CD Review: Black Label Society – Catacombs of the Black Vatican

CD Review: Black Label Society – Catacombs of the Black Vatican
eOne Music
All Access Rating: A-

Black Label Society - Catacombs of
the Black Vatican 2014
Whatever horrors there are hiding in the Catacombs of the Black Vatican they can't possibly be any more terrifying than what's yet to be discovered in Zakk Wylde's scraggly beard.

Nevertheless, the ninth album from the biker-metal doomsayers in Wylde's Black Label Society is certainly gloomy and eerie in places, this cavernous dungeon of monstrously heavy riffs, deep-dredging melodies, squealing solos and a few gritty ballads all haunted by painful memories and reeking of death.

Rummaging through the Catacombs of the Black Vatican, the old bones and skulls of Black Label Society's past are encountered, but do not linger in those sealed-off vaults. Wylde certainly doesn't. Although the brawny guitars, wicked grooves and rumbling rhythms found here have a familiar ring, there is a fresh vitality to this material that's palpable, throwing everything good about Alice in Chains, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and even Southern rock in a boiling cauldron and casting timeless spells with those magical ingredients.

An absolute pile driver, its great mass heaving to and fro, "Fields of Unforgiveness" delivers a great pounding, while the stoned, churning blues of "Believe" is especially thick and meaty, its repeated riff not only powerful, but also memorable, seemingly feeding off its own energy. And in "My Dying Time," another in a long line of grungy, riff-heavy tracks with elongated, almost graceful curves, Wylde, sounding more like Layne Staley than ever before, confronts his mortality without fear, whereas the growling "I've Gone Away" and a very dark, Black Sabbath-like "Empty Promises" – Wylde's solo here is a shower of sparks – crawl through a sonic gutter bloody and vengeful.

Strong, shifting melodic currents run through Catacombs of the Black Vatican, as it swerves and bends to the mighty will of its creators, little flowers of sonic beauty sprouting through cracks in the hard sonic cement. Nonetheless, thanks in large part of Wylde's affecting vocals, the ballads "Angel of Mercy" and "Scars" somehow manage to sound both earthy and lush, each as pretty as anything in the Black Label Society canon, the latter inheriting its Southern accent directly from the Allman Brothers. Blessed be the Black Label Society.
– Peter Lindblad




Track listing for Judas Priest album released

'Redeemer of Souls' due out July 15

Judas Priest to release 'Redeemer of Souls' July 15
The legendary Judas Priest is about to roll out Redeemer of Souls, their newest record, on July 15 via Epic Records. And now, the track listing is available.

What promises to be a return to the classic Priest sound, Redeemer of Souls will be released as a standard version and a deluxe edition with five bonus tracks, with "March of the Damned" serving as the lead-off single.

The band says, "We feel Redeemer of Souls reinforces or passion for what we believe in from the Judas Priest style of heavy metal."

This is Richie Faulkner's studio debut with Priest, and he is co-writer of the material with fellow guitarist Glenn Tipton and singer Rob Halford. Bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis round out the lineup for Redeemer of Souls.

Priest's last studio effort, Nostradamus, came out in 2008, and the band calls the new one a "classic combination of all the statements we love to create with raging guitar riffs and solos, thundering drums, thick grooves of bass and vocals tearing it all up!" 

Here's the track listing for Redeemer of Souls:

Dragonaut
Redeemer of Souls
Halls of Valhalla
Sword of Damocles
March of the Damned
Down in Flames
Hell & Back
Cold Blooded
Metalizer
Crossfire
Secrets of the Dead
Battle Cry
Beginning of the End

Bonus Tracks:
Snakebite
Tears of Blood
Creatures
Bring It On
Never Forget


CD Review: Helstar – This Wicked Nest

CD Review: Helstar – This Wicked Nest
AFM Records
All Access Rating: A-

Helstar- This Wicked Nest 2014
A line in the sand was drawn with 2010's Glory Out of Chaos. Helstar leader James Rivera, he of the King Diamond-like wail, has stated unequivocally that " … we will not go any further into the extreme." 

And yet, after putting out an equally brutal new record called This Wicked Nest, available now on AFM Records, Helstar doesn't seem interested in toning down its intensity or aggressiveness. Seeing red and pawing at the ground, this enraged power/thrash metal Texas bull that's been around for more than 30 years rams its horns into a rugged, full-throttle succession of punishing tracks, each one angrier and more visceral than the last. 

