Posts Tagged ‘john pegoraro’

Album of the day: Valkyrie – Man of Two Visions (Reissue)

Posted on Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Praise for Valkyrie’s Man of Two Visions from Stonerrock.com: Those who’ve witnessed Valkyrie on stage know the difficulty the band faces in capturing that live magic on record. The Virginia-based four-piece is truly electrifying, playing like each show is the last.

Obviously, it’s that relentless, take no prisoners approach that’s the hardest to recreate when the tape’s rolling, but Man of Two Visions comes close enough to hammer home the central strength of the group – their ability to fuse classic rock with classic metal and classic doom. It’s The Scorpions’ In Trance and all of the essential Thin Lizzy records mixed with the first two Iron Maiden albums and leavened with a crushing dose of Pentagram and St Vitus.


That’s best exemplified on ‘Apocalypse Unsealed’ (once upon a time known as ‘Valkyrie’). The song begins with a Wino-worthy passage before launching into a galloping riff that serves as the bedrock for a litany of solos that keep ratcheting up the intensity level. Guitarists Jake and Pete Adams (of Baroness-fame -ed) play off each other and then lock together in a harmonized attack before breaking off yet again. They’re epic without being solemn; in fact, it’s just downright fun listening to those two stretch out.

And while there’s plenty of blistering leads on Man of Two Visions, it’s never an overindulgence at the expense of the songs. The band (rounded out by Warren Hawkins on drums and Will Barry-Rec on bass) knows structure, they know how to write material that’s going to stand the test of time (including two instrumentals that take the band in more mellow, melodic directions). Wait, does that mean this Man of Two Visions is a classic? You bet your ass it is. Recommended.

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Album of the day: Harvey Milk – S/T

Posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010

Lovingly pinched from StonerRock.com: I’ve gone over my history with Harvey Milk in greater detail before, but for context’s sake, the condensed version is thus: Once upon a time, I was a no-nothing mainstream metalhead who had grown tired of the crap I listened to. Then I discovered Harvey Milk ...read more

Album of the day: OM – God Is Good

Posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: It’s irrational, I know, but when a band I like loses half of its original members, I tend to get a little worried. It’s not as if there’s a proven mathematical formula that separates creative from uncreative, good from bad, but after a certain point, I ...read more

Album of the day: The Gates of Slumber – Hymns of Blood and Thunder

Posted on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Lovingly pinched from our friends at Stonerrock.com: If The Gates of Slumber’s sophomore album, Suffer No Guilt, proved they could write undeniably great songs and follow-up Conqueror showed they were able to write a consistent album, Hymns of Blood and Thunder demonstrates they can do both at the same time. ...read more

Album of the day: Abramis Brama – Smakar Sondag

Posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: In many ways, Abramis Brama is the crazy old uncle of the Swedish retro rock scene. Most people will place Witchcraft at the top of the heap, assuming they kicked the whole sub-genre off. But Abramis has been at it just a little longer and yet ...read more

Album of the day: YOB – The Great Cessation

Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Lovingly pinched from one of our favorite websites: Playing in a band isn’t supposed to be pretty or fair, but what happened to Middian was about as dogshit awful as it gets. Mike Scheidt’s post-YOB project had every indication of surpassing YOB’s already awe-inspiring output (and this, mind you, I ...read more