Anthrax's "Chile on Hell" is not only the best live release so far this year but also the best show of the band that was captured by cameras and microphones. The Chilean crowd is simply out of this world. Right from the opening riffs of "Among the Living", the entire crowd is singing along to the melodies and lyrics of this track, is getting involved into a giant circle pit with some fans sitting on the shoulders of others and some devotees are even enlightening a big red Bengal fire. This incredible crowd never gets tired throughout the entire show and is celebrating classics, cover songs and new material alike. The enthusiastic admirers are contributing to several intense goosebump moments. It's incredible to hear them singing the entire pre-chorus and chorus of "Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)" before the song even gets started, to watch them doing Dio's famous horns sign during the intense rendition of "In the End", to see them doing an unchained wardance to "Indians", to hear them yelling out the chorus with Joey Belladonna during "In My World", to see them doing a big mosh pit during the Slayer cover "Raining Blood" which was dedicated to late Jeff Hanneman who died only days before this show and finally to see them celebrating enthusiastically to the closing Trust cover "Antisocial". I've never ever seen such a great crowd as they even beat several one hundred thousand unchained Brazilians celebrating Iron Maiden on their "Rock In Rio" record. Every single fan seems to get involved in passionate and yet respectful hysteria for two unforgettable hours. I've never wished that much that I had been at a concert than when I first watched this.

It's not only the amazing crowd that makes this release so memorable. I've seen several Anthrax shows and while they always perform with passion, I've never seen them so vivid as on this output. The amazing crowd reactions must have been contagious. Joey Belladonna is doing one of his finest vocal performances in a long time. I was surprised how clean his voice sounds on this release and how he even hits the high notes while running around and interacting constantly with the crowd. Hands down, this man is a gifted front man and entertainer and this is why I'm so glad he's back with Anthrax as nobody else compares to him. Scott Ian is constantly jumping and running around with a big smile on his face. His angry backing vocals are extremely solid and he even hits some higher notes in the opening of "In My World" that impressed me quite a lot. In addition to this, his killer riffs are still performed with passion and precision. Frank Bello is walking, headbanging and dancing around the stage and never ever stands still. His extremely enthusiastic vocal performance during "I'm The Man" is absolutely contagious and his bass play is very powerful. Charlie Benante's drumming is as tight as it can be and still looks effortless because he is having so much fun on stage. He keeps smiling and making funny faces throughout the entire show. He even gets to play a short drum solo right before "I'm the Man". It's just long enough to show his great talent and short enough to get the crowd moving for the energizing encore. Fellow drummers, please take notes on this essential, precise and short performance as nobody wants to listen to drum solos over six minutes or so. New guitarist Jonathan Donais plays very well but looks a little bit shier and more introspective than the other members. He's got his own personality I guess but he slightly feels out of place. I guess he simply needs some more time with the band to get used to this new situation. From a purely technical point of view, his performance is spot on though.

The set list of this concert is phenomenal. It contains the three best songs from the band's amazing last effort "Worship Music", the greatest classics including the six thrash metal milestones that open the legendary "Among The Living" release and a bunch of amazing cover tracks from AC/DC, Joe Jackson, Slayer, Stormtroopers Of Death and Trust. Some people keep complaining about the high number of cover songs during Anthrax' shows. If you take a look at the incendiary crowd reactions to these tracks and the way Anthrax performs these renditions, you do realize why these guys are still including so many of them and I don't want to miss these tracks. Anthrax' cover tracks have always been amazing in my opinion. On a side note, the DVD version of this release seems to omit two tracks from the original concert which are the Joe Jackson cover "Got The Time" as well as "Deathrider". It's possible that these tracks are included on the BluRay release though as I've read other reviews where analysts would talk about these songs as well. If you can choose between both versions, you should go for the BluRay variant.

From time to time, the outstanding concert is interrupted by very short sequences showing other Anthrax shows, the band backstage, fellow musicians commenting on thirty years of Anthrax, fans praising the band or Scott Ian on the set of a TV show. A couple of snippets from the band's last studio album are played during these sequences, for example "The Devil You Know", "The Giant" and "Judas Priest". These breaks are very short and only about one to two minutes long each and really don't bother the enjoyment of the energizing concert at all. It would have been interesting if the band had included a little documentary about its career as a bonus but that's not the case and this release only focuses on the music and a few short additional gimmicks.

