Ted Nugent ~ Spirit Of The Wild (album review) ... Just do it like this!

Style: hard rock, blues rock
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1995
Home: Michigan

Members: Ted Nugent ~ guitars/vocals
Derek St. Holmes ~ lead vocals
Denny Carmassi ~ drums
Michael Lutz ~ bass/keyboards/b. vocals

Additional: Benny Rappa ~ drums/b. vocals
Gunner Ross, Larry Fretangelo ~ drums
Doug Banker ~ piano/b. vocals

 

Ted Nugent is famous for his "Cat Scratch Fever" 1970's Motor City Man/wild child blazing guitar rock, a member of the even earlier Amboy Dukes & his incredibly vocal activism for an array of traditional causes that has followed in more recent decades. For a brief moment in the early 90's, as hair metal was being stomped on by grunge, he was also in the supergroup Damn Yankees with Styx's Tommy Shaw & Night Ranger's Jack Blades. Sadly, what has become the dominating feature of his reputation has been his activism. There's nothing wrong with any of that & he speaks passionately on issues many other musicians avoid for less controversial topics ... usually ones that don't involve firearms & hunting. But, Nugent is really a musician first & foremost & it's that career that gave him the opportunity to be a spokesman. Things weren't helped by an& 80's musical output that was sub-par overly commercial pop colliding with musical indulgence marking a low point of his career that helped induced a shifting of priorities to non-musical endeavors. But, for a moment in 1995, just after Damn Yankees folded, Nugent threw out probably the best album since 1977's Cat Scratch Fever, let alone one of the best of his career with the perfectly titled, for him, Spirit Of The Wild. Featuring long time vocalist Derek St. Holmes & drummer Denny Carmassi whose played with Montrose, Sammy Hagar, Heart & David Coverdale extensively. What makes it so good is that it's a return to the 70's wild man spirit that keeps the indulgence in check, doesn't worry about MTV commercial appeal & strips away all the plastic studio excesses that killed the wild mood during the 80's. Further, it doesn't hide any of Nugent's ideology behind sappy love songs & other generic rock topics but sings proudly about nature, animal rights, guns, American freedoms, Indians, hunting, living/dying in skid row & the law of the land. Sometimes he promotes his ideology (i.e. "Kiss My Ass") but at other times he's confessing his fears for the future & the direction society is moving (i.e. "Just Do It Like This"). Some will condemn his ideas as conservative or traditional, but the closest anyone will get to these terms are a few songs calling up Indian imagery (i.e. "Primitive Man", "Fred Bear", "Tooth, Fang & Claw") that are basically saying Nugent, who pens all the tracks, is just defending his right to have the spirit of the wild run through him as his ancestors & forefathers did. No one would call an Indian who wants to still hunt down the paths his grandfathers walked out of touch with reality or conservative or traditional. You get the feeling Nugent sees himself in the same mold, or wearing the same loincloth. One may not agree with Nugent's or my premise but it's hard to deny that it makes for far more interesting lyrics than what many bands churn out, except for maybe Iron Maiden. As for the music it's wild with nearly every track strong & in your face with gritty guitar solos. There's only one real weak track in "Hot Or Col" that sounds far too close to the Rolling Stone's "Shattered". Nugent has a guitar style that isn't the power metal of the 80's nor is it overwhelmed with distortion & is a throwback to past days. The songs chuck along like a locomotive with all sorts of variety absent from modern guitar playing. It's hard to describe until you hear it. This would be his only studio album in the 1990's before going back to active duty on the frontlines going from an axe slinger to gun slinger & even tv star. But, for those that need a reminder of why Nugent is famous in the first place check out this smoking gun & enjoy the hunt.

Virtual Jungle ~ Cycles (album review) ... Roaming through the jungle!

Style: alt rock, pop, experimental
Label: self-released
Year: 2010
Home: New York

Members: Lucio Rebello ~ all instruments

Once upon a time, growing up in the 80's, the word 'alternative' didn't mean what it does today when referring to music. Today 'alt rock' has become a particular style of youthful angsty rock that came in rebellion to the over-the-top hair metal 80's ... but once upon a time it literally meant 'alternative' in the traditional sense, as in an option outside of the norm, something different, unusual even. Cycles by VJ, the one man band of Brazilian born multi-instrumentalist Lucio Rebello, is an alternative album. It's unpredictable & offering something different, unusual even - the opposite of a majority of albums that claim the alt rock title. Over a couple songs one might go anywhere from shoegazing a la Galaxie 500 to alt pop Posies to 70's Larry Carlton jazz-rock. All of the movement hinged together with gentle singing & rolling little guitar melodies of a repetitive but hypnotic nature. Though, don't let the name of the band fool you. 'Jungle' is a deceptive term. The songs are a jungle of ideas not a jungle of sounds ... nor is the jungle in a state of chaos. If anything it's more of a calm night in the rain forest. It's a jungle of places VJ is going to take you. Or, to put it another way ... the album opens with the standout track "The Train" & Cycles is a train ride over changing landscapes. Having personally travelled on trains in Eastern Europe across countries borders I can confess to having seen in a single ride day to night & back again, unexpectant change of trains, empty chairs going to crowded halls, machine gun toting customs officers that recall too many Nazi war films, bustling cities & country sides & lost villages abandoned in time & leaving in the sun only to eventually watch snow fall out the window. I'll confess to more thoughts & experiences looking through the window on such journeys ... such cycle ... than in the trips that would ensue. Electronic drums bubble like water against layered acoustic & electric guitars to create dreamy melodic ballads that take a train ride all their own through society with VJ. All aboard.

Lita Ford ~ Dangerous Curves (album review) ... With wicked bad guitars!

