Judas Priest - Battle Cry

Hey, if you didn't get to see Judas Priest on their last tour, then now you can, with their latest DVD Battle Cry.  Battle Cry was filmed at Wacken in 2015.  The band was in support of their latest record Redeemer of Souls.  The set list was a retrospective of the band's career, but also includes 3 new tracks, from the latest record.  I have to say the newer material sounded better live than in studio.  I do enjoy their new material, for the most part, but it doesn't have the punch, that they used deliver in the studio.  Call me old school, but I would like to see Tom Allom at the helm again, I'm just sayin'.  That said, I think the newer material comes off better live, than in the studio.

Battle Cry does not look as slick as some of the past Priest videos.  It is a little more grainy and the lights at Wacken, sometime distort the images on the screen.  I'm not sure if that is what they were going for, but I generally like a clear picture, which puts you in the front row.  I love concert videos, that make you feel like your at the concert.  The band sound great and put on one hell of a show, just as you would expect they would.  Ritchie Faulkner steals the show though.  This guy does not act like he has been in the band for just 5 years.  He walks around the stage like he owns the place, and proves it with his shredding.  I was a huge KK guy, but have totally accepted Ritchie as his replacement.  This DVD will make you a believer.

All in all solid Priest from start to finish.  The only thing is, and I hate to say it, is that there are a few kinks in the armour.  Though the show is great, and the band display a fair amount of energy, it appears they are showing their age a bit.  Glen sits back and does not command the stage like he once used to, but I think Ritchie compensates for that.  The other thing, is that you can clearly hear Halford struggling, at times, to hit some of the high notes.  In songs like Painkiller and Halls of Vahalla, the Metal God, has trouble sustaining some of the notes.  Hey, these guys are in their 60's, so I acknowledge that this is getting tougher.  That said, this is still solid performance and entertaining to watch.

Bottom Line: Priest still showing the new school, how it is done.  More than 40 years in, these guys are still going and rocking audiences around the world.  Another great Priest DVD to add to you collection.

- Ragman is still pissed that Priest skipped H-town on their last tour...

Lita Ford - Time Capsule

When an artist comes off a hot record, do you ever wonder if they stashed away some tunes, from that session, or preceding sessions, that never saw the light of day?  I do constantly.  I always wonder how many tracks were written for a classic record, and if there were leftovers, what happened to them.  Well, recently artists like Scorpions and Lita Ford have dug into their vaults and found some real gems.  In fact, both artists' latest releases are comprised of music that they did back in the day.  Lita is the latest of the two, to give of a taste, of some tunes that should have been released decades sooner.

Time Capsule is made up of 11 tracks that have sat in Lita's vaults for over 30 years.  I have to say, this is the best material, that she has released since her self titled record, back in 88'.  The album features a virtual who's who of hard rockers featuring, Gene Simmons, Jeff Scott Soto, Billy Sheehan and members of Cheap Trick.  The CD starts off strong with the song Where Will I Find My Heart Tonight which is a duet with Jeff Scott Soto.  It is a rocking ballad, which sets the tone for the CD.  The next track keeps the momentum going, with the ballad Killing Kind.  This is the track that features Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick.  Both songs are melodic and memorable.  They both contain infectious choruses, which will stick in your head for days.

This CD is full of solid material that was hatched over 30 years ago.  These tunes were brought back to life, thanks to Lita digging through some old tapes.  I have to say I really dig the melodic ballady tracks on this record, opposed to the rockier tracks.  I think that the ballads are more solid and have more hooks.  Also, I have to give props to Lita on her guitar playing on this CD.  I really dug her take, on the classic Hendrix instrumental, Little Wing.  All in all a solid effort.  Some of the faster tracks, can come off a little dated, lyric wise, but it doesn't matter, because they still rock.  This one's a keeper.  Go get it.

Bottom Line: Lita unearthing some of her best material in years.  Even though some of these tracks are 30+ years old, they still stand up today. Great songs with great melody. Get your space suit on, because this one will transport you back to 1980 or something.

