Judas Priest: Painkiller

"Howling winds keep screaming round

And the rain comes pouring down

Doors are locked and bolted now

As the thing crawls into town

Straight out of hell

One of a kind

Striking his victim

Don't look behind you

Nightcrawler

Beware the beast in black

Nightcrawler

You know he's coming back

Nightcrawler"

Genre: Heavy/Speed Metal
Label: Columbia
Year: 1990

Here we go, Judas Priest! One of the pioneering bands of the "NWOBHM", the New Wave of British Heavy Metal! And one of my personal favorite albums of all time, Painkiller.

This is one album that I can listen to for HOURS and HOURS and HOURS...And I have. So much so that I've had to take a break from this album for about two months, just so that I don't listen to it SO many times that I grow to hate it. This album, from start to finish, is one of my favorites, so first lets talk about what I don't like (and what little of it that is actually relevant).

The only song that seems out of place to me would track 11: Living Bad Dreams. And only a little out of place, might I had. Yes, it still has the same overall style of the entire album and intensity, but the way that Halford sings it slowly makes it seem out of place to me.

Now let me talk about whats good.

The title track, which is the beginning track, starts off hard and fast. The entire time Halford is singing in a high tone voice, which just makes this song awesome. My favorite songs would be the first half of the album. Tracks 1-6 are my favorites of the album. But like I said before, I like the whole thing. The solos on this record are awesome in the only way Judas Priest knows how to be: "Killtacular!" 


The last half of the album is also good, but not as good as the first half in my opinion, and I've had a few people agree with me on that. For me, it's almost like the album is awesome at first, and slowly dies off so your not left in a sate of awesomeness and a need for it. It gives you a break almost in the last half. I really don't know what else to say, other than this album is absolutely an amazing work of art. The guys of Judas Priest are talented and they show it in this album, as well as in another Priest album that's also a favorite of mine, Screaming for Vengeance, which I'll review at a later date.

As for the rating of this album, I give it a 9.5/10. If it weren't for the fact that Living Bad Dreams seemed so out of place for me, this album would have gotten a perfect score. Nothing about this album to me is boring. Living Bad Dreams is the only song I have a problem with, but other then that I love this CD. I would highly recommend this album for anyone who's looking for a high octane CD with awesome solos and amazing riffs and hooks. If you haven't checked out this CD yet, you should. It's an amazing CD in my opinion, that I think anyone who listens to metal would enjoy.

Megadeth: Endgame/United Abominations

Genre: Heavy/Thrash Metal
Label: Roadrunner
Year: 2007/2009

"Destroying every town, light it up and burn it down

You may not like it now, but this is how the story ends."

"I am the King (an evil king),

Who dreams the wickedest of dreams

An ancient mystery, nobody could interpret

Of seven empires falling, the wolf is at my door

As predicted years ago, that that was, that is, that is no more

The word predicts my future and tells the truth about my past

Of how the world's leaders are waiting to usher in

The eighth world power of modern Rome: Washington is Next!"

I decided I wouldn't wait to get one of the albums to make my decision after all, so I'll review both at the same time.

Let's start with Endgame, the newest release thus far form 2009. Right off the bat we have the classic Megadeth instrumental opening of awesome shredding that leads into one of my favorite songs This Day We Fight!. As soon as I heard this combo I instantly fell in love with it. However, the next track on the record, 44 Minutes, took a while to grow on me. Not sure why though. 

After that, we hit 1,320! Another favorite of mine. From what I can guess it's about racing of some kind. I'm guessing street racing, but I could be wrong. As soon as I heard 1,320 I decided that this album was going to be awesome, I wasn't that far off. The only song I have a problem with off this album is the eighth track: The Hardest Part of Letting Go....Sealed With A Kiss. The reason is simply because it brings up too many memories that I've been trying to forget for a long time now. 

Other then that one track, I love the record. It has become a personal favorite of mine, and I for one can't wait for a new record. They did release a new single for Guitar Hero called Sudden Death, and I have to say it's good. It took a while for me to get used to it, but now I find it to be a good release.


The rest of the album makes up for The Hardest Part of Letting Go... as one of my favorite albums to date. And now we're going to the next album on this here two parter, United Abominations!



