Heavy Metal Resource Reviews-Pride of Lions, Desert Kingdom, Jack Russell's Great White, Stephen Pearcy, and The Murder of My Sweet

Index

Been able to check this one out for awhile now. Early listen came in late last year and album just released. The music for those who don't know it a fantastic form of melodic rock that feature former Survivor member Jim Peterik and great vocals by Toby Hitchcock. The album overall has a very cool retro feel with big choruses, atmospheric melodic elements, and a bit of flash overall. All of the things that made great 80's albums. With this being the bands fifth album to date, it becomes obvious that the band have shown consistency since their debut in 2003 and could continue to be a force for years to come. As far as the listen goes, to me it starts decent and only gets better as you get further into the album. Some of my favorites are the melodic tracks such as 'Everlasting Love', but also liked the more up tempo stuff such as the title track. An easy album to recommend!

Release Date: January 27, 2017

My taste in stoner has been a bit limited through the years, but there are certain bands I have really liked that fit into this particular metal genre such as Corrosion of Conformity to mention one. Desert Kingdom in a lot of ways is similar to that type of sound. It's pretty thick and chunky, very heavy, and definitely pissed off. A lot of the music has a pretty decent groove similar to some of the early Sabbath stuff such as 'Children of the Grave'. It is worth mentioning that this album consisting of seven tracks is pretty damn consistent as well. It flows very well and even though it is only seven tracks, still leaves the listener satisfied. If your taste is similar to mine, definitely at least give this band a listen as they might just have a decent amount of appeal. Overall, great heavy record with a mix of modern and classic and a very cool groove as mentioned!

Release Date: February 3, 2017

You know, I didn't quite know what to expect going into this release. You see the articles out there that don't paint such favorable images and you don't quite know where things really lie. Well, this album has me pretty happy. Russell sounds great and the music is very well written. Also worth mentioning is the return of Tony Montana om Bass. The music will without a doubt have great appeal to fans of Great White of old. A cool vibe runs through the album and has a definite familiarity to it. I would recommend at this point to go into this album unbiased as there is a lot to like. It never gets really heavy, but does have some flashy moments that appear here and there. I found most of this album to be quite memorable and really feel it's a great album to just 'chill' with. Very solid work from Jack and his band. Will definitely be looking forward to more soon!

Release Date: January 27, 2017

While fans are always looking for more Ratt material, especially material that features Stephen Pearcy on vocals, it doesn't come quite fast enough for most. Occassionally, you get things like 'Smash' that will satisfy that need. 'Smash' is a good collection of songs that have a decent edge to them and with Pearcy's unique vocals, comparisons to Ratt's material will surely be drawn. The music to me has a raw, but polished feel to it. Pearcy stays true to his usual sound that in some ways does sound like Ratt, but other ways differs a bit. Beau Hill was on board to help with mixing and mastering and is a familiar name, especially when it comes to the early Ratt albums. I think Pearcy has captured here what fans will expect for the most part. It's a good raw feeling rock album with some diversity that delivers a good listen keeping the listener interested!

Release Date: January 27, 2017

I really wanted to dig into this band with their previous effort, and quite honestly I am not sure why I didn't. 'Echoes of the Aftermath' is now upon us and offers up some great female fronted cinematic rock as the band classifies it. I have been a fan of Daniel Flores and a lot of the work he has done and am once again very pleased with this record. There is a lot of substance here. The band is inspired by some of the greats such as E.L.O. and Queen to name a few and it shows. The sound is obviously a bit more modern than those mentioned acts, but in structure, you can feel that inspiration. Musically, the album has very good delivery with some very rich sounding tone. Being a big fan of the female fronted metal genre, this is another band that I will keep a very close eye on. The album feels complete and very artistic. Easy recommend!

Release Date: January 27, 2017