Hard 20 |
Thor and Mick Hoffman"Beastwomen From The Center Of The Earth" The Mighty Thor returns to strike fear into the hearts of the unbelievers! The Metal Muscle Man (who has also been a Mr. USA and a Mr Canada in his illustrious career!) swings his hammer with all his might and strikes a mighty thunderclap with this album (on which he collaberated with well known fantasy artist Mick Hoffman, who wrote and played every second song on the album. "Beastwomen..." also features Canuck cult guitarist Frank Soda playing on a few songs). The album is what one can expect from Thor, chock full of power chord laden, anthemic, chest thumping metal rockers, with comic book lyrics, and Thor singing in his muscular, boisterous voice. Thor's music is basically a comic book for the ears! As for the songs, we have the fist pumping rockers like opener "Break The Ice" (although this one lacks a bit in the guitar area), "The Sleeping Giant", "We Are The Panthers" (which sounds like it could be a fight song for the Carolina Panthers football team!), "Hail Thor", "Cry Of The Valkyrie" (which sounds like a heavier Cheap Trick), and bonus track "Symphony Of Steel". In my opinion, this last song is the best and heaviest on the album. There are also a few more laid back songs on here, songs in 60s, hippy trippy vein, like "Darghila", "Mushroom World", and "Palace Of Gold", while one song, "Underground" combines the two styles of metal and "hippy rock". One criticism about this album-the production is really shoddy! It sounds like it was recorded in a living roon with household equipment, and it robs the music of some of the impact it might otherwise have had. It just doesn't sound very professional. Thor does rock, but if he wants his hammer to strike with all its impact, he must have better production on his albums! "Beatwomen..." is not in the same league as Thor classics like "Only The Strong" but it's still a pretty rockin' album all the same! If the production is better next time, the twilight of the gods could be at hand! Prepare for Ragnarok! |