Tag Archives: Hard Rock

Rankings, Yearly Lists

Top 5 Albums of 2015

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After another great year of new releases of hard rock and heavy metal and many highly anticipated releases in January and February I thought that I would provide my personal top 5 new albums of 2015. I listed the albums in date of release since I found it impossible to choose an order. Being that it is a list, I had to exclude many excellent albums. I’ve listed some of these as honorable mentions.

Periphery-Alpha/Omega

My first listen of the concept album from Periphery left me unimpressed. I found Spencer Sotelo’s vocals hard for me to listen to. However, I persisted since the band had received a glowing recommendation from Anthrax’s Scott Ian. This album got better each time that I listened to it. The songs are extremely dense and complex, including brutal guitar riffs, beautiful melodies, and even some electronic music parts. Most of all, I find Spencer’s vocals to be spectacular and a perfect fit. Some of my favorite tracks are Omega and 22 Faces.

Cauterize-Tremonti

The second album from Tremonti took a drastic turn from the debut album, All I Was. I was expecting more of a thrash record from Cauterize, but I was left with a mix of the first record and Alter Bridge (Mark Tremonti’s main band). The album was laden with soaring melodies and incredible guitar solos. This change of sound for the band must be due to the addition of Wolfgang Van Halen. Standout tracks include: Radical Change, Flying Monkeys, and Another Heart.

Lamb of God VII: Strum and Drang – Lamb of God

The first release from the band since Randy Blythe’s incarceration in the Czech Republic for manslaughter charges (he was found not guilty) is their most polished release to date. It is your typical Lamb of God (LoG) album, heavy, groove laden riffs with terrifyingly aggressive vocals. However, the band does throw in some variety with a ballad (by LoG standards) with traditional vocals on the song Overlord and the use of a talk box on Erase This. Some other tracks that I found worthy are: Still Echoes, 512, and Engage the Fear Machine.

Repentless – Slayer

Slayer’s first album since the passing of founding member Jeff Hanneman may be their most dense to date. While I did miss some of Jeff’s songwriting on the album I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the songs produced by the band. Gary Holt of Exodus did a splendiferous job of tracking solos on the album while producer Terry Date did a superb job of making an aggressive sounding record. I loved the ode to Jeff that is the song Repentless and the inclusion of one of the final songs Jeff wrote before his passing in Piano Wire. Vices and When the Stillness Comes are some other great tracks from the record worth checking out.

Silence in the Snow – Trivium

Trivium, known for changing their sound with every album, may have made their most drastic change in their career with this album. Noting Ronnie James Dio, Iron Maiden, and Ozzy as major influences on this record they abandoned the use of all screaming vocals for an attempt at a more classic, straight ahead approach. This album does an excellent job in blending classic influences with a modern metal sound. The album also includes a modern day ballad in Until the World Goes Cold! The title track was born out of the band meeting Dio while on tour with Heaven and Hell. How much more awesome could that be? Blind Leading the Blind, Dead and Gone, and The Ghost that’s Haunting You are songs worth listening to.

Honorable Mentions:

Venom – Bullet for My Valentine

Brainwashed – While She Sleeps

IRE – Parkway Drive

Hot Streak – The Winery Dogs

I Worship Chaos – Children of Bodom

Psychic Warfare – Clutch

Meliora – Ghost

Birth and the Burial – Act of Defiance

Concert Reviews, Hard Rock

Kyng Crushes for Small Crowd at Brick by Brick

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Kyng headlined a four band bill at Brick by Brick in San Diego on October 10th. The bill also included: Clean Room, Dirty Work, and Quor. It became obvious that most of the show’s attendees were there to see Quor, a local San Diego band who blends the styles of heavy metal and indie to achieve a unique sound, since most of the patrons left before Kyng’s set even started. And I’ll tell you, what a mistake.

Kyng's setlist for their show at Brick by Brick in San Diego, CA.
Kyng’s setlist for their show at Brick by Brick in San Diego, CA.

Kyng opened their set with their title track off their second album, Burn the Serum, seemingly unfazed by the lack of attendance for their headlining show. Despite being a three piece, Kyng produced an incredibly sweet sound while maintaining a heavy hard rock/metal energy. In particular, Eddie Veliz, lead singer and guitar player, was incredible. The guitar tone that he has achieved in a live setting has to be one of the best around and on top of the guitar sound the man can sing with the best of them. His vocal performance during Self Medicated Man was dazzling. However, Eddie’s performance didn’t over shadow the rest of the band. The rhythm section of Tony Castaneda (bassist) and Pep Clarke (drums) pummeled you throughout the set with tasty grooves and some faster double bass and borderline blast beat sections. Kyng’s set even included a cover of Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher where Tony and Eddie (Veliz) traded off vocal duties that would have made David Lee Roth dance the night away.

The band was obviously disappointed in the turn out for their show. Eddie made numerous comments throughout the show about the lack of people present for their set and how most everyone was there to see Quor. However, low attendance did not impact their performance and most likely led to a few new fans that will support Kyng in the future.

If you have never heard of Kyng you should pick up their second album, Burn the Serum, and be on the lookout for their third album which is supposed to be released sometime during 2016. You can find Kyng’s albums for sale and tour dates on their website. Do not hesitate to go to a Kyng show if they are playing in your area. You will not be disappointed.

Eddie Veliz

Concert Reviews

AC/DC at AT&T Park San Francisco, CA

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This show had two firsts for me, it was the first time I would be going to a stadium show and I was seeing AC/DC perform for the first time. The show appeared to be sold out, easily 70,000+ in attendance. I thought that the atmosphere that AT&T Park provided was outstanding. I would not have wanted to see the show anywhere else. I knew going into the show that AC/DC was going to sound good, but I didn’t think it would sound as good as it did. The clarity of each instrument while maintaining a sound as a band was exceptional. Although, I felt that it could have been louder since I love the vibrations you feel from Marshall Stacks and crushing drums. This is really a minor complaint and didn’t take much of anything away from the experience overall. I was a little a little surprised with the lack of frontmanning going on with Brian Johnson. I can’t recall any time during the set that he interacted with the crowd between songs. That must be the benefit of being one of the biggest bands on the planet, you don’t have to engage the crowd since there isn’t any need to! I was impressed with the way Brian and Angus flew around the massive stage the whole night at their age. They exerted a lot of energy and the crowd matched their energy. I was also impressed by the showmanship of Angus. He did everything that he would have done back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, the signature duck walk, the spinning in circles on the ground, and the interaction with the crowd. I can’t seem to think of many guitar players who are on his level in the showmanship category. I’d say that this show checked all the boxes in being one of the most memorable shows that I have seen. The only way this show could have been better is if Malcom was healthy and able to perform with the band.

September 25th 2015 Rock or Bust Tour, AT&T Park San Francisco. To see other AC/DC setlists visit setlist.fm

I am happy that they are pushing their new album Rock or Bust with them performing three songs. I don’t like it when bands become a pure nostalgia act without anything new to offer. I would have liked to see a couple more deeper cuts, maybe another song off of Powerage, maybe some Problem Child from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, a song or two from Flick of the Switch. It has to be really hard for them to choose a setlist. They have so many hits that they have to play and a gigantic catalog to fill the other remaining slots with. With only twenty songs they don’t have much room for deep cuts.

There were so many great moments during the show, the bone chilling opening of Hells Bells, the energy and speed of Whole Lotta Rosie, the shred fest that is Let There be Rock, the crowd involvement of TNT. My highlight was the performance of Sin City. The execution was fantastic and sounded better than the original recording!

Angus