I picked up the Dommin E.P. at Hot Topic today and man, this band has me hooked. This Dommin E.P. has been available as a Hot Topic exclusive since July 7, 2009. This band caught my attention over the last few months as I scoured the web looking for new and cool albums to potentially buy. Buying this E.P. was a necessity for me, I have already listened to some of Dommin’s songs already and really liked what I heard. Plus this E.P. will make for a cool prelude to my finally picking up the new album from Dommin – Love Is Gone. The price I paid for E.P. is unreal great – $1.99. Uh, again, that’s $1.99! My copy I bought was the last one, (or only one), left in this specific Hot Topic store… that tells me E.P. sold quite well since July 7th. The price and obvious popularity is not too shabby for a brand new CD with four outstanding songs. E.P. contains a track that is not found on the Love Is Gone album – Awake. I have always been open minded to all Rock, Hard Rock and Metal genres, listening to a bountiful mix of bands over the decades has been my Metal way. With that said, this is how I describe the music of Dommin, in my Metal opinion:
The vocals of Kristofer Dommin are extremely confident and powerful. His vocals alone are what draws me into the music, I am not ashamed to say that they are riveting… for me. When I listen to Kristofer Dommin sing, my ears detect some Glenn Danzig meets David Bowie – really. This is not to say that his vocals are unoriginal, not in the least. Kristofer Dommin’s vocals are very different from what I have been listening to in recent memory. I will confidently state, it is hard to pigeonhole Dommin into one specific music genre. Gothic, Heavy Alternative, Rock, Hard Rock, Melodic Goth or Modern Heavy Metal genres are all represented quite amazingly well with the music of Dommin. If that causes a stir, so be it… this band has been a tough Metal cookie for me to pinpoint with accuracy as to their specific placement in genre. Yet this is what makes Dommin so damn cool from the start, does it really matter anyways which genre a band adheres to? Take it from me, (if you want to), that Dommin belongs in the Heavy Music world with their dark, hard and artistic style of music. Heavy Music this outrageously melodic and hard gets me listening. Dommin takes Rock simplicity from decades past and elevates it into their very own Heavy and dark stratosphere of interpretation, exposing it for all to hear in 2009.
DOMMIN is:
Kristofer Dommin on vocals & guitar
Billy James on bass
Konstantine on keyboards
Cameron Morris on drums
** Track Listing For E.P. is:
My Heart, Your Hands
Dark Holiday
Without End
Awake – (only available on E.P., not included on Love Is Gone album)
DOMMIN is on a record label that in my Metal opinion, knows something about Rock and Roll… ROADRUNNER Records.
I picked up my copy of Charm City Devils – Let’s Rock-N-Roll this past Summer, it was towards the end of July. On July 10, my mother passed away, she was as splendid, caring, giving and loving as a mother could possibly be for me. I received the news of her passing from my father… over the cell phone. We, (my wife and I with our twin daughters), were on our way to Connecticut by car with my courageous wife driving when this tragic news was conveyed to me by my father. We live in Pennsylvania, a solid three and a half hours away from our parents and relatives. The shock and sadness we all felt in the car at that moment can not be expressed in words here. Why I am telling this story is due to the Charm City Devils song Almost Home. You see, upon my first listen to Almost Home, I felt instant sadness, goose bumps formed all over my body and my thoughts instantly were directed to that awful moment in time – of receiving my fathers phone call about my own mothers passing away. It was only a couple of weeks after losing my mother that I first listened to this song.
SKELETONWITCH released their second full studio album with Prosthetic Records, Breathing the Fire, on October 13, 2009. I could not resist the Metal temptation and need of picking up this new CD on my visit to f.y.e. today. As I stood there staring at the hellish and downright evil artwork on the front cover of Breathing the Fire, it dawned on me… the Metal wait is over for this new Skeletonwitch. Yeah, very often enough I want my Metal pretty damned fast and extreme in every musical facet. All twelve songs on this album are extremely worthy, I can’t point out any skip overs whatsoever. Skeletonwitch does not fall short of Extreme Metal – every song on Breathing the Fire is blended with the very best of several Metal genres.
Today I found myself in another one of those funks, where the melancholy feelings just won’t subside. So, earlier tonight, I turned to music, Metal Music, to settle my thoughts, nerves and soul. I chose to listen to Entombed, Wolverine Blues. Released back in 1993, on Earache/Columbia Records, I find it startling that this album is around seventeen years old already. An excellent listening choice I made, Entombed was the Metal elixir and their album Wolverine Blues was the Metal prescription that served me right tonight. Entombed delivers their original style of Death Metal or Death N’ Roll with Wolverine Blues, it is as groove charged as it is sinister. With each listen, I can still hear some Thrash Metal being fused within Entombed’s songs on this album. In a Metal nutshell, Entombed covers some ground with Extreme Metal genres. This is one hell of a heavy and hard album, the righteous Metal remedy for curing my blues – let me tell you. Lyrically, there is no bashfulness to be found when it comes to topics and imagery on Wolverine Blues. The combination of the aggressive lyrics and Death N’ Roll charge makes this album sound like it belongs on top of the Metal heap in 2009.