Stand Out Tracks: War of the Angels, Killing Kind, Where Will I Find My Heart Tonight, and Little Wing

- Ragman was taken by surprise with this one...

The Zero Boys

Well, Arrow Films has done it again, by bringing back an underground classic on Bluray.  The latest film they have un-earthed and given the first class treatment, is a film called The Zero Boys.  The Zero Boys is about a paintball team of the same name, that decides to take a roadie, to celebrate their latest victory.  As the team and their respective lady friends, are taking a break from driving, they hear a woman screaming through the woods.  Of course, they go to check it out and discover and abandoned house ala Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but with nicer interior.  Long story short, they have stumbled across the home of some demented serial killers and the only thing that can save them are their mad paintball skills.

The Zeros Boys looks great with the transfer to Bluray.  I had never scene the original, but can tell that Arrow did a nice job bringing this one into the 21st century.  The acting as you would expect is subpar, but this is an 80's action horror flick, so what do you expect?  The special effects aren't bad, especially for the 80's.  It is your prototypical 80's slasher flick, leaning heavily on films that had succeeded before it.  All in all an entertaining watch. 

Bottom Line:  This is a poor mans Texas Chainsaw.  Kids in the woods, who stumble across a demented mass muderering family.  Sound familiar?

-Ragman is thinking that Tobe Hooper is saying, been there done that.

Red Tide Rising - Voices (EP)

There aren't many Colorado metal bands, but they can certainly rock.Colorado seems like a good place to form a band and begin the path to world domination, right? Strange then that there aren't more of the heavy metal variety. For every Jag Panzer or Havok, you seem to find a dozen folk bands, but enough of that. Denver quartet Red Tide Rising flies the metal flag on their latest EP Voices, filled with over 20 minutes of raging modern metal.

One of the highlights of the band's sound is the impressive voice of Matthew Whiteman. Despite being in his early 20s (and looking even younger), his voice belies the maturity and control of a seasoned musician from every guttural growl to every clean-toned chorus (check out the end of Suffocate for some solo vocals to get a good idea). And working with his brother Andrew (guitars) seems to contribute to a synchronicity that fuels this quintet of heavy grooves, which should generate considerable anticipation for a forthcoming, full-fledged studio album. The rest of the band (Matt Guerin on drums and Michael LeBois on bass) provides back up with a solid foundation that supports the Whiteman brothers like metal bedrock. This group is solid and poised for stardom, man.

The Bottom Line: Don't be surprised to see this band start to show up on [and rock the shit out of] a lot of summer tours. They've got a firm grip on the modern metal sound and perform with an energy that goes well beyond the old angsty-youth-with-7-string-guitars-and-cargo-pants stereotype. Good on 'em.

- Genghis recently read that cargo shorts are out (but why?!)...

Scar Of The Sun - In Flood

Who'da thought that you'd find a killer melodeath band in Athens, Greece?You tend to fall into paradigms when it comes to music - certainly music reviewing. Case in point, I read about this band Scar Of The Sun and their sophomore album, In Flood, and saw that hails from Greece. "Cool", I thought to myself. Then I read they were in the melodeath genre. Whaaaa?

Turns out they rock the shit out of some metal over in the Med. Opener Among Waters And Giants is a moody jam with enough machine gun double bass to throw your heart rate off and a good introduction to the band's sound; confident, insistent vocals over powerful, melodic, meaty riffs with a little fretboard pyrotechnics thrown in for good measure. My favorite on the album however is without a doubt Enemies Of Reason. This is the album's showpiece. Starting out with some foreboding piano, it moves into that classic chugchugchugCHUG that gets my head banging. And that bridge at 3:14 is the kind of atmospheric groove I love about the genre. I'm keeping my ear on these cats, I'll promise you that.

The Bottom Line: Fans of old In Flames who miss that classic Swedish melodic death metal sound may thoroughly enjoy Scar Of The Sun's stuff. We're talking solid metal here, folks.

- Genghis would love to play in a melodeath band - if only for the pinch harmonics...