Axevyper - Metal Crossfire

Most of the products that come from Italy may be stale and inorganic, but I'll admit, over the last few years, they've been housing scores of traditional heavy and thrash bands, and they just can't seem to stop. Seriously, it seems that most of the prime thrash/heavy countries are mostly out of material, it looks like Italy's starting to suck more and more fans towards their cheesy thrash/heavy masses. Axevyper isn't a completely new story, but they've incorporated chunks of happy power metal elements and USPM cheesiness into their Maiden-esque brand of heavy metal, no an exceedingly rare sight I must say. And even though brawny hippies alongside with armored lizard mutant fighting space vanguards with machine guns isn't the compelling cover that can exist, I still felt sublime relaxation flow through my body as the swayed and swaggered, and the groovy beats always made by head bob rhythmically.

I suppose it would be false to say that Axevyper make their formula up completely out of old school touches because a modern sound is dominant, blatant from the crystal clear production and subtle melodies urging into the music frequently, but ''Metal Crossfire'' does tend to surface the prime aesthetics of old school power and heavy metal. That being said, Axevyper experiments the cheesy face of power/heavy unlike many other who like to engage the listener with shadowy riffs, and the chorus sections usually overflow with ridiculous positive might, with sequential chords and melodies adding up to the previous in a chronological matter, following a build-up process for the most part of choruses. The good news is, the verse, break and pre-chorus sections (basically anything that's not the chorus) are vigorous and totally neck snapping, crunchy riffs exploding energetically. The epic side of things are explored quite often, leading to lots of harmonious semi-technical riffs and melodies, but in every moment you'll notice that intricacy was disregarded and the songwriting process wasn't at all that sweaty, all though I still have some admiration for the slightly messed up song structures.

Axevyper may stall you with arrays of harmony laden melodies and such, or they may keep the beat going and their wheels hot; it's really not up to us. All I can say that the offering was mighty fine and the delivery was robust, the melodies subtle and triumphant like some previously encountered bands such as Hyborian Steel and Wishdoom, and all in all it sums for a solid release, but I couldn't help but notice that it was still generic in a way and wasn't properly distinguished or clothed decoratively, and I felt the album's heart accent at seldom. It's far from climactic I'll give you that, but at the same time, let's not forget that simplicity can kick heaps of asses when it's properly composed, and I guess it's say to safe to say Axevyper's sophomore album is enough to make a small buzz in the metal underground community without completely being able to avoid plaguing cliches so many are infected with these days. It still made my bowels gurgle for more epic heavy/power metal.

Highlights:
March Of Metal Rockers
Crossfire
Heroes For One Night


Rating: 77%