HOLY CROSS

It must be hard to try to decide how an album will open, the first few sounds that will put the listener in the mood... so why Holy Cross started with the most irritating opening I’ve ever heard is beyond me. First track ‘King in Hell’ begins with a 30 second repeated riff in what I can only describe as crackly telephone quality at a reduced volume. This annoyance is luckily redeemed swiftly with some energetic drums, empowered singing and a generous dose of heavy shredding. This sets the tone for the entire album; it’s powerful and the songs flow, keeping up the high pace throughout. Whilst none of the riffs here are groundbreaking they’re solid enough and are perfectly complimented by a very varied song structure. They manage to get a lot of ideas into each song but fit them together in a way that works. The most interesting song to demonstrate this is the geekily named ‘Return to Asgard’ which begins with a lengthy intro of church bells and military style drumming whilst building up into an impressively long scream and some suitably strong metal. However, the strangest part of this song comes in just as you think it’s about to end with, a 40 second long medieval ambient mid-song interlude which would make any fan of Mortiis’ early work very happy indeed. However, one of this album’s strengths is also its downfall as the vocals can get surprisingly annoying. I imagine this is probably down to personal taste as fantasy inspired lyrics, ball-busting high screams and gang shouts are all things I usually try to avoid... but they’re all here, and not in moderation. That said, if you remove said gimmicks you end up with a vocal performance that’s rich in emotion and intensity. This is a strong album and whilst there’s some expected filler and the vocals might not be to everyone’s liking it remains consistently engaging and therefore worth a listen.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Pure Steel Records

Album

UNDER THE FLAG

Review by Nicholas Dishington

RUNNING TIME:

50:42

RELEASE DATE:

26th Sept 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) King in Hell
2) Iron Horse
3) Lightning from the North
4) Gates of Time
5) The Fortress of Asgard
6) Return to Asgard
7) Twilight of the Gods
8) Hel The Damned
9) The Last Survivors
10) Holy Cross

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

France

"This is a strong album and whilst there’s some expected filler and the vocals might not be to everyone’s liking it remains consistently engaging..."