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Cage
“Hell Destroyer”
(MTM Music)

Having trouble hiring out Judas Priest? No problem, there’s always Cage! With a mindblowing 21 tracks on “Hell Destroyer”, a cover, song titles and a sound - complete with high end Halfordesque vocals courtesy of Sean Peck - its makes you wonder why JP don’t just hang up their guitars and take early retirement on the metal couch, cos Cage make such a good job of being JP clones, taking off pretty much offa the ‘Painkiller’ sound, complete with double bas drumming. Still, despite the heavy (or outright some might say) JP sound, Cage are thankfully capable of other sounds like on ‘Bohemian Grove’ where the guitars are very Swedish sounding reminding me of In Flames or even their predecessors like Gardenian. “Hell Destroyer” is itself a 75 minute concept album that travels through time from the crucifixion to the new world (dis)order, to a demonic invasion of earth and finally the resurrection of the metal devil 100 years after the end of the world. This is a massive concerto that I would be impressed to see live but judging by their credentials, San Diego’s Cage would be the band to do it!

-Shan Siva

CAGE
“Darker Than Black”
(Fugitive Records)

It’s in the human nature to want to be on the same page as the next. So when somebody unanimously raves about something everybody else has to follow. I know I’m no different. But what I find all too often is that I don’t get what the hype was all about. So when all I did see were rave reviews of Cage’s album “Darker Than Black” it was with mixed emotions I put it in my player once I’d come upon it. But to my surprise I did understand the good reviews it had received. This is a really good heavy metal album. It’s hard to not see what an influence Judas Priest has had on Cage but most of all “Darker Than Black” reminds me of the solo albums “Resurrection” and “Crucible” that Rob Halford did.