With the blackened, doom-laden epic "Cursed" the exception to this harsh rule, its slow Sabbath-like crawl lashed with a mixture of anguish and hopeless futility, This Wicked Nest brings forth a pounding blitzkrieg of punishing tracks like "Eternal Black," "Souls Cry" and the stampeding, bone-crushing "It Has Risen," not to mention the sinister, brawling title track.

Once again venturing beyond its comfort zone, Helstar forms itself into a relentless sonic juggernaut, its blazing guitars and trampling, bludgeoning drums gaining more speed and energy as they propel themselves through the blistering, frenzied "Defy the Swarm," where Rivera, the former Vicious Rumors singer's vocal histrionics as high-flying and expressive as ever, goes where only Rob Halford dares. And guitarists Larry Barragan and Rob Trevino are just as potent throughout This Wicked Nest, their electrifying, bruising riffs full of white-hot intensity as they never fail to display increasingly dynamic technical skill. 

Slightly more melodic than its predecessor, there is evil, and some good, in the heart of This Wicked Nest, as well as defiance – the anti-tyranny sentiments expressed with such hostility in "Fall of Dominion," the song where Helstar's power-metal glory comes shining through in a fantastically intertwined twin-guitar helix. More compositional diversity and a variety of tempos would be welcome on the next Helstar release, but it's impossible to deny what a powerfully produced and vigorous performance this truly is. Indeed, something Wicked this way comes.
– Peter Lindblad

A little taste of the new Judas Priest record

Legendary metal band's 17th album due out July 15


Artwork for the track 'Redeemer of Souls,'
the first single from Priest's upcoming LP
For U.S. fans of Judas Priest that simply cannot wait for the July 15th release date of their latest classic metal album, Redeemer of Souls, there is some relief on the way. 

And if you are wondering what to expect from the mighty Priest on their forthcoming album, guitarist Glenn Tipton has set the record straight. "Sometimes in the past we may have come under fire for being too adventurous musically – so we have listened!! From start to finish Redeemer of Souls is 13 songs of pure classic Priest metal!!"

On Tuesday, April 29, the title track from the album will be available for purchase via iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/redeemer-of-souls-single/id863086125) and other digital service providers. And a clip of the song (plus the single's artwork) is now available to sample at the band's website, judaspriest.com.

There are only a select number of bands that have accomplished what Judas Priest has throughout their career (as well as having served as a stylistic influence on such a wide variety of bands). Soon the group – singer Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis  will be offering up more classic Judas Priest metal with the release of Redeemer of Souls.

Tesla's 'Simplicity' to hit the streets June 10

Tesla in 2014 will release Simplicity
New album from '80s rockers on the way, with touring to follow

(NEW YORK, NY) – Sacramento rock band Tesla have announced an all new LP titled Simplicty due out June 10, 2014 via Tesla Electric Company Recording's arrangement with Entertainment One Music and Distribution.

Simplicity will be the band's seventh studio full length LP and 15th release overall. The new effort will be the followup to Forever More, which was released in October 2008 and featured the single "I Wanna Live."

Tesla locked themselves away for weeks writing the new material that would become Simplicity with longtime A&R man Tom Zutaut. Fourteen solid tracks later the band sank their teeth in while recording began at bassist Brian Wheat's very own J Street Recorders. Legendary engineer Michael Wagener (Metallica, Skid Row, Motley Crue) was then tapped to put the final touches in place. 

Fresh off the Monsters of Rock Cruise, the band has quite the itinerary of tour dates throughout the rest of 2014. Click here for all tour dates. 

Formed in 1981, Tesla have firmly carved out their own space in rock and roll history. The band saw great success with their own rendition of the 1971 classic "Signs" and their own hit single "Love Song" from the The Great Radio Controversy, released in 1989.

Tesla includes the members Frank Hannon, Wheat, Jeff Keith, Troy Luccketta and Dave Rude.

Prong: 'Ruining Lives' and 'Cleansing' souls

Tommy Victor talks new album, 'Cleansing' anniversary and more
By Peter Lindblad

Tommy Victor of Prong
Photo by Tim Tronckoe
Tommy Victor is beating his chest with pride over Prong's upcoming release, Ruining Lives. proclaiming its greatness to anyone who will listen.

Due out May 13 in the North America via Steamhammer/SPV, it's the aggressive, slammed-up-against-the-wall successor to 2012's bruising Carved Into Stone, a bone-on-bone record of white-hot intensity and rugged, jawbreaking brilliance that critics went gaga for two years ago. Victor believes Prong upped the ante on Ruining Lives.

