De La Muerte (self-titled)

Italian metal posse De La Muerte has a little South of the border style, and the album cover looks boss.Italy continues to pump out serious metal. It's as if the whole country discovered the genre all over again, cuz they're puttin' out the tunes like nobody's freakin' business. Case in point, the band De La Muerte, who puts a nice southern rock twist on their heavy Adrenaline Mob-style modern sound. This is kind of what I imagine Dangerous Toys might sound like if they made a big comeback.

Inspired by Mexico's widely popular Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte cult, this self-titled debut album is packed with tunes loosely threaded together by their spooky narratives. This is another one of the up and coming bands shepherded by the prolific Simone Mularoni (DGM) who recorded, mixed, produced, and mastered this album. Dude, does this guy have Red Bull in his veins or what? Now if there's any complaint at all, the vocals get a little strange sometimes in that they almost sound like the singer is trying to be funny by overdoing it, which I doubt. But this isn't something that happens all the time, and the guitar work is fantastic. So, there you go.

The Bottom Line: This is good old hard rock in the vein of bands like Guns N' Roses, Adrenaline Mob, or Dangerous Toys. If you like a little Southern rock in your metal, this may scratch what itches you.

Tracks To Try Out New Tequilas With: Desaparecido, Secret Witness, and Malaguena Salerosa

- Genghis digs that José Guadalupe Posada style artwork...

Level 10 - Chapter 1

Don't know for sure, but I'd swear this album cover illustration was drawn by Greg Capullo. Either way, this album rocks. Hard.Hot damn, I love how Russell Allen (Symphony X, Adrenaline Mob) has become so ubiquitous in the metal world in the last several years. Having learned about him nigh 20 years ago for his stellar work with Symphony X, I've always been impressed with his vocals, able to go from clean to gritty in a heartbeat. And now he's joined up with bassist Mat Sinner (Primal Fear) for yet another heavy metal extravaganza in the form of the Level 10 project.

Being that Mat is joined by fellow bandmates Randy Black (drums) and Alex Beyrodt (guitar), Roland Grapow (ex-Helloween) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Voodoo Circle) on lead guitar and keyboards respectively, you've got some serious hard rocking locked and loaded. And a nice taste of classic European power metal is just what you get - with a good sense of melody to boot. This is the stuff.

While the majority of the material is expectedly fast-paced, there are some slower songs like Soul Of A Warrior, Voice Of The Wilderness, All Hope Is Gone where some of the best solos take place. For comparison, I'd say it's got a solid heavy feel with elements of late 80s/early 90s metal (think Whitesnake's self-titled masterpiece) that give it a steely edge and a nice neoclassical flourish, courtesy of Del Vecchio's accompaniment. Kudos to everyone on this thing.

The Bottom Line: This is classic power metal by some of the best in the biz. If you dig the idea of a neoclassical version of Whitesnake's classic 1987 album, this is your jam, tough guy.

- Genghis is waitin' for the night to c-c-c-cooooome *slide*....

Chiefs - Tomorrow's Over

Looking for melodic doom metal? Chiefs are something like that, so smoke 'em if ya got 'em...Things really took off for Arizona duo Chiefs when they relocated to San Diego and added a bass player to their ranks to fill out the low-end of their stoner rock sound. And their debut album, Tomorrow's Over, is all the better for this change.

Coming off a bit like a cross between the restless energy of old Soundgarden and the rumbling groove of Dopesmoker, I really dig the melodicism here that sets them apart from most stoner/doom metal outfits. Vocalist/Guitarist Paul Valle sounds a lot like Chris Volz of Five.Bolt.Main, which is to say he's got an earnest wail that smoothly rides atop the bottom-heavy groove this band is laying down. That's it. We're talking meat and potatoes groove-based heavy tunes here and I dig it mightily.

The Bottom Line: If you've been looking around for that 90s vibe of thick, melodic, Sabbathy grooves, you should check out Chiefs' debut. This fervent trio can rock a joint nicely.

- Genghis is pretty comfortable with denim...

9006 problems

Sorry for the errors downloading the podcast these days. I get it too when I try to download from iTunes. I get the infamous error = 9006, and Apple is of very little help on this issue. In the meantime, you can of course direct download it, stream it from the site, or we are considering alternative locations as well, like SoundCloud.

If you guys have any idea what to do about this, I'd love to hear it. Hope this is helpful.

HORNS UP!

- Genghis' horns droop a little every time that error comes up...

Podcast #186: Awake

Long before Meghan Trainor came along, Bjorn Englen was ALL about that bass. Yes, I went there.The lads are back in the thick of a new year with a little new music from Tracy G and new announcer, Joey Clams. Join Genghis & Ragman as they shoot the shit with each other after their brief Winter hiatus with talk of all things metal. Lookin' like 2015 could be a good year around the studio.

Then join in on a one on one with Bjorn Englen of Soul Sign for a chat about his love for the bass and the band's plans for 2015.

Video Of The Show: Shinedown – Live In The Stratosphere

Beer of the Show: Kasteel Winter (Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V.)
	Appearance: 3.5 Aroma: 4.0 Palate: 4.0 Taste: 4.0 Overall: 4.0	"You’ll be plenty warmed up with this damn fine winter ale’s 11% abv and super roasty aroma."

Featured Tracks: Job For A Cowboy - Sun Of Nihility; Extreme - Decadence Dance; King's X - Black Flag; Enuff Z'Nuff - A New Thing; Shinedown - Devour; Jorn Lande - River of Tears; Harmony - Hands of Time; Strange Fruit - All Over The World Tonight; All That Remains - What If I Was Nothing; Rated X - Fire and Ice; Soul Sign - Life, Between the Lines, Out of Obsession, You (Control), Human Evil and In Pain

Ragman's Classic Of The Show: Jam Pain Society - Wasted

Genghis' Classic Of The Show: Whitesnake - Cryin' In The Rain

Ragman's Pick Of The Show: IQ - The Road of Bones

Genghis' Pick Of The Show: Bailey - In The Name of the King

- Genghis is really digging our new sound…

Podcast #186: Awake