A Pale Horse Named Death - Queensryche - Underride - Duff McKagen's Loaded
A Pale Horse Named Death - And Hell Will Follow Me
SPV
By Jeffrey Easton
The Soundtrack to your despair, the debut delivery from A Pale Horse Named Death, will not be the uplifting experience you are searching for. And Hell Will Follow Me is the lowest of the low, the darkest of the dark, a wallow in lovelorn and hopelessness. Is this a pretty picture? Is this how the music is supposed to be, not uplifting but a drag into hell? If this appeals to you then And Hell Will Follow Me is for you as it is for me. I crave this sort of delirium, this persecute me sort of mentality, the “I need to feel like this to exist” type of focus in my darkest days of metal. Boundaries be damned, nothing is sacred on this record and Sal Abruscato, the singer, guitarist and founder and original Type O Negative member, will make damn sure of that. Slow, grinding guitars compliment his mournful vocals on the opener As Black As My Heart, which sets the tone for this moody, downcast record. He projects his feelings well on this album especially on cuts like Die Alone, When Crows Descend Upon You, Pill Head and Cracks in The Walls. His dark humor is displayed well on the track Heroine Train, an honest, accurate approach to life with the needle. A top 10 record of the year if I ever heard one. This music is not for everyone but it is for me and if you like your mood desperately altered by what you listen to then it’s for you as well.
BUY AND HELL WILL FOLLOW ME!!
By Jeffrey Easton
The Soundtrack to your despair, the debut delivery from A Pale Horse Named Death, will not be the uplifting experience you are searching for. And Hell Will Follow Me is the lowest of the low, the darkest of the dark, a wallow in lovelorn and hopelessness. Is this a pretty picture? Is this how the music is supposed to be, not uplifting but a drag into hell? If this appeals to you then And Hell Will Follow Me is for you as it is for me. I crave this sort of delirium, this persecute me sort of mentality, the “I need to feel like this to exist” type of focus in my darkest days of metal. Boundaries be damned, nothing is sacred on this record and Sal Abruscato, the singer, guitarist and founder and original Type O Negative member, will make damn sure of that. Slow, grinding guitars compliment his mournful vocals on the opener As Black As My Heart, which sets the tone for this moody, downcast record. He projects his feelings well on this album especially on cuts like Die Alone, When Crows Descend Upon You, Pill Head and Cracks in The Walls. His dark humor is displayed well on the track Heroine Train, an honest, accurate approach to life with the needle. A top 10 record of the year if I ever heard one. This music is not for everyone but it is for me and if you like your mood desperately altered by what you listen to then it’s for you as well.
BUY AND HELL WILL FOLLOW ME!!
Queensryche - Empire 20th Anniversary Edition
Capitol
By Jeffrey Easton
Like a fine bottle of booze or a bizarre piece of art, this album has grown gracefully older. I was a Queensryche fan before Empire came out but Empire is what put me over the top as far as a real “fan” is concerned. The sound of the album, the textures of guitars and keys and the overall songwriting became one massive union and thus creating a sonic masterpiece. The fact that could create songs like Empire, Best I Can, One And Only and Jet City Woman amongst the others spoke volumes to their matured song writing skills and the ability to reach out and touch on the real world as they knew it. Now here we are 20 years after the monumental release of Empire and the record is as good as ever. It still sounds fresh, not dated and I can still blast it out of my car and feel as though it was just released. The remastering process has added new life to the record, bringing up the sounds to a deafening sonic blow to the senses, everything comes out razor sharp and loud as fuck. This edition also adds the extra tracks that were available on singles only, those being Last time In Paris, Dirty Lil Secret and Scarborough Fair. There is also a bonus live disc featuring most of the Empire record as well as few older tracks that was recorded at the Hammersmith in 1990 and that to was an incredible concert and well deserved to be on this set. There is also a set of 4x4 cards for each band member and a great poster from the great Pushead featuring some great art that was a sign of the times in 1990. If you have Empire you have not heard it quite this good and it is a needed piece for your CD collection.
BUY EMPIRE!!
By Jeffrey Easton
Like a fine bottle of booze or a bizarre piece of art, this album has grown gracefully older. I was a Queensryche fan before Empire came out but Empire is what put me over the top as far as a real “fan” is concerned. The sound of the album, the textures of guitars and keys and the overall songwriting became one massive union and thus creating a sonic masterpiece. The fact that could create songs like Empire, Best I Can, One And Only and Jet City Woman amongst the others spoke volumes to their matured song writing skills and the ability to reach out and touch on the real world as they knew it. Now here we are 20 years after the monumental release of Empire and the record is as good as ever. It still sounds fresh, not dated and I can still blast it out of my car and feel as though it was just released. The remastering process has added new life to the record, bringing up the sounds to a deafening sonic blow to the senses, everything comes out razor sharp and loud as fuck. This edition also adds the extra tracks that were available on singles only, those being Last time In Paris, Dirty Lil Secret and Scarborough Fair. There is also a bonus live disc featuring most of the Empire record as well as few older tracks that was recorded at the Hammersmith in 1990 and that to was an incredible concert and well deserved to be on this set. There is also a set of 4x4 cards for each band member and a great poster from the great Pushead featuring some great art that was a sign of the times in 1990. If you have Empire you have not heard it quite this good and it is a needed piece for your CD collection.