"This is the fastest written and recorded Prong album ever, and it has more great songs than any previous Prong record," said Victor, the guitarist, singer and mastermind behind one of alternative-metal's most ambitious and punishing acts. "I am particularly proud of the vocal performance, and I think we captured some outstanding sounds on this album."

Especially adept at combining industrial and post-punk elements with a raging street-metal ferocity and thrash-metal explosiveness, the fiercely independent Prong has carved out its own niche since forming in the late 1980s, toying with electronics and different genres without ever sacrificing power or raw energy for the sake of trying something different.

Tommy Victor, master of the riff
It all started at the famed punk club CBGBs, where Victor worked as a sound man. Together with the venue's doorman, Mike Kirkland, and former Swans drummer Ted Parsons, Prong put out two indie records, the Primitive Origins EP in 1987 and Force Fed in 1988, before signing to Epic Records in 1989 – the result of a furious showcase performance at the old Ritz in their New York City home with local hardcore heavy-hitters the Cro-Mags and German trash heroes Destruction.

A year later, Prong let the classic Beg to Differ loose on the world, a powder keg of a record that helped bring about a sea change in heavy metal, as would contemporaries Helmet and Pantera. Prove You Wrong arrived in 1991, followed by 1994's landmark record, Cleansing, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

Washing ashore in the wake of the Whose Fist is This Anyway? EP of remixes from the Prove Your Wrong album and recorded with former Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven and keyboardist John Bechdel, Cleansing had a muscular groove and a shocking amount of manic electronic edginess. And it had "Snap Your Fingers Snap Your Neck," often cited as having one of the greatest riffs in metal history.

Not wanting to repeat themselves, 1996's Rude Awakening was a departure, exploring the post-punk terrain charted by Killing Joke and welding industrial textures to its already potent sonic machinery. That run of albums was not only prolific, but it also represented an astonishing burst of creativity for Victor and Prong.

Prong: Tommy Victor, Tony Campos
and Alexei Rodriguez (in no particular order)
Photo by Tim Tronckoe
Now comes Ruining Lives, produced by Victor with help from Steve Evetts and featuring the rhythm section of Tony Campos and Alexei Rodriguez. As much a throwback to Prong's Beg to Differ era as it is a step forward in a bold new direction for a band that is constantly pushing the envelope, Ruining Lives takes everything Prong has done in the past and forms fresh, modern sonic art of it all. Victor talks about Prong's past and the new album in this exclusive interview.

Why do you think this record came together so fast?
Tommy Victor: It had to. I was presented with a strict deadline, and I agreed to it. It was important for me to honor that.

Prong- Ruining Lives 2014
Where Carved in Stone was really lean and maybe somewhat more minimalist in its approach, and just a relentless attack from the word go, Ruining Lives seems like a more diverse record, one you can immerse yourself, while still being heavy and crushing, especially on the title track and "Absence of Light." Do you see it that way as well?
TV: Not particularly. I think Ruining Lives is relentless as well, if not more so. There are songs that cross into a post-punk and diverse vibe on both records. Like "Put Myself To Sleep," "Path of Least Resistance," "Reinvestigate," "Subtract" maybe on Carved. Ruining has "Windows Shut," "Self Will Run Riot," and "Absence Of Light," and all have a lot going on in them.

"Come to Realize" is a different animal for Prong. Talk about how that song was created, how it evolved and about the unusual time signature you used. Did that make it a difficult song to record?
TV: It was fairly easy to lay down. Once you memorize the riff, it's a no-brainer. Prong started doing some odd timing back in the Beg To Differ years. I wasn't afraid to build a song out of that riff, so that wasn't an issue neither.

"Turnover" and "The Book of Change" are full of really powerful riffs and hard-hitting drumming. To you, what goes into making a great riff, and who do you think comes up with the best of them?
TV: Thanks. In the case of those songs, there wasn't a lot of thought put in. I usually jam to a certain BPM, to a metronome. I mix it up, and something seems to come out of it. There are so many great riff masters out there. I'm a little weird that way, though. I think Geordie Walker from Killing Joke writes some of the catchiest riffs of all time, and consistently, for instance. Obviously Dime [Pantera's Dimebag Darrell] had an amazing knack for riffs. [Slayer's] Kerry [King] and Jeff  [Hanneman], R.I.P. You have to admit, Jack White  is a genius at that too.

