Slipknot: All Hope Is Gone

Year released: 2008

Label: Roadrunner Records, Nuclear Blast

Official Website: www.slipknot1.com

Tracks:

1. .execute [1:49]

2. Gematria (The Killing Name) [6:02]

3. Sulfur [4:38]

4. Psychosocial [4:44]

5. Dead Memories [4:29]

6. Vendetta [5:16]

7. Butcher's Hook [4:15]

8. Gehenna [6:53]

9. The Cold Black [4:40]

10. Wherein Lies Continue [5:37]

11. Snuff [4:36]

12. All Hope is Gone [4:45]

__________________________________________________________________________

What's the latest fad on the alternative music scene these days? To don make-up and gimmicky costumes of course!

From pioneer hard rockers KISS, to visual-kei of Japan, from black metal gods Dimmu Borgir to indie hardcore rockers The Locust, musicians certainly are not just about their music these days. As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.”

Certainly, that seems to be the case for these bands.

Just as how visual-kei bands from Japan usually give off a grungy, “emo” feeling to their music from their appearance alone, Slipknot's disturbing appearance for one, leaves on one the first impression of a typical don't-really-care-what-others-think-about-me American metal band: Heavy, mean, thrashy.

Take a listen!: Gritty, aggressive, mainstream-friendly.

But sadly, that is all there really is to it. The old saying about never judging a book by its cover does not apply to Slipknot, for there is nothing new explored here on their 4^th studio album, “All Hope Is Gone”. Similar to their earlier albums, Slipknot has not wandered away from their dissonant music style (which is actually, the typical style of most American metal bands), and as usual, such an album of theirs does produce a single or two. Three in fact, with the lucky trio being “Psychosocial”, “Dead Memories”, and “All Hope Is Gone”.

Yes metal gals n' boys, this is the mark of a “safe”, but not groundbreaking music album. Music, is an amorphous creation of mankind that is supposed to transcend space and time, surpass the previous generation's expectations, and yet retain that heartwarming feeling of melodic satisfaction within one's heart. Sure, Pop, Rock, and even Metal music have all contributed to destroying the traditionalistic views of contemporary music hardliners over the past half century with their immense success, but that does not mean all of them are timeless classics.

With the group numbering at a staggering 9 members, one would almost expect an epic sound from Slipknot. No, we did not get that on their 1^st album, not their 2^nd and 3^rd either, and not even the 4^th as well. In fact, the 4-member Metallica is so epic compared to them that Slipknot looks like Twilight put alongside Underworld. The saving grace of this album is the string of songs bearing the familiar mainstream-friendly tunes such as “Sulfur”, “Psychosocial”, and “Dead Memories”, and being “alternative metal” (Wikipedia, 2008), that sure is not going to please the more underground metalheads.

Metal Demons: The members of Slipknot – From left to right: Jim Root (Guitar), Paul Gray [R.I.P. Passed away in 2010] (Bass Guitar), Chris Fehn (Custom Percussion), Joey Jordison (Drums/Guitar), Shawn “The Clown” Crahan (Drums/ Custom Percussion), Corey Taylor (Vocals), Sid Wilson (DJ), Craig Jones (Keyboards), Mick Thomson (Guitar)

Yes, musical experimentation puts your next newest album at great sales risk, but if sales figures really matter to you more than making good music, you cannot truly call yourself a good musician. Keep your image Slipknot, its cool.

Improve on your sound however, it really needs some tweaking to get variety-seeking freaks (such as myself) to keep the CD in the player for months.

Here's my advice:

1. Mainstream junkies, pick it up, y'all should still find stuff like this cool.

2. Underground dudes, hold your horses, your money's better spent on some other CD.

Hope to hear better stuff on the next album, and my new year resolution to Slipknot: All hope is not gone for you!

Verdict: 8.3 / 10

Song Of The Week: Edge of Sanity - Twilight

"I close your eyes and whisper Goodbye.

You will never see how I cry.

I can recall what you said to me once:

If I leave there will be a sign

And the twilight will show me tonight.

From dusk to dawn. That's when we arise.

All souls forlorn, come down from the skies.

We're called the mist by the human race."

Hi there, I'm back with a rather familiar-looking title. Yes, unless you have been living under Jabba the Hutt, there is no reason for any of you to have not heard of Twilight. Just in case any of you really have been living under that obese alien slug, Twilight is a recent viral movie and novel from the New York Times bestselling author, Stephanie Meyer's hit vampire teen romance quadrology series. 

