Album Review: Herman Rarebell - Nip In The Bud (1981/2021 Hard Rock)

Did you know that Herman Rarebell (the longtime former drummer of The Scorpions) recorded a solo record 40 years ago ? Neither did I. The bigger was the fun of having the chance to listen to this gem in a remastered version of "Nip In The Bud" now.

The artwork was created by Storm Thorgerson’s team at Hipgnosis.

The sound on the album sticks to a compact yet pressure-filled structure. From the eleven tracks on offer "Rock your all" stands out with it's broken riff structures. It's a typical rocker going straight but the riffs present it a ear-splitting way. What a wild song!

"Triangle" follows on this route. It's a more rhythm-oriented number with drums being dominant and the guitar following a shredding way. The last third plays with effects. You won't get this out of your head too fast once listented to it.

"Slob" presents a wild and vicious voice rocking out a similar way Brian Johnson does in AC/DC. The instrumental side is more of a slightly inconstant drum pattern mixed with a direct riff attack. 

The journey continues with more of this. "Junk Funk" comes around put together in a jam session. You can feel the spontaneous vibe of the moment it may have been created. I love to hear such elements - it's hardly ever spotable on albums.

A typical stomper follows. This may be a track a bit closer to typical Scorpions songwriting so it's food that appeals to more people. It's still rude enough so don't think of any commercial song in here.

Track nine introduces more riff-fun all the way. I think it may have been done the direct and fast way, too. It's a no-pain track in three minutes duration spreading fun all the way.

Finally it's time to listen to "I'll say goodbye". As the name suggests it comes with a more hymm like format. It's not in a sad way. It's more of remembering good times in a "glad to have had it" style. The fade out keeps hope for a continue some other day.  

The remastered version will be available through Aviator Management on August 27th 2021. A pre-save link for the album is also available if you want to have it in your digital collection the day it comes out. Have a little pre-listen with the single "Rock you all" and keep in contact with Herman Rarebell through Facebook.

Raptore take us on board for a Night On Fire

This is oldschool heavy 'n' speed metal with a cool vibe and catchy chorus in it coming all the way from Argentina. The band takes a journey through the night and I like the way the video is done in a simple self-filming style. The cuts taken of a show at a small club with few light in it add to the 80s feeling this one strongly spreads around. Come and join the band on their way until the dawn breaks.

The whole album “Rage n' Fever” is held in this traditional way but with variations. There is room for Accept and early Scorpions influenced heavy metal, speedy elements of Exciter, vibe of 70s rock n roll, thrashy aggression and of course appeal of NWOBHM. While listening to it it's hard to believe that this one has been created and recorded in these times we're living in and not way back in the 70s or 80s.

The re-issued album contains two bonus tracks and can be heard at the Bandcamp page of their label Witches Brew. It comes with a cover version of Venom’s Witching Hour and Charger’s Desperadoes (a lost but underrated NWOBHM gem).

Make sure to tune in to their Facebook page to stay up to date.

Scorpions Show at Barclays Center on 12th September to be streamed for free

The liveshow of the Scorpions at Barclays Center, Brooklyn NY will be streamed for free on Sep 12, 2015, 9:05 p.m. ET. through the Yahoo Live service. You can see the show in the player below or check out the event page for more details on the stream.

Graspop Metal Meeting & Hellfest to be streamed this weekend

Two big names in the world of Heavy Metal festivals are broadcasting at least parts of the big festival line-ups - both totally for free!

First to go is the Graspop Metal Meeting which gives you the chance to see some bands on two different channels. You need to have Silverlight installed on your device to be able to watch this.

Underneath of the stream window you can check out the schedule of the bands that will be streamed - check for the green or partly green marked fields in the overview. Those bands will be shown, or at least some tracks from their set.

Keep in mind that the schedule changes over the day - bands may be added to the broadcast list very shortly (just for example: I saw two changes in the few moments of time I took to write this article - so check back often :-)  At the moment I'm typing this these bands are confirmed for today (Saturday 20th June)

Orphaned Land
Morgoth
Danko Jones
Godsmack
Judas Priest

Update 2015/06/22: It's sadly over but there's still a chance to see stuff from the Graspop Metal Meeting at the concert video archive that has been opened up. Go and watch it while it's up!

The next one to check out is the Hellfest from France. There it's a bit more complicated. Leave the guy with the gray face on the top of the page behind and scroll to the six pictures below. Hover over the stream you desire (they are sorted with the date and stage name) to see the bands that are scheduled for the live stream. One more click and you can watch it. Or even better: see the bands you want directly here on my page. Great to see the people from Arte allow embeding streams to other sites. Thanks for that! The streams start at 17:15h today.

Update 2015/06/22: It's sad to see the festival is already over now. :-( But wait, some stuff can be seen again (or for the first time if you missed it out). The Hellfest livestream page is now a archive of some of the festival performances. :-) You can watch shows from Sodom, Children of Bodom, Scorpions, Faith no more and many, many more on the linked page. Enjoy (again)!

This is what is confirmed for the Altar & Temple stage at the moment for this very saturday:

Desultory 17:25
Finntroll 18:15
Coffins 19:10
Ensiferum 20:05
Skinless 21:10
Obituary 23:35
Venom 00:40


This overview shows what will be shown from the main stage:

L7 17:50
Slash 18:40
Killing Joke 19:45
Faith No More 21:45
Scorpions 23:25