Album Review: Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

Ploydor - 1975

10/10

In a series of three albums that came together in a relatively short amount of time, I find it interesting how drastically different they are from one another, despite barely tampering with the general formula. Of course, I am talking about the first three Rainbow albums, showcasing the results of what I'd call my favorite vocalist and favorite guitarist coming together for a brief point in history. It's gotten no easier over the years to decide which record holds the most heat, before arriving at the conclusion that the answer is all of them. With just a small look beneath the surface, it becomes easier to understand that the debut, simply titled Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, was a rather elementary idea that just happened to work perfectly, and is easily the most removed from the other two. This is nothing short of the next evolution of the American hard rockers Elf, with the now massive Ritchie Blackmore of the U.K.'s Deep Purple handling the the leads, before all of Elf short of Dio would get the shaft. 

By now, most are familiar with the story of Blackmore wanting to cover "Black Sheep Of The Family" and turning to Ronnie James Dio and co. to make it a reality. However, I think that's a crucial part of the whole puzzle that's often overlooked as just a fun fact, considering that the nature of both covers here paved the path for how the song structures would go. Chris Farlowe's 1970 hit would all but kickstart the general aesthetic of mythology, history, and general struggle that this entire record represents. With just a dash of heavy metal added to the equation, it's easy to see how it would birth the likes of "Self Portrait," "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves," and the likes. Both tunes follow a narrative of hardship and uncertainty, with one simply told in the first person, and the other in the third. Musically, they carry a mellow and somber tone that still utilizes Dio's range to the fullest, and implement's Blackmore's heavy desires in "Black Sheep" for some solos coated in emotion.

Continuing in with the calmer sections, that emotion sneaking its way into the music as wonderfully as it does with the vocals is one of  Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow's strongest feats. The licks that make up the foundation of "Catch The Rainbow," coated with majestic keys create a sad atmosphere that fits the vibe even before vocals are introduced; we love when the guitar can sound as sad as an actual human. The way they all come together in such a harmonious chorus is immaculate, especially when the drum kicks pick up the pace to see us out. This is pulled-off in a less dramatic way in "Temple Of The King," another favorite that still follows the medieval themes and a somber attitude (I have to assume a Chinese tale, in the use of referencing a year named after an animal).

But these medieval kicks around the struggles of a being work wonders in what we'll call the heavier tunes too. Though I struggle to call much of this album heavy metal, there's no denying the early parallels with Judas Priest or Scorpions. "Man On The Silver Mountain" is a mean opener for its time, setting the stage for powerful vocals and masterful melodies that sport the right amount of muscle. Further, "Snake Charmer" works in the band's ability to add speed to the formula, being another mythical laced number that still retains the general feel. To close things off, an instrumentalized cover of The Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad" almost acts as a closing act meant to bring everything into a heavier outburst of man's struggles still following him, after all this expression around sadness, emptiness, and labor. If nothing else, we're meant to relate to the material in all of these songs.

The sole reason why I genuinely think this was all an accident is because of the inclusion of "If You Don't Like Rock 'N Roll." When two covers fit the general sphere of melancholy, strife, and the rough go in medieval chronicles better than one of your original tunes, then you know it was simply thrown in with the rest; the other six originals just happened to flow wonderfully out of the vibes of said cover. Don't read me wrong, I still love this tune. It's a fun, upbeat ditty with a great piano lead and more strength in the realm of faster tempos, but comparing it to the rest of Rainbow's debut feels very out of place, if that description alone doesn't make it stand out. This is an album of somber ballads and rock 'n roll grit, all of which formed by chance from different acquisitions of talent. 

Thus, I seriously don't think there was a lot of effort put into making everything work together so wonderfully, it just did (except with one song), and I'm completely here for it. Moving forward, two more records would evolve this effort into streamlined identities, as Blackmore would bring in his own hired guns, and they would cement something more aligned with what we call heavy metal. Regardless, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow holds just as much merit, and mood depending, it can be the preferred album. Ignoring some of these weird nuances that give it a less locked-in feel, there's not a single track that leaves me hanging. It just boils down to whether or not you want a compilation of short stories, or a full-on novel.