Tommy Victor performing
live with Prong
Lyrically, has your world view changed at all since the early days? Are you reacting to the world and its problems differently than you used to, or do the same things anger and provoke you to write the way you do?
TV: I had a lot of undisciplined anger in the old days – self pitying, too. There were some good messages, though, back then. "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" has a good "live for the moment attitude," which is still cool to me. "Broken Peace" has a positive message, too, out of general frustration, and that's topically something I continue to focus on. There's just more of it now – believe it or not nowadays. The world is what it is, we all have to adapt to reality.

In what ways does this album hearken back to Prong classics like Beg to Differ and Cleansing, and in what ways has Prong evolved since then?
TV: Well, I've always had to sit in a room, maybe even a bathroom or a closet, and come up with lyrics and song ideas, like any writer. That doesn't change. Modern technology and budgets dictate the actual recording process, and that has changed things drastically. There are  lot of things you don't have to do now. And because of that you have to be more careful. I dislike auto-tuned vocals, for instance. All my vocals are performed and doubled. Fortunately, I have experience with that and can do it in a fair amount of time. The vocals have matured considerably I believe. I've learned by doing and they've progressed – same with guitar. I can blast through guitar tracks a lot faster than in the old days. That's all technical stuff. I've been blessed with getting Steve Evetts to work with. He's a godsend. also finding [producer/engineer/mixer] Chris Collier has been amazing. He's one of the most talented guys I've ever been involved with. 

You produced Ruining Lives, and you've said that you're especially proud of the vocals on the record. Did you record them differently this time around to enhance them, or was it just a matter of the performance being stronger?
TV: Well, I answered most of that in the last question. There is a progression of the same attitude on Carved Into Stone. Evetts knows how to coach singers. He produced the vocals on Ruining Lives. It's great to have him in the control room while I'm cutting vocals. Years ago, I was on my own. It was always, "Tommy go in the booth and scream, " and I've realized I don't need to do that, through Steve's guidance.

You worked as the sound man at CBGBs. How did that prepare you for what you experienced with Prong?
TV: It was a boot camp for me. I was forced to be part of the scene. I saw all the bands. And I could see what not to do. I had a firsthand glance of what was going on, so Prong could make decisions based on that knowledge.

What do you remember most about that show at The Ritz with the Cro-Mags and Destruction that helped you get signed by Epic? 
TV: I remember the amazing response we got. We had been fighting for a Rock Hotel show for a couple of years. Finally, [original Prong bassist] Mike Kirkland got [Rock Hotel promoter] Chris Williamson to agree on putting us on that show. It was an epic show that got us signed to Epic.

Talk about the progression or the evolution of Prong from Beg to Differ on through Rude Awakening. Those albums are so innovative and have elements of post-punk, industrial and metal, among others. Where did that desire to combine these different genres come from?
TV: There was beginning to be hoards of thrash-metal bands, noise/ industrial bands, hardcore and crossover bands. So what would be different? How would Prong stand out? I couldn't rely on my playing totally nor my singing. I was okay and got by. I had to rely on smart riffs and stylistic maneuvering. We also had to look to the future a lot in order to maybe break new ground. And back then there was a high ceiling for that. A focus on "songs" inevitably became a priority as well, with less emphasis on strict riffing.

Prong - Cleansing 1994
Cleansing turns 20 years old this year. What are your impressions of it all these years later, and why do you think it remains such an influential record?
TV: It's a classic, and I have no qualms about proclaiming that. It's a signature rock record, not just metal. It opened a lot of doors for a lot of new artists. It's a killer sounding record. [Producer] Terry Date was on top of his game. We made a lot of great studio decisions together. It was a fantastic experience. And it was at a time when Epic records were scratching their heads wondering what the hell we were doing.

You had the EP Whose Fist Is This Anyway?, which came out prior to Cleansing. How did that work influence Cleansing
TV: Well it got Paul Raven interested in taking up the bass role in Prong. We had him do a remix. Then we became friends and eventually led to him playing in the band. To those who don't know, that was the first remix record ever done by a metal band. Ted Parsons and I fought hard to get that sold to Epic records management.

Is "Snap Your Fingers Snap Your Neck" a song you feel represents what Prong is all about, or is there another that you feel is under-appreciated and deserves more acclaim?
TV: It's a magical track. We actually started playing that song while Troy Gregory was still in the band. People loved it from the beginning. Some songs are just like that. I'm noticing "Turnover" having that kind of response now.

Next up for Prong? Lots
of touring
Photo by Tim Tronckoe
Ruining Lives seems to revive so much of what makes Prong so interesting and still relevant these days. Does it seem to bridge the old and the new for Prong?
TV: I wouldn't disagree with that. It's got the riffs, it has the hooks, it has the grooves, it's got some of the New York hardcore vibe, it's got the post-punk undertones. It's a solid Prong record.

