On Testament's 11th album they returned to their thrashroots of the 80's and 90's but updated it to a headcrushing good production of 2012. Powerful heavy and intense thrash with strong vocals. Some tracks are pretty good but as always the case with this band they lack something and the songs are all built up in the same way and I loose some of my interest after 4 tracks. Almost all tracks has the same tempo which is enervating and it's too much of the crushing heaviness all the time. They should pause sometimes to play calmer parts to make the tracks better and more variated. But "Cold embrace" is almost a ballad for 3 minutes and they vary the tempos in the songs quite a lot so it's not bad at all, I just mean that they could have done it even better. If I listen to the tracks one at a time they are really good. The whole album is just too much.

Testament's drummer Paul Bostaph were replaced by former Testament-drummer (the 1997 Demonic album) Gene Hoglan due to Bostaph getting some kind of injury. 

1)Rise up (8,5)

2)Native blood (8,0)

3)Dark roots of the earth (8,0)

4)True american hate (8,0)

5)A day in the death (7,5)

6)Cold embrace (7,0)

7)Man kills mankind (8,0)

8)Throne of thorns (6,5)

9)Last stand for independence (7,5)

Score: 7,67

Chuck Billy-vocals (b.1962)

Alex Skolnick-guitars (b.1968)

Eric Peterson-guitars (b.1964)

Greg Christian-bass (b.1966)

Gene Hoglan-drums (b.1967)

Powerful thrash metal right from the Bay Area in the 1980's? Could have been, but this is a new band of 19-20 year-olds from Norway and the year is 2012! Even the production is very 80's Testament-amateurish. I like the long instrumental parts not only bacause of the singers somewhat annoying but fitting scream-vocals. Heathen, Metallica and Vio-Lence are bands to compare Tantara with. They really know how to thrash like mad with full speed and changing tempos. I don't understand why they start with the least good song on the album. Fortunately it gets much much better than the titlesong that opens the album and they have long songs with much variation.

The band was formed in 2009 and they released and EP in 2010 called Human Mutation, by then they had recruited danish Bjarke Haakenstad but he left the band later and was replaced by Max Warnby from Skövde, Sweden who was in the band when they recorded the debutalbum, but he left in 2013 to focus on artwork.

This album is produced by Flemming Rasmussen of Metallica fame. A good name to start out their recording career with!

This is one of the best thrashalbums I have ever heard, buy it!

1)Based on evil (6,0)

2)Mass murder (8,0)

3)Neglible souls (8,5) 

4)The dabate (8,0)

5)Human mutation (8,0)

6)Trapped in bodies (8,0)

7)Prejudice of violence (8,5)

8)The killing of mother earth (8,5)

Score: 7,94

Fredrik Bjerkö-vocals and guitars

Per Semb-guitars

Max Warnby-bass

Stian Sannerud-drums

American death metallers released their 7th album, this time with only 3 members. Since the last album drummer Duane Timlin and guitarrist Mike Kimball had left the band being replaced with Trey Williams on drums.

The music is incredibly heavy, fast and just... crushing. It's also technically difficult. I enjoy it here and there, in the more thrashy parts but the fast chaotic parts gets too much for me. Also the growling is hard for me to like.  Even if I have some difficulties with the music sometimes, I realize that these guys are extraordinary good at playing their instruments and that the complicity and variation in the songs are really good but the songs tend to sound very alike eachother. But the best of all is that THIS IS real death metal! Many "modern" death metal-bands should learn what death metal is before they call themselfs that! In Flames can throw themselfs in the wall.

