Recent Reviews

October 2024

September 2024

August 2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

[ More Music Reviews ]


Heaviest: Nowhere
Heaviest Nowhere CD Album Review

Heaviest: Nowhere

Heavy Metal
3.0/5.0

Website Facebook
Power Prog Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 21.10.2015

You wonder what happens during a heavy metalband's nascent development. They're gathered together in somebody's basement raging some riffs, writing some songs. When one dude, probably the bass player, says, "We are fuckin' awesome!" "Yeah!" the drummer says. The guitarist offers, "Hell yeah. These songs kill!" Wherein he adds, of course, "My solos kick ass." But then they discover something is missing. The bass player admits, "Shit. We need an awesome vocalist. Somebody metal." "Yeah." They all agree. And then they hire Mario Pastore.

Heaviest Nowhere Band Photo

Heaviest

What happens next? A band that started out sounding pretty heavy metal awesome gets dropped into a quandry. Is this what we wanted? Can this guy really sing? Will the fans like him? Alright. That's probably not entirely fair. Mostly Patorie's voice is this sing-speak, screamo to gruff, what's coming next is anyone's guess, style. Sure Pastore tries to be melodic but, largely, he's helped along by the music, like an invalid is helped to move by one of those four-footed hospital walkers. If anything, his vocal antics add some sort of variety to the tunes within Nowhere.

The real strength of Heaviest is their heavy metal. They live up to their name. The foundation of their sound is simple and two-fold: twin guitar heavy riffs and a deep thumping bottom end. These things are rounded out with an abundance of really terrific guitar solos. We're talking the traditional heavy metal fire and brimstone, ripping and roaring variety. Fundamentally, Heaviest is a 21st century twist on tried and true heavy metal, only slightly more d-tuned. I like it.

Now, here's the kicker. Having made my opinion of his vocals known, in some weird way, something probably best explained by metal madness, Pastore seems to fit, even sound interesting in the context of the music. He grows on you like the proverbial wart on your ring finger. Bit of an itchy irritant, but it holds the ring in place. (I know. That analogy probably sucked.) But, now that my review is finished, do I intend to spin Nowhere again and listen to Pastore again. Nope. For the metal music, best picks: Decisions, Crawling Back, Resurrection, and Land Of Sin.

Heaviest Nowhere


CraigHartranft.net - New fiction, crime fiction by Craig Hartranft

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

In Short

Heaviest lives up to their name with twin guitar heavy riffs and a deep thumping bottom end, rounded by an abundance of terrific guitar solos, but wounded in the foot by questionable vocals.

Find A Review

Alphabetical Index

a b c d e f g h i j
k l m n o p q r s t
u v w x y z #
New & Notable
Read the Eclipse: Megalomanium II Album Review

By far, Sweden's Eclipse is one of my favorite bands. Always consistent and always entertaining, Eclipse has been delivering their 21st century version of melodic metal rock since songwriter, producer ... [ Read More ]