Mans Ruin

Acid King
Busse Woods

Another release from the incredibly strong Man’s Ruin roster. Acid King prefer to enter the “stoner” rock arena via the slow, long and deep corridor inhabited by luminaries such as Sleep and Electric Wizard. Basically taking the song Black Sabbath, tuning it down a lot and playing it through the devils own fuzz pedal.

The songs meander along at a crushingly slow rate, and that’s where the crux of the problem lies. Basically the majority of people are going to find stuff like this boring. Yeah I know that saying this kind of thing is for a specialist market is a pure cop out on my part, but hey it’s the truth. 39 Lashes is a prime example. Built around one solid riff the song consists of counting, Sesame Street style, up to 39. Hardly what I’d call as immediate as Slipknot or whatever the kids are listening to these days.

From a musical point of view, Acid King have still a bit to go to join the cream of the stoner doom section. More groove is needed, along with more quality control in the riff department. However they’ve got the sound just right in terms of sludgy slowness and that’s a key factor in this style of music. Despite the boredom factor, I must say that this is better than Electric Wizards debut and that’s got to be encouraging. If you like this kind of thing then check it out. If not then go and read another review, which I’m sure you already have.

Rating: **********

Mammoth

Fu Manchu
King Of The Road

For those of you that know Fu Manchu, you know what you’re getting. For the rest, lets just say that the band play retro rock, popularly known as stoner rock, with heavy use of fuzz and wah wah pedals. Oh and their singer has this kind of weird, oft annoying vocal delivery.

The title says it all really. This is Fu Manchu, they sing about cars and roads and stuff. They’re as groovy as fuck and care little about playing the heavy metal game. They don’t sound like Black Sabbath or Kyuss, as is often misreported, and what can I say, I like them. Upon first listen King of The Road sounded identical to both The Action is Go and In Search of…, Fu Manchu like AC/DC don’t really progress much. However the decision to cut the track listing to a mere 11 songs was a good idea, purely to stop repetition setting in. Also the band have thrown in a few faster songs, to break up some of the mid-paceness which The Action is Go suffered from.

Further in depth listening actually showed King of the Road to be a bit of a grower, which all the best albums are. The songs this time around are tidier, with more thought having gone into the way the album should flow. Yes this is the best stuff the band have done so far, with even Scott Hill’s vocals seeming to fit better with the music than before. Also having songs as good as Boogie Van and Weird Beard is always going to help. Perhaps the best thing I can say about King of the Road is that, unlike the other two Fu Manchu albums I own, I know the name of every track on this album and can distinguish one from another. So maybe like Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu are now relying slightly less on vibe and introducing some great songs. Whatever the case this is prime time Fu Manchu, go buy!

Rating: **********

Scarlet

Con Anima
The Book Of Riddles

Quite charming, in a weird quirky way.

Con Anima play a kind of melodic orchestral metal with a light touch which most strongly resembles Sirrah (see previous reviews).

The band-comparisons don't end there, however. This album has an incredibly eclectic style with The House on th Hill sounding kinda like a much prettier delicate sister of Cradle of Filth, Eating Eyes has a very Anathema-esque sound, The Angel of Melancholy has Maiden-esque galloping riffs and a poppy Goth vocal melody which brings The Damned to mind.

All in all, it's an incredibly accessible melodic album, which does have a rather Euro-metal sound, but is well above par. I wouldn't say it's particularly struck me though.

Various
Holy Dio

If you are older than about 22 then the chances are you will know a few Dio songs, or at least some Ronnie James Dio's output with other bands such as Rainbow and Black Sabbath. Many of us love to slag the man off, and indeed I often do myself. He does however have a huge following and a certain charm. Over the years he has written many classic tracks for his solo career, such as Dream Evil, We Rock, and Holy Diver. Of these, only the second is on this sampler.

That's right, this is only really a sampler that's getting reviewed. It is a full 10-track CD, but the album is actually a double. I don't know if the tracks have been badly picked, but the song choices do seem a little odd at times - like the terminally dull Fates Warning interpretation of Sign Of The Southern Cross. There are some good tracks though such as opener Don't Talk To Strangers (Blind Guardian), the anthemic Long Live Rock And Roll (Gamma Ray), and the Deep Purple-esque Kill The King (Stratovarius). Through the whole album the vocals rarely reach the emotional highs which characterise the Dio ethos, though Yngwie Malmsteen and Stratovarius make good efforts.

Recreating the emotion and atmosphere of the man himself was never going to be easy, and this CD had made a semi-decent attempt at it. Whatever you do though, try not to listen to the Doro track Egypt (The Chains Are On)!!

Verdict: Diehard european Dio fans unite!

MetalAgen

Forgive Me Not
Tearfall

Hmmm, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this one when I picked it for review. The bands name suggests a return to the days of Tigertailz and the cover of the album reminded me of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. What I got wasn’t entirely what I expected, but hey, isn’t that always the case?

Starting off with an incredibly lame sound of a tear dropping (which also finishes the album) Forgive Me Not then race into the title track which is reminiscent of Draconian Times era Paradise Lost. However running beneath the surface, and hopefully the band won’t hate me for saying this, is an appreciation of all things big hair and make up. Kind of Jon Bon Jovi meets Nick Holmes. Before you all start laughing I should state that it bloody works! Injecting a little bit more bubblegum into the drab and moody guitar sections gives the band their own twist and also more room to run in the songwriting department.

Ok so the band gamble by adding a little more parmesan to the mixture but, just like the cover, the actual album has that pop/metal feel that worked so well on Seventh Son. Perhaps if they want to be taken more seriously in the metal market, songs such as Werewolf and Heaven Island have to go (purely because of their titles), but as a reviewer I found it a pleasant and at least half original album to listen to, which is indeed a refreshing thing here in Attitude Towers.

I’m not sure who’ll buy it but hey this is about music, and Forgive Me Not certainly have that certain something.

Rating: **********

Relapse

Embalmer
There Was Blood Everywhere

Embalmer are a brutal death metal band, and this album from '97 is very heavy and fast. The two vocal styles are good but the drumming isn't - on some tracks they are very quiet. The cover art is cool - a big guy standing on a pile of gore and body parts with an axe in one hand and a severed hand in the other, which is writing the album name in the wall. Embalmer are on my favourite label, Relapse (as are Mortician).