Archive for the ‘Album of the Day’ Category

Album of the day: Angel Witch – As Above, So Below

Posted on Sunday, March 25th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Metal Injection: Legendary British heavy metallers Angel Witch have risen from the grave (once again) with their first studio album since 1998’s Resurrection.

This new album, entitled As Above, So Below, is undeniable proof that a classic NWOBHM sound can survive and even thrive in today’s metal environment. The eight-song ass-kicker contains four previously unreleased Angel Witch tracks from the ’80s, as well as four all new songs—and the real testament here to Angel Witch’s consistent quality is how well these eight songs gel, despite being written a quarter-of-a-century apart.

The reformed Angel Witch consists of founding member Kevin Heybourne (vocals and lead guitar), along with Andrew Prestidge on drums and Will Palmer on bass. Veteran guitarist Bill Steer is appearing live with the band, but did not record with them on this album.

As Above, So Below is rife with the galloping riffs and epic lyrics we’ve come to expect of the band. It has a real “classic” feel to it. And yet these tracks don’t come across as dated or irrelevant in the least, despite half of them being written decades ago. A lot of that can be attributed to the top-notch songwriting and the crisp, balanced mix.

It’s an airy, open album, with the instruments given plenty of space to breathe. What we have here is an album equally at home in 1986 or 2012, and that’s a rare treat.

Continue reading: CD Review: ANGEL WITCH As Above, So Below | Reviews | Metal Injection.

Tags: Album of the day, Andrew Prestidge, Angel Witch, As Above So Below, Kevin Heybourne, Matt Click, metal blade, Metal Injection, NWOBHM, rise above records, Will Palmer
Posted in 2012, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | No Comments »

Album of the day: Ancestors – In Dreams and Time

Posted on Saturday, March 24th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from the Obelisk: As massive as the riffs were on Ancestors’ 2008 Tee Pee Records debut, Neptune with Fire (originally also the band’s demo), their largesse pales in comparison to the distance of stylistic ground the band has covered since. The progression away from that album’s two-song Sleep-derived ...read more

Album of the day: Horse Latitudes – Awakening

Posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Lurker: Obelisk riffs of ritual and tradition, revelations from the mouth of madness, reverberations that move the soul: Horse Latitudes have come a long way since 2010’s Gathering, which left this LURKER speechless. The staple skyscraper riffs, low-end worship and oral harmonies have all been strengthened by ...read more

Album of the day: Lilacs & Champagne – S/T

Posted on Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Pitchfork: The first seven seconds of Lilacs & Champagne‘s self-titled album contain an appropriated piece of music so instantly resonant to a particular segment of listenership that it might dictate the way they hear the remainder of the album. It’s the short fanfare ITC Entertainment used in ...read more

Album of the day: Inverloch – Dusk/Subside

Posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

Lovingly pinched from OneMetal.com: Hands up if you know dISEMBOWELMENT. Hands down if you’re lying to try and look cool. As I thought, most of you. The fact is, the Aussie legends are pretty much only that – criminally overlooked at the time, it’s only with the benefit of much ...read more

Album of the day: Unsane – Wreck

Posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Pitchfork: As anyone who’s hung out there in the past decade could tell you, New York’s Lower East Side is no longer a scary place. It’s the kind of hood where you can chow on designer meatballs, drink Pabst in a neo-dive bar, and catch an artfully ...read more

Album of the day: Astra – The Black Chord

Posted on Monday, March 19th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from About.com Heavy Metal: San Diego maestros Astra craft expansive suites that hearken back to the original root of mind-expanding, unrestrained and genuinely progressive rock. Rich with hallucinogenic and hypnotic promise, and slathered in layers of vintage, billowing instrumentation, the band’s stunning sophomore album, The Black Chord, expertly ...read more

Album of the day: Wooden Stake – At The Stroke Of Midnight

Posted on Sunday, March 18th, 2012

Praise for Wooden Stake‘s At The Stroke Of Midnight from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: As we’ve said before, regular aQuarius shoppers should know what to expect from Wooden Stake: female fronted, horror fixated, riff rituals of slomo sludge, that are part Black Sabbath, part Jex Thoth, part Obituary. The first ...read more

Album of the day: White Hills – Frying on This Rock

Posted on Saturday, March 17th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Pitchfork: Well, this is a funny way of reeling it in. White Hills, those hyperprolific purveyors of jaw-clenching, brain-warping psychedelia, aren’t ones to shy away from the sprawl; why solo for three minutes, main man Dave W. seems to always be saying, when a dozen minutes will ...read more

Album of the day: Sylvester Anfang II – Latitudes

Posted on Friday, March 16th, 2012

Praise for Sylvester Anfang II‘s Latitudes from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: It’s been more than 2 years since we last heard from this Flemish free-noise post-kraut avant-psych collective, and strangely, this Latitudes session was recorded back in 2010, so while it’s technically a new releases, the actual status of this ...read more