Style: hard rock
Label: Spitfire Records
Year: 1991
Home: Carribean Islands

Members: Lita Ford ~ vocals/guitar
Joe Taylor ~ guitar
Matt Bissonette ~ bass
David Ezrin ~ keyboards
Myron Grombacher ~ drums
Joe Lynn Turner, Jeff Scott Soto, Debby Holiday, Michael Caruso, AnneMarie Hunter ~ b. vocals

Additional: Chili Dog, Small Fry ~ barking

Guest: Howard Leese ~ guitar

Dangerous Curves opens with Lita Ford saying over some grinding guitars "can you turn it up a little louder please?" which sets the scene as this is the hardest rocking album of her 80/90's output by far. Heavy on by-the-mold anthemic hard rock with big guitars & punchy lyrics. No "Close Your Eyes Forever" ballads here. Even Heart founding member Howard Leese stops by to lay some guitar licks on the single "Shot Of Poison". It's interesting hearing Ford in such a heavy context as she always looked the part but her albums were a bit on the light weight side. But the trade up is that earlier featured more memorable songs as while the guitars are heavy here the lyrics aren't anything that particularly grab the ear. As Ford hasn't staked out a place as a Clapton or Vai or Satriani she needs good lyrics as much as good solos. It reminds one of how she's thought of as a rocker not a guitarist, though it's as the Richie Blackmore-inspired lead guitarist of the Runaways that she became famous. The problem with Ford's career has always been the songwriting. Big ballads & sleazy rockers don't provide a wide enough window to get more than a few workable albums out of. Other music critics have pointed out that she was never really given enough solid material to push her where she could go. I agree & draw a similarity with Elvis's movie career. He had a few shining moments but too much time was spent going in the opposite direction wasting his talents. There are a few standout tracks including "Hellbound Train", "Black Widow" plus the standout ballad "Bad Love" which is one of her best ballads ever. Ford might be able to rock but it's the ballads she always did the best. "Tambourine Dream" ends the album on one of the most interesting songs Ford ever did as it uses acoustic guitars & tambourines under the heavy guitars. Black would follow 4 years later but by then Ford's career was over for the moment until her 2010 comeback. Dangerous Curves also features, for trivia buffs "Little Too Early" which is one of the few compositional credits by guitarist Al Pitrelli of Megadeth/Trans-Siberian Orchestra, co-written with Joe Lynn Turner of Rainbow, that he doesn't play on. It's one of two songs on the album not co-written by Ford.

D.A.D ~ No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims (album review) ... Fighting the girl army!

(Click on heading to visit official website.)
Style: hard rock, heavy metal
Label: Warner Bros.
Year: 1989
Home: Copenhagen, Denmark

Members: Jesper Binzer ~ lead vocals/rhythm guitar
Jacob "Cobber" Binzer ~ lead guitar
Stig Pedersen ~ bass/b. vocals
Peter Lundholm Jensen ~ drums

Most bands are experts at talking big on how they sound like no other band. But, let's be honest - talking & doing are different things & a lot of bands do a good job at sounding like a lot of other bands & there's absolutely nothing wrong with this if the end result rocks out. This is particularly true for the hair metal/80's bands which made it a habit to largely sound & look like each other. But, let's be honest again & say a fan of 80's hair metal largely loves a lot of bands of the era because they sound alike. Familiarity may breed contempt but it also breeds a ready made audience for the new band on the scene. Many will remember Denmark's D-A-D (or D.A.D. or D:A:D depending on what phase of their career it is, originally Disneyland After Dark) who made their international breakthrough with their third album No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims & spawned a couple hits including "Sleeping My Day Away" & the memorable MTV video of girls marching in sexy fatigues "Girl Nation". America would be left with this brief taste as the band found the scene too hard to crack & eventually returned to focusing their attentions primarily on Europe only to stake out a career that continues to the present day with albums coming every couple years. Yes, they follow the hair rock mold set by their across the ocean rock brothers in America. But, giving them more than a cursory listen D-A-D actually does sound different. No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims is a very strong release that should be much bigger than it is, with critics in general agreement, & great starting point for discovering the differences lying underneath the hard rock of D-A-D. I'm reminded a lot of a tame Danzig but with a bit of twang, particularly "Sleeping My Day Away" with its catchy three note Duane Eddy-esque riff. It also helps that bassist Stig Pedersen is known for his extremely large & oddly shaped basses, his own designs, that often only have 2 or 3 strings instead of the normal four, sometimes even limiting his playing to 1 string, giving the band a unique & often prominent low end. D-A-D is a riff lover's feast. While the lyrics are cliched they're also a little off kilter with a bit of non-sensical whimsiness to keep them falling into the same maudlin melodrama that so many of their hair metal peers churned out. Though, it's interesting how time can change things as there's one song that would surely raise eyebrows today if the band was better known - "Jihad" - with its chorus "Jihad, I'm getting mad/there's no fuel left for the pilgrims". Ah, how world events have killed some interesting song topics. The fact that this song isn't on a banned lists sadly demonstrates how forgotten the band has become in America ... a shame as they have a very strong & enjoyable catalog worth going back & hunting up. Or, you could just leave them as Denmark's secret & continue to wonder why American critics rave about this supposedly obscure 80's band. Your loss.

Attack Attack ~ Deluxe Reissue (album review) ... Sexual man chocolate!

Style: punk, alt rock, screamo, metalcore, experimental
Label: Rise Records
Year: 2011
Home: Ohio

Members: Caleb Shomo ~ vocals/keyboards
Johnny Franck ~ guitar/vocals
John Holgado ~ bass
Andrew Wetzel ~ drums
Andrew Whiting ~ guitar

