The latest releases of German heavy metal band Messenger is a trip down metal memory lane. Captain's Loot is a collection of rare material of the band and a number of covers of Dio, Helloween and more metal evergreens.

 While the album itself is a light listen, I can't help but wonder if we need yet another filler album of an already worn-out subgenre of metal. Messenger play traditional heavy metal, and my heart totally warms to that. But do we need yet another CD filled with mostly covers of which the original is better anyway? Nobody will ever sing like Dio, so why attempt covering his material?

And no, I'm not a complete metal purist. I somehow in a weird sense like Van Canto and their a capella covers of metal songs. I totally loved the early work of Apocalyptica, where they covered Metallica on their cellos. But heavy metal covers (with a bit of a growl and grunt here and there) of heavy metal songs? There's nothing new in that.

Tracklist

01. Sign Of The Evil Master

02. Tod Dem DJ

03. Asylum XTC

04. Kill The King

05. Port Royal

06. Black Bone Song

07. Dr. Stein

08. Don't Talk To Strangers

Label: Massacre Records

https://www.facebook.com/messengerband

Score: 4/10