Powergod - Evilution Part
I (Massacre Records)
1999
1. "Children Of Lost
Horizons" (3:12)
2. "No Brain No Pain" (4:31)
3. "Mean Clean Fighting Machine" (4:38)
4. "Gods Of War" (4:10)
5. "Into The Battle" (4:42)
6. "Salvation" (4:12)
7. "I'm On Fire" (3:17)
8. "Evilution Part I" (10:28)
"Evilution Part I" was actually Powergod's debut album, but I didn't hear this CD until after hearing their two tribute albums. Being a huge fan of those albums, both for the band's performance and for their choice of covers, I was anxious to hear some of the band's original material. Going by their choice of "true metal" I assumed that Powergod would play a form of traditional metal. After finally obtaining and hearing a copy of "Evilution Part I", my assumption wasn't far off. This is classic heavy metal, with a big nod to power metal. I would compare them to bands like Seven Witches, Armored Saint, early Helloween and Helstar. Unlike many modern power metal bands, Powergod steer clear of the flowery, keyboard-laced, proggy stuff. Rather, this is real heavy metal. It's heavy, raw, and catchy. The lineup uses odd names including vocalist Leo. L. Sing, guitarist Riff Randall, actually former Sodom six stringer Andy Brings, and drummer Haan ‘Hama Hart’ Hartmann. "Evilution" features a different vocalist than the rest of the Powergod catalog. However, Leo L. Sing has an excellent classic metal voice that works well with the music contained herein. The lyrics are a bit cliché and perhaps a bit cheesy, but so what! It's heavy metal! It's not suppose to be anything but fun and enjoyable. I was extremely pleased with this CD.
Powergod - Bleed for the Gods (Massacre) 2001
1. Lion's Rora/Bound
to be Free [Savage Grace] (5:19)
2. Bleed for the Gods [Agent Steel]
(3:28)
3. Metal Church [Metal Church]
(4:42)
4. Ruler of the Wasteland [Chastain] (3:37)
5. Kill with Power [Manowar]
(4:01)
6. Stars [Hear 'n Aid] (4:57)
7. Burning the Witches [Warlock]
(4:14)
8. I¹m a Viking [Yngwie
Malmsteen] (5:14)
9. XXX [Nasty Savage]
(4:22)
10. Steel the Light [Q5] (5:49)
11. Tor with the Hammer [TNT]
(2:09)
12. Madhouse [Anthrax]
(4:06)
13. Metal Merchants [Hallows
Eve] (3:14)
14. Red Rum [Lizzy Borden]
(3:45)
15. SoldiersUnder Command [Stryper]
(5:01)
16. You And I [M.A.R.S./Driver]
(4:07)
I am a sucker for albums like this, especially when so many of these bands being covered are bands that I followed in the 80's as well. Any band that is bold enough to do a Stryper cover is O.K. in my book. I think these guys did a great job in selecting tracks by each of these artists. Of the band's chosen, there are only two I am completely unfamiliar with. Each and every track is performed quite well and, in some cases, with a tad more aggression than the original versions. One of the most interesting tracks to me, besides the Stryper track, is the cover of Dio's Hear n' Aid track "Stars." The original is sung by many different well-known metal singers, and Powergod have gotten some help from different singers as well. Some of the guest vocalists include Doro Pesch (Doro/Warlock) and Rob Rock, among a host of lesser known singers. There is also a host of musicians that lent a hand including members and ex-members of Holy Moses, Warlock, Rob Rock, Grave Digger, Axel Rudi Pell and Stormwind. Doro and Rob Rock also lend their voices for other parts of this album. Overall, a great CD paying homage to some of the lesser known heroes of heavy metal's yesteryears. Can't wait for Part 2.
Powergod - Long Live The Loud-That's Metal Lesson II (Massacre) 2005
1. "Fall Out/Long
Live The Loud" [Exciter] (5:17)
2. "Screams from the Grave" [Abattoir]
(3:00)
3. "Mind Over Metal" [Raven]
(3:23)
4. "Heavy Chains" [Loudness]
(4:07)
5. "Bombs of Death" [Hirax]
(1:49)
6. "Rocking Through the Night" [Rosy Vista] (3:29)
7. "I'd Rather Be Sleeping" [D.R.I.] (:57)
8. "Ready to Rock" [Wendy O' Williams] (4:40)
9. "Motormount" [Anvil] (3:21)
1o. "Better off Dead" [Hellion]
(4:34)
11. "Deathrider" [Omen] (3:14)
12. "Total Desaster" [Destruction]
(3:06)
13. "Cutt Your Heart Out" [Rough Cutt] (2:26)
14. "The War Drags Ever On" [Tank] (8:00)
15. "Heavy Chains" [Loudness]
(4:05)
I think I can say without a doubt that Powergod are my favorite cover band. This is now the second tribute to metal that I have purchased from these guys without hearing even one original song from the band. The thing is, I just love this sort of thing. Unlike many other modern metal tributes, Powergod stear clear of the typical tributes to Maiden, Priest, Motorhead, etc. and pay tribute to many others who are deserving, but rarely covered. Shoot, any band that would cover Raven, Anvil, Exciter, Hirax and Loudness are all right in my book. The thing is, Powergod not only do justice to these songs but in some cases, I like their covers better. The band chose some outstanding songs this time around including the awesome "Motormount" by Anvil and the outstanding metal anthem, "Mind Over Metal" by the mighty Raven. I was very surprised to see a Hirax cover, who have become a personal favorite of mine in recent years. The bands cover of Tank's "The War the Drags Ever On" makes me wonder why I don't have any Tank in my collection yet. The Wendy O'Williams cover is one of those songs I think I actually like better than the original. I must also confess that I am totally unfamiliar with the band Rosy Vista. Other than that, however, the rest of these songs were anthems to my youth. Great stuff.Included this time around in their impressive list of guest artists is: John Gallagher (Raven), Hannes "G. Laber" Holzmann (J.B.O.), Minoru Niihara (Loudness) , Rod Gonzales (Die Ärzte), Andrea Schwarz (Rosy Vista), Anca Graterol (Rosy Vista), Lips (Anvil), Ferdy Doenberg (Axel Rudi Pell), Schmier (Destruction), Peter Fischer and Tom Angelripper (Sodom).