Album Review: Fortress - Don't Spare The Wicked

Fortress - Don't Spare The Wicked

High Roller Records - 2021

8/10

The California based band Fortress are one that somehow completely missed my radar a couple of years ago, but as they say, better late than pregnant. Having gained some mild traction with an EP leading up to that, it was 2021's debut full-length that really made an impact on me. Titled Don't Spare The Wicked, this is a solid slab of heavy metal that's here and gone before even touching the thirty minute mark. We love a band that can make an impact in such a small frame of time.

And that's precisely what Fortress does. They may stick to the traditional metal backbone for the majority of this run, however I'd be lying if I said power metal influences of the European flavor didn't make their way in. Paired with rhythms ranging from steady to bordering speed metal are an overload of falsetto vocals, as well as the occasional synth-coat for a sweeter layer. For an album of such a short runtime, they also really enjoy baking soft centers into the heavier tracks to contrast the heavier chugs. All of this comes together to work as what feels like one strong narrative under a mythological and historic scope.

I'll admit, some of the shifts in tone can be a bit shaky, and that might have something to do with how much is crammed into the short runtime. The vocals also dominate a lot of this, and while they're extremely competent and sharp, it can feel overwhelming. However, the general idea hits, and it hits hard. "Anguish" is a fine example of jumping all over the power metal sphere in tempo and delivery alike, while opener "Lost Forever" is a more streamlined attack with the leads and synths remaining consistent. To the opposite end, "Red Light Runner" stays in the fast lane (pun intended), emphasizing the ability to crank out speed metal chops without letting up, topped off with several wavy solos. My favorite might be the title track, closing things out on a note that teeters epic territory; I just wish "The Passage" interlude felt a little more connected to it.

It's early in the band's career, but Don't Spare The Wicked is a strong debut that boasts some of the greatest foundations for what could be an incredible record. It's rare that I say an album needs a little more fluff rather than less, but I only mean this in a way that molds things together ever so slightly; what we have is a lot of great ideas that just need to stick together a little better with some fine-tuning. Anybody who digs the channels of early Helloween or the newer acts in line with Starlight Ritual should find something to gain here. If not, at least you didn't spend much time on it.

Album Review: Anthrax - Fistful Of Metal

Anthrax - Fistful Of Metal

Megaforce Records - 1984

7/10

The debut Anthrax record is one of the finest examples of something I have a love/hate relationship with. It's a mere skeleton of the masterful work the band would become known for, and an essential part of my favorite thrash metal band topped only by Overkill. Fistful Of Metal hit the scenes a year after Slayer and Metallica all but defined the genre, and it's equally as charming as it is rough. What it really boils down to is how much chaos you're in the mood for.

Across the board, this works as the final bridge that covers the vague gap seen between speed metal and thrash metal. Within the cracks, I find that everything I like about Fistful Of Metal is also everything I dislike about it. Neil Turbin's unconventional shrieks fuel an aggressive edge that channels so much adrenaline, yet these same shrieks often sound misplaced, needing some fine tuning. The Eric Adams-meets-Paul Stanley approach thrown into overdrive is a nice tactic, but the delivery really could have been better quite often. The stripped down production is a feature I can always get behind, adding extra grit to the stronger numbers while also holding back areas that may have flourished better. The explosive energy of this boosts some songs to nasty proportions, while feeling awkward in others.

Now apply this same formula to the songwriting itself. It's so minimalist compared to what the band would soon use to define themselves, making it lack the hooks that I look for in their albums, yet when they're present, they snatch me every time. Thus, the entire album is a game of picking out what really sticks. "Metal Thrashing Mad" is somewhat the defining tune on the record, being one that Joey would continue using in live shows, and for good reason. The unraveling of the simple riff matches Turbin's outbursts wonderfully, and the rhythmic chops are timed beautifully with the chorus. Further, "Panic" is an explosive ditty with pummeling drums and ferocious solos while boasting some of the most competent vocal work. I'll even throw some praise to "Death From Above" because of its marching leads, elaborate chorus, and progressions along the lines of "Love Gun" by Kiss amplified tenfold.

