Metal Minis - Vilifier - Okkulta

Vilifier - Rehearsal MMXI [Demo]

Vilifier are a rather intriguing black/death act to appear from Australia. Their material is does not defy the Australian traditional of gore soaked raw bestiality, but their three track rehearsal demo provides a little more than standard, compulsory black/thrashing onslaughts or fluent, dissecting raw black metal inclinations that seem to be getting popular every day, simply by exposing the music with almost sophisticated touches. Think of a slower Teitanblood or a more chug laden Antediluvian, fuse it with glimpses of unbridled ruptures, and you have Vilifier. The band excels at constructed well-maintained bridges to fluctuate between monotonous death/doom trudges and voluptuous moments of festering precision, blasting out rancid, piercing tremolos here and there. While it is short, the fifteen minute demo introduces and introspective channel that finds its way through darkness and chaos, and therefore there’s plenty of variation here, with the cherry on top of the cake being the abrasive, ear-shattering growls of the vocalist, a cavernous experience. Even amongst the more seasoned and professional acts to emerge from Aussie, Vilifier somehow stands out, and any resident war metal fan should have no problem welcoming this demo.

Okkulta - Witch [Demo]

Okkulta hail from Sweden and they’re yet another traditional heavy metal act to embrace the old school fervour they possess. However, their inclinations lean towards a somewhat eviler brand of traditional heavy, as stated on the title of the demo. The occult, evil, blasphemy and sorcery all seem to be themes that interest the young outfit, but queerly, they don’t fail at projecting that fervour onto their music, and all of a sudden you have two concise tracks, darker than any usual aspect to emerge from Sweden, and the slight deviation serves as the fulcrum of the demo. ‘’Devil’s Truth’’ leads the listener viscously with a visceral guitar tone and a couple of catchy tremolo passages, ultimately finalizing too quick for the listener to properly appease /himself/herself. Almost black metal-esque chords disseminate as they melt into a hooking verse and the vocals sing along truculently, a little immature but still decent. The following piece ‘’Witch’’ keeps a slightly more intricate persona, and scatters the demo into a more ritualistic hymn. Perhaps not all the aspects of the demo were well done, but I still enjoyed it. This may augment into something more promising in the future.

Vilifier: 8.50/10

Okkulta: 8/10

Natur - Head Of Death

Natur rehash a somewhat less preferred side of traditional heavy metal, simply projecting the dry, semi-rambunctious aesthetics of the olden gods Maiden, Priest, Raven, Tygers of Pan-Tang, and so on. I suppose compared to the retro, almost modern sounding streams of traditional heavy metal bands this is a trend that strikes less often, though personally, I’ve never thought of the NWOBHM as genre that should be rehashed directly infatuating with its traits, but rather a strong sauce to decorate other gimmicks of influences with. Natur know the basics of the formula, and their fervour for old school metal is also a notable aspect, but eschewing anything innovative or not being able to opt from many choices will not get them much far. I like this, but it simply cannot surpass the boundaries of originality.

The main problem about Natur is that the music they produce is somewhat empty and dry. Somehow, they’ve perfected the classic chug-laden gallops, and the strict manner of riffs, with nice bluesy solos flying here and there, but the in-depth segments of the formula are amiss. Natur likes makes use of the improved amplification, swelling the tone of the guitar to a notch chunkier than usual, which is good, because now the riffs can characterize themselves by punctuating each not exuberantly, and other than that, semi-melodious intervals also tend to take the listener of sojourns of nostalgia, and thus, the drums play genuinely simple beats, but they have an earthen feel to them which makes the nostalgic trip even more evocative. These are all plus points for the band’s performance, but after a single spin, the blandness of it will become almost palpable and perhaps the blandest performance here are the vocals; the vocalist is obstinate to remain at the same tone for almost the entire duration of the album, singing very casually in a strict, almost stiff manner, and after some time their outshined delivery begins to cause umbrage.

‘’Goblin Shark’’ and ‘’Decion’’ are my favourite tracks here; they flaunt the classic image the entire album projects just as well as any other song on the album, but they’ve got a reasonable and almost quality essence, especially on the chorus section of ‘’Decion’’, where the album arguably reaches its climax with a semi-epic, sing-along structure. The band is probably much more potent than they show on this album, but for some reason they’ve released merely a tidbit of what they can pen, leaving the inmost essence of the album mostly empty, simple and predictable. It’s an enjoyable album for only when you’re at a rigorous state, and while it still had its ephemeral moments of glimmering quality, it didn’t make my blood run rapidly through my veins and I seldom felt excitement. It’s 1980 all over again, sadly, though, the majority of metal bands have thirty years on Natur, and the band will need to step up their game by a huge pace if they ever want to catch up after their efforts on ‘’Head Of Death’’.

Highlights:

Goblin Shark

Decion

The Messenger

Rating: 77%

Razorwyre - Another Dimension

New Zealand’s Razorwyre are yet another group retro of traditional heavy metal musicians, an exuberant quintet who are not afraid to demonstrate the classic clichés of the genre, often exposing their fiery fervour for old school metal with vivacious channels, choppy, percussive rhythms, soulful vocal delivery and speedy speed/thrash tremolo slashes, proving to be a band that devote themselves to the old school term entirely. Much like today’s modern power metal acts, the band likes to magnify the presence of the meat of the guitar with loud, bashing amplifications, and by penning semi-complex compositions, genuinely short and efficient. The number of retro heavy metal outfits are growing prodigious, and while scoffing may seem like a reasonable action to many who’ve suffered the fashioned trends numerous times, it’s best that you stop complaining about it, and just enjoy the music, as Razorwyre are thriving the swing of genre even further.

‘’Another Dimension’’ is the debut album and sole release by the band, but the band’s humbler version, Gaywyre (what a pleasant moniker) had a nice little power/thrash output named ‘’Coming Out’’. The band has not been around for a substantial amount of time, but their efficiency, their punchy grooves and rhythms are far superior to the primal releases of the band’s contemporaries, and although the material the band gouges out is not entirely sufficient to curve towards a more innovative nature, blatant influences such as Maiden, Priest, Dio, Helloween, interact with other speed/thrash clichés, and the influences are dispersed sparsely, and you’re left with eleven tracks that are redolent of something else each. Old school dominates the whole atmosphere, but it’s clear that the band gets a lot of help from the benefits of technology of the modern era.

