Artist: Angel Sword
Title: Where We Are Going You Cannot Come
Type: EP
Label: Unsigned

Finnish NWOBHM upstarts Angel Sword have this lovely debut demo EP up for grabs, not much information exists on this band, apart from the rather silly release title, the music speaks for itself. ‘Mountain Winds’ starts out in the mellow NWOBHM style, the sound is simply old, the production is thin and authentic, I actually like the way this comes across, it could have well been released in the early 1980’s. The only weak point of this release are the vocals, they are quite flat and nasal, there are plenty of group vocals but when the power screams are attempted, it goes a little flat, like the original White Wizzard vocalist James-Paul Luna. You think ‘Sleeping in Solitude’ is a rather limp lettuce ballad from the start, but kicking into life, things get metal again, even with what I think is the sound of keyboards in the background. The music is rather vibrant and full of life; ‘A Mouth to Walk Into’ takes you into the stand out track ‘Angel Strike’ with its arsenal of classic metal arrangements and riffs coupled with I am sure many stage poses and head banging during its delivery. You your head isn’t bobbing nor your feet-a-tapping to this bad boy then you don’t really like this genre pure and simple.

This is a good debut, but the band needs to have a better singer at the helm, from what is on offer in regards this first release, it looks promising, but be under no illusion, Angel Sword won’t be your next Iron Maiden by a long shot, but the spirit and the energy is evident of this classic style represented right down to the hand drawn appearance of the EP cover art.

http://www.myspace.com/angelswordmetal