Metal Thrashing Mad Reviews – Mad Max vs. Nashville Pussy vs. Virgin Steele

Metal Thrashing Mad Reviews – Mad Max vs. Nashville Pussy vs. Virgin Steele

MAD MAX
Thunder, Storm and Passion
Steamhammer / SPV

I’m so old that I remember Mad Max the first time around.  Which is over 30 years ago now.  But what better time to put out an album of re-recorded classics (and a live album if you buy the deluxe set) than the year which sees a new Mad Max film.  Symmetry.

Back in their Roadrunner days, they were one of the proto power metal bands, whose sound was picked up on by a host of imitators after Mad Max faded away.  Of course, we all know that singer Michael Voss carved out an interesting career for himself, but there’s probably a lot of people out there too young to remember the early days when Mad Max toured with the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen and Uriah Heep.

You can guarantee that a lot of German kids were in the audience thinking I’m going to do that when I grow up.  Well, now is your chance to relive those early days.  I had a blast catching up with songs I’d all but forgotten like ‘Fly Fly Away’, ‘Rollin`Thunder’ and ‘Lonely Is The Hunter’.  It’s great stuff and if you buy the double disc, you get an eight track live album recorded at the Bang Your Head Festival in 2014.  Result.

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NASHVILLE PUSSY
Ten Years Of Pussy
Steamhammer / SPV

Lemmy from Motorhead once said “If there’s ever been a better band to open for Motorhead, I’ve not heard them!”  So anything I’ve got to say is kind of superfluous.

But as the title suggests, we’re celebrating ten years of Nashville Pussy, which is ten years of balls to the walls, southern tinged, AC/DC and Motorhead influenced rock and roll.  And it sounds just great.

Across 22 tracks and 2 discs of electrifying music, this is your chance to catch up with a band you should have been following for the last decade.  The first disc gives you 16 studio tracks while the second is a 6 track EP recorded at Nottingham Rock City back in 2009.  And it’s mighty fine Pussy from start to finish.

Of course, I should point out that this is ten years of Steamhammer Pussy, because they had a life before that.  So for licensing reasons, this only covers “Get Some”, “From Hell to Texas” and last years “Up the Dosage”.  So nothing from their first three records.  However, if for some strange reason you don’t have songs like ‘Rub It To Death’, ‘Pussy Time’ and ‘Lazy Jesus’ featuring the aforementioned Lemmy, then you need to be slapped in the face and marched down to your nearest record store immediately.  And then you can rawk!

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VIRGIN STEELE
Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation
Steamhammer

Another band I recall fondly from my childhood, Virgin Steele used to pop up Music For Nations compilations.  They sat rather nicely alongside Manowar when it came to classic metal with epic pretensions.  But.

David DeFeis, who is Virgin Steele, has this to say.  “The lyrics essentially deal with relationship issues and by that I mean….the connections between entities….as in all sorts of beings, not only human beings…but also Gods & Goddesses, Spirits, Elements, or whatever, plus various creatures, animal, vegetable and or mineral”  And he goes on like that for quite some time despite the fact that a lot of the music you’re hearing sounds like every other Manowar alike band out there.

Now I know Virgin Steele were there first, along with the loinclothed ones, but there isn’t really anything particularly special about this.  I am glad I was sent the single CD edition to review, because I think the double would have been a step too far.  It’s quite annoying, actually, because there are some good tunes lurking in here, but I don’t think anyone has the balls to take Mr DeFeis aside and tell him that less can sometimes be more.

‘Luzifer’s Hammer’, ‘Queen Of The Dead’ and the cover of ‘Black Sun – Black Mass’* are very good, despite an excess of King Diamond screams here and there.  And ‘Persephone’ is one of his best songs ever.  It’s a stunning piece of prog metal.  *I say cover but rumours persist that death metal band Exorcist were actually Virgin Steele in disguise.

I was frustrated by this album, but thanks to the modern age I’ve got a great Virgin Steele mini album on my mp3 player.

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