Freebies: New track from King Diamond and Volbeat

King Diamond and Volbeat are offering a free download of the track "Room 24" from the upcoming Volbeat album "Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies." Click here to get it it.

What a concept: 10 metal tales worth exploring

The concept album, over the years, has become a staple of the metal genre. Though there are claims to the origin of the concept album stretching back to the 1930s (or I suppose you could argue that operas were the first concept albums), the form probably reached the public consciousness in the 1960s with bands like The Beatles and The Who. In the 1970s, the concept album became the provenance of prog rock. The hard rock and metal bands of the late 1970s and the 1980s soon jumped on board, and since then, just about every metal band that wanted to seem “epic” has given it a shot, and many of them have been dreadful. It’s a tricky proposition, the balance between story and music, the thin line between the almost necessary bombast of a concept album and pretentious self-indulgement. Proven, and even legendary bands (*cough,cough*Judas Priest*coughcough*), have failed in the attempt.

Review: Flametal, "Heavy Mellow"

I’m a bit of a collector of offbeat recordings. I love strange stuff like (good) parodies, metal tunes covered by groups in other genres (and vice versa), metal Christmas tunes, etc. Given that, and the fact that I’ve always been a closet fan of flamenco guitar, Flametal’s Heavy Mellow was a must-listen for me.

Review: Wolf, "Ravenous"

It's nice to know that every couple of years I'll get a blast from the past from Sweden's Wolf.

While the traditional melodic metal that I grew up on has been gaining a foothold again recently, these guys have been playing the throwback style for years -- well before it became a trendy thing to do.

If you're familiar with Wolf's previous efforts, you know pretty much what to expect. They're not trying to reinvent the wheel. They take the building blocks provided by classic bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and, particularly on this record, Mercyful Fate, put them together and try to play it as well as they can. They're certainly not ashamed to play an old-fashioned brand of metal, and I'm happy about that.

That said, they don't stick to just one brand of traditional metal. The record opens with the Priest-influenced burner "Speed On," and it really sets the tone for what's to come. That's followed by "Curse You Salem," influenced heavily by Mercyful Fate. Vocalist Niklas "Viper" Stalvind even sounds like an early King Diamond on the track. Then comes "Voodoo," which is more along the lines of the early '80s sound that was coming out of Los Angeles. All three are great tunes that get the record started well.

Guitarists Johannes Axeman and Richard "Raptor" Holmgren give fans of old-school metal a lot to celebrate in their riffing on songs like the galloping "Hiding in Shadows" and "Whisky Psycho Hellions," which appropriately sounds a bit like a crunched-up Irish drinking song. The pair are obviously heavily influenced by Priest's Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing and Fate's Hank Shermann, who also lends his guitar talents to the record.

Stalvind's vocals are solid for the style, though he does occasionally get a little nasally for my tastes. Lyrically, the content on "Ravenous" is not exactly Dickinson (not even Bruce). There's a lot of cliche, particularly on songs like "Hail Caesar," but that almost comes with the territory. The only time I actually cringed was at the awful imagery in "Love at First Bite," fortunately the song is saved by a fantastic opening riff and a melody that sticks in your head. (Though you're not likely to sing it out loud.)

So, yes, "Ravenous" has its hits and misses, and I don't believe its quite as good as their last record, 2006's "The Black Flame." But if you long for those halcyon days of early 1980s metal, you can't go wrong with Wolf, and "Ravenous" is a worthy addition to their catalog.

Get "Ravenous."

Review: Force of Evil, "Force of Evil"

If you miss the good old days of heavy metal, then this is the album for you.

When I was growing up, there was no band darker or more evil than Mercyful Fate, with the power riffs of Hank Shermann and the ear-piercing wail of King Diamond. Now Shermann, tired of waiting on bandmate King Diamond to come back into the fold, strikes out on his own. He's recruited Mercyful Fate alums Michael Denner and Bjarne Holm, former King Diamond bassist Hal Patino and vocalist Martin Steene, for a debut album that, not surprisingly, sounds an awful lot like Mercyful Fate.

In fact, listening to songs like "Eye of the Storm" and "Samhain," I could almost imagine myself back in those leather-and-spikes days. They're songs that can hang with the best of Mercyful Fate.

Though he tries on songs like "Under the Blade," Steene doesn't quite have the vocal chops of King Diamond, but he's more than adequate to carry the songs, and those who don't like King's shrieks and growls might even prefer him.

Musically, the album is solid. Guaranteed to get any old school metal fan banging his head.

Get "Force of Evil."