The album starts out with two of my favorite Megadeth songs of all time, Sleepwalker and Washington Is Next!. When I first heard these songs, I had a feeling the album would be great. And for the most part, it is. A few songs that I don't care much for would have to be Black Swan, Burnt Ice and the cover of Led Zeppelin's song, Out on the Tiles. I don't like either of these songs because...well honestly, they bore me. Yeah I know Zeppelin are one of the godfather bands of metal, but I've never really liked them at all, and even though Megadeth covering them makes it a little better, it still bores me. The other songs are just....dull in my opinion.

After we finish with the awesomeness that is the first to tracks, we go to another track that, at first, was boring, but now it fits right in with the album: Never Walk Alone... A Call to Arms. This song is this albums version of The Hardest Part of Letting Go... for me, as it brings up too many memories of relationships gone bad.

It's strange to me how an awesome Thrash Metal band like Deth keeps bringing up bad memories...Oh well..

After that, we go to the title track. Right off the bat I loved this album when I heard it. I've always liked the way that Dave works the spoken parts of voice intros, and United Abominations is no different. The song itself is a good kick in the pants and I love the theme of it. Now lets jump to a song that I've loved for a long time: Gears of War. At first this song seemed off to me, but now it's a personal favorite of mine. While at first, like I already mentioned, it took me a rather long time to actually sit down a listen to this song all the way through, and once I did, I instantly fell in love.

Now we're off to Blessed Are The Dead. This song to me is just weird...Not sure what it is about this song, but I get a weird vibe off it.

Not much more needs to be said about that, so we'll just talk about the last few tracks: Play for Blood, A Toute le Monde (Set Me Free), Amerikhastan and You're Dead. All of these songs I love, even though I like the original version of A Toute le Monde better. The last two songs are also good ones. Unless your a political type, go ahead. They're awesome.


As for the ratings of these two great albums, I give them a collected 18/20, which is 8/10 a piece. If it weren't for the songs that I didn't like, I would feel more inclined to give them better ratings. But for now, Megadeth's albums Endgame and United Abominations will remain as two personal favorite of mine, even though they have some songs I can't listen to, or just don't like.

DivineFire: Eye of the Storm

Genre: Symphonic Metal
Label: Rivel Records
Year: 2011

When I first heard that DivineFire was returning, needless to say, I was very happy. When I heard that you could pay 15$ for a signed copy, I jumped on it. Now after taking the time to listen to the album all the way through, I feel I should review it.

At first, I wasn't expecting what I was hearing. I did know that a new singer was coming on board but I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it until I got to listen to it. From what I can gather, the first half of the album, tracks 1-7 are new songs, sung by the new singer Germán Pascual, and the last half of the album, tracks 8-10, with 11 being an instrumental piece, are sung by Christian Liljegren, the original singer.

Returning to handle the instruments is one of my personal favorite people in the Metal genre today, Jani Stefanovic, who also plays for Death Metal band Miseration, as well as a former member of the Metal Super-group Solution .45.

I'm not going to bash Germán for the sole reason is that I like his style. It brings a new vibe to DivineFire that I personally think they never had. Bear in mind that I first heard these guys when their Into a New Dimension was released, but I have also listen to their older stuff as well.

Now lets talk about the songs for a little bit. As I stated before, the first half of the songs are all new, completely original pieces. The last half, however, from my version of the album, is consisted entirely, save for the last song which is an instrumental piece, is all remakes of older songs. My personal favorite of these remakes would have to the the song Never Surrender, original off their debut release record Glory Thy Name, back in 2004. 

The reason I like the remake is because of the original. It's one of my favorite songs by DivineFire, with Eric Clayton of Savior Machine, which is a progressive neoclassical Christian gothic symphonic metal band from LA, California, as a guest/backing vocalist on the track.

From what I can gather by listening to the records, the remakes are all "remasters" instead of "remakes". The reason I say that is they have more "ompf" to them, a little more of a kick if you will.

As far as ratings go, I'm sorry to say that I feel this album deserves only a 7. The reason I say that is because, in my honest opinion, this album didn't have the drive I was expecting it to have. I know it's only a return album and whatnot, but I still think they could have given a lot more drive to it.

