Review: Aska - Fire Eater | |||||||
|
|||||||
Fire Eater | |||||||
![]() |
Label: Pure Steel Records Year released: 2013 Duration: 50:25 Tracks: 11 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: Review online: October 5, 2013 Reviewed by: Sargon the Terrible |
Readers' Rating How do you rate this release? Rated 3.67/5 (73.33%) (9 Votes)
|
|||||
Review | |||||||
Aska have been an underground gem for so long it's almost proverbial. This is their sixth album in a career that goes back to fucking 1990 and they have always remained under the radar. Part of it is the loooong waits between albums that make it hard for them to build momentum, and part of it is that they have produced a discography of good albums without any one definitive great work. Their last album was Absolute Power back in '07, which I actually think is probably their best overall, but this one is pretty damned good too. With Pure Steel Records marketing this disc, maybe Aska will finally start to get the cred they deserve, as another problem this band has always had is that their releases were on tiny labels and therefore hard to find. Fire Eater is another disc of what Aska do really well, and all the elements are here: strong trad metal riffs with a kick of hard rock machismo, somewhat iffy lyrics, and the absolutely first-rate vocals of frontman George Call, who has such a prototypical US-Metal wail he should trademark it. There are some killer cuts here, like opener "Everyone Dies", "Valhalla", and "Red Cell". Other songs seem a bit baggy, like "Angela", which is not bad because it's a ballad, it's bad because it goes nowhere. The majority of this album is solid, with good riffs and great vocals. The production is a bit restrained, and I would always love a guitar sound with more grit in it. If you've never heard Aska, then this is a decent place to start, but Absolute Power and Nine Tongues are a bit better. |
|||||||
More about Aska... | |||||||
Review: Avenger (reviewed by Michel Renaud) Review: Fire Eater (reviewed by MetalMike) | |||||||
Click below for more reviews | |||||||
Latest 0-9 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 Various Books/Zines
|
The Metal Crypt - Crushing Posers Since 1999
Copyright © 1999-2025,
Michel Renaud / The Metal Crypt. All Rights Reserved.