As much as the above columns of words sound like they are referring to the setting in Meyer's erotica, they are not. 

They belong to the song "Twilight", by the now-defunct, Swedish death metal band, Edge of Sanity. Honestly speaking, this song does fit the theme of the Twilight movie quite well, what with the lyrics telling the story of a man hit by the eventual realisation that death is not a scary thing afterall, and what he seeks is in the afterworld. I wouldn't be surprised if this song is ever found on the movie's OST (Original Soundtrack), but as we all cruelly know, there is a very valid reason why death metal is also known by the better-sounding name, "underground music". (read as "will-never-surface-to-the-public-world music")

Take a listen!: Morbid, dark, unique.

Metalheads who usually ogle only at the guitarists of metal bands, this song will be a real eye (ear?) opener to you. Dan Swanö (Guitarist/Vocalist of Edge of Sanity), is an influential figure in the underground world of metal music, and on this song, his growling vocals go perfectly with his soaring guitar solo, creating not only melodic satisfaction but a sort of hazy effect due to the constant search for stability between the vocal and lead guitar parts. 

Teetering off the Edge of Sanity were: Dan Swanö (Vocals/All instruments), Andreas "Dread" Axelsson (Lead Guitar, Backing vocals), Sami Nerberg (Guitar), Anders Lindberg (Bass Guitar), Benny Larsson (Drums)

This song comes off of the album, "Purgatory Afterglow", which is also home to one of Edge of Sanity's biggest hits, Black Tears. An interesting point to note would be that Black Tears is covered by two fellow European metal bands, Heaven Shall Burn and Eternal Tears of Sorrow. 

All in all, "Twilight" is a solid, gritty death metal piece, with a guitar solo that is sure to capture the guitarist-lover's ears. Guaranteed to be set on repeat for quite some time (if you are a true metalhead), this is one song that will not be forgotten long after the dissolving of the band. 

With all of that said, I really have to be frank here. Let the music do the talking! There's definitely no better way to convince you then to make you listen to the song. 

So for now, let us delve into the sinister world of Edge of Sanity!

Vampires!: Hang on baby, I'm gonna bring you to the twilight world now.

Firewind: The Premonition

March 25 2008

Century Media

Tracks:

1. Into the Fire [6:29]

2. Head up High [3:46]

3. Mercenary Man [3:28]

4. Angels Forgive Me [4:57]

5. Remembered [3:38]

6. My Loneliness [4:04]

7. Circle of Life [4:14]

8. The Silent Code [4:48]

9. Maniac [4:55]

10. Life Foreclosed [4:52]

Ok, in a nutshell, this album isn't impressive. Its just unconventional and unusually good. Maybe its because they're Greek. This power metal band started out as Greek guitar god Gus G's idea wayy early on but didn't fully manifest itself as a real band for quite awhile because of Gus G's numerous duties in other bands such as Nightrage, Dream Evil and Mystic Prophecy. After several line-up changes and a somewhat shaky start, Firewind is finally a team that stuck, Gus G has ditched all the other gigs and they've produced this.. this.. piece of work..

As I've said, there's nothing groundbreaking about The Premonition but something about it makes it solid. Other reviews I've read have been comparing it to Allegiance, the only other album released by Firewind that features the same line-up in 2006, but since The Premonition is my virgin experience with Firewind so to speak, my opinions are solely based on this album alone. Quality is good, lyrics are decent. Apollo's voice is rather unique in my opinion, but in a good way- the vocal display is attractive, powerful but melodious. The melodies are unusual, but somehow its just catchy, especially how you'll find yourself humming the chorus of each song not long after.

Of course, when you get a mega superstar like Gus G in the band, he practically outshines everyone. Keyboards are practically atmospheric, with Bob Katsionis only wagging his fingers on a few short solos here and there. Petros Christo is almost non-existent, the bass is hardly audible. Hell if his guitar could enunciate words, Apollo would be gone too. But there's an obvious reason why Gus G gets to hog the playing time: he's good. This magician exhibits something rare in metal guitarists: talent in not just shredding. Oh he can rip, you can bet your ass on that, but if you wanna know how good he really is, listen to the parts when he slows down, such as in the middle of Angels Forgive Me, man its heartstrings he's got strung on his guitar.

And speaking of heartstrings, My Loneliness is one of the better ballads I've heard from metal bands. Generally throughout the album, from energetic tracks like Remembered and Into the Fire to midtempo rockers such as Life Foreclosed, there are creative bits of experimentation that pulls them off good. Its probably like nothing you've ever heard, but hmm.. I can get used to this.