I have owned the vinyl album of No Mean City by Nazareth since 1983. No, I could never part with this album at all over the years, never. For years I could never find No Mean City on CD, it most likely had been out of print for some time. To this day, No Mean City does not seem to be that readily available anywhere, on CD and especially on vinyl. Who knows, maybe there is an independent record store somewhere that has dozens of copies in their inventory… I just never come across this Nazareth classic myself. With the brilliant, Old School, Classic Hard Rock heard on this album, combined with the album cover artwork, makes for a keeper. I actually bought this album as a cut-out, back when Strawberries Records & Tapes was around. Back in the early 1980’s, cut-out bins found in any record store was Rock and Roll Heaven! You could always find cool albums in these cut-out bins at real discounted prices, many times there were hidden heavy gems in them. My copy of No Mean City has a cut in the top right corner of the album jacket – this never bothered me one bit. The enjoyment this album’s music has given me all these years more than makes up for any cosmetic defect on it’s exterior.
ANVIL. Blue collar Heavy Metal personified. No pretentious attitude or pompousness with this band, just a working man’s ethic and never say die mantra that has led them up to 2009, with VH1 Classic Records picking up and reissuing their self funded album This Is Thirteen. (Good Metal move there, VH1 Classic Records). Unless you have been living underneath the remnants of a crashed UFO for the last six months, Anvil is back. Well, they never really went away for any real measurable length of time. Unlike a throng of prima donna Heavy Metal Bands out there who have taken the sabbatical and returned, expecting rose petals to be thrown everywhere they walk, Anvil is just doing what they always have done… play damn good Heavy Metal Music for anyone who will listen. I am listening, I listened to Anvil in the early ’80’s, their Metal has never left my collection since. Hell, I still have Anvil’s first three – Hard N’ Heavy, Metal On Metal and Forged In Fire on cassette – I could never bring myself to part with them. Anvil has stayed true to themselves and cool Metal things come to those Metal bands who wait. Without getting too deep into this bands history… the best way for anyone unfamiliar with Anvil is to watch or buy their newly released DVD – ANVIL – The Story of ANVIL.
It’s always great to vent. Vent I did in my last post – where I needed over 1,100 words to express my disappointment in not being able to purchase the new KISS CD – Sonic Boom at my local Super Walmart on October 6, 2009, (the release date for it). Just as I hoped for and predicted, at 4:00 p.m. EST, I entered the Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, Super Walmart and took hold of my very own copy of Sonic Boom. (Phew). I can now say I bought this new KISS CD on it’s release date… yes, it means something to me. I have my core Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Bands that I have followed for decades, when they release a new album I try my very best to buy it on the release day. Metal case closed. I went to this Super Walmart twice during the morning of October 6, (the release date), my last visit was at 9;30 a.m. EST, as I left empty handed. I will say this much… the packaging for this Sonic Boom CD is INCREDIBLE! Once I get to crank up Sonic Boom for a couple of listens, I will post my Metal jubilation. Here are some quick tidbits about my Sonic Boom shopping experience at Super Walmart, plus other related notes:
Way to go Super Walmart. With all of the hoopla leading up to the new KISS album in well over a decade, throw in an “Only at Walmart” exclusive for this KISS album, then… do NOT HAVE Sonic Boom out on the shelves for sale at 8:00 a.m. EST, on it’s release date of October 6, 2009!! I went to the Super Walmart located in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, first thing at 8:00 a.m. EST this morning… with my twin daughters who were very excited about getting the new KISS CD with their daddy. The disappointment was even greater for them, for they love KISS and wanted to hear a few new songs before they went to school. To make matters even more somber, Sonic Boom was playing extremely loud in the CD/electronics department at this Super Walmart too… obviously a Super Walmart employee had a copy of it – forget about the customers!! I thought for certain, my daughters as well, that by hearing the new KISS being played, that there would have been the great KISS KORNER awaiting us – no such luck. Why advertise a release date and then not honor it? Why advertise a KISS KORNER and then not have one? Oh, Super Walmart with their trillions of dollars in profits could care in the least.
