Chaos Rising – The Singles (2-CD)
Independent
2022
41:52 / 42:20
Metal

Chaos Rising is an international band project exclusively for female metal musicians, which founder Stéphanie Nolf has been leading since 2019. The line-ups for the individual songs differ, although there are of course overlaps in personnel.
The first song appeared online in January 2020, as did all the others for the time being.
I became aware of Chaos Rising in the spring of that year through singer Imke von Helden, and my joy was great when in the middle of 2022 the announcement went around that all the songs that had been released so far (except for “Still We Die”, which had been released too shortly before) would appear on a double album. And here it is!
The double album is divided into “For The Head” and “For The Heart”; the album opens with the violent, varied Death Metal banger “Silent Dasein” with the truly beastly Iranian Haniye Kian, reminiscent of a grumpy hyena, on the vocal mic.
In general, the classic DM of the best kind dominates on CD 1; few influences from outside the genre can be heard and refresh the flow rather than disturb it. Everything is produced ravishingly and richly, especially in the bass range. Every single song is a headbanger, nevertheless “The Greatness Beyond” with Imke van Helden deserves a special mention – simply one of the best songs that deserves the description “Dragging Death Metal”. You should have heard it.
CD 2 promises something for the heart – as if thunderous brutal DM wasn’t already just that ;-).
Anyway, on average this part is more melodic, but within quite firm limits – I’m looking for Hard Rock here in vain, almost a bit of a pity. A nice Glam Rock / Hair Metal rocker certainly wouldn’t have hurt, but well, a second album is within the realm of possibility.
Also in this second part, the above-average vocal and instrumental performance is impressive, whereby “Distress” in the line-up Isa Lçn (voc), Stéphanie Nolf (g, bg, dr-c, voc) and Barbara Teleki (solo-g) particularly impresses me.
The double album ignites from the first moment and is simply a joy to listen to.
Can be ordered for example at https://chaosrising.bandcamp.com/
(m)

Razor – Cycle of Contempt
Relapse Records
43:02
Thrash Metal

Nobody likes a bad-tempered pub brawler, at least when you’re sitting in that pub yourself.
But as a screamer behind the microphone of a Thrash Metal band, it’s a completely different story; well, you guessed it: it’s about Canada’s demolition squad RAZOR.
We had to wait a whole 25 years for the new album, and it was worth it; but so worth it.
The most important new feature: there is none! What a tasty message in these crazy times.
A small, iconic intro is followed by the first grenade with “Flames of Hatred”, eleven more of similar calibre follow, whereby especially “First-Rate Hate” stands out to me in a particularly positive way.
Due to the largely reverb-free production, Bob Reid’s piss-poor vocals sound as direct as if he were speaking to you personally, one last time before you feel the dull taste of your own blood in your inner facial area.
This is Razor we’re talking about, so it’s perfectly fine for the drumming to be at the opposite end of Mike Portnoy on any scale, and sometimes a bit reminiscent of a hysterical metronome. Fits like head on a bucket!
The guitars are blaring at their best, the riffs are sawing. And whoever finds a sequence of notes a bit arbitrary now and then is probably called Heino by his only name.
The guitar solos are a bit unspectacular, but fitting; and honestly, there’s so much action in the songs that less is probably really more here.
Cover old school, lyrics, well you guessed it, extremely unpleasant, and that at its best. Revenge, beatings, murder and all that.
It’s the overall work of art that inspires. Brutal, aggressive, rushed, neck-breaking, direct and absolutely honest. What more do you want?!?!

(m)

Seven Sisters – Shadow of a Fallen Star Pt. 1
Dissonance Productions
40:09
Heavy Metal

Ah, so many albums are released these days, and I have to admit that without the fantastic Irishman Máirtín Mac Cormac, I probably wouldn’t have taken any notice of this English band. Which would have been an indescribable loss for the rest of my life, as I have now realised.
The album begins with a not-too-long, inviting intro. Majestic and epic, it makes you look forward to more.
“Beyond the Black Stars” shines with many successful tempo changes and a progressive atmosphere, reminding me a little bit of the revered Secrecy from Bremen.
And then it really gets going: “The Artifice” is the most beautiful, most graceful song – try to believe me! – since Warlord’s “Lost and Lonely Days”. What masters of their musical craft!
My jaw drops, my heart glows, I listen to this album almost every day.
And I swear to you, the further material doesn’t let up! Every single song is an anthem, filled with epic, drama and melancholy, carried by Kyle McNeill’s crystal clear, pleasant high voice.
It hardly needs to be mentioned that every musician in the band has a grandiose command of his instrument, but at no point does a note appear that is not appropriate to the song.
The production is clear and powerful – contemporary, not modern; and at this point the cosy blue SciFi cover artwork should not go unmentioned!
The two older band albums will be my next purchase; but above all I rejoice because this album title here includes a “Pt. 1”. So more is on the way!
If only life could always be as beautiful as during these forty minutes of listening pleasure!

(m)

Scorpions – Rock Believer
Vertigo
44:31 min
Hard Rock / Heavy Metal

For God’s sake, what kind of cover un-artwork is that?!
Dear Scorps, this record will sell hundreds of thousands of copies, including downloads, it’s the first official album in seven years and I’m sure you had a consultant, or even two, for this longed-for release.
And then a screaming woman with a bag or curtain over her head?
Granted, this is not the worst cover of your great career, but please do not take it as a compliment.
The compliments start right now, because everything else about this album is just great.
Every single song is a medium to good hit. The fact that there is no world hit rather confirms the very high average of this after all world class album.
Minus said ballads and global hits, “Rock Believer” is most reminiscent of “Love at the first Sting” and even “Black Out”, but with an even warmer rock sound.
After the atmospheric rocker “Gas in the Tank” and its successor “Roots in my Boots”, more melancholic songs like “Knock em Dead” or “Call of the Wild” follow, alternating with heartwarming, optimistic rockers like the title song and probably the biggest banger of the album, “Peacemaker”. And yes, the last song is a ballad. It’s called “When you know (Where you come from)” and is definitely not on any hit parade in the world.
Admirable.
The album is also available as a limited double CD with studio bonus tracks. You can have it, but the listening pleasure won’t be a bit worse without it.
Finally, a personal apology.
Scorps, after the rise of Death Metal, and even more so after the quasi-elitist Black Metal captured me in the mid-1990s, I joined the chorus that mocked and verbally tore you apart, I made fun of your perceived stale image and Klaus’ accent. As if Nana Mouskouri’s Greek accent and Mireille Mathieu’s French accent weren’t just the incentive to buy for millions of fans in the German-speaking world.
But I never wanted to go with the flow. But well, a few years ago I remembered all those moments in the 1980s when the band “Eisenherz” from Frankfurt (Oder) played “Big City Nights” live on the beach at Lake Helene and I went into the splits in a fishnet shirt and skinny jeans and headbanged, playing air guitar as hard as I could.
Scorpions, I love you. Forever.

(merula)