While still being generally aggressive, Razorwyre gives plenty of room to more soulful, sombre manifestations of emotion, and they veil it in the deepness of the vocals, and such an overtone is occasionally spewed forth, showing prominence on track s like ‘’Hangman’s Noose’’. Of course, the album obviously embraces velocity and hooking riffs over depressive mourns. A surprisingly wide spectrum of variation awaits you in the album, some of the most sordid, raw manifestations being jumpy speed/thrash catharsises like ‘’Knight Of Fire’’ or ‘’Desert Inferno’’, while ‘’Nightblade’’ or Wind Caller’’ principally espouse a lighter sound, soaring vocals underpinning the catchy plate of heavy/power hooks, but all in all, all the songs take you towards the same crater, only dragging you through different paths. Razorwyre’s material is easily one of the classier speed/thrash/power/heavy gimmicks around, and albeit it’s all stuff I’ve heard before, I can’t help but vigorously bob my head to its frivolous and predictable excursions. 

Highlights:

Knights Of Fire

Desert Inferno 

The Fort

Rating: 85%

Visigoth - Final Spell

Naturally, I would expect bands from a certain country to reflect their traditional traits on whatever genre they’re playing, but as the years pass, urged into a parallel void where these things occur quite differently. We’ve got bands from all around the world fabricating classic 90’s Swedish death metal, while the Sweden lately has scrutinized the aesthetics of other genres such as epic doom and traditional heavy, the Brazilians and Italians have all of a sudden morphed to an army of Bay-Area thrashers, and now we have Salt Lake City’s Visigoth, playing some melodic power/heavy metal that would easily beckon and draw more fans of Blind Guardian, Pharaoh, Hammerfall, or other bands which excel in the more thickly constructed trend of power metal which is Euro power metal. The band generally espouses such a traditional, Euro-oriented sound, but the glamour exceeds with a little bit of Priest, Maiden, Accept, Griffin, with a hint of rocking groove.

Visigoth’s ‘’Final Spell’’ Ep is simple, spread out over generally predictable patterns and textures, but for what it’s worth, it’s quite fun, exuberant in the way it’s flashy sturdiness sheds light to the aura, and it definitely calls forth a more modern sound. I honestly did NOT expect such an output of harried ruptures and absolutely frenetic charges and compulsive blasts. Visigoth doesn’t deliver anything spurious, and simply lets the audience know what they want to offer and offers it well, even though it’s quite blatant that they send forth their vigorous ways in an apparent way, giving no room to any sort of engrossing aspect.  Its real hook, however, is the massive bulk of a guitar tone. Such a tone wields no secrets and not much cunning either, the immense, shattering meatiness of the tone simply goes under and over anything the album displays, from its wide range of semi-melodious chugs to epic moments with dual vocal harmonies.

Every track is a coherent follow up the one before it, with no major deviation in between, though with such memorable consistency you’re likely to entirely swallow up each song, and thus murmur them one by one. The chunks and chugs on crushing guitar tone add the major punctuation the Ep is asking for, but the seasoned vocal delivery is also a beckoning aspect, and they sound magnified even over the spaciousness and spark of the chug laden barrage of the guitars, and what’s more is that the vocalist achieves that sort of static prominence without raising the pitch of the tone, uniquely strengthening the delivery. There’s not really many tracks you can opt, but my personal favourite is the intro track, ‘’Creature Of Desire’’ a feverishly driven impulse of lethal energy and semi-epic steam rising at the same time, and simple it is, I must admit that I gave it more spins than my regular listens. ‘’Final Spell’’ is not engrossing by a great mile, but it still gathers and sews together all the great things you’d want in your power metal.  

Highlights:

Final Spell

Creature Of Desire

Rating: 84%

Altar Of Oblivion - Grand Gesture Of Defiance

Brooding over the latest Ep of the Danish doom bringers, ‘’Salvation’’, I never actually saw this, an album coming. Me and Altar Of Oblivion don’t really go back long, but I was quite well acquainted with their Ep which was out earlier this year, and as I was entirely pleased by the results, I rushed to obtain their latest material. I was baffled when I saw the lengthy bulk of thirty four minutes four minutes filled with completely fresh material, proving that the band is much more productive than they seem. Personal emotions aside, Altar Of Oblivion present a true magnum opus with ‘’Grand Gesture Of Defiance’’.  While the album doesn’t deviate even marginally from its predecessor, it culminates the band’s soulful, mournful aura of epic doom metal, and delivers it in a nearly flawless manner, not exceedingly sophisticated but not entirely dull or repetitive either.

Although there are many doom masters who inflict hefty exercises of crushing ponds and stomps upon the listener in a melancholic edge, there aren’t quite many bands which excel at the same extent as Altar Of Oblivion. ‘’Grand Gesture Of Defiance’’ is definitely a mournful monolith of epic pulchritude, and the majority of the record does indeed flow in a ponderous way (although still very fluent whilst doing so), but part of the melancholy comes from the subtle passages that adorn and augment its epic touch, and never is it drudgy or drowning. Lots of people compare Altar Of Oblivion to King Diamond, which is a very relevant comparison in any way. The band espouses such a melodious embellishment and disperses it throughout the album, and a heavy/doom sound is also more considerable compared to the dry doom metal tag, as the band channels into swifter, catchy excursions more often than many doom metal obelisks, leaving a sweet, forlorn and almost lamenting traditional heavy metal taste in your mouth.

Eventually, the sombre attitude of the album pervades, and another surprising aspect leaves it mark. Despite being relatively more intricate in compositions and structure than most traditional heavy metal bands, Altar Of Oblivion’s music is memorable, and you’ll find yourself murmuring the melody driven chorus more often than you’d think. The guitar tone was a disappointment at first, I must admit. While expected something just as bulky and rich as the tone on the ‘’Salvation’’ Ep, I got something that’s only half as muscular, or dense, and although the guitar flickers with lower notes just as often as it foes with higher, shriller notes, certain moments where the only thing that ruled the music was a groovy beat and choppy chug felt empty. I eventually got used to it, though, but I still think Altar Of Oblivion could have done better in the tone department, especially when it came to releasing some tasty chops.

