Hatriot - Dawn Of The New Centurion

If you dug their debut, you'll totally dig this. It's the classic Bay Area Thrash sound.It was only about a year ago that Hatriot unleashed its classic Bay Area Thrash sound on us with their thunderous debut, Heroes of Origin, handily grabbing CD of the Month for January in the process. And now they've come back to march all over our asses again with their follow-up, Dawn of the New Centurion. Backed by his sons, Cody and Nick, vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza is known to most any longstanding fan of classic thrash, and with the twin guitar attack of Kosta V and Miguel Esparza, he turns shit to 11.

Dawn Of The New Centurion continues the theme of it's predecessor with vignettes of the plagues of our modern political American society; ignominious death, murder, and war. And like last year's Heroes Of Origin, Zetro and company's intention is not to revolutionlize metal or innovate, but to restore the former glory of classic thrash metal and basically does that. Tracks like Honor The Rise And Fall or the brilliantly named Superkillafragsadisticactsaresoatrocious sound like they've been unearthed from a time capsule buried in the mid 80s. I'm like a pig in shit over here.

The Bottom Line: Fans of Hatriot's impressive debut will find more of the same on Dawn Of The New Centurion to love, albeit with a little more restraint and lyrical refinement. It's a tactical narrowing of focus for a more precision strike, and thrash metal fans should definitely get this right now. Well?! GET GOING!

- Genghis is reminded that he needs to get some new camouflage cargo shorts...

Def-Con-One - II

Yes, my fellow metalheads, England still turns out some kick ass metal bands. You betcha.You may remember my review of Def-Con-One's first full-length album, Warface, a couple of years ago. Being exposed to the Newcastle quartet for the first time, I was struck by how they wore their musical influences on their sleeves (and speaking of sleeves, you could do a full episode of LA Ink on these guys alone) while still managing to have their own sound. I'm happy to say they've realized that evolution as a band with their new release, II.

Built on a solid foundation of metalcore, there are certainly a lot of similarities to bands like Pantera, as on tracks like Debt To Society or H8 Ball. While tracks like Soul Possessed will casually throw out a great Sabbath-y drone when you don't necessarily expect it for a more old school feel. But, what should get emphasis here is that while you can definitely still hear those influences, the band continues to develop their own sound, as on Skinhead Shaped Dent with its punctuating King's X-style chord, or the doom metal opening to Need A Reason that becomes a cathartic, screaming chorus a la Sevendust. It's a good sign to be able to hear a band's sound progress naturally like this, and I bet their live show is classic heavy metal goodness.

The Bottom Line: This is great angry metal for when you need that tension release while you rock the fuck out, and I think these dudes are at the beginning of what should be a long career. Cheers, mates!

Tracks That May Likely Turn All Of Your Clothes Black: Broke, Soul Possessed, Need A Reason, Debt To Society, and Damned Disgrace

- Genghis may have pulled a hamstring moshing around his office...

The Intersphere - Relations In The Unseen

German buzz band The Intersphere may seem like another in a long line of such groups, but this one really knows how to choose its guitar sounds.German band The Intersphere impressed me with their last album and their energetic pop-rock sound that managed to be both catchy and fun, yet full of depth and meaning. Toss in the fact that they recorded the album almost completely live in about a week, and you get the idea that whatever you may think of their brand of music, these guys have got legitimate talent.

Their latest effort, Relations In The Unseen, eschews the pomp and circumstance of a full-blown concept album, opting instead to convey a thematic message of how unconscious communication (e.g. body language) can influence the thoughts and even actions of others. Music-wise there's still a considerable amount of talent going on here albeit with a little less aggression than what we heard on 2012's Hold On, Liberty! But with that change comes perhaps a greater sophistication in songcrafting. There's still a clear influence of the atmospheric textures of bands like U2, so if you're expecting some crunch, you may be disappointed. But adjusting that expectation to something more like well-constructed alt-rock will likely reward you with a fine follow-up from a mature new band.

