Friday Morning Metal – Cloven Hoof – Highlander

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We got ourselves a throwback today! This week it’s Highlander by England’s own Cloven Hoof. These guys got started in 1979 and I guess didn’t really hit the mainstream until thrash really got going. Which is a bummer, they’re pretty great and have a sound that would go great with washing a Trans Am or doing the dishes. They dabble in themes of occultism, religion, science fiction, AND fantasy, and today’s Highlander I think covers three of the four.

The song feels very of its time, with great guitarmonies and slappy bass in the intro. The vocalist has pretty solid pipes, hitting a few falsettos while staying within his range pretty well. I don’t think this song was in the movie, but I think it would’ve fit in along with Queen and whatnot. The solo is quite noodly while keeping with the major melody. And then another solo happens. And then another! Also sounds like the chorus is them singing the Hills Have Eyes. But that’s a different movie in another genre.

Now this is what a metal video should be. There’s a very 1980s title card before the band kicks things off, so you know what the song is before it plays. Way better than MTV just putting the little title bug in the corner. The band is playing in an old castle, and it cuts between them and one of them MacCleod boys Highlanding it up. He does some practice with I guess not Sean Connery before going into a real battle and winning The Prize. It’s pretty wild he wins The Prize like halfway through the song, but I guess that gives the band more time to be rad, like seeing the guitarist do his solo right next to a cannon. Or the drummer standing by himself with a single tom like a nerd.

Friday Morning Metal – Ruby the Hatchet – Vast Acid

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Here we go, Ruby the Hatchet bringing stoner rock doomy metal vibes straight from New Jersey! This is Vast Acid, which very much sounds like they found a haunted 8-track that taught them the song. They’ve been around since 2011 and are a five-piece band singing about spooky whatnots. They call themselves stoner rock but the song also sounds like something that could’ve opened for Black Sabbath, so they get to be a Friday Morning Metal™ entrant. Maybe Ruby is Molly’s grandkid. That could be it!

The song starts with the primary melody, a hefty and fuzzy groove. The vocalist is mildly haunting, soaring over the rest of the band. We got some keyboards up in there too, either an organ or set to organ, to really dial in that you should be listening to this in one of those egg chairs in a room with fake wood paneling and orange shag carpet. Much like most groove bands, there’s not really big time solos, but there are a few opportunities for riffing along the main melody. All in all, it’s a good haunting track, if you’re looking for something off the beaten path to add to a Halloween party playlist, you can’t go wrong with Ruby the Hatchet.

The video is the band riding in a pickup I guess to a party house that looks eerily familiar. As they’re hanging out, a lot of spoooky things happen, which lures them to what I assume was an outhouse that has a cellar? I don’t know why you’d go underneath an outhouse, but they see some shit down there that really scares them. Definitely has a late 70s horror vibe that matches the tone of the band. It was missing a couple elements that I think would have really upped the vibe but it’s okay, it’s still pretty fun.

Friday Morning Metal – Tyr – Cycle of Misery

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Those fantastic Faroeise folk metalheads are back at it! This time it’s Cycle of Misery, a new video from Tyr. I’m not sure what the cycle of misery is in Norse folklore, but I bet it’s no good. It might also be about breaking the cycle of abuse, which is a good thing to do. Maybe there’s a story about Odin smacking around his kids; that’s not a cool thing to do, man. Be encouraging and helpful, don’t be a dick.

Unrelated, did you know the Faroe Islands have a series of car tunnels that are underwater and connect the islands so you can drive from place to place? And that they look totally rad? Check it out. This isn’t some dumb SEO play; they just look neat and I wanted to share.

True to form, the song is full of staccato rhythms, great chanting, and Heri Joensen’s fantastic vocals. The song starts with a borderline lullaby and some crows before big drums and guitars join in, sharing the major melody. It’s a pretty catchy rhythm, kind of reminds me of Mare of my Night. Maybe that’s a thematic choice, linking nightmares and breaking the cycle of misery. Halfway through there’s some good chanting, I bet it sounds badass live. At 5 minutes and change, it’s not a super long song, but it’s catchy and bouncy during the choruses and I look forward to hearing it live.

The video looks like it’s shot on a beach but lit by one single bonfire and maybe the moon. It’s gives a haunting vibe, but it also makes it hard to really pick out what the band’s doing. Also the drummer is lit up, maybe so he doesn’t break his knuckles or something, but it makes him look spooky. Based on the content of the song, it’s probably for the best they didn’t add additional visuals.

Friday Morning Metal – Game Over – Two Souls One Flesh

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Oooh let us enjoy some Italian Thrash this week! It’s Two Souls One Flesh from Game Over. I hope they have a song called GAME OVER, MAN and it’s just a bunch of Bill Paxton lines. That would be great, like Austrian Death Machine. These guys dabble in themes of horror movies and social issues, which seems mildly redundant. Apparently horror movies are all about social issues. Friday the 13th was about teen sex. Nightmare on Elm Street is about insomnia. Alien is about strong union representation to help keep you from mining creepy alien eggs. These guys have been shredding since 2008, and they have a solid sound.