Verdict: 4/5

Featured Musician: Alexi 'Wildchild' Laiho

There actually isn't any need to introduce this guy. If you don't know him, you wouldn't be on this site. But due to extenuating circumstances, my last post was more than a month ago, so I've decided to celebrate my return with something (or someone, so to speak) big. And because a recent movie to hit cinemas share a certain similarity with the Children of Bodom frontman..


I sense a conspiracy..Notice how they have the same hair? XD

Actually, there's nothing special about this guy. He's just one of the best guitarists around. Having several achievements credited to his name, such as the title of World's Best Guitarist of 2006 according to Metalhammer magazine and being among the top 50 fastest guitar players in the world according to Guitar World magazine, as well as being the co-founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of the increasingly popular Children of Bodom, this shredder and growler's reputation precedes him.

Now C.o.B is one of the few bands Shadori and I both like, and while Janne Wirman is generally my favourite member (I got a thing with 'boardists), one can't deny the prolific success and musical quality largely stems from Alexi, since he writes most of the music and the lyrics. His involvement in other projects, such as Sinergy and Kylähullut, are also not bad, particularly the extension of his partnership with fellow C.o.B member and guitarist, Roope Latvala, in Sinergy.

The guy quite lives up to his nickname that notably comes from the song Wild Child by W.A.S.P. I mean c'mon, he learnt to drive before he took up the guitar, and if the quality of his playing is any measure of many years he's been tugging the strings, that was a damn young age (10 actually, he took up the guitar when he was 11). Not to mention the suicide attempts and whatnot. But what he once said about his band-mates remains one of my favourite quotes to date, and I like to use it to describe my friends: "These motherfuckers aren't my friends.. They're my brothers." Or something like that, you get the gist of it.

A coupla things you might wanna notice about Alexi in this video featuring him and Janne Wirman: obviously his awesome guitar playing, using his teeth to do it at around 2.30, and the number of times he says 'fuck' and the other grammatical versions of it every time he opens his mouth. Mitä vittuu, Laiho?

Song Of The Week: Slipknot - Psychosocial

Awright, your favourite American metalhead is back with a mainstream song this time.

As you all may most probably already know, famed American heavy metal band, Slipknot, has just released their latest album All Hope Is Gone a few months back.

These skilled Halloween costumers never fail to create that gritty and dark image within the realms of their catchy and mainstream-friendly tunes. However, their overall sound is a bit of a bother to me, and we shall touch on that in the review that will be released later on this month shall we. 

This Iowa band consists of 9 members, a LOT for a typical band. 

They are: Sid Wilson, Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Shawn Crahan, Mick Thomson, and Corey Taylor.

They have been around since 1995, which makes them one of the leaders of today's American heavy metal scene, and the hot single of theirs now is Psychosocial off of their 4th and latest studio album. 

                                        Masked Monsters: We love Halloween!

Looks scary, eh? Well don't worry, ultimately, musicians are just pure antics on-stage and just like any other regular human being off-stage. At least these masketeers make good music. From the dissonant opening guitar riff to the hardcore bursts of harsh vocals with catchy choruses thrown in the mix, this song would fulfill every metalhead's occasional mainstream fix. Go listen to it now!

Psychosocial - Slipknot [Official Music Video]

Psychosocial - Slipknot [Anime fan's interpretation of song]

Pantera: Vulgar Display Of Power

Year released: 1992

Label: Atco Records

Official Website: www.pantera.com

Tracks:

1. Mouth For War [3:57]

2. A New Level [3:58]

3. Walk [5:15]

4. Fucking Hostile [2:49]

5. This Love [6:33]

6. Rise [4:36]

7. No Good (Attack The Radical) [4:50]

8. Live In A Hole [5:00]

9. Regular People (Conceit) [5:27]

10. By Demons Be Driven [4:41]

11. Hollow [5:49]

__________________________________________________________________________

RAWRRR!! LET'S GO OUT THERE AND HAVE A BRAWL!!! ... ... is probably what you would be thinking once you are through with this awesome classic of an album.

Yes, Pantera may have already disbanded, and have had experienced a tragedy or two, but luckily for them (and us), their music still lives on. This is one of those records that ruled then, and when you happen to stumble across it sometime in the future in your CD library or at a local CD store, you would pop it into the player and go, “Wow, their music still rules!”.