It's hard not to take notice of this band due to their name. It's a quintessential rock band name much like Dragonforce or Slayer in terms of the feeling one gets just from the name alone. A nearly constant touring schedule over the past three years has also help stick it to memory. But, don't expect 80's power or hair metal. This is a youthful alt rock/punk band, or more probably screamo/metalcore for those that want proper names however unclear their definitions to an older generation. The singing tends to be a duel between hoarse throated screaming & normal voiced singing, like many bands neither is particularly interesting just adequate which is how the genre works, over symphonic keyboards & thrash-esque guitars but with enough punk & alt/pop rock elements that keep it clearly not a heavy metal band by traditional standards. AA has the expected metal ... attack, but takes to the battlefield from an unexpected direction. Actually, they reach out to a much wider audience with this fusion. AA might alienate hardcore metalheads, but a large majority, like myself, will probably pay attention & like a lot of the result, while they also rope in power pop audiences who don't like the extreme brutality of a lot of metal but want to head bang to heavy rhythms just the same in between sing-along pop ballads. Deluxe Reissue is an interesting choice of third album ... for any band. It's a reissue of their successful 2010 self-titled album, now renamed Deluxe Reissue, plus 4 new studio tracks ("Last Breath", "Pick A Side", "Criminal" & "All Alone"), 2 acoustic versions of old tracks ("I Swear I'll Change" & "Turbo Swag") & 2 remixes ("Sexual Man Chocolate" & "AC-130"). It's a little something to please fans until the official third album is released but seems like it's a premature release on some level. Why not release an EP, live album, just a remix album or a few singles online instead of reissuing an album barely a year old? The weakest part of the album, for me, is the hoarse throated singing which sounds painful at time ... painful for the singer & the listener ... though it's the style for much of this screamo genre. Like death metal it takes some getting used to. But, the almost symphonic arrangements & the thrashy guitars make up for it with hardcore head-banging rhythms & lots of variety. An alt rock version of Rage Against The Machine or Drowning Pool comes to mind ... particularly in terms of the rhythmic quality. The pop songs are less interesting & if it was only that this album would not appear on the blog lacking the hard rock quality I look for. As for the bonus tracks ... the four new tracks open the album up with an explosion. "Last Breath" & "Pick A Side" are metalcore outings, with "Last Breathe" the better though they sound incredibly similar, while "Criminal" & "All Alone" are alt pop outings that abandon the throat singing & sound like a completely different band with electronic bubbling keyboards under the incredibly subdued guitars. The switching gears between these four tracks is quite astonishing. In many ways it foreshadows what lies ahead for those that don't know the original album. What made the original 2010 release & AA so interesting is that it does bounce around styles with near abandon pulling anything & everything from thrashy to melodic metal to electric elements such as dance beats. Some critics have called it a 'hodgepodge' but I actually find the variety enjoyable. Though, it is at times a band trying to discover what works & what doesn't versus creating some conceptual masterpiece a la Primal Scream's also diverse Screamadelica, while they do have many songs that use the same format and sound too much alike when they hit on a prize winning combination. I like a band that shows creativity & diversity, let alone I tend to often get board of the just the alt pop or just the screamo styles ... let alone this blog would not be covering the album if it was just the pop ... so while diehard fans might be alienated by the impurity it keeps strangers like me interested. This may not be the Screamadelica for a new generation but all the elements in place for Attack Attack to be one of the bands that brings music to a new level once they make different elements their own & less of a hodgepodge of new ideas. It takes time. Remember, the Beatles didn't march out the door with Sgt Pepper but did album after album of pop love songs. As for the other bonus tracks that conclude the album - completely unnecessary. The remixes are unnecessary experiments & actually a bit difficult to listen to while the acoustic songs of only guitar/vocals are just not fleshed out enough to be interesting alternative arrangements. These last four tracks will also alienate both the metal & the pop fans & can be skipped during playback sadly ... along with the odd dance tunes "Shut Your Mouth" & "Lonely" that come out of nowhere & stay there aiming for the wrong audience. Nice try though. Luckily, the four new tracks that open the album make up for the weak ending. As for what to do with the dance beat experiments .... do what Savatage did and start a new band, aka Trans-Siberian Orchestra, to do that music.

Primal Scream ~ Screamadelica Live (DVD review) ... Scream louder!

Style: alt rock, experimental
Label: Eagle Rock Entertainment
Year: 2011
Home: Scotland

Concert location: Olympia, London, England
Year Recorded: 2010
Length: 119 minutes
Bonus Features: bonus CD of first set

Members: Bobby Gillespie ~ vocals
Andrew Innes, Barrie Cadogan ~ guitar
Martin Duffy ~ keyboards
Gary "Mani" Mounfield ~ bass
Darrin Mooney ~ drums

Additional: James Hunt ~ sax/flute
Mary Pierce, Samantha Smith, Victor Bynoe, Janet Ramus, Michelle John, Phebe Edwards, Bryan Chambers ~ b. vocals
Simon Finch, Nicol Thomson ~ horns

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of their universally recognized landmark album, seen by both fans & critics as one of the best albums of the 1990's, Scottish rockers PS performed Screamadelica live in its entirety in London in 2010. The DVD also includes a second show labeled the "rock & roll set" (including: "Accelerator", "Country Girl", "Jailbird" "Burning Wheel", "Suicide Bomb", "Shoot Speed/Kill Light", "Rocks" & "Swastika Eyes") which is a 40 minute high energy alt rock set performed earlier in the night. Both shows are excellent. PS fans should get this& those who aren't fans will find this as a good introduction to the best of PS. End of story. Well ... for those that don't know PS I guess I should explain. I'll confess that I'm not really familiar with PS outside of knowing a bit about who they are & have never heard any of their albums as their style of psychedelic influenced quasi-stoner/alt rock never has really grabbed me. I enjoy it but you find few of the albums of this genre in my collection, if any. So, this is review is not by an insider whose going to compare the live show to the original studio album, nor how the band has changed for good &/or bad. You'll get my first reviews as an outsider ... but if a band can't reach out to a person who isn't a fan they're doing something wrong. My first thoughts as the concert opens ... if U2 were more like Iggy Pop & far less polished the outcome would be this. It's funky in a way U2 sometimes want to be, it's also more experimental than I expected & less categorizable. If someone gave me tickets to either show I wouldn't be disappointed. I'm impressed. I'm interested. I want to hear more. I'm enjoying myself for a cynical outsider. For someone who doesn't know what to expect & thus the inclusion of a horn section & gospel choir during the Screamadelica set doesn't really mean anything & I'm actually a bit hesitant to watch the show knowing this is a style of music I'm unfamiliar with ... it's excellent. PS is alt rock before there was alt rock, is the best way of describing to the initiated what they sound like. Now a bit older, but their hair is still long & they still look like Jeff Beck when he was in the Yardbirds with slacks & oh so very British suit jackets. Actually, at times they remind me of the Rolling Stones in their early days, particularly on "Rocks" & "Movin' On Up" ... that is, if the Stones hadn't been a rock band & the lead singer didn't have Tourette's dance moves though at times Andrew Innes & Bobby Gillespie come close to looking like Jagger & Richards. PS's music might be full of mood changing moments perfect for the pot smoking or rave set but it doesn't come off as bombastic or pretentious or over the top or even completely drugged out ... for those of us in the clean/sober set. It's vibrant & exciting & this goes for both sets equally. Actually, it's hard to say which set is better. But, I prefer the rock'n'roll set where they just play some great guitar solos, sing some songs & keep the rhythm going for a fun show. They don't necessarily need & I don't want the beats, loops & effects that dominate Screamadelica to be entertained successfully. While the rock set isn't slowed by any ballads or extended hypnotic instrumental rave sections. As I'm unfamiliar with the original release of Screamadelica to me it feels more just like a concert with a second set that's a little less musically ambitious & unpredictable. For those that don't know, Screamadelica includes everything from techno loops & effects to acoustic moments & lengthy instrumental passages of strange sounding guitar solos & rhythms that is everything from rave & acid house to the Over Under Sideways Down era of the Yardbirds. Actually, the guitar solos are quite interesting moments in themselves & definitely help me lean to the U2 comparison as they are nothing but ambitious & experimental, without ever going over the top. New member Barrie Cadogan of the band Little Barrie is one of those really original guitarists that gets me interested as I watch him do everything I don't expect. I even bought the first Little Barrie CD on Amazon before the DVD was over to hear more from him. As for over the top, this is one of the tightest shows I've seen where everything is perfectly in place & there doesn't seem to be any improvisation or uncoordinated moments. It might also sound odd to say but there's also something very un-American about the music. Maybe Radiohead might come close but between the lights, retro clothing & Ramones hairdos, the playing, the psychedelic influences the result is a style all its own. Considering that "Slip Inside This House" from Screamadelica is a take on the 1967 13th Floor Elevators song the psychedelic influence is no casual observation on my part, let alone the use of classic model guitars. For someone who doesn't know the band nor even this style of music the more it plays the more I get interested. I'm pulled into their world. There's an intensity about the performance that I can't ignore. For a live concert if that's not happening then the gig is potentially a failure. For an introduction to PS you can't go wrong getting this DVD, even over buying one of their CDs as there's a visual element here if for no other reason than the retro look. It helps that includes two set showing two sides of the band. Includes a bonus CD of the Screamadelica set which makes up for the complete lack of linear notes.

