Thirty plus years into their career and a mind boggling 22 studio albums (!), the German heavy metal institution known as Rage remain busy with their new release for Metalville Records, titled The Devil Strikes Again. With founding member/bassist/vocalist Peter "Peavy" Wagner as always at the helm, the current line-up of Rage is rounded out by Marcos Rodriguez on guitar & vocals, as well as drummer Vassilios "Lucky" Maniatopoulos, giving the band a German/Greek/Venezuelan configuration this time around. In the end it matters not, as you can expect here nothing less than the 'pure metal' style that this band has delivered since their inception in 1984. With Wagner's throaty gravel leading the charge, fist pumping anthems such as "Back on Track", the catchy "The Final Curtain", the crunchy, pinch harmonic driven guitar scorcher "Ocean Full of Tears", and the raging title track all hit hard on the metal-o-meter but provide lots of melodic moments. Yes, cliches do run rampant at times, but hell, when you have screaming speed metal like "Spirits of the Night" and "The Dark Side of the Sun", each one chock full of manic drumming and blistering guitar riffs, it's not hard to completely enjoy what's going on here.
Give Rage credit for creating a crunchy, memorable set of songs here on The Devil Strikes Again, and while it might not exactly stack up to their late '80s/early '90s repertoire, it's still a damn fine album that continues their legacy and keeps it shining brightly.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
1. The Devil Strikes Again
2. My Way
3. Back On Track
4. The Final Curtain
5. War
6. Ocean Full Of Tears
7. Deaf, Dumb And Blind
8. Spirits Of The Night
9. Times Of Darkness
10. The Dark Side Of The Sun
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