Alright fags, I'm taking some time out of my Sadistik Exekution and Ted Nugent binging to rate this, hope you enjoy.
Mekong Delta, Hero's Grief - 6/10, Cacophonous intro, with slick, groove-laden drum transition, thrashy and funky riffing, and clean, tenor powerhouse vocals, great sustains and vibrato, even if he is markedly subdued to an extent. Spoken word over the riffing and drums is interesting, but I feel it ultimately detracts from the song's full musical potential, and perhaps the whole arrangement is sparse for my tastes. Semi-classicism is nice. Thematic.
Skelator, Elric: The Dragon Prince - 6/10, Beauteous strains of acoustic guitar mixed with a wondrous, bright timbre singing voice. Vocalist gets sort of goofy with his enunciation and diction, but retains a measurably good level of quality to his performance. Bombastic and fantastical, so it'd be perfect for its topic if it weren't so damn cheesy. Enjoyable solo from the guitarist who gets bonus points for that greasy yet whimsical tone. Plus the rhythmic break on the "He's, ELRIC..." refrains was very clanky and awkward. Thematic.
Crypt of Kerberos, Stormbringer - 6/10, Eerie, bent, Iommi-esque, wasted guitar licks and riffage, passable death vocalist on the mic, needs to lay off the "c" is for cookie shit, tempo pickup before the two-minute mark was a pleasantly unprecedented move, leading right into a really tasty guitar solo. Thematic.
Wolfbane, Elric of Melniborné - 7/10, Guitarist leaves the place in fucking flames, blazing pentatonic licks like a motherfucker for like half a minute straight from the moment the track gears up. Passable riff and decent vocalist, sweet, almost jazzy kick to the drums and overall rhythm, above average NWOBHM/traditional metal for sure. Groove is downright freaking vicious too. Axeman goes on to shred two more awesome solos. Thematic.
Stormbringer, Tales of The White Wolf - 7.5/10, Holy mother of melodious riffage, talk about a ripe riff-centric melodic dropkick to the nuts. The guitar solo is a mammoth of a shred assault, call and response chorus kicks the door off the house, vocalist is your standard classic power metal wailer. Thematic.
At The Gates, City of Screaming Statues - 8.5/10, Stormy, enraged, foul, juggling a jagged razor-blade dangerous, and guttural. With a little pinch of sweet melody. Just the way I like it. Vocals sound like they're being given by a ring wraith undergoing throat surgery, and damn do I love it. Fast, dirty drumming and good bass. Classic death metal in every sense. Thematic.
Diamond Head, Borrowed Time - 8/10, Glover-esque bass, matched with light, melodic strums of guitar, and vocals which postively explode with that pained opening note. Hazy, synth-souped atmosphere driven forward in energy by the vocals. Phrasing on the first solo is like some half way between a traditional Arabic or Indian folk tune, an occult siren call, and 80's shred guitar. Superb and tasteful dynamics, oh, and some those vocal wails sound very Plant-esque, love it. Thematic.
Sacramentum, Overlord - 6.5/10, Fascinating gallop to the drum beat, despondent, infuriated guitar playing, like the guitarist is planing on sailing Odysseus' journey across the Mediterranean some time soon. Admirable vocal performance, very distinct nature to them which helps make them a distinguishable and easily-recognized presence. Solo is absolutely malevolent, just a real sour, vile aura emanating from it. I'll admit it, as more of black metal traditionalist who prefers his black metal be congruous with sonic template of the first and second waves, this was surprisingly good. Thematic.
Domine, The Freedom Flight - 7.5/10, Eerie screeching auditory to throw you in, which is then complimented by a kick flesh to the nuts power metal riff. The thing I enjoy about this is how grimy it is for a power metal song, it almost being as though they prize the speed metal influences of power metal over the traditional metal influences. The vocals vacillate between a classic power metal wail and this sinister borderline hardcore punk sneering, which kicks ass. Guitarist is more than capable, running through fleet-fingered, melody-driven solos with fluidity and ease. Synths make the more grandiose, operatic segments even better. Thematic.
Apollo Ra, Bane of The Black Sword - 8.5/10, Holy smokes, it's Uncle Ted shredding a NWOBHM riff. Really, it sounds like that, particularly with the gallop and slight use of pinch harmonics. Drums have a nigh Bonham-esque punch to them, which is great. The sense of melody and phrasing these guys have is exemplary, they have this weird way of making things sound badass yet lugubrious all at once, particularly the guitarist and singer. Solo is a veritable James Brown-level sex machine gone shredster. The way the singer almost matches the guitar in pitch at the end? Kickass. Thematic.