From a technical point of view, the sound is crystal clear and yet absolutely authentic. One can hear the crowd very well but the vocals and the instruments also sound very sharp. It's definitely an honest live release as one can still hear a couple of small technical mistakes here and there. The image is perfect as well but some people might not like several quick cuts, shaky camera passages when Joey Belladonna is running around with a camera on stage and a few split-screen passages. I think these little technical elements make the whole release even more diverting, energizing and original. These elements are not overused as on Iron Maiden's "Death on the Road" release for example. If these elements bother you, I guess you're really just nitpicking.

In the end, this concert and release come extremely close to perfection. If the DVD release had included the two missing tracks and if Jonathan Donais' performance had been a little bit more enthusiastic, I would have given the perfect score to this output. Still, this is an absolutely essential release for any Anthrax fan, any thrash metal maniac and anyone who cares about authentic, energizing and original rock or metal music in general. Believe me, you won't regret anything if you purchased this release as soon as you possibly can. For me, this is by far the best metal release in the year 2014 and already my very favourite live record ever. You may argue that I shouldn't judge this output shortly after its initial release but this is one of these few and special releases that simply blow you away from the very first second and I couldn't stop celebrating this masterpiece. If you listen and watch this release, just make sure you don't destroy your home by getting caught in a giant Chilean mosh.

HammerFall had always somewhat been the Manowar of European power metal: overtly epic song structures, talented musicians wasting their talent by playing a rather redundant melodic metal style, battle hymns with simplistic lyrics, a slightly silly image and a stereotypical mascot. Just as for Manowar, the first HammerFall records are considered as classics by most metal fans of any genre and have brought a breath of fresh air to a whole scene that was going through hard times and needed some innovation or at least a spirit of renaissance. HammerFall had somehow delivered both. On the other side, both bands had disappointed with their last records. HammerFall’s “No Victory, No Sacrifice” had sounded too redundant and had included many fillers along with two or three quite decent tracks. “Infected” saw the band trying to reinvent itself with a much darker and more modern approach but in my opinion this experiment sounded artificial and had horribly failed. “(r)Evolution” is HammerFall’s attempt to appease its old fans and to go back to its root in order to recreate the liberating and epic power metal spirit of the first two albums. As always, one can’t exactly recreate the dynamical and carefree spirit of the early years. This release doesn’t beat the extremely solid “Threshold” either but it’s still a respectable return to form that sounds much more consistent and honest than I expected. I would place the release on the same level or slightly above records such as “Renegade” and “Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken”.

“Hector’s Hymn” is easily the best single track the band has written in eight or even nine years. It’s an epic, powerful anthem with an extremely catchy and melodic chorus you won’t get out of your mind anytime soon. The liberating guitar solos make your power metal heart explode, the bass guitar sounds fierce and proud, the high-speed drumming is filled with energy and Joacim Cans has even improved as a singer and sounds more grounded and powerful than ever. It's a sad thing that this band has never managed to reproduce these shining elements in concert. This song is not only a true hymn dedicated to the mascot but it’s also a statement that HammerFall is back in full strength. At the risk of seeming ridiculous, this joyous piece of fun is one of the best metal songs written this year due to its highly emotional tone but not because of its generic song writing.

Even though this song is easily the best on the release, the band goes on to prove that it can still write and perform its trademark power metal tracks. The melodic mid-tempo stomper and title song “(r)Evolution” is somewhat simplistic and recalls several older HammerFall tracks from “Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken” as well as “Crimson Thunder” but it has been almost a decade since we haven’t heard such a strong traditional HammerFall anthem and that’s once again why this nostalgic trademark track has been chosen as worthy title song. Other highlights on this album include the epic mid-tempo single “Bushido” that definitely needs a few spins to grow but works much better in the album context than as a lone standout track, the cheesy but quite catchy, melodic and nostalgic feel-good track “Origins” that should please to the older fans and the surprisingly fast and pitiless over-the-top closer “Wildfire” with its apocalyptic chorus which is the second best track on the record in my opinion.

Obviously, this album also includes a few rather redundant power metal tracks we have heard over and over before in the past. “Live Life Loud” is such an example as it’s the shortest and also most forgettable song on here that includes the least imaginative chorus which consists of stupidly yelling out the title three times in a row. The predictable half-ballad “Winter Is Coming” is not much better as it has an exchangeable musical structure and very weak lyrics that could have been written by a depressive elementary school student that has to write a poem about his favourite season in English class. The repetitive gang shouts and overtly epic choirs sometimes sound mildly amusing as in “Ex Inferis” that is an odd mixture of any old-fashioned European power metal track and the dark, dragging and lifeless mid-tempo structure of the abominable “Infected” release. This record definitely has its flaws and includes a couple of major fillers in the middle part.