1)Your treachery will die with you (6,5)

2)Shepherd's commandment (6,0)

3)Hopeless insurrection (5,5)

4)Concieved into enslavement (6,0)

5)Atrocious by nature (6,0)

6)Descend into depravity (6,5)

7)At what expense? (6,0)

8)Ethos of coercion (5,5)

Score: 6,00

John Gallagher-vocals and guitars

Sean Beasley-vocals and bass

Trey Williams-drums

Heep's 5th album and it's a damn good one! Since I bought the LP in Gothenburgh in 2000 I have listened to this one a lot. Some of the band's absolutely best songs are on it even if there's only 8 songs on the album, in fact very normal number of songs at the time. Heep continued, like on the last album only a half year before, creating progressive songs but also with very melodic parts in the songs, especially the refrains. The 10-minute progressive titlesong that ends the album could have been better though, there's something missing compared to earlier songs they recorded. The lineup is the classic one that gave Heep their biggest success. The album went to nr. 31 in the USA and to nr. 28 in the UK. Also nr. 1 in Finland and nr. 5 in Norway! This is an album every rocker should own.

1)Sunrise (9,0) A very good album-opener that builds up to a majestic and powerful song.

2)Spider woman (8,0) Good boogie-rocker.

3)Blind eye (7,0) Acoustic guitars in this energic rocker. Nice combination!

4)Echoes in the dark (9,0) UH at their best; melodic, heavy, progressive and pure quality.

5)Rain (8,5) Beautiful piano and vocal-ballad.

6)Sweet Lorraine (8,5) Midtempo rocker in true Heep-style with great basslines, psychotic keyboards and a catchy refrain.

7)Tales (8,5) Beautiful melody and singing by Byron in this slow great song!

8)The magician's birthday (7,0) Strange, both chaotic and melodic 10-minute track that sounds like there's 3-4 songs tied together.

Score: 8,19

David Byron (David Garrick) -vocals (1947-1985)

Mick Box-guitars (b.1947)

Gary Thain-bass (1948-1975)

Lee Kerslake-drums and kazoo (b.1947)

Ken Hensley-keyboards and guitars (b.1945)

3rd album from englishborn, now resident of the USA, living in Detroit, 26 year old rock guitarrist and singer Joanne Shaw Taylor. Her music is mostly connected with blues but there sure ain't much blues here, that's for sure. Her singing does not appeal to me, it sounds strained and not with much feeling. Maybe it matures with age? The songs are pretty boring, not much happenes and not much of nice melodies here. She needs some soulful singers to back her up, that would lift this album a bit. Her guitarplaying is very chaotic, I don't understand why she plays in such a messy way in her solos. I immediately skip to the next song when she begins playing that way.

No, I don't recommend this album. It was the same when I saw her live here at the local music-pub in Gävle, I lost interest after a while.

1)Soul station (5,0)

2)Beautifully broken (5,5)

3)You should stay, I should go (6,5)

4)Piece of the sky (6,0)

5)Army of one (6,5)

6)Jealousy (6,5)

7)Almost always never (3,5)

8)Tied and bound (6,5)

9)A hand in love (3,5)

10)Standing to fall (7,0)

11)Maybe tomorrow (4,5)

12)Lose myself to loving you (4,0)

Score: 5,42

Joanne Shaw Taylor-vocals and guitars (b.1986)

Billy White-bass and acoustic guitars

J.J Johnson-drums

David Garza-piano, hammond and mandolin

On their 9th album, Swedish folkrockers Kebnekajse (named after sweden's highest mountain) continues their journey through world music, mixing it with traditional swedish folkmusic and psychedelic rock and beautiful melodies. For hardcore fans this is probably as good as ever, the album got some good reviews, but there are no supergood songs, it is kind of low key, but it never gets bad though. Just not my type of music even if I can enjoy some of it.

The band is still evolving even though their first album was released in 1971. They re-formed in 2001 after a hiatus of about 30 years and this is their 3rd album since that.

1)Snickar-Anders (6,0) A typical Kebnekajse violin-based melodic 70's instrumental prog.

2)Vallåt efter Britta Jansson (6,5) Low key instrumental.

3)Spelmannen (6,0) Kind of a ballad with clear vocals and nice acoustic guitar melody.

4)Aventure (4,0) Slow monotone song for 8 minutes in talked french about Senegal and Scandinavia. Too boring.

