Tonight on Mars Attacks it’s all about you the listener. For weeks I’ve been asking you to submit your favorite albums of the previous decade 2000-2009. Tonight’s episode centers around that very list.

The episode features songs from the 20 most voted albums, it actually consists of 21 songs total as we highlight two songs off of the album you guys voted number one. You’ll hear some classic bands, some newer bands, some surprises.

I will post the complete list a few days after the show airs.

Update: Here is the complete List

20 – Tool – 10,000 Days
19 – System Of A Down – Mezmirize
18 – Slipknot – Iowa
17 – Nine Inch Nails – With Teeth
16 – Mastodon – Crack The Skye
15 – Lamb of God – Ashes Of The Wake
14 – Iron Maiden A Matter Of Life And Death
13 – Amon Amarth – Twilight Of The Thunder God
12 – Opeth – Water Shed
11 – Lamb Of God – Sacrament
10 – Deftones – White Pony
09 – Iron Maiden – Brave New World
08 – Tool – Lateralus
07 – Testament – Formation of Damnation
06 – Pantera – Reinventing The Steel
05 – Megadeth – Endgame
04 – Mastodon – Leviathan
03 – Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf
02 – Metallica – Death Magnetic
01 – System Of A Down – Toxicity

Killfest 2010!!
This past weekend I traveled an hour and a half to Durango, Spain (within the Basque Country) to see Killfest 2010. The show consisted of Germany’s Cripper, the UK’s Savage Messiah, Greece’s Suicidal Angels, and New Jersey’s own Overkill. Aside from Overkill I really wasn’t privy to much of the other groups body of work. I had listened to Savage Messiah’s album “Insurrection Rising” the day before the show, and had downloaded some of Suicidal Angel’s material from Nuclear Blast’s promo site. That said, the once through didn’t really give me a good enough reference point to determine whether I was going to enjoy either of the two groups. That said, how many bands have you seen where the album kicks ass, but their live performance sucks? So I was eager to see in person whether or not any of the other bands (aside from Overkill) could hold their own in a live setting.

Unfortunately due to my GPS leaving me on the other side of town, I walked 20 minutes to get to the venue. Because of this I only caught Cripper’s last two songs. Let me tell you, that was enough to make me a fan. Cripper is fronted by a female named Britta. The tendency now a days is for all female fronted bands to sound like either Arch Enemy or Nightwish. Cripper sounds like neither, Britta sounds more like Phil Anselmo, or Randy Blythe than she does Angela Grassow. They’re a full on thrash band, and man do they bring it to the stage. They’re web site is www.cripper.de, you can download two songs I and Hysteria directly off of their site.

The second band up was Savage Messiah. If you like Megadeth, if you like Metallica, you’ll like Savage Messiah, you can tell that they’re heavily influenced by both. They put on a very entertaining, and solid live show. Dave Silver (lead singer/guitarist) even ventured out and spoke to us in Spanish a feat that not everyone can pull off. I have a Scott Ian story about him trying to speak Spanish at an Anthrax show I attended a few years back (Blitz and the guys from Savage Messiah enjoyed it). Let’s just say switching an O and an A at the end of a word can make a big difference, especially when you’re trying to say chicken in Spain! I was able to speak to the guys for quite a while after the show, more on this later. Check their music out http://www.myspace.com/savagemessiahmetal.

The next band up was Suicidal Angels, a band heavily influenced by Slayer. They also put on a great show, but like the other bands, I wish I would have had the time to bone up on their music to get into their performance that much more when I saw them. The only thing I could advise them, or any other band that comes to Spain, people here don’t know what a wall of death is, or a mosh pit….they do, but they don’t. 99% of the crowd does not understand you, so if you’re Dez from Devil Driver, or Nick from Suicidal Angels, don’t get discouraged when the crowd does not do what you want them to. I know that they “should” know more English than they do, but they don’t. At least Nick didn’t start rolling his eyes, and pouting like Dez. I also recommend checking out their site http://www.myspace.com/suicidalangels.

