Grave Digger - Exhumation: The Early Years

Grave Digger date back to a time that is very fond to me. Having cut my teeth on early 80's metal as a kid, especially the kind of material coming out of Europe, Grave Digger have a sound very near and dear to my heart. Germany metal - ah so sweet. Grave Digger got their start in 1980, coming up through the ranks with other great German metal bands like Accept, Running Wild, Rage, Sinner, and early Helloween, and  are not only still going strong today, but are often ranked as one of the top German metal bands around. Following up last year's amazing release "Return of the Reaper" this 2015 release finds the band joining the ranks of the numerous other bands who have done a re-record project of this nature.

Exhumed - The Early Years finds the band breathing new life into some of their early classics and sets the stage for what is to come in 2016 with the inclusion of two new tracks. The title track from their iconic debut 'Heavy Metal Breakdown', as well as “Headbanging Man” were some the first anthems showcased in their groundbreaking new era of Metal, and now they can be heard anew. Charismatic front-man Chris Boltendahl, core and figurehead of the band since the very beginning left his mark with his unique vocal style on each and every release since. 

Deep Purple - Long Beach 1971

Here we have another release from "The Official Deep Purple (Overseas) Live Series" of a concert that was previously available  for quite some time as a poor sounding bootleg. This new "official release" comes from original tapes, though not a multichannel recording.

This show was recorded for a radio show on July 30, 1971 in Long Beach (California) with the permission of the band. Deep Purple was on tour promoting the album "Fireball" in the United States and give us this amazing set that is only four tracks long but that clocks in at over 70 minutes of music. "Speed King" opens, followed by"Strange Kind Of Woman" (unique theme of the album "Fireball" promoted with that tour),"Child In Time" and traditionally lengthy edition of "Mandrake Root" as has been presented on previous live recordings.

Soto - Inside the Vertigo

Jeff Scott Soto is BACK! And with a metal vengeance. He has always had a metal edge, but this new band release feels bit heavier than we normally think of when thinking of Soto's work.

His excellent melodic vocal style is here, but with an edge and heaviness that in places reminds me of Chad Kroeger (Nickelback - eeek). And I guess I am not the only one to think so, as after thinking this I read another reviewer who stated "There are songs that sound heavy like Metallica, progressive like Dream Theater, commercial like Nickelback, and funky like Talisman."

All of this to say, we have one amazing release here and should appeal to most any melodic metal/hard rock fan. While there may not be anything really new offered here style-wise, in the overall catalog of Jeff Scott Soto release, this one stands strong as one of his best, and could easily capture much attention on hard rock radio. I for one will be spinning this disc over and over for some time.