JOHN 5: The Art of Malice

Produced by Chris Baseford and John 5

Released: May 11

To anyone not that familiar with John 5's work beyond his teamings with Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson, the idea of him as a solo instrumentalist may come as a surprise. But long before he changed his surname to a numeral, he was swinging the plank with David Lee Roth, Lita Ford and others, and The Art of Malice is his fifth solo release since 2004.

5's number five showcases the depths of his talent and the diversity of his playing that his work with Manson and Zombie may not so clearly display. Not surprisingly, he chooses to open with the brisk metal of "The Nightmare Unravels", immediately showing his chops as a lightning-fast and clearly innovative player. He is quite a breathtaking guitarist, but if the whole album had been like this it would become very boring very quickly. Fortunately, John 5 breaks up the shredtastic array of face-melting arpeggios and scales-based fret-blazing with other moves. On "Can I Live Again?" he adds some cool slide playing and on "J.W." and "Steel Guitar Rag" he steps out with some blues and ragtime workouts (not to mention the country feel he invokes in "Wayne County Killer"). The Art of Malice also serves as something of a tribute to the guys who influenced him: "Fractured Mirror" is an Ace Frehley cover and "Ya Dig" -- featuring Billy Sheehan -- is a Van Halen-inspired piece. Combining the solo from Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" with the riff from "Rock and Roll" in "Portrayed as Unremorseful" is also a clever touch.

Whatever one may think of the other bands he's played in (including Halford's 2wo, by the way), there's no doubt that John 5 is a spectacular and talented guitarist. The Art of Malice doesn't exactly break any rules when it comes to instrumental shred albums and doesn't have the same cross-over appeal that Vai and Satriani do, but guitar fans will certainly dig it.

1. The Nightmare Unravels
2. The Art of Malice
3. All Will or Spite
4. J.W.
5. Ya Dig?
6.  Can I Live Again?
7. Portrayed as Unremorseful
8. Steel Guitar Rag
9. Wayne County Killer
10. Fractured Mirror
11. The S-Lot
12. The Last Page Turned

Rating: 75%

BURIED IN VERONA: Saturday Night Sever

Produced by Fredrik Nordström
Released: June 4

Fredrik Nordström must be getting pretty well used to being the go-to man for Australian metalcore bands now. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Contrive and I Killed the Prom Queen, Buried in Verona is the latest local act to beat a path to his door. This band's previous album was a rather flat, lifeless collection of generic metalcore that ticked all the right boxes but generally failed to step outside the circle. Nordström's production has at least given Buried in Verona a punchier sound that's more in line with their metal pretentions.

Despite the cringe-inducing title and the artwork that looks like a toddler chewed up a crayon and then vomited, Saturday Night Sever makes better use of melodies and features more memorable songs than Circle the Dead, but the band still refuses to really break any new ground. Buried in Verona has improved without really changing very much, apparently still content to follow the most basic metalcore template available without injecting too much of their own personality. There's a dash of electronics on a couple of tracks, most noticably at the beginning and towards the end, but unlike Anime Fire, who weave beats into their music, here they're just tacked on as if the band felt a last-minute need to make a half-arsed attempt at individuality. Like the previous album, the song titles don't seem to have much to do with the lyrics. There's another Cluedo-inspired one ("Professor Plum...") and most of the others just plain suck: "Hangin' Hoes by Their Toes" plumbs the depths of immature tough-guy posturing directly reflected in their lyrics. Even the promisingly-titled "Rohypnol Sunrise" offers nothing more than another melodramatically angry song full of homicidal rage as if these guys have never had a relationship in their lives that didn't end in betrayal and murder, and totally lacking in any sense of irony, self-mocking or humour. Still, the album sounds huge. The drumming is rock solid and without being earth-shattering, the riffs are vicious and catchy. The lead guitar work has also taken a turn for the better, although BiV was never shabby in that department. They also rely much less on breakdowns than many other bands.

Saturday Night Sever is a marked improvement on Buried in Verona's 2008 effort, but it is unlikely to appeal to those who aren't already fans of their strictly generic angst-ridden overkill. If you like to throw yourself around a moshpit while a dude screams about how much life sucks and how hard he'd punch your face, this will more than satisfy you. For those seeking a more sophisticated, mature worldview, look elsewhere.

1. The End
2. Temptress
3. Saturday Night Sever
4. Professor Plum in the Ballroom With the Candlestick
5. Hangin' Hoes by Their Toes
6. Go Go Gadget Suicide
7. Rohypnol Sunrise
8. Bell Ringer
9. You Left Me With No Goodbye
10. Cut Wrists & Sinking Ships
11. The Beginning

Rating: 68%

JORN: Dio

Produced by Tommy Hansen

Released: 2 July

In some cases, timing is everything. Jørn Lande began working on this tribute to his hero early last year, wrote a massive, Dio-esque homage to open it, finally got it done and then, on the eve of its release, the man it is dedicated to died. Now, what should have been a testimonial has become a memorial. The release of Dio (the album) was unfortunately announced the same week that Dio the man passed on, prompting calls from the peanut gallery that this was nothing but a heartless rip-off. Even with today's studio technology, though, it would be almost impossible to have knocked out an album as great as this in the short time since May 16, and Dio -- artwork and all -- has been in the can since before that, so arse to that theory.

