RAGING DEAD: Born In Rage

 

Raging Dead is a horror punk/metal band based out of Cremona, Italy. This is the band’s debut EP, and contains six tracks, well, only five, since the first track is an intro.

“Scratch Me” is an upbeat song which grabs you right away with it power and lets you know what you are in for. The riffs and overall sound are a mix of punk and metal, but the anger is something that fans of either camp can appreciate. The vocals are fairly clean and gritty, giving a nice added edge to the music. “Anathema” is a nice crunchy song with a great chorus and gang vocals, plus a great guitar solo. “Redemption” keeps the venom going with more riffing and a slick groove that actually makes you want to dance along. “Nightstalker” is a brutal track with the bitterness just dripping from the vocals and the band plays so tight that it’s almost claustrophobic sounding. “Vengeance” is a bit more manic sounding, allowing the evil to shine through with the pure hatred ripping through the song.

These guys have a winner on their hands, with the vile and intense disgust that they spew forth covering you like a filthy blanket that you can’t get rid of, but you still stay there, tightly bound and it comforts you. The band has perked up my ears, and ripped a layer of flesh from them with their racket, but what a glorious racket it is.

https://www.facebook.com/RagingDead/

https://www.facebook.com/atomicstuff/

http://www.atomicstuff.com/

LOLA STONECRACKER: Doomsday Breakdown

 

Lola Stonecracker is a new hard rock band from San Giovanni in Persiceto, Italy that first got together in 2009, and have just released their debut album Doomsday Breakdown. The album contains fifteen tracks, including a cover of the Frankie Goes To Hollywood classic “Relax.”

The album is quite diverse sounding, with every song having its own identity and feel, which makes for a nice listen because you don’t have a few singles and album tracks, you get a solid recording that holds up better than most. The vocals are clear, powerful and have a lot of emotion. The band is sharp, with great dual guitar playing and the rest of the band giving their all on the tracks. “Jekyll And Hyde” is such a powerful and catchy song, with the mix of smooth and more raspy vocals, the groove is amazing and the guitar playing just blows you away. The band just goes from strength to strength on the album, showing the talent and fun that they seem to be having on this album. I mean, when was the last time that a hard rock album actually put a smile on your face without using tricks like risqué and juvenile lyrics to get a smile out of you? These guys just make fun music and for that I thank them. This is the kind of music that would sound amazing in a larger venue with a crowd shouting along, head banging and just losing their minds. “MC Kenny’s Place” is a song that would sound amazing in that setting, with the gang vocals and the hooks just blasting out of the speakers…..wow! Their version of “Relax,” while not everyone’s cup of tea, a metal band doing new wave, but they make it both heavy and funky and pull it off.

For a debut, they have to really come out with something to top or equal this album, but I can’t wait to hear what they do next. Don’t “relax” and do yourself a favor and get this album, play it loud, play it often and do it NOW!

https://www.facebook.com/LolaStonecracker/

https://www.facebook.com/atomicstuff/

http://www.atomicstuff.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thisiscoreagency#

http://www.thisiscore.net/

RED MORRIS: Lady Rose

Italian guitarist Maurizio Parisi has dedicated his eight song debut album to his wife Rosa. The talented guitarist is joined by drummer Claudio Amadori, keyboard player Beppe Premi and bassist Renato Mombelli. This album is the realization of a long-held dream, a dream that began to form during Parisi’s childhood, where a fascination for music and rhythm slowly became the obsession it now is.

As you might be able to figure out from reading the above section, there is no vocalist given because this is an instrumental album, there is a small vocal appearance on “Mystery” by Lou Longoni, but it really is just a small piece that it really doesn’t count as a vocal track. The music is a fusion of hard rock structures, Latin rhythms, and jazz; but highly influenced by big names like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Cream. The guitar playing is amazing, with just the right amount of flash and no going crazy up and down the scales like some guitarists do……..Malmsteen anyone? The songs are actually catchy, even with the lack of vocals and the rest of the band are also quite good, playing with heart and feeling.

You can hear that Parisi has put his all into this album, his dreams and talent are on display and he has you from the first song rooting for him. This is the sound of a man fulfilling a dream, a dream long time in coming and done with love.

https://www.facebook.com/red.morris.musician/

http://redmorris.jimdo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/atomicstuff/

http://www.atomicstuff.com/

DIRTY FINGERS: 250 Dollars

Dirty Fingers is a band from Verona, Italy which was formed back in 2010. After various line-up changes over the years, they released their debut album of gritty hard rock.

Well, with a name like Dirty Fingers, taken from guitar pickups, how would you think these guys sound ? Gritty, sleazy, grimy……..and dirty. I was floored while listening to the album, with song after song becoming better than the last and the band just hitting their stride, it was a treat. So many great solos throughout the entire album made you wonder if they would run out, but no, they just tossed out more riffs. The vocals are perfect, just enough grime and bite to them, the production is done well, with a clarity, but not a smoothing out and the rest of the band adds depth with harmonica, and the tight bass lines and powerful drumming. The sound is a bit of Motorhead and Nashville Pussy, but they manage to make this their own beast, one that isn’t tame and going to cuddle with you, it may just tear you apart.