Basement ~ I Wish I Could Stay Here (album review) ... Is anybody down there?

Style: punk, alt rock
Label: Run For Cover Records
Year: 2011
Home: Britain

Members: Andrew Fisher ~ vocals
Alex Henry ~ guitar/b. vocals
James Fisher ~ drums
Duncan Stewart ~ bass
Ronan Crix ~ guitar

The first full length release by British quintet Basement, followed by the band's first American tour, is a somber walk through life. They give the mood away immediately by opening the album with Cary Grant saying "Now is probably my last chance", Audrey Hepburn responding "Mine too", only to get back "It's now or never". It's an interesting introduction on any record but to then have the ears hit with contemporary punk slashing guitars, think Green Day not Sex Pistols for a definition of modern punk, with the song "Fading" it's a bit disconcerting. With the lyrics being "Rain falls hard, washes me away. I feel sick./I feel sick, so empty, so ordinary./In my head I heard you call my name./I’m breaking down I’m fading./& everything I had will fall apart./Nothing stays the same" ... well, disconcerting is the name of the game for Basement. Loneliness & despair are prevalent lyrical themes with a bit of heartbreak thrown in. It is indeed a cold basement for the lads. Without doubt this is definitely the words of youth already carrying all of life's woes & a few more on the side. You actually worry a bit about the songwriter as the album goes on. Is he alright? Does he need a hug? But, it's hard not to wonder if this is the best subject choice to have dominate all ten tracks, particularly on the band's first full length release. But, this is not music for middle aged adults. It's modern punk for a young & modern crowd that shares the same angst & issues as those who will buy the album. It's music for the next generation. & like every generation that comes of age you can't escape loneliness, despair, worry & a broken heart & thus in a weird way the cold basement becomes a warm blanket & cup of hot chocolate. It should be noted that the heavy handed theme of depression gives the music far more personality than would be there otherwise. The music & singing isn't anything necessarily out of the ordinary for this genre nor matching the lyrics in moodiness beyond a few moments when the guitars pull back (i.e. "Canada Square", "Earl Grey", "Yoke", "March", "Greyscale") ... which could be done a lot more often to great effect, let alone give the band some more musical depth. What is potentially a detriment actually lifts the band up giving them a personality & when they do take some softer moments it shows off a lot more talent & creativity than the slashing guitar moments. The one soft instrumental "Ellipses", that divides the album, is proof of what they can do. Also, the lyrics are incredibly short. It's hard to say if this is good or bad. The excerpt from "Fading" is a less an excerpt but the whole song that gets repeated with no choruses or anything in what can only be described as a little prose poem. My high school English teacher used to always tell me to flesh things out, while a famed New York playwright told me years later to flesh my characters out so much they become naked. I'm going to pass that advice on to the boys sitting hurt in the cold basement. Now that you're alone write another verse or two. The prose approach is interesting. You don't need a chorus or any of the standard song-writing structures & I applaud the untraditional lyrical style ... but just give me more. Dig into your sad soul & pour it on me. I can take it.

Har Mar Superstar ~ Dark Touches (album review) ... Har Mar is too glamorous for his own good!

Style: dance, electronica, pop
Label: Dilettante Recordings
Year: 2009
Home: Minnesota

Members: Har Mar Superstar ~ vocals
Michael Bland, Dorian Crozier ~ drums
Asa Taccone, Loribeth Capella, Erica Daking ~ b. vocals
Brian Gallagher ~ sax
Paloma Udovic ~ strings

Har Mar Superstar has become famous for prancing his balding & overweight body around the stage with convoluted breakdancing wearing nothing but his underwear - & not necessarily sexy underwear - & thus finding himself with a bit of a cult following. It doesn't help those that might be grinning in shock that he's known for performing live pre-recorded music coming from his boombox. HMS is a true eccentric attraction in an age of music when that's truly hard to do. His eccentricity also extends to his music which many might find an odd inclusion in a blog dedicated to rock/metal music as it relies heavily on very non-rock dance/electronica. But, every so often HMS pulls something out the history books & crafts a song that could be straight from the catalog of early Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five or maybe Isaac Hayes if the late Mr. Hayes was a tenor. If one doesn't appreciate the ties between rock & Motown/Stax 60's R&B/soul then you'll still be scratching your heads why HMS might be included here, but for those that know the impact soul music has on rock then HMS deserves mention. If, for nothing else, than the fact that his unique fusion of styles is the theme that floats through the music chosen for this blog. HMS crafts a style of underground dance pop that mixes R&B with electronica to which he adds a campy tenor singing about all the things that one expects in modern dance pop ... even songs about getting it on with boys. HMS has written songs for Jennifer Lopez, Eve & Kelly Osbourne. "Tall Boy" & "Girls Only" on this fourth release Dark Touches were offered to Britney Spears & the Cheetah Girls, respectively, both of whom declined the offer & the loss is greatly theirs. HMS decided to record the songs himself giving them the HMS pop make-over but not changing the lyrics. "Tall Boys" is a highlight of the album & a perfect fit for Britney Spears with all her much loved vocal overdubs. As for a middle aged un-sexy straight guy singing about sexing up boys at a club ... it only adds to the eccentricity of the man ... music ... album. If it sounds odd, it is. But, its definitely funky. The strongest parts of Dark Touches are the more R&B oriented songs that rock the house down in a James Brown way, as some of the more dance oriented cuts sound weak & unfinished & walk the line of generic commercial pop filler.

Burzum ~ Filosofem (album review) ... Gebrechlichkeit I & other thoughts!