At the end of the day, I thank my lucky Metal stars that Krokus has existed – and still exists as a Heavy Metal Band. I have listened to Krokus since the early ’80’s, with Headhunter
Phew, now that this Krokus introduction is out of my Metal system, I can get excited now about telling the world about their 2003 album – Rock The Block 
Slaughter – Stick It To Ya 
I have owned for some time, the CD – The Best Of by Slaughter, the ten songs on this disc are great, only Fly To The Angels and Spend My Life are missing from the song selection. Not cool. So, I promised myself to add the real Slaughter albums to my CD collection over time, starting with Stick It To Ya. About one week ago, I found the used copy of Stick It To Ya at my local f.y.e., the astounding Metal price of $4.49 is all it took for me to claim this CD as my own. Man, I cannot get enough of this album… every single song too. Going back to 1990 for just a 
The Heavy Metal genre and all of it’s mind bending sub genres can be quite the vast musical Universe to explore. There are countless bands that make these Heavy Music genres quake and explode with excitement at every turn. For me to say I have listened to every band out there would be an outright Metal lie… I have stated this before. Come forward please, Loudness and their 1986 album Shadows of War. Whoa. Whoa again. Why on Metal Earth, did it take me 23 years to finally listen to Loudness and Shadows of War? (See previous explanation within this paragraph for the Metal answer). Man, the outright powerful, Heavy Metal thunder of Loudness, is overwhelmingly great on Shadows of War. This album is the Japanese version with a different album/CD cover of it’s twin – American release Lightning Strikes. The only differences between Shadows of War and Lightning Strikes are: the order of the track listing, slight differences in the vocal melodies and Ashes In The Sky (from Lightning Strikes) and Shadows of War (from Shadows of War) are the same song. Buying one version over the other is basically an identical listen of Loudness Heavy Metal here. In this Metal situation, recommending either version is the way to go.
Yes Virginia, there is a Metal Santa Claus and his name is my best buddy Scott. You see, Scott gets quite giddy about sending CD’s of Metal through the mail to me… especially CD’s of Metal Bands that I have never delved into with unrestrained Metal abandon. Loudness Shadows of War came in the mail last week, courtesy of my buddy. This album is so damn cool, the songs on Shadows of War is yet another reminder to me, that 1986 was an incredible year, from an amazing decade for Heavy Metal album releases. Loudness could have easily named this album – psyche you out of your Heavy Metal mind – for all nine songs encompass a continuous and momentous listen in electrifying Heavy Metal power. Believe me, the last thing I want to come across as doing here is being rah, rah, rah, about Loudness and this album. I could never be more Metal serious by stating… Loudness and their 1986 album, Shadows of War, is one fine Heavy Metal blast from the past.
This is the Shadows of War cover! (Japanese version)
As a life long Metalhead, whenever you see a Heavy Metal Band crack the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart it is cause for Metal celebration. With that said, whenever I witness an Extreme Metal Band crack this same album chart, well, the world suddenly becomes a better place indeed. Step in The Black Dahlia Murder… please. Their newest album – Deflorate, (Metal Blade Records), debuted at #43 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart the week of September 15, 2009. (12,000 units were sold in the first week of this albums release). YEAH! In the midst of dozens of bubble gum – Pop Music new releases, there arises… The Black Dahlia Murder. Let this debut week showing of this incredible band and album, be a Metal reminder to the commercial Pop/Elevator Music world, that Extreme Music lurks around every corner, back road, corn field, city street and CD aisle. Earlier this year, Cannibal Corpse cracked this same Billboard Top 200 Album Chart as well, I see an Extreme Metal pattern of awareness starting to develop here in 2009. Metal Odyssey is Extreme Metal proud of The Black Dahlia Murder, (and still damn Metal proud of Cannibal Corpse too). Real music… Metal Music. All of us Metalheads and the Metal Bands we follow are not going away anytime soon… METAL RULES.
Edguy F***ing With Fire Live is entertaining as Metal hell. Released on July 28, 2009, on Nuclear Blast Records, this is the second album released by Edguy this year, (Tinnitus Sanctus was released on January 27, 2009). A huge Metal kudos to Edguy for releasing two albums within the same year, they are not the only band out there to do so, still it is cool for fans like me. In a Metal day and age where there are those select few prima donna – let’s take everything serious Metal Bands out there, Edguy seems to grasp hold of the positive and accentuates the (gasp) fun in Heavy Metal Music. The title of this live album alone, gives me the impression that Edguy has thrown caution to the Metal wind and could care less about those who don’t get it. In my Metal opinion, Tobias Sammet and his band Edguy have snickered at their antagonists since the late 90’s… and Edguy gets the last laugh every time. From my Metal research, it seems that Europe and Brazil really gets into Edguy big time, uh, I am just like Europe and Brazil with my Metal tastes then. It seems so obvious to me, by listening to Edguy’s catalog of albums, that they really dug the power and enthusiasm of 1980’s Heavy Metal Music. Thus they now turn around and record a live album that has that all encompassing, 1980’s Arena Heavy Metal thrill. By no means am I labeling Edguy as having a dated 1980’s sound about them, no way in Metal hell. I only want to point out that Edguy evokes a feel good emotion inside of me, rekindling some of the 1980’s Heavy Metal spirit that I so embraced. Tobias Sammet seems to write songs that are hook filled and melodically oozing from every crevice. F***ing With Fire Live is an Edguy album that I do give a F*** about.