The mix of hard rock, sleaze, metal and a touch of southern rock is a deadly combination that you will fall onto your knees and worship them for it. This is a band to watch out for, because once you get a taste of them, you can’t stop.

https://www.facebook.com/DirtyFingersrockmetalband/

https://www.facebook.com/atomicstuff/#

http://www.atomicstuff.com/

https://www.facebook.com/logicillogicrecords/

http://www.logicillogic.net/

THE BLACK RAIN: Water Shape

 

This Italian band from Bologna started back in 2002 and released their first album in 2012, and have released their newest one in 2014. It’s not because of lack of ability, but the care of the music and the songs that take so long.

You hear hints of Bon Jovi on here, not in vocal style, but in how huge the songs are. Of course, that’s when Bon Jovi wrote great anthems all those years ago before becoming sad, so I’m glad that these guys took up the mantel of writing songs that need to be heard with a ton of people singing along. The songs have enormous hooks, great guitar riffs, driving drums, thick bass, and rich vocals that flow so well. This has a nice mix of hard rock, a touch of blues mixed in and a bit of an ’80s sound to make for a slick sounding album. “Robert Johnson” is an amazing track that as soon as you hear it, it will get lodged in your head and you will have to hear it again. The production is great, a little grit left to add to the raw edge that the band has and makes this a great listen. The band has put a lot of effort into making an album with emotion and skill and it shows with how the songs seem to flow perfectly together.

This is an album that will get you up off your chair and rocking out, as well as singing along to….how can that ever be a bad ting? The bad part, is that being in Italy, I will probably never get a chance to see them, and I can imagine just how good these songs would sound live.

https://www.facebook.com/The-Black-Rain-137533619623054/

http://www.blackrainrock.com/

https://www.facebook.com/atomicstuff/

http://www.atomicstuff.com/

STEEL CITY: Now It’s Time: CD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steel City got together back in 2010 in Italy and has put out their debut album of ten tracks of alternative metal.
The first track is an intro to the album and it starts off slow and low which builds anticipation for what’s to come. It sounds like a motorcycle ramping up, then the guitars and the synthesizer comes in which kind of hits you in the face and sets the tone for the album later on. It’s a short track, but it packs a lot into a minute and some odd seconds. “Now It’s Time” is guitar heavy with the vocals gradually coming in, and then it hits you in the face. It goes quiet then the guitar and vocals come in, and even though the screaming is mixed in, I won’t say its screamo, but its more yelling, but the singing parts are really on par, its heavy metal/screamo and it works somehow. “I Don’t Belong” starts out with high energy guitar, a more heavy sound, more singing at the beginning, there’s more yelling in this one, opposed to the screaming, and it has a darker under tone than the previous one. It’s five minutes and ten seconds long and it’s a rich track, not flat at all, the guitars do scales in this track and it’s not a filler, but it’s a key part to the track. “Last Evolution” has a drum base at the beginning then the guitar comes in and the two harmonize. The vocals are low and dark, yet rich and powerful, it sounds controlled, constricted, but not in the “I don’t know what I’m doing, so I’m going to do this so it will sound cool,” sort of way, but it provides richness, power, and the dark energy that is needed to pull this track off. It does have some screaming mixed in, but it’s not overpowering the overall sound. This one is almost four minutes and every second was packed full of energy, and raw power. “No One’s Guilty” has high energy drums and guitar, no its not high energy, its frantic energy, it’s chaotic, it has screaming mixed in which it needs, the vocals overall just drip with power, it’s in your face, head banging raw energy. It’s overall a fast paced track and it works, it’s three and a half minutes worth of hand banging goodness. “Mandragora” is vocal based, with high energy burst of guitar, screaming is a common theme in this album, it’s not so much in your face, but it’s not something you can ignore, it makes its presence known to all. It’s not dark sounding, just heavy metal sounding, and almost five minutes and a half of strong imagery that rocks you to the core. “Under Your Face” has high energy guitar, it too rocks you to the core, the vocals aren’t the leading sound, but it’s right there behind the guitars which plays out nicely. The guitars are the real stars of this track, it’s powerful, it stirs up raw emotions, but in a good way, it’s not a track to mess with, it’s a beast. Some screaming in it, but not a whole lot, this track commands respect. “Where Is My Home?” is a total different sounding song, softer, more quiet, it’s not high energy or in your face in the beginning, but it’s none the less powerful. It stirs up the rawest emotions so far, it’s sad sounding, and it’s the longest track so far at six minutes and twenty two seconds. “Faster” is guitar based, the most powerful sounding track on the album, high energy, raw sounding, and about even with the screaming and singing. It has a dark undertone, which smacks you in the face when it starts playing, it’s frantic, and it’s just about five minutes long. Its hard-hitting metal, mostly in your face, better live in concert track, and going as fast as they can is the point of this track, but it’s needed on this album. “Black Heart Monster Tears” is guitar heavy, it’s deep, dark, sounding, it oozes raw power, demands respects for a price, no screaming at the beginning, it messes with the senses and provokes raw emotions and thoughts to come to the surface. It has a different sound, a different taste to it than the other tracks, sounds like the bands wants to finish the album off with a strong, powerful track which they succeeded in doing.

An album of power and thrills that will make your neck ache from all of the head banging, but it’s all worth it.

Review by: Amy East

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Steel-City/132078490180993

http://steelcity-band.blogspot.it/%20www.reverbnation.com/steelcity4

http://www.atomicstuff.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Atomic-Stuff-153954037977825/?fref=ts

http://www.logicillogic.net/