The Black Belles - The Black Belles

With support from Jack White (yes, The Jack White) one might expect this trio (the fourth gal, Christina Norwood, is their session keyboard player) to be far more famous. The low profile of the release is no way an indicator of the album's quality. Inside, the self-titled album is packed with a unique sound built around a strong White Stripes influence. These ladies have taken the stripped down Garage Rock sound Mr. White is known for, & run with it into a different direction. Dropping the Bluesy elements, these girls have incorporated rockabilly & surf, wrapping with a sexy Southern Gothic veneer. Experimenting with rockabilly & surf, The Belles write in a real, non-contrived style; despite having a decided Witchy feel about them. Standouts like "In a Cage", "Wishing Well" & "Honkey Tonk Horror" blend the early 60's with broomsticks, black cats, fuzzy distortion & modern Rock 'n Roll. Certain cuts lead more towards the past, e.g. "Hey Velda"; while others are more thoroughly modern , such as "The Tease". In the mix they've thrown strong hooks, catchy riffs, spooky keyboards, a few solos & underplayed sex-appeal. I myself have played the album over at least 12 times, finding it infectious & bewitching. Overall, a truly unique record that has been criminally overlooked.

Best Tracks: In a Cage; Honkey Tonk Horror; The Tease; Not Tonight

Our Lady Peace - Curve (2012)

After Burn, Burn it might have been safe to assume that Our Lady Peace had lost their mojo, & were on the downslide, but Curve blows that perception with a fresh new sound, that is comparable to the shift from Spiritual Machines to Gravity. An OLP fan since I was 14, I have examined each album (except the mediocre Burn, Burn) over & over, finding few faults & never failing to be entranced. Naveed is the gritty one; Clumsy has hooks; Happiness... is so lyrically diverse; Spiritual Machines so beautiful within itself as a whole; Gravity so focused & powerful; & Healthy in Paranoid Times, the heartfelt one; where would Curve fit in??? Curve departs from it predecessors as OLP's most tense & arty album yet. Songs like Fire in The Hen House & Window Seat see the return of Raine's "oblique" lyrics & combines them with tight arrangements that truly sound unlike any OLP songs before it. Heavyweight has the familiar huge chorus that could be found on Clumsy & Gravity, with This is It standing as the ballad on the record & As Fast as You Can representing them at their most poppy. The album has elements of Spanish guitaring, Pop, Blues & atmospheric Rock, that give the album a unique character. Taking a little from each album before, enfuse it with the flavours of Alt. Rock in 2012, aswell as their signature love of musical evolution & we find Our Lady Peace both capping off a 2nd decade & kicking off a 3rd with a tremendous album.

Best Tracks: Fire in The Hen House; Heavyweight; As Fast as You Can.

The Cult - Ceremony (1991)

Following the epic stylings of Electric & Sonic Temple, it could've been expected that The Cult would have just repeated the formula & put forward another straight rocker, it might have been great, but you can't rewrite the same riffs over & over. What they did instead, was fully fall into their Native American leanings & show us just how well real Rock can be combined with just about anything. 10 minutes into the album & one can basically smell the great plains & feel the stampedes of braves & bison rumbling through your body. From the opener Ceremony & the pow-wow music intro on Wild Hearted Son to the Native spirituality in Indian, you feel as though you are there, in the tee-pees, smoking the peace pipe, one with America's original people. The images & emotions are matched only by Ian & Billy. The double feature of Wild Hearted Son & Earth Mofo showcase (within 10 minutes) almost all their is to love about The Cult; Billy's riffs, pacing, groove & solos on his snow white Les Paul; & the Ian, with his raw feeling, throaty power & soaring runs. After that aforementioned Indian, melts your heart to the plight of the original Americans. Not The Cult's best, instead standing alongside Electric & Sonic Temple as a triple crown on The Cult's heads.

Best Tracks: Wild Hearted Son, Earth Mofo & Indian

The Cult - Electric (1987) [repost]

Repost of my inaugural review, fitting for the 1 week countdown to Choice of Weapon

I thought I should start with one I know, I know this one back to front. This album, The Cult's 3rd, is arguably their best, although it was at the time controversial as it was a complete departure from their 2 previous releases. Electric is what it says on the label, Electric, pure Electric. It gallops along at full speed dropping a couple of timeless songs along way. In the lower parts it is 7 out of 10 level hard rock that is fun & catchy, but at for more than half of the album the songs are unforgettable jams that show off the unmistakable Cult nuances; Ian Astbury's bluesy rasp & unreplicatable snarls; Billy Duffy's strong Gibson Les Paul tones & slightly punk influenced riffs; all tied together with pure (not to little, but definitely not too much) production, solid songwriting & (too steal from Wikipedia) "pseudo-mysticism" permeating their lyrics. Overall an essential for any Metalhead willing to try out something less harsh, Rock fans who are not afraid of rocking Hard & the occasional Punk who doesn't mind if the singer is absolutely pissed off ... or just pissed.