The song kicks off with some solid riffs before the drums really drive into your brain. They do throw one of the guitarists on the right channel only, which is fun. Like when listening to Appetite for Destruction and you can isolate Izzy or Slash’s guitar work. The vocals are a fun combo of edge and soar; I think if he started a band in 1992 they would’ve sounded like Collective Soul or Live or something. But thankfully they’re thrash and we can hear some kickass vocals this way. There’s a quite noodly double solo toward the end that sounds like a lot of sweeps picks and arpeggios. I think. I’m not sure. But regardless, these guys are great and I’m adding them to my “gotta focus” playlist. Yep, I focus by listening to Havok.

So the video cuts between the band playing in a living room, and I guess a family buying the house years later? I guess Game Over has poltergeisted the house real bad, in ways that Mr. Mullet and the Mullet family don’t realize until it’s TOOOO LAAAATE. It’s fun to see all the like early 90’s throwbacky stuff, like the TV/VCR combo. Maybe I can take it off their hands, SNES looks way better on a CRT. But they’re having a great time shredding in the past of… 1992, despite sounding like they should be from 1988. Yeah four years makes a difference.

Friday Morning Metal – Firewind – Destiny is Calling

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Happy Friday, please accept this collect call from destiny. Not Bob Weadababyitsaboy. These guys have been cranking out the bombast since 1998, all the way from Macedonia. Maybe they’re related to Alexander the Great, the Macedonian King. I really think Bungie dropped the ball by not using this song in promo materials for their game Destiny. Destiny is Calling seems like a good way to entice people to shoot aliens and also that wizard that came from the moon.

The song starts with some solid guitar noodling letting you know the major riff for the song. I’ve written about these guys before; the vocalist is pretty great and fits in really well with the sound. He’s got a bit of a gravely voice but is still belting out a pretty solid range. About 3/4 of the way through the song is when we get the proper noodly solo which is really ties the song together. According to Encyclopaedia Metallum the band was started by the guitarist, so he ought to get some focus!

The video is primarily show/rehearsal footage, but then a bit of them goofing off before the show. The singer’s red leather member’s only jacket is pretty badass, also looks like a throwback to 1988. There’s a couple shots of the crowd throwing fists in the air, but it might be in slow-mo? Because they look like they seem half-embarassed to be doing it. I think the guitarist has light up pickups to make his solos look more epic. I support this 100%. More of life needs to be epic for no reason other than “it’ll look cool.”

Friday Morning Metal – Saxon – Gods of Thunder

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The Princesses of the Night are back with a big song about like… Thor and Zeus and Jupiter? It’s Gods of Thunder from Saxon. Thor is included because he’s not the god of hammers. I bet there are other thunder gods, I just don’t know them. These guys have been at the forefront of NWoBHM since 1978. Nearly 50 years of metal! You’d think after a while they’d want to hang it up and like… play shuffleboard with the old ladies at the retirement castle. Or maybe shred out the talent show. But they’re still touring and being big and bombastic and that’s pretty awesome.

The song kicks off with some dueling guitarmonies to get you set for the thematic tone. It’s not as frenetic as most of the stuff I post on here, but it’s a good deliberate, driving beat. Makes me think of hammering iron or steel or something, so that’s pretty fitting. Every once in a while the vocals remind me of Red Mantle and Dragoon from Venture Bros. I guess that happens if you’ve been singing metal for so long. It is cool that he’s let his vocals age with him and doesn’t try to push too hard. There’s a couple solid noodly solos about halfway through the song. It’s fun when guitarists take turns with the solos; you don’t need to hog all the glory and whatnot. All in all it’s a pretty solid song.

The video looks like they did it before a live performance. Big ass stage, but no crowd, so it’s not as exciting. But it does mean the lightning in the background is a bit safer, since they can’t zap randos headbanging and whatnot. I was kind of hoping for some gods of thunder to show up. I bet Russell Crowe and Chris Hemsworth would be willing to put on their Marvel gear and go hang out for a day or two with them. They’re Saxon! You don’t turn down an opportunity to hang out with Saxon, you guys.

Friday Morning Metal – Exumer – Death Mask Messiah

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It’s been almost ten years since the last time I posted an Exumer video. I bet they’ve done a bunch in the interim, I’m just not good at paying attention. This week it’s Death Mask Messiah, which I guess dovetails nicely with at least one of their themes: insanity, politics, death, hate. It could line up with two. These guys have been thrashin about since 1985, bringing everyone hot dog metal. Or Frankfurter metal. Either way, it’s very great thrash.

These guys waste no time getting into the mix. The drums are like the kick in the ass that turns a casual jog into a crazed run. I dig the vocals, they got solid edge to them and fit the vibe really well. There’s a solid breakdown before the solo, seems like a good spot for the pit to gear up before going crazy. There’s a lot of squeadlies in the solo, plus some solid whammying. You don’t hear much whammying anymore. Hopefully whammying makes a comeback. The song ends pretty abruptly at three and a half minutes, no held notes or fade outs on the melody, just done.

