While I am waiting for quite some time now for a wave of new CD's to be delivered herewith some tips from the past months. With my alternating months between Holland and Portugal I try to order so that I can hear new albums while in The Hague. As I than need to play them a few times I lack behind release dates, but just focus on some albums I think deserve soem extra attention. These three made it often to my CD player even if Fish and Fates Warning almost refused to get out. Normally I start calm and review the loudest band last. This time it is the other way around as I start with the surprise of last weeks by a band new to me.
Wayfarer - A Romance with Violence
It was at first a review on Metal-Experience that made me check out this album. Listening to the two available songs on bandcamp made me decide to jump in the adventure that is called Wayfarer and I ordered the full album. Their style was described as Black Metal and also the term Spaghetti Western passed by. Now it must have been around eleven year old me who bought the soundtrack of Once Upon a Time in the West as one of my first LP's. I was at the time (and still) very impressed by the work of Ennio Morricone and mixing Spaghetti Western with Black Metal sounded great on paper. Turns out that in reality it sounds even better. Wayfarer present us in 45 minutes 7 songs. This includes two instrumentals and one ballad like song. Three mainly Black metal sung epics and a finale where all comes together in potential highlight Vaudeville (although Masquerade of the Gunslinger is also a candidate for that) How great it is to discover a new band and get all excited over their release. Also finding you have a past to discover still. I am blown away by this album and after playing the CD a few times even decided to order the longsleeve as well in support. This also because the artwork in the booklet is very nice and fits the western theme. Year end lists material with a twist of being different. Check them out.
Heathen - Empire of the Blind
Late last year or begin 2020 a new Heathen album was announced, plus a European tour which would hit Baroeg. Two reasons to make me happy as their last album The Evolution of Chaos is already ten years old and I never saw them playing live. Well the shows were postponed, but the album meets my high expectations. Heathen is among those thrash metal bands who started in the eighties and now manage to release thrash metal albums the big four can only dream of (Death Angel, Flotsam & Jetsam and Exodus do the same) This album holds an instrumental intro and outro. While those are nice and calm, the instrumental A Fine Red Mist is a true shredfest and highlight. Further there is a ballad in Shrine of Apathy, which is both not cheesy and welcome being placed inbetween neck braking bangers In Black and Devour. The full album is a high and written by guitarist Kragen Lum alone. If anything on the strong songs stands out it must be the overdose of great guitar solo's by Kragen and Lee Altus. Finally the album booklet closes with a picture of Jim DeMaria proudly wearing his Toxik Tee. A strong candidate for best thrash metal album of the year.
The Pineapple Thief - Versions of the Truth
Now it is up to The Pineapple Thief to follow these two monsters up. Well I can be short they cannot. That does not matter as I would never play their album after the above mentoned two. TPT makes progressive rock music which is not all that progressive. I had in the past an album by Vulgar Unicorn and picked up TPT debut Abducting the Unicorn in 2000 which was a sort of development from there. in 2010 I bought their album Someone Here is Missing and now ten years later again I listened to Versions of the Truth on Progstreaming and decided to buy the album. So I follow a pattern here, which does not follow their 13 album career at all. TPT were often compared with that other TPT headed by Steven Wilson. When listening to Versions of the Truth it was this what attracted me again. Clips of the new Steven Wilson solo make clear that my open-mindness shall be tested again with his next album so playing safe and have some calm TPT for my Sunday mornings made me buy the album. So don't expect anything heavy or wild here, but if you don't want to wake up yet and put some music on this album works wonders.
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