I first stumbled across Hallowmas – The Road To Hallow’s Eve on the Century Media Records online store – CM Distro.com. The CD cover artwork took my Metal breath away, I am a huge Metal sucker for the scary and horrific album covers… this goes back decades for me. You cannot always judge a book, uh, album by it’s cover. In the case of my purchasing The Road To Hallow’s Eve based on the artwork and song titles, well, I proclaim a Horror Punk victory! This album is on Coffin Records, a recognized label notorious for underground talent. Hallowmas released this album back in 2005, I bought it about one year ago, during one of my Halloween spirited moods. Cutting to the Metal chase here, this is one dandy of a Horror Punk Band, a terrorizing thrill a second is The Road To Hallow’s Eve. It’s all good… Horror Punk style. I have numerous times, since buying this CD, have tried to read and/or find out more about this cool Hallowmas band… all in vain however. The only trail I find on the world wide web about them are the basics I found in the liner notes of this very album. Hallowmas is without question an underground Horror Punk band. I sincerely hope they resurface and continue their Horror Punk path… The Road To Hallow’s Eve makes for an intense foundation for them to build upon.
Lead singer Boris Randall does remind me of the Misfits era Glenn Danzig… strikingly similar, still there was and always will be only one legendary Glenn Danzig. Hallowmas plays tight enough to forge together quality Horror Punk Rock songs, all the while giving off the impression that this is as uncommercial a band that will ever be. To say that this album Rocks is a Metal understatement of the facts… this album leaves me wanting more, much more Hallowmas please. The center spread photo of the band, within the liner notes, shows them donning skeleton costumes and skeletal makeup. Between the music Hallowmas plays, along with their persona, it would be too easy to dismiss them off as copycats of the Misfits. By comparison, look at how many Death Metal bands that share the same characteristics of their peers – how many Glam/Hair Metal bands that sported the same look as their peer bands. As a devout fan of the Misfits, I personally am flattered when other Punk or Horror Punk bands take on the style of such a historical and legendary band.
The more I listened to The Road To Hallow’s Eve, the easier it was for me to break into the shell of the Hallowmas Horror Punk and hear some spirited originality. Each song is Rock and Roll rooted, from the pulsating rhythm section to the attention grabbing guitar riffs, a fine mixture of Old School Punk meets dark infested Horror Punk this album is. The only song (based on the info in the liner notes), that Hallowmas did not perform or write on this album is Road To Hallow’s Eve. This is a gothic influenced and spooky instrumental, (keyboards), that was written and performed by Killjoy and Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima… I find the vocals to be quite haunting, almost like a chant you would not want to hear alone in a remote and dark forest. In my Metal opinion, Hallowmas and The Road To Hallow’s Eve is another devilishly cool Horror Punk CD that I will turn to often… especially this Halloween Season!
Hallowmas as they appeared on The Road To Hallow’s Eve:
Boris Randall – vocals
Damien Matthews – guitar
Johnny Coffin – bass
Drew Blood – drums
The Road To Hallow’s Eve – Track Listing:
The Hanging Girl
Twins Of Evil
Planet X
Miss Devil Doll
When You’re Blue
The Road To Hallow’s Eve
Pagan’s Night
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.
Twisted Sister – Love Is For Suckers was released on August 13, 1987, on Atlantic Records. Back then, as a Metal fan, I was totally engulfed with Thrash and Speed Metal. To make a Metal confession, I never bought this Twisted Sister album, after owning their first four albums. I was not overly impressed with Come Out And Play, (released in 1985), I guess the first three Twisted Sister albums really spoiled me. So, I took in whatever songs MTV or the FM stations were playing from Love Is For Suckers. Seeing the video for Hot Love and hearing it played on FM radio very frequently, back in 1987-1988 was, I thought, the coolest extent of this album. I always liked Hot Love, this song reminds me of some cool times back in 1987-88… and there isn’t anything wrong with that. Hot Love is upbeat and (gasp), commercially catchy in it’s unique Heavy Metal way. A few years ago, I bought Twisted Sister’s Big Hits and Nasty Cuts: The Best of Twisted Sister, it contains several cool live bonus tracks that enticed me… unreal great songs at that. The Metal kicker here, is that there are no songs from Love is for Suckers on this Best of album… I smell controversy. Therefore, my continuation of never hearing more than Hot Love from Love is for Suckers continued… Fast forward to September 18, 2009… Twisted Sister – Love is for Suckers has for all Metal intents and purposes, made a sucker out of me.