Style: black metal, experimental
Label: PHD Music
Year: 1996
Home: Norway

Members: Varg Vikernes ~ all instruments

Varg Vikernes has become a death/black metal icon for serving 15 years in prison for murder of a fellow death metal musician, but if history was different he might have become more famous for his one man band Burzum pushing the boundaries of black metal to its limits & beyond then his non-musical efforts. His friends/peers in Mayhem might have been moody, dark & devilish with slashing guitars & screeching vocals but on Filosofem Burzum did it with an approach that is more akin to dark ambient music than death metal. For those who are only familiar with the early Burzum albums, that are in the same vein as Mayhem, only to be surprised by the classical feeling of Vikernes two keyboard-computer albums produced while in prison where he was banned from using real instruments, this collection of earlier unreleased tracks is an important bridge that puts everything into perspective. Recorded in March 1993 it wasn't released until 2 years into the incarceration, when for many Burzum was no longer a music making entity, so it didn't get the recognition it might have received in other circumstances, plus its a partially incomplete album that was released because of the fanfare around Vikernes not because it was ready to hit the shelves. If prison hadn't gotten in the way & if Filosofem can be taken as a sign of of natural progressions, Vikernes probably would have gone the classical direction anyway which very well could have lifted him to a position as a trendsetter in the Norwegian music scene, let alone the scene would be different if the media fanfare & criminal activity had never happened. Filosofem lets us into a alternative reality Norway with progressively hypnotic music that is far more mental than aggressive with 8 minute songs relying heavily on long instrumental parts with guitars so distorted they almost become drones with distant equally heavily distorted vocals. Many have called Filosofem a highlight of the Burzum catalog. With two versions of the same song ("Gebrechlichkeit I") with & without vocals & a 25 minute instrumental ("Rundgang Um Die Transzendentale Saule Der Singularitat") that's only a repeating keyboard bit of 8 simple notes it's a bit of a heavy statement & might misrepresent the album to the casual fan. In terms of being an introduction to Burzum it's nothing like what came before or after or even after prison. But, in terms of progressive thinking it says a lot more than what had come before & in that way is a highlight. Filosofem is a look into one musician's psyche, plain & simple, away from any preconceived notions of what the outcome should sound like. This is desolate, lonely & introspective. Actually, its very reminiscent at times of the Velvet Underground's own 30 minute live moments with "Sister Ray". Today, post-prison, Burzum has returned to a more slash & burn style then continuing along hypnotically mystical laid down with Filosofem & developed out in prison. Being that these are the more difficult albums of the Burzum catalog it is no surprise Vikernes would want to return to territory more comfortable to most listeners. The physical CD includes short stories by Vikernes to frame song meanings, making it more of a concept album than most black metal bands at the time would probably have dared do & showing some far-reaching musical creativity. Though, this is sadly lost in the download age where the booklet doesn't get downloaded.

Sadistik Exekution ~ K.A.O.S. (album review) ... Music has never been this brutal!

Style: black metal, death metal
Label: Osmose Productions
Year: 1999
Home: Australia

Members: Rok ~ vocals
Rev. Kriss Hades ~ guitar
Dave Slave ~ bass
Sloth ~ drums

Claimed as one of the most influencial underground death metal bands in Australia Sad-Ex, as they're known to fans, might be more famous for their crazy antics on stage, often nonsensical & profane interview style & continuous threats to not perform over their decade in existence, which they rarely did as it was, or just plain break-up for the up-teenth time. Ignoring the shock theater the music is actually, maybe even surprising to some, quite riveting & definitely one of the better death metal bands out there, or at least in the extreme/grindcore end of the spectrum that also includes such bands as Nunslaughter, Bolt Thrower, Impaled Nazarene among countless others. They are definitely one of the few death metal bands in the scene where the vocals are understandable. Understandable in terms of what's being vocalized by frontman Rok, not necessarily what it all means. A typical song might consist of seemingly improvised random Satanic imagery, the repeated use of the word 'fuck' - or 'fukk' in Sad-Ex speak - & just pure growling & gagging moving between speaking & rhythmic quasi-singing/growling. It's as over the top as black metal gets & would be Spinal Tap comedic if it wasn't for the seriousness that Rok & Co. take when doing interviews & presenting themselves as a group of crazy guys, but incredibly-dedicated-to-making-great-metal crazy guys. While the music itself is a pure onslaught of beats & speed that verges on sounding as improvised as the lyrics than actually cohesive musical units. Or, as one reviewer once wrote - 'unhinged'. Though, it's an unhinged onslaught that actually hides some rather talented & exploratory playing. Drums furiously imitate the beats of Hell while the guitarist takes full advantage of the range guitar & octave large melodic riffs & not just little couple note bits that bands like to call melodic but lack any real scaler movement. Guitarist Rev. Kriss Hades has also been known to play his guitar with a violin bow in the tradition of Jimmy Page & earlier Jeff Beck. In the midst of this frenzy you'll even discover little bass riffs of incredible speeds & dexterity by the under-rated Dave Slave. Sad-Ex formed in 1986, recording 3 albums before a final live show in 1999 followed by two more albums, breaking up & then reuniting in 2009 for a much heralded 2011 performance at the first annual Australian Metal Awards. Though famous for their over the top live show they only played a couple shows a year - if any. Their albums were released by French label Osmose Productions essentially meaning that they'd never get the same attention in America that their fellow Australian metalheads & Europeans give them. Of all their album, all worth checking out, K.A.O.S. is probably the best introduction as it has some of the best production values, most frantic songs & is incredibly close to their live sound. Further, other albums contain many ambiatic black metal dirges while K.A.O.S. is pure adrenaline down the line. It's not about pushing any musical boundaries except that of walking the line of musical chaos. If you love black metal but don't know Sad-Ex you're missing a vital part of the international scene. This is a band that's quoted as an inspiration by Norwegian black metalheads & bands ... so, if you don't know Sad-Ex then what school have you learned your black metal hard knocks from? This is extreme metal with no holds barr that rocks with no pretentions & no mere band of gimmicks as some might believe.

Atomic Playground ~ Baal Perazim (album review) ... Music in for the kill!

