Heavy Metal Resource Reviews-Sons of Apollo, Houston, L.A. Guns, Bigfoot, and Black Water Rising

Index

If you are looking for one heckuva good supergroup, this is it. Jeff Scott Soto, Billy Sheehan, Mike Portnoy, Ron Thal, and Derek Sherinian are the musicians and musically as you would have guessed is heavy and progressive in nature. In ways, I think this is what has been missing in the recent Dream Theater stuff. I almost missed this one and happened to bump into the video for 'Coming Home' which had me hooked. Lots of double neck guitars and flash. The music is tightly written and delivered as only these guys can with the great chemistry. The album is pretty consistent throughout the listen. A couple of the tracks clock in at over 10 minutes in length. I found this album to be very impressive and surprisingly accessible. Sometimes things can get lost in translation in the progressive world, but this release gets it done right. Very recommended title!

Release Date: October 20, 2017

I have grown to absolutely love this band. They may not be a household name yet, especially on our shores, but they deliver their infectious music with enough appeal to impress fans of all ages. The latest album 'III' contains 10 tracks with tempos varying between melodic and a bit more of a hard rock sound. Everything to me was memorable and quite catchy. This is a very good batch of songs. This band obviously has a bit of a retro feel to their music as has been evidenced in the albums preceding and this one is no different. There was something special about 80's music and these guys capture it very well. The album can be bought in MP3 format through sources like Amazon in the States. Not sure if the distribution will get better, but I hope so as I think this band has very good potential through crafting very good music. Another easy recommend!

Release Date: November 24, 2017

Been a fan of L.A. Guns since the debut and have witnessed many changes in that time. One thing you can be sure of, this band works when there is a minimum of Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns involved. The chemistry that exists when these two work together is always evident. Listening to this latest album had me thinking one thing in particular. This record could fit with the earlier records in style and sound. This is definitely the L.A. Guns that fans would expect. It retains that sound that fans always clamored for. I would recommend sticking with this formula as this record works out very well. Some good reminiscent of old melodic sounds in tracks like 'Christine', but balls out rockers are there like 'The Devil Made Me Do It'. The more you spin it, the more you like it as well. In today's market, you never know what to expect. Expect good things with this one!

Release Date: October 13, 2017

This band in a lot of ways defies being slammed into one category. At one point they seem pretty heavy as is shown with the album opener 'Karma'. The further you go into the album, you get served up a variety of different sounds. You get some very cool catchy riffs. This is the one thing that stood out to me more than the rest. The guitar work. It's not overly flashy, but just enough to grab you and hold on. There are some very good melodic tracks such as 'Forever Alone. The band do both styles equally well. By the time you finish the album which closes with a bit more epic sounding track in ways called 'Yours', you get the idea of what I mentioned earlier, there really is quite a variety of sounds on this album. This is an album I have gone back to quite a bit. I get exposed to a lot of music so that is saying a lot when you want to take more time. Solid!

Release Date: October 13, 2017

Even though this band has released previous albums, I had not had the chance to check them out until this latest release 'Electrified'. I dig it! This is heavy stuff, but not so heavy that it takes work to get through. There is a good vibe here that tends to catch the ear. The guitar work is very thick sounding and the music overall has a very good hard driving tempo to it. The larger part of this album stays to this formula which will be welcome to fans of this style. You do get a bit of a more melodic sound to the band with the album closer 'World of Frustration'. The track closes the album in a different style and with a bit more atmosphere. It is never a bad thing to show different sides to the music, but this album for the most part is a rocker and finds it's personality in that realm. Definitely worth a listen if you like your music a bit heavier with a bit of a raw feel!

Release Date: November 3, 2017