I think about Heavy Metal a lot. I listen to Heavy Metal… a lot. I buy Heavy Metal Music… very often. (Alright, that is a down right lie, I buy Heavy Metal Music – constantly). When I refer to Heavy Metal, just to simplify things here, I am incorporating all the Metal Music Genres in one. Heavy Metal… all things Metal Music. As I sit around towards midnight on this, September 17th going on the 18th… many Heavy Metal thoughts have crossed my Metal mind. Heavy Metal favorites have drifted around my head this late evening, uh, early morning, some unusual ones at that… here they are, enjoy:
A couple of years ago, I purchased All Hallow’s E.P. by AFI… man, this is a cool Horror Punk gem. Released on November 3, 1999, on Nitro Records, this is AFI when they were creating Horror Punk and it is worth every penny I spent on it. A tidy E.P. it is, with four songs that are lathered with quality Horror Punk attitude and speed. Davey Havok on lead vocals sounds vintage, even though it has only been about a decade since this E.P.’s release. Every time I listen to All Hallow’s E.P., I walk away believing Davey Havok was born to sing this style of Punk Rock. I could listen all day to this Horror Punk style of AFI. I have been currently rummaging through my Metal and Punk Music collection, sifting through the spooky titles of both albums and songs and putting them on my daily rotation of music listening. Horror Punk will always stand out when searching for the creepy tunes, All Hallow’s E.P. is an obvious choice. With the Halloween season knocking at my Metal doorstep, rounding up the scary stuff to listen to has become an annual right of Horror passage for me.
Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk are a band I can’t get enough of. Punk Rock that is cool, fun and of course… Rocks, is Osaka Popstar. I bought this self titled CD a while back at a flea market in Berks County, Pennsylvania… for around thirty three cents. Thirty three cents this Osaka Popstar cost me!!! Plus, as a Metal bonus, this CD was still factory sealed!!! How was this CD only thirty three cents you might wonder? The dealer I came across selling CD’s had a “three for a dollar deal” going down at his booth! Not too shabby and quite the find. So, with Autumn upon us, the insects are getting a tad crazy right now… especially those damn yellow jackets. I cannot stand yellow jackets, they either are buzzing around spoiled picnic food, outdoor garbage pails or looking to sting you. By definition alone, the yellow jacket is a predatory wasp!! I had one of these evil yellow jackets sting me in the right arm two weekends ago – for no reason at all. I was sitting down in my backyard, taking a break from some yard clean-up, sipping on a cold beer, then the burning sting sensation hit me! A yellow jacket chose me for it’s sting of the day. That is why I have decided once and for all, to choose Insects to be the Punk Rock song of the day. This song is just plain good Punk Rock fun. My daughters get the biggest kick out of listening to Insects… I do too. The way in which the bugs outside are acting up right now… Insects could very easily be the Punk Rock song of September!
Highly recommended to all Metal fans all over the globe! That is just how unreal good Retribution from Shadows Fall is… that I start off by just bluntly recommending this new album. Seriously, Retribution is one solid chunk of Thrash Metal Music for me. On this new release, (released September 15, 2009), Shadows Fall sounds as if they are not holding back the hard and heavy for no one. I am not taking the easy way out by saying all ten songs are damn incredible. The all encompassing barrage of Metal fury, that highlights each turn and corner on Retribution, is like a Metal power rush to my brain that I do not want to end. In my Metal opinion, it very much seems as if Shadows Fall took a long and hard listen to the once in a millennium, Metal masterpiece from Slipknot called All Hope Is Gone… and decided they too wanted to raise their own Metal bar. The All Hope Is Gone influence I hear on Retribution, is deserving of a raucous Metal applause for Shadows Fall, for if this influence is to be true… Shadows Fall surely knows real Metal when they hear it. The unrelenting surge of Metal power both musically and vocally, (both lead and backing/gang vocals), found within Retribution, are the best ways I can describe my All Hope Is Gone comparison. 