Style: heavy metal
Label: A-Bomb Records
Year: 2010
Home: Florida

Members: Buddy Zappa ~ vocals
Jerre Hill ~ guitars
Sly ~ bass
Jerome Jowais ~ drums

When asked not long ago about his singing style over the decades Jeff Scott Soto of Trans-Siberian Orchestra/ex-Journey said that he could no longer sing in the style he did when he was a member of Yngmie Malmsteen's Rising Force as that voice sounds contrived, overly emotive & foolish in retrospect. Sadly, AP should pay attention to his words as they are in the same mold as Malmsteen's early albums musically ... & vocally ... & imitating JSS at this early point in his career is not a positive. It's one thing when the vocalist has some unique tone, such as the screams of Rob Halford of Judas Priest or the whine of Ozzy, but AP frontman Buddy Zappa comes off more as an imitator than a singer in his own right. He's trying to sound like every heavy metal singer, with all the nuances, over ten tracks without ever finding comfort with his own voice, which is shocking considering he's been singing for awhile. He's aiming for the show but forgetting what makes so many voices so great is the passion underneath the show. It's the weakest part of AP's debut album & at times distracting from the anti-nuclear war message that laces through the lyrics. When things get vocally toned down, as sometimes happens such as on "In For The Kill" & "Crossed The Line", its a major improvement though one then notices that the mix/production could be better. Though, AP confesses on their website the near demo quality of the album & for a debut one must often forgive a lot as a band often lacks better resources &/or money to seek out such. As for the rest of the quartet the guitars at times sound a bit weak, partly due to the production, but also due to the use of rhythms with solos overdubbed instead of rhythms that include more nuances & become solos in themselves. But, as AP opened for Accept & Sabaton in 2011 my weak opinion of their album is a small one in a big sea, I'll confess to that. This also might very well might be a case where the live band is better than the studio one & it's my loss that I don't live in Florida as that seems to be a hotbed of music. 

Bad Company ~ Live At Wembley (DVD review) ... Back & badder than ever!

Style: classic rock, hard rock, live
Label: Eagle Vision
Year: 2011
Home: Britain

Concert location: Wembley Arena, England
Year Recorded: 2010
Length: 110 minutes
Bonus Features: band interviews

Members: Paul Rodgers ~ vocals/guitar/tambourine/piano
Mick Ralphs ~ guitar
Simon Kirke ~ drums

Additional: Howard Leese ~ guitar/mandolin/piano
Lynn Sorensen ~ bass

I can't count the number of friends a generation older than me who rave about Paul Rodgers as one of the greatest of 1970's singers. I've never understood it as The Firm with Jimmy Page was good but I felt Rodgers was vocally tame in a desire to sell commercial rock over bluesy rock while his blues belting with Queen always seemed for me mismatched with the camp Freddie Mercury spirit. For some strange reason, partly due to my youth, I never got into Rodgers' Free & Bad Co. catalogs. These two bands have always mysteriously floated just outside my radar outside of being familiar with their chart hits. I know see my loss. Returning to Jimmy Page to set the scene ... I grew up loving Led Zeppelin but had a musical revelation when I finally got to see concert footage of them. They're magicians in the studio but on stage they become gods as its one thing to overdub & overdub to find perfection over a long period of trial & error, but its another hitting it just as powerfully on stage in under two hours with a limited supply of instruments & back-up musicians, if any. I've heard a bit of Bad Co. but was never struck enough to hunt up their studio albums. But, now, seeing them live, or at least 3 of the original members, I'm getting that Led Zep revelation all over again. The now over middle-aged reunited Bad Co. present an unbelievable live show in their first U.K. tour in 30 years. Now, I truly can say that I understand what all the bragging of Paul Rodgers is about. If you've been like me & think he's 'just another' 70's singer let me point you to this DVD, or CD if you choose to get that version, to change your mind. Before you start listing his contemporaries who are still performing & may have, in their heyday, been far better than him ... let's be honest - many of them have not retained their voices ... Rodgers has & if anything has better control than ever ... or maybe he always did & now I'm just realizing what I've missed. He's in prime form, young singers could take a few lessons, where the natural high of the stage gives his voice an extra kick. But, then, one might also say that after all these years, different bands & solo albums, Bad Co. is home & it's always good to be home. Some reunited bands show their age & remind us why rock'n'roll has always been primarily a young kids sport, but while the guys may not be a band of top tier rock stars whose names immediately call up tons of images they are definitely rockers that are having as much fun as a garage band at their first show in the high school cafeteria. Actually, I'm reminded by how many middle-aged rockers today are disproving the notion that being old isn't much fun & that rock'n'roll is for the young only. Even new 'boys' - guitarist Howard Leese, most famous for being a founding member of Heart, & extroverted bassist Lynn Sorensen - help kick things up like this is also their first time & they're out to prove something versus laying back as the 'other' guys. There's a mix of nerves & excitement that opens the show. When the audience takes over vocals of opener "Can't Get Enough" you can tell the band is a little bit surprised that after so long people are still enjoying the music. But, the nerves quickly break into excitement as the band pulls out all the stops in one of undoubtedly the best reunions of the past few years. Reunited bands, particularly those with new/replacement members, often come off as tributes/cover bands rather than the real thing, which was one criticism of Rodgers time with Queen. These guys, new boys & all, are the real thing no doubt. The great thing about Bad Co. is they remind the forgetful just how much 70's music rocked. The Journeys, Black Sabbaths, Jefferson Starships & other bands that pushed the boundaries might have eclipsed bands that played it somewhat safe like Bad Co., but on some level Bad Co. might be more responsible for the 80's hair metal than many others. Certainly few bands sound like Sabbath, but Bad Co. have the same vitality as Bon Jovi. They definitely rock as hard as what would follow in years ahead, sans wasting their time with costumes, overly mellow-dramatic power ballads, "Simple Man" & "Ready For Love" being the closest, & other weaknesses of the era. Bad Co. is bad rock'n'roll plain & simple & I want to have as much youth as them when I hit their age in a couple decades. Sadly, a lot of young folks will probably write the DVD off as being a bunch of old guys. The loss was mine & now theirs. A great bonus features include pre/post-band interviews including the three original members together, who are just normal guys who seem genuinely surprised at how good the music is & looking forward to going out with this final show with a bang, plus the new American boys that look more like rockers than their bandmates. Note that the DVD, versus the CD, features the additional track of "Burnin' Sky", which is a real vocal powerhouse & worth spending the extra money for the video. 

Britny Fox ~ Britny Fox (aka debut) (album review) ... Can you take that tenor a little higher?

