Posts Tagged with music

Metal Monday: Killer Dwarfs / Killer Dwarfs

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Killer Dwarfs
Killer Dwarfs

Fans of early 1980s heavy metal are likely already familiar with the self-titled debut album from the Killer Dwarfs, but if you’re a fan of heavy riffs, soaring vocals and big, stomping shifts in tempo and haven’t heard it, it’s definitely worth a listen.

Hailing from Oshawa, the Dwarfs (on this album, singer Russ Graham, drummer Darrell Millar, guitarist Bryce Trewin and bassist Ange Fodero*) show a strong New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound, with a dash of prog rock. At times the songs sound like Black Sabbath as played by Rush.

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Metal Monday: Black Market Tragedy

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Photo courtesy Black Market Tragedy

If you’re a metal fan and you haven’t heard Black Market Tragedy — you really should.

Based in Houston, Texas, their bio on Reverb Nation says they’re “Female fronted metal, sweet yet sinister power vocals with a heavy groove that will make you bang your head.” Based on the songs they’ve released so far, including their latest, “Soul Decay,” this is truth in advertising.

According to lead vocalist Vali Reinhardt, the band is set to release its full-length debut album by the end of this year. In the meantime, you can listen to their music at Reverb Nation and buy individual tracks at CD Baby, iTunes and Amazon.

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A bicameral review of Def Leppard’s “Def Leppard”

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Def Leppard banner

When it comes to reviewing the latest album by pop-metal maestros Def Leppard, I’m of two minds. On the one hand, at 43 years old, I want to be fairly critical and give an honest opinion. On the other, having seen the band live for the third time this past summer, it’s clear some of their songs will be forever etched in my mind, and as musicians they’re at the top of their game.  So I’ve decided to review the eponymous Def Leppard as my current self and as the audience to whom Def Leppard probably mattered most, 15-year-old me.

43-Year-Old Self: Hello, younger self.

15-Year-Old Self: Hey old self. Hey, do you have flying cars and cool stuff in the future?

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Metal Monday: AC/DC’s Rock or Bust

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This review of Rock or Bust originally appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, Dec. 4, 2014.

AC/DC: Rock or Bust (Columbia/Sony)

Rock_or_Bust_AC_DCAC/DC may have a few problems (drummer Phil Rudd faces drug- and assault-related charges, and founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young has retired owing to dementia), but you’d never know it from Rock or Bust.

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Werewolf Tunes: Allison Moon’s lycanthropic playlist

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Headshot-grayIndie author Allison Moon has been making a name for herself with her feminist take on werewolves, first in Lunatic Fringe (2011). That same year, she was named a Lambda Literary Emerging LGBT Authors Fellow and was a runner up for the Victoria Hudson Emerging Author Award. This year, she continues with her second book in the Tales of the Pack series, Hungry Ghost, available now.

We’ll have an interview with Allison later this week about Hungry Ghost, but in the meantime she was kind enough to write a guest post for As You Were on the music that inspires her as she writes her werewolf tales. Read on, and give it a howl…

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Metal Monday: Ace Frehley’s No Regrets

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NoRegretsAs the founding guitarist for KISS, you’d expect Ace Frehley to have some pretty good war stories — if he can remember them. A self-confessed party animal, Frehley has been open about his addicitions to alcohol, cocaine, and painkillers.  But as he shows in No Regrets, his memory for a lot of things is just fine.

Frehley and original KISS drummer Peter Criss have been largely written out of the band’s official history over the years — at least, to hear Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley tell it. So it’s refreshing to hear the story of the band from Frehley’s point of view.

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