Yeah man, the Illegal Bodies kids are obviously devotees of all the best shit. I dig the tunes a lot. Still think they blew the aesthetics/packaging though. It looks/sounds like a bad grindcore album.

That Aragorn album would be an underground legend if it got pressed in the early 80s.

Yep, totally agree with everything you wrote.

That Illegal Bodies album was first released in 2011 and nothing from them since. I see Mark Nicholson wrote everything and performed all the instrumentation on "Mindflayers". That guys got major talent and it seems strange to hear nothing else from him at least.

As for Aragorn, I'm hoping Dissonance will reissue "Noonday - The Aragorn Anthology". They've reissued a fair few of the Sanctuary/Neat NWOBHM releases recently.

I really like this, thanks!

Would it really? Don't get me wrong, 'Black Ice' is a fucking great song but other than that they're a one-hit wonder NWOBHM band. They'd be like Dark Star - a full album with only one good track. Admittedly their sole hits are fucking brilliant but that's it. They could tour with Dark Star and play 'Black Ice' followed by 'Lady of Mars' and then Aragorn could cover 'Black Ice' and vice versa.

It's way better than the Dark Star album. So much faster.

The Refuge album is sounding pretty legit to the classic Rage sound on first impression. I think the songs could have largely been shortened a minute or so though.

The most surprising thing about Refuge is that the production sounds like classic Rage, too. It sounds very, very similar to, say, Trapped!. I'm impressed with that. I would have been very easy for them to say "Hey, let's buy the newest Engl amp and get Charlie Bauerfeind to overpolish it". I guess it shows nice attention to detail that they get the classic sound for classic era fans.

I'm listening to Defender (Nld) for the first time and the singer has some Dane-isms to his voice. Cool stuff.

Been a fan of Defender for quite a while. I really wish they would have finished recording that previously unreleased material.



I've been meaning to get around to that one for ages! Maybe tonight is the night.

Coming soon on tape format.

Artch's Another Return is such a great album, reminds me of a more mid-paced and muscly Tension, or some Vicious Rumors material.

Plus 'Power to the Man' is pure comedy gold. "Johnny, a glass of whiskey, please".

Love that album! To me it sounds like early Metal Church with Bruce Dickenson on vocals.

Love it too, a real gem of the era. It was received very well at the time of its release but the band took too long to release their second album, which was not that good and the world had moved on, so they lost all the momentum they had.

I've always wanted to like that album a lot more. I really like Eric Hawk as a vocalist, but aside from the awesome "title" track and maybe Living in the Past, most of the album just doesn't do a lot for me. Feels very "Been there, done that."

That first album is cool as fuck, though. It's like a more Armored Saint with a big, booming production.

Anyway, what are you lots' thoughts on Pharaoh? I just got into their Bury the Light album and I really dig it. I heard their 2008 album when it came out and didn't like it much but it seems like their other albums are very well-regarded. What I like about Bury the Light is its muscular heroism; it's like classic Omen in modern power/prog clothing (the vocalist even has his JD Kimballisms down).

the longest night is the best pharaoh album by far but bury the light is their 2nd best.

I don't like Bury the Light much at all - it's too "clever" for its own good; lots of unnecessary prog-isms and the songs are all way too long.

The Longest Night is a truly fantastic album, though. I'd actually peg their debut as their second-best; it's a bit rougher and less-developed but catchy and satisfying throughout. Never, Not Again is a particular favorite - really great track, dead simple in construction but it all just flows and builds so well.

"By the Night Sky" is far and away the best song Pharaoh has ever and probably will ever write. They're very hit-or-miss, but when they're on, they're fucking ON.

Bury the Light is by far their best IMO. Seems to me like they finally had the musicianship and production to execute the kind of sound they had been building toward since the debut. When I think Pharaoh, I picture an attempt at more ornate songwriting and melodies that had potential but was kind of missing the mark until Bury the Light.

They get better every album. Be Gone and Bury the Light are the ones I play the most really. Should probably go back to Longest Night sometime, that one's also good... more traditional and less dizzying than the later two though. They make for such great summer listening though. I dunno why - just something so fitting about them.

They finally have a new one coming out soon. Hoping for a fall 2018 release.

I like all of their albums to varying degrees, but The Longest Night is probably my favorite, with Be Gone close behind. Even the debut, with it's (relatively) less polished songwriting, has some gorgeous vocal melodies.

