A big smile hit my face when this one kicked off. Power metal with a big dose of speed metal in it. It reminds slightly of Vicious Rumors around the S/T - Welcome To The Ball era. The vocalist has a lower register, but a strong voice. He’s nothing to run out and tell all the neighbors and strangers about. Still, a commendable job is done. This is one of my favorite tracks on the comp so far!

Track 12. Rival - Insane
Here we get a more mid-paced crusher compared to the previous tune. That’s nothing to complain about, though, as it’s a fairly strong song. No, it’s not original or groundbreaking. However, it IS well done and played with some conviction. I’m liking what I’m hearing from this band. I may have to keep the ol’ eyes open for these when next I’m out music shopping…

Track 13. Rival - Hell Train
Foot meet accelerator, accelerator meet floor! Power/thrash is unleashed for my listening pleasure. This is the kind of stuff that gets my blood flowing! A mid-paced kick in the middle of the track with the solo over the top. When the speed kicks back in, the lead follows along for a bit. I am sufficiently impressed by this band.

Track 14. Running Wild - War In The Gutter
Along with Accept, here is yet another long running (no pun intended) band that I’ve not given a great deal of time to. What gets presented here is power / speed metal. Fairly typical stuff for the time, really. It’s an enjoyable listen overall. I definitely want to hear more, which is always a good thing.

Track 15. Running Wild - Mr. Deadhead
Quite similar to the last track, we’re treated to more power / speed metal. I’m liking the guitar work a bit more here than on the last track. The presentation seems more tight here. Ol’ Rock’n’Rolf’s vocals are of the middle register, which has always been a LITTLE bit unusual for this style, but it works quite well. I need to get off my ass and start getting some albums from these guys…

Track 16. Vicious Rumors - Down To The Temple
Carl Albert had such a cool voice. I’ve always wondered what Vicious Rumors would have done if not for his untimely passing. I’ve always thought of them in the same way as Metal Church. Mostly power metal, but you always got hints of thrash and speed metal thrown in to spice things up. This is a more mellow track overall, but still spiked with some aggression. The lead work is, of course, pure joy.

Track 17. Vicious Rumors - On The Edge
After mentioning the speed and thrash elements the band has always played with, we get one of those tracks that hammers the throttle down! This has always been one of my favorite tracks from V.R. The blazing leads, Carl’s always outstanding vocals, and the double-bass assault in the drums!! Songs like this make me a happy man.

Track 18. Vicious Rumors - Hellraiser
Acoustic riffs bring us in to this one before the distortion comes in and we’re off and running again! I can’t get enough of songs like this. The pedal is to the metal again here, though the lead work is a bit more melodic / harmonic at first. A bit of shred is tossed in, though. I really need to start re-acquiring these V.R. albums again. The only one I kept was Welcome To The Ball, and I haven’t added any since.

Thanks for the review, man; glad you enjoyed the disc. I had a feeling you already heard most of this (along with 99% of this board), but that's cool there were some new stuff for you too. I tried to stick with power metal minus keyboard work.

That Rival disc is awesome, available on Amazon. Unfortunately I found out that the band is getting ready to record their final album before disbanding for unknown reasons. I would have liked to see them grow a bit more. They have a killer sound.

Fear Not is my favorite Christian metal band by miles, and they only had one disc (s/t) which well never again see the light of day since Word owns the masters and the band just doesn't have enough recognition. Goes for 50 bucks (US) and up on ebay. A shame, the whole album is killer even if compact and a bit commercial.

As for the VR, all I had at the time was their s/t, which is GOOD, but Digital Dictator slays IMO. The s/t has a sightly more commercial tone to it, especially on the drums, which doesn't make it bad but their sound on Digital Dictator is perfect.

I'm loving your discs btw, spinning them on every work trip. There's honestly not a single bad apple in the batch; it's all great thrash. I'll be getting my reviews in soon; life has been crazy and I haven't had time to write about each one.

I'll be reviewing the other 2 discs from corplhicks this weekend. Had my son last weekend, so didn't have time to do them.

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

I'll be reviewing the other 2 discs from corplhicks this weekend.  Had my son last weekend, so didn't have time to do them.  

Dude, congrats! If I would've know I would've thrown in a lullaby disc...

corplhicks wrote:

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

I'll be reviewing the other 2 discs from corplhicks this weekend.  Had my son last weekend, so didn't have time to do them.  

Dude, congrats! If I would've know I would've thrown in a lullaby disc...

   Nah, not had as in born. Had, as in it was my weekend with him.   

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

I'll be reviewing the other 2 discs from corplhicks this weekend.  Had my son last weekend, so didn't have time to do them.  

Dude, congrats! If I would've know I would've thrown in a lullaby disc...

   Nah, not had as in born.  Had, as in it was my weekend with him.    

Lawl. Was exhausted when I wrote that. Congrats anyway.   

My reviews hopefully coming this weekend...