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ALBUMS UNDER REVIEW

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

As soon as the first riff dropped, I was sold. The tones hit like a ton of bricks and the vocals took hold of my ears and tightened its grasp as stories of kings, necromancers and warriors filled my ears and imagination. The storytellers: Visigoth. The record: The Revenant King. This, their sophomore release, is an adventure to hear through headphones. Rich chords and deafening beats crash on my Plutonian shore.

We start the quest with the title track “The Revenant King”. I was SOLD on the opening riff, and it’s a solid attack and aimed right for the gut. “Dungeon Master” is no slacker either, heavy and mean; it drives the song into your skull. “Mammoth Rider” is a cold story but you warm up fast with the burning guitar solos and fierce rhythms. Then there’s “Blood Sacrifice” where there’s a moment of mellow, the drummer gets all triplet crazy and gets those double kicks in quick time and guitar solo trades!

Getting into the chugging mid tempo rhythm “Brotherhood” shows you where the beef is. Adding tension they take you to a city of the dead in a ‘chase your own tail’ tale being lost in “Necropolis”. “Vengeance” is mine sayeth Visigoth. The pounding of the drums will send you into atrial fibrillation as you head bang in slow motion and air guitar till you drop. “Creature of Desire” gets the blood boiling in this love story. She’s a Warrior Queen and he’s a dude who runs away with her as they go free wheel burning through the night. Ending in an anthem style, bopping between heavy, mellow and speedy is our last track “From the Arcane Mists of Prophecy”; nicely done.

The only downside is that there are clearly not enough bass solos; fact is I counted exactly Zero! What’s up with that?! Upside: are the songs, solos and vocals. The attack, recording, intensity and thickness of the groove are ultra heavy in some spots and laid back when they need to be; its perfect old school metal, down to the Judas Priest fashion and the Iron Maiden influence.

Perfect. Check ‘em out on Facebook and Bandcamp. Get some stuff and pray they hit a club near you! (You know I am!)

Tim Duran, HMS

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