By Gruesome Greg
Sonic Medusa is a brand-new quartet of heavy rock veterans like Greg Rogers of The Obsessed and Tom Five, who played in a sludge-metal band called Angel Rot—before joining White Zombie.  (Their other guitar player has him beat though. He played with Axl in the Hollywood Rose days…) When you can get Scott Reeder to record your demo tape, you’re clearly not a band of nobodies.
And yet, this record isn’t what you’d expect of a rhythm section from Goatsnake and Sourvein.  Medusa is, after all, a lot less …

By Gruesome Greg
Despite the most pretentious band bio I’ve seen in a little while, I decided to check out NYC’s God Ox.  These guys have clearly invested in a good dictionary and/or thesaurus, with song titles such as “Benevolent Severity,” “Pestilent Dogmata” and “The Ontological Argument for the Existence of the Lord God.”  Nevertheless, they show plenty of promise with this six-song EP.
Opening track “Benevolent Severity” breaks up its EHG-meets-Vitus sludge (with a singer alternating between harsh and clean vocals) with a slide guitar solo, and a fleeting NWOBHM double …

I feel this band always had this kind of album in them and now have fully realized their potential in Nucleus: a glorious heavy metal album that should put a shit-eating grin on every metal head’s face.

To reiterate, change the band’s name to something inoffensive and mediocre, to better reflect the music contained within, and I’d be more apt to give this a moderately higher mark. But to so thoroughly tarnish the memory of classic Tank with this half-assed schmaltz is inexcusable and pointless.

“Raven hit the stage like an atom bomb about 9:30 and proceeded to remind the crowd that, even 35 years into their career, trial and tragedy besides, they still bring the athletic rock like nobody’s business. When I stopped to remind myself that Raven, alongside perhaps only Motörhead, pretty much invented the genre that became known as speed metal, and later thrash, this was special to see indeed.”

Kyle Harcott reviews the recent Vancouver appearance of legendary metallers, RAVEN.

“Raven stormed the stage last, serving as both main course and dessert for this particular metal buffet. It was fascinating to watch this legendary NWOBHM band perform after Cauldron and Skullfist had already worked the audience over. The only word to appropriately describe the experience is “educational.” This is the aesthetic that the younger bands are going for; this is the original template they’re paying homage to.”

Natalie Zed shares her evening with original and modern classic heavy metallers, Skullfist, Cauldron, and the legendary Raven. Photos by Albert Mansour.

Ultimately, we can certainly see the past though rose coloured glasses, and Just As the Dust Had Settled does indeed provide a loving tribute-lyrics, notes, photos and all—to a band which some might feel didn’t quite get the recognition they deserved during their day. At the same time, however, some bands should just remain cult classics.

Jameson Raid is one of those bands.

The heavy metal road trip is a time-honoured tradition among metal heads. Making the trip from Calgary to Edmonton may not be the most grueling of drives, but as soon as you leave your city to see a band, your expectations instantly become higher for the experience to come. Then, add in the fact that it’s Iron Maiden that you’re seeing, and the expectations go through the roof.