If ever there was a guy who could successfully pull off a set of Dio covers, Jørn Lande is the man. In fact, with a voice so similar to the master, it would have been almost a disappointment if he hadn't done this, if not now then at some time in the future. On tracks like "Lonely is the Word", "Lord of the Last Day" and "Sunset Superman", Jørn is such a convincing mimic you could be forgiven for thinking you're listening to Dio himself. Possibly even Dio would have had trouble telling the difference. The resemblance is beyond remarkable: "Sacred Heart" and the live version of "Straight Through the Heart" should rightly give any listener chills.

In helping to lift this to a level of greatness beyond the limit of awesome, Jorn (the band) equal their singer's phenomonal achievement, doing for the music what he does for the vocals. The guitar team of Tore Moren, Tor Erik Myrhe and U.D.O.'s Igor Gianola step out with some stunning work that sets the songs ablaze. "Song for Ronnie James" is a majestic eight-minute opus that Dio himself could have written, and was intended for him to hear. The real tragedy of this album is that he never got to. The triumph of it is that it's brilliant.

1. Song for Ronnie James
2. Invisible
3. Shame on the Night
4. Push
5. Stand Up and Shout
6. Don't Talk to Strangers
7. Lord of the Last Day
8. Night People
9. Sacred Heart
10. Sunset Superman
11. Lonely is the Word - Letters from Earth
12. Kill the King
13. Straight Through the Heart (live)

Rating: 95%

DREAMKILLERS: Pockets of Water

Produced by Jeff Lovejoy

Released: 7 May

The very first review you find for this CD on the iTunes site is by "helltrip 10" who opines this "don't sound the same" as the old Dreamkillers line-up, and in many ways that's totally fair. Mustachio'd miscreant Les Jobson resurrected this group with completely different people from the 90s version for a one-off bash back in 2006, only to find that the beast wouldn't die and 12 years on from Character Building Hell Trip the 'Killers don't sound quite like they used to. Bassist Antz brings some Post Life Disorder influence into "Doom Trollop" as it opens this EP with a huge sludgey groove. There's no mistaking Jobson's idiosyncratic vocals, however. His strange blend of melodic singing and half-shouted/spoken ranting was the distinguishing feature of this band, and nothing has changed in that regard.

If the first track has a distinctively metallic edge then "Lil' Darcy" swings the balance back the other way, to the fast, intense riffs of prime hardcore territory. "Verbal Violence" and "Bonebag" show that Jobson has lost none of his talent for sharp, satirical social and political comment while the band carries out a scathing sonic attack with regular bursts of surprising melody. It all comes together on "Smoke Over Marysville", a stinging rebuke of the political clusterfuck of Black Saturday that culminates in a chilling sample of a terrified man leaving a farewell message for his family. In a time when punk and hardcore don't seem to mean what they used to, it's clear that Jobson hasn't forgotten. They might sound tidier and tighter thanks to Jeff Lovejoy's production, but the Dreamkillers still pack a whallop.

1. Doom Trollop
2. Li'l Darcy
3. Smoke Over Marysville
4. 70 Percent of Them
5. Verbal Violence
6. Bonebag

Rating: 83%

THE DEVIL RIDES OUT: The Heart & The Crown

Released: June 2010

Over the course of their EP series, The Devil Rides Out established themselves as masters of the grooving heavy rock vibe, gradually refining their art until the gloriously raw and gritty "Volume III" from nigh on two years ago. After taking out the WAMi Award for Best Hard Rock Act and doing shows with bands like Monster Magnet and Clutch, The Devil has now unleashed a full-length that should elevate them to the very pinnacle of Australia's rock pile.

The Heart & The Crown is a mammoth collection of rock powered by enormously fuzzed out guitar, booming drums and a voice that won't just strip paint from the walls but bring the plaster with it. "Watch it Burn" kicks in with a gigantic bouncing riff and a bottomed-out sludginess not heard since Kyuss crawled out of Sky Valley and before you can recover The Devil cranks up a gear into the endless roadtrip of "Broken White Line". "Hard Love" sounds every bit like its title would suggest, as if ZZ Top turned evil and had John Bonham as a drummer. Joey K's sinister, rumbling snarl in this track is astounding. After that, we're back on the road with the high-gear "Right Lane Man" and if this track was a truck you would get right the fuck out of the way. Only four tracks in and The Heart & The Crown is like a bare-knuckle brawl between bikies and truckies at the sleaziest roadside bar on earth. Production-wise, it isn't as raw as the previous releases, but that just makes the guitar sound fatter and has the drums rattling the window-frames. The groove-laden blues swagger is the perfect frame for Joey's tales of world-weary, loner anger.

Following the intensity of the opening salvos, the title track is rather ponderous, but also somewhat of a relief that allows the listener to take a breather before The Devil cranks up again with "Inheritance". Into the back half of the album and K's lyrics shift toward social commentary with the sardonic anti-terrorism diatribe "Gentlemen Prefer Bombs" and equally ascerbic cuts like "The New Idle" and "Ain't No Music in the Money". The enormous groove of closer "Lost Town" ends things the way they began: huge guitars, thunderous drums and that extraordinarily sinister vocal rasp.

Anyone looking for the monstrous fuzz of Cathedral or Kyuss crossed with the caustic venom of Crowbar and Eyehategod should find exactly what they're after with The Heart & the Crown. It's a riff-monster just waiting to eat your soul.

1. Watch it Burn
2. Broken White Line
3. Hard Love
4. Right Lane Man
5. The Heart & the Crown
6. Inheritance
7. Phosphorous
8. Gentleman Prefer Bombs
9. The New Idle
10. Mean Season
11. Ain't No Music in the Money
12. I Keep Secrets
13. Lost Town

Rating: 86%