Best of 2014 in Metal and Hard Rock – Part I

Starting a countdown of the best albums for this year
By Peter Lindblad

Separating the wheat from the chaff from 2014's heavy metal and hard rock is not really difficult, demanding work, but it does call for the kind of stupid courage that comes from drinking heavily.

These are dangerous times in the blogosphere, a wild west where expressing a harmless opinion is likely to set off gunfights of moral outrage and blistering condemnations. This is music, though, a thing that is said to soothe savage breasts and all that. Of course, talking about it can be akin to conversations about politics or religion.

In the spirit of throwing gasoline on a fire, here's a best albums list for 2014, starting with Nos. 6-10. The rest come later. You've been warned.

Cavalera Conspiracy - Pandemonium 2014

10. Cavalera Conspiracy – Pandemonium: What do you want from Max and Igor Cavalera at this point? A reunion of the classic Sepultura lineup? Jake E. Lee has a better chance of getting Sharon and Ozzy to give him writing credits on "Bark at the Moon." Just give Cavalera Conspiracy's Pandemonium a chance. It is devastatingly violent aural chaos, a mad, multi-layered symphony of thrash-metal ferocity and rusted-out, punishing industrial grind for frustrated children of the digital revolution that'll make your head explode.

Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls 2014

9. Judas Priest – Redeemer of Souls: Not ready just yet to fly off into the sunset on sad wings of destiny, Judas Priest confounded expectations with this monstrous beast of a record. They sound as hungry as ever on Redeemer of Souls, an unholy communion of epic, expansive melodies with menacing, rugged riffs and electrically charged solos and dual-guitar flights that scream like tortured souls bound for hell. God bless this Priest.

California Breed - S/T 2014

8. California Breed - California Breed: Nobody knew Andrew Watt from Adam before hitching his wagon to Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham – the drummer having bailed on the project just as it was gaining traction, only to be replaced by former Queens of the Stone Age punisher Joey Castillo –  in the vibrant new power trio California Breed. A young guitar slinger with great feel, fiery versatility and raw ability, Watt is the partner Hughes has been waiting for all these years, able to wring out soulful leads, tough riffs and blazing solos with ease on a debut album that pays off with surefire hooks, lean and mean Zeppelin-like stomp and swaggering groove, and some of the best singing of Hughes' career.

KXM - S/T 2014

7. KXM – KXM: Another trio, this one a supergroup made up of King's X front man dUg Pinnick, former Dokken axe man George Lynch and Korn drummer Ray Luzier, KXM came out swinging on their emotionally powerful eponymous debut. Just as happy grinding out rough-and-tumble, slow-burning riffs as he is reeling off sizzling solos, Lynch seems comfortable in the grungy world of KXM, where Luzier's complex drum patterns and Pinnick's grumbling bass provide a pulpit for spiritual profundities, damaged introspection and sharp socio-political commentary.

Revocation - Deathless 2014

6. Revocation – Deathless: Immensely talented, the technical death-metal outfit Revocation upped the ante with Deathless, showing off dizzying musical chops on a record that was both frenzied and brutally heavy. And yet, amid the controlled chaos there are strains of melody that somehow survive all the destruction and carnage going on around them. Down the line, they'll be using the word "seminal" to describe Deathless.

CD Review: KXM – KXM

CD Review: KXM – KXM

Rat Pak Records

All Access Rating: A-

KXM - S/T 2014

For his last solo record, the rocky, almost impassable, road that was the decidedly downcast Naked, dUg Pinnick turned inward to explore depression, an affliction the King's X front man has long battled.

A heroic attempt to illustrate, in stark and rather ugly tones, its effects on his art and his life, Naked was an emotional bloodletting, with stories and darkly soulful melodies that rarely let in any light.

Working with Korn's Ray Luzier and former Dokken guitarist George Lynch in the new supergroup KXM has, at least for now, brightened his disposition somewhat. An inspired collaboration, KXM welds gnarly guitar riffs to eclectic, but hard-hitting, drumming and some of Pinnick's toughest, and most tenacious, bass lines on the trio's grungy, groove-laden self-titled debut for Rat Pak Records.

Redemption songs like "Rescue Me," "I'll Be Okay" and "Faith Is a Room" are life-affirming expressions of belief and vulnerability, these almost religious awakenings that borrow a cup of King's X's sunnier psychedelia to bathe them in dirty radiance. A flashlight shines on the dark subject matter of "Sleep," exposing domestic abuse to the light of day in soulful, slow-burning build-ups that add emotional weight to every lyrical line, while "Do It Now," "Love" and "Burn" are similarly paced, prowling in the bushes or surging ahead rather than running full out, with the angry, in-your-face first single "Gun Fight" – this provocative defense of Constitutional and human rights – blazes with intensity and digs its hooks into you. (See the video for "Rescue Me" here):

More concerned about the riff than ever, Lynch balls them up into meaty, wicked fists of sound, while still tearing off searing, agile solos. And while Pinnick's vocals are captivating and passionate, it's Luzier's stick work that's the real revelation here. Freed from Korn, he explores a wide variety of textures with KXM and displays surprising skill, all while making the songs move at whatever gear they want to shift to. And while a couple of songs do not coalesce as tightly as they should, the great majority demand attention and keep it. Looking for a "Gun Fight" of the sonic variety? You'll get one from KXM.
– Peter Lindblad

CD Review: dUg Pinnick – Naked

dUg Pinnick – Naked

RockArmy Records/MVD

All Access Review: B+

dUg Pinnick - Naked 2013

Going into deep self-analysis, dUg Pinnick, the heart and soul of King’s X, takes stock of his life on Naked, his latest solo album. A record with such a title would imply that its author is willing to leave himself vulnerable, exposed, and his defenses are down on Naked. Laying his soul bare, Pinnick has penned some of the most relatable and intensely therapeutic lyrics of his career, and they are couched in angry, downcast music that seems born of dark days, indeed.