You know what they say, beggars can't be choosers.

As always, I'm your host, Wattako.

Amon Amarth: Surtur Rising

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Label: Metal Blade

Year: 2011

"The Vanir felt deceived
Höne was a fool
without Mímir at his side
Höne could not rule
In a fit of violent rage
Mímir's blood was shed
and to Odin's court they sent Mímir's severed head"

Here it is, folks, Amon Amarth's newest record, Surtur Rising. Needless to say I was VERY impressed with this album. I was hoping it wasn't going to be like Twilight of the Thunder God and I was happily surprised. What do I mean by "Like Twilight"? What I mean is, while it's still one of my favorite albums in my collection, I didn't care much for the two songs Guardians of Asgaard and Varyages Of Miklagaard. Not sure why, just didn't like them.

But this CD, from start to finish, is good. The song I have a problem with is the second track on the record: Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II for the slowness of it. That, and I just didn't like the the construction of the song. My four favorite songs off the record are: War of the Gods, Destroyer of the Universe, Slaves of Fear and A Beast Am I. These four songs are great, but NOTHING has as much drive to it as Twilight of the Thunder God. That one song has more drive to it then an entire album in my opinion. If you ask me, they should an album with as much drive in every song as Twilight of the Thunder God. 

Now before I go any further, I do need to say that the only reason I listen to Amon Amarth is because I feel that they are telling stories with their music. I've always found Norse Mythology to be a fascinating and interesting subject, and I have done A LOT of personal research of it. I don't take ANY OF IT SERIOUSLY.

Now that the religious stuff is out of the way, let's get back to the music.

This is one album I could listen to several times over and still get a different feel every time. Depending on my mood, I may not listen to Amon Amarth at all for up to a week, maybe longer. But when I think Death Metal, I think Amon Amarth. I like my music to have some melody to it, which is why I will always prefer Melodic Death Metal to generic Death Metal.

I WON'T however listen to anything past With Odin On Our Side because I don't like the content of the albums. W.O.O.O.S. is almost too much for me as it stands. I haven't even listen to W.O.O.O.S. all the way through yet, and most likely never will. I found the songs I like, and I stick to them.

I'm keeping this one short because I'm vacation and don't want to spend most of my day in front of a computer screen. So I'll skip right to the rating.

9/10. I give it that because of the song I mentioned above that I don't like. If it weren't for that one song, this would more than likely have a perfect score. The music is awesome in my opinion. There isn't anything I don't like, save for the second track. But other then that, I give Amon Amarth Surtur Rising a 9/10. Good jobs, guys. Keep up the good work.

As always, I'm your host, Wattako.

Stay Shockey.

"If your a Christian, why do you listen to Secular music?"

I can't tell you how many times I've had this question asked to me...And honestly, it's getting tiring answering it all the time. In case you haven't noticed (and I don't mean to cow across as rude or brash here), I don't JUST listen to/review Christian music. Most people, as I have come to realize, when they think Christian music, they think of the contemporary. But oh my friend, I am NOT a contemporary limited listener.

Just in case you haven't noticed, I do listen to Secular music. But I know when enough is enough and when to change gears. I'm not going to get all preachy on your guys, saying that "rock 'n roll is the devil!", because that would make me a huge friggin' hypocrite. To answer the question, I listen to it because I like it. Most of the Secular music I listen to isn't "over-the-top, extreme" Secular. If it bashes my faith, I don't listen to it. I won't lie, I do listen to Five Finger Death Punch on occasion. I'm not going to say "but only the stuff that doesn't have cussing in it", because that would deprive the point of the music. What I like about 5FDP is that most of there music, if you REALLY listen to it and break it down, is themed around the Military. If you would like, I can do a quick review of War Is The Answer and better explain what I mean.

But I will tell you this; I really have to micromanage myself when it comes to music, because I am an easily influenced person. If I listen to too much of 5FDP, I become angry and bitter at the world and everyone around me. If I listen to too much slow stuff, I become depressed and emotional. If I listen to too much high octane, fast action stuff, I become so pumped up that I have to burn off my energy by any means whatsoever.

