"No Warning" by VENOMOUS MAXIMUS has a completely insane album cover. I have no idea what's really going on there and for a second I thought it was some kind of rally starting to form with imagery I wasn't hip to. It still might be that I'm just not a symbolologist or the right word for that (Cryptologist? An archeologist of some sort? Picture witch?). I enjoy the unknown of music I can't figure out off the bat. Turns out this is quite a meaty release to dig into.

"No Warning" opens up with some synthetic noises and keyboards or organs or something. It's a lot of fancy atmosphere stuff but it does the job to set an odd mood. After that it's off to the races! Titans, giants, primeval behemoths, these are the kinds of fantasy races I think of when I listen to this. It's a rampaging horde of monstrous riffs that immediately snatch you up like some kind of sinister sorcery. Which I think is what they're singing about. I'm not really sure but there is a lot of fantastical imagery and magical spell talk. If you're rolling dice for recreation and there's no gambling involved, you'll probably get it. The rhythm part of the band kills it. The drumming is powerful but doesn't overtake anything, the basslines are subtle but still add some thunder, and the vocalist belts out echoing words that give the impression of being inside a cavern. It fits the haunting mood.

There are some great leads on this album. "Pray For Me" has some solid guitar work along with a thumping militaristic beat that picks up towards the end. The standout song for me was "Return Of The Witch". It has a riff that feels like it could easily precede a killer thrash song. Instead the path taken is a more Doom-ish Rock sound; it almost touches the psychedelic before reeling back to the crushing chorus. It's a killer heaviness that they toy with throughout the album. There is a soft acoustic ballad in the form of "All Of My Dreams". If you play a lute and have a bowl cut, I bet you will dig it. Also, why are you still a squire? Knights don't have any good prospects in today's economy. There's a second acoustic instrumental later in the album that is fantastically played and worth checking out especially any fiends for something melancholy.

There's a side "I" and a "II" which I assume may be two parts to a story, or sections of the album for when you have to flip it on the plate-y discs (Vinyl, record player, whatever. Calm down, it's bad for your heart). As I understand it these guys are heavy into the concept albums, trying to release an album based on all the elements. It's fancy lore which is always fun to be able to spew about a band. This isn't an album to get aggression out to. It's not a destroy-your-belongings carried away style of release. It's a rocking, galloping voyage through the nether realm. This is an album for driving around and listening to, or starting an 80's horror movie montage where a hero with shades rides a convertible into a beach side ghost town, or sitting around stoned asking what the devil needs all those souls for. If he's so powerful wouldn't weak people's souls be really bad allies? I mean if Godzilla had a regular human guy attacking society by his side, no one would give a shit about him. "OH God, it's Godzilla... and Melvin!" The army would totally shoot Melvin and then just fight Godzilla again. So what's so important about getting weaker humans to be on your side when you have access to demons and hellfire? You know, questions like that.

I think we could gather a legion of aficionados from all over the varied spectrum of the Metal and Rock community that could find something to like about this album. Fans of stuff like KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE, ALASTOR, WITCHFINDER GENERAL, BLUE OYSTER CULT, DIO, BASTARD LORD, ACID BATH, and even OPETH may want to check this one out. It's groovy, it's heavy, and it has all the wailing and finger strumming that the kids go wild for. Raise those horns and press play!