The second month of us doing this. Members of the Rock Out Stand Out team have revealed what albums have made their month and why. There are some good ones.
Martin: HELL – Human Remains
I have travelled back in time for my album of the month in the form of HELL’s debut album Human Remains.
I was introduced to them by a close friend shortly after its release and I was instantly a fan.
The band itself came into existence back in 1982 from the embers of PARALEX & RACE AGAINST TIME and it took until 2011 until their debut album was released. This was due to their signed to label collapsing in 1986 and frontman David Halliday tragically taking his own life in 1987.
Thus upon the albums completion, Halliday’s vocals and music were included amongst the album tracks along with an additional demos disc featuring the original unreleased compositions. He also frequents within the album cover artwork too. What higher honour could have been bestowed upon their fallen comrade?
The band themselves were also probably too progressively unique in their original incarnation: a theatrical stage show, donning corpse paint (before Black-Metal inherited this as we know today), and a blend of NWOBHM, power, symphonic and thrash metal amongst others. Lyrical content features the grisly history of Britain (The Great Plague and The Great Fire of London), a distaste of organised religion and a rendition of that well known Scottish play.
HELL have been quiet for the past few years due to guitarist Andy Sneap (Former SABBAT) taking up live guitar duties for legends JUDAS PRIEST and producing multiple albums for a wide array of bands.
I eagerly anticipate hearing their new material when it emerges from the gates of Hades and being able to see them live once again for my sins.
Find HELL on Facebook.
Steph: Bloodbound – Unholy Cross
Released in 2011, Unholy Cross is the fourth album released by the Swedish power metal band BLOODBOUND. I found this band of dragon slayers when they were acting as a warm-up act. They are one of the first metal bands that I found on my own. They play strong metal cords mixed with beautiful harmonies that could make a choir cry. In this album, they mix the power tracks with some slow-moving emotional tracks. The best song is The Ones We Left Behind; it has the most beautiful lyrics such as ‘United here we stand, We Sacrificed, The ones we left behind’ that are sung in harmonies that touch my soul and make me hum.
Find BLOODBOUND on Facebook.
Lotty: Thundermother – Heat Wave
Are you ready for the thunder? THUNDERMOTHER that is. Their latest album Heat Wave is fresh off the press today and ahead of its release date, I had the honour of reviewing this hard rock master piece. It contains a great array of songs that will suit most moods under the sun, I know this is a cliché but it’s true here. My personal favourites on this record are Dog From Hell, Back In ’76, Into The Mud, the title track, Sleep, Mexico and Purple Sky. I was treated to passionate vocals, finger blistering guitar solos, pounding bass-lines and thunderous drums from start to finish. I am definitely going to be keeping an eye out for THUNDERMOTHER in the future. I suggest you guys do the same thing.
Find THUNDERMOTHER on Facebook.
Becky: Powerwolf – Blessed & Posessed
This majestic album began my journey into the POWERWOLF world. From hearing the first track, I was left feeling mesmerised and full of adrenaline. The songs that caught my attention are Let There Be Night, Armata Strigoi and Army Of The Night. For the duration of the album, I was captivated by the bands outstanding talents. Attila Dorn’s mesmerising vocals stood out. Charles and Matthew Greywolf’s guitar and bass lines sent the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Falk Maria Schlegel’s keyboard is memorable alongside the haunting church organ. Roel van Helden’s drumbeats are vigorous and passionate. The lyrics in Let There Be Night stayed with me. The lyric “Let there be night, God bless the father, the son, let there be night and day be gone” is just one example of what I mean. After enjoying what the album had to offer repeatedly, I was left eager to explore this band further.
Find POWERWOLF on Facebook.
Jacob: Pink Floyd – The Wall
The Wall is the 1979 album by English prog-rock group PINK FLOYD and I’ve been listening to it a lot recently. More specifically I’ve been listening from Waiting For The Worms to Outside The Wall with a lot with of special attention to The Trial. The Trial is an important track to me. The song is an internal argument between different parts of the main characters psyche and is suitably both cathartic and anxiety inducing in its representation of mental anguish
The judge hears the evidence claiming it to be ‘incontrovertible’ and orders that Pink’s punishment should be to tear down the wall and be judged by his peers.
I haven’t been doing great with my own mental health lately. I think I rediscovered it at just the right time.
Find PINK FLOYD on Facebook.
Stefan: Illumishade – Eclyptic: Wake Of Shadows
As soon as this debut album was announced, it got me very intrigued to how it would sound. The debuting Swiss Metal band, fronted by Fabienne Erni (ELUVEITIE) on vocals with Jonas Wolf (Guitars), Yannick Urbanczik (Bass), Marc Friedrich (Drums) and Mirjam Skal (Orchestration/Synthesizer) have certainly captivated my interest in this band and their music. As right from the beginning of the this album, it’s like you’re being transported to an enchanting and mystical world.
This album’s filled with brilliant melodies and songs that can really be heard. Songs such as Rise, Muse Of Unknown Forces and World’s End really shows just how wonderful Fabienne’s vocals are. There’s also another treat for ELUVEITIE fans as Chrigel Glanzmann lends his vocals for a fantastic collaboration on Tales Of Time. Another highlight heard on the album are the magical instrumentals that bridge the songs together in this album extremely well.
Find ILLUMISHADE on Facebook.
So that’s it for this album of the month post, what would you have chosen? See you on the next post in a month’s time.