BUY EMPIRE!!
Underride - Distorted Nation
By Jeffrey Easton
Underride have dished out records for the last decade and with Distorted Nation they have given us a real piece of metallic hard rock. They have released good shit before but the tracks that make up DN put the authority in their guitars as they turn it up another notch for this outing. Another Way Out as well as Porn Star and Do Anything to Me feels like a guitar upside your head as you crank it louder whereas Love Is Like Dying shows a more sensitive side to the band and deserves to be on any rock radio list as a modern lighter flicking power ballad. The cover to be heard this year is here with their metallic offering of Paparazzi. I may be the only person on the face of the earth that has not heard Lady GaGa’s version of it and I could care less as this is the only one I want to hear. This revved up version is the right way to hear this song and the only way. With new guitarists they have a new attitude and a more modern feel to their sound and it shows with the results. If you are into straight up guitar driven rock n roll you need this in your collection.
BUY DISTORTED NATION!!!
Underride have dished out records for the last decade and with Distorted Nation they have given us a real piece of metallic hard rock. They have released good shit before but the tracks that make up DN put the authority in their guitars as they turn it up another notch for this outing. Another Way Out as well as Porn Star and Do Anything to Me feels like a guitar upside your head as you crank it louder whereas Love Is Like Dying shows a more sensitive side to the band and deserves to be on any rock radio list as a modern lighter flicking power ballad. The cover to be heard this year is here with their metallic offering of Paparazzi. I may be the only person on the face of the earth that has not heard Lady GaGa’s version of it and I could care less as this is the only one I want to hear. This revved up version is the right way to hear this song and the only way. With new guitarists they have a new attitude and a more modern feel to their sound and it shows with the results. If you are into straight up guitar driven rock n roll you need this in your collection.
BUY DISTORTED NATION!!!
Duff McKagen's Loaded - The Taking
Duff McKagen’s Loaded – The Taking – Armoury
By Jeffrey Easton
Duff has not let the Shadow of GnR or anything he has done in the last few decades slow him down from making amazing records and The Taking is proof of that. This is his best record of his career in my opinion as he carried a big bat into the studio and swung it hard. His 70’s punk influences are worn well on his sleeve as well as his Bowie influences, easily shown on Easier Lying that Bowie loomed large on his horizons as a kid. This album rages from the first moment to the last, not breaking for a moment giving off an energy that is rarely felt in new records where going through the motions to get a single to radio is easier than actually creating something lasting. The punkish attitude is first stung with Lords of Abandon, which kicks off the record as well as the heavier than hell feeling of Executioners Song. He does not forget his metal leanings with the razors edge of Dead Skin and the record just keeps going. It ends on a damning note with the dark Follow Me To Hell, which seems to be the heaviest thing he has written to date, an amazing track to say the least. There is not a dead moment on the record, not an inch of tape was used for filler, this is a true rock record that will not be forgotten. This can easily be on any top 10 list for the year and will be on mine. Duff and his band out did themselves here and any true fan of rock, punk and metal will find something here that they can latch onto..
BUY THE TAKING!
By Jeffrey Easton
Duff has not let the Shadow of GnR or anything he has done in the last few decades slow him down from making amazing records and The Taking is proof of that. This is his best record of his career in my opinion as he carried a big bat into the studio and swung it hard. His 70’s punk influences are worn well on his sleeve as well as his Bowie influences, easily shown on Easier Lying that Bowie loomed large on his horizons as a kid. This album rages from the first moment to the last, not breaking for a moment giving off an energy that is rarely felt in new records where going through the motions to get a single to radio is easier than actually creating something lasting. The punkish attitude is first stung with Lords of Abandon, which kicks off the record as well as the heavier than hell feeling of Executioners Song. He does not forget his metal leanings with the razors edge of Dead Skin and the record just keeps going. It ends on a damning note with the dark Follow Me To Hell, which seems to be the heaviest thing he has written to date, an amazing track to say the least. There is not a dead moment on the record, not an inch of tape was used for filler, this is a true rock record that will not be forgotten. This can easily be on any top 10 list for the year and will be on mine. Duff and his band out did themselves here and any true fan of rock, punk and metal will find something here that they can latch onto..
BUY THE TAKING!