Artist: Crystal Viper
Title: Legends
Type: Album
Label: AFM Records

Metal is rife with mediocrity, I have accepted that…but there is one thing that has plagued me for some time with female fronted bands. Whether intentional or purely coincidental, I come across a lot of bands that appear to think that having female vocals is enough of a selling point in itself to even bother to make half decent music. Of course, that’s not discrediting the many excellent bands out there with female vocals – but while I would consider myself a big fan of female vocals in general, without solid musicians to back it up it just becomes meaningless as to me the vocals are just one, albeit extremely vital, component in the overall mix.

So with that in mind, what I like about Crystal Viper is that none of this comes across with them at all. Yes, the vocalist is female and she is very good at what she does, but in no way does this become a decorative focal point any more than is true with Hammerfall or Cage or any other band under the heavy/power/speed metal umbrella. This style of music should be about pounding riffs and powerful sounds that blow your speakers, and recently I have reviewed similar artists who just seem to forget that entirely and the result is just very dreary indeed. Things gallop in with an impatient sense of urgency; after a brief intro ‘Ghost Ship’ sails forth at great speed doling out some razor sharp riffs and there’s a bit of a seafaring swagger to this one that brings to mind Running Wild. Vocally, Marta Gabriel packs a powerful punch and she has a great voice for this style of music. Her gravely tones are easy on the ear and not too shrieky while the delivery is unyielding. The expected power metal yowls are done with certain finesse and hey, at least the usual kicked in the groin joke can’t seriously be used in this case either.

‘Blood Of The Heroes’ has a real catchy chorus and you just can’t help but shout along and pound your fist to this one. The rhythm section is strong as steel – drums give a relentless assault on the eardrums as they pound away beneath the scything guitar rhythms and lightning fast solos that really send the sparks flying. There’s the fantastical feel to this album that has me thinking of epic battles and far away lands… ‘Greed Is Blind’ skips along with a jaunty vibe, while staying heavy all the way. ‘Goddess Of Death’ is a cheese-coated romp that has a firm stomp behind it, while ‘Secrets’ has a powerful bass sound that gets me rocking and the keyboards add a touch of atmosphere to this one. If you enjoy your speed metal in the vein of Cage, Wizard and Running Wild then this should be somewhere up your street. While I’m not the biggest fan of the genre, this is certainly one of the better examples I’ve come across this year.

http://www.myspace.com/crystalviperofficial