- Apr 5, 2003
- 2,668
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Stonegard - Arrows
Candlelight Records - CDL319/1498A - 2006
By Brandon Strader
Stonegard is here to deliver some very catchy stoner metal all the way from Norway. There's definitely some of that Norweigan influence in their sound which presents itself in the form of harmonic guitar leads and some unique rhythm progressions. Arrows had a lot of potential, but the things that make it great also take away from the joy of hearing it as well.
As the introduction, "Ghost Circles" fades in, it really creates a beautiful vibe that evolves into a more brutal bit of downtuned riffing, which leads into some more fantastic guitar leads. At first one would think, "Wow, this might be some great black metal when it finally starts" and they would be pretty mistaken, as the music bursts out a death rattle before the CD has practically begun, with the song "Arrows". Instead of some awesome black metal screams that would have done justice to the music before this point, we get some kind of Hetfield impersonator singing clean vocals.
Arrows did have a lot of potential, and it does have a lot of great leads and riffs, but it's just too clean and tame to the point where it can nearly be branded as hard rock. Stonegard tries to pull it back into the realm of metal by playing some generic thrash riffs accompanied by the vocalist's Hetfield impression but it just falls flat. In their defense, however, they're much more of a worthwhile listen than Metallica is.
The album is not too fast-paced, and very boring. They could have done wonders at this tempo, however... I mean, doom bands make amazing music with a much slower speed, these guys have no excuse for being boring. Stonegard also seem to put a lot of the emphasis on the vocals, having a big vocal line on top of a very uninteresting rhythm. Arrows had a ton of potential, and even with the Hetfield vocals the album could have been great. They just didn't put very much effort into writing unique rhythms. It's very sad to say that the introduction track is the most pleasing bit of music on Arrows.
5.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Stongard Website
Official Candlelight Records USA Website
Candlelight Records - CDL319/1498A - 2006
By Brandon Strader
Stonegard is here to deliver some very catchy stoner metal all the way from Norway. There's definitely some of that Norweigan influence in their sound which presents itself in the form of harmonic guitar leads and some unique rhythm progressions. Arrows had a lot of potential, but the things that make it great also take away from the joy of hearing it as well.
As the introduction, "Ghost Circles" fades in, it really creates a beautiful vibe that evolves into a more brutal bit of downtuned riffing, which leads into some more fantastic guitar leads. At first one would think, "Wow, this might be some great black metal when it finally starts" and they would be pretty mistaken, as the music bursts out a death rattle before the CD has practically begun, with the song "Arrows". Instead of some awesome black metal screams that would have done justice to the music before this point, we get some kind of Hetfield impersonator singing clean vocals.
Arrows did have a lot of potential, and it does have a lot of great leads and riffs, but it's just too clean and tame to the point where it can nearly be branded as hard rock. Stonegard tries to pull it back into the realm of metal by playing some generic thrash riffs accompanied by the vocalist's Hetfield impression but it just falls flat. In their defense, however, they're much more of a worthwhile listen than Metallica is.
The album is not too fast-paced, and very boring. They could have done wonders at this tempo, however... I mean, doom bands make amazing music with a much slower speed, these guys have no excuse for being boring. Stonegard also seem to put a lot of the emphasis on the vocals, having a big vocal line on top of a very uninteresting rhythm. Arrows had a ton of potential, and even with the Hetfield vocals the album could have been great. They just didn't put very much effort into writing unique rhythms. It's very sad to say that the introduction track is the most pleasing bit of music on Arrows.
5.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Stongard Website
Official Candlelight Records USA Website
