With the sad demise of The Devil's Blood, I suppose Atlantean Kodex is now my favourite metal band. I love the heavy riffs, the long melodic songs and the pagan imagery. The band has announced a new album "The White Goddess - A Grammar Of Poetic Myth." This is kind of strange as their first album "The Golden Bough" has a track called "The White Goddess" on it. Anyway the new album is to be released in October.
What's really weird is that the band is picking titles from books I've owned since my teenage years as their album titles! Find out more about Atlantean Kodex at their new blog: http://thetrueatlanteankodex.blogspot.co.uk/
Earlier releases by the band are reviewed here and here.
Well, this is a real surprise! I never thought Beady Eye would amount to much, let alone produce a five-star album like this. Beaten by Black Sabbath's "13"to the top of the British charts, this is without doubt the better of the two albums.
This is basically Oasis without Noel. This time Liam and the boys have had pulled out all the stops, with some real quality songwriting, a tastefully psychedelic production and blissed-out artwork! Like many I had a love/hate relationship with Oasis. If I was in the mood, there was no more satisfying British group, but at other times Liam's whining voice and attitude were real downers. Here, on the cleverly titled "BE", his voice is more interesting, with more effort to his singing and less of his nasal whinge. All told, he sounds much more natural. It's the music that really steals the show, however. Building on the combined heritage of Oasis, indie, Britpop and Oxford's finest Ride, this is a really tight band. There's little of the sloppy swagger that blighted the first Beady Eye album "Different Gear, Still Speeding."
"BE" kicks off with the astonishing "Flick Of The Finger", surely the best opener of the year. It's short but immensely powerful, ending in a tirade by Kayvan Novak, reading a Tariq Ali piece. In under four minutes, I'm a little sad to say that this kicks into touch anything Noel Gallagher has produced in years. The You Tube item below doesn't really do the song justice. You need to hear it on uncompressed CD or vinyl to do it justice!
"Soul Love" (not the Bowie song) follows on in a similar groove, hypnotic and essential. I've read some bad press about "Face The Crowd", but I really like this poppy number. Should be great live. "Second Bite Of The Apple" may be a Beatles reference, and it shimmers in a Lennon-like way. Of course, the Gallagher Fab Four obsession is well known. "Soon Come Tomorrow", "I'm Just Saying" and "Don't Brother Me" are all finely crafted pop. The latter is no doubt about Noel, but it's not a bitter song, it's more reflective and retro in feel. "Shine A Light" is a song I didn't care for initially, but in truth it is a catchy number that's a real grower.
The album is available as a 2CD Deluxe bound edition. This has extra songs which are all worth hearing, with the possible exception of the backwards song, which isn't in the Stone Roses ("Don't Stop") league. This album is a real keeper, and promises even greater things to come. I love it.
I was surprised by how much I liked this much-hyped new album by Ozzy, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler.
I've never been a huge fan of Ozzy's voice, much preferring other Sabbath vocalists Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan and Tony Martin. However, on this album Ozzy really shines and hearing him sing above Tony's killer riffs is indeed a nostalgic treat. The album starts off with the unpromising dirge "End Of The Beginning" with Ozzy crooning some of Geezer's most banal lyrics. Tony's riffing diverts attention from this, and he is ably supported by Geezer's fluid bass and guest drummer Brad Wilks. The lyrics are total dross though - what the hell is a 'cybersonic soul'?
The really good stuff starts with the powerful second track "God Is Dead" which has been used as a trailer to publicise the album.
Riff-heavy "Loner" follows and Ozzy cackles just before the acoustic intro to unusual ballad "Zeitgeist" kicks in. "Age Of Reason" is another great title for a Sabbath track, or even a Killing Joke one! Ozzy sounds world-weary and Brad's intro and contribution here are solid in a way Bill Ward may not have been able to match. "Live Forever" follows, and no, it's not the Oasis song! Tony lets rip on this one. A highlight, for sure. On "Damaged Soul", Tony goes further and sounds a lot like Jimi Hendrix in places. An unexpected treat! "Dear Father" closes the main album with the sound of a thunderstorm. So, we have eight tracks which have captured the public's imagination so well that it's entered the album charts at Number One. The eight song version is available as CD, double vinyl LP and download formats. There is a deluxe edition with with three more tracks "Methademic", "Peace Of Mind" (not the Boston song) and "Pariah." These are all worth paying the extra for either as a double CD or an expanded download. However, the real news is that there is a twelfth track available only in certain territories and outlets. "Naievete In Black" is a fast rocker in the "Time Machine" style. It's available in the USA from Best Buy stores on a special 2CD set featuring an 8-song CD and a 4-song CD. Lately, it has been announced as available in Germany and Japan too. Perversely, the German version tacks the extra track onto the main album rather than the second CD. So you get a 9-track main CD and a bonus 3-tracker.
You can probably find the extra track as a legal download, but I know a lot of fans have been hacked off by this tacky piece of marketing, which almost encourages illegal downloading. The extra track isn't even included in special edition box set pictured above, which costs the princely sum of £69.99/US$74.98! It's pretty shabby to think that this track is not available in the band's home country. No doubt it will appear at some stage, perhaps on a "Tour Edition" CD release? One last point - all twelve tracks would fit on one CD!
