ROMISLOKUS „s/t”
Romislokus is a band out of Russia; an area not mentioned much in metal. But I have heard other bands from this country including Nordream, Specter, and various others.
RPWL „Stock”
The basic facts are that RPWL started out as a Pink Floyd tribute band back in 1997 and have since released GOD HAS FAILED (2000), TRYING TO KISS THE SUN (2002) and now STOCK (2003). There was also a pre-RPWL release titled VIOLET DISTRICT.
QUO VADIS „Krol”
Quo Vadis presents 13 songs on their latest album KROL, which translates to King in English. This is a really hard CD to review as Quo Vadis isn’t afraid of branching out their musical creativity into numerous, uncharted directions.
NUCLEAR ASSAULT „Alive Again”
Nuclear Assault came from the New York thrash scene, alongside Anthrax and Overkill. Bass player Dan Lilker formed Nuclear Assault with vocalist John Connelly after Lilker recorded with Anthrax on their 1984 Fistful Of Metal debut, which is perhaps the best release from Anthrax.
NAZCA „The White Wheel”
All I could think when I first put this disc in was WOW! This is great melodic rock! Nazca have a unique name for any rock band, and they actually hail from a small rock out in the Indian Ocean named Reunion Island. The songs are fairly diverse throughout, but never lacking key guitar elements.
MAGUS BEAST/AGGRESSOR „Say Your Prayers”
I'm listening to a release called SAY YOUR PRAYERS from Aggressor (1996) Before The Dawn Of Early Man, The Magus Beast Ruled The Land the opening track Magus Beast is where the New York metal assault Magus Beast (known as Aggressor prior to 2003) derived their namesake. SAY YOUR PRAYERS is clearly a classic slab of metal, taking cues from Deadly Blessing ASCEND FROM THE CAULDRON (New Renaissance Records 80s metal classic), Metal Church and Overkill.
MESS AGE „Self-Convicted”
Mess Age is the name of a death/thrash metal act out of Poland on Conquer Records. The vocal work is your standard spoken with a growl style, it fits the release perfectly, while the drumming and bass tracks keep the pace heavy.
KIJU „Nothing To Play For”
Italy’s Kiju are playing self-described neothrash, so fundamentally it’s a new breed thrash or what could easily be bunched in with the nu-metal craze, mixing thrash and hardcore. In researching the CD, I read a few reviews relating Kiju to Korn.
KINGDOM COME „The Best Of Kingdom Come/The Millennium Collection”
Kingdom Come's rise to glory was short-lived. After Lenny Wolf released two CDs with Stone Fury for MCA with guitarist Bruce Gowdy – also see Unruly Child – and various bassists and drummers, Lenny formed Kingdom Come with Danny Stag (lead guitar), Rick Steier (Rhythm Guitar), James Kottak (drums) and Johnny B.
KREATOR „Live Kreation”
Live Kreation is easily one of the best concert releases from 2003 along with Symphony, Alive IV from Kiss, but Kreator and Kiss come from two different areas of the metal/hard rock history. Kreator, coming from the German thrash explosion of the early 80s fix better amongst Destruction and the live release Live Without Sense (1989).