Of note, I really enjoy the lush and varied guitar textures employed by this band. Fellow guitarheads should pay special attention to the Dick Dale-inspired verse of Joker, the expertly delayed, dripping-but-clear chorused sound of Tonight and Golden mean, or even the dirty, manic strumming of the title track. Nice work that.

The Bottom Line: This ain't heavy metal by a long shot. Fans of modern alt-rock with a sweet tooth for pop music's jangly guitar-based melodies will be quite satisfied with The Intersphere's ode to the vagaries of 21st century interpersonal communication.

- Genghis is fondly remembering his short-lived garage band from 20 years ago...

Sahg - Delusions of Grandeur

I don't like to use the term eargasm, but if I did, this album would be the reason. Sahg is one of my new favorite bands because Oh. My. God.Holy shit, how I have I not heard of Sahg before now? This Norwegian quartet have become modern riff lords since their debut in 2006 with Sahg I and have been cranking out amazing product every couple of years since. While their sound is essentially stoner doom metal, they manage to carve out their own unique sound without sounding self-conscious or pretentious - something that's missing from the less successful bands of the retro ilk.

While the band has an obvious affinity for the works of early Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, they break the confines of such retro-inspired bands with modern progressive elements like that of Rush and Opeth to make a truly fantastic mix of the old and the new that sounds like it was always meant to be, man.  Tracks like Slip Off The Edge Of The Universe and Firechild are great examples of this sound, with big grooves punctuated by tasteful but impressive shredding throughout. Seriously, I love this band - and I only just heard them for the first time yesterday.

The band's fourth studio release, Delusions of Grandeur, is a concept album about a man whose psychotic break leads him to retreat into his own mind as a self-appointed god, gradually losing more and more touch with reality to the point of literally slipping into oblivion, a victim of his own delusions. I would love to see this album realized as a Heavy Metal style animated feature.

What really tips it in the net for me are the more laid-back passages, like Sleeper's Gate To The Galaxy, which lulls you with Beatles-esque Sun King harmonies and Led Zeppelin-style folk acoustic strumming that goes straight into another kick ass heavy groove (shit, now I have to put that back on right now as I'm writing this), providing a wonderful showcase of just how this band melds all of the greatest old school rock elements into an amazing amalgam of the best retro jam I've heard yet. 

The Bottom Line: I can only lament how long it's taken me to learn about Sahg and their refreshingly unique take on classic heavy metal. These guys seem to have the Midas touch when it comes to writing compelling and impressive modern metal with a clear reverence for the seminal sound of the genre's forefathers. Gentlemen, I salute you!

Tracks That Necessitate Listening To Under A Blacklight: The whole fucking album

- Genghis is still bowled over by these guys' awesome style...

Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No.

There are more chops on display here than a butcher's window. Shredheads rejoice! Destrage is here to kick ass.You may remember a band I reviewed by the name of Freak Kitchen and their amazing brand of metal. Well, imagine them being heavier yet more melodic. This is what you're in for with the amazing Italian quintet Destrage. Having begun in 2005, they've been building their reputation amazing and delighting audiences all over Europe with music that's not only technically impressive but just plain fun to listen to. And that's exactly what they deliver with their third studio album, Are You Kidding Me? No.

The bedrock of Destrage's sound is essentially metalcore with elements of melodeath, but there's a frenetic energy that fails to come across when merely using labels to describe music of this kind. Now, don't be misled; there are some downright insane passages that get a little atonal or dissonant. But the vast majority of the album is a collection of such manic - but, more importantly, listenable - bombast you may find it hard to put down.

To look at posed pictures of these guys and just hear bits and pieces here and there from their album you may get the feeling that these dudes are perhaps not to be taken too seriously. But you would be wrong. There's a sincerity here that comes through in the music that can only be the result of a hard-working band playing together as a focused unit, even if they have a sense of humor about themselves. Personally, I love this stuff!

The Bottom Line: If you're a fan of metalcore or melodeath, but long for the unpredictable fretboard insanity of players like Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (who puts in a guest appearance on the title track) or Matthias Eklundh to be thrown into the mix, you need to check out Destrage. These guys simply aren't fucking around.

- Genghis really needs to get back to some regular guitar practice...