Hidden Intent - Fear Prey Demise review

Hidden Intent are part of the new wave of Thrash Metal that has a massive resurgence of late and are a prime example of what it should sound like. One of the best if not the best thrash metal act in Australia Hidden Intent are continuing to assert their dominance on the genre and Fear Prey Demise is no exception.


I've been following Hidden Intent almost from their inception, seeing them play live at the local footy club just after they had returned from their very first tour of south east Asia which was an interesting gig haha. No vocals for the majority of the gig because of the grueling tour and then long flights home Chris had blown his voice out. But what was clear from this gig was that the band has that fury, the musicians are all top caliber and they have the drive and the will to succeed and as they keep touring and writing, their music is maturing and becoming one hell of a fucking beast!

Fear Prey Demise is the band's second full length release and it's a huge leap forward in terms of songwriting for the band, whereas before they were writing straight thrash metal with the obligatory solos, guitarwork and vocals, now they have matured and their songs have more substance and feeling to them. The music is a very anthemic style of thrash, more like Anthrax and Megadeth than the other 2 bands in the big 4. But everything is so well done it's hard to fault anything, all I want to do is swear heaps and headbang along and that is something because I don't really like Anthrax or Megadeth but these guys offer something a little bit more than them.

The musicianship and vocals on Fear Prey Demise are amazing, everything is played perfectly... Phil on the guitars has to be one of the best guitarists in Adelaide or even Australia his blistering solos are insane, I could feel my face melting away the longer the album went on. Chris' vocals on this album are excellent and his bass playing is not just there to keep time, he's more like Steve Harris he brings it all together and then solo's out himself at times. Then the newest addition to the band Paul on drums just thumps the fucking shit out of the kit and gives this album a perfect backdrop, from the gallops and the blast beats all the way to the softer moments it's all in perfect position!

The songs are insanely well written and you'll never get bored while listening to the album because there's no songs that sound anything like any of the other songs on the album, which is extremely interesting. I'm not sure whether that's because the band is still trying to find their sound or whether it's because they gather influences from such a wide range of sources that they incorporate all of that information in to their music. Either way there's nothing I didn't like on Fear Prey Demise. There's the standard anthemic thrash masterpiece in Addicted to Thrash which would be a real crowd pleaser at gigs, I could imagine more windmills than the dutch countryside. Then there's an almost Black Label Society style barn burner called Petrified which is a lot darker and heavier than anything else on the album. There's the obligatory comedy style thrash bastard by the name of Drop Bears are Real which reminds me a lot of Anthrax. In between these songs there's always something different there's the epic Seeds of Hate, the uncompromising fury of Apocalypse Now and of course the ballad which is titled Waiting Here in Hell which reminds me so much of Metallica's ballads. There's definitely something for all fans here, I FUCKING loved this album!

I can't stop listening to this album, the more I listen the more I find to love about it. 3 dudes wrote and recorded this album which is something that I cannot understand, they sound like a 5 piece at least!

Hidden Intent have just recorded an absolutely classic metal album, Fear Prey Demise will be the album they play to herald the coming of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse.

Pros:

• Same thrash sound, different thrash feel
• Some absolutely blistering guitar work
• a lot more feeling and emotion
• can't stop listening

Cons:

• Can't stop listening... I have things to do man, and my neck is getting sore!

Track List:

1. Prey for your Death
2. Addicted to Thrash
3. Seeds of Hate
4. Drop Bears are Real
5. Waiting Here in Hell
6. Apocalypse Now
7. Eternal Rest
8. Petrified
9. Step into the Light
10. Imminent Psychosis

Total Running Time: 48:11

Line Up:
Chris McEwen - Bass / Lead Vocals
Phil Bennett - Guitars / Vocals
Paul Lewis - Drums / Vocals

Genre: Thrash
Release Date: Available now on their Bandcamp page (link below), Worldwide release 6th July, 2018.
Label: Scarlet Records
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/hiddenintent/
https://hiddenintent.bandcamp.com/

Evil Hunter - Evil Hunter review

It's not often you hear of bands from Spain but I feel like Evil Hunter is one of those bands that you'll hear from very soon. Creating their own brand of power thrash it makes you feel like you could take on the world and leave no survivors. The music is fast, thrashy and epic as hell!


Forged from some of the best metal musicians Spain has to offer, Evil Hunter is an amalgam of pure power and fire and this is their first album working together and it's of such a high standard, I'm honestly aghast at the purity of this recording. Not only is the recording so extremely crisp but the songwriting is incredible, the riffs are huge, the solo's are perfection and the power is almost second to none. As this album is their first outing I'm incredibly excited to hear more from these guys, everything they have presented here is really amazing. But let's delve a little deeper.

The songs on this album are classic power thrash not unlike Cage or Flotsam and Jetsam but I feel like these guys are almost giving it an almost glam metal sound to it, which is an interesting mix, but it doesn't sound out of place or wrong. The music is decidedly anthemic as well, something you can sing and headbang along to that gives you that feeling of power, I could see myself doing that a lot with Evil Hunter.

