Powerwolf: Lupus Dei & Return to Bloodred
The name of the band is quite a good hint as to what lies therein. This is Euro horror/dark metal ala King Diamond/Mercyful Fate et al. It's not black metal as there is a serious sense of fun involved in this lot's material. It's power metal to be sure and they do it rather well. Imagine Cradle of Filth without the high vocals, more talent, and less pretentiousness. Both of these album provide what they say on the tin. There are no real highlights but no real lowlights either. It's just good tongue-in-cheek power metal done well with oodles of talent and drive. I bet they are great fun live and they are doing the festival circuit in Europe this summer.
DVD Reviews
Aural Amphetamine: Metallica and the Dawn of Thrash
There are lots of these sort of documentaries kicking around varying in quality. This one is quite good and has something to offer for even the most ardent of metal fans. The title does rather tell you what it's about. The interesting twist of this one is that they start in the UK tracing NWOBHM's strong influence on the thrash movement. You could consider the companion documentary to Lars NWOBHM compilation that was released in the 90s. You get to hear from Diamond Head's Brian Tatler about Lars & Co. Unlike many of these type of DVDs there was enough on here to keep interested over its 95 minute length.
Hearing from some of the guys around during the Bay Area thrash explosion was quite interesting as well. This is especially the case as they are not the usual suspects. If you are a thrash fan and would like to know its roots then you could do far worse than this DVD.
Well that is your lot for the week ranging from the mellowness of Fish to thrash's finest. As always stay safe, stay rocking, and check out that live music scene where you live.
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