Last up was Overkill, hence the name of the tour, Killfest! Now a few weeks back, I saw that someone mentioned online how bands like Metallica, Maiden, Priest, Kiss, etc. should either retire, or get out of the way so that newer bands can headline various different festivals. Overkill is the perfect example why these newer bands aren’t headlining. Don’t get me wrong the entire night was excellent, but I have seen very few bands that bring it to the stage like Overkill. The band is relentless, pounding you track after track. Or as their song “Wrecking Crew” states:

We Will Walk All Over You…

And that’s exactly what they do. This tour marks the band’s 25th anniversary, and seeing them live in this setting makes me realize why Blitz, and D.D. have been doing this since the early 80s. If you listened to me interview with Blitz he mentioned how he and D.D. have actually been playing together for closer to 30 years. There are very few bands that have members with the same chemistry that Blitz and D.D. have up on stage, the two of them are non-stop, and constantly interactive with each other, the other members of the band, and the crowd.

With regards to the other members of the band Ron plays all of the material perfectly, eclipsing everything that came before him, and shining throughout all of the tracks, especially the ones off of the new album Iron Bound. Dave, and Derrick did a great job handling all of the guitar parts, the Dave hammering out pretty much all of the solos, while Derrick had an interesting incident with some yutz from the crowd. I’m sure he won’t remember it, but the dope that blatantly wanted to take his picks off of his mic will, or not, he was pretty hammered.

The set list featured song from throughout the band’s career, classics like, Rotten To The Core, Wrecking Crew, Hello From the Gutter, In Union We Stand, Feel The Fire, Elimination and a melody of Fuck You and Sonic Reducer.

They also included cuts off of Iron Bound, they opened with The Green & Black (their tribute to their fans), the title track and the first single off of the album Bring Me The Night were mixed in. They also included newer classics like Battle, Gasoline Dream, Necroshine, and Old School, among others.

After the show I hung out with Savage Messiah till they had to leave, we spoke about the tour (they had nothing but great things to say about Overkill and the rest of the bands on the bill), music in general, oh yeah and did I mention that Scott Ian story? By the time they left, the merch was all picked up, and didn’t realize that jacket I wanted to buy was packed up and gone, I remembered on my way home.

A few minutes later Blitz came out, and we chatted for a while regarding the interview we did a few weeks back, the reception of the tour and album, his thoughts on the other bands of the tour, this show, etc. We also discussed the Scott Ian story, and let me know (for all of you that listened to the interview) that his chimney came out “fucken great”! Great guy, not only was he cool during our interview, but we talked in person as if we had known each other for years. Nothing conceded, or big ego about him at all.

I was able to take a picture with Blitz, and like a dope forgot to take pictures with anyone else. From the picture you will see that I wore the new Talking Metal T-Shirt (available here http://www.districtlines.com/Talking-Metal), I did this on purpose as I’d figure members of the band (namely Ron Lipnicki) would see it, and come over and want to know how the hell some dude in Spain ended up with a TM shirt. It was pretty funny he kept eying me as he was taking pictures, and finally walked over. “What are you doing with a Talking Metal t-shirt?”, I laughed and responded “I knew you were going to ask that”. So I explained my involvement with not only MarkStriglRadio.com (great hard rock and metal 24/7 including Mars Attacks Thursdays 8PM EST / 5PM PST) , but with this very page, the TM Wire. We talked for a bit before he had to leave, including the second annual Screaming Metal (March 6th Dingbats, Clifton, NJ), his love for Kiss, playing with Overkill, etc. He was nice enough to do a radio ID for me as well, the guys from Savage Messiah did one too). Great guy also, no wonder everyone that I’ve spoken to about him has had nothing but good things to say. Wish I could have hung out more, but I still had that hour and a half ride home!

Great night, all in all, I recommend picking up not only Ironbound (www.wreckingcrew.com), but the latest albums by all of the bands on the tour. Also check out Killfest 2010, or any of these bands, especially Overkill when they’re in your area. I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed, and that they’ll “Walk All Over You” as well!