Yet, for each banger, there's a stinker. I've always found "Soldiers Of Metal" to be an overrated tune for its status, containing the right energy but channeling it nowhere, complete with unnecessary wails. "Subjugator" also had potential but falls short in its awkward delivery, and don't even get me started on the mistake that was including an Alice Cooper cover in "I'm Eighteen." Everything else ranges from serviceable to underwhelming; I find it interesting that the band's title track "Anthrax" basically became a forgotten tune within a year or so thanks to its lack of memorability. Again, not a bad tune, but I'd be lying if I said it had lots of replay value. I'd almost go as far as saying Anthrax had a first-record identity crisis, unsure if it wanted to be the debut Def Leppard and Iron Maiden type, or the Metallica and Slayer type.

I digress, I really have to appreciate Fistful Of Metal for laying out the basis of what would become some of the greatest heavy metal of all time. I'm openly aware of my bias, and maybe if I heard this in 1984 without the context of what they'd become, I'd like it a little better. But revisiting it time and time again as someone who's parents did the deed a decade later than Anthrax's debut, it's missing a lot of what I'm after. The strong points are very strong, but the weak points hold the rest back.

Album Review: Gladiator - Made Of Pain

Gladiator - Made Of Pain

Skvrna Records - 1993

8/10

In the last decade of the 20th Century, Czechoslovakia would produce what I call a Sepultura clone to a tee. When I say Gladiator's debut Designation sounds like a replica, I mean I'm unsure I'd be able to tell them apart had I not known the Brazilian mold as well as I do. A year later, one country became two, and the now Slovak outfit would cough up record number two, containing the littlest bit of identity evolution. Don't misread me, as the debut was competent and strong, but it was tough to find anything worth distinguishing. That is not the case with Made Of Pain, the record I truly care about.

Retention of the death/thrash attitude under the slightest tweaking of atmosphere would make for a less noisy gradient in exchange for a mildly flatter delivery. Moreover, stepping only a year deeper into the '90s would reveal an ear for the so-called "groove metal" sound that was taking shape, also only to a tiny degree. Often times this may be a turnoff, but I saw this as giving Gladiator something that felt like a personality, as these tiny tweaks can produce a myriad of blends. With that, the more gruff attitude in vocals and tones shaped the muscular skeleton of the debut without feeling like tough-guy-core.

With this also came a tighter songwriting, which I noticed right away. "Sound Of Deep Silence" comes to mind, using a calmer pace to its advantage, working in groovy but advanced hooks with intricate drum kicks. Meanwhile "Warsouls" jumps all over the place, inserting softer licks and random melodies into a tune otherwise comprised of breakneck speed metal riffs and shifts in tempo. It could have come off very awkward, but it didn't. Hell, even the inclusion of a piano and string section in the beginning of "My World" flowed with this wonderfully, before it broke-down into a bass-heavy stomper; I swear these slower songs are the more interesting ones.

Perhaps it's nothing groundbreaking, but Made Of Pain is truly a well-written, well-crafted, and well-delivered slab of east European fury under a focused scope. They really capture the energy of war and misery that many of their death/thrash counterparts mastered while finding an identity on the second record. I'm truly thankful for having come across this outfit.

Album Review: Necromantia - Crossing The Fiery Path

Necromantia - Crossing The Fiery Path

Osmose Productions - 1993

8.5/10

If you know me by now, you know that Greek black metal is what I owe my final descent into the endless chasm that is the appreciation of the genre as a whole. Alongside their counterparts Rotting Christ, the equally evil and diabolical Necromantia was a proponent of pushing this forward. The Balkan peninsula had several responses to the freezing evolution that its Norwegian counterparts in the north had been popularizing, with equal emphasis on the dark atmosphere, but more on the rhythms. This clearer projection passed through the vampiric imagery of Crossing The Fiery Path seemed to scratch the itch perfectly.