I'm a little late to the party, but this Vultures Vengeance EP from 2016 is good stuff. Really interested to hear where they go from here!

Alright I need to make a confession. I have committed a metal sin. I've been listening to metal for 16 years and just discovered Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. I need more recommendations similar to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. I would also like recommendations for heavy and speed metal (they can be technical). No power metal albums please.

So you are gonna keep sinning? No absolution for you!

Haha..alright what are some of the best power metal albums? Something similar to Judas Priest or Iron Maiden of course.

These should get you started:

https://oldmotherhell.bandcamp.com/releases

This is pretty cool. Nice chunky, heavy riffs and good, fun writing. Lot of potential.

Your mileage may vary, but here are some bands I think you might dig:

Mary's Blood are an excellent power metal band that wear their 80s heavy metal influences on their sleeves. /commence shillingprotocol.exe


Triosphere are also another excellent power metal group you might enjoy.


Lovebites are a mix between 80s heavy metal and 90s Euro-power, so it's worth a look at least.


Satan's Host are an obvious choice if you're looking for a bit of darker power metal.


Running Wild are an obvious choice for classic power metal.


Imagika play some heavy power/thrash metal that might interest you.


Metal Church blend heavy and power metal in delicious harmony.


Iron Savior practically worship at the altar of Judas Priest, so they should be worth taking a look at.


Falconer are an excellent folk-tinged power metal band, probably the best of their kind.


And that'll do for now.

Oh yeah, this is some solid stuff! Vocalist reminds me a whole lot of Piet Sielck, but maybe a bit more dynamic and varied.

Huh I didn't catch the Piet Sielck thing, interesting. They're really quite raw and stripped down but the music is super competent, which is cool. I dig how they can have these tempo changes from a slow, doomy crunch to faster, rocking stuff very fluidly.

This is awesome stuff. First impressions reminded me of Rev Bizzarre at their most rockingist and strangely WASP. A nice mix of trad and doom with a good dose of rock. A very cool raw but not too raw production. I'll be getting this.

All European power metal are direct descendants of Priest, Maiden, and Rainbow.

Here's Edguy in Priest mode:


One of the German originators, Scanner:


Swedish power metal from the classic turn of the century era:

Angel Witch - Angel Witch
Satan - Court in the Act
Grave Digger - Heavy Metal Breakdown
Running Wild - Gates to Purgatory ~ Branded and Exiled
Iced Earth - Iced Earth ~ Night of the Stormrider ~ Burnt Offerings
Accept - Restless and Wild

This band Necrytis is plenty good... I'm sure someone's mentioned it before as it's a Toby Knapp project. I'm getting some real Helstar or older weird 80s metal vibes here. Just pulpy fun with some wild guitar acrobatics and warbly space-man vocals. Seems a bit loose writing-wise, but in a fun way.

First impressions: new Heir Apparent sounds like Dream Theater when they were good.

Since I was a big fan of Rhapsody (Sometimes "Of Fire!") for a long time, I decided to check out Legendary Years, which consists entirely of re-recordings of their old material, but without Fabio Lione on vocals. Some of the old tunes sound really nice with updated production, but Giacomo Voli just isn't a good substitute for the somewhat idiosyncratic Lione.

A local Philadelphia band, Crazy Bull, just released their first full-length today. If you like 70s hard rock/proto-metal, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Very solid stuff.

https://crazybull.bandcamp.com/



Did you get to hear more than just the 30 second clips on iTunes (or that one short promo vid on youtube)? I'm never able to make much of those, myself. It sounded promising, but still way too little material to really tell.

Nah, just the clips. We'll have to wait until it's out for more, I guess.

I can't wait for that new Heir Apparent album. Long overdue! They've had like 12 vocalists, right???

So lately I've been listening to some different bands: Buffalo, an early heavy metal band with a great rough sounding vocalist, as well as well Night Sun that blew me away with their opening track on their only album. Behold! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRnp1y6a_zs

I've also checked Dark Quarterer's second album. I wasn't too fond of their debut earlier on, but this second album sounds rather interesting.

Trying to keep my expectations in check for the new Heir Apparent. The clips on itunes sound pretty solid, though.

Dark Quarterer's second album is fantastic. I would pick it over the debut to introduce someone to them.