Former King Diamond band member Pete Blakk and current band member Hal Patino are amongst the all-star line up of this recently formed collective from Florida. Brandishing real US heavy metal, they fly the flag well. With Wade Black (Crimson Glory/Leatherwolf) on vocals, you cannot really go wrong. If you are a fan of King Diamond’s solo work, Leatherwolf and Helstar, you will absolutely embellish this album into your collection.
There are the trademark “cold” sounding riffs, atmospheric vocals that both send a shiver down you spine. The arrangements are pretty tight and very memorable for an album of this nature. It’s hard to describe, but I get a sense of warmth and evil at the same time when you spin this album. ‘Scarecrow’ eases you into the album with a great bouncy chug-a-thon with some trademark vocals lines, without the falsetto range it has to be said, but they are equally magical in their delivery with some haunting vocal melodies, and the guitar solo is just what you would expect, it builds up, plays some bends and melody then goes for it once again whilst the backing music trundles along like a battalion of warriors of ancient times. ‘Judas Witch’ pounds into full metal glory, some theatrical vocal harmonies once again appear. It’s quite hard to explain to a new listener of this music, its simply classic metal full of ambience and mind-blowing arrangements. The guitar tone during the solos I really do like, the production duties have been handled perfectly also. Each instrument is up there in the mix and there are not many instances when you struggle to hear each note. I am not sure myself of the album cover concept, depicting an evil Mono Lisa-type portrait with all going mad with storms and lightening in the background and stakes through the hands. Perhaps she is at peace whilst the things around her are in turmoil, or she is just downright evil! In a way, this album cleverly suckers you into its stories like my depiction of the cover. You cannot help getting engrossed in these wonderful arrangements that have you wondering what can this band surprise us with yet.
The only downside to this album is a Led Zep cover of ‘Immigrant Song’, it’s a good tune, but it’s been covered to death by many a band (I preferred Dark Angel’s version anyway!). On the whole this is a pretty cool album of riffs, classic vocal lines and strong musicians flying the flag for real US metal. One for the fans I feel, especially those of the King Diamond/Helstar sound, but new listeners would do well to get a copy of this album. If you want a reliable metal-tastic listen, then this album is for you.
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