However, I would take this a step further and say that Necromantia's debut album sidestepped the new norm in other ways. If early Nile albums hold allure just from the sheer amount of pharaonic influences making their way into the death metal formula, then some of the allure here is in its darker, more sinister, demonic, and vampiric ingredients. You'll find no shortage of chants, howls, and synthesizer-laced bells and whistles meant to invoke a sense of standing naked in a forest surrounded by entities ready to summon the devil with your blood; except it's a warm summer night, so you won't freeze your ass off. The rough production and borderline hissing vocals pair wonderfully with this, and what's nice is that things always feel natural. Competent leads tend to poke their ugly heads when you least expect them, and often the more gimmicky sections either bridge two tracks, or they act as an intermission inside of a longer track, creating a record working as if it were one massive song.

What isn't nice about this is that I need to set aside this allure and acknowledge the fact that the gimmick is overdone just a little bit at times. When a record clocking in at over forty-five minutes spends nearly twenty of them on these tangents, it feels somewhat unfinished in the editing department, and the unrefined element may be its only weakness. But overlooking this slight complaint, when the music hits, it hits hard. "Unchaining The Wolf (At War)" might be the most in-your-face approach with its rumbling speeds that break the uneven surface with sudden stomps backed by a tympany. However, the monstrous epic "The Warlock" captures everything wonderful about this entire record, shattering any sense of safety with choppy rhythms that carry a horrid tone as if the life (blood?) was sucked out of them and reborn in an undead, demented zombie form. Its coarse and ugly vocals match the energy, somehow feeling comprehensible in their poetic delivery of evil sorcery, and this will always be my favorite part of the record.

From there, Crossing The Fiery Path becomes a game of letting its nuances consume you. Again, I often find myself wishing they had let up on the chants and effects just a little bit, however I'd never deny their charm. "Les Litanies De Satan" is an entire blackened/doom trudge that would have sounded so much meaner with more hideous hissing vocals, and to their credit, we do get that in the end to lead us to a fuming solo. However the bulk of it opts for chanted vocals that can feel unnerving but are equally corny. On the other hand, the bold move of an entire bass-lead track in "The Last Song For Valdezie" was placed wonderfully, furthering a feeling of isolation in the presence of something vile.

It may sound like a did a bit of complaining, but I truly love this record. Its flaws give it charm, and its strengths are extra strong, much like Black Sabbath's Born Again. Maybe it wouldn't be the best pick to start one's journey into the hot and sweaty camp that is Hellenic black metal, but after acquainting oneself to its nuances and seemingly sporadic nature, it becomes very easy to appreciate. If nothing else, it might be one of the most evil sounding efforts in my entire library of music, a sheer upheaval of anything holy or pure.

Album Review: Nile - Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka

Nile - Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka

Relapse Records - 1998

8.5/10

As the first wave of death metal bands that took the entire community by storm began to wane, so emerged a style derived from the likes of Atheist and Suffocation that aimed to evolve the genre into its brutal and/or technical subparts. South Carolina's Nile would come in right about here, working all of this into its identity as early as their first couple of demos. It would become quite obvious that they'd bake this emerging style into Egyptian and general African/West-Asian history/mythology, evolving in its own right throughout the band's career. While I may prefer several albums that would come within the next decade or so, I truly think Nile's debut Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka retains an immaculate feel that they've never quite duplicated.

And that's a good thing, as ultimately this serves as a rough and crushing template that tightens up the demos but doesn't feel quite as technical as the band would become. Airing more on the brutal side, this ferocious debut is covered in some of the most coarse and incomprehensible gutturals that front-man Karl Sanders has ever served up, almost honing into a drone that might be off-putting if not for the sweeping riff-style and ancient Egyptian toppings that help it fit. "Barra Edinazzu" is one of the finest examples of this early on, hitting like a ton of bricks as it showers the listener with borderline machine-like drum pummels and explosive leads. Others take this in a more literal sense, looping that brutality and disgusting delivery with sound effects and vocal howls, like that brooding "The Howling Of The Jinn." Hell, "Stones Of Sorrow" borders on doom/death territory for much of its crawl, before unleashing chant-screams to work as a bridge into the rare melodic lick.