Yes, I am a Christian. Yes, I listen to both Christian and Secular music, a majority of it being Metal. And no I don't have a problem with it, and neither does anyone else I know, because I know when the right time is metal and what is the right time for contemporary. And most of the time I ask people before I just put on a random song, because I know a few people that don't like metal.

I'm not one of those people that are like "it's metal or nothing!" because I was raised with a diversity of music. When my dad drove the car, it was classic country. When my mom drove the car, it was classic rock and 80's pop. And as time went one, I found other styles of music that I liked. I'm a well rounded person, and will listen to just about anything, from A Capella to Country, From Metal to Classical, from Big Band/Swing to Jazz. I don't care, I love music. I listen to whatever I'm in the mood for.

If your still lost about this whole thing, don't worry, so am I.

Accept: Blood of the Nations

Genre: Speed/Heavy Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Year: 2010

No picture this time, as I am no longer at home, but I am on vacation and using my friends Mac instead of my PC. I did buy a new laptop from Best Buy yesterday, but I have to wait for the store to open again today so I can go get it, once they've finished installing the new software I bought with it.

But if we want to talk tech, I'll make a new blog for that...Right now, we're here to talk music. And not just any music, mind you. We're here to talk about a band that's been growing on me as of late, Accept, who come to us from good 'ol Germany (if that somehow came across as sarcastic, it wasn't).  More importantly,  their newest album Blood of the Nations.

I have to start off with this: Beat the Bastards ALWAYS gets stuck in my head. I have to say its my favorite track on the record, followed by the second track, Teutonic Terror. I can't remember what spot on my Top 30 list I posted awhile back that I put Blood of the Nations, but if I remember right it was in my top 10...I won't go back to check, because I like the fact that I don't remember everything.

Blood of the Nations is right up my ally for "speed metal". It's not overly fast, but it's also not a slower metal that makes me want to fall asleep after fifteen minutes or so. One my friends, who will remain unnamed, is a diehard DragonForce fan, and more power to him. I will admit, some, SOME, of their studio stuff is....well its okay. I wouldn't, and don't, listen to them on a regular basis because it's WAY to samey and dull for me. I like a little verity in my music. Don't get me wrong, speed for speed sake is all fine and dandy, but only at certain points. And I saw them live at Mayhem Fest '08, along with Disturbed, Suicide Silence, Five Finger Death Punch and Mastodon, as well as several other bands that I can't remember the names of.

But Accept is a band that I look forward to. What I mean by that is I own Blood of the Nations, and I will most likely be going in the way-back machine to check out some of the earlier stuff. But for now, I give Accept: Blood of the Nations an 8/10. "An 8/10? What a minute...You gave a band, that's main genre is a genre you don't listen to hardly at all, an 8.5/10, but you give a speed metal band from Germany, that's been around WAY longer an 8/10?" And I'm sure some of you are feeling just like The Nostalgia Critic when he reviewed "Quest for Camelot" on his website, thatguywiththeglasses.com, which almost every five minutes he shouted "EXPLAIN!!!!". I could be wrong on the movie, but again, I'm not going to find out just for my own gain. If you want to correct me, by all means, go ahead.

But the reason I gave these guys a lower score then Silent Lapse is more or less the same reason I gave Silent Lapse the score I gave them. Some of the overall structure of some of the songs was boring, the vocals are really, REALLY gravelly and kind of a little bit TOO rough, which makes me want to call them a Heavy/Speed/Trash metal band, even though some people would be inclined to disagree, and I won't argue with you about it.

Also, some of the songs are just flat boring. I give you an example with Kill The Pain.....

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a good ballad, and Mark Tornillo CAN sing, which threw me off a bit, but there's just something about this song that is boring to me. And I can honestly sit here and say I don't know why I don't like it. It's a good song, the music is good and the lyrics actually make some sense, but I just don't like it all that much.

But as I said before, I give Accept: Blood of the Nations an 8/10. It's a good album, it flows pretty well, and most of the songs hooks get stuck in my head a lot of the time.

But hey....perfection is a terrible thing to try to attain every time you make an album, so you'll just have to settle for second best.

As always, I am your host, Wattako. Stay Shockey.