Best Tracks: Wild Flower, Electric Ocean, Bad Fun, Love Removal Machine, Outlaw & Memphis Hip Shake

The Cult - Beyond Good And Evil (2001)

With exactly a week to go 'till The Cult give us Choice of Weapon, I am preparing for the imminent arrival by acquainting myself with their often overlooked 2001 comeback album Beyond Good And Evil. More than six years after the ill-received self-title effort a.k.a "The Black Sheep Album", Billy Duffy & Ian Astbury reunited with some former & some new collaborates to produce one of The Cult's most distinctive albums. After Electric, The Cult built a career as a duo of volatile Bluesy Hard Rockers with hankerings toward Native American themes, paired with a revolving door line-up of bass players & drummers. Beyond Good And Evil however is darker & heavier than the The Cult's trinity of Electric, Sonic Temple & Ceremony. Replacing bite with bludgeon, & straying from the "He-Dog Sound" to bring forward darker songs that conjure a more Gothic & gritty atmosphere. The mesmerisingly murky American Gothic, misty Ashes And Ghosts & the charged Rise are magical moments of unique & hazy beauty lacquered in black with slight lashings of self-destruction, love, hate & torment. Alt. rock tinged cuts Speed of Light & Libertine further showcase Beyond Good And Evil's experimental & vital spirit, the album is far from the usual Cult style, Beyond Good & Evil is a standout in their discography & therefore is essential for any fan of The Cult.

Best Tracks: War (The Process), The Saint, American Gothic, Ashes And Ghosts, Speed Of Light & Libertine

Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol (2012)

Out for almost 3 weeks & still top of my listening charts, Paradise Lost's newest offering is a compelling testament of bleakness & hope rapped in strong but beautiful melody. Currently in the 24th year, the gloomy Yorkshireman have a reputation of pounding out solid albums (aside from their Synthpop phase), & this album, their 13th is no exception. I would even go far enough to say that it stands shoulder-to-shoulder to their classic albums, Icon & Draconian Times, maybe not as ground-breaking, but beautifully woven together with not a riff or lyric out of place. Slight hints of Alt. Rock & Dark Pop filter through, but Tragic Idol is squarely & staunchly Metal, gloomy Metal. Despite not being Goth, the album & the band in general could be described as Gothic, in the older sense of the word. Defined melodic leads & grinding riffs permeate standouts Fear Of Impending Hell & the title track. Other notable additions are pianos present of Solitary One & a magnificently soaring chorus on To The Darkness. A must have for anyone who has a romantic fascination with gray skies, dark lonely nights & darkly tormenting nightmares. & overall a hallmark for a band who at their age can still pummel, long after many of their contemporariness have fizzled out, or become self-parodying self-tribute acts.

Best Tracks: Solitary One, Fear Of Impending Hell, To The Darkness & Tragic Idol

Demon Hunter - True Defiance (2012)

Returning after 2010's relatively disappointing The World is a Thorn, Demon Hunter have comeback with a new album, and it might actually be their best. True Defiance showcases everything you would expect from a Demon Hunter album, namely: groovy riffs; vicious growling; melodic chorus; dark & sensitive hard rock & heartfelt ballads.At this point you may go, meh I have Storm The Gates of Hell & The Tryptych I'll pass thank you, but that would be a mistake. Although every album claims to take the bands style & refine it & make it more potent, True Defiance actually makes good on the claim. The opening seconds of Crucifix are pseudo-Black Metal mixed in a way that prompts one to assess the speaker connections to make sure they are plugged in fully, & just when you think that DH have gone Lo-Fi the real song kicks in. Heavy & devoid of a sung chorus Crucifix is brutal from beginning to end. Other standouts are Wake which hearkens back to their early Nu Metal tinged days; the monstrous war cry Someone to Hate & the pure DH anthem Resistance. The deluxe edition is a must, as bonus tracks What is Left & I Am a Stone drip with the solemnly haunting beauty that DH do as well as they do bone-cracking Metal. Download it. Love it. Buy it. I am currently placing my order for the Deluxe Bundle.

Best Tracks: Crucifix, God Forsaken, Someone to Hate, Resistance & (bonus track) What is Left