Prong - Carved Into Stone

Nice to hear the sound of classic thrash groovers from NYC. Play it, Tommy!My first encounter with Prong was back in the day with their album Beg To Differ (1990). I immediately liked their sound as they were part of the big East Coast sound back when I was getting into the Thrash Metal genre pretty heavy. I liked their way of mellowing the razor sharp edges of pure West Coast thrash with a characteristic New York City grooviness while retaining the heaviness and you'd expect from a metal band.

While the band's gone through a lot of changes since then, founder/guitarist Tommy Victor has maintained a certain sound that keeps the operation centered and culminating in their follow-up to 2007's well-received Power of the Damager. Carved Into Stone, Prong's 8th studio album in 26 years, calls to mind my favorite of their early work like Beg To Differ and Cleansing, where you get precision metal riffs with a nice groove that overall gives you a sense of enjoyable - and, more to the point, memorable - thrash.

The Bottom Line: If you're an old school Prong fan, you're gonna like hearing them once more. It's like moshing with old friends. INTO THE PIT!

Tracks To Make You Dig Your Old Chuck Taylors Out Of The Closet: Eternal Heat, Keep On Living In Pain, Revenge...Best Served Cold, and List Of Grievances

- Genghis is still moshing around the office...

Podcast #147: Bubbly

We gotta say, this new album has some really great music on it. Thanks, Zak!Happy 2013! Join Genghis & Ragman as they bring in the new year Right to Rock style by dissecting the new year's metal offerings in terms of the good, the bad, or just the 'I don't give a shit'. Tune in to find out, with an update from Elmo on his recent legal issues. Next, Zak Stevens checks in with a preview of the new Circle II Circle CD, Seasons Will Fall, as well as discusses the band's recent performance of The Wake of Magellan at Wacken. Tune in to get this and much, much more...

DVD of the Show: Van Halen Live (Gary Cherone)

1st Beer of the Show: Imperial Coffee Chocolate Stout (New Belgium (Lips of Faith))
	Appearance: 3.5 Aroma: 4.0 Palate: 4.0 Taste: 3.5 Overall: 3.5	"New Belgium keeps the Lips of Faith series interesting with this little dark gem."

2nd Beer of the Show: Grinnin’ Grizzly Holiday Spiced Ale (Appalachian Brewing Company)
	"Despite a hoppy finish, this is a good spiced beer for the holidays."

Featured Tracks: Lemmy and Friends - Run, Rudolph, Run; Cheech and Chong - Santa Claus and His Old Lady; Van Halen - Blood and Fire; Black Country Communion - This is Your Time; Devin Townsend Project - True North; Asking Alexandria - Separate Ways (Journey Cover); Lizzy Borden - Live Forever; Asking Alexandria - A Prophecy; Black Veil Brides - Love Isn't Always Fair; Overkill - Old Wounds, New Scars; Savatage - Morning Sun; Circle II Circle - Killing Death, End of Emotion, Downshot and Epiphany

- Ragman is always amused when Elmo is around...

Podcast #147: Bubbly

Saxon - Heavy Metal Thunder (The Movie)

Well, the holy grail for Saxon fans is once again available, with a proper release.  Yes, the once unattainable Heavy Metal Thunder (The Movie) is once again available for consumption.  The release came via Cool Head Productions, a few years back, and was basically just a BBC documentary on the band.  Cool Head got Saxon's blessing to release it, but the band had no real control over the initial release.  The initial release was put out in limited quantities, I believe, to gauge how well it would do.  The movie quickly sold out on the Cool Head website, which made it virtually impossible to find.  Fast forward a few years, and now the DVD is readily available again.  Hallelujah!

Heavy Metal Thunder is a well done biography on one of the founders of The New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement.  The movie is similar to the Sam Dunn style of film making, but not quite as good.  Don't get me wrong, this thing is awesome, but had Sam done this, it might have been incredible.  The movie mixes in interview footage of the band, past and present, as well as some choice concert footage.  I really enjoyed how in depth that the film dug in to the history of the band.  It was interesting to hear the back stories of former members Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson, and what led to their exits from the band.  HMT is a must for Saxon fans.  It is packaged in a 2 disc set that includes the movie on 1 disc and a ton of extras on the other.  The 2nd disc is especially nice, because it includes a full show from the band in 2008 as well as some additional footage including praise from their peers.  All in all a solid watch.  Go get it, before it sells out again.

Bottom Line: A well done documentary of one of the founders of the NWOBHM movement.  Nice to see the band finally getting their due.  A great story about one of the most underrated bands in heavy metal history.

-Ragman thinks he hit the lotto.  He has been waiting for this film for years!

My Soliloquy - The Interpreter

I gotta give mad props to Pete and company for this sweet steampunk album cover.Having been with Threshold since 2007, and perhaps itchy to be in a recording studio since then (last year's long-awaited March of Progress notwithstanding), guitarist Pete Morten has branched out with a progmetal album of his own from his erstwhile project (which actually did several high-profile gigs before he joined Threshold apparently), My Soliloquy, called The Interpreter.  And having played all the roles on this recording, save for drums, it makes for quite an impressive debut.

The Interpreter runs the gamut of influences while staying squarely in the progressive metal milieu; from the Images and Words era Dream Theater vibe of opener Ascension Pending, to the metalcore tinged Flashpoint, to the slight funk edge of Corrosive De-Emphasis, and the more mellow Marillionesque Inner Circles and Star. This is damn fine bit of heavy prog, people.

The Bottom Line: Prog metal fans should find a lot to like in this debut album from Threshold's Pete Morten, which easily proves that he's the real deal when it comes to prolific, multi-instrumentalist artists with ideas beyond their more high-profile gigs.

Tracks to Make You Sigh at Your Dusty Tascam: Ascension Pending, Flashpoint and Corrosive De-Emphasis

- Genghis actually wishes he could've rated this one higher...

Solisia - UniverSeasons

Another female fronted symphonic/power metal band that really knows how to headbang? Nice!With bands like Denmark's Within Temptation and Finland's Nightwish flying the flag of symphonic/power metal bands fronted by powerful female vocals, it's no surprise that Italy's Solisia should come vying for their place in the genre. And make no mistake, they're not just going through the motions; these guys are good.

The most striking difference between Solisia and its sonic brethren is its more varied style. Culling different bits from thrash, progressive and symphonic/power metal, and combining it with the voice of new singer Elie Syrelia, these crafty Roman metalheads have forged a unique sound that comes together nicely on their ambitious concept album, UniverSeasons. Having not heard their debut album, I can't truly speak to their dodging a sophomore jinx, but after listening to it, there's no way they can't have topped it. This album kicks ass.

There are moments of brilliance where their use of dynamics breaks up monster grooves, showing a masterful sense of tension. And in fact, you'll find a great many moments of metal inspiration calling to mind the works of bands as varied as Dream Theater, Megadeth, Evanescence, and Anthrax. There's no question that this band is well set with talented musicians and I look forward to their next work.

The Bottom Line: Solisia takes a cue from the female-fronted sym-power metal playbook while adding their own heavier leaning influences from thrash and prog metal to make a gothic sound with a more throughly metal edge to it. The result is very impressive. Fans of Lacuna Coil who want more heavy grooves should check this out.

Tracks to Headbang to While Applying Your Heavy Eyeliner: UniverSeasons, Mind Killer, Dirty Feeling and Symbiosis

- Genghis was really impressed with this one...