Still, it’s an honest relief to listen to this back-to-the-roots release after the last two abominations. HammerFall perform with passion and pleasure and finally play the style that suits them the most again. This emotional approach is contagious and pardons for a weak middle section including a couple of exchangeable and predictable tracks. This record should have been released five years earlier and most European power metal fans would have liked this release. If you replace the fillers on this new output with the few tolerable songs from the last two albums such as “Any Means Necessary”, “Life Is Now” and maybe “One Of A Kind” as well as “One More Time”, one would in fact get a very decent record that could be the fourth best HammerFall release. I recommend this new album to fans of the band’s earlier outputs and collectors. On the other side, there are many power metal bands that have already surpassed HammerFall and released better material this year like Edguy, Lord Symphony or Unisonic. If the Swedish quintet attempted to re-conquer the genre thrown, they still have a very long way to go and to prove that this new release was only the first step back in the right direction.

A couple of years ago I wrote a quite emotional negative review of Edguy’s “Age Of The Joker” but I decided to let the album grow on me and give it a second chance. More than three years after its initial release, I must sadly admit that this is still the band’s weakest release in my opinion. Workaholic Tobias Sammet had put all its creative input into the Avantasia project and at that point Edguy was only a collecting tank for immature ideas that weren’t good enough to find a righteous place on an Avantasia record.

Most of the album doesn’t have anything to do with the band’s energizing power metal roots. That alone wouldn’t be much of a problem if the band headed for a new brave direction or performed at least some creative rock music but that’s not the case either. First off, we get overlong old-fashioned hard rock tracks that seem to be a mixture of faceless Avantasia leftover material and half-hearted worship of Tobias Sammet’s favourite bands like Deep Purple. The worst example is the plodding and unspectacular opener “Robin Hood” with its laughable organ sounds that is no comparison to previous majestic rock opera openers like “Sacrifice” or heavier introductions like “Mysteria”. The album’s so-called epic “Behind The Gates To Midnight World” suffers from the same problem. This song would have been a rather decent track with a running time of five minutes but almost nine minutes are way too much. This unbearable piece of boredom goes straight to nowhere.

The second kind of tracks we get on here are silly and overtly commercial drinking anthems like “Two Out Of Seven” with adolescent lyrics like “what the fuck, suck my cock” and extremely childish keyboard melodies that could also come from Marky Mark. “Breathe” sounds just as ridiculous even though the lyrics are slightly better. Edguy had a couple of humorous and still intelligent tracks on each album in the past but the intellectual level has consecutively been lowered since then. “Age Of The Joker” has reached the absolute nadir. Listening to the abominable “Two Out Of Seven” almost makes me feel ashamed to be a fan of the band.

Only two songs on here are at least good and would have been much better if they weren’t so artificially stretched to lengths above six minutes. These songs really prove that Tobias Sammet’s song writing qualities had decreased at that time and that he should have given more creative space to his band mates. “Rock Of Cashel” has a longing atmosphere in the verses, a joyful and catchy chorus and includes beautiful folk melodies in the middle part. “Pandora’s Box” sounds like a country rock version of “The Piper Never Dies” with a kitschy but somewhat majestic chorus borrowed from a recent Avantasia track. The sad truth is that even the best songs on here would have been filler material on records like “Hellfire Club”. 

While the limited edition includes a few good tracks that should have made it on the regular album, this remains by far Edguy’s weakest release in my opinion. I can definitely not recommend this record. I only bought it because I own all Edguy records and have been a long-time fan. When I first listened to this record three years ago, I was simply disappointed and a little bit angry. Now, I happen to find this album extremely boring and embarrassing which is probably even worse. No, this release didn’t grow on me, I even dislike it more now than before and it had taken quite some dust on its shelf before I decided to grab and give it a few spins again. I’m sure it will accumulate loads of dust again over the next years.