Style: glam rock
Label: Columbia
Year: 1988
Home: n/a

Members: Dean Davidson ~ rhythm guitar/vocals
Billy Childs ~ bass/b. vocals
Michael Kelly Smith ~ guitar/b. vocals
John Dee ~ drums/b. vocals

Additional: David Gibbins ~ keyboards

The bombastic edge & vacant love songs of Kiss meets the 80's glam of Cinderella ... from whom they borrowed a guitarist, an image & even were assisted in getting a record contract ... BF grabbed the spotlight big time with their self-titled debut, via the single "Long Way To Love", before soon hitting a musical ceiling & collapsing into obscurity with a second single, "Girlschool", & follow-up albums. If you can get beyond the whiny almost falsetto vocals that out highs Ratt's Stephen Pearcy & out costume early Motley Crue - though Crue remake far more make-up'd - BF's debut is a glam rock gem that doesn't worry about rootsy rock, power metal, big social statements or anything that isn't pure glam entertainment drawing on the foundation set a decade earlier by David Bowie, T-Rex, Gary Glitter, Suzy Quatro & countless others. It's full of shallow & overly cliched love songs typical of the 80's, with countless guitar solos & riffs to match, & an anthemic flavor reminiscent of Kiss. Actually, Kiss is much closer than not as when BF drop the tenor singing they sound surprisingly like Paul Stanley (i.e. "Save The Weak", "Fun In Texas"). These are the highlights of the album by far & if the band had been marketed differently could have saved BF from a early death. The weak spots of the album can all be blamed on weak lyrics which do little to help the music have any sense of individualism. "Girlschool", the second single which failed to ignite the charts, has an almost Spinal Tap chorus while "Kick 'N' Fight" drags its heals far more than it kicks & "Rock Revolution" needs a name change as its about as successful as George W. Bush finding weapons of mass destruction. "Don't Hide" isn't bad but is a Ratt knock-off & their not always the best band to be lyrically inspired by. Strange enough on the next album BF would pull out of the Cinderella shadow for a rootsier sound but the bad lyrics would continue to plague the result. BF, for all their playing skills, built around themselves a pretty small mold that held the best of 80's glam but at the same time showed it's restrictiveness very quickly. Somehow Motley Crue, Twisted Sister & other glam-esque bands were able to break the mold as while the image was glam the music had better street credentials. Sometimes it's amazing how shallow & cliché rock music can be lyrically, but then "Blue Suede Shoes" isn't really much better.

Kelly Osbourne ~ Live In London (DVD review) ... Lumbering around at the high school dance!

Style: alt rock, punk rock
Label: Sanctuary Records
Year: 2004
Home: Los Angeles, California

Concert location: The Electric Ballroom, London, England
Year Recorded: 2003
Length: 53 minutes
Bonus Features: "Changes" music video with Ozzy Osbourne, 15 minute soundcheck, 17 minute interview

Members: Kelly Osbourne ~ vocals
Mat Dauzat ~ lead guitar
Devin Bronson ~ rhythm guitar
Alicia Warrington ~ drums
Grog Prebble ~ bass

Guests: Aimee Osbourne, Har Mar Superstar ~ b. vocals

One either wants the children of musicians to & fail - to prove that talent isn't inherited - or to succeed - inaugurating a new generation of talent with a familiar name. The fact that the results are mixed puts neither side in the lead. Famed daughter of the Prince Of Darkness/ex-Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy, Kelly Osbourne undoubtedly knows that she probably wouldn't have a singing career if its wasn't for her famous headbanging father & the surprise runaway success of their reality TV show ... though many have forgotten that dad was on the verge of retirement when TV did wonders for his career, too. Osbourne is a competent singer for the punk music she's largely surrounded herself with. It's a wise decision as punk music has never been about vocal acrobatics. She's not aiming for any greatest singer awards & isn't egotistical enough to push too far & try & inevitably embarrass herself on stage, which more than one musician has done when the accolades of fans exceeded abilities. The point of her music is the expression of teenage angst, plain & simple. It's not about making some grand statement beyond just having fun nor pushing musical boundaries. It's high energy music for a young crowd &, if nothing else, a musical souvenir of a TV star that's a statement all her own far away from her father's musical legacy. The result is that she neither embarrasses herself as a talentless child nor exceeds as a unique talent unto herself. One might even say that she plays it safe & thus gets a better response in the end. A similar musician in the same bind that immediately comes to mind is Lisa Marie Presley who can never touch her famous father but hasn't embarrassed anyone, including herself, either. But, it's also helped Osbourne that some rather average lyrics have been given some under-recognized above-average musical arrangements by at least one producer hidden in the shadows. She's not a studio creation but the session musicians around her definitely know their stuff and exactly what to do, when & where. But, Osbourne does follow her father's footsteps in her physical performance. Ozzy is not known as the greatest performer with his stilted clapping & jumping that only succeeds due to the enjoyment he seems to be having. Kelly is a competent singer but lumbers on stage like a band making their debut at a high school dance. She has no command of the stage & seems to be more in awe of the moment than anything, barely even getting into the music until the third song. Considering the punk rock of the band, which puts in an incredibly tight performance & is an under-rated part of the show as the attention is undoubtedly about one person, one would expect a wilder performance. Even the band keeps it calm, if not fairly tame, so as not to outshine the star. A few physical gyrations are sexless, listless & appear choreographed if not stolen from whatever MTV she watched earlier in the day. Sadly, the final song, Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach", ends up being a highlight of the show when Osbourne does a sexy little free form dance, letting her hair down an hour too late. She's joined in the dance by guest Har Mar Superstar - to the unknowing a ragged roadie but actually a pop singer known for performing in his underwear - in an odd little bit that she announces is based on the urgings of her sister Aimee, the Osbourne not seen in the TV show & thus less known to many except that her reputation is as the 'normal' one, who also joins in the fun. It's an obvious inside joke but Har Mar has a fun & makes the show what it showed have been, considering Osbourne should be aiming more for fun then the ill-fitting voice of a generation/teenage angst. Further, "Papa Don't Preach" is actually the best song of the night greatly outshining the originals. One can't help but wonder where Osbourne will go next. She's young enough to consider her last few releases the folly of sudden fame & not something with long term ambitions behind it. Osbourne's best musical outings have been one-off performances not full albums/shows where she's just not comfortable in keeping the energy going for extended lengths. The DVD also includes a multiple song low-fi soundcheck. It's a dull almost painful bonus to watch & forgets the fact that music buyers tend to prefer bootlegs of live concerts over studio demos, as with a sit down non-performance by Osbourne on one song it comes off as more of a demo than a rehearsal. Performers seem to forget that vocals change when when one performing, even partially performing, making them more vibrant & closer to the actual performance. Being a competent vocalist when she's performing it's painful to watch her nearly mumble through the rehearsal. But, to make up for the soundcheck doldrums is a lengthy pre-show private Q&A with Osbourne that covers her music & life in Britain & America. No, neither sides gets out alive in typical Osbourne fashion. It's an interesting talk but one walks away remembering that Osbourne is only 18. Her answers are much more intelligent than one might expect based on more than a few emotional episodes of The Osbournes but she's still very much a young woman discovering herself, her role in the world & what she wants out of it.

