WAR
BLACK LOTUS RECORDS
Greece based metal label Black Lotus has released a slew of diverse titles last year from death-metal and prog-metal to traditional power metal and '80s party metal. Many of these titles, including Elwing's latest release War were released early last year in Europe but have just recently been making their way here to the US so I felt they deserve a review. Elwing hail from Greece and play epical power-metal in the vein of Manowar and Hammerfall. Very predictably of that genre to say the least, with titles such as "Marching To Glory," "Stormlord," and "Blood On My Hands." Although lacking in the originality department this band makes-up for it with their sheer metallic power and majestic anthems. I'm sure this band does well in their native country, seeing that traditional power-metal bands such as Manowar and Iced Earth are huge in Greece. My favorites include "Stormland," the title track "War," and "Armageddon." This band can very well compete with the power-metal giants as they have all the right attributions, hopefully an American label will take an interest in licensing this epic metal release.
CATHEDRAL
THE GARDEN OF UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS
NUCLEAR BLAST
UK's Cathedral are back again with their latest Nuclear Blast release (the band's 8th studio album) that offers pretty much the same as they've offered in their 15-year career. Former Nuclear Blast vocalist Lee Dorrian sounds strong and commanding at times but terribly trite and far less melodic than he has on previous Cathedral albums. The music provides the expected typical Sabbath-style riffs this band has been well-know for highlighted by a solid lively production courtesy of Warren Ryker. Standout tracks include "Corpsecycle," "Oro The Manslayer" (awesome riff!), and "Beneath The Funeral Sun." But quite honestly, as a whole the album is tedious and over indulgent as displayed in the 27-minute song "The Garden," which could have been just as effective and far more exciting if it was cut-down to a three-minute track (if you're gonna write a 27-minute epic, make it epical, not pointless.) Fans of Cathedral will undoubtedly drool over The Garden Of Unearthly Delights but I for one am not impressed.