This episode features an interview with Bruce Kulick. This episode can actually be considered the pilot for Ten, a show in which artists will pick ten songs that they feel define their legacy, or an episode can be based on a specific top, or in the case of this episode discuss a new album at great length. What we did with Bruce is discuss five tracks off of BK3 (sort of, more on this in a sec), and five classic Kiss tracks. I say sort of, because during the heat of the interview we only discussed four tracks off of BK3, but what I did was take a piece from the previous interview I did with him, and splice it into the episode. This way there are five tracks from BK3 discussed! I could give all types of excuses, but I dropped the ball. Oh well, I think the episode came out pretty good, regardless. Hope you the listeners feel the same!

Songs discussed are as follows:

Hand Of The King
Ain’t Gonna Die
I’m The Animal
Between The Lines
No Friend Of Mine
I Walk Alone
Tears Are Falling
Crazy Crazy Nights
Forever
Unholy

Items touched upon during the episode:

Grand Funk Railroad, Gene Simmons, Family Jewels, Nick Simmons, Eric Singer, Tobias Sammet, Brent Fritz, Union, Edguy, Avantasia, John Corabi, Steve Lukather, Kenny Aronoff, Steak House Studios, A&M Studios, Van Halen, Toby Wright, Paul Stanley, Animalize, Ron Nevison, Michael Bolton, Led Zepplin, Vinnie Vincent, Motown, Steve Vai, Jeremy Rubolino, Keith Moon, Queen, Pink Floyd, Adam Mitchell, Doug Fieger.

We also play King of the Mountain in the back ground, and wrap things up with Master & Slave off of Carnival of Souls.

I have been waiting a few months to put this comparison together, ever since I spoke to Bruce Kulick back in December for episode 12. At that time I asked him to give me his opinion on both Anomaly and Sonic Boom. We went over things briefly, and at the time he mentioned that he’d like to see someone compare all three albums once his came out. So here we are, comparing all three. Interestingly enough, both of us share the same opinion of Sonic Boom, more on that in a second.

Kiss is my all time favorite band, I can remember looking at the book that came with Alive II, and seeing the picture of Ace Frehley in his Love Gun outfit with a yellow light shining right over top of him. That image mesmerized me, and made me want to listen to the band, and music in general. Mr. Frehley you are to blame for initially infecting me with music! Kiss as a whole. As a result I have always followed (to the best of my ability) the band, and all of its former members. Now, I don’t have absolutely every album that the former member have put out (I don’t have the White Tiger album, or the majority of Peter Criss’ solo work), but I do have everything Ace, Bruce, and Vinnie have put out, and most of the two Eric’s material. This includes official releases and bootlegs. Long before the internet, there were the tape trading days (some of you remember), there was a small store called Second Sighting Records (Ace reference) that had a nice supply of live or unreleased Ace and Vinnie material on vinyl and cassette (Bruce was still in the band at the time). If I couldn’t get my fill there, well there was the yearly Kiss Expo (back then held in Teaneck, NJ at Fairley Dickinson), that had a lot of bootlegs on CD. I bring this up because I purchased a CD at one of the Expo’s that contains the song “Sister”, which ultimately made it onto Anomaly. At these Expos I have also been lucky enough to meet Bruce, Vinnie, and Eric Singer. As a result I have a signed copy of AudioDog, an album that in my opinion should have received way more attention then it garnered when it was released. “Change Is Coming” was the only song that to my knowledge received any airplay. But this album had “Need Me”, “I Don’t Mind”, and “Dogs Of Morrison” which should have all been on your local station. Especially the first and last tracks that I mentioned.

In any event, on with the comparison, what I’m doing is focusing on the tracks that I really enjoyed off of each album. Each one has a few good to great tracks, and there are two that in my opinion are head and shoulders above the other.