Subplot A ~ Tragic Romantic Mocku Fantasy (album review) ... Cranky music!

Style: comedy, pop rock
Label: Messy Desk Creations
Year: 2009
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Members: Arun Lakra, Craig Newnes, Wes Sutherland ~ misc instruments
Scott Henderson, Bobby McAlister, Emre Unal ~ assorted instruments/vocals
Joel Schaefer, Paul Distefano, Clea Roddick, Irene Tuazon, Dana Crawford, Sonal Jogia ~ vocals

Hard rock ... folk & country .... techno ... world rhythms ... commercial power pop ... it's all here in a colorful 15 song cornucopia by Subplot A, a "virtual" musical collective led by producer/composer/musician Arun Lakra. It's the same musical cornucopia found in the output of Chumbawumba, Bare Naked Ladies & the Flaming Lips. It's colorful, catchy, crazy, creative, comical & completely fun ... & with enough lyrics to keep the word lover happy for an evening ... which is a subtle endorsement to buy the physical CD & not the download version. For example, in opener "Everyman" the male singer cries out in the chorus "Who do you long for/when I take your hand/when you've all alone/let me be your everyman" while the 30 verses of couplet pairs repeat "I want to be your ____" with the blank featuring a list of over 100 names of guys from George Burns to Dorian Gray to Citizen Kane to Jimmy Buffet to the Soup Nazi (my neighbor actually) to Jean Luc Picard! It's a game of trivial pursuit thrown on the ground & is delightfully repeated at the end of the album with 32 more couplets but now with a woman singer saying "You'll never be my ____"! The rest of the album refrains from such hearty pop culture lessons, though it does continue to favor the list approach in its lyrics ... but then so does Broadway icon Steven Sondheim if one listens closely ... only to throw the trials & tribulations of daily life into the listener's face with such songs as "Cranky" ... calling out everything that makes the hoarse voiced singer cranky ... to a bubbly electronica enhanced love song using references to the planet Pluto ... "we traveled different orbits/your night was my day". There's also the anthem in the making "I Puke Alone" about an all too romantic moment many of us have had too often ... "I don't need you to keep the hair out of my face/please remember before you close the door/I'll love you forever & I puke alone"... along with "Must Sell Screenplay" that's a direct letter to Misters Spielberg, Tarantino, Shamalama, Scorese, Eastwood, Reiner & ending with the lovely last ditch effort "Must sell screenplay.../or maybe ... sell a ... song about it/Please Mr. Eno/I got your number from the Edge...". Isn't this fun? Subplot A certainly want you to say yes with different musical styles channeled into the mix to match. But, they also are hoping you're paying attention cause underneath the fun are some incredibly intense social insights that would make Chumbawumba proud. It starts subtly with "I Don't Care" with the refrain "I got a hundred causes lined up at my door/enough is enough I can't bleed anymore" & moves to the shocking Rasta-esque rouser "Two Empty Seats" about an American with "black hair & dark eyes, my name is hard to say/when I reach out my hand, you just turn the other way" who is pleading to be treated equally & "why do I gotta prove/I'm not one of them/I'm one of you." It's a haunting message that seems to come out of nowhere for the listener, or at least for the listener whose not quite paying attention. It's then that one realizes that many of the fun songs are filled with a line here or there that's about making the listener think. Subplot A might be fun but they've got messages of social insight they believe many should hear. The message is not always fun. It's sometimes uncomfortable. It's also something that many of us can relate to. But, they know the best way to make an uncomfortable message friendly is to cloak it under something everyone can enjoy ... before you know it you'll be singing along with an anti-racism song. What could be better? Subplot A is rare breed of band that includes a collective of talented & super creative musicians that have crafted a wonderful ... mocku fantasy of music with a message,

Kommandant ~ Kontakt (EP) (album review) ... Present arms!

Style: black metal, death metal, war metal
Label: Planet Metal
Year: 2010
Home: Chicago, Illinois

Members: Nick Hernandez ~ vocals
Jim Bresnahan, Marcus Matthew Rolar ~ guitar
Jon "Necromancer" Woodring ~ bass
Garrett Scanlan ~ drums

Do you like your black metal with pounding double bass? How about lots of blistering distorted guitars a la Cradle Of Filth that chug on fast, furious & super adrenalized not wasting time on fancy riffs or too many over-the-top distracting solos? Do like a growling singer who tends to look as venomous as he shouts? How about song lyrics that call up something from the pits of hell, in its many forms, that death metal seems to cull from, such as: "Kk66n6zt", "Anti Human Nemesis", "Codex Gigas", "Der Maschinenraum", "Sulpher Chariot" & "The Genesis Reaktor"? Since their formation in 2005 & through numerous line-up changes Kommandant has been routinely hailed as one of the rising stars of the underground black/death metal scene. They definitely have all the musical elements in place for bands in their genre & will easily find fans. The problem is that outside the black metal field & to more casual listeners of the style it might take a bit of trying to persuade the non-initiated that there's something creative going on here other than variations in tempo. For many black metal is just a speed metal onslaught with the variety too minimal & imitation too prominent, let alone the lack of coherent lyrics is a difficult bridge for many to cross. But, Kommandant does work hard to stand out of the crowd with an interesting stage show & an omnipresent theme. Always seen in storm trooper outfits, including bully clubs in promo photos, with everyone's face obscured by gas masks their promo material is drenched in fierce "nuclear war" imagery/terminology where "tactics are cruel & cold" & "forces are mobilized" though "several enlisted men do not survive the initial campaign". Yes, this is more Axis than Allied in its ideology & vision, though more akin to a fantasy film than actual history. You'll find similarities to the past & different groups but in the world of the military all groups end up being similar. But, this isn't a National Socialist/Neo-Nazi/Oi band, as they make a point of pointing out in press releases stating that their enemy is not a specific group but the boredom of modern life & the lies of parents, teachers, etc about America being the "shining jewel of democracy". Kommandant should be ... saluted ... for wrapping themselves completely in their vision, far more than most bands do. But, their main asset is also a problem as that many other bands have done similar on stage with the full costumes - Marilyn Manson & Lordi most obvious comparisons. But, with those bands the music actually is enjoyable without the visual & accentuates the gimmick with lots of ... traditional ... melody & not just a pounding onslaught of distortion, let alone you can understand the lyrics. Without the visuals Kommandant loose much of what makes it interesting to many listeners & come off as just another death metal band. Perhaps they've forgotten that, yes, war is in your face but it has its moments of waiting & silence that are in your face in a far different way.