Year : 2018
Style : Thrash Metal , Heavy Metal
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 135 mb
Bio:
Heavy Metal is more than a genre, more than an attitude, and certainly more than whatever cheap epithets are dismissively thrown at it by clueless critics. At its best, Metal is a lifestyle, a community, a tribe uniting people across cultural, economic, and philosophical divides with the primal pulse of bombastic and majestic expression.Never before has one entity encapsulated so many components of the heavy metal community's continued vibrancy and dedication to the lifestyle than the collective fittingly called METAL ALLEGIANCE. Like the comic book heroes of The Avengers franchise, the men and women who've assembled on the stage and in the studio as METAL ALLEGIANCE come and go as they please, but each arrive armed with unique mythologies and classic discographies of their own, converging with mutual respect and a collaborative spirit. The result is a continuously evolving musical force both serious in its proficiency and celebratory in its enthusiasm and camaraderie.Now, METAL ALLEGIANCE unleashes an album as pulverizing, energetic, atmospheric, and awe inspiring as fans of the jaw-dropping list of associated bands should expect.The liner notes for the METAL ALLEGIANCE album read like a massive chunk of a heavy metal encyclopedia, with contributions from past and present members of MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, DREAM THEATER, LAMB OF GOD, SLAYER, EXODUS, MASTODON, PANTERA, TRIVIUM, KINGS X, HATEBREED, SEPULTURA, MACHINE HEAD, ANTHRAX, LACUNA COIL, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, PERIPHERY, DEATH ANGEL, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH, and ARCH ENEMY. Live incarnations of METAL ALLEGIANCE have seen guest appearances from Geezer Butler (BLACK SABBATH), Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee (MOTÖRHEAD), Wolfgang Van Halen (VAN HALEN), Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan.As Troy Sanders (MASTODON) declared when he joined Metal Allegiance at the NAMM Convention in January 2015: “Holy Shit! I've been invited to the All-Star game!”METAL ALLEGIANCE founder MARK MENGHI describes his relationship with DAVID ELLEFSON, MIKE PORTNOY and ALEX SKONICK in terms of brotherhood, and it was those four who buckled down to write the first batch of original, all new material for the METAL ALLEGIANCE album. As principal architects, ELLEFSON (MEGADETH), PORTNOY (THE WINERY DOGS), SKOLNICK (TESTAMENT), and MENGHI (a bassist and musical instruments industry exec beloved by metal musicians) built a foundation of sonic steel.“Mark is kind of like the Brian Epstein of the band,” says Portnoy. “He's the behind-the-scenes mastermind who put the whole thing together. When we began this as a live covers thing, he was the guy moving the chess pieces. When we decided to make original music, he became a huge creative element as a songwriter, as well.”“Usually in a band, there's a leader type, there's a guy that's more passive, a guy that wants to be a rock star at all costs, and sometimes, there's a guy on drugs over in the corner,” Ellefson explains. “You have all of these dynamics in a rock band. What's so cool about METAL ALLEGIANCE is that we've got four strong leaders who are all motivated, capable, and very driven. Everybody gets a chance to shine in METAL ALLEGIANCE, and everybody is comfortable when it's time to step aside, too.”More than an experiment, a one-off or a “super group,” METAL ALLEGIANCE is an experience. D. Randall Blythe (LAMB OF GOD) lends his blistered pipes to “Gift of Pain,” which features dueling solos from Skolnick and Gary Holt (EXODUS, SLAYER). Troy Sanders (MASTODON, KILLER BE KILLED) sets an ominous vocal mood with the vintage PINK FLOYD infused “Let Darkness Fall,” with Rex Brown (PANTERA, KILL DEVIL HILL) pitching in on additional bass duties. The blend of melodic power from dUg Pinnick (KINGS X) and the metalcore bite from Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED, KINGDOM OF SORROW) on “Wait Until Tomorrow” blends as seamlessly as the duet between Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL) and Cristina Scabbia (LACUNA COIL) on “Scars,” or the somber intensity of “Dying Song” featuring Philip Anselmo (PANTERA, DOWN).“The word 'supergroup' gets thrown around a lot, and I don't so much mind the word, but this project feels more like multiple supergroups to me,” says Skolnick, who'd sat in with the guys for the first time on Motörhead's Motörboat Cruise in September 2014, which happened to be the first time the collective performed as METAL ALLEGIANCE.