Tag Archives: friday morning metal

Friday Morning Metal – Ambush – Evil in All Dimensions

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HAPPY FRIDAY Even though I do these every week I hope this one snuck up on you and Ambushed you, much like Ambush sneaks up and shreds some metal. Swedish metallers from Växjö, Kronoberg, Ambush has been melting faces since 2013. Apparently their themes are violence and war. And this video seems to cover some of that violence. Not sure about the war part.

A quick drum fill transitioning to dueling guitarmonies is a great way to kick off a song. The song itself is pretty badass and is kind of a speedy power metal. I dig the vocals and the layering/backing up that happens during the choruses. I don’t know if the rest of the band sings along, they seem to be rocking out pretty hard. Also the drummer in the leather vest, great touch. And the outdoor guitar solo on a roof or battlement! It’s the British equivalent of a mesa guitar solo! There’s also some great guitar poses by the band, can’t pass those up! All in all a pretty kickass song.

The video is like the guitarist from Alestorm woke up in a creepy Victorian house and is being chased by equally creepy bleeding children. Creepy children are the prime way to make anything scarier by at least 50%. Children of the Corn? Way creepy. Weird Blond Adults of the Corn? Sounds like an afternoon in Iowa. The house kinda looks like Hampton Court, but I don’t think the Royal Family would let a metal band get fake blood on the floor, let alone record themselves rocking out in it.

Friday Morning Metal – Midnight – Cleveland Metal

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Everyone wants to live in the Cleve, including Midnight. But that’s the band Midnight what started in 2003, not the band Midnight from Seattle. Nor the project from Crimson Glory vocalist Midnight. I bet there’s a few bands called Midnacht too.

The song’s pretty down the fairway speedy hard rocky metal. It’s apparently a cover from a song on a 1983 metal compilation album, and the sound is pretty similar. Solid hooky grooves, mild noodly guitar solos, but they’re baked into the song as opposed to standing out on their own. Like I could imagine the 80’s version of the song slotting in with Riot or Angel Witch style metal. Now I need a time machine to go see that.

The video is mostly a performance, though I was really hoping they’d have lunch with Little Richard or sit in ZZ Top’s car. Though I think I did see a movie star somewhere in there. Hello. Also one day they’ll get their IKEA. Apparently the performance was put together to commemorate Athenar’s jacket getting enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I guess he’s one of the dudes in Midnight so that’s pretty rad. And I know we’d all like to flee to the Cleve and club-hop down at the Flats and have lunch with Little Richard, but we fight those urges because we have responsibilities. Maybe live in Shaker Heights, send our kids to Saint John’s Bosco.

Friday Morning Metal – Battlesnake – I am the Vomit

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Happy Friday! This week is some fuzzy metal with a very public access-caliber video from Battlesnake. This band is from Sydney, Australia, and they seem okay throwing up to create some sort of Gollum-feratu monster.

I’m not sure what kind of metal they are. Encyclopaedia Metallum pegs them as Heavy Metal, which is kind of broad. I know it’s not necessarily fuzz metal, but it is plenty fuzzy. Sounds almost like Red Fang and Big Dumb Face smooshed together. Donno why I picked those two specifically, but here we are. For the most part it’s a solid chuggy song, singing about maggots and venom and yeast and stuff. The dueling guitarmony into the shreddy solo is totally great. There’s some good noodling and scale work before closing out the song. Ending a song with a solo is rad. More bands should do it.

The video is pretty grody, but has a great metal vibe. Apparently the Knights Templar, if they throw up into a coffin, can make a pale monster that might be The Vomit? Regardless, that dude is not keen on the knights and rips them all up. One of them is made of sausage links; I did not realize that Knights Templar have different internal organs than regular humans, that’s good to know. It’s also shot on what appears to be high-8 video? That kind of look that would fit in at 2am on public access.

Friday Morning Metal – Thaurorod – Feed the Flame

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Presented by Drakkar Noir Entertainment, this week’s metal is from Thaurorod of Finland. Yet again Youtube wanted to autocorrect me and decided I meant Thurgood, not Thaurorod. Autocorrect is kinda dumb in that instance. According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, the band name is in Quenya, a fictional language spoken by elves in Tolkien’s books, and it means “Evil Mountain.” Thaurorod does have a bit better ring than Evil Mountain, so I guess they’re crushing it in that regard. These guys are big bombastic power metal, with all the soaring guitarmonies, codas, and frenetic drumming that you’d expect.