What's next for Prong?
TV: Touring. There's a lot coming up. Then writing for a new record. Maybe I'll do the next one in two months time, not three.

CD Review: Winger – Better Days Comin'

CD Review: Winger – Better Days Comin'
Frontiers Records
All Access Rating: A-

Winger - Better Days Comin' 2014
Winger's Karma has decidedly taken a turn for the better. Once bashed by critics, constantly derided on "Beavis and Butt-head" and symbolically trashed by Metallica in the video for "Nothing Else Matters," where Lars Ulrich tosses darts at a poster of Kip Winger, these '80s purveyors of melodic metal had seen their career trajectory crash and burn in the '90s. And then grunge came along and finished the job.

Their reputation shot to hell, Winger disbanded in 1994, but the story doesn't end there. A damn sight more intelligent and musically sophisticated than the hair-metal crowd they ran with, a resilient Winger reunited in 2001, and eight years later, intent on restoring their good name, they issued Karma, their fifth studio album. 

Unexpectedly heavy and disarmingly alluring, with a series of intricate progressive-rock instrumental passages, Karma was remarkable, a stunning reminder of what Winger was capable of when properly motivated. Out via Frontiers RecordsBetter Days Comin' is more of the same, and perhaps even more dynamic than its much-praised predecessor.

Cementing its reputation as the "Dream Theater of pop-metal," Winger's compositions are artfully sketched out on Better Days Comin', where they trot out the sweeping, atmospheric epic "Out of this World" as the album's closer, its moody clouds pierced by the lighting bolts of a spectacular guitar solo. Guitarists Reb Beach and John Roth are as sharp as ever here, their byzantine leads and riffs biting down hard on sizzling, irresistibly crunchy rockers such as the gritty "Rat Race," the lust-filled "Midnight Driver of a Love Machine" – which has a memorable little earwig of a chorus – and the grinding "Another Beautiful Day."

Strangely colorful and maneuvering in the odd time signatures of a band like Yes, "Tin Soldier" weaves through prog-rock's twisting back roads and takes in beautifully diverse, ever-shifting instrumental scenery, while occasionally encountering slight dissonance. On the brighter, funkier title track, Winger embraces its inner Sly and the Family Stone and shining optimism, before settling into the drifting, Beatlesque psychedelia of "Be Who You Are, Now."

The genius of Winger is that they make challenging music that's also warmly human and accessible, all of it consisting of the tricky, yet powerful drumming of former Dixie Dreg Rod Morgenstein, silvery synthesizers, sure hooks and Kip Winger's gripping vocals. It seems Beavis and Butt-head had them all wrong.
– Peter Lindblad

'One Night in the Temple' with Lillian Axe

Veteran hard-rock outfit to release live acoustic album

Lillian Axe to release 13th album in May
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame members, Lillian Axe, will be releasing their 13th album, the acoustic live, One Night in the Temple, produced by Steve Blaze, on May 27, 2014 via CME Records / Sony Music (RED) in the USA and Canada and on Melodic Rock Records / Cargo for the rest of the world on May 19.

Performed acoustically in an intimate setting housed in a Masonic Temple in the Bayou, with their most die-hard fans, One Night in the Temple, features all their hits including, "True Believer," "Show A Little Love," "Crucified," "Misery Loves Company," "Ghost of Winter," "The Great Divide," "Bow Your Head," "Waters Rising" and the crowd favorite "Nobody Knows."

Lillian Axe founder Steve Blaze reflects, “When I first had the idea of putting this show together, it was originally going to be a private 20 person show with acoustic guitars, vocals and no production, however, it took on a life of its own.”

Lillian Axe - One Night in the Temple 2014
One Night in the Temple will be released as three-disc set (2CDs/1DVD and 2CDs/1Blu-Ray), housed in an elaborate digipack. Filmed in high definition, the Blu-Ray will contain the acoustic performance, fan question-and-answer session, videos for the songs "Caged In" and "Death Comes Tomorrow," featuring three songs live in concert from their July 4, 2013 performance at the Paragon Casino and behind-the-scenes footage while the DVD will contain one song from the Paragon Casino and the video for "Death Comes Tomorrow."


FULL TRACK LISTING: Disc 1: Waters Rising, Death Comes Tomorrow, Ghost of Winter, See You Someday, The Great Divide, Nocturnal Symphony, Sad Day On Planet Earth, Bow Your Head, Show A Little Love and Misery Loves Company. Disc 2: Crucified, The World Stopped Turning, Dyin’ to Live (Shades of Blue), Until The End Of The World, The Day I Met You, The Promised Land, Nobody Knows, My Apologies, True Believer and Nobody Knows (Crowd Version).