“The name sums it up,” says Portnoy. “It's all about this camaraderie. The word 'allegiance' is perfect. We're making music for metal fans, by metal fans. We get together to do this and it brings us back to our teenage years, just being fans of this entire genre. That's the whole reason of doing this. It really is like a brotherhood.”By December, the core members were writing songs at Portnoy's home. “Obviously he's a phenomenal drummer - he's Mike fucking Portnoy - but many people probably don't know about his arrangement ideas,” Menghi reveals. “He can just hear things in his head as far as arrangements. If we're writing riffs, instantaneously he knows how to put a song together within a minute. It's pretty damn amazing. And Alex? He's a guitar god. He can just play anything and that's what this record shows. There are some riffs on here I believe are going to be classic riffs, riffs I'd compare to Dimebag Darrell and 'Walk' or James Hetfield and 'Master of Puppets'; very iconic, very memorable.“METAL ALLEGIANCE formed as a live act first, that's a big difference, too,” reasons Ellefson. “When bands perform live you can very clearly see what it is and what it can be. It wasn't theoretical in this case. Everything was very practical and pragmatic because you can see it, feel it, and you knew what it was capable of becoming.”Just as the electrifying concept explored by collaborative tribute experiences like HAIL! and Metal Masters eventually led to the founding of METAL ALLEGIANCE in 2014, the collectives' raucous renditions of classic material from the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Ozzy, Thin Lizzy, Van Halen, and Pantera in clubs, conventions and cruise ships, however improbably, inevitably led to the creation of an album of brand new material.“We've all existed outside of the things we're most known for,” says Skolnick, himself a graduate of The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music. “But when we come together, the core music that we all love is the same. We all flipped over the first few Van Halen records. We loved original Kiss. When we decided to do Judas Priest's 'Victim of Changes,' we all said, 'Of course we're going to do the Unleashed in the East version!'”“The feel of the music would really give us a good idea of who would be great to sing it,” Portnoy explains. “'Pledge of Allegiance' is an old-school thrash song, like something off of Bonded by Blood, Kill 'Em All or the first Death Angel album.” Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL) was drafted to sing, with guest guitar parts from Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA), Gary Holt (SLAYER, EXODUS) and Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX), one of metal's most famous drummers but a great guitar player in his own right, too.Often, the vibe of a song would change yet again once the singer laid down tracks. “Let Darkness Fall” had an IRON MAIDEN feel before Sanders contribution made it doomier. “Dying Song” is another great example. “We definitely wear a few influences on our sleeves, and that song was BLACK SABBATH all the way,” says Skolnick. “But then we put Philip Anselmo on that and he doesn't sound like Ozzy Osbourne. He sounds like Philip Anselmo! And the riffs may have a Sabbath feel, but for the solos, I was able to tap into Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix, stuff I've done at live jams, but never before on a record. Then Phil takes it to a whole other place. I'm amazed with what he did with it.”The album was produced by Alex Skolnick, Mark Menghi, David Ellefson and Mike Portnoy, and mixed by Josh Wilbur (Lamb Of God, Avenged Sevenfold, Gojira). The first record of all-original material released under the METAL ALLEGIANCE banner found a perfect home at Nuclear Blast Entertainment, the label venture founded by Markus Staiger (Nuclear Blast) and Monte Conner (ex-Roadrunner Records). The NBE roster includes Nightwish, Machine Head, Suicide Silence, Fear Factory, and Killer Be Killed.“We really surrounded ourselves with good people and good musicians,” says Menghi. “That's the whole point of it. It's not about egos, it's not about who is a better player. It's more about, 'Who is a good person?' That's the foundation of METAL ALLEGIANCE.”Ellefson concurs. “The four of us on that ship deciding to go into the studio and make a record was no different than me meeting my buddy Greg in the hallway of Jackson Elementary School and saying, 'Hey dude, you like KISS, I like KISS, let's form a band,'” he says. “It was the exact same spirit. That's what METAL ALLEGIANCE is, that's who we are. Forget that we're famous. We all live right around the corner from each other, figuratively or literally. We all share the exact same record collection. That's the spirit.”