Let me start out with Sonic Boom, tracks I really enjoyed:

- Modern Day Delilah
- Say Yeah
- All For The Glory

First of all I was pumped to hear Kiss was finally going to put out a new album. I was also thrilled to hear that Tommy and Eric were going to sing on the album as well. The opinion that I shared with Bruce was that the album was originally supposed to be a 70’s sounding album, which it isn’t. What I also agree with is that this album can be a launch point what is to come next with the band, which is a good thing. Now I see this album fitting in more with the Hot In The Shades, Animalize and Asylums of the catalogue. Which isn’t bad, but to me albums like Creatures, Revenge, and Carnival of Souls still tower above it. Detractors for me are the fact that all of Gene’s lyrics are practically the same, nothing wrong with that, but due to this the songs don’t hold up like the others on the album. There are also moments where the band inadvertently copies themselves, or others. I don’t think this is done on purpose, but it’s still there. I still would have preferred an angry or defiant Gene or Paul on this album, but it is what it is. I have personally always found Kiss’ rebellious lyrics to be very empowering. The line in Creatures where Paul says “Remember when the clock strikes 12, the losers always win” captivated me the first time I heard it. It spoke to me, it made me feel that no matter how down I was, that there would be a time where the tables would be turned. “I Love It Loud”, “Unholy”, etc. angry songs, with attitude that made me want to get behind them and…..Say Yeah! The album is good, but I just don’t feel that, outside of the three songs listed above.

With Ace’s Anomaly, tracks that enjoyed are:

- Foxy & Free
- Outer Space
- Pain In The Neck
- Too Many Faces
- Sister
- Space Bear

Twenty years had passed since Trouble Walking, my favorite Ace album. And although this album does show a kinder side of Ace, it also still shows his hard rocking side as well. All of these songs show off Ace’s meat and potatoes no non-sense hard rocking sound. The second I heard “Outer Space” I was hooked, hearing Ace tune down to D (something I hadn’t noticed in any of his other recordings) sucked me in. The album sounds fresh, with an edge. All of the songs listed above really kick ass. As a bonus I was able to see Ace at the Viper Room back in September, he did play “Sister”, “Space Bear”, and “Outer Space” during the show. “Sister” is a song I’ve enjoyed since I originally heard it on the bootleg CD I mention above, it is one of my favorite Ace tunes. “Too Many Faces” incorporates some signature Anton Fig playing, which brings songs like “Torpedo Girl” and “Whipped Out” to mind. “Foxy & Free” has a great groove to it, while “Pain In The Neck” has a chorus that is bound to get stuck in your head.

So, I was chomping at the bit to finally listen to BK3, and see if it at least to measured
up or surpassed the other two. I also wanted the album to at least live up to Audio Dog, or the Union albums Bruce had released. I initially purchased the EP he released on iTunes, and once I heard John Corabi sing on “No Friend of Mine”, I knew things were going to be alright! Here are the tracks I enjoyed off of BK3.

- Fate
- Ain’t Gonna Die
- Hand Of The King
- No Friend Of Mine
- I’m The Animal
- And I Know

First off this album is chalked full of guests, Corabi (as mentioned above), Gene and Nick Simmons, Tobias Sammet, Eric Singer, Steve Luckather, and Doug Fieger. “Ain’t Gonna Die” is the best Gene Simmons track since Unholy, it has that attitude that is missing from Sonic Boom. “Hand of The King”, with Nick, also sounds better than any Simmons related material since at least Carnival of Souls. If you’re not privy to the fact that it’s Nick you’d swear it was his dad. The melodies in “No Friend of Mine” remind you how good Union actually was, and leave you clamoring for a continuation of this partnership. I’m not the biggest Edguy fan, but “I’m The Animal” is one of the best tracks I’ve heard in a while, again an infection chorus that has Eric Singer backing Tobias up. Wrapping things up are two tracks sung by Bruce “Fate” which was written by Kevin Churko (Ozzy producer, makes you wonder if Zakk was in mind when the song was written), a fast paced hard rocking track and “And I Know” which harkens back to Bruce’s previous two albums.

I honestly think that both Anomaly and BK3 have surpassed Sonic Boom. Ace and Bruce have shown us different facets of their writing and playing ability, and have matured with both of these albums. Sonic Boom is good, but it leaves me wanting to listen to some of their other material to get my fill of the band (been listening to a lot of Asylum as a result). I can’t say the same for BK3 or Anomaly, I put each of these albums on, and I’m right there start to finish. At no point do I think, let me listen to Trouble Walking, or “Dogs of Morrison”. It is also hard for me to choose between either one of those albums, as I enjoy both of them immensely.