The musicianship is staggering, these guys are all seasoned musicians so that's to be expected, but what I didn't expect was that these guys would all work so well together. The band just gels so well that you could be mistaken that these guys have been together for an eternity but that's not the case... this is their FIRST album together. The guitars are insanely good, as to be expected in this genre. The bass stands out on it's own it's not just following along with the guitars which is good to hear. The vocals are amazing, Rob Halfordesque or even Bon Jovi-ish, regardless he has a huge amount of power in his pipes that's for sure. Everything is just so cohesive and well played that it's honestly hard to fault in the slightest.

The tracks on Evil Hunter are standard fare for this genre, plenty of power and fire, but they do it better than most other bands of this genre, I feel. They even have the obligatory synth backed ballad which is amazing, I usually don't like it when bands do "the ballad" but this one is surprisingly good, the power stays intact, it sounds like an 80's Bon Jovi ballad, and they keep it free of cheese... mostly, hard not to feel a bit of camp. This is one of those albums you put on when you're feeling down, the tracks are so uplifting and powerful that it's impossible to stay in a bad mood when you listen to it.

Evil Hunter have released an amazing first album, I can't wait to hear more of their work because they can only grow from here which is an insane thought. There is so much power and fury within the walls of this album that it's hard not to take notice, it's not something you can put on in the background because you'll find yourself being distracted all the time. I loved this album, it's everything a power thrash fan needs and more. Take note, Evil Hunter are coming!

Pros:

• So much power
• Incredible musicianship
• Insane vocals
• A standout in a very campy genre
• Power

Cons:

• Does sound a little campy at times
• To much power for mere mortals

Track List:

1. Surf The Waves
2. Evil Hunter
3. Heartbeat
4. Hot Leather
5. Hold Me Tight
6. Go
7. By Your Side
8. Open Up Your Eyes

Total Running Time: 35:02

Line up:
Alberto Garrido - Bass
Gustavo Segura - Drums
Victor Duran - Guitars
Jose Rubio - Guitars, Vocals
Damian Chicano - Lead Vocals

Genre: Power/Thrash
Release Date: 10th April, 2018
Label: Fighter Records
Links:
https://fighter-records.bandcamp.com/album/evil-hunter
https://www.facebook.com/evilhunterband/

Witch Mountain - Witch Mountain review

Witch Mountain are one of those bands that have to be listened, to be understood, gorgeous silky vocals, slow chuggy riffs, everything in their music is as it should be, it's a pleasure to listen to.


Now I have reviewed Witch Mountain before with their last album Mobile of Angels, since then they've changed vocalists as the incomparable Uta Plotkin left to pursue other projects, at the time I thought to myself who are they going to get to replace her? her voice was so perfect for Witch Mountain. From the first utterance of vocal on this album I knew they had found the PERFECT replacement, she keeps up with Uta and not only that she adds a little bit more darkness and age to the vocals which is surprising considering she's only 19, Kayla Dixon has that "it" factor that bands dream of having in their ranks. I feel like Witch Mountain is now complete.

The album only contains 5 tracks but it doesn't need any more than that to get the point across, they get through some really hefty material in such a short amount of time which is no mean feat. While Mobile of Angels was a pretty dark album, Witch Mountain eclipses that by a pretty large margin. Think of Mobile as someone dying slowly where everyone gets to say goodbye and by the end they're ready for the inevitable void. Witch Mountain is like someone dying suddenly in front of their friends and family and the grief and anger that would undoubtedly come afterwards. I guess?

I've already talked about the outstanding vocals, but that's not the only thing that stands out here, The guitars are chunky, slow and heavy but at times sparse and epic. The drums are incredible, they drive the songs to where they need to get to with such finesse, it's remarkable playing. The bass fills out the bottom end and gives the music so much meat, you can almost cut yourself off a piece. All in all I can't fault any of the musicianship on this album in the slightest, one of the most complete albums I've ever heard!

I mentioned before that there's only 5 tracks on this album but they are long and each track tells such an amazing story. The album starts with Midnight, a dark, angry song which is something we are used to hearing from Witch Mountain but not on this level, this track drags you down with it, you can feel the anger it was written with. Next is Mechanical World which is a more experimental type song which really allows Kayla to take her vocal cords for a bit of a stretch. Then comes Burn it Down which is a chunky doom epic, the vocals are really the show piece on this track. Hellfire is next which is a sparse acoustic, almost 1920's deep south blues style rock disasterpiece. Then the final track on the album Nighthawk which is a sprawling 15 minute doomy opus, with many ups, downs, lefts and rights, it almost compiles the album in upon itself and unleashes a final explosion of emotion.