Lillian Axe is Brian Jones (lead vocals), Steve Blaze (guitar and vocals), Sam Poitevent (guitar and vocals), Eric Morris (bass guitar) and Ken Koudelka (drums).

Lillian Axe will be touring to support this release this summer beginning in the middle of July.

Confirmed dates with more to be announced:
4/18 Houston, TX Concert Pub North
4/19 Dallas, TX Red Blood Club
5/9 Jackson, MS Duling Hall
7/19 Pekin, IL Goodfellas

9/27 Melbourne, FL 80s In The Park Festival

Yngwie Malmsteen brings 'Guitar Gods' tour to North America

Uli Jon Roth, Gary Hoey, Bumblefoot on the bill

Yngwie Malmsteen
Deities worthy of worship for their six-string wizardry, the "Guitar Gods" are coming to North America, with the "Paganini of heavy metal," Yngwie Malmsteen, headlining.

Known far and wide as the king of neoclassical shred guitar, Malmsteen will be joined by Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions, Electric Sun), Gary Hoey ("Hocus Pocus") and Bumblefoot (Guns N' Rose) on the first-ever "Guitar Gods" festival tour. Each show will also feature surprise guests. See a YouTube presentation here:



The tour was created and organized by April Malmsteen, Yngwie's wife and manager, and will be storming stages in partnership with Guitar Center, presenting six-plus hours of guitar fireworks displays that are sure to shock and awe.

She talked about what the tour means to her.

"Being able to put together this festival has been a lifelong dream of mine," said April. "I sincerely believe that 'Guitar Gods' will bring tremendous value and enjoyment to not only the guitar and heavy metal enthusiast, but also to anyone who loves music."

Malmsteen's most recent solo album, Spellbound, and his new autobiography, "Relentless: A Memoir," are both available now. Furthermore, the Yngwie Malmsteen premium artist signature series by Fender is also now available, featuring a full line of Malmsteen-endorsed accessories such as guitar strings, instrument cables, gig bags, electronic tuners and more. He was also recently profiled on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday.  

His career going on three decades now, Malmsteen is a Grammy-nominated guitar icon, whose technical brilliance and incredible speed have left audiences speechless. The first guitarist tohave his own Fender signature guitar model, Malmsteen is the world's pre-eminent practitioner of "shred guitar" and "neo classical" music and was named by Time magazine as one of the "Top Ten Electric Guitar Players."

Roth, of course, is another legendary guitarists, who intends on bringing the very special 40th Anniversary Scorpions set he's been playing to audiences from Europe to North America. Hoey will perform his radio hits, including the Billboard Top 5 smash "Hocus Pocus," while Bumblefoot, best known for his work with Guns N' Roses, is doing his first solo tour.

Here are the dates for Yngwie Malmsteen/Guitar Gods North American tour 2014:

June
13 Huntington, NY Paramount Theatre
14 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
17 Englewood, NJ Bergen Performing Arts Center
20 St. Charles, Ill. Arcada Theatre
21 Toronto, ON Phoenix Theatre
26 Seattle, WA Showbox Theatre
27 Portland, OR Roseland Theater

July
3 Beverly Hills, CA Saban Theatre
8 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre

For more information, visit www.yngwiemalmsteen.com.




CD Review: Sebastian Bach – Give 'Em Hell

CD Review: Sebastian Bach – Give 'Em Hell
Frontiers Records
All Access Rating: A-

Sebastian Bach - Give 'Em Hell 2014
Sebastian Bach just can't help himself, especially when it comes to the lovely Minnie Gupta. A slave to his appetites, and not just ... The Grind, the former Skid Row screamer, now sober, reveals how susceptible he is to "Temptation" on the irresistibly wicked, melodically heavy tour de force Give 'Em Hell, his upcoming solo album on Frontiers Records.

Never apologetic for his advocacy of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll as a lifestyle choice, the roguish Bach carries on with a wink and a smile. The steamy video for his new song "Temptation" features Gupta, Bach's off-and-on love interest, in all sorts of seductive poses, with Bach trying not very hard to resist her not-so-subtle charms. Giving in to the ocean-wide melodies, swarming guitars, thick metal grooves and luxurious modern sound, enhanced by revered hard-rock producer Bob Marlette, of Give 'Em Hell feels just as sinful.

