Genre - Heavy Metal
1. Creature of Desire
2. Final Spell
3. Seven Golden Ships
4. Call of the Road
Just look at that cover, if that
doesn't instill you with confidence from the outset then you're a
lost fucking cause. Visigoth are a relatively new band hailing from
the heavy metal wasteland of Utah, and coming at a period when it
appears the latest traditional metal revival trend is slowly winding
down, are an absolute breath of fresh air to these ears. Fair enough,
as far as finding originality goes, especially in the traditional
metal scene these days is about as fruitful as pissing up a rope but
when it's performed as well as this, who the fuck needs originality?
Final Spell is the band's
second release after their decent enough demo Vengeance
from 2010, and where it was set firmly in barefaced doom laden
Omen territory,
Final Spell has all
the characteristics and glint
of a band who have finally 'found' their sound, where much bigger and
better things inevitably await.
So
they have abandoned the epic, pounding US style for more traditional
style of flat out heavy metal with a strong aroma of Euro power
metal, much like countrymen Twisted Tower Dire, in fact so much so
Final Spell is what
their last album
could
have sounded like without the
scourge of Johnny Aune. At
times the similarities are uncanny and especially on “Call of the
Road” which bears a striking semblance to Make it Dark,
sound a bit more than coincidental, still I guess there are worse
bands you could sound like. Jake's
vocals are
what really bring these tracks to life though, and imagine my
surprise when I discovered this was the same voice behind the
Agalloch worship act Gallowbraid. The tenacity
and conviction with which he
tears through the vocal melodies present on Final Spell
is astounding.
“Creature
of Desire”, an anthem
to metal's favorite
two wheeled warrior
machine has
all the echoes of early Hammerfall and Priest with its sublime vocal
harmonies, rolling riffs
and spiraling guitar leads making
the only place you want to be
is hitting
the highway with wind
in your hair and metal coursing through your veins. The title track
raises the bar even higher with it's criss crossing Maiden-esque
shred and high tempo drumming, and when Jake nails that final scream
you can't help but feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up,
even
Halford himself would
be proud. I cannot stress enough how strong the vocals are here, the
polished production really does them justice.
I'd liken them to Rain Irving
from While Heaven Wept or even Harry Conklin if I had to chose anyone. “Seven Golden
Ships” has a imposing crunch to the riffing in it, the guitars
noticeably heavier but no less effective.
Closer “Call of the Road” is more of a straight forward
infectious 'rocker' for want of a better word, lively rhythms,
blazing guitar leads and stratosphere piercing vocals, which as
previously stated sound suspiciously like a couple of tracks from
Twisted Tower Dire's last effort.
I've
said it before and I'll say it again, no matter what genre of metal
you tend to favour, there is nothing greater than pure unadulterated
adrenaline pumping heavy
metal performed the way the masters intended it, and this is exactly
the way they envisioned it. Jake delivers his vocal lines like a man
possessed and the performances on the guitars are nothing short of
spectacular. Simply
put if leather clad,
fist-clenching and
testosterone fueled metal
borne from the smell of burnt
tarmac and rubber is your
thing then go buy this, if it isn't then go fucking
buy it anyway and be
converted. Bring on a full
length, I'm getting withdrawal symptoms already, this shit is like
musical crack.
9.5/10
Originally written for Dead void Dreams
Sounds like - Judas Priest, Twisted Tower Dire, Jag Panzer
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