Slaying those inner demons, an edgy Pinnick – who wrote everything on Naked, played everything on Naked, recorded it himself and produced it all by his lonesome at his own dUgtone Studio – unleashes gnarly heavy-metal storms like “That Great Big Thing,” the bruised, yet mellifluous, “I Hope I Don’t Lose My Mind,” and the ponderous, grunge-like stomp of “What You Gonna Do” that release powerful, bottled-up emotions. These are somewhat depressing, suffocating sonic environments – dreary motel rooms, where bottles of pills and booze are strewn about, but there’s a Bible on the nightstand and hope for a better life cutting through the gloom of the drug-sick psychedelia of “The Point,” one of the strangest tracks on Naked.

And there are some odd passages on Naked, including the shambolic breakdown of “I’m Not Going to Freak Out” and the stuttering “Take Me Away From You,” with its ill-conceived proggy keyboards providing a distracting kaleidoscopic background. More soulful, with a thick guitar roar, “Courage” growls at  and then mauls to death whatever fears it confronts, while “Ain’t That the Truth” rolls out satisfying, hard funk grooves and the urgent “Heart Attack” tears the newspaper off the windows, letting some radiant guitars, optimism and the will to carry on into what has been a dank, dirty basement of a record up to this point.

Possibly the most affecting track on Naked is “If You Fuk Up,” a heartfelt, slow-building ode to self-reliance in the face of crushing doubt and despair that artfully weaves together different voice threads that carry Pinnick’s pleas for salvation and his semi-formed survival plan. Less reliant on whimsical Beatlesesque harmonies and the melodic ingenuity of King’s X’s greatest achievements, although not so different from their early work, Naked is spiritual in its own way, but it has a tough skin and a serious aspect. It’s a crumbling old church in a bad neighborhood with an idealistic priest who tries valiantly to shepherd his flock, despite the temptations and desperate hardships its congregation faces every day. Pinnick will clothe himself and fight on, shouldering his burdens and seeking redemption wherever he can find it. Maybe Naked will convince others to do the same. www.seeofsound.com

-        – Peter Lindblad

CD Review: Saga - 20/20

CD Review: Saga – 20/20

Eagle Rock Entertainment/earMusic (edel)

All Access Review: A-

Saga - 20/20 2012

A signifier of perfect eyesight, the designation “20/20” holds special meaning for the long-running Canadian progressive-rock institution Saga. For one thing, 20/20 just happens to be their 20^th album, and for another, it also refers to the eye operation keyboardist/vocalist Jim Gilmour had that has restored his vision to – you guessed it – 20/20.

More than that, however, the title is emblematic of Saga’s ability to visualize so clearly and with such detailed definition what it is they want to accomplish every time they step foot in a studio. Nothing, it seems, is ever left to chance for a group that has always been meticulous about sound clarity, even as they designed some of the most grandiose sonic architecture in the realm of prog-rock with Worlds Apart and other marvels. Cleanliness is next to godliness for Saga, and with the successful Lasik surgery conducted on 20/20, due to be released by Eagle Rock Entertainment, it appears there is nothing clouding their focus.

With Michael Sadler, one of the most distinctive and crystalline vocalists in all of prog, back in the fold, Saga seems re-energized on the futuristic 20/20, even if the music was almost entirely finished before his return. Between the breathless urgency and racing pulse of 20/20’s opener “Six Feet Under,” the wah-wah radiation burns of “Anywhere You Wanna Go” and the crunching, switchback guitar grooves of a particularly metallic “Spin It Again,” so reminiscent of early King’s X, 20/20 finds Saga adding some edginess and heft to what are often airy melodic passages – the likes of which are found in the breezy mix of light acoustic guitar strum and gently ruffling synthesizers that is “Ellery,” which checks in on the psychopathic main character of fan favorite “The Perfectionist.”

A defiant optimism pervades 20/20, as the pain and frustration of a life of unrealized potential vented in the chorus of sharp vocals and angry riffs in “One of These Days” give way to dizzying whirls of synthesizer and inspiring lyrical self-affirmations. Fighting against the erosion of imagination, “Till the Well Runs Dry” – featuring a deceivingly simple, but wonderfully executed Ian Crichton guitar solo and touches of jazz fusion – is swept up in a gushing geyser of a chorus of soaring, faith-healing keyboard swells and arpeggios and Sadler’s almost evangelical fervor for the subject matter. Tested again in the gorgeous ballad “Lost for Words,” Sadler’s expansive range and rare gift for expertly navigating melodies swim through an ocean of lovely piano figures, crystals of synth and acoustic guitar gold, before the surging electric rock – blanketed in dreamy vocals and pinwheel keyboards – of “Show and Tell” crash the reverie.

One of the most emotionally powerful and heartfelt records of the band’s history, 20/20 is, nevertheless, pretty typical of Saga – the easy marriage of synthesizers and keyboards with diverse guitar forays allowing each entity enough room to make their mark.Though more muscular than past efforts, the utterly transcendent 20/20 is full of altered moods, dynamic shifts in tempos and guided tours of epic, byzantine instrumental citadels. In much the same way that countrymen Rush combine their adventurous inclinations with a grounding in solid rock riffing, Saga forges strong song structures and flowing, shapely melodies that can withstand experimentation and the occasional odd time signature. There is nothing wrong with Saga’s vision, even after all these years.

-            Peter Lindblad