This is just looking at the areas that mesh so much together at once. Some of the magic is also found in the tunes that project one clear idea. "Ramses Bringer Of War" is a classic, being the record's longest tune with its chopping up of a ceremonious and pharaonic intro into a more concise bulk with tighter leads, feeling like one of the most technical tunes. Opener "Smashing The Antiu" on the other hand is a sharp and brutal blast that steps on the gas immediately, honing in on a monotone and straightforward swing without needing those intricacies. A similar approach hits in "Pestilence And Iniquity," focusing more on the incredible drum work that bounces around what nears slam territory. There's even a song that cuts out any sense of death metal in exchange for a full chant-driven ritualistic number in "Die Rache Krieg Lied der Assyriche," somewhat acting as an interlude that if nothing else adds to the ancient and rustic feel that this debut has. My younger self never could have appreciated the significance of such a move.

Don't read me wrong, Nile would take this raw but concise approach and create some of the best music in the death metal genre, but Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka holds a feeling unmatched by the others. Listening to this captures the closest idea of what I imagine ancient Egypt would have been like in heavy metal form, long before the Arab Conquest. It may feel monotonous at times, and the transitions a bit rocky here and there, but its shorter runtime (a theme that wasn't to remain for long) and unique toppings make this all too easy to overlook.

Album Review: Whipstriker - Cry Of Extinction

Whipstriker - Cry Of Extinction

Hell's Headbangers - 2025

8.5/10

As it turns out, Brazil's Whipstriker have been around for nearly two decades, with most of the original band members still intact. Yet, they wouldn't come across my radar until the year of our lord 2025, with the release of their fifth full-length, Cry Of Extinction. Perhaps it has something to do with a large gap between releases, as the most recent one dropped in 2018, having consistent releases up until that point. Their career seems to have been largely defined by speed and heavy metal assaults airing on the more brash end of things, with the latest outing stressing greater emphasis on that latter point.

In fact, my first spin of this record gave me feelings teetering in the black metal camp, less in line with the shrieking pummels of late in exchange for a modernized first-wave coating. While an emphasis on equal parts speed and melody remain apparent, an uptick in harsh ferocity is found in the vocals, paired with an even meaner tone and an atmosphere dirtier than your divorced uncle's magazine collection. Perhaps that's not the most original approach these days, but it all boils down to making it sound like a brand of your own. This is achieved by avoiding breakneck speeds to carry everything in favor of the aforementioned elements, with perhaps just the right amount of vocal sleaze.

Essentially, Cry Of Extinction finds its strength in the songs that lean in the opposite direction of aimless speed. "Six-Eyes Crow Division" was an instant favorite, as it retains every bit of this angst and harsh belts while delivering a stomp that holds loads of rhythm, and even some cleaner leads that rise above the mix. "WWVI" hones in on a similar note, adding extra flavors to the bounce that could come close to a filthy doom tune. Closer "Military Scum" however is probably the more obvious standout, being a fuming monster of an epic coming in at ten minutes to see us off; maybe it's a bit clunky at times, though one could argue that it adds to the charm in this context. Cracks are filled in with the less intricate speed bangers that Whipstriker have crafted themselves around, found in the likes of "Heartrippers" and "Rush Of Fury," satisfying the urge to fly down the proverbial fretboard highway. Hell, the former even taps into its inner Bathory for an extra reverb as a topping.

Though it isn't anything groundbreaking, Cry Of Extinction was the first album of the year to truly capture my attention and force my ear into repeat listens. There's a fantastic balance found in the rawness and recklessness that still hides stability at least somewhere, usually in plain sight. Tunes that dial back speed in exchange for heat are my favorites. Fans of Venom, Negative Plane, or The Gauntlet will feel right at home here.