All in all, though, ‘’Grand Gesture Of Defiance’’ proves to be a marginally better performance the fantastic Ep released before it. A beautiful churning of soulful vocals, culminating choruses and memorable patters linked together soothingly is what it is. The Danish will probably expose their poignant climax, but even they can’t reach higher heights, this stands as a beautiful monolith of sombre and epic doom metal – one that’s a guaranteed win for fans of traditional heavy, doom, and all sorts of epic metal for that matter. It’s rather a grand gesture of megalithic beauty, really, but it could also be defiant, we can never know. 

Highlights:

Where Darkness Is Light

Sentenced In Absentia

The Graveyard Of Broken Dreams

Rating: 88,5%

Rampart - A Tale To Cold

I’m pleased to see band which take the 80’s power metal aesthetics and incorporate it into their music, and one of my most latter encounters is the Bulgarian four piece Rampart, yet another bringer of classic heavy/power. Rampart did not really catch my unawares, and their brand of traditional power metal is fairly complex as you may expect, but let’s just that that the sound deviates marginally from the purest roots of old school power metal, seasoned with a bit of modern brickwall construction and rigorousness. With such a blatant path set for the riffs to flow, the band has clearly exposed many of its tricks and upcoming strategies, making their Ep ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ an apparent, predictable release, but somehow it’s still fun.

Rampart omitted the traditional cheesy antics of the classic power metal sound, charming the listener with a stricter force of beckoning simplistic melodies and thrashy chops, made heftier with the beefy guitar tone. ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ also likes to channel between somewhat desolate, chaotic chord dispersions and more vigorous compulsions. I liked the riffs, catchy and even epic at times, but I just felt that they were drudgy and dry in general, generally failing to exploit the required amount of energy outside to illuminate the atmosphere. After going through three semi-modern barrages of epic old school power metal, the fourth crust, a Helloween cover makes all the difference, offering a uniquely substantial amount of even more epic, flashy riffs, and you can hear the obvious changes in the music. ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ isn’t necessarily repetitive, nor does it bare anything redundant, but it’s dry riffs coming at you occasionally, and worst of all, the band doesn’t carry a massive aplomb, forcing the leashes to pull the aback.

Still, this EP wasn’t at all a bad experience – just one that didn’t leave its mark on my ear. Every band should excel at a certain element of metal, or a certain art of metal, and ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ simply gathers lots of various elements together and releases them in a violent surge, without actually being savvy in any of the elements used in the mixture. I’ll be glad to hear new material from these Bulgarians, but only if they can conjure a more dynamic, dexterous sound.

Highlights:

Metal Spell

A take To Cold

Rating: 77%

Vein - Crux Calvaria

Not dissimilar to the desolate King Diamond worshipping done is Sweden, Danish epic doom project Vein bring grievance and heft to the year with their debut EP, ‘’Crux Calvaria’’ a mournful  combination of melodic heavy metal, traditional doom, and a dash of epic power metal, a most compelling formula that fans of melancholic music should grasp quite quickly. The Danish trio consists of veterans, with some members being from newly blossoming power houses In Solitude and Procession.  With a heavy traditional heavy and doom metal scent lingering by in every riff, and musical complexity vaguely appearing amongst the massive monoliths of chunky riffs, ‘’Crux Calvaria’’ is a most promising release, although it lacks length.

With members of Procession and In Solitude, you can hear the beautiful density of the doom spectre take a mournful, and melody stirred edge, and for the most part of the songs, Vein will tend to keep music at a more dynamic pace, keeping the spikes sharp and the melodies crisp and tangibly soothing. When the music takes such a relaxing, though still heavy edge, many usually forgets the tiny bits and pieces that make up the strata of the EP, and if you listen carefully, you can hear subtle melodies slithering amongst the crushing chords – proof that the band has a lot of prowess. Riffs vary, as they take on different shapes throughout, so the guitar work is genuinely well done and robust, but Crux Calvaria also disserves an applause for the excellent drum adjustments. The beats keep the doom laden stomps constant, and the constant cymbal abusing sheds spectral rays of light upon the atmosphere, enhancing it.

The vocalist also sang in Procession, and there’s no surprise there because their soulful, despair laden approach makes the EP a whole lot richer, and just like the riffs, they sound like a mixture of classic Euro power metal vocalists and King Diamond, with a tinge of Candlesmass (or any other traditional/epic doom metal vocal style). ‘’Crux Calvaria’’ is exceedingly pleasing for such a young band, and I do hope that a debut full-length is not distant. The EP had no flaws for me, except for the fact that it was rather concise, but that’s not a problem to sob for.

Highlights:

Crux Calvaria

Out In Twilight

Rating: 85,5%

Sacred Gate - When Eternity Ends

Just like Swedish metal in general, I’ve always been fond of Germanic metal, since they seem to excel in many sub-genres, mustering some of the most efficient and influential groups in the world. They already brought a new level of savagery to thrash and death metal with the rise of Sodom and Kreator, polluted the black metal universe as we know it by bringing fourth an abundance of corpse painted church burners, and even the early German power/heavy scene has had a huge impact of the current scene. Sacred Gate, though, don’t really embrace the boundaries of originality whilst inserting goblets of monolithic power metal into the simply embroidered traditional heavy metal textures, and garnishing the base of their music with simple, but fluent melodies. Sacred Gate lean towards the traditional sense of heavy metal, deliberately omitting technicality and exploiting simple, chug laden riffs rather than forming a hard hitting iron fist to work diligently and to attain copiousness in complexity.

Yes, there’s no use of all the modern power metal traits here, but at least you can rely on the quality of the ‘’old school’’ term, because these Germans have obviously worked hard to create a fertile ground for the riffs to breathe. The frontal aura has been set nicely, I’ll admit, but when the main material comes on top of it, you really can’t feel much energy besides a few songs. As I said, the only thing that decorates the chords are plain, melancholic melodies, but even the riffs don’t look as if they were composed with great care. They’re catchy, and they suit the semi-high pitched chants of vocalist well when they’re under it, but besides that, they sort of drown among the drums and lead guitars due to their lack of spike and volume.