Vulgar Display Of Power was this American groove metal band's 2^nd studio album, and it sure is heavy as f**k. (Sorry, that was the only word I could find to describe it :-)

Take a listen!: The heavy, yet melodic style of Pantera

Starting off by exploding into your face with the angsty “Mouth For War”, Vulgar Display Of Power grips you throughout the entire album with thorned, sonic tendrils that just refuse to allow you to pop the CD out of your player. With Pantera's signature whining guitar melodies, rap-roars of vocalist Phil Anselmo, and the heavy yet dissonantly melodic guitar riffs that punctuate every minute of their songs, this album (and largely due to Pantera's own comments) was said to have spawned the sub-genre known as groove metal. This amazing piece of work even recently attained double platinum status in 2004, and although that might in part be contributed to the band unfortunately disbanding in that same year (Tsk tsk, the practicality of CD collectors), one cannot deny that this is indeed a good album. Taking your first stroll through this angsty album, one quickly realises that this is not a walk in the park. To pop and rock fans, it would most probably be like walking fearfully through a noisy and anarchic complex teeming with sweaty, uncouth people. To metalheads however, it would be like being one of those sweaty, uncouth people. On your second stroll, it no longer becomes a stroll, it turns into a brisk walk edging close towards a fast run. The album just simple hooks you onto it from the 2^nd listen onwards. On your third stroll, it has irrevocably turned into a full sprint. Switch off the computer! Throw that textbook to one side! It's time to stay in bed the whole day and rock out to a Vulgar Display Of Power!

The legendary indie quartet: From left to right – Vinnie Paul (Drums), Phil Anselmo (Vocals), Rex “Rexx Rocker” Brown (Bass Guitar), Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott (Guitar)

Surprisingly though, the album ends off with a track that is rather toned down and mellow, in comparison with the first track that is. “Hollow” showcases how the band can be musically profound people, as it is a track that simply do not bear any resemblance to the other earlier tracks. Similar to “Cemetary Gates” from Pantera's largely successful debut album, Cowboys From Hell, the track sighs incessantly in the world-weary voice of the guitar for a large part of the song, and even Phil's voice has a tinge of sadness and regret to it, which is hardly imaginable to anyone who are still on the previous tracks.

Hm, I would like to think of this as an example of how American metal bands are actually made up of thinking and feeling people too, for they are most definitely not the mindless, violent, occultic baffoons standard stereotypes make them out to be.

Oh yes, one last thing.

Fans of Japanese animations who are new to Pantera, the band, might find the name familiar. Yes, although this band shares the same name with a particular character from a particularly popular Japanese animation series, I would dare say this album of theirs is so oppugnant that they would easily win a fight with that character.

Long live metal!

(P.S. And get this album too!)

Verdict: 8.4 / 10

Iron Maiden: A Matter Of Life And Death

Genre: Heavy Metal
Year released: 2006
Label: EMI
Official Website: www.ironmaiden.com

Tracks:

1. Different World [4:19]

2. These Colours Don't Run [6:52]

3. Brighter Than A Thousand Suns [8:46]

4. The Pilgrim [5:08]

5. The Longest Day [7:48]

6. Out Of The Shadows [5:37]

7. The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg [7:22]

8. For The Greater Good Of God [9:25]

9. Lord Of Light [7:25]

10. The Legacy [9:23]

__________________________________________________________________________

One of the biggest metal giants on Earth, Iron Maiden, may perhaps remain the spiritual leader of NWOBHM (Short for New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) for as long as they shall roam the planet. Specifically looking at their influence on the mainstream metal scene however, this metal beast's days may be numbered.

Much as yours Truly revere non-mainstream metal over mainstream metal, I have no choice but to put up with such unimpressive mainstream albums once in a while, don't I? (Ah, the practicality of unknown music reviewers). Now, I've really got to get this out of my system: Just what's up with this hype over long and draggy albums?! For over the past half year, I have been seeing looooooooong mainstream metal albums frequently, and 99% of the time, they are from a well-known band hailing from the antediluvian '70s and '80s. Not that this album belongs to that category, I mean it was released 2 years ago! But still, it is one of the more recent metal albums by a famed metal artiste, out there sitting in stacks at mainstream CD stores. In fact, this is the first Iron Maiden album to clock over one hour of album track time.