Buy don’t pay me no mind, check out all three albums out, and determine for yourselves which of the three you enjoy the most!

Yesterday I gave you a review of White Wizzard’s Over The Top, today I bring you a review of Rob Zombie’s Hellbilly Deluxe 2.

I´ll admit that I´m not the world´s biggest Rob Zombie fan, and when I heard that he named his new album Hellbilly Deluxe 2, I became skeptical like a lot of you. A lot of sequels, just plain suck, but I saw the pre-order come up on iTunes, and figured, hell he´s always good for about four decent songs (minimum) on his albums, so why not? As I result, I pulled the trigger and ordered the album. I have to tell you, I was pleasantly surprised with the album once it became available.

Now Rob isn´t reinventing anything here, and you know what who cares? Will someone that´s waiting for the Triptikon album to come out enjoy this? Probably not, because it´s more than likely not “metal” enough for them. But I don´t think he´s trying to go after that market, and there´s nothing wrong with that. You usually know what to expect from Rob, and it´s almost always a little weird, a little strange, has a dash of sex, mixed in with a horror or outer space theme, hella fun and very entertaining when it´s on. The music isn´t overly complex, it´s pretty straight forward, and focused, something that hasn´t happened on a Rob Zombie album in a while.
The album starts out with “Jesus Frankenstein”, which sounds like a track that could have made its way onto an old White Zombie album. Then all of a sudden, this acoustic part hits you courtesy of John 5 (will Marilyn Manson ever cop to the fact that he never should have fired him?). Jimmy Clufetos drum track on this song is very raw, as it is throughout an entire album, which also features a drum solo in a latter track. The current single “Sick Bubblegum” is up next, with a traditional chugging guitar/bass riff reminiscent of so many other previous Zombie songs. “What?” is the single that was initially released on iTunes before the pre-order was made available, another catchy tune where Rob applies a distortion effect on his voice. Accompanying them on this track is an organ apropos of a classic horror flick. The next track “Mars Needs Woman”…angry red woman, starts out with an acoustic riff well suited for an episode of Deadwood. Then all of a sudden Zombie jumps in with Clufetos, and John 5 follows suit with the type of playing we´re accustomed hearing from him. Mr. Lowry gives us a mix of chords with a shrieking note over top that sounds as if he´s using a Whammy pedal, but knowing this six string genius, it´s probably something completely different. “Werewolf, Baby” starts out with some classic southern rock riffage (more classic John 5), before Zombie comes in clearly showing off his Alice Cooper influence, before kicking it up a registry for the song´s chorus. The chorus is constructed with a melody that´s difficult to get out of your head (this has been a common theme with releases over the past few months, seems like hooks and melody are back). Did someone say sex and horror? “Virgin Witch” is up next, it is another track that is very reminiscent of his earlier White Zombie work. It is the first track on the album that displays Zombie´s love of overlapping various sounds to create a pallet that is distinctly his. “Death And Destiny Inside The Dream Factory” is a quick little Ramones like tune, that has classic Zombie vocals doubled over top of this sololess song. “Burn” is a track that was made available a little while back as a free download. The best way that I can describe the song is as a mix between old White Zombie, “Thunderkiss” and some Joey Ramone type singing over top of the chorus, with the uh-huh-uh-uh-huh, etc. part. Another track that easily gets stuck in your head. “Cease to Exist” starts out with some Sabbath inspired riffing courtesy of John 5, it is the first song that has an abundant amount of sampling going on over top. Zombie´s vocals are also Ozzyesque on this track, further displaying the Sabbath influence in the track. “Werewolf Woman of the SS” is based on a fake trailer he made for the movie Grindhouse. The clip featured who else, but Rob´s wife Sheri Moon Zombie, if you´re a fan of his, you´re no stranger to her. Another classic Zombie track in the vein of “Superbeast”. “The Man Who Laughs” starts out with horror stylings that come courtesy of a string section. John 5 kicks in with a quick little solo ditty before Clufetos kicks in with, as mentioned above a drum solo! The solo lasts a few good minutes before John 5 and bassist Piggie D, and the string section kick things back into gear before wrapping up the song and album. If you bought the deluxe edition off of iTunes you´ll also receive three mostly forgettable remixes of “What?”, “Jesus Frankenstein”, and “Sick Bubblegum”. I don´t mind remixes, Rob´s put out plenty of good ones in the past, these just aren´t my cup of tea.