Album:
Metal Allegiance burst onto the scene in 2015 with one of the strongest debut metal albums in years. It’s even more impressive when you consider that Metal Allegiance are a collaboration, a metal super-group comprised of some of the busiest and most decorated musicians in the genre. David Ellefson (MEGADETH), Alex Skolnick (TESTAMENT), Mike Portnoy (SONS OF APOLLO, ex-DREAM THEATER, et al.) and Mark Menghi comprise the core four, and are joined by a laundry list of metal legends both new and old. Not all super-groups are bad, but let’s be honest – most feel pieced together, inconsistent, and as such, are quickly forgotten. Metal Allegiance’s first album is the rare exception – a cohesive, creative, and eclectic mix of all that makes extreme music great – from thrash to metalcore, progressive and even stoner – it’s got it all.Three years later, this super-group have reconvened to do it again with their follow-up Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty, releasing September 7th via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. It’s clear Metal Allegiance approached this record differently, paring down the list of guest guitarists from nine to just three. There are also fewer singers this go around and they aren’t quite as obvious as with the first album. The main difference with this album is that it feels like the work of a true band and not a project. Yes, there are still guest vocalists on each track, but with this album, Metal Allegiance make it clear that they are a thrash band making thrash music – fewer guests, no cover songs, and a greater overall sense of thematic and musical consistency.In an interview, David Ellefson explains that they aren’t just “[phoning]it in.” “These are real songs, written by real humans, in the same room. As complicated as it often makes our lives to do that, it’s a real band.” Mike Portnoy adds “this isn’t one of those email projects where everybody just sends files back and forth. Like a garage band, each of these songs began with playing together, banging it out, old school.”On “Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty”, there are 7 new guest vocalists including: Trevor Strnad (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER), John Bush (ARMORED SAINT), Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth (OVERKILL), Mark Tornillo (ACCEPT), Johan Hegg (AMON AMARTH), Max Cavalera (SOULFLY), and Floor Jansen (NIGHTWISH). Two vocalists from the first album return in the form of Metal Allegiance’s “fifth Beatle” Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL) and Troy Sanders (MASTODON). There are also three guest guitarists: Andreas Kisser of Sepultura, Nita Strauss of The Iron Maidens and Alice Cooper, and Joe Satriani – who, as it turns out, gave guitar lessons to Alex Skolnick back when he was in high school. The real guitar hero here, though, is the student-turned-master Skolnick, who never fails to impress.The lyrics on Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty are largely focused on the present political turmoil in the U.S. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen this theme find its way into practically every form of entertainment and media lately. Fortunately, the lyrics here aren’t particularly overt or trite, and more criticize a sort of fascist, police state government than anything specific. Mark Menghi adds that “it’s not a political record with a liberal or conservative agenda. It’s about what American society is becoming today and how much it sucks to be a pawn in the system.” Most importantly, the strong lyrical concept helps set this album apart from the first.The opening track “The Accuser” features a finger tapping guitar intro that gives way to a brutal, Slayer-esque verse. A standout solo, bridge, and vocal performance by Trevor Strnad help create an opener that deftly mixes the best of classic 80’s thrash metal with modern vocals. The result is a yin and yang of new and classic metal that is emblematic of the band. “The Accuser” transitions directly into another standout track, “Bound by Silence” with Armored Saint’s John Bush at the helm. There’s a definite Pantera vibe that’s also reminiscent of Bush’s prior work with Anthrax, featuring some of the catchiest vocals on the album. The lyrics were inspired by a late night conversation Menghi had in a bar with a terminally ill Vietnam veteran, so it evokes Metallica’s “One” in that way.There’s a reason the band chose “Mother of Sin” as the lead single, with Bobby Blitz, lead singer of Overkill for nearly 40 years, really shining here. If you aren’t familiar with Blitz’s vocal style, it sounds like an amalgam of Bon Scott, Bruce Dickinson, Dave Mustaine, Sebastian Bach, and what I imagine a demon might sing like. As they do on every track, Portnoy and Skolnick push each other and impress with their consummate drum and guitar work. “Terminal Illusion” opens with Portnoy playing an alternating 4-stroke roll, single-stroke roll pattern that evolves from the sound of sticks on a table, to a snare, and then all around the kit. It feels like a musical nod to the exceptional drum intro from “Let Darkness Fall” on Metal Allegiance’s first album. Leave it to drum