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Worselder – Album Review

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Worselder – Red Shift

Ellie Promotion/Seasons of Mist Distribution

Release date: 17/02/2023

Running time: 45 minutes

Review by: Alun Jones

8/10

January is over.  Yet the cold still lingers, steel grey skies still shroud us.  The iron glow on the horizon promises more snow.  We stumble like children through the deep snow drifts of the French Pyrenees, our bodily extremities feeling icy cold.  We are here in search of Worselder, metal warriors who hail from these parts… 

Here we have “Red Shift”, the latest endeavour from the mighty Worselder.  It’s their first LP since “Paradigms Lost” in 2017, no thanks to the delay caused by the bloody pandemic.  They’re back in full-on, skull crushing style here, though – picking up where they left off with the well-received success of the last album.

Part power metal, part thrash, with a bit of old school trad metal, Worselder’s music is aggressive and direct, no superfluous cheese.  Opening tracks ‘Para Bellum’ and ‘Point of Divergence’ are furious metal with chugging riffs and fast pace.  It’s infectious, head banging stuff.  There’s a ferocious metalcore attack embedded in there too, particularly on ‘Pillars of Smoke’.

It nearly goes wrong on ‘Absurd Heroes’, where a truly ugly slap bass stinks things up in the intro.  It’s only a minor setback though – ‘Atheist’ kicks the doors down with a killer riff and ‘The Exoteric Verses’ melds a haunting atmosphere with a death metal chant along.  ‘Insurgents (Part 1)’ is a smart instrumental and good change of pace, leading to the frenzy of ‘Insurgents (Part 2)’.  All wrapped up with the epic ‘Ascent to Rebirth’, it’s a solid effort.  

The production is top notch and the musicians are excellent, without being over indulgent or obvious with their playing.  Worselder are a far more formidable band than I had initially expected, and “Red Shift” is a pleasant surprise.

Find out more about Worselder on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and Bandcamp.

This review has been brought to you by Platinum Al and Ever Metal.

Scrap Metal Vol 1 – Album Review

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Various Artists – Scrap Metal Volume 1

RidingEasy Records

Release date: 12/11/221

Running time: 34 mins

Review by: Alun Jones

9/10

Recently I’ve been razzing around this rundown town in Platinum Al’s Pimp Mobile (a 1980 Chrysler Cordoba, of course), blasting out this new compilation from those hard rockin’ duderinos at RidingEasy records.  And I haven’t had this much honest-to-rockness fun in goddamn ages!

You may recall RidingEasy’s previous comps, as reviewed by yours truly, from their Brown Acid collections of long lost proto-metal/stoner rock artifacts of the late 60s/early 70s.  Well, with Scrap Metal, they’ve taken the same approach (unearthing long-forgotten rare tracks, and releasing a carefully restored sonic document of said tunes) – but this time, applied it to the age of 70s/80s classic Heavy Metal. 

Listeners will discover a variety of styles of HM here, as the genre splits into numerous offshoots.  So, we get to hear the blossoming styles of NWOBHM, thrash, doom and glam at a time when they all still share a generous amount of DNA.  It’s classic metal, folks – and to be honest, I didn’t find that much difference between the “styles” on offer.  What I did find was ten blinding tracks of fun (and slightly dumb) rock’n’roll monsters.

Witness, for example, the wonder of “Headbang” by Rapid Tears.  Fast paced, dumb ass, dingus brained heavy rock for you to race to the chippy in a Trans-Am.  It’s glorious.  Then, with barely a rest, we’re assaulted by Air Raid’s “69 in a 55”: like early Maiden (even down to the Paul Di’Anno vocals) but with a cucumber stuffed down the spandex pants.

And the surprises keep on coming.  Hades are simply brilliant, their track “Girls Will Be Girls” venturing toward speed metal.  Resless have a crap name, but “The Power” is a Priest like power-thon that is bound to excite.  “Enemy Ace” by The Beast is a definite unrefined highlight; almost in the realms of crossover, it’s a particularly aggressive track that’s totally unsuitable for polite tea parties with grandma.

The compilation isn’t perfect: Don Cappa’s “Steel City Metal” ticks all the cliché boxes, but plods.  Yet adrenaline infused, urgent rockers like “Can’t Stop” by Dead Silence, “Iron Curtain” by Czar and “Viking Queen” by Real Steel keep the fists punching the air and a grin on the face.    

As with the Brown Acid series, it’s bewildering how at least some of the bands on Scrap Metal Volume 1 didn’t get any further.  I’ve heard a lot worse.  However, careers are built on consistently great song writing and performance – we only have one (admittedly brilliant) song by each band to testify here.

The lyrics and themes may wallow in the murky depths of the tired and obvious, but I challenge any of you to not enjoy the music on offer.  Park any pretentions of sophistication you may hold, the energy to be heard on these tracks is pure pleasure.  Pull on your super tight jeans, bullet belt and patch covered battle vest, let your hair down (if you still can), and rejoice in a simpler time.  Scrap Metal Vol 1 is a full on, beer swilling triumph of an album.  HEADBANG!!!

Visit the RidingEasy Records website here.

Or check them out on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Insta or Bandcamp.

Today’s review is brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.