Category Archives: Heavy Metal

Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Genre, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Song Reviews

Opeth – The Twilight Is My Robe (Song Review)

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“You are the embodiment of pure freedom”

The lengthy, linear songs, relentless changes and a lack of repetition make Opeth’s debut album Orchid a tough nut to crack but it’s well worth the effort. Here’s one of the album’s best and most accessible tracks, The Twilight Is My Robe. It’s brilliant questing stuff that gallops across rolling Maidenesque hills, ventures through bleak forests of gothic doom and rests its weary head in a dingly dell of acoustic enchantment. It’s astonishing to think this band hadn’t been in a proper studio before they recorded this. It’s audacious, ambitious stuff from an adventurous band that was clearly going places.

Black Metal, Classic Rock, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, HMO Digests, NWOBHM, Thrash Metal

HMO Digest – 2nd February 2023

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With pesky January out of the way, it seems like a good time to have a wee catch-up on all things HMO.

Recent Posts

2023 got off to a galloping good start with Tyrant and their righteous NWOBHM single Hold Back The Lightning. On the softer rock side, I’ve been talking about Marillion and Journey. Marillion’s Holidays In Eden got me wondering about albums with shite title tracks… can you think of any? And the comment scuttlebutt seems to be that Wheel In The Sky is the best Journey song. It’s official!

On the more extreme end of things I’ve selected songs from Napalm Death and Testament and I’ve talked about a couple of my favourite tracks from 2022 as well: Artificial Brain’s Celestial Cyst and Avatarium’s Death, Where Is Your Sting.

HMO Salutes

Jeff Beck – the legendary and innovative guitarist, who has died aged 78.

Dan McCafferty – the leather-lunged Nazareth vocalist, who has died aged 76. And so soon after the death of Manny Charlton too!

Bob Nalbandian has died aged just 58. He was a crucial figure in the US metal scene but has a special place in my heart due to his old podcast ‘The Shockwaves Skullsessions’. As I was writing this, it was announced that a special tribute run of ‘The Shockwave Skullsessions’ is in the works along with uploads of the original episodes! Great news because I had them all on a hard drive but can’t seem to find them anymore. Follow their FB Page for info/updates. His podcast was a big inspiration to me in the early days of starting this blog so a big thank you to Bob for being such an absolute legend.

New Stuff

Following the usual Christmas spendathon, it’s quietened down a bit in January. The big purchase has been the excellent new Thin Lizzy Live And Dangerous box set. And I’ve also picked up the reissue of UFO’s overlooked No Heavy Petting album, a cool Deicide reissue and the purchase of Smear Campaign and Inside The Torn Apart completes my collection of Napalm Death studio releases! I bet you’re well jell.

What I Was Listening To While I Wrote This Post

Svart Records have done superb work with Slice Of Doom, the recent box set of Reverend Bizarre’s early demos and recordings. I was listening to the first disc and it’s brilliant: the Finnish doom upstarts at the top of their game. How can you not love a band that started their career with a cover of the Dr. Who theme tune and have a song called Fucking Wizard?

Coming Up

I’ve got posts about top tunes from the likes of Opeth, Iron Maiden and Whitesnake on the way. As far as new releases: I’m looking forward to IX, the new album from Paradise Lost side-project Host; Circle Of Snakes is one of the few Danzig albums I don’t have so I’m pleased to see that getting reissued; and I already have two versions of Darkthrone’s Goatlord but… OK, let’s make it three!

And that’s about enough for now. I think the plan will be to do this at the start of every month from now on so… see you in March!

Genre, Heavy Metal, Song Reviews, Thrash Metal

Testament – Burnt Offerings (Song Review)

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“Making the legacy known”

Evil feelings in the air? Then it’s time for some thrash. Taken from the first (and my favourite) Testament album The Legacy, Burnt Offerings is timeless, definitive moshing right down to its half-note riffs, shifting pace and Chuck Billy’s ballsy vocals. I love the black magic vibe of a lot of these early Testament tracks and Burnt Offerings has got that in spades. It’s like a moshed-up Mercyful Fate song with its seances, tarot cards, spooky intro and creepy-crawly verses. It’s an infernal thrash classic that… won’t die!

Classic Rock, Doom Metal, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Song Reviews

Avatarium – Death, Where Is Your Sting (Song Review)

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“But I know I’m in your calendar”

I don’t know what the UK Christmas Number One was last year but mine was Avatarium’s Death, Where Is Your Sting. Taken from the album of the same name, Death, Where Is Your Sting is one of the Swedish band’s most affecting and memorable songs: dark, sumptuous pop with a doomy bottom end and a stirring vocal performance from Jennie-Ann Smith. I treated myself to the album in December and listened to it tons over the holidays. Mostly because it’s tremendous but also because its lush Scandi-mood made it the perfect soundtrack for 2022’s other festive obsession: playing the Ticket To Ride: Nordic Countries boardgame! Crisps, dips, Appletiser, losing because I forgot to finish my train line to Lieksa, and Avatarium. Now that’s what I call Christmas!

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, Song Reviews

Tyrant – Hold Back The Lightning (Song Review)

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“Ride out in midnight”

Tyrant were like lightning: they only struck once. Like so many other New Wave Of British Heavy Metal hopefuls, the Gloucestershire band only released a solitary 7″ single in 1983 before riding off into obscurity. It’s a shame the band never did more because the A-Side track Hold Back The Lightning is totally righteous: galloping power metal with anthemic, folky vocals that are a larynx-shredding mix of High ‘N’ Dry Joe Elliott and Trouble’s Eric Wagner. This was the first song I listened to in 2023 because I wanted to start my year off in suitably heroic and chest-beating fashion. Mission accomplished.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Song Reviews

Brian May – Resurrection (Song Review)

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“Got a whole new direction”

Brian may have been through a tough time with the breakup of his marriage and the deaths of both his father and Freddie Mercury but in 1993 he was back. And sounding rejuvenated on the soaring Resurrection, raising an erection with awesome guitar and the pounding drums of Cozy F. Powell – who was also back after being crushed by a horse in the early 90s! They both sound like they’re having the best time, May playing heavy and flashy but with a loose exuberance, driven on by an absolute arse-kicking from Powell that sends Resurrection into Sabbath Tyr territory. Fuck yes. Two rock legends, back with a bang.