Mighty, churning riff machinery operated by guitarists John 5, Devin Bronson and Steve Stevens – given added heft from Duff McKagen's hydraulic bass lines and the powerhouse drumming of Bobby Jarzombek  – drive movable walls of sound like "Hell Inside My Head," "All My Friends are Dead" and "Harmony," as well as the aforementioned "Temptation," before giving way to lush, spacious choruses that take advantage of Bach's expansive vocal range. Thinking outside the box and shredding with feverish dexterity and diabolical imagination, Stevens, Bronson and John 5 unleash torrential solos throughout Give 'Em Hell, getting their aggression out in the sexually charged "Dominator."

While Bach does, indeed, Give 'Em Hell here, especially when his singing turns raw and confrontational in the angry, complex maze of riffs that is "Gun to a Knife Fight," there is a gentle weariness to his phrasing on the alluring power ballad "Had Enough" and he expresses a healthy combination of music-business cynicism and heartfelt empathy for screwed-over artists that's all caught up in the rolling piano and acoustic ramble of "Rock 'N' Roll is a Vicious Game." Still wild and untamed, though less assertive than on past efforts, Bach is playing it pretty well these days.
– Peter Lindblad

Rush show 'Grace Under Pressure'

A look at the paradigm-shifting album that just turned 30
By Peter Lindblad

Rush - Grace Under Pressure 1984
Signals was polarizing. Songs of teenage isolation in suburbia and the uneasy transition from an analog world to a digital one, a heavy dependence on synthesizers and sequencers at the expense of Alex Lifeson's guitars ... reggae? What in the name of John Rutsey was going on?

While Rush was embracing the modern technology of the 1980s and adapting to a quickly changing musical landscape, where New Wave was all the rage and classic progressive-rock was all but extinct, a large portion of its fan base was pining for elaborate concept albums and a renewed emphasis on the word "power" in Rush's fundamental power-trio format.

Some hadn't even stayed with Rush past the transitional Moving Pictures, where the integration of keyboards and a focus on composing shorter, more compact songs with self-contained stories, rather than long, drawn-out storytelling with vague resolutions, was still under construction. Those clinging to the hope that Rush would come to their senses and return to "real" guitar-driven prog-rock would run screaming for home upon hearing 1984's Grace Under Pressure, click their heels and throw on Caress of Steel or 2112 and chant, "There's no place like Toronto. There's no place like Toronto."

Rush's 10th album, Grace Under Pressure turned 30 years old on Saturday, and for those who not only hated the band's new direction, but took it as an outright betrayal, it was the final straw. Geddy Lee's synthesizers continued to push forward, becoming a dominant element in Rush's transformation, and it was clear they weren't going away. That was a bridge too far for some. The Rush they had come to know and love was gone. They were now new world men.

There were loyalists, though, who appreciated Rush's artistic fearlessness and willingness to experiment with new sounds and work in seemingly incongruent mediums like ska and reggae. And it's entirely possible that Rush did win over a new audience that had previously dismissed them as relics of the past, although that's debatable. Most of the punk and New Wave crowd was never going to accept Rush in any form. Their minds were made up.

So, revolution really was in the air when Grace Under Pressure came out. To hardliners, anything past Hemispheres or maybe Moving Pictures was heresy. There were no record burnings or a mob that "moves like demons possessed. Quiet in conscience, calm in their right, confident their ways are best." Those lines are from "Witch Hunt," of course, and in a sense, there was a somewhat similar atmosphere of fear and dread in Rush's fandom as to where the band was going next.

Not quite oblivious to it all, but certainly not in a mood to make any kind of artistic retreat, Rush calmly practiced its craft, forging ahead creatively with a sense that what they were doing was an essential and logical next step. What gets lost in conversations about Grace Under Pressure is that it's one of Rush's most accessible and well-constructed albums. With all of the critical worship that 2012's Clockwork Angels received, and rightly so, it being a record that brought some of the lapsed believers back to the faith, it's not as direct or as fluid as Grace Under Pressure.

Seamlessly, Rush toyed with ska on "The Enemy Within," the clipped rhythmic stabbing of Lifeson's guitar adding energy to the track. And "Afterimage" had a more languid reggae feel to it, but on the whole, Grace Under Pressure was almost futuristic, its clean, contemporary sound shaped by a new producer, Peter Henderson. After Signals, Rush amicably divorced itself from the only producer they'd ever had to that point in Terry Brown, who had butted heads with Rush during the making of Signals. Brown wasn't convinced they were on the right path either.