My favorite Edguy song of all-time, Tears Of A Mandrake takes the Metal prize on this album, as well as Superheroes, Lavatory Love Machine and King Of Fools. The live versions of these Edguy songs only adds fuel to the intense Power Metal energy that they bestow. Tobias Sammet gets Avantasia into this set of songs as well, (from his side project Avantasia), it fits right into the Metal mix of this Edguy set list. The main theme I stress with F***ing With Fire Live is the consistent energy and emotion that Tobias Sammet seems to summon up within himself and his band. I don’t think you need to be an Edguy fan to actually hear and feel the excitement on this live album, then again, this Edguy album will have it’s detractors… so F***ing Metal be it. Tobias Sammet does become quite the talker during this concert. He takes his Metal time to introduce each band member, requests the crowd of Edguy fans to turn on their cell phone’s (and not their lighters), during the Power Metal ballad Save Me and thanks/compliments the fans of Sao Paulo, Brazil quite eloquently. Hey, this is a recorded – live concert for Metal sakes, these type of moments do occur during Heavy Metal shows, so F***ing Metal be it. At the end of the Metal day, I cannot listen to F***ing With Fire Live as a once through, nope, instead, each time I slap this double CD on I need to hear it a second time through too… so F***ing Metal be it.
Ace Frehley has waited a long time to create and produce a new album, Anomaly is so incredibly worth the wait. I finally bought Anomaly today, (September 23, ’09, yeah, I am a week late from it’s release date), what an album of 12 songs. An unreal good album, a can’t miss for any fan of any Rock genre. I cannot stop listening to this new Ace Frehley album, oh darn. Anomaly for me, is one of those albums that I get contagious about and addicted to… oh darn. Before buying this album, I had not a clue as to what any of the songs sounded like. Man, what an incredible surprise to hear these songs for the first time… this album leans more towards Ace Frehley’s 1978 KISS solo album – not towards the sound of his Frehley’s Comet band from the late 1980’s. The Metal kicker is this… Anomaly rocks harder and heavier than the Ace Frehley 1978 KISS solo album, my ears cannot tell a lie. Where Anomaly gives a nod to 1978 is this: Old School Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. With that being said, Anomaly definitely embodies the grooves and heaviness of today’s Heavy Metal sound, while veering away from any resemblance of late 1980’s commercial heavy sound that was so popular in it’s day.
As I listen to Ace Frehley play guitar throughout Anomaly, all I can say to those who want to listen is this – Ace Frehley is back!! Ace Frehley shall remind the Rock and Roll world with all of it’s genres that yes, he can play guitar very well… and sing too. Ace Frehley’s vocals do not sound like a man who has been out of the recording studio for so many years, instead, it is my Metal opinion that Ace Frehley’s vocals are damn good and cool. Just listening to Anomaly takes me back to the days when quality songs were an important staple to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands. A sense of urgency to be real, is what I hear through the entirety of Anomaly, Ace Frehley has fused his very own Hard Rock and Heavy Metal sound with a nod to yesteryear, making Anomaly an album that far extends any relevance factor. From the song writing to the band backing up Ace Frehley here, this is a total album package. Ace Frehley has plenty of cool and damn good solo’s throughout this entire album, one of the many quality points of Anomaly.
King Diamond, the legendary Metal front man for Mercyful Fate and Horror Metal/Heavy Metal icon. King Diamond and his band have left more than a mark on Heavy Metal history, a chunk of Heavy Metal history is King Diamond. On October 13, 2009, the infamous Metal Blade Records will reissue two King Diamond Classics… The Graveyard and The Spider’s Lullabye. Very cool. Just in time for Halloween… very cool again. Both albums have been re-mastered by King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque. The Spider’s Lullabye was originally released in 1995, with The Graveyard originally released in 1996. Bonus live bootleg footage will be available for download, for those who purchase either of these two reissues. The bonus footage for download will be these three King Diamond songs: The Spider’s Lullabye, Trick Or Treat and Up From The Grave. Reissue’s are always great, especially when they include new songs and/or videos – downloading the bonus content for these albums is fine with me, especially when King Diamond is looking at giving the fans the highest quality in sound and video. Man, I better start saving up some spare change or my Christmas want list is going to be very long with all of the new Metal CD’s that are coming out next month! Metal rules. King Diamond is a big reason why. King Diamond is delivering a Happy Halloween to his fans and all fans of Metal on October 13, 2009.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.