The first two tracks caught my attention easily as they’re catchy and the choruses are very memorable and made more dynamic with a sort of punk-esque power added to the rush of the chords. There are some brief moments that I enjoyed as well, but those moments are well… brief and outnumbered by the score of monotonous melody and chord progressions. ‘’Heaven Under Siege’’ is also a nice addition to the drudgy arsenal of riffs, offering a bit of a sombre spice to churn with the music, but other than that, many songs have been dragged for too long and at some moments it almost seems as if the band is scrambling for something a little different. Now, each song is solid enough, and I never yawned throughout, but I’m just saying that some variation would definitely be nice.

The drumming is decent I guess, nothing to special, but I do like the hefty, chubby bobs of the thick bass line, supporting the guitar tone quite a lot. All in all, it’s pretty obvious Sacred Gate have gathered the key elements to form a strong power/heavy formula, a strong voice, core heavy metal riffs and a catchy beat to add some spunk, so all they’ve got to do is to embrace their aspects and adorn them even more, improve them, if need be. They can stick to the old school formula for all I care, as long as they can make their music more dynamic, I’m totally content. Such a thing can happen as the members are already veterans and the band has the required potential, but ‘’When Eternity Ends’’ remains as more plain release, durable for some time, but it's far from eternal.

Highlights:

Creators Of The Downfall

Burning Wings

Vengeance 

Rating: 77,5%

Altar Of Oblivion - Salvation

Doom metal is not something I often encounter, but when there's some good doom around, you can bet I'll be up for chunks of it. The last doom record that I found absolutely pummeling and earth shaking was Anguish's ''Through The Archdemon's Head'', a tantalizing brutalizer of a stomping monolith of an album, and it was dark, intense, intricate and massive, bestirred masterfully, and although these Danish doomers make their doom quite hefty and powerful, it still tends to differ with the huge traditional heavy metal influence lingering about. I'm mentioning Anguish because I found them incredibly effective but these two releases aren't necessarily parallel to each other. Anguish is dark and cryptic while Altar is much more epic and melancholic for that sense, and Altar manages to perfect the ponderous chugs while keeping the speed at a moving mid paced level, but Anguish inserts tons of cuts into their music, sounding sludgy rather than moving.

With five songs (in which one of them is a two minute somber interlude) ranging at thirty minutes, the ''Salvation'' Ep is more of an album than an Ep. I suppose they didn't bother searching for a more original album cover though I'm quite content with the huge cross amid the dark grey sky, seething bitter despair and sorrow as it stands there. As stated, Altar Of Oblivion explores the epic portion of doom metal, roots deeply  planted in the heart of the likes of Candlemass, Saint Vitus, etc. I just loved the combination of traditional heavy metal and epic doom metal, but I'm bot certain if it was the boxy, oppressing production quality that rendered the music so gravitating, or Altar's stellar execution, but either way, I can't seem to find anything in this to scoff at as subdued, mournful doom metal has always been something that I adored. Like most bands to enhance their music with that whole ''epic'' touch, the atmosphere becomes boundlessly cloudy and epic during the chorus sections, adorned with sparse and rich melodies coming from under. ''Salvation'' also has a crucial implement to support the music; a thick guitar tone much like the production quality, only even more crushing.

The great thing is, the moods and tempos are linked together so there's no sudden change of speed like other  [metal genre]-doom hybrids. This allows the album to move cautiously and sequentially, and the pace of the music is always kept low, channeling between mid paced chugs or completely drowning doom metal riffs. Well, at least for the majority songs. The title track gets a little bit more spunk at the back and keeps things fresher and faster than before even though it's still bound to the classic formula of the Ep with iron shackes and chains. The main idea here is obvious; Altar Of Oblivion implant tons of traditional heavy metal aesthetics into their enjoyable brand of epic doom metal, and while at basis their music is simply crafted and plainly garnished, it shows that both punishing crushers and melodies of sorrowful pulchritude can coexist at the same time. This doom, is true beauty and true traditional doom, a hefty slab of epic metal you won't forget so easily. It's impact is still palpable on me.

Highlights:
The Believers In The Mist
The Narrow Gates Of Emptiness


Rating: 86,5%

Follow the doom n' gloom masters from Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Altar-of-Oblivion/139296410507

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%

Power Theory - An Axe To Grind

Power Theory are another classic heavy metal band who incorporate different influences into their music to spice it up, even though the elements they add are never sufficient to wholly improve or flourish their sound. Despite this, they manage to produce a fine brand of original power metal driven heavy metal with tons of catchy riffs and hooks spawning from both sides of the album, and most importantly, they bring a sort of classy, semi-abysmal edge to their metal. The intricacy of the music is definitely not the main attraction here as the riffs aren't technically driven,but I even here some classic speed/thrash a la Megadeth and alike, and so long as the dynamics are kept at an adequately satisfying level, anyone can enjoy this.

Most of the accents pass through the vast maelstrom of tremolo pickings, so you feel as if you're travelling on some speed train for the majority of the record. The riffs aren't really malleable as they don't hold an incredibly innovating sound, but at least they don't blunder and mess around, because they're decisive and well crafted, striking the listener with solid punches every time. Power Theory have clearly worked well on making robust passages and solid bridges to link the riffs together, so whilst focusing on the connectors they probably omitted quality and distinction from the riffs a little, or maybe they just wanted to stick with plain, jumpy riffs, and either way, I'm content with their work as a well balanced song always beats a collection of stellar riffs. Many of the riffs give harsh clouts on the listener's face as I said, so complaining about quality just won't do. One thing that I found queer is that most of the energy on ''An Axe To Grind'' isn't exposed normally, but that's probably me. With a slightly evil touch enhancing the riffs, I'd say Power Theory gets fed by the vivacity hidden under the cloudy veil of darkness.