Alright, I shall continue my complaints in the later part of review. For now, the good news first. (If I don't do this, none of you valuable readers would probably even bother to read this in the first place :-) )

Now, Iron Maiden makes music that is very friendly on the casual listener's ear, and for those of you who want to convert your rockish and poppish friends over to the Metal Side, they would be the perfect metal band to start with (Though better don't try this on Grandpa or Grandma, ABBA will forever be in their hearts). As usual, this most recent album by them has that trademark high-pitched voice of Bruce Dickinson, the polymath of a vocalist of Iron Maiden since the '80s. There is not much musical intricacy as usual on their songs, they are one of those bands who put more focus on the vocals and the draggy guitar solos. However, being an album with a theme on war, it is a rather appropriate tone to adopt I presume. The songs crawl by with a calmness not really befitting of metal, and occasionally ignites musical interest with a few catchy guitar melodies in some songs, one of which being “These Colours Don't Run” which also happens to be my personal favourite track from A Matter Of Life And Death. If you are one of those metalheads looking for energy everytime you listen to metal, this is not the album for you, or in fact, the artiste for you for that matter as well. A Matter Of Life And Death is the kind of metal album that is surprisingly soothing and pleasing to hear, unlike the aggressive, dark, and raunchy metal albums that dominate the American metal scene today. Maybe it is because Iron Maiden tries to spread a new message with every new album released, but if you are someone who likes to find meaning in songs, this might be the album for you.

Iron Men: From left to right – Adrian Smith (Guitar), Janick Gers (Guitar), Nicko McBrain (Drums), Bruce Dickinson (Vocalist), Steve Harris (Bassist), Dave Murray (Lead Guitar)

With that, I shall move on to the bad news. Now, going back to the point about the draggy guitar solos, they are nothing short of old and boring. Iron Maiden should take a leaf out of the book of younger metal bands such as Children Of Bodom and Between The Buried And Me; include more musically profound and fresh instrumentals dammit! Of course, they would have to do that while retaining their original flavour so as to ensure a stable fan base of course. Not only is this album extremely long, it is frustrating to plod through the typically 6 minutes-and-over songs that seems to recycle guitar riffs and solos from the previous tracks. In fact, if you happen to listen to this album in a rather bad and picky mood, don't blame yourself if you give in to temptation and recycle the songs themselves in the Pit 'O Fire for songs. [Read: Recycle Bin]

In the early part of this album, it sounded good. It was engaging up until the 4th track, “The Pilgrim”. Starting from the 5th track onwards, it went downhill, and the initiating track for this downslope ride was aptly named as well, being “The Longest Day”. As mentioned in one of my earlier reviews on this site, no one is complaining about long albums. Let's face it, us poor folks want value for our money! But, like I have said before, if you want listeners to listen beyond the 3-minute mark, you have to give them incentive to want to continue listening to your songs. Maybe it is because I was not born early enough to appreciate the style of old metal bands, and maybe it is because I am more of a non-mainstream metal fan, but even then, it is an undeniable fact that musicians want to be heard. Therefore Iron Maiden, if you want to continue expanding your fan base, especially with new-age non-mainstream advocates such as yours Truly, I strongly and humbly advise you to move with the times and make more fresh, inspiring, and truly breath-taking metal songs that will capture an audience on the second or third listen, or in the best-case scenario, perhaps even during the first listen.

Iron Maiden - These Colours Don't Run (the only song that caught my attention)


Iron Maiden - Different World

Even as I am speaking [or typing] now, A Matter Of Life And Death is still on the last few minutes of “Lord Of Light”. I am someone who typically takes great care in sculpting a good read, and needless to say, I take a significant amount of time to accomplish that. Rather than trying to describe the extent of the lengthiness in lengthy sentences, I have decided to let you be the judge and decide from that example, whether or not it is really good for an album to be that lengthy while not being very engaging.

All in all, if you are a hardcore Iron Maiden fan, you should not pass up on this album. If you are someone constantly looking for fresh metal music however, this is a mediocre album that should only be worth your attention when you have exhausted all possible alternative metal options and have spare cash left.

Metal music may be timeless, but the musicians associated with them are not. There is definitely a clear line between having had made classics and making classics.


Verdict: 6.5 / 10

AC/DC: Black Ice

Year released: 2008
Label: Columbia
Official Website: www.acdc.com

Tracks:

1. Rock 'N Roll Train [4:22]

2. Skies On Fire [3:34]

3. Big Jack [3:57]

4. Anything Goes [3:22]

5. War Machine [3:10]

6. Smash 'N Grab [4:06]

7. Spoilin' For A Fight [3:17]

8. Wheels [3:29]

9. Decibel [3:34]

10. Stormy May Day [3:10]

11. She Likes Rock 'N Roll [3:53]

12. Money Made [4:16]

13. Rock 'N Roll Dream [4:41]

14. Rocking All The Way [3:23]

15. Black Ice [3:25]

_________________________________________________________________________

Everyone's favourite Aussie Hard Rock/Heavy Metal (whichever one you please, really) is back in Black Ice, and this time, they seem to be following the latest trend among bands hailing from the '70s and '80s; that of having a rather lengthy album track time. Not that anyone is complaining about that (*grins*).

