ALBUM REVIEW: Pänzer - "Fatal Command"

By: Richard Maw


Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 06/10/2017

Label: Nuclear Blast

This is a similar beast to their debut- powerful but with melody, hard driving but never out and out thrash. If you are a fan of Priest, Hammerfall, Accept and of course Destruction, there will be plenty for you to enjoy here. Classic heavy metal with a modern stainless steel sheen.

“Fatal Command” CD//DD track listing:

1. Satan's Hollow (4:04)

2. Fatal Command (4:57)

3. We Can Not Be Silenced (3:32)

4. I'll Bring You The Night (5:29)

5. Scorn And Hate (5:26)

6. Afflicted (4:42)

7. Skullbreaker (5:44)

8. Bleeding Allies (4:38)

9. The Decline (And The Downfall) (5:16)

10. Mistaken (4:54)

11. Promised Land (4:21)

The Review:

Pänzer came to prominence a couple of years back as a super group of sorts with members of Acceptand Destructioncombining to produce an album which sounded... mid way between those two bands. And very good it was too! The sophomore album by the band has seen Hermann Frank sadly depart, but the core of the band remain the same with Schmierand Stefan Schwarzmann still proving the thunderous underpinning to the band's sound. Pontus Norgren and V.O. Pulver fill out the line up this time around and the Swede/Swiss axis of metal works wonders.

The record is perhaps more anthemic than the debut “Send Them All To Hell” but it is just as metal; if not more so. There is huge choruses’ here- the opener “Satan's Hollow” is pure heavy metal, the following title track is more of the same. Big production and Schmier's manic vocals make this record feel energised and, in the right way, both retro and state of the art.

This is a harder proposition than Accept's latest (superb) album, but not at the level of intensity offered by Destruction. Schmier pushes and expands his vocal limits- as you can hear on “We Can Not Be Silenced”- and his willingness to turn in this type of performance says a lot about not resting on his laurels and giving his all to the record. There are mid paced chuggers like “I'll Bring You The Night” that nestle alongside more melodic and dynamic fair such as “Scorn” and “Hate” and you also get the pure heavy metal, verging on thrash, of “Afflicted” and the record is only half way at that point!

There is plenty of variety- “Skullbreaker”is a creeping and menacing track- not like the breakneck paced track I expected from the title. “Bleeding Allies”provides a stomping burst of pace and plenty of twin guitar work. The harder riffing of “The Decline (And The Downfall)” may please fans of Schmier'smain band, but there is still a sense of metallic melody through the verses.

The final stretch of the album takes in the widdly “Mistaken” (great) and the fast and furious “Promised Land” (even greater!) and really closes on a strong statement for the record. This is a similar beast to their debut- powerful but with melody, hard driving but never out and out thrash. If that sounds like your bag- or for reference if you are a fan of Priest, Hammerfall, Accept and of course Destruction, there will be plenty for you to enjoy here. Classic heavy metal with a modern stainless steel sheen.

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Sodom - "Decision Day"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 26/08/2016

Label: Steamhammer

This is highly recommended for anyone who likes the gnarlier end of metal from Motorhead to Venom to Exodus to early Sepultura to Ravens Creed and so on. Nasty. And great!

“Decision Day” CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. In Retribution (06:14)
02. Rolling Thunder (04:22)
03. Decision Day (04:03)
04. Caligula (04:01)
05. Who Is God? (04:35)
06. Strange Lost World (04:59)
07. Vaginal Born Evil (05:15)
08. Belligerence (04:00)
09. Blood Lions (03:17)
10. Sacred Warpath (05:34)
11. Refused To Die (04:27)
12. Predatory Instinct (04:44) (bonus track for vinyl and iTunes edition)

The Review:

From their early days when they played a kind of primitive black metal akin to Venom/Hellhammer, to the seminal albums of the late 80's, Sodom have occupied a rather special niche. They remain part of the German Big Three (arguably four, if you count Tankard) with Kreatorand Destruction. Truthfully, I have never gone through Sodom'sback catalogue in the same way as I have Kreator's, but that may now have to change.

“Decision Day” represents another quality release in the Sodomdiscography. You get eleven tracks of feral thrash. From opener “In Retribution”, through the title track and beyond, this is evil and dark music from masters of the genre. The technique is most certainly there these days, with Tom Angelripper backed up very impressively by Bern Kost and Markus Freiwald. Keeping to the power trio format has been the band’s strength over the years: think of them as a thrash Motorhead. You know what you want, what you are getting and what the band will inevitably deliver.

There are surprising moments of melody to go with the bombast- a lead break here, a tempo change there- it all adds up to a record that is well rounded and impressively adrenaline fuelled. The bass sound, as heard on “Caligula” is also mightily impressive. Sodom have kept the somewhat inventive/bizarre phrasing from earlier albums with titles like “Vaginal Born Evil" and have certainly kept their anger intact. This is metal of the old school variety- when it was still dangerous and a bit... well, scary.

It is on the most focused and succinct tracks which the band really shines- “Blood Lions” being a prime example- but the album is such that there is nothing spare here, nothing wasted. The song lengths are fairly uniform- around four minutes, although sometimes on either side of that and this is indicative of the fact that Tom and crew have their style down and write in a particular way as pertains to structure and changes. Ultimately, this is a huge strength: the band know exactly how to do this and they do it very well.

By the time “Refused To Die” rolls around, the album has proven to be very much a heads-down-see-you-at-the-end thrash fest. This is highly recommended for anyone who likes the gnarlier end of metal from Motorheadto Venomto Exodusto early Sepulturato Ravens Creed and so on. Nasty. And great!

“Decision Day” is available now

Band info: facebook

FFO: Kreator, Destruction, Slayer, Venom

Destruction - Under Attack (2016)

Destruction - Under Attack (2016)

Country: Germany
Genre: Thrash Metal
Quality: Mp3, CBR 320 kbps (Personal Web Purchase)
Release Date: May 13, 2016

Tracklist:
01. Under Attack 06:13
02. Generation Nevermore 04:04
03. Dethroned 04:50
04. Getting Used to the Evil 06:08
05. Pathogenic 04:27
06. Elegant Pigs 03:40
07. Second to None 05:11
08. Stand Up for What You Deliver 04:20
09. Conductor of the Void 04:33
10. Stigmatized 04:12
11. Black Metal (Venom cover) 03:14 (Bonus Track)
12. Thrash Attack 02:58 (Bonus Track)

Line Up:
Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer - Bass, vocals
Mike Sifringer - Guitars

Wawrzyniec "Vaaver" Dramowicz - Drums

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