Episode 39 – Drama Kings (right click to download)

We hope you like drama in your music, cause this is gonna move you to tears. Don’t be a wimp now! SATAN MADE ME DO IT didn’t just go soft on you; expect no tacky ballads, ever. You can write that down too.

What we attempted here was teaming up a bunch of very intense and dramatic heavy metal flavored tunes in order to uncover the feelings inside all you heartless bastards.

Every time you bang your head a kitty dies. Stop it, ok?

Click for show notes and a complete tracklist.

You see, being “corny” can be a great thing. Why is it that most people can only enjoy emotional stuff when they’re subtle? That’s bullshit! You listen to metal, the most moronic music genre ever created. You MUST like corny. You are corny yourself. Wear it with pride. That’s why we’re shameless in admitting our love for Magnum’s late 70 and early 80s material. The drama is fucking palpable. You can taste it too, and it’s delicious. Tastes like a sweaty swollen bicep head after a set of barbell curls. Only really corny people hit arms anyway.

So, you’re not convinced yet? That’s fine. We’ve brought the drama, now we hit you with the tragedy. Seriously, this is the story of a dude’s son murdered by commie tanks. This is the real world right here! Not like all the bands now, always writing lyrics about astral bullshit, rad voids and sensational black holes. Sort shit out down here first, people! Give Lovecraft a break. “Song for a Soldier” by 80s obscure band Legend.

And then, what can be more dramatic than singing in Satan’s name but head banging in praise of Our Lord Christ? That is exactly what started to happen more predominantly in the 80s when labels decided to package some bands as white metal. You know, as opposed to the emerging black metal (lots of fun back in the day with new genres coming up every day. And today some of them mean completely different things: black and speed metal, we’re looking at you). Trouble was, for a brief moment, one of those bands. It’s basically doom with Christian themed lyrics. You can tell by the name of the song we picked, “Psalm 9”. “Put them in fear O Lord / That the nations may know / Let them realize they are just men, just men”, sings the catholic raised Eric Wagner. Along with Saint Vitus, Trouble are considered pioneers of American doom metal when everyone around them tried to sound as fast as possible. Overall, fantastic riffing and this is great stuff.

There’s a fragrance of Judas Priest in some of Trouble’s stuff, so there you go. It’s “Dissident Aggressor” from 1977’s “Sin After Sin”. Judas Priest. What can you say? TRUE KINGS. By the way this track was covered later by Slayer. Completely deserved worship.

We know what you’re thinking: “Guys, this is the greatest cover to ever grace the earth!” And you’re right! Not quite drama metal Brainfever. It’s cool power metal, which is almost the same thing. Maybe even a better thing. Also check the title track if you can’t handle an entire album of eurometal candy.

Melodic metal is usually very dramatic. Because it sucks, you see. Sometimes it doesn’t and it’s actually really special. That’s what’s going on with Merlin’s “Crying the Night” released on the “Speed Up – Heavy News 1990” split with Headless and Hardholz. We actually played this in VAGOS this year. Pretty cool moment in all seriousness.

Right next, a couple of PORTUGUESE gems. YEAH! Both great stuff. From the artwork right down to the lettering and lyrics Ironsword is basically “conan metal”. Manilla Road’s comparisons abound. And it’s great. Fenriz seems to like it too, as he recently featured this opening track for Ironsword’s new album on one of his new “radio” shows. We just feel the voice-over on “Forging the Sword” could be worked out a little bit better, that’s all.

Midnight Priest are all about good ol’ fun, the consciously cheesy old school heavy-metal type of fun. This is “À Boleia com o Diabo” (Portuguese for “riding with the devil”) from their 2011 eponymous album, back when they still sang in their native language. Now they have a new vocalist, Lex Thunder, and sing in English, with mixed feedback from their fans. But the fun is still there.

We need more women doing fast and aggressive metal. Chile’s Tanza Speed is doing just that with Demona. She looks like a south-american version of The Great Kat doing a nice blend of speed, NWOBHM and black metal. Anyone being aware and referring to Vectom (check Episode 4 – On Your Knees!) as an influence is OK in our book.

End of the line, friends. The sound of Queensrÿche should make many of you shiver. And not without reason. But let’s not be dramatic just this one time. The first EP and LP are both FANTASTIC! If you can give peace a chance, why not Queensrÿche? Have a heart, for fucks sake.

— Tracklist

1. Soldier of the Line | Magnum (USA) | Chase the Dragon, 1982 http://www.magnumonline.co.uk/
2. Song for a Soldier | Legend (UK) | Legend, 1981 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Legend-Nwobhm-band/505407666209808?directed_target_id=0
3. Psalm 9| Trouble (USA) | Trouble, 1984 http://www.newtrouble.com/
4. Dissident Aggressor | Judas Priest (UK) | Sin After Sin, 1977 http://www.judaspriest.com/
5. Into the Sky | Brainfever (GER) | Capture the Night, 1984 http://www.discogs.com/artist/266550-Brainfever
6. Crying in the Night | Merlin (GER) | Speed Up – Heavy News [Split], 1990 http://www.discogs.com/artist/397219-Merlin-11
7. Forging the Sword | Ironsword (PT) | None But The Brave, 2015 https://www.facebook.com/IronswordOfficial
8. À Boleia com o Diabo | Midnight Priest (PT) | Midnight Priest, 2011 http://www.midnightpriest.com/
9. Chasing the Speed | Demona (CHI) | 2015 [EP], 2015 https://www.facebook.com/DemonaSpeed
10. NM 156 | Queensrÿche (USA) | The Warning, 1984 http://www.discogs.com/artist/255363-Queensr%C3%BFche