After listening to Witch Mountain a few times I just can't get it out of my head, the groove is second to none it crawls along at a snails pace for the most part and drags you along with it, it's dark and gritty but at the same time light and airy... I feel exhausted after listening to the album but I'm still left wanting to hear it again. Such incredible song writing and with the addition of a new singer they haven't lost what makes Witch Mountain, Witch Mountain which is awesome.


Pros:

• Such incredible song writing
• The vocals are insanely good
• Great use of dark and light
• A more complete album has never been written

Cons:

• After hearing this album I just want more!

Track List:
1. Midnight
2. Mechanical World
3. Burn You Down
4. Hellfire
5. Nighthawk

Running time: 35:06

Line-up:
Nathan Carson - Drums
Rob Wrong - Guitars
Justin Brown - Bass
Kayla Dixon - Vocals

Genre: Doom / Blues
Release Date: May 25th 2018
Label: Svart Records
Links:
https://witchmountain.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/witchmountain/

Classic Bands you may or may not have heard of Part 3: Electric Wizard

From the south of England during times of great turmoil, a sound grew, a sound that echoed with the distrust and hatred of the disenfranchised. That sound reverberated through earth and gave birth to its final form, a Wizard of pure energy and electricity, an Electric Wizard.


This one is a little different to the past couple of bands I've done in this series as Electric Wizard are still actively touring and writing music but outside of their genre, Doom, not many have heard of "The Wizard" or if they have they haven't listened to them. Which is a shame, they take what Black Sabbath invented and made it darker (yes, darker) gave it more bottom end (yes, more bottom end) and they have written some of the most important albums in the Doom genre.

A three hour car ride south from Birmingham (the birthplace of the Black Sabbath) will find you in Dorset the birthplace of Electric Wizard or more accurately the birthplace of Lord of Putrefaction which through a few line up and name changes became the abominable Electric Wizard. A band who plumbs the depths of the diminished 5th and has written some of the darkest doom that ever found it's way out of satan's black heart. Not only do they write some of the darkest music ever conceived but they write honestly some of the catchiest and incredibly sprawling, incomparably heavy, and just absolutely immense music, in every sense of the word.

Electric Wizard is definitely one of my favourite band of all time if not my favourite so I find it criminal that so few people know of them or if they know of them they haven't heard their music before. Electric Wizard should be taught in schools it should be Maths, Science, History, Electric Wizard.

In the early days after the release of Come My Fanatics the band got caught in a series of mishaps Jus Oborn, the founder, Vocalist and Guitarist of the band got arrested for Arson for torching a car outside of a police station, Mark Greening the drummer got arrested for breaking in to an off license and stealing a bottle of whiskey which he sat on the footpath out the front and drank. Tim Bagshaw fell through the window of a church trying to steal a crucifix off the roof that they could use on stage which he got community service for. Mark Greening broke his collarbone in an accident and Jus Oborn suffered a collapsed eardrum on stage and severed his finger while laying carpet wink. All of these anti-social shenanigans and injuries fueled the dark sound that went in to their music back then, which I don't think anyone is complaining about, except for maybe the band members.

Since the release of Let us Prey they have calmed down a bit which is probably a good thing. Their music still reigns supreme in the world of Doom and their legacy remains intact. Jus Oborn has been the figurehead of the band from day one and has had a very strong idea of what the band is and should be which has rubbed a few band members the wrong way Mark Greening the original drummer left on bad terms but later reconciled and returned to help write their second last album Time to Die which they released in 2014. The turmoil between Jus and Mark helped fuel the foreboding sound on the album and made me think of some of their earlier releases. Justin Greaves left on bad terms also stating that he hated that loser (Oborn) and would piss on his grave. I feel like this is a common theme in bands where there is one founder and other members join and leave because they don't really get much of a say in the way the band runs or the way the band writes.

Every band has their hard times and most of those bands use those experiences to fuel their writing process but none more effectively than Electric Wizard, you can hear it through the era's of their music. The early days were fueled by injuries and anti-social behaviour and spawned Electric Wizard, Come my Fanatics, Dopethrone and Let us Prey and you can hear it in those albums. The second era was forged by members coming and going endless touring and the addition of perennial mainstay in Liz Buckingham which gave birth to the albums We Live, Witchcult Today and and Black Masses. Then there's the modern era which saw a former enemy return and Electric Wizard reform the craft that they have spent their entire life perfecting which saw them spew forth, Time to Die and Wizard Bloody Wizard. All of these eras are pretty distinct in their sound, of which I love the second era the best, the addition of Liz Buckingham really fleshed out the guitars and gave them a more catchy sound.

Of all the bands I've ever heard none have been more captivating to me than Electric Wizard, once they come up on my playlist that's all I'll be listening to for the rest of the day, I'll go from listening to a fully shuffled playlist to all Electric Wizard because Funeralopolis or Saturnine popped up in the shuffle. That's not a word of a lie by the way, that's the absolute truth. it's happened way to many times for it to be a passing fancy.

VikingHammer Out!