First impressions: They are as classic as ever, sticking to their old style faithfully. As old fans might have already noticed by looking at the track names, they are still as obsessed as ever with rock 'n roll. Notice how many times that ubiquitous music term appeared up there in that track list? Yeah, rest assured, that is how much these guys love their style, and they ain't changing their sound just yet. This is a plus point for them actually, because the only way for most old bands to survive now is to stick to their original sound (P.S. Look at Death Magnetic). Speaking of sound, AC/DC strikes me as a hard rock variation of Rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, and pop punk band Hawthorne Heights. All three of them have something in common, and whether this is good or not, I leave it up to you. Notice how all of them have songs that sound so similar to one another, apart from a few exceptions, that you cannot tell whether the CD has gone on to the next track? Yeah, that is their kind of sound, and I mean every alphabet of it.

Whenever you hear a Red Hot Chili Peppers song, you know it is a Red Hot Chili Peppers song; you just can't seem to name it. Similarly, whenever you hear an AC/DC song, you know it is an AC/DC song, but you have trouble naming it as well. It is thanks to that trademark whiny-and-high-pitched-yet-rock-n-rollish vocals, that we have yet another decent rock 'n roll album today. Seriously speaking, if there were three words to describe this album, it would just be “rock 'n roll”. After immersing myself in Black Ice, I cannot help but resemble the band members themselves when they were naming the songs.

If there was anything good about aging, this is probably it. AC/DC shows us that having an expanding sea of white hair, flabby forearms, and an exponential jump in the number of wrinkles caressing the aged skin are no obstacles in their tenacious quest to continue reminding the world of the existence of their unique brand of hard rock. Rocked their way to dizzying heights of stardom back then, still rocking their way to even dizzier heights of stardom today. Black Ice certainly entombs the undying passion and earnestness of AC/DC's music, for it is stellar but slowly dying with the times.

Take a listen!: A potential single that isn't a single yet, and was also the theme song for the Marvel comic superhero "War Machine" from the 2010 film, "Iron Man 2".

You have probably heard that AC/DC was the epitome of “old school rock”, and with this fifteenth album of theirs, they are still “old school rock” even though we are already well into the 21st century. There are many other newer rock 'n roll bands out there today, ala the Finnish hybrid band, Lordi, and others with a unique brand of rock 'n roll themselves such as Bon Jovi. However, AC/DC will still dominate the old school rock 'n roll scene, for their music just strikes a nostalgic chord deep within those who have lived through the 1980's, and tugs at the heartstrings of new listeners with a déjà vu-like feel. Being the longest AC/DC album to date, Black Ice is definitely worth every dollar if you are a hardcore “old school rock” fan, or a rock 'n roll fan looking to turn back music time by a few decades. With lively & upbeat guitar riffs, coupled with rhythmically-simple & thudding drum beats, what is best about this album is that AC/DC does not lose their rock 'n roll energy along the way. Many a times, bands who write many songs at one go tend to lose themselves along the way, and they always end up having a lackluster closure to a potentially great album. Being a rock 'n roll band, starting and ending rock 'n roll style is perfect for any AC/DC album, as the genre is certainly only worthy of being defined by none other than itself.

Electrifying old geezers: From left to right - Brian Johnson (Vocalist), Malcolm Young (Rhythm Guitar), Cliff Williams (Bass Guitar), Angus Young (Lead Guitar), Phil Rudd (Drums)


Overall, Black Ice is a firm, down-to-earth retro album that will certainly appeal to the masses belonging to the young and middle-aged working class group. Teenage Hard Rock fans would generally like it as well, as every AC/DC album more or less oozes the band's signature style, albeit in a nuanced way as each year flies by. C'mon, even legends of rock 'n roll are not impervious to the cruel stream of time that marches ever onwards without batting an eyelid over the glorious past. It is however, amazing how older music tend to outlast their younger counterparts of the 21st century. AC/DC can certainly be a band you can trust on to fall back to should you get tired of ephemeral modern rock hits.

As their name implies, AC/DC never fails to electrify.


Above: A train's ticket that is worth dying for, and the very first single off "Black Ice".


Verdict: 8.8 / 10