Black Metal, Genre, Heavy Metal, Song Reviews

Abbath – Make My Day (Song Review)

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“Can’t scare you if you can’t be scared”

Abbath’s Dread Reaver failed to make my day with its frustrating lack of oomph. But on the album’s bonus track, a cover of Motörhead’s Make My Day, the band give it some extra welly and conjure up the kind of excitement that’s missing on the main album. The chorus is anthemic enough to poke through the band’s wallop of noise and Abbath does a good karaoke Lemmy. Normally, he sounds like the kinda guy that does battle with mountain lions but here he sounds more like he makes love to them. If he can start capturing some of this swagger in his own material then he might be on to something.

Black Metal, Classic Rock, Doom Metal, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, HMO Digests, NWOBHM, Progressive Rock, Thrash Metal

HMO Digest – 25th September 2022

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It’s been two whole months since the last digest so let’s not waste time with idle banter! Here’s what’s been happening on the blog.

Recent Posts

Thin Lizzy – Thin Lizzy (Album Review)

Lynott and chums scatter their beans over different scenes on their eclectic, but sleepy, debut.

Stratovarius – Hunting High And Low (Song Review)
Helloween – Why? (Song Review)

Two power metal classics in a row. Why? Why the hell not.

KISS – Bang Bang You (Song Review)

Cause 80s KISS is the best! And you wanted the best.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Knife-Edge (Song Review)

This song rhymes seagull with eagle which is just one of the many reasons for its awesomeness.

Cream – Badge (Song Review)

A great example of lyrics not mattering as long as they sound the part.

Tankard – Mercenary (Song Review)

A great example of lyrics not mattering at all.

HMO Salutes

R.I.P Michael James Jackson, producer of my favourite two KISS albums (Creatures Of The Night and Lick It Up… 80s KISS again!)

Steve Grimmett, best known as lead throat of NWOBHMers Grim Reaper, who has died aged 62.

The exalted Piledriver (aka Gord Kirchin) who has died from cancer aged 60. I wrote about a great Piledriver tune here if you want to familiarise yourself. And their albums Metal Inquisition and Stay Ugly both got stellar reissues lately so get involved.

New Stuff

A good year for new releases continues with Megadeth’s The Sick, The Dead… And The Dying! and Behemoth’s Opvs Contra Natvram which are both enjoyable efforts. Not up with either band’s best work but better than I was expecting. Other notable purchases include Marillion’s Holidays In Eden box set (love!), KISS’s Des Moines set (wow!), a Steeleye Span box set (fol-de-rol!), Whiplash’s The Roadrunner Years (ermagerd! Thresh meddle)

Darkthrone

I also had a big blow out and bought all the Darkthrone albums I’m missing. Basically all the studio albums between Panzerfaust and F.O.A.D. I should really have bought all these long ago because Darkthrone, but the news of their upcoming Astral Fortress inspired me to finally bite the bullet. I can listen to the whole discography now before the new one comes out on the 28th October.

What I Was Listening To While I Wrote This Post

Cathedral’s The Carnival Bizarre from 1995. Monstrously heavy stuff with classic tracks like Vampire Sun and Hopkins (The Witchfinder General) as well as wonderful deep cuts like Inertia’s Cave and guest guitar from one Frank “Tony” Iommi on Utopian Blaster. Let’s get it on!

Coming Up

We’re getting in to the heavy release schedule months now. There are new releases and reissues galore on the horizon. Coming up in Oct there’s new albums from The Antichrist Imperium, Avatarium and Queensryche and on the reissue front there’s Diamond Head (expanded Lightning To The Nations), Danzig (the long out-of-print 666: Satan’s Child) and album boxes from Deicide and Blitzkrieg.

On the review front I have some Deep Purple, Brian May and Whitesnake posts in the works. And probably some Darkthrone cause that’s all I’m going to be listening to for the next month or so, let’s face it. Until next time… eternal hails!

Genre, Heavy Metal, Song Reviews, Thrash Metal

Tankard – Mercenary (Song Review)

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“Fleeing. Fleeing fastly”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word “careful” used this forcefully in a song before. Repeatedly. Here’s Tankard: generally renowned for songs about drinking beer and being a thrash metal ne’er-do-well. But on Mercenary (taken from 1986’s Zombie Attack) the Germans take on the subject of soldiers for hire in their endearing “English as a second language” way. It’s just great fun: a punky, speed metal mosh. And the chorus gang shout of “Mercenary! Be careful! Mercenary! Careful! Carefully, carefully! The mercenary, the mercenary” is unforgettably demented. You might enjoy it a little too much so… careful!

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Song Reviews

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Knife-Edge (Song Review)

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“Loaded down with your talents”

If there was a Venn diagram of classical music, progressive rock and metal, you’d find Emerson, Lake And Palmer’s Knife-Edge bang in the centre. Taken from the band’s 1970 debut this is dark, heavy stuff with a huge, ominous riff. The formidable British trio rearrange pieces from Janáček and Bach into a stonking Hammond organ bludgeon that is surely what the composers had in mind all along. As a young metal fan this was one of the key gateway tracks that introduced me to the rich, crazy world of prog and it’s still one of my favourite songs of the genre.