The vocals are a different experience too as far as traditional heavy/power is speculated. They're semi-evil just like the riffs, and they certainly don't bring much of a high-pitched, epic heavy metal taste to the album, usually taking on a lower voice with some rasps here and there. Another notable mention, is the drum work. I wasn't actually very impressed by the beats that the drummer laid, but the drums have a nice ambiance to them and they're clean and groovy all the way; that's good enough for me.The title track and ''Colossus'' have the sensationally catchy and sharp sound that you're lucking for in your heavy metal,  ''A Fist In The Face Of God'' is vicious incursion of speedy riffs, and the near-eight minute mid paced mayhem that is ''Deceiver'' keeps the momentum at a steady level by displaying some ultimately thrash chomps and stomps. ''And Axe To Grind'' ins't a release that you could dispute for hours, so just shut up and enjoy the damn music.

Highlights:
Deceiver
An Axe To Grind
Colossus


Rating: 82%

Dawnbringer - Into The Lair Of The Sun God

Lately, a new trend in traditional heavy metal has been occurring. Traditional heavy metal bands started to feed themselves with different influences from bands and styles you wouldn't even expect, and now, scores of bands have tried incorporating queer twists into their simplistic approach to music. Also, Profound Lore Records, one of my favorite metal labels of the now has been signing particularly bizarre and original bands. What do you get when you fuse Profound Lore with heavy metal oddity? You get Dawnbringer. Although I have not been able to investigate their album ''Nucleus'' closely enough, I do high hopes for the band as their fifth effort ''Into The Lair Of The Sun God'' proves to be an unanticipated blow, an inviting, innovative mixture of traditional heavy metal, thrash, early power metal aesthetics along with an atmospheric black metal touch, in order to exude memorability, and much needed adoption of warm, cleansed heavy metal overtones.

''Into The Lair Of The Sun God'' has a penchant of using queer chords and less common scales, which makes it quite a bit of an oddball in the traditional heavy metal universe. It has a relatively vast and comprehensively mournful collection of tinging melodies and such, with slower, mellow clean guitar and bass sequences usually dominating breaks. Listening to this is enjoyable because the album shows little signs of predictability, so you don't really know what's about to come when, and with such a nice, alluring selection of classic heavy metal riffs and melodious arrays of soft solos, it's hard to reject each riffs when they come knocking at your doorstep. Each track has its hands tightly around the other ones' tail, so the whole album goes on like a train as the songs follow each other, and with such obvious song titles like ''V'' (Roman numbers), you may b a little rattled and confused when you need to distinguish the songs at first. Fortunately, none of the tracks are lacklusters, and each one proves to be vital to the rest of the album.

The Archives dubbed Dawnbringer as heavy metal with heavy metal influences. Now, this is the sort of moment where you expect something chaotic, but at the same time dynamic, but ''Into The Layer'' swings its arm for another slab into the face, and you're left baffled when you can't seem to even find the vaguest of clues. You'll really need to inspect the aura and aspects of the music thoroughly if you want to find something palpable, but fear not, for your search will reveal a few dim results. The so called black metal influences are speckled across and around diverse tremolo pickings or even in sequences much more blatant like the sorrowful chord strums on ''V''. For such a misery laden album I found the delivery to be especially and the production to be warm and inviting, just like the yellow sunburst on its cover.

Ranging at forty four minutes, from outside ''Into The Layer'' would seem like a rather exhausting ride, but its spiking, vigorous riffs and well adjusted dynamics are always in play (or at least for a requited amount), so you'll be refreshed with a new breath of air and a cooling splash in the face with each track. The vocals tend to give out lots of monotony due to to their low delivery (unlike other heavy metal aspects), and that's a really interesting feature of the record. As I said, tracks vary, with ''IV'' and ''II'' being some of my favorites, but there are some truly queer twists the band can pull at times. ''VI'', for example. Its intro riff sounded catchy enough, with much treble given into it, but the real surprise came when that riff escalated into drum-guitar chomp with a synthesizer melody narrating it. So overall, ''Into The Layer Of The Sun God'' ought to be awarded with an accolade for keeping itself fresh and accessible throughout, and for the near-perfect execution of classy, soft, delicate music. It's not a grotesquery of metal, but it's a fun oddity for certain.

Highlights:
II
IV
V

Rating: 88%

Wishdoom - Helepolis

Epic war has always been a favored theme in metal, though with recent bands focusing on blasphemy or gore and death, it has been undoubtedly thrown to the background, and although I see little or no bands pushing it towards its once mighty glory, Greece's Wishdoom appear to actually enjoy this epic, most glorious brand of traditional heavy metal more than others, and they've even turned their musical direction towards the lyrical themes. Wishdoom are entitled as heavy/doom, and I can't really agree on that when subtle, heavy riffs are played in a viscous, energetic manner, but it's blatant that their formula is much more than just a combination of doom and heavy metal. It's quite normal if you feel as if you're being towered by the almighty siege tower Helepolis as the music flows, and you feel as if you're encircled by Greek soldiers, spears and arrows flying everywhere while catapults fling rocks and rams batter against the wooden gates of Rhodes.

That being said, I fear most of Wishdoom's concept and adoration for fantasy and ancient warcraft in another product to keep listeners engaged and baffled, but as the album progresses this distraction loses its efficiency and listener is left face to face with the not-so-intricate riffing. The riffs are not necessarily boring, but besides w few tracks that truly stand out, they can't seem to catch a good amount of attention for the entire momentum of the album, but thankfully, they do tend to bear sublime heft and a crystal clear cloak containing them, and with the additional boast of the thumping drum beats, the simple textures emblazon themselves with a somewhat rich, compact sound. There are myriads of riffs, each similar to the one before, but I can't seem to dislike their robust execution. Glimmering melodies crawl surreptitiously while chunky mid paced stomps smash in the background, and Wishdoom keen on embracing the triumphant and epic edge of metal, pushing it towards the limits, thus, they've proved that with the substantial usage of atmospheric choris and synthesizers. All of these riffs don an armor of glory and glorious victory, shining, gleaming on the golden shields of the warriors.

