I first heard of Blackguard after seeing them kick off Summer Slaughter in Denver. Throughout the entire show they had incredible stage presence and musicianship which led to them walking throughout the crowd and talking with people after their set was finished. I personally met them all and was convinced enough to buy their album, Profugus Mortis. As if their musicianship didn’t stick out enough at the concert, it came through in an even clearer form on the disc. With that said, let’s start the review.
As the album begins, majestic sounding horns and strings play to give off an epic, somewhat royal feel to the atmosphere. This is just a mere build up to the fast paced riffs of “Scarlet to Snow”. Filled with relentless drumming, chugging guitars, creeping synths, and arpeggio filled leads reminiscent of neo classical shred every which way you look, the opening track immediately sets the mood for the listener. As I said before, there are solos galore; both on guitar and synth. Not only are solos frequent in the opening track, but also throughout the album. There are taps, sweeps, shreds, string skipped leads, and everything in between throughout this album. Even the bass player has a moment of solo work in “Cinder” as well as some interesting rythyms to thump behind the wall of music being produced from everyone else. With all of the pounding drums, chugging guitars, pumping bass, and artificial horns provided by the keyboard player, they add much originality to the folk metal scene that has such an abused sound nowadays. From this originality, it’s no wonder Nuclear Blast picked them for the best myspace band contest winners over all other competitors, which led to their name change of Profugus Mortis, to Blackguard.
So with this epic folk shred sound going for them, who could possibly lead this group vocally? Well, the answer is quite simple. Paul Zinay is able to fit his vocals fit the music like a glove. While he isn’t the best vocalist, his vocals go well with the music. Typically staying in a higher range, Zinay is also capable of some decent low-end growls for the darker parts of the nine songs. A downside to him is his limited range, as well as how inaudible he is. He tends to stay in his comfort zone while screaming, but then again, with how much he tends to scream in the songs, it’s understandable, considering it’s a wonder he has enough air to perform the songs. The few breaks he gets come from the instrumental sections, typically in the middle of the song. Other than that, he’s screaming at an almost constant rate, keeping up with their drummer who never seems to let up on the double pedal, whether it she’s flat out peddling, or playing complex pedal patterns that weave in and out of her stick work.
So with all of the good, there must also be bad, thankfully, there aren’t too many bad things about this release. As mentioned before, the vocals stay within a limited range, which isn’t a very bad thing, but it does suck some of the possible originality out of the music that could have be attained if Zinay had been able to successfully experiment a bit. Now comes the main drawback of this release. While the leads are fantastic, and frequent, they are very over used. The triads and sweeps that appear in some songs, tend to resurface in other songs such as “Scarlet to Snow” and “The Sword” which share similar, if not, identical leads. While the leads to sound bad, they just make the album seem repetitive before it’s even over, which is disappointing considering this release had the potential to be great rather than just good.
There aren’t any bad or filler songs on this album, but there are definitely some stand out songs. Check out the lead happy “Scarlet to Snow”, the incredibly fast paced “This Round’s on Me”, the dark feel of “I Demon”, the chanting choirs during the bridge in “The Sword” (my personal favorite song), and the folksy yet battle ready “The Last We Wage.” Even if this group has released an album under a different name, their Nuclear Blast debut under the name Blackguard is worth a listen from all fans of fast, melodic metal.
Tell me about it. If Angra was playing, I can guarantee you I'd be there.