Feed the Flame is a no nonsense shred fest, kicking off with little fanfare and dropping you straight into the melody. The vocals are solid, riding over the melody while kicking into gear for the choruses. The song does have some parallels to older DragonForce tracks, if that’s up your alley. Perhaps Thaurorod are now the fastest band in the universe! There’s a solid keyboard interlude at the halfway point, leading up to the sweepiest of solos, and a little back and forth with the keyboard. Those folks at Drakkar Noir entertainment sure know how to pick and promote a great band. Just like they know how to make and market scents. Maybe Richard Stink is involved. And like any good power metal, a vocal breakdown kicks into a key change coda! I almost wrote that as a choda. I thought you should know that.

The video is just an album cover, with is a bummer, but probably better than anal bum cover. I did find some official videos of older tracks, but there was a different vocalist and not the pirately theme of this. Also a couple of the videos were like melodic ballads and I’m not putting all that up in here. But this song rips, so go give it and the album a listen!

Friday Morning Metal – Crimson Storm – Abuse of Power

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More Italian speed metal! This time it’s Crimson Storm and their song Abuse of Power, from their album “Livin’ on the Bad Side” (they made a point to add the apostrophe so I made a point to include it.) This is their first full length album, and so far it’s a pretty fun shred fest.

A little feedback before jumpstarting into the song is fun, Prehistoric Dog does similar. Bet it makes it great as an “OH CRAP GOTTA GET INTO THE PIT” warning if they do it live. The singer has a solid set of pipes, hitting falsettos and harmonizing on some of the choruses. I dug on the shreddy solo, might help because the guitarist is rocking some killer fringe on his leather jacket. Add in white high tops and it definitely looks like a throwback to 1985. Clocking in at 4 minutes, the song isn’t overextending its stay, but is still chock full of shreds, driving drums, and the kind of music that’s perfect to blast out of your T-top Firebird.

The video is pretty straightforward performance on a sound stage. It does seem like they have a lot more space to work with, but they chose to be super close. Maybe they get separation anxiety and that’s the furthest they can be away from each other. Or they’re used to playing tiny stages and don’t know what happens if they spread out. Regardless, this is a rollicking great song, check it out!

Friday Morning Metal – Game Over – Lust for Blood

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GAME OVER MAN! Here’s some thrash from Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna Italy. These guys have been shredding since 2008 and it’s only now that Bjørn thinks to share them with me. I guess he’s gotta hold back some or he’ll run out of good stuff. Regardless, these guys are pretty solid and thrashy. According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, their themes are horror movies and social issues.

The song is a single off their upcoming album Face the End, and kicks off with some bigass drums and chuggy guitar intros. There are some fun lyrical choices, like “Get busy living or get busy dead.” Dueling guitar solos with some back to back rocking is a great way to round out the song. In general, it’s a pretty kickass song with solid vocals that fit really well with everything else.

The video is split between performance and a dude in a pig mask chasing a metal lady. I think he has a lust for blood that backfires by the end. He does seem kinda creepy, but there’s also a fun bit where the pig guy gets a side ache. Reminded me of when I used that as a bit in a ResTek short like 20 some years ago. So thrash it up and chase down the creepy pig man!

Friday Morning Metal – Sanhedrin – Blind Wolf

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Oooh New York heavy metal! Sanhedrin is here this week with the video for their song Blind Wolf. This is another band with a cool bassist lady singing, which is pretty rad.

The video is a mix of studio shots and them looking for something out the woods. Maybe it’s the blind wolf. I bet they’re easy to sneak up on. Or the comet blinded the wolf. Poor wolf. In the band’s extensive YouTube description, it’s a symbol of losing your inner wolf because you follow someone else. I always thought there were two wolves inside you, one chocolate, and one peanut butter. But maybe there’s only one. Putting all the aging on the video and hard cuts helps make it feel occult & whatnot, props to the videographer for that.