The vocalist has a strong voice perhaps not exceedingly high-pitched but strong and forceful all the same, and he does play huge role whilst churning elements of doom and epic heavy metal together. The drums have acquired a plentiful amount of space in the mix as their presence is always felt, and their battering effect is persistent just like the momentous riffs; and with the war drums place, the siege is guaranteed to be a victory. Even though their features are poorly distinguished the tracks often vary among themselves; the title track is favorite of mine, its gloriously crafted structure adorned with additional elements with a chorus that reeks of victory, while ''Zeus The Thunderer'' is is a much more moving affair, giving out a classy combo of melodic riffs and jumpy solos, and ''Up The Hammers'' is the ultimate sound track of an army pushing against the walls of a besieged city. ''Helepolis'' is an original release even though it's not wholly innovative, and it's enjoyable, and the whole album is the sound track to victory. Next time you're besieging a city, be sure to take a copy of ''Helepolis'' to boast the morale of your men.

Highlights:
Crystal World
Helepolis
Up The Hammers


Rating: 84,5%

Skelator - Agents Of Power

With a few twists and a warmer, more inviting production quality, Skelator's ''Agents Of Power'' could be a considerable alternative to the ample wave of Swedish traditional heavy metal bands, injecting a healthy dose thrashy speed metal and the epic atmosphere of power metal. Musically, Skelator resemble the mish mash of many bands, linked together in some way. Manowar, Manilla Road, Iron Maiden, and even some 70's Judas Priest worship, blatant in the spiking vivacity of certain riffs. Skelator also adopt a certain theme, apparently fantastic themes (whom I'm not familiar with) that enhance the whole ''Enchanting'' effect of power metal. There are moments where you'll notice the cheesiness of USPM with a slightly more serious touch, but all in all these are the influences and elements that ''Agents Of Power'' deal with, and thus, simplistic elements and aspects are brought together, dotted with original spices and then presented to the listener, plain but memorable.

Melodious leads usually guide the riffs along, as they are inviting and even slightly hefty and chubby, rendering the distortion less effective, but grooving gallops and thrashy chugs also burst in frequently, so the listener is left in between, harmonious melodies and plainer, rougher textures of thrash-driven riffs, which have a cool, almost cavernous resonance to them. Skelator are certainly not trying to be incredibly vigorous or spiking all the time here, but the first couple of tracks are usually dominated by more dynamic sequences with the vocalist attaining a high-pitched voice and the guitars often channeling between harmony laden, semi technical riffs and harsher chords. The vocals shift into different styles in different moments, for example, they make take on a more alluring tone during mellow passages or soft interludes, or a rather evil grin like on certain intros, or during instrumental breaks, where they vilely chuckle. There's actually plenty of contrast on the album if you listen carefully, but they're all chained to the same root.

The first two tracks, the title song and ''Gates Of Thorbadin'' are almost fully attached to boundless energy, but with ''Dream Dictator'' which ranges at over six minutes, a speed limit restrains substantial liveliness and boredom may strike here and there, though overall it's a decent track, and not mention that the verse section sounds like an almost exact copy of Jag Panzer's ''Cardiac Arrest'', only richer in melodies. ''Agents Of Power'' is polished and squeaky clean, forming a natural basis for the upcoming array of riffs from the start. I really had little to complain about, even though sometimes breaks lingered for too long and the whole album in total may not be extremely original, but with an impressive gathering of speed, power and heavy metal, Skelator both embrace the old school feel and execute ripe, delicate music almost perfectly so there you have it, something to both give you goosebumps and to accompany you to a good night's sleep. It's mature, fertile and its an impressive combination of speed, melody and good musicianship, so fans ought to watch out, this dynamite may bloom into a global epic speed/heavy explosion.

Highlights:
Agents Of Power
Rhythm Of The Chain
Gates Of Thorbadin


Rating: 83,5%

RAM - Death

RAM are actually growing more and more popular with each release, and they could actually be dubbed as one of the leaders in the sudden blast of Swedish heavy metal bands. Their sound is quite similar to the sound of their fellow countrymen Portrait, In Solitude and Trial. Their growing popularity is probably one thing that renews and replenishes their quality, and now that they're signed to Metal Blade Records, you'd expect them to act with more caution and produce even better material then before, maintaining the solidity of their music. I can't really say this whether this is a step back or an improvement compared to the previous album, but I couldn't really feel the whole of RAM's potential bursting out of its veins. They've definitely cultivated the might and power of their riffs and they've found perfect old school traditional heavy metal spot to land their music to, but other than those aspects, this album isn't flawless.

For a start, many tracks can't really attain a distinguished sound, but I suppose the sharp delivery of the vocals and shrewd drumming makes up for those minor gaps. Yes, if you're into pure energy and power then for the most part, ''Death'' may be a good fit for you, but for listeners who delicately investigate every single detail and aspect, then the album may not be that near to excellence. Tracks like ''Defiant'' or ''Release'' me are your one way tickets to a time ride going back to the late 70's and early to mid 80's, having a certain accent and some Judas Priest worshiping done right. Once the groovy riffs are nailed right they sound absolutely great, chunky, catchy chugs and gallops accompanied with thumping drum beats from behind and maybe an occasional melody lingering about, boasting the velocity and energy of the riffs. RAM have definitely captured that old school heavy metal sound, but when it comes to projecting it perfectly on every aspect and keeping the whole balance of the album even, the band does have a few gaps here and there that eventually start to eat through the good bits of the album. Some highlights are left gnawed and slightly eroded due to the big flaw when linking together two separate sections in songs, but fortunately the gnawing and biting scarcely effects the overall performance of the album.

There are some truly stellar stand out tracks on the album like ''Defiant'' or ''Flame Of The Tyrants'' that are tracks which definitely should capture a good number of traditional heavy metal dorks right away, and I'm not even omitting the thrash laden intro assault on ''...Comes From The Mouth Beyond'', but I feel the biggest gap on this album is the number of unnecessary riffing and sequences that bind other riffs together. ''Frozen'' speaks for itself, its monotonous chugging and desolate clean arpeggio sections lead by an array of classy mini solos should almost be reminiscent of the 80's doom metal sound, with a tinge of classic heavy metal, obviously. The musicianship doesn't make me gape, but the nice combination multiple, simple aspects can bind together at times to form something that's fairly intricate. The vocals are strong and ear shattering all the same, and their presence is always noted, never agitating, so it covers a large portion on the negative qualities that the album possesses. Had more songs like ''Release Me'' or ''Defiant'' been made, then the album could have surely risen to larger heights, but right now, what it already present is very good, and still leaves many modern heavy metal bands running for their money.