The video is them playing in like a rail yard or industrial area or something, then a bunch of babes show up. Oh dip one of them is Pyramid Head™! I was not expecting a lady Pyramid Head™ to show up. It looks like she’s get the ladies to join her or something. Or maybe she’s sacrificing them to Pyramid god? She doesn’t really mess with the band. Maybe they’re teaming up; the band lures the babes there, then Pyramid Head™ convinces them to buy a timeshare in Boca Raton. It’s a deal of a lifetime!

Friday Morning Metal – Wolf – Death Satellite

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HELL YEAH NEW WOLF! This time it’s the Death Satellite. I don’t know what a death satellite is, but I bet it’s pretty spooky. Maybe it’s part of that Event Horizon space ship. Wolf has been melting faces since 1995, and the first time I heard them was when a roommate in college discovered Black Wings “somewhere on the internet” and those opening guitars had me hooked. I claim them as the band that pivoted me from being like “yeah Metallica and Sabbath and Priest are pretty cool” type metal head into the “Well yeah this band is fun but I prefer the guitarist’s work in Sausage Assassin” annoying type of metal head. So thanks, Wolf! They dabble in themes of insanity, evil, and occultism. Maybe the death satellite is occult. Who knows!

The song starts with some haunty space noises before everyone kicks it into gear. The start feels very Wolf, with wandering guitar licks and big angry drums. The vocals are what you expect from Niklas Stålvind, with a solid edge. Apparently he plays bagpipes on some of their songs? I gotta go find that. Whoah the rest of the band adds some haunting calllling kinda vocals in the chorus. I was not expecting additional vocals like that, but they do make the death satellite more spoky. Oh hell yeah before the breakdown there’s some bass forward solo kinda stuff. Very slappy, very bouncy. We get some dual guitar rock poses before the solo, which isn’t super noodly but still fits the vibe really well. All in all this makes me excited for Hour of the Wolf, it comes out November 20th!

The video looks like it was shot on a foggy day in a foggy warehouse in foggy London town. Sometimes where’s a bit of a fish-eye or reverse-fish-eye lens, as though someone slipped me a mickey. But there’s tons of clips of the band shredding and kicking ass, which is fantastic. Would’ve loved to see the death satellite doing some death satelliting or something, but maybe they couldn’t afford a space launch.

Friday Morning Metal – Struck a Nerve – Parade of Violence

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Here we go with some frenetic thrash out of England, it’s Parade of Violence by Struck a Nerve. I bet them being the self-proclaimed most aggressive and intense thrash band the UK has ever produced struck a nerve with other British metal bands. They’re on Listenable Records, and this song is pretty listenable, so that’s apt.

Super chuggy guitars kick the song off before very frenetic drums drive all over the place. The vocals have the shreddy edge you’d expect from a thrash band. Three stacked solos is pretty great. Maybe four stacked solos? They just keep noodling and taking turns noodling, it’s fantastic. They even do the pained solo faces. You need more faces during solos, it makes it look tough. All in all this is a great down the fairway thrash song from a pretty tight band. I will have to find more of them!

The video is all in-studio, but the guys look like they’re having a great time doing it. Though with a song called “Parade of Violence” I think I would’ve tried to stage a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, but the floats are full of people throwing things at the crowd and getting in fist fights. The Snoopy balloon crashing into Spongebob while the people holding the ropes are throwing haymakers. Gotta make it a real parade of violence. Oooh. The band could be performing on a float!

Friday Morning Metal – Xandria – The Shannon’s Home

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Oooh symphonic lady vocal metal! This week The Shannon’s Home, care of Xandria. I hope it’s pronounced Cross-Andria, like X-Mas. You know a band is going to be epic when there’s an old dude in a beret playing a fife, and Xandria has one! These guys have been belting out songs about inner struggles and “feelings” since 1994. Figure they’d have their feelings all figured out by now, but maybe it’s a life long process. Apparently their current singer, Ambre Vourvahis, is their sixth. Usually bands go through bassists like it’s no big deal, not singers.

Plinky plunky pianos and Mr. Beret lead off the song by playing the melody before the rest of the band kicks in. Ambre’s voice is pretty solid, able to fill out the melodies without sounding operatic. I’m not the biggest fan of overtly operatic vocals in my metal. There is a heavy breakdown halfway through. I bet if the song came out in like 2002, this is where a guy with a bunch of piercings would rap about feelings. The guitar solo is short and sweet, riffing on the main themes of the song, before Mr. Beret gets a chance to shine leading to KEYCHANGE. The song closes out with some grampas guitars before Mr. Beret gets a fife solo. Rules he gets to do that; you don’t see many fife solos nowadays. At five and a half minutes, the song fits into the symphonic zone pretty easily. I think if it cracks the six minute mark it becomes prog metal. I don’t make the rules, I just reiterate them poorly.

The video cuts between the band playing in a giant clock and then the singer and Mr. Beret in an enchanted glade. I think if you’re a symphonic metal band, you have to be in front of a clock in at least one song, otherwise the metal gods make you play a different genre. Pretty sure I read that in Harper’s Bazaar.