Planet Gemini - Wicked

Planet Gemini is the work of a one man work-aholic metal machine know as "Hellion" or H, the impressive amount of work and music this man has released over the years is truly astounding. Over a dozen recordings have been made since the early part of this decade including a incredible six in the Cauldron of Fuzz series. The band or man has released all of their albums via a free download on the Planet Gemini website, while this is a generous thing to do, it may also might be one of the reasons the band has flown under the radar for all these years. So its about time the band has finally been given a official release and Psychedoomelic Records must be thanked for recognizing what is one of the hardest working and most creative musicians in metal which is Hellion. "Wicked" has been completely remixed and remastered with 2 bonus songs "Rise of the RedGod" and "Fal From the Sky"! It comes in a Digipack with a 8 page booklet and Includes lyrics, stories and some awesome artwork. I haven't seen it myself but i will take Hellion's word for it, i am still listening to a downloaded version which this review will be judged on. All i can say if a download can sound this good, the re-mastered,re-mixed version must be pretty good.

"Incantation" kicks the album off in fine style with a thick,rich guitar sound in the vein of old-school classic metal like Trouble and Sabbath but Planet Gemini have always managed to give the style a original edge which makes it stand out compared with the seemingly endless amount of old-school metal bands that are around these days. Interesting to note at this stage of the review is that Hellion's vocals were compared with Sheavy's Steve Hennessey on a Hellride review. A rather strange comparison as i don't hear that at all, his vocals do have a old school approach with the same vibe as some early 70's vocalists but Hennessey or Ozzy is not one of them. Songs like "Silver Strings" and "Preachin’ to the Choir" have enough chugging head-banging hooks to satisfy both doom and old school heavy metal fans. "Minus" and "The Deadly Sleep" are total old school doom rock songs that are dark and menacing but without getting too much to a crawl, in fact most of the songs on here have a fairly mid-tempo kind of groove but that is mid-tempo within the context of a doom metal band. "Lightmare" is a dark cosmic trip that sounds a little at odds with the rest of the album but still a interesting piece of music. "The Beast on Your Back" is a monster of a song, lurching and lumbering it is a stand out track on the album and properly my favorite cut on the album.

"Grim (My God of Red)" is one of the rawest tracks on the album and it follows nicely after the opening "Incantation". "Author of Pain" is another highpoint on the album, the song has a more progressive doom vibe to it and like most of the album has some inspired playing. "Eden" ends my version of the album with a moody acoustic vibe. There is two bonus tracks "Fal From the Sky" and "Rise of the RedGod" which i haven't heard but that is just more reason to seek out this CD. The songs are well written, well played with some interesting exciting unique guitar solos. The drums are kind of basic but that is to be expected from a one man band but they are still solid and serve all the songs very well. If there was ever a band that deserves more attention, its Planet Gemini. The sheer bulk and quality of the work should be enough reason to grab a copy of "Wicked" and it serves as a ideal starting point if you have never checked out the band as yet. 9/10

Planet Gemini: Wicked Collector's Edition AVAILABLE NOW!!!