Crescent Shield - The Stars of Never Seen (Cruz Del Sur)

Does anyone remember the movie "Airheads" where the S.W.A.T. guy tries embarrassing Chazz (Brendan Fraser) by telling the crowd what a D&D dork he was in high-school? When hardcore came around in the early 80's, many of prog-rock geeks tried to quickly distance themselves from their recent past (my older sister will swear that she was born clad in black and listening to Joy Division). Crescent Shield takes a major slice of 70's style prog-rock (Yes and Rainbow are some of the bands that come to mind) and combines it with the metal influences of bands like Fates Warning and Dream Theater.

Los Angeles' Crescent Shield released their second disc, The Stars of Never Seen, early this summer on Cruz Del Sur and the first pressing comes with a bonus DVD of the band's performance at the Keep It True festival in 2008.



Crescent Shield's new release follows their well-received 2006 debut, The Last of My Kind, and shows the band's maturing song writing heading in an epic power-metal direction. Lyrically, most of the songs are Edgar Allan Poe-like stories of the macabre. These range from "The Bellman", which tells the tale of the ghost of a mate, a sailor on a ship that sank due to the arrogance of the crew who is now cursed and trapped in a port of call in the early 18th century to "Tides of Fire" (which is based on the novel “A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Walter M. Miller Jr.) which tells the story of what happens when a civilization experiences a worldly holocaust and then gets stuck in a primitive state. With a number of the songs clocking in at over five minutes, vocalist Michael Grant has the opportunity to build a virtual world for each of these stories. The band follow suit and the music ebbs and flows across this disc. There is the raw aggression of songs like "My Anger" and the twisting guitar solos on "Under Cover of Shadows" which are then offset by the melancholy and heartfelt guitar, bass and mandolin work in “Temple of The Empty”. The disc ends with the epic song "Lifespan" which made its live premiere at the Keep It True festival last year (which you can check out on the bonus live DVD).

Crescent Shield's latest disc should strike a positive chord with fans of traditional metal and epic/power metal. Long after the flavor of the month and one-hit-wonder bands have been forgotten, I expect Crescent Shield's music to stand the test of time.

Links:
Crescent Shield's MySpace Profile

Hades Announce Forthcoming Live DVD from 1988 Show

New Jersey's Hades always seemed right on the edge of hitting it big and then they would break up (this happened twice). The band was part of the original NY/NJ thrash metal scene in the 80's and played with bands like Nuclear Assault, Danzig, Manowar, Overkill and many others.

The band isn't getting back together but they are releasing a live video from a show recorded on December 30, 1988 in Boston where the band opened for Manowar and Nuclear Assault. The DVD includes 'Behind The Metal' filmed during the recording of The Downside album. It also includes interviews with Dan Lorenzo, Alan Tecchio, Jimmy Schulman, Ed Fuhrman and Scott LePage plus old video clips, live footage and TV show appearances, as well as a video for "Frozen Planet" from Dan Lorenzo's first solo album.

There are some interviews on Hades' MySpace page (link below) where the band members are asked about this upcoming DVD.

Here is what Alan had to say:

Question: Any memories of Hades show in Boston, out on DVD soon?

Alan: I recall being very bummed out about some guys in the front row who were giving me the finger all night. The were cursing at us screaming, "You suck!" and "Get off the stage!" The upside was that I had my 'I Hate You' shirt on and at one point in the video you can see me tugging on my shirt and pointing at them. That made me feel somewhat better.

The new disc is out in November on Cruz Del Sur Music.

If you aren't familiar with Hades, check out "King In Exile" from the band's 1988 release, If At First You Don't Success.



Links:
Hades' MySpace Page

Dantesco - Pagano CD Review

Dantesco's second CD, Pagano, is another recent release on Italy's Cruz Del Sur record label. I've been wrestling with how to write this review as, after repeated listens to this disc, I'm still not sure what to think about Dantesco.

Nothing about this disc is easy to categorize. The music is almost power metal but it is played at a slightly slower place than most of the bands in the genre today. Vocalist Enrico La Bestia shows that he has a wide vocal range but spends the majority of the disc singing in an operatic tenor. I generally don't give a lot of focus to the lyrics on most metal discs but the vocals are mixed prominently on this disc and 10 of the 11 songs are sung in Spanish. Unfortunately, the clash of all these styles is distracting more than anything and it is tough to get engaged with this disc.

There is some pretty good music on this disc but I just can't get my head around "operatic metal". Songs like "I Came From Hell" (the one song with English language vocals) show the potential of the band so I won't give up on them yet. The band has posted a new demo "Burnt" to their MySpace page (link below) which follows in the spirit of "I Came From Hell" so it looks like the band is moving in a more accessible direction.

For anyone curious about Pagano, give a listen to the track "La Ultima Visita De Grendel" which is posted to Dantesco's MySpace page. This track will give you a good feel for how the rest of the disc sounds.

BattleroaR - To Death and Beyond... CD Review

With the release of their third full-length disc, To Death and Beyond, BattleroaR have moved over Italian metal label Cruz Del Sur Music. The band seems to have benefited from the move as this is their strongest release to date in terms of both songwriting and production.

To Death and Beyond is firmly rooted in the sound of 80's classic power-metal. Helloween, Iron Maiden, Manowar are some of points of comparison that come immediately to mind. Like many of their contemporaries, BattleroaR's lyrics focus on fantasy and sword-and-sorcery themes. The music is big, epic metal that incorporates orchestral parts, violins and acoustic guitars in addition to soaring guitars and crashing drums. All of the music is complemented by Marco Concoreggi's clean vocals. Check out the track "Oceans of Pain" which is streaming on the BattleroaR's MySpace page and this will give you a good feel for what the rest of this disc sounds like.

This disc clocks in at 60 minutes and most of the tracks are 5 minutes or longer. There is enough variation in the band's songs and song structures that this disc kept me engaged through a couple of listens. While the band doesn't break any new ground, this release is well put together and will find favor with fans of the power-metal genre.