If you´re a long time fan of Rob Zombie, this album will be right up your valley. For those of you that don´t know any of his material, and don´t want a greatest hits, this might be a good introduction to the world of Rob Zombie. If you just want to kick back, and listen to some entertaining music while in the car or while kicking back some cold ones, this could be your album of choice!

For episode 19 of Mars Attacks we have the legendary Chuck Billy of Testament and Dublin Death Patrol. Items discussed during this interview are the Rust In Peace Tour, the recording of new albums by Testament and Dublin Death Patrol as well as the expanded rerelease of DDP´s debut album. He also dispels any rumors regarding Alex Skolnik´s original parting with the band, discusses how cancer has changed his life, and gives his opinion on the term “The Big Four”.

During the episode you’ll hear the following tracks by Testament or Dublin Death Patrol:

More Than Meats The Eye
Over The Walls
Hail Mary
Lights Out – DDP
Draw The Line
Sewn Shut Eyes
F.E.A.R.

Behind My Banter You’ll Hear The Following Testament Tracks:

Souls Of Black
The Evil Has Landed
Into The Pit
Electric Crown
Distorted Lives

Items touched upon are as follows:

Testament, Megadeth, Exodus, The Legacy, The New Order, Rust In Peace, Bonded By Blood, Steve Souza, Alex Skolnik, Billy Milano, Eric Peterson, Megaforce, Metallica, Cliff Burton, Anthrax, Johnny Z, Maria Ferrero, Louie Clemente, The Ritual, Formation Of Damnation, First Strike Still Deadly, The Gathering, Steve DiGiorgio, Dynamo Festival, Eddie Trunk, Death Angel, Forbidden, Judas Priest, Del James, RIP Magazine, Dave Lombardo, Slayer, The Gathering, Dublin Death Patrol, Mascot Records, Bobby Blitz, Overkill, James Hetfield, Low, Mike Tempesta, Jon Dette, Paul Bostaph, Mark Strigl, John Ostronomy

White Wizzard´s Over the Top is in my opinion one of the most anticipated releases of 2010. They were signed over at Earache last year, and if you recall the folks over at that very label voted their EP High Speed GTO the best release of 2009. Aside from this they have already been featured in magazines such as Kerrang, Guitar World, Metal Hammer, etc. So the publicity machine is definitely in motion, and justifiably so, if I do say so.

Let´s get to the issue at hand; I´ve had Over the Top since the beginning of this year, courtesy of the swell people over at Earache (Thanks Anthony!). The album has (in my opinion) lived up to all of my expectations, and surpassed them. For a long time bands have been worried about how fast they can play, how much they can growl, how many arpeggios they can fit into a given space, and have forgotten about composing good solid music. To their credit, White Wizzard has crafted nine stellar songs, with no weak links in the bunch. For those of you that have checked their MySpace page out, you´ve already been hearing the title track “Over the Top”, and “40 Deuces” for a while now. For those of you that aren´t familiar with the band or have only heard the EP, everything has been taken up a notch with the inclusion of (for the most part) a new band. If you like the Maiden/Priest influence of High Speed GTO, add some Saxon, Scorpions, High N Dry Era Def Leppard, and some Dave Mustaine like soloing to the mix. And don´t expect to find any ballads either. The album is full of infectious tracks, with melodies and choruses that just hook you in and stick in your head.

