Deadly Sins
Locomotive/Screaming Ferret
This seventh release from brainchild Jack Frost (also current guitarist for Belladonna) is quite possibly the band's best effort to date. Frost is no stranger to the metal scene, along with his well-documented stint with Savatage, Frost has also performed with Metalium, Bronx Casket Company (feat. members of Overkill), Speed (feat. members of Annihilator) as well as his solo project Frost Bite. But Seven Witches has always been a main project for Frost who's been pumping out traditional metal albums yearly since 1999. Deadly Sins starts off strong with the title track and "Science" proving lethal but the album seems to lose its steam from there on out. Vocalist Alan Tecchio has a powerful voice but unfortunately doesn't use it to his advantage often times trying to sound "too metal" (which comes off a bit cheesy at times) and the lyrics suffer in the same way. Bassist Kevin Bolembach holds a solid foundation along with the unnamed session drummer (I have a promo CD copy). The songs are traditional power-metal, as if you would expect anything less from Frost, and it's obvious he comes from the philosophy "if you have a good formula, don't f**k with it" which has certainly worked to his advantage seeing that he's built a strong career recording and producing several successful globally released albums over the past decade. I've heard many typecast Frost as a dated '80s rocker trying to relive the classic metal days, but love him or not, you must give the man both respect and credit for sticking to his guns and doing what he loves. Not to mention, it seems to me that he's the one calling the shots in a time where most new metal musicians are at the mercy of their record company. So longevity is certainly in his favor. Other tracks worthy of mention include "Pleasure," "The Answer" and the classic semi-ballad "Man Of The Millennium."
BRAINSTORM
Downburst
Metal Blade
Downburst is, believe it or not, the 7th studio release from this German power-metal band. This album is chockfull of stellar metal anthems combining the best of classic German metal from old-school masters Accept to contemporary metal stalwarts Primal Fear. Great musicianship complimented by classy melodies and vicious riffs but unfortunately, like so many of today's European power-metal bands, the music tends to get a bit sterile and slightly mundane after the first few songs. The more melodic tracks such as "End In Sorrow" and "Surrounding Walls" add some much needed diversity to this disc and are definitely standouts along with "How Do You Feel" with it's cleverly catchy guitar hook. Strong vocals from Andy B. Frank and great guitar work from Milan Loncoric and Torsten Ihlenfild supported by a rock-solid rhythm section from drummer Dieter Bernert and bassist Antonia Leva. No question that Brianstorm definitely has what it takes to contend in the big league and it'll be interesting to see what the future holds for this band.
