Superchief
“Trophy Room”
Magnetic Eye

If you are a fan of good, old-fashioned, hard-driving rock music, and you are not already a fan of Superchief, you need to come to Jesus. The Des Moines five-piece has been churning out quality music for a good while now, but in “Trophy Room,” the band has given the world its best work yet. Opening track “Kings” lets you know exactly what kind of album this is, as guitarists Jason Monroe and Casey Doser come out of the gate melting faces and taking names. “Trophy Room” was produced by Kevin Neal at Redd No. 7, and if there is any complaint to be had, it would be that Neal’s work almost makes the album too clean, leaving frontman Haldor Von Hammer’s vocals sitting uncomfortably high in the mix at points. ‘Tis a small issue, however, and not one that keeps “Trophy Room” from being a powerful addition to the local sound. CV

Dark Mirror
“Patterns of Chaos”
Independent

This is an album that is a long time coming, having been in the works for a couple of years now. While it would be easy to use that long delay as a reason to dismiss “Patterns of Chaos” as a “just get it done” kind of album, that is thankfully not the case. As they have continued to work on the album, Dark Mirror has adapted the songs as the band has grown and changed, keeping the songs sounding fresh. Vocalist Adam Taylor has a thunderous presence on the album, and “Patterns of Chaos” backs those vocals up with genuinely impressive guitar work on the part of Garan Drozd. Producer Jeff Stone has balanced everything nearly perfectly on the album, giving listeners a finished product that is heavy, hard and loud without becoming tedious. CV