Highlights:
Defiant
Release Me
Flame Of The Tyrants


Rating: 83,5%

Steelwing - Zone Of Alienation

I suppose many of you are already aware of the expanding mass of Swedish traditional heavy metal bands, aside from the turbulent assault of Swedeath monsters. The scene never seems to dwindle and with every new band it grows stronger, even more robust then before, and this overgrowing tumor of bands also boasts the quality of older bands, thus giving birth to an abundance of quality bands. Steelwing made a strong enough appearance with the release of their debut ''Lord Of The Wasteland'', and while their sophomore may not be able to surpass the mark that the debut had set for itself, the sophomore still manages to come close. For people who have little idea of what Steelwing sound like, allow me to briefly explain. Steelwing have the obvious traits of heavy metal, and obvious influences that should bring Maiden and Priest to the mind of many. While they sound a lot like the acknowledged masters, Steelwing still bring a fair amount of melody and their own differing twists and turns into the music, creating something that's still relatively diverse yet succinct and comprehensible by pretty much any listener.

''Zone Of Alienation'' doesn't explore many various elements, and perhaps keeping the music a little too concise may have been a mistake, but in during the collision of harmonious melodies and catchy riffs, one scarcely notices the lack of creativity. Plus, you have to admit, this is music that just sounds better when its plain and not very complex, so I can't really deduct points from the band for sounding simple. I'll still persist on my opinion time to time, but all the positive factors of this album would easily cover up my theories. ''Zone Of Alienation'' is lyrically driven towards themes associated with space and all things alien, while the music is simply a soothing gust of wind that's flurried in a soft way, but at the same time slightly assorted in its own terms, repeatedly shifting between various tempos and styles that are all riffs that could be easily found on classic heavy metal releases, only offering a few peculiar attributes. Most tracks have the typical verse-bridge-chorus structures, plain but very enjoyable and memorable nonetheless, and chorus sequences are usually boasted with that epic power/heavy touch with long duration power chords flying around the high pitched vocals soaring over everything -- a beautiful sight.

The good thing about the album is that it's relaxed and never too serious so that it can have the same sort of effect on the listener, chilling his/her mind, and there's no desperate foraging or search for a crucial sound, so the band doesn't fail miserably while trying to attain something utterly different and complex. I love how spate, harmonious guitars linger around shortly along with the soft, chord driven passages. Steelwing is not a group that's up for violent, forceful music, and you should just let the gentle music ooze viscously and effortlessly, with no display of showing great force. Certain sections of ''The Running Man'' and ''Tokkotai (Wind Of Fury)'' are relatively rapid and spiky, while ''Full Speed Ahead'' is a song that's one with its name, showing some serious speed/heavy badassery and incredibly dynamic riffs, both strong and melodic, and the ten minute mega-chain ''Lunacy Rising'' links together everything that has already been offered on the album with almost unnoticeable, brief passages.

Steelwing did a bloody decent job with their sophomore effort, damn near to their astonishing debut. I hope that the waves of bands that come after this are just as good as Steelwing, for if they are the blossoming heavy metal scene in Sweden will suddenly turn into a bountiful treasure of bands. Steelwing are very good at what they do bringing all the common aspects of heavy metal then offering them in the best way possible, but the good thing is, there are scores of bands that play their metal very similar to Steelwing, and unless you didn't like this, you would torturing yourself by not listening to these other groups such as Katana, Portrait, In Solitude, Trial and many more. I'm almost ascertain that that these bands will continue to go ''Full Speed Ahead'', exhaling the enamoured sound of the 80's with ease.

Highlights:
Zone Of Alienation
Lunacy Rising
Full Speed Ahead


Rating: 87%

Katana-Storms Of War

Anyone acquainted with the current metal trends should know that that Sweden tops off many other rivals when it comes to producing the best material, and recently the great tide of Swedeath monsters have also been boasted by an additional force of traditional heavy metal bands, In Solitude, Portrait, Steelwing and Trial to be some of them. With so many bands forming an thick blockade, it would be naturally a hard task to surpass the quality of all the other bands, but Katana seems like a band that shows promise. I can't really scoff at the waves of traditional heavy metallers, even though they come in abundance and repetition is inevitable in each one of these bands, but lots of bands have tasty and fresh sound to them, rendering all the doppelganging almost useless. Katana is one of these bands. I haven't collided with their debut before, and I enjoy the more traditional, somber side of heavy metal more than this style, but Katana still manages to cut through your flesh.

Just the cover art, and the band name tells what Katana is all about. Samurai, Asian tales and wars and of course, the decisive slash of the katana. In each song, the band is obviously telling tales, and the story progresses thus gradually comes to a conclusion as the song ends. The stories are a good way to keep the listener entertained, so that he/she can swiftly channel between classic NWOBHM galloping chord sequences and soaring vocals as well as some classy shredding solos that never fail to garnish the music. I love that there's always something spiky, something dynamic around the corner. The riffs are composed using simple aesthetics, but they display substantial amount of groove and catchiness and they're hard-hitting effect is also backed up by the force of the vocals. The vocals principally act as a guider, a narrator to tell the tales picked up from the the seven corners of earth, but at the same time, they're a mighty force of their own, an ear-shattering experience once they're set to their max, and although I've heard many heavy and power metal singers that soar on top of their lungs and excel in epic, melodic moments, vocalist Johan Bernspang really stands out for some unknown reason. Naturally, the riffs have a hint of technicality even though it's nothing mind blowing, and headbang-friendly speed/heavy metal tremolo pickings pop up every once in a while, adding a refreshing ferocity to the music.

I don't know whether I can appreciate this form of traditional heavy metal to the fullest, but Katana definitely did a fine job, and many songs have a subtle diversity to them, giving the album color and aroma in a bountiful measure. For example, ''Wrath Of The Emerald Witch'' is one ridiculously catchy track in particular, having both versatile riffs and having an extremely memorable verse-chorus structure that even mainstream people can get a hang of easily, ''Khubilai Khan'' offers a more melodic sound with more epic moments rather than striking moments and I just can seem to stop listening to the vigorous bursts coming from the group vocal attacks on ''City On The Edge Of Forever'', a stimulating experience. Many people are probably engulfing themselves in the vast majority of Swedish death metal ghouls, or perhaps other heavy metal bands coming from Sweden, but heed my words, because Katana is a band that ought to be contemplated with. ''Storms Of War'' is a good album, and I hope Katana can conjure up even better material for the upcoming album, so that the katana's next blow will be more decisive, more deadly.

