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Havok - POINT OF NO RETURN

Chris Akin

Havok
POINT OF NO RETURN

The single hardest working new thrash band in the world has returned with a quick four song EP that is designed to do one thing and one thing only - give them a reason to stay on tour! Mission Accomplished.

Since this is a four song EP, there's not a ton to write about. POINT OF NO RETURN featured two new songs and two covers. Starting with the new material, this stuff has to be material that didn't make TIME IS UP. I have no idea why. These two songs, "Point Of No Return" and "Cradle To The Grave" flat out smoke. "Point Of No Return" is a brilliant song; arguably the best the band has put forth to date. Lead guitarist Reece Scruggs and rhythm player (and lead vocalist) David "Dirty" Sanchez absolutely destroy on this song. They are equally vicious on "Cradle To The Grave", although the bass line provided by Jesse De Los Santos drives that tune. Vocally, Sanchez has developed into more of a Mark Osegueda (Death Angel) clone. His vocals through this and TIME IS UP remind me a lot of Death Angel's last two or three releases where there's been more screaming and less clean singing.

As for the covers, you have to give Havok a lot of credit. It takes balls the size of overgrown watermelons to take on classics by Sepultura and Slayer. Especially with Slayer, you could really hurt your career if you do a bad job. Not to worry though, Havok drives it home here. While their cover of Sepultura's "Arise" starts out a bit flat (translation, less dynamic than the original), they quickly find their way and do justice to the signature song from Brazil's best export. As for the Slayer cover, they more than adequately thrash hard and fast through a blistering cover of "Postmortem/Raining Blood". Yep...they went after Slayer's biggest "hit" and absolutely nail it.

PITRIFF RATING - 94/100 - There's no one more happy than me that old school, Bay Area sounding Thrash has a whole new collection of bands carrying the torch. There's a lot of great bands out there now making this kind of music - Lazarus AD, Warbringer, Municipal Waste...and of course Havok. Of the new age Big 4, I'd put Havok as the headliner. This EP just makes me long for another new release. Killer, killer stuff!

Chris Akin

Muckraker - BIG BLACK BUS

Chris Akin

Muckraker
BIG BLACK BUS

I'm one of those music snobs that doesn't like the "known" music nearly as much as the stuff that flew under most people's radar. That said, there was a band that came and went in that I loved in the late 90s called Boiler. While I'm sure most of you don't remember them, I do. Two brilliant CDs and an EP...THE NEW PROFESSIONALS, COW TIPPIN' IN C SHARP and YEEHAW...three releases that have found permanent residence in my music collection, and three that still get played a lot. Boiler was one of those bands that you could always put on to give you an energy boost as well as a shot of attitude along the way. Songs like "Railroaded" or "Stegasaurus" are addictive as Hell.

Job For A Cowboy - DEMONOCRACY

Chris Akin

Job For A Cowboy
DEMONOCRACY

For many years now, Job For A Cowboy has been somewhat of a whipping post for me. From their start, they were a metalcore band that wanted to be a death metal band, but were seemingly afraid to take it all the way over the edge and become just that. Their album GENESIS was kind of laughable to be honest; a collection of songs from a band that wasn't sure if they wanted to hop on the trend or have integrity. Their followup, RUINATION was a step in the right direction, but still featured a bit too much of that deathcore spirit for my taste. Somewhere along the way though, Job For A Cowboy must have heard from guys like me that wanted them to become a full fledged death metal band and stop messing around with trendy gimmicks. DEMONOCRACY is just what the doctor always ordered from them - full on brilliant death metal.

New Keel Show Posted

Chris Akin

The brand new episode of Ron Keel's "Streets Of Rock N' Roll" has be posted.

To listen to the latest episode, recorded from the road as Keel traveled on tour throughout the western portion of the United States, visit the player on the right side of the screen!

For more information on "The Streets Of Rock N' Roll", click HERE.

Sledge Leather - IMAGINE ME ALIVE

Chris Akin

Sledge Leather
IMAGINE ME ALIVE

Sometimes things happen for a reason. Cult favorites Rude Girl were all set to become a dominant force on the metal scene back in the 80s, and that didn't happen for whatever reason. It certainly wasn't because they didn't have the talent. Vocalist Leather Leone was widely regarding as one of the very best heavy metal vocalists of that era - having the rare distinction of being compared favorably to guys like Halford and Dio at the time. Still, it didn't happen for Rude Girl, and following was some solo work, and then a solid and equally brilliant but unappreciated run as the vocalist of the long underground heroes Chastain. For whatever reasons, she just up and disappeared and was never heard from again...until recently.