The song kicks off with a pretty solid guitar lead in, kinda like something you’d hear at the start of an early 80’s thrash song, though it doesn’t kick full into high gear. The vocalist has a good set of pipes, fits in really well with the song, and also kinda reminds me of the singer from the 2nd wave ska band the Body Snatchers. Halfway through we get some solid rock posing, and there’s plenty of hair whipping from the guitarist and drummer. I’m digging on the solo, plenty of noodles on that flying v. I also did not expect the falsetto on the chorus to be the dude, but it’s rad he can hit those notes.

Friday Morning Metal – SoulHealer – Don’t Shoot the Dancing Dwarf

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Straight out of Finland, we’ve got SoulHealer asking us to not shoot the dancing dwarf. I’m not sure what the dancing dwarf did to elicit that kind of response, but it’s nice of SoulHealer to stand up for him. Encyclopaedia Metallum calls them Melodic Heavy Metal™, though they do have kind of a bouncy poppy vibe. Kinda like late era Alestorm or DragonForce.

Shazam has some lyrics for the song, makes it sound like the dancing dwarf wants to make friends and party and someone is a liar who wants to shoot him or something. Regardless, it’s kinda power poppy and interesting. There’s a solid guitar solo toward the end, but otherwise the song doesn’t stretch out too much. It’s fun to hear the vocalist add a little falsetto pop before the chorus.

The official video is a lyric video, which is fine, but live footage exists and is a bit more fun. The singer kinda looks like Sami Zayn, maybe they can do a collab and write an intro song for him. These guys do a ton of rock posing during the show, which is fantastic. Though if I was the videographer I might not have added as many crowd shots, as it looked kinda thin at this event. Probably because it’s midday or something.

Friday Morning Metal – Majestica – Battle Cry

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Swedish power metal! Today we’re listening to Battle Cry by the band Majestica. There’s a lot of majesty in this band, and this song is off their new album POWER TRAIN. I wonder if listening to this in your car extends its power train warranty. Or if it makes Amtrak go faster. Majestica’s sound kinda reminds me of Dream Evil a little, or it’s just power metal and that was the first band I know of that came to mind. Regardless, these guys shred.

The song kicks into gear from the jump, with driving drums and chuggy guitars getting things going. The vocals are big and bombastic, with some rad falsetto to add some zazz. There’s even a quick bass solo from their beardy bassist! The main solo isn’t super noodly but fits really well into the song; sometimes I think solos get used as a show off time, and the departure from thematic elements is disorienting. Like spinning an umbrella too fast.

The video is a lot of show footage, which does look like a lot of majestic fun. There’s even synchronized guitar posing! I’m not sure if they used a fish eye lens (to make it look like they were slipped a mickey) but in some of the shots the guitarist has the widest rock stance I’ve ever seen. Also not sure why those folks in the front are wearing Santa hats. If this is footage from a Christmas show, that’d really up the majesty.

So behold and enjoy some Majestica. I bet it’ll make your day at least 30% more majestical.

Friday Morning Metal – Serpent Rider – Matri Deorum

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Oooh weird proggy metal with a lady singer saying what sounds like a bunch of Latin. This week it’s Matri Deorum from Serpent Rider. This band’s from Los Angeles and pulled their name from a Manilla Road lyric, which can give you a good vibe on what they’re putting out.

The song kicks off with some operatic singing, like she’s trying to channel the oracle at Delphi or something. I know she’s saying actual stuff, but the Latin really makes me think of that video game Sacred 2 – Fallen Angel, featuring none other than Blind Guardian. Combined with the tone of the music, it’s a little foreboding and fun. The heavy syncopation during the guitar solos reminds me of some of Slough Feg’s work, too. Legit solos all around. The song closes with the singer harmonizing with one of the dudes in the band, and kind of ends abruptly, but it’s still pretty legit.

It’s a lyric video, so you can follow along to all the Galilean and Patrimonious and Romulean things going on in there. When they got to the Romulean part I really thought they were singing about Star Trek. That’d be pretty rad. I think I did a Friday Morning metal a while back about a Star Trek themed band. Gotta check them out again.

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