Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

Metal/Prog Metal CD Reviews

The Age of Ore Malevolent Review by Gary Hill This is a band made up of a group of teenagers (ranging from 14 to 17). The thing is, you'd never know it from hearing it. These guys must have been musicians in a previous life and brought all that experience to this one. They are essentially a power trio, but they produce a sound that encompasses stoner metal, NWOBHM and more. Whatever you call this music, it's very strong. In fact, I'll be surprised if this release doesn't make me "best of 2022" list. It's just so good. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2022 Volume 3. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2022.

Track by Track Review

Wings of Steel A fierce metal riffing brings this stomper into being. The cut drives outward with a bit of Clutch Meets Motörhead vibe. There is a definite stoner metal vibe at play here. There are some catchy hooks on this. It also has a particularly meaty guitar solo section.

Drag You Under The full-on Sabbath like opening section on this is pure stoner metal. The cut has a real NWOBHM vibe after it shifts to the next section and the vocals join. This is another solid metal stomper.

The Call Acoustic guitar starts this and brings some serious drama and style as it keeps moving along. The cut shits to more pure metal screaming as electric instruments join the fray later. The acoustic guitar stuff returns later as flavoring. There are parts of this that make me think of early Metallica. We also get plenty of both epic metal and NWOBHM here.

Oblivion Furious and powerful, this has some of the most effective guitar moments of the whole set, and that says a lot. This might be my favorite piece here. It' has such powerful driving metal energy. Yet it is also packed full of drama and style. It's just such a great tune.

Forsaker The riffing on this is so mean. The cut has a fierce energy, and it really stomps like crazy. This is another standout, but then again, everything here is so good. The extended instrumental section is a full on stoner metal screamfest.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
© 2024 Music Street Journal Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com