My favorite Saxon song ever created is Denim And Leather, found on their 1981 album Denim And Leather. The riff that repeats throughout this entire song is so addicting and memorable for me. I swear that this song could never lose it’s Metal appeal, ever. Each time I listen to Denim And Leather, this song just resonates with Old School Heavy Metal swagger, pride and power. The power is in the Heavy Metal music, the pride is in the lyrics and the swagger is Biff Byford on lead vocals. Denim And Leather is probably one of the very first in a long line of Heavy Metal anthems. (I would not want to take on the task of actually researching which song was the very first Heavy Metal anthem … it does sound like a cool thing to do if I have the spare time in the future though). If I ever make a list of my top 25 favorite Heavy Metal songs of all time, man, Denim And Leather would be right up there. If someone who has never listened to Saxon before, asked me to play them a song from Saxon, Denim And Leather would be choice #1. When this song gets cranked up really loud, it makes for the Metal maximum enjoyable listen.
I really, really, really like In This Moment… especially the vocal talent of Maria Brink. I bought The Dream last September of 2008, man, what an album. Collectively speaking, In This Moment put out one incredibly melodic Heavy Metal album of songs, with The Dream. Sure, In This Moment took on a more mainstream Heavy Metal sound, yet it hooked me line and Metal sinker. On June 30, 2009, In This Moment released The Ultra Violet Edition of The Dream
On July 7th, 1984, Helix released Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge
Slayer. Thrash Metal legends. The Webster Dictionary gives the definition of Slayer, it goes like this: to kill violently, wantonly, or in great numbers; to strike down – Suffice to say, in my Metal opinion, Slayer has struck down many a professionally paid Rock Music critic with their multiple Grammy Awards, album sales, relentless years of touring and a catalog of Thrash Metal albums that has never bent over for commercial appeal. 
Slayer has never written a ballad. Nope, Slayer never created a messed up song like, uh, One. Slayer has never put themselves into a predicament where they are telling their fans… just wait, our next album will be heavy again… we promise… just like we made our 1980’s albums. Slayer never covered a Bob Seger Rock Classic and ruined it. Slayer has always kept the Thrash Metal constant, they never needed to Load or Re-Load. Since December of 1983, when Show No Mercy was unleashed onto the world of Heavy Metal, there is no other Thrash Metal Band that I can think of, (with the exception of Over Kill), that has maintained the level of integrity and consistency such as Slayer. Slayer never revisited any damn garage days.
Slayer does not need a Guitar Hero game named after them. Slayer has never been jealous of Jethro Tull for winning a Grammy Award. (Or at least Slayer has never bad mouthed this legendary Classic Rock band in the press like another band constantly does to this day). Hint: the current Thrash Metal Band that has a Jethro Tull phobia, just recently had a Guitar Hero game named after them… plus they are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Shame. Jethro Tull never hurt no one… I defend them every Metal step of the way. Slayer does not whine or make excuses – they just make straight up Thrash Metal for themselves and their fans. Uncompromising to the Thrash Metal genre… Slayer.
Modern Life Is War caught my attention this past Summer of ’09, as I was perusing the clearance rack at my local Hot Topic. I was stunned, to say the least, to see a quality Hardcore Punk Band like this, on a clearance rack, of all places. It is a shame Modern Life Is War disbanded back in 2008… this was one loud, rowdy, Hardcore Punk Band that created some cool albums in less than a decade, (4 albums and 1 debut EP). From looking around the internet, Modern Life Is War certainly have a ton of fans hoping for a reunion of any kind. Going back to my clearance rack experience at Hot Topic… uncovered was a limited edition 7″ colored vinyl of the single Stagger Lee and the b side The Motorcycle Boy Reigns
The Casualties are a smack to the head reminder that Punk Rock is not dead… one listen to we are all we have and I listened again. The Casualties new album, (released August 25, 2009 on SIDEONEDUMMY Records), comes across fast, heavy and embracingly aggressive. Standing amidst what I consider, an enduring crowd of veteran and rising Punk Rock and Hardcore Punk bands that are all current and real, The Casualties approach is take no damn crap or prisoners, in my Metal opinion. The Casualties have never been bashful about making a social statement lyrically, we are all we have gives more than a nod to what is pissing off this band. I cannot resist the Old School backing/gang vocals that makes this album so darned Punk infused. If we are all we have was a book, an appropriate title very well could be Real Punk Rock and The System Sucks. Integrity heard and felt in music is open for interpretation, a personal opinion, if you will… I hear and feel the upmost integrity from The Casualties, always have, there is no saran wrap shrouding this band from their convictions.
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