5)Svartbergstrollen (6,5) Uptempo violinsong.

6)Vallåt efter Måns Olsson (5,0) Mystic fingerpicking instrumental.

7)Midsommarnattsdröm (6,5)

8)Tikli ja Tiira (6,0)

9)Battery (3,0) Monotone african rhythms.

Score: 5,50

Kenny Håkansson-vocals and guitars

Thomas Netzler-vocals and bass

Göran Lagerberg-bass (b.1947)

Mats Glengård-guitars, violin, mandolin and vocals (b.1952)

Pelle Ekman-vocals and drums

Hassan Bah-jembas, tummpiano, congoma and voals (b.1944)

This Swedish hardcore band has never spoken to me even though they had a long career. That is until I saw them at the Getaway Rock Festival i Gävle in 2012! What a totally wild, crazy and tremendous show that was, although it was on a big un-intimate stage, and I got me a new favourite band in just a few songs time! The absolute power, aggression and of course live-sound of the 2000's made me want to jump into the moshpit and let all aggressions go. But hey, I'm 41 years old, stop it!

But damn it, I want to jump like some crazy idiot when I hear this record because it crushes from beginning to end and most importantly, there are some really good songs on it. Those who know say that they have returned to their roots with this album, that they have abonded their more metallic influences they have had on their previous albums. I'm glad. Buy it.

Raised Fist was formed in the industrial city of Luleå in northern Sweden in 1993 and this is their 5th album and the last album was released in 2006.

1)Friends and traitors (7,5)

2)They can't keep us down (8,5)

3)Wounds (7,0)

4)Afraid (8,5)

5)Slipping into coma (8,0)

6)City of cold (7,5)

7)Volcano is me (7,5)

8)Disbelief (7,0)

9)My last day (7,5)

10)I have to pretend (8,0)

11)Words and phrases (7,0)

12)Keeping it to yourself (8,0)

13)Never negotiate (9,5)

14)Out (5,0)

Score: 7,61

Alle (Alexander Rajkovic) -vocals

Daniel (Daniel Holmerg) -guitars

Marco (Marco Eronen) -guitars

Josse (Andreas Johansson) -bass

Matte (Matte Modin) -drums

With one of rockhhistory's greatest covers Judas Priest's 2nd album was full of heavy riffing, progressiveness melody and pure heavy metal. It was their last album on the small Gull label and when the band switched to Columbia Records they lost the rights to the first 2 albums. The former singer in Judas Priest, Al Atkins, co-wrote the songs Victim Of Changes and Dreamer Deceiver. Except for the song Epitaph this is really really an album worth having for any fans of hard rock. The songs are really good and you can hear what time this music was recorded in, it's full of music that would lead many other bands in the same direction and inspire a whole generation of rockers from all over the world and led to Judas Priest becoming one of the most popular bands of the era and for over 30 years to come!

The drummer Alan (Alen on the album) Moore was also the drummer for Judas Priest in 1971-1972 when Al Atkins was still the singer. After this album he once again quit the band and eventually later retired from music and no one has ever been able to trace him since.

1)Victim of changes (9,0) Absolutely great song with a heavy and powerful but also simple riff and consruction and the toned down part in the middle (written by Al Atkins) that bursts into the final is awesome!

2)The ripper (8,0) A hard, heavy and short rocker.

3)Dreamer deceiver (8,5) Very good powerful ballad.

4)Deceiver (8,0) Great driving rhythm and, as always, very good strong singing from Halford.

5)Prelude (-) 2-minute keyboardthing.

6)Tyrant (8,5) Superb heavy metal!

7)Genocide (8,0) Very simple but oh so good.

8)Epitaph (3,0) Stupid piano-vocal-ballad.

9)Island of domination (8,0)

Score: 7,62

Robert Halford-vocals (b.1951)

K.K Downing-guitars (b.1951)

Glenn Tipton-guitars and piano (b.1947)

Ian Hill-bass (b.1951)

Alen Moore-drums (b.1947)