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Artist: Crystal Viper |
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Mid 2010, June to be
exact, saw Polish heavy metallers Crystal Viper release their first live
album, entitled “Defenders Of The Magic Circle – Live In Germany', but
that was then and this is now and the band have a new album out simply
called ‘Legends’. The album tells of Polish sagas of the Middle-Ages.
The band have produced an album that will dispel the myths that the Polish metal scene
can't stand equal that of its German and Scandinavian counterparts. 'Legends' is true
blue old school heavy metal. Titanic riffs, a blistering rhythm section
and of course, the force behind any metal band, a vocalist that
can deliver 4 octave metal and in Marta Gabriel they have more than a
vocalist, they have a statement of power. The album opens
with the intro ‘Truth’ before unleashing its metal might with ‘The
Ghost Ship’. A blazing mix of metal guitars and thunderous bass and
drums before Gabriel unleashes a true metal vocal that has the Doro feel
about it. The full on Heavy
Metal continues with the rip snorting almost Battle Hymn rampage of
‘Blood Of The Heroes’, where the band attack from all corners, east
and west a barrage of drums and bass lines on one side and a riff laden
guitar attack from the other, while Gabriel takes on a full frontal
attack.. The metal story
telling continues with the old school almost Maidenesque (Powerslave
era) ‘Greed Is Blind’ before it’s a quick chance in tempo and style
as the band show their mellower side with the excellent ballad ‘Sydonia
Bork’. This one shows a completely different side of the band and also
give more credence to Gabriel’s vocal prowess. Anyone can belt out a
metal vocal but a truly great vocalist has to have many levels and this
is where Gabriel lays down a real gem singing in her native tongue and
English. It's pedal to the
METAL \m/ once more with the epic Folk Metal feeling ‘Goddess of
Death’, the all-out blistering assault that is ‘Night Of The
Sin’ and my personal favourite the superb ‘Secret Of Darkwater’, a
real metalheads delight. This one will have you raising the horns in
salute to the metal for sure. It's full steam
ahead with the rifftastic ‘A Man Of Stone’ and the dark 'Black
Leviathan', again bringing in that Maidenesque guitar sound, it could
almost be Dave, Adrian and Janick bringing this one to life. The album closes
with a real ball buster of a cover, as Accepts 'TV War' is given a Crystal
Viper makeover. A rampaging metal opus to wrap up an album that can only
be described as TRUE METAL. On the strength of this album Crystal Viper
won't be Poland’s best kept secret for long. |
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Tracklisting: 1.
The Truth