Axe Cane – Self Titled EP

Shane | 31 August 2012 | Reply

Noise-A-Thon Records, 2012

Rating: 9/10

By Shane Pinnegar

In the dark and misty past, before a hundred ever-more-weird sub-genres were invented by kids with nothing better to do (Ambient Symphonic Alt Viking Folk Doom Metal, anyone?!?!), heavy metal was all about the riffs, solos, a powerful rhythm section, and a singer with lungs of leather. Melody stood high on the mountain next to noise, and the number of notes the guitarist could hit every minute wasn’t particularly relevant.

This is what I mean when I talk about METAL – vocals I can hear, melodies that burrow into my head, riffs that make me want to crank up my trusty air guitar and play along.

This is what Axe Cane deliver on their debut EP – 4 tracks of old school metal that pound and roar with a groove reminiscent of the glory days of 80’s metal: the days when Saxon, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Judas Priest and their ilk were gods, and Metallica and Megadeth were just starting to make their presence felt.

Throughout the four tracks, Geoff Callaghan never slows down thumping seven shades out of his drum kit, Rob Ramsey’s bass thunders away on some truly inventive fills, Chris Gibbs and Nic Di Rosso’s guitars blend together harmonically like a metal Thin Lizzy, and Di Rossi’s vocals are never short of crisp, clear and understandable whilst still being menacing and passionate.

“Loaded Treason” is my pick of the bunch, not that there’s a dud on the record, and if you long for the days before metal became an extreme sport, then Axe Cane is for you. Oh – and the cover is just AWESOME!

http://www.axecane.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Axecane