Highlights:
Wrath Of The Emerald Witch
Khubilai Khan
City On The Edge Of Forever


Rating: 84%

Follow the Swedes on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KatanaOfficial

Trial-The Primordial Temple

It seems that the sudden burst of Swedish death metal bands has also evoked a cool Swedish heavy metal scene consisting from bands such as Portrait, In Solitude, Ghost and the most recent member; Trial. This new wave of heavy metal bands that hail from Sweden bring a different spice to the typical sound of heavy metal, thus creating a different brand. While still having the same dynamic feel of catchy bands, Trial and the aformentioned bands add more melody and feel to their music, rendering the atmopshere moody and rather saddening, sometimes even leaning towards doomier tendencies.

It's a great thing that Trial emphasizes on the atmopshere and moods of the music rather than just directly focusing on the catchiness of the riffs. The riffs tend to get more complex than typical heavy metal bands, though still pretty comprehensible. Every instrument has its moment of catching the highlight on the album, so that no instrument is shunned or left behind. There is a wide range of moods and feelings on the album that really alternate within each track, though some tracks may even fuse multiple feelings and sounds together in order to create ultimately epic moments. Every track is stellar in its own way, and each attain a different style, a different taste. ''Flaming Fate'' and ''The Sorceress' Command'' are truely vigorous tracks that are filled with passion and energy while the title track favours more somber moments, leaning towards that doom influence I was talking about a little more than the other tracks and ''Opener Of The Way'' has a darker edge to it, nonetheless still very dynamic and authentic the whole way through.

The most striking feature of ''The Primordial Temple'' is, for me atleast, the vocals. The vocal delivery is outstanding. Some people state that they aren't powerful of energetic enough-well they can go to hell. Not only can the vocalist scream his lungs out like a shreiking banshee, but he can also compliment every riff very well, channeling through different styles as the riffs vary, and how the vocals blend into the instrumentation is amazing. People probably complain about the vocal delivery due to the irregular usage of the soaring banshee screams. Well, I think its a better idea to reveal the goodies at seldom, so that the listener keeps running for it with voracious desire to overgorge, instead of offering spot-on highlights on every section of the album, which will gradually start to bore the listener. The leads are just as killer and crucial as the vocals, since there's a crazy lead trapped in the bones of every song, waiting to be exposed. It's just insane. There's a fresh solo under every rock that the album encounters on its way and the album spots many, many rocks. The fast, power-chord driven are flourished with huge harmonies soaring on top of them, and eventually the melody and sound attained by all the music becomes so intense that an epic feel becomes innevitable.

The album is pure old school heavy metal with all the features that heavy metal had in the 80's, and even more. Moods vary, riffs get your headbanging face on, vocals soar on top of everything and leads rip with harmony all the way trough. I just hope that such a promising band like Trial won't die unnoticed, because it that does happen, I would be very unhappy. Now that a new wave of Swedish bands have started their assault, the ears of metalheads will be tinging even more, particularly fans of traditional heavy metal. ''The Primordial Temple'' may have its peculiarities compared to the most typical kind, but that certainly doesen't mean that the music is worse.

Highlights:
Opener Of The Way
The Sorceress' Command
Flaming Fate

Rating: 91%

Hyborian Steel-Blood, Steel And Glory

After dealing with waves of pervasive death and thrash metal bands, I thought I'd try something different. No doubt, Hyborian Steel provided me with such a thing. Hyborian combine the heroicism of power metal with the ridicolous jumpiness of heavy metal in order to form ''Epic Power Metal'', something which you don't see quite often. Indeed at first, ''Blood, Steel and Glory'' had an amazingly epic feel, roaming over the warfaric lyrics and atmosphere to add additional spunk. Repeatedly slitening to this record enables the listener to finally comprehend the atmopshere, and finally come to cunclusion that Hyborian Steel's style is also quite pervasive, but it's just so fun to toy with that one can simply not care.

The music reflects the lyrics quite excellently, providing both a heroic and barbaric sound for the listener to acquire. The vocals, which may seem irritative and annoying at first actually make up the key bases of the album, adding a tremendous backbone to the album, and thus not only allowing the riffs to sound epic, but also giving omnipotency to the music to increase effectiveness during accents. Most of the songs deal around more epic and comprehensible structures, covering the music with thick epicness and decorating the riffs with harmonically inclining lead sections. So many guitars gather around in the solos that the music turns into ''happy metal'' all of a sudden, the climax of epicness. Of course, nobody said that the music would be all cakes and lollipop. ''Acqilonian Battlecry'' leans slightly towards the more barbaric side of power metal, with its striking riffs, herpic breakdowns and thanks to the atmosphere which acts like a battle scene. But the real track that attains the barbaric sound is ''the Mountain Of Crom'', a vicious track it is, especially during its first half, the song purely concentrates on all things savage and warfaric about power metal. After some time, the spikes of savagery do melt down slightly, but I could only care. The band have also put a versatike cover of Cirith Ungol's ''War Eternal'', that just follows a very similar path as the band.

The vocals are annoying even though they are supportive, and that's all I can point out. The delivery of the music on ''Blood, Steel and Glory'' is magnificent, especially during the first few songs. If you are hunting for something different than the widespread sound of death, thrash and black, then I can't seem to understand why you wouldn't want this album. Safely combines power with heavy, supports the structure and accent at all times, provides an epic atmosphere and inserts in so much melody that sometimes I cease to comprehend the mash up of notes. A new wave of heavy metal bands are coming your way, and with bands such as Midnight and Hyborian Steel leading the front row, there's no stopping this contemptous wave of invading heavy metal monsters.

Highlights:
Aquilonian Battlecry
The Mountain of Crom
The Black Hand Of Set
(The Cirith Ungol cover is great too but not an original)

Rating: 83,5%