Devil Lee Rot continues to wave the flag of true metal high. Demons dance and beer flows as blackened NWOBHM hymns blow from the speakers. 'Metalizer' collects a couple of new tunes with a big bunch of old re-recorded (?) and re-mastered songs.

DLR is a new acquaintance to me, even though his discography is longish and he's been releasing solo stuff since 2001. I've heard the name, but no music before. Many of his DLR's releases are 7" vinyls or cassettes, so I believe this might be a good release from a fan's point of view. This should work well for DLR newcomer, at least it worked with me.

Musicwise DLR is technically simple, riff-centered heavy metal. Every song has good riffs, and it's a big achievement, even though some are very much familiar from hazy 1980s. As you must have guessed, twin guitar parts are abound. Bass gets its show in appropriate parts, as do drums. Biography lists Angel Witch, Cloven Hoof, Venom and old Bathory as influences, and I'd add Iron Maiden. Just check out 'Hellmachine', which has the galloping Clive Burr rhythms with suitable Murray/Stratton guitar play and Harris-style bass lines and to top that all, the song reminds the legends' title song. By the way, there's quite a lot of double kick drum beats, so there's a link to more modern metal. Vocals are more black metal type stuff; hoarse throat and growls. Clean singing would fit better, in my opinion, but this is better than bad singing for sure.

I think this was recorded analogically. Sounds like it was 1980s again! My only nag is way too thin lead guitar sound, which annoys me a lot. Now that's a real bee-sounding guitar! Everything echoes a bit, so authenticity has been achieved in that department. Packed without lyrics, but who needs 'em, because your hands are busy holding your both beer bottles.

Not for trendy people. Or why not? They would hear some true metal if they picked this one up! Get metallized if you enjoy stuff from two decades ago.

Rating: 6½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
01/31/2005 21:03