{"id":97095,"date":"2022-11-11T00:00:13","date_gmt":"2022-11-11T00:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=97095"},"modified":"2022-12-08T17:54:12","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T17:54:12","slug":"album-review-roadhog-gates-to-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-roadhog-gates-to-madness\/","title":{"rendered":"ROADHOG – Gates To Madness (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROADHOG
Gates To Madness<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nOssuary (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The cover artwork of this third full-length opus from Polish metallers Roadhog looks like it\u2019s for a death metal album but the band name and look reminds me of Tank! However, the sound of this four-piece from Krak\u00f3w is what really surprises me. Vocalist Krzychu Lawless has quite a rough and gravelled approach while the sound of the band has a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-feel mixed with something more melodic, and that\u2019s the real surprise here.<\/p>\n

The killer chorus on the title track has an airy hard rock feel, the sort of uplifting grit I\u2019d expect from a UK act, but there are other elements of intrigue here. The fiery riffs, the big melodies, it\u2019s all here, and one could state this is very much old school metal revival because when you tuck into a track like \u2018Gypsy\u2019s Curse\u2019 or the hammering \u2018Surreal Overdose\u2019 you\u2019re in that dark mist of the 80s where bands like Meliah Rage would toy with thrashier, heavier chimes but keep you deep rooted in their strange brew of steady metal outpourings.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something understated about this album. At times I think of acts like Enforcer, but then I\u2019m battered by the anthemic \u2018Misery Loves Company\u2019 which is a cool slice of melodic rock, while \u2018Unleashed\u2019 has a deadly fresh rattle.<\/p>\n

The fact that Roadhog are able to supply so many commercial dynamics but then hit you with a fizzing, thrash assault is testimony to their quality. Tracks like the crunching \u2018Masquerade\u2019 and the shimmering powerhouse of \u2018Be Careful What You Wish For\u2019 are sublimely delivered and yet provide so many different metallic strands to grasp on to. Gates To Madness<\/em> is energetic, crisp and memorable metal that defies its cover art and I\u2019m all for surprises.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROADHOGGates To Madness Ossuary (2022)Rating: 8\/10 The cover artwork of this third full-length opus from Polish metallers Roadhog looks like it\u2019s for a death metal album but the band name and look reminds me of Tank! However, the sound of this four-piece from Krak\u00f3w is what really surprises me. Vocalist Krzychu Lawless has quite a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-roadhog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97096,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97095\/revisions\/97096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}