Heavy subjects like the holocaust and nuclear war were addressed in the  "Red Sector A" and the briskly paced "Distant Early Warning," respectively, with "Red Sector A" taking much of its inspiration from Lee's mother's horrible experiences in Nazi concentration camps. Some have described Grace Under Pressure as a dark record, and with Neil Peart exploring the impact of pressure on human behavior, it's not an LP that's all sunshine and lolly pops. Even the affecting vulnerability of "Kid Gloves" has a world-weary quality to it.

Lee has said of Rush's past lyrical concept journeys that "what you have to say ends being very nebulous." Not so with Grace Under Pressure, which featured compelling stories and ideas that made their points clearly and succinctly. Instrumentally, Lifeson pops up everywhere, his solos so pure of tone, so piercing and agile, and his flashing riffs dynamic and moving with inspired purpose, while Peart's precision and energy startles, Lee's rolling bass lines and complex figures brimming with momentum and natural drive.

And then there's that cover art by Hugh Syme that was so imaginative and alien, juxtaposing turbulence and calm in a way that was perfectly in sync with its music, the urgency and tension of "Distant Early Warning," "The Enemy Within" and "Between the Wheels" providing such striking contrast to Lee's watery synth floods and the occasional airy oasis-like clearings of breathtaking beauty you'd come across. There's an earnest intelligence to Grace Under Pressure that's a breath of fresh air in this age of irony and cynicism, and the melodic topography of the record is not at all flat, but rather it has expansive scenery and interesting peaks and valleys.

Grace Under Pressure continued Rush's evolution, and, on a personal level, it paralleled my own musical exploration. I was getting into The Police at that time. I was listening to the Talking Heads. I was questioning whether or not to hold on to the past and hold close those records I loved from Led Zeppelin, from Yes, from Uriah Heep ... the list goes on and on. U2, Ultravox, The Replacements, and all manner of U.K. and U.S. punk and New Wave acts were taking me further away from my roots, and that was exciting.

Rush would always stay with me, and the plot twists to their career were continually interesting and never boring. I saw them live only one time, and that was on the "Grace Under Pressure" tour, and it was, as it always is with Rush, an awakening. Lifeson has said of Grace Under Pressure that it is the "most satisfying of all our records." For me, it's Moving Pictures, but who am I to argue with Alex freaking Lifeson!

CD Review: Gamma Ray – Empire of the Undead

CD Review: Gamma Ray – Empire of the Undead
Armoury Records
Gamma Ray - Empire of the Undead 2014

All Access Rating: A-

Wailing to the heavens, as only he can in that dramatic voice of his, the one that once led Helloween to such great heights, Kai Hansen declares, "It's up to you to be forgotten" in the surging symphonic-metal fantasy "Avalon" that serves as the gateway to the Armoury Records release Empire of the Undead, the new album from German power-metal legends Gamma Ray.

Always a potent mix of speed and bombast, Gamma Ray has no intention of being relegated to the dustbins of metal history, not after adding an LP as memorable as Empire of the Undead to their esteemed catalog.

Abandoning any pretense of subtlety, Gamma Ray lets it all hang out on the gloriously operatic "Avalon," a 9:22 shape-shifting theater of magic, deceit and heroism that consists of epic storytelling, soaring strings and powerful, melodic surges of guitars, drums and bass that eventually turns into an angry tempest. The rumbling evil and dark, pounding riffs of "Demonseed" drive a complex tale of a demonic presence looking to spread pain and suffering throughout the earth, while the high-flying "Seven" – reminiscent of Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" – takes an elevator down to hell, as Hansen gives a particularly devilish soliloquy. It's a captivating vocal performance that Hansen gives on Empire of the Undead, as he relishes the chance to assume different roles.

Not always so theatrical, Empire of the Undead doesn't end there. The title a transparent nod to Judas Priest, "Hellbent" is a fast, thrashing ode to the greatness of heavy metal, and it is not only sincere, but also absolutely thrilling, as is the equally fast and furious title track, its guitars full of venom that spreads into the hard-charging "Pale Rider."

Full of diverse compositions, stampeding blast beats, aggressive guitars and dynamic shredding, and Hansen's unique and utterly compelling vocal phrasing, Empire of the Undead is completely over the top and runs on pure adrenaline, that is until Gamma Ray tries to be Queen on the overly earnest "Time for Deliverance." That's when this Empire falls, until revived again by the explosive power-metal back draft of closer "I Will Return." Here's hoping Gamma Ray also comes back again.
– Peter Lindblad