Deep Mountain is an interesting black metal band from Tai’an, Shandong province in the People’s Republic of China because this quartet almost has nothing to do with metal music whatsoever. The three men and one woman mostly play laid back acoustic neofolk music that evokes strong feelings and relates a lot to nature in general. Fans of bands such as Dornenreich, Empyrium, Opeth or Ulver should dig this kind of music. 

Many songs are harmonious and make you feel at peace with the world. The mysteriously sacral “Intro” and the laid back and optimistic acoustic guitar driven last track “Li Fenghua” really close the circle on this release. 

Other songs are more desperate and nihilistic and can include occasional black metal shrieks and noisy guitar walls. An interesting example is the epic “Detachment” that includes a few English vocal samples taken from a movie that describe the desperate situation of women in relation to abuse at work and excessive beauty ideals suggested by the media.

Some tracks like the majestic “Sin” include both elements. Beautiful acoustic guitar harmonies and mysteriously whispered vocals meet more plodding and noisy riffs and impressive emotional outburst. The title song “Lake Of Solace” in two parts has a similar tone that also recalls the Chinese colleagues from Esthète Sinistre. There are more and more profound black metal bands coming from this country.

A standout track on this release is definitely the harmonious “Ballad Of River Nai”. It features nature sounds such as water drops that make the track feel really authentic. These field recordings meet acoustic guitar harmonies which are simple yet liberating. The short song is crowned by traditional female vocals that recall ancient Chinese mores that I happen to admire much. For me, this song is a nostalgic piece of magic.

To conclude, “Lake Of Solace” is a profound, nature-bound and emotional soundtrack to plunge into. It’s the kind of sophisticated yet pure grower that evokes numerous images on your mind. It’s an album you should experience when you’re walking alone through autumnal landscapes. Neofolk and post-black metal fans should definitely try this album out as I haven’t discovered a better genre release this year so far.

Sex Machineguns is back in strength with this energizing teaser in form of three new songs. The band had been on hiatus since the departure of its previous drummer Ken’ichi in 2012. The two remaining members had joined forces with two other musicians to release a self-titled record under the banner Maintenance in 2013 which was an energizing speed metal record in the vein of traditional Sex Machineguns songs. Now the band has reformed with a new drummer called Leon. Guitarist Sussy who was with the band from 1996 and 2001 and who had occasionally helped out during live shows also plays on the new release even though he doesn’t seem to be considered an official band member again until now. 

I’m pleasantly surprised by the new release because it sounds more diversified and also fresher than the more traditional Maintenance release. All three songs definitely sound like Sex Machineguns but they offer three slightly different styles that all work very well. Title song “未練Fire!” took me by surprise as it almost starts like a Red Hot Chili Peppers song. Yes, you heard right. A dominant bass guitar and a vivid drumming meet laid back road trip guitar sounds before the track gets a little bit heavier and faster. The vocal performances vary between psychedelic sound effects and energizing melodic tones. The catchy chorus with a couple of gang shouts explains why this track has been chosen as the band’s first new single in two years and a half. Overall, this track is somewhere on the edge of hard rock and heavy metal music with a few hints at crossover and punk rock. 

“ダッチの奥さん” starts with interesting drum loops before dystopian guitar sounds kick in that remind me of early Voivod. Later on, the song gets a more traditional thrash metal track vibe with some punk rock influences. Still, the track goes back to the dystopian opening from time to time. The melodic and powerful chorus got immediately stuck on my mind. It almost seems as if the band had improved its already impressive song writing qualities during the short hiatus.

Last but not least in line is “オフィスレディー”. This is by far the fastest track on here. The lead vocals are a little bit nastier and more guttural. Even the gang shouts are angrier and more unchained than in the other two songs. This song could have been included on the Maintenance release. It’s a powerful thrash or speed metal track with an original song writing in form of short breakdowns and a middle part that features both more grooving riffs and a speedy melodic guitar solo. Long time fans of Sex Machineguns may like this track best on here.

The only complaint I have about this release would be the drum sound. It sounds quite tinny, especially in the second track. It’s not as annoying as on Metallica’s “St. Anger” but it’s getting on my nerves after a while. This is a little bit sad because bass guitar, guitars and vocals sound raw and yet clear on this release and the drum sound is the only obvious flaw.

I don’t know if these three songs may make it on an upcoming full length release. If this was the case, I would simply wait for the upcoming album instead of purchasing this EP. If that wasn’t the case, I think you should purchase this release because all three tracks are truly great efforts for different reasons. The future for Sex Machineguns sounds quite promising again.