Simon Rushworth
It’s that time of the week again when we look at the very best in new rock and metal releases.
And there’s a strong folk metal feel to today’s latest reviews with Trollfest and Krampus making their presence felt.
We check out Gypsyhawk’s (pictured) brand of gritty rock and run the rule over power metal heroes Wisdom.
Every Sunday we reveal the identity of the RUSHONROCK RECORD OF THE WEEK. And we round up the BEST OF THE REST.
RUSHONROCK RECORD OF THE WEEK
Gypsyhawk – Revelry & Resilience (Metal Blade)
Genre: Hard Rock & Roll
Ricky Warwick’s increasingly successful tenure as frontman as the revitalised Thin Lizzy suggests the chances of an Almighty reunion anytime soon are somewhere between slim and zero.
Yet merrily stepping into the breach are Gypsyhawk – their name may conjure images of bar room rock n roll but their sound is more akin to the classic sound of the hard and heavy Free N Easy.
Ironically, when Gypsyhawk do take a more laid back, groove-laden approach they do it very much in the style of Lizzy – both pre and post-Warwick.
This is a record for all fans of driving hard rock – cut from the genre’s choicest slabs and given a marble-effect 2012 makeover. Simon Rushworth
RUSHONROCK RATED: 8/10 Revelation
BEST OF THE REST
Wisdom – Judas (Noise Art)
Genre: Power Metal
If you like your metal speedy, rousing, power chord-fuelled and fantasy-inspired then Wisdom tick all of the boxes.
Doing a more than decent impression of ZP Theart-fronted Dragonforce – and doing it with a degree of style – tunes like the bombastic opener Falling Away From Grace shimmer from start to finish.
Soaring vocals, relentless, sweeping axe attacks and a pounding rhythms straight from Middle Earth’s blood-strewn battlefields make for a mighty romp of a record. SR
RUSHONROCK RATED: 8/10 Agreed Wisdom
Trollfest – Brumlebassen (Noise Art)
Genre: Folk Metal
Boasting more than enough woodland beats and tribal calls to arms to satisfy the most ardent of Turisas and Finntroll devotees, Trollfest take the idea of folk/battle metal to an altogether crazier level.
With their own bizarre language and a raft of daft party rock anthems this brilliant band deserves to hit the big time – with an almighty bang.
Marrying a myriad of weird and wonderful instruments with song titles imagined in a Scando-inspired drug-fuelled haze, Brumlebassen beats the opposition hands down. SR
RUSHONROCK RATED: 8/10 Rock N Troll
Krampus – Survival Of The Fittest (Noise Art)
Genre: Folk Metal
More folk metal – and this time a tad more serious than label mates Trollfest – Krampus underpin their edgy dual-vocal tunes with dark and foreboding themes.
Opener Arise (The Day Of Reckoning) fuses symphonic melody with growling vocals and traditional tones to set a typically folksy scene.
And for the most part Survival Of The Fittest sticks to type – delivering a genre-defining album of songs conceived by minds rooted in centuries-old history.
Those minds comfortably bring the past to life but Unspoken, in particular, is a decidedly modern take on the folk metal movement. It may be the way forward. SR
RUSHONROCK RATED: 7/10 Kramping The Style