Holy Grail: Crisis in Utopia CD Review // Show at Gramercy Theater on Feb. 2nd

Holy Grail formed from the ashes of the original lineup of White Wizzard (Earache) and created a buzz with their non-stop touring (with bands like Exodus, Saviours and 3 Inches of Blood) and their 2009 EP “Improper Burial”. While the two originals on the EP provided an initial view into the band’s thrash-infused power metal sound, Holy Grail firmly established their sound with the release of their debut full-length disc Crisis in Utopia this past October (Prosthetic). Breaking from their White Wizzard / NWOBHM-revival roots, Crisis in Utopia incorporates significant elements from thrash and speed metal which pushes them closer in sound to bands like Armored Saint and Accept.

Across the disc’s ten tracks, the band combines a strong sense of melody with an equal level of aggression. The band leads this charge with a combined attack of dual-lead guitars and James Paul Luna’s vocals. Luna sings in a rawer, raspier voice than he did on White Wizzard’s debut CD which he can take up to a falsetto scream. Backing vocals range from clean vocals harmonies to the (expected) melodic “wow-oh-oh” to a death metal growl. Lyrically, the band’s focus is on sword and sorcery imagery but, while some of the songs are shout-along fist pumpers, the lyrics seem to take a backseat to the raw sonic power of the music.

Guitarists James LaRue and Eli Santana skip the NWOBHM power-metal leads and play fast-paced, technical, speed metal riffs (check out the dueling leads on the disc opener “My Last Attack” and “Fight to Kill”, which is an aggressive hold-over from the 2009 EP) and the drumming stops just short of death metal blast beats. The only exception to this is “Nocturne in D Minor” which breaks up the disc mid-way with an atmospheric instrumental which highlights a flute and acoustic guitar.

Holy Grail were in town with Exodus and Bonded by Blood this past August (video from the show is below).



The band is coming back to the Gramercy Theater with 3 Inches of Blood, Eluveitie and System Divide on Feb. 2nd. Tickets are $18 (+$9 LiveNation surcharge if you buy tickets using LiveNation.com) and doors are at 7PM.

Links:
Holy Grail

Eluveitie - "Everything Remains (As It Never Was)" CD Review (Nuclear Blast)

Looking at some recent folk-metal releases, Swiss folk-metal band Eluveitie released Everything Remains as It Never Was (Nuclear Blast) earlier this year. This is the band’s fourth full-length and third album in three years after signing with Nuclear Blast in 2008.

I haven’t listened to enough folk/pagan metal bands to have a true sense for the genre but I’ve been left with the impression that a number of band in this space have a renaissance/operatic sounds that falls somewhere between Blackmore’s Night and recent releases on Cruz Del Sur. Eluveitie’s last disc Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion (2009) fell directly in line with this assumption as it was predominately an acoustic affair with vocals by hurdy gurdy player Anna Murphy.

Everything Remain as It Never Was breaks from this premise and has some real metal teeth. Chrigel Glanzmann handles most of the vocals with a death metal growl and there is some vocal interplay with clean vocalist Anna Murphy. Murphy contributes lead vocals on “Quoth The Raven” and, on this track, she adds a death metal growl to her range. There is a nice interplay between the vocals and the music which is complemented by Colin Richardson’s crisp production work.

The disc starts and ends with the spoken word intro and outro from Dannii Young, which sets the stage for the Celtic themes of this disc. Musically, the melodic metal blast beats are balanced by traditional folk instruments like hurdy gurdy, flute, bagpipes and whistles. In addition to the spoken word tracks, there are two acoustic instrumentals “Tsara” and “Setion”.

The first video from the new disc was for the song “Thousandfold”:



Eluveitie just finished a tour with fellow Swedes Amon Amarth and here is a video from the show at Irving Plaza:



Links:
Eluveitie

Windfaerer: NJ Folk Metal Band Post Two New Songs on their MySpace Page

DOWNLOAD: Windfaerer - "Glorybound" Demo

New Jersey folk metal horde Windfaerer -- M. Gonçalves [Vocals, Guitars, Bass], JP Andrade [Percussion] and Valèek [Violin] -- recently posted two new tracks to their official MySpace page.

"These Walls (Frozen In Time)" and "This Beautiful Death" (which features bagpipe work by Sevan Kirder, formerly of Eluveitie) come off the trio's debut full-length, Tribus. Tribus was recorded and mixed at Frightbox Recording (Clifton, NJ) by Bobby Torres and follows the band's two-song demo "Glorybound", released last year to mass underground accolades.

Said main songwriter Goncalves of the new tunes: "Tribus is in essence a collection of everyday themes set in a time of Iberian legend. The songs touch upon rebellion against Romans in ancient Hispania and Lusitania, expansion to new lands, as well as voyaging into the unknown. I'm excited about the way everything sounds and how it all came together. I've had this vision for a while and it's almost euphoric to be able to finally realize it!"

Links:
Windfaerer