legend Mike Portnoy to come up with fresh and unique drum fills after all these years. Speaking of “after all these years”, 64-year-old Mark Tornillo of Accept sounds just as amazing here as he did in the mid-80’s when he fronted the underrated, Megaforce Records band T.T. Quick.Johan Hegg is the lead singer of Amon Amarth, a Swedish melodic death-metal band known for lyrics that deal largely with Viking mythology. As fate would have it, Hegg looks like a modern-day Viking, but on “King with a Paper Crown” hollow and hypocritical fascists are the lyrical focus, and not mythology. Of course, Hegg still delivers his brand of brutal, growl vocals and adds one of the hookiest choruses on the album. The most unique track comes with “Voodoo of the Godsend”, a hypnotic and tribal song that reunites former Sepultura bandmates Max Cavalera and Andreas Kisser for the first time since Cavalera left the band in 1996. Cavalera says he got the idea for the song from the name of an African Head Charge album called “Voodoo of the Godsent.” If you are as unfamiliar with psychedelic dub groups as I am, don’t worry, as the song is definitely metal, albeit a bit more experimental than the others.Mastodon’s Troy Sanders returns to provide his unique voice to “Liars & Thieves.” Along with Mark Osegueda, Sanders is the only singer to contribute to both Metal Allegiance releases, and it’s hard to imagine the band without him. The song, which opens and closes with the sound of a boxing bell, swings into high gear three minutes in with a bridge that feels like a new song, featuring a breakneck guitar solo that is one of the best on the album. “Impulse Control” begins with a bass riff that gives way to a straight ahead rocker led by Osegueda. The track serves as a good example of Skolnick’s upfront, aggressive, and raw guitar tone – one of the most welcome changes on this album when compared to the first.Osegueda returns on “Power Drunk Majesty (Part I)”, a two-part, mini-epic that caps off the album. As a huge fan of prog-rock, I can’t help but wish the band had spent even more time developing the ideas of these two songs, perhaps pushing the concept into a single 20-minute epic. Of course, this is a metal album, and it feels perfectly at home here. The surprise of the album for me though, is Floor Jansen‘s delivery on “Power Drunk Majesty (Part II).” I can’t say I have listened to Jansen’s body of work, yet she offers my favorite performance of them all, with an anthemic and layered chorus that’s accented throughout by recordings of politicians like JFK and Richard Nixon, a la Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality.” The song ends with a cannon blast, both literally and figuratively.Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty is a different album from the first, and that’s not a bad thing. This is a more focused effort, with a band less interested in gimmicks – a band more crystallized and mature, and yet, still the same band you’ve grown to love. Ellefson summarizes the Metal Allegiance‘s spirit with a simple mantra: “It’s good friends making great music together.”
Line Up:
David Ellefson Bass (2014-present) - See also: Altitudes & Attitude, David Ellefson, Knight Fury, Megadeth, ex-Temple of Brutality, Hail!, ex-Angels of Babylon, ex-Killing Machine, ex-Soulfly (live), ex-Tim Ripper Owens (live), ex-F5, ex-Fallen Angels
Mark Menghi Bass (2014-present) - See also: ex-Constricted, ex-Gutter Poet
Mike Portnoy Drums (2014-present) - See also: Sons of Apollo, Transatlantic, John Arch, ex-Inner Sanctum, ex-Liquid Trio Experiment, ex-Rising Power, ex-Twisted Sister (live), ex-Liquid Tension Experiment, ex-Majesty, Flying Colors, The Winery Dogs, Yellow Matter Custard, Bigelf (live), ex-Dream Theater, ex-S.A. Adams, ex-Fates Warning (live), ex-John Petrucci (live), ex-Overkill (live), ex-Adrenaline Mob, ex-OSI, ex-Amazing Journey, ex-Cygnus and the Sea Monsters, ex-Hammer of the Gods, ex-Avenged Sevenfold (live), ex-Stone Sour (live)
Alex Skolnick Guitars (2014-present) - See also: Testament, ex-Legacy, Alex Skolnick Trio, ex-Trans-Siberian Orchestra, ex-Anthrax (live), ex-Ozzy Osbourne (live), ex-Savatage, ex-Attention Deficit
+ guest vocalists:
Trevor Strnad (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER), John Bush (ARMORED SAINT), Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth (OVERKILL), Mark Tornillo (ACCEPT), Johan Hegg (AMON AMARTH), Max Cavalera (SOULFLY), and Floor Jansen (NIGHTWISH). Two vocalists from the first album return in the form of Metal Allegiance’s “fifth Beatle” Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL) and Troy Sanders (MASTODON)
Tracklist:
01. The Accuser [feat. Trevor Strnad]
02. Bound By Silence [feat. John Bush]
03. Mother Of Sin [feat. Bobby Blitz]
04. Terminal Illusion [feat. Mark Tornillo]
05. King With A Paper Crown [feat. Johan Hegg]
06. Voodoo Of The Godsend [feat. Max Cavalera]
07. Liars & Thieves [feat. Troy Sanders]
08. Impulse Control [feat. Mark Osegueda]
09. Power Drunk Majesty (Part I) [feat. Mark Osegueda]
10. Power Drunk Majesty (Part II) [feat. Floor Jansen]
+ Video "Bound By Silence [feat. John Bush]" (Official Video)
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