Beseech - My Darkness, Darkness

Swedish goth metal band Beseech returns with their first album since 2005.Sometimes it's better to have never heard a band's previous works at all so that no pre-judgement clouds your mind while introducing yourself to their latest material. Such is the case with Swedish goth metal band Beseech, who've been around since the early 90s. Having disbanded about 10 years ago and recently reforming with new members (half the band is new), they're back with their sixth studio album, My Darkness, Darkness.

From the first minute of opener Beating Pulse, the stage is set for a great melodic, moody jam with lead vocals supplied by veteran guitarist Klas Bohlin, who assumed the role in late 2013, and is joined by Angelina Sahlgren Söder. Angelina's vocals fit beautifully with Bohlin's baritone, especially on tracks like Highwayman, which at times sounded almost like a duet between Kate Bush and the late Peter Steele (Type O Negative). This is good stuff, and will see some rotation into my new music mix.

The Bottom Line: Gothic metal can often become mired in its own existential crises, leaving fans bored and unsatisfied. Thankfully, the change in Beseech's line-up may have been just what the band needed to move forward with a new album and outlook. I'm not saying the characteristic tone of the genre is gone, but the band does manage to transcend those trappings on a - dare I say - "catchy" album. Highly recommended.

- Genghis is quite curious to check out some more of this band...

Product Of Hate - Buried In Violence

You might ask yourself "can they thrash in Kenosha?" Fuckin' A they can.Wisconsin-based thrash newcomers Product Of Hate have been honing their skills for the last several years - and it shows. Their debut album Buried In Violence is a thrash tour de force and no mistake. Their particular sound appeals to metalheads that thrill to the Swiss clock precision of classic thrash and speed metal, but filters it through a melodic, groove-oriented sensibility that modern 'bangers dig.

Vocalist Adam Gilley delivers his policitally-charged rhetoric with formidable throat-destroying growls while remaining understandable, but the true power of POH is in the guitar duo, the brothers Rathbone (Cody and Gene) who provide the electric rails that this train runs on - and this motherfucker is full speed ahead. As far as songs go, they got the universal thrash metal playbook and they're running it step by step: sociopolitical commentary, monster riffs (love the little pull-off riff on the opening of Blood Coated Concrete), machine gun drums, pounding bass, even [the thrash version of] a ballad à la Testament's Musical Death (A Dirge) - it's all here. And it's fucking great.

The Bottom Line: Good gravy this is some pumped up thrash. Seriously, I was fucking tired after this album finished, but I was in a damned good mood. Product Of Hate's cathartic debut album lets its "pissed flag" fly and you get to mosh along for the ride. 'Nuff said!

- Genghis would love to see these dudes open for Testament (suck it, neck!)...

Prong - X (No Absolutes)

Tommy and company are back with some righteous thrashy hardcore and I dig it heartily.Ol' Tommy Victor's outfit has been on a pretty nice roll the last few years, putting out an album pretty much every year since their comeback from hiatus in 2012, most recently impressing with their last studio album [of original tunes] Ruining Lives, which I liked a lot.

Well, thankfully the trend continues as Prong continues to crank out high-energy, thrashy hardcore you're likely to find. Seriously, whatever Tommy's been drinking to remain so fresh and prolific after 30 years of making music with Prong, get me a case of that shit. Tracks like Sense of Ease exemplify this tireless groove, with the verse riffage of Without Words sounds like a Testament B-side from Souls of Black. I say verse because the chorus has a catchy melodicism that you don't often hear in straight up thrash metal - which is Prong's strength and perhaps the secret to their longevity. That formula plays out for most of the album, including some righteous soloing from Tommy.

The Bottom Line: Prong is firing on all cylinders these days with more energetic hard core. Perhaps the arranging and recording of their preceding album Songs From The Black Hole (filled with covers by such bands as Hüsker Dü and Neil Young) galvanized the band with a newfound creativity, I don't know. But this latest effort sounds fantastic.

- Genghis is looking forward to checking these cats out in April...

Podcast #203: MMXVI

Genghis sits down with Jill Janus of Huntress to see what makes this band tick.It's the annual New Year's show where the boys discuss the year ahead in hard rock and heavy metal, recorded live at Hubcap Grill in Houston, where some damn fine burgers are made. This year the lads look forward to some amazing music and concerts, while lamenting the passing of some big artists that didn't make the Kicks and Kisses list for 2015.

Then check out as Genghis interviews Jill Janus, lead singer for Huntress, before their amazing set opening for Black Label Society a couple of days before New Year's Eve. He swears you gotta see 'em live and you'll be a believer. So kick back, and HORNS UP!

Featured Tracks: Grave Digger - Stand Up And Rock; Motörhead - End Of Time; Iron Maiden - If Eternity Should Fail; Enchant - Juggling Knives; Huntress - Sorrow, Eight Of Swords, Spectra Spectral, Snow Witch, and Four Blood Moons

- Genghis wanted to mention that Eli Santana fucking killed at that show...

Podcast #203: MMXVI

Chronos Zero - Hollowlands

Italian progmetal bad-asses Chronos Zero are back with their really long album titles to rock you hard.Italian prog masters Chronos Zero have returned to bang your head to odd time signatures. After showing their prowess on their impressive debut [deep breath] A Prelude into Emptiness - The Tears Path: Chapter Alpha, the band is back to up the ante with Hollowlands - The Tears Path: Chapter One, and a renovated line-up which includes new vocalists Margherita Leardini and Manuel Guerrieri.

Chapter Alpha had an aggressiveness to it that put it up there with one of my all time favorite progmetal bands, the grandiose but quite ballsy Symphony X. That heavy, menacing bottom end serves as a counterpoint to the mythic - and often overblown - scale of the storylines in your average progmetal outfit. Having lost a dedicated keyboardist in Giuseppe Rinaldi, the guitars and keys are both handled by Enrico Zavatta who fills in nicely. And Enrico clearly has a Michael Romeo distortion pedal cuz that guitarwork is heavy in the best way. Things on Chapter One take the predictable path of building a storyline to a crescendo with bits of rest between such as On The Tears Path, where Margherita takes the spotlight. She's good, make no mistake, though the song gets a bit long at just over five minutes. Metalheads are not a patient breed. but it's overall more killer tunes for the balls and chunk™ crowd

Still, there's an impressive bit of music on this album - especially if you're Symphony X fan. Future albums would not surprise me if they included guest spots with Romeo or Allen, but don't take that to mean that the music can't hold up on its own. This is a band with the talent to take it as far as their ambition allows. We'll be here waiting after all in mosh postition.

The Bottom Line: Fans of progmetal gods like Dream Theater and Symphony X will prolly dig this European take on the genre as Enrico Zavatta and company, armed with some new co-conspirators, take their musical mythologies to the next level.

- Genghis is itching to catch some live progressive metal really soon...