The album starts out with the title track (you´ve probably all seen the great video by now), and rips into the aforementioned “40 Dueces”. The song gallops along, and during its chorus Wyatt screams out the phrase “my metal heart will never die” (could this be an Accept reference?), a sentiment that a lot of us head bangers will forever hold. From here we get into “High Roller” which starts off with some dueling guitars that permeate throughout the track. A lot of Maiden flavoring going on during this track, you´ll find out that it´s a common theme that´s woven throughout the album. The next track is “Live Free or Die” it continues on the same route, with the infusion of a pre-chorus that is tailor made for Wacken, Download, etc., or any other festival, in the sense that it calls for everyone in the crowd to sing along with Wyatt. “Iron Goddess of Vengeance” starts out with some of the middle-eastern riffage made popular by Mustaine. Unlike most that try to play in this style, Erik Kluibert knows exactly how to give you exactly what´s called for, without going overboard. Said style then quickly shift to be more Maidenesque, in the sense of “To Tame A Land” or “Nomad” so as to fit the foundation Jon Leon is laying down with his bass. This band is all about paying homage to classic bands that have come before them, and as alluded to before the with Accept reference, there is a Slayer reference in this song as well. Not sure if that is done on purpose, or if it just fit. It sure does make you wonder though. “Iron Goddess” is the longest track on the album clocking in at a little over seven and a half minutes. “Out of Control” is next on deck; this song is a direct descendant of the Scorpion´s “Dynamite”. With this said, in no way is it a rip off of that song, however, the band is very keen on showing their influences throughout the album without blatantly ripping any one off, as many others have done before them. The song is shot full of that same energy that the classic Scorp´s song possess. The following songs are “Strike Of The Viper”, “Death Race”, they both are in the ilk of Saxon and Maiden. The latter recounts a Mad Max type race across the desert involving all types of weapons, while the former has another one of those choruses that will easily get stuck in your head. The regular album wraps up with the track “White Wizzard” which to me is easily the best track on the album. This is the second longest track on the album, and it takes a minute and a half for the lyrics to kick in. It is as most you probably suspect a recount of the Wizzard himself. This track mixes in all of the styles I´ve mentioned throughout this review, and brings them into the now. In doing so, it blatantly showcases each member´s prowess with their instruments. The version I purchased off of iTunes also has a cover of Cloven Hoof´s “Gates Of Gehenna”, and Judas Priest´s “Heading Out To The Highway” as you may guess are handled perfectly.

I would recommend this album to anyone that is into the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, or just strait on metal in the vein of any of the bands mentioned above. Over the Top presents us an early reason to keep our metal hearts alive in 2010!

Do to a last minute scheduling conflict we had to switch up gears and resurrect an interview I did back in 93 with current Machine Head drummer Dave McClain. At the time he was part of Sacred Reich.

The interview took place shortly after the recording of Sacred Reich’s Independent album. Items discussed during this interview are the album Independent, how he joined Sacred, his early influences, touring, and the advent of grunge. Since Dave is knows as one of metals premiere drummers, it is interesting to also hear him mention how he’s never recognized, and doesn’t know why people would want his autograph.

Items discussed are as follows:

Flotsam and Jetsam, Sepultura, Meat Puppets, Gin Blossoms, Murder Card, Prong, Phil Rind, A Question?, Peter Criss, Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, Igor Cavalera, Pantera, Vinnie Paul, New Titans On The Block, Napalm Death, Sick Of It All, Metallica, Fear Factory, Biohazard, Rush, Ice T, Public Enemy, Edie Brickell, The Sundays, Dave Jerden, Hollywood Records, Alice In Chains, Jane’s Addiction, Megadeth, Guns N Roses.

Songs played during the show:

Independent – Sacred Reich
Crashing Around You – Machine Head
Heal – Sacred Reich
Halo – Machine Head
Free – Sacred Reich
The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears – Machine Head
Crawling – Sacred Reich
Imperium – Machine Head

Songs Played Behind my banter:

Aesthetics Of Hate – Machine Head
Just Like That – Sacred Reich
From This Day – Machine Head
Days Turn Blue To Gray – Machine Head