Metal Thrashing Mad – Lake Of Tears vs. Freedom Call vs. Supersuckers

Metal Thrashing Mad – Lake Of Tears vs. Freedom Call vs. Supersuckers
LAKE OF TEARS
By The Black Sea
AFM 2014

Aiieee!!! Time for some Swedish gothic / dark rock, courtesy of veterans Lake Of Tears. Over a stop / start career, they’ve punted out eight studio albums, slowly veering towards an Anathema meets Tiamet psychedelic goth style that is always enjoyable to hear.

This is their first live album, though, and “By The Black Sea” includes a full concert with 16 songs recorded earlier this year in Bucharest, Romania and is coming out as a DVD/CD set. The bonus material on the DVD is a “making-of” footage, an interview, and the band’s latest video clips, ‘Illwill’ and ‘House Of The Setting Sun’.

Now I’ve no idea what it looks like, as I’ve only got the audio to review, but it certainly sounds very good indeed. Both the CD and DVD include all the tunes, with the best of the bunch being ‘Cosmic Weed’, ‘Raven Land’ and ‘So Fell Autumn Rain’. The guitars keep them firmly rooted in the world of metal, even when they’re heading off into trippy waters, and even without visuals (or possibly because), this was a cracking listen.

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FREEDOM CALL
Beyond
Steamhammer / SPV

Even if you had never heard a single note of Freedom Calls music, one glance at the cover would be enough to have you baying Euro power metal at the top of your voice. And you would be right.

This is their eighth studio album and after straying slightly of course over the last couple of releases, this sees them firmly back on course, setting sail straight for the safe haven of the galloping guitar. Which means It Is Good. It sees the return of founder member Ilker Ersin on bass, and it seems as though his return has caused a regurgitation of the bands earlier outings. Happy day.

It’s chock full of cracking songs, with the likes of ‘Union Of The Strong’ and ‘Knights Of Taragon’ as good as anything they have previously recorded. And that’s before you get anywhere near the monstrously good, eight minute long, title track. Granted, at 14 tracks, it’s probably two songs too long, but with Chris Bay on top of his vocal game, this is a melodic metal banquet.

It’s own in a myriad of formats, with the digipak, vinyl LP plus CD and a special fan edition boxset that includes a poster, 40 page book, digipak and bonus live CD containing 13 previously unreleased live tracks.

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SUPERSUCKERS
Get The Hell
Steamhammer / SPV

Wonder how much the sleeve designer got paid? But then again, Supersuckers are a straight down the middle, no frills, full frontal attack, rock and roll band. Granted, they are the only people who think that they are the ‘World’s Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band’, but there is nothing wrong with a bit of chutzpah.

So what are you getting for your money, five years on from their last album? Well, you’re getting an assortment of riff heavy rock and roll tunes, a handful of twang, and a Depeche Mode cover. Yes, you read that right. You get the Supersuckers take on ‘Never Let Me Down Again’.

Of their own tunes, the title track is a suitably fiery opener, they get all potty mouthed on ‘Fuck Up’, they tug at your heartstrings (ish) on ‘High Tonight’, and as befits an album recorded at the studio owned by Willie Nelson, they get a bit countryish on ‘Rock On’.

A bit like Nashville Pussy, they’re a love or hate band, so if you get a warm glow when you hear the word spaghetti, unrelated to teatime, then you’re going to enjoy this.

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