Four years since their last album, and their first with new guitarists Tommy Gentry, British metal band The Raven Age return with new album Blood Omen. The Essex band are now on their third and they know how important a third album is, often it’s the one that defines your legacy (see: Master Of Puppets / Number Of The Beast), so they will be going all out to make sure Blood Omen is not only their best album so far, but the best representation of what they do. They now have a wealth of experience touring with some of the biggest names in rock and metal so let’s see if this has affected their compositions on Blood Omen. The lore of The Raven King is still the concept that drives this album, hinted at on the predecessor, on this record they firmly establish the character and the storyline, interspersing it with it links to the world we live in but wrapping it all up in their heaviest material.
Featuring again by Matt Hyde’s booming production skill, a guest guitar solo from FFDP’s Andy James and noted British cellist Audrey Riley, Blood Omen has the potential to be that ‘definitive’ album in The Raven Age’s career. Parasite gets the heavy locked in early, crunchy riffs from George Harris and Tommy Sentry, the new boy (though he’s played for them in 2015) flexes his muscles on the killer solos that feature on this record, you can hear his classical training and the experience gained from British metal legend KK Downing. The twin axe attack of Turned To Stone, out of the Trivium, BFMV, Maiden handbook. Harris and bassist Matt Cox lock in for gallops, grooves and emotional sections such as on the quieter bit of Essence Of Time, they bring a lot of power to these tracks, elevating it all to the next step in their evolution as a band.
The drumming of Jai Patel is noteworthy as he makes the songs sound huge from a percussive point of view taking the lead on the moments where they have to go all out but then beating out the anthemic parts to tracks such as Nostradamus or Forgive & Forget. The latter one of many instances where Matt James’ defines his place as an excellent singer, the emotion he rings out on The Journey had me forming a little tear, especially with the swelling strings behind it. Having taken a slower, stripped back on their lockdown EP, Blood Omen is a full bore heavy rock record, bristling with modernity, massive anthems and a maturity that comes from passion and drive. So is Blood Omen the album that defines The Raven Age’s legacy? Emphatically yes. Hail The Raven King! 9/10
Bloodbound - Tales From The North (AFM Records) [Richard Oliver]
There isn’t a subgenre in the world of heavy metal that causes as much division as power metal. It truly is a love it or hate it style of music and fans of the genre are passionate and devoted whilst naysayers are very vocal in their dislike or pure hatred of it. I’m firmly in the love it camp and despite having a more extreme taste in metal, power metal just hits the sweet spot when I want something lighthearted and fun but with all the tropes of heavy metal that I adore.
Europe is the heartland of power metal and whilst a good percentage of the bands come from Germany, Sweden has its fair share of power metal goodness including the subject of this review Bloodbound who have been a solid source of fist pumping, fantasy based power metal with Tales From The North being the tenth album from the band. Lyrically this is a deviation for the band with the fantasy themes being replaced with tales of Vikings and Norse mythology. It is a theme that is done to death by countless other bands but it is all about the songs and Tales From The North is chock full of some absolute belters.
The album starts in roaring style with the fast-paced title track which hurtles along but is bursting at the seams with huge melodies and humongous hooks and really sets the scene for the rest of the album. Being a Viking themed album, there is an inclusion of folk melodies which can be heard throughout in songs such as The Raven’s Cry and 1066 but you also get songs which are just big, dumb and fun such as Drink With The Gods and Sword And Axe’. The highlights for me are those songs which mix speed and power with huge cheesy melodies with the massive Land Of Heroes being a clear favourite.
Bloodbound are on fantastic form with Tales From The North and the Norse mythology theme does really work with their Euro power metal sound. The performances from the band are top notch and the album is fantastically produced and mixed bringing forth the big sound associated with power metal. If you already despise power metal then this album is only going to ignite that hatred but if you already have a love of cheesy metal sounds then Tales From The North is definitely worth your time.
Bloodbound are on fantastic form with Tales From The North and the Norse mythology theme does really work with their Euro power metal sound. The performances from the band are top notch and the album is fantastically produced and mixed bringing forth the big sound associated with power metal. If you already despise power metal then this album is only going to ignite that hatred but if you already have a love of cheesy metal sounds then Tales From The North is definitely worth your time.
It is not a groundbreaking album by any means and is at times a very typical European power metal album but the songs and performances are at an incredible level and the album will provide some much needed escapism from reality. Another very solid release from a band that nearly always delivers. 9/10
Struck/Down - To Witches (Self Released) [Manos Sideris]Struck/Down’s newest effort is the EP To Witches. The unsigned 5-piece band out of Canterbury, England describe themselves as groove metallers and they sure enclose riffs in this EP that will make your head move even unintentionally at times. But first, a shout out to all unsigned metallers chasing their dreams!
The Enforcer kickstarts the EP with a nice riff in 3/4 time signature giving way to the band’s newest single Nephilim, with another devastating riff and the clever use of sub-harmonic booms and gang vocals adding magnitude to the song. The two first tracks are probably the high points of this EP. No Value begins eerily and its clean verses provide a nice break from the distorted sound of the first two songs, as it builds into a more adventurous second part. Tyranny Hellride’s intro riff ranks among the heaviest of the EP while the song contains more nasty riffs and breakdowns as it reaches its conclusion. The last track is Son Of The Unburnt Witch, which provides more shiny riffage and heaviness before reaching to a bit of a melodic interlude just before it ends.
Hard and heavy riffs seem to be the power of Struck/Down. These tend to flow freely in this EP. Production is very solid with every instrument clearly heard while the mix feels balanced with enough bass but not too much muddiness. Also, Twyman’s vocals and his use of sometime unusual melodic lines increase the originality factor for the band. Despite all the above, Struck/Down are not reinventing the wheel here. Unfortunately they leave too much food on the table as their songs often times seem similar with one another, lacking hooky chord progressions and some sing along melodies.
They do have the groove and the riffs down though, and if they incorporate more elements in their songwriting process they are sure going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future 7/10
Metide - Erebos (Black Lion Records) [Mark Young]
Just recently I’ve had the pleasure of listening to a number of albums where the song lengths have been certainly excessive. Erebos, from Italy’s Metide opening three songs come in at a combined length of 32 minutes and I’ll be straight up honest, my heart sank.
Luckily these boys came armed with the riffs and some top-class ideas that they have forged into some amazing tunes. These songs just don’t stand still with a constant state of motion that builds and builds.
Acheron builds ambient noise twinned with guitar and drums and sets the tone early driving forward with an often mesmeric but heavy monster of a thing. Its runtime passing by the smart use of balance and dynamic attack that has a sense of motion (which I’ll mention again later) that means starting with that atmos shoegaze on Lethe the music ebbs and flows like a river as it finds its own level, taking its sweet time to hit that heavy sweet spot. The song feels like a cycle of rebirth as they go back to that lighter start. I know that sometimes this is used as a conceit but within the context of this song it just sits right. There are some excellent atmos touches, swelling backing vocals, the balance is spot on here and they are really hitting it home on the strength of this and Acheron.
Keeping it on that front foot, Styx continues by evoking an epic journey, taking some cues from old school Mastodon in that epic feel and build. This sounds like a tale from mythology in crossing the river Styx, in pursuit of a legend and then they drop Cocytus Giving us an industrial / Nine Inch Nails affair which just flips things on its head and acts as a palate cleanser before Phlegethon kicks in which comes at you like its part 2 of Styx. Its just good, that constant movement front and centre which doesn’t allow your interest to drop off and keeps you engaged.
Finally, Erebos, starting off with a simple piano passage set against background screams as a sound as dense comes in with a spoken refrain over the top (in Italian) which signifies the end of the journey and the album. This does mean that it ends on a slightly flat note, because after the majesty of Cocytus you really wanted a barnstorming finish, and you don’t get it from it, and it is a shame. Had this been switched to allow them to close out with Phlegethon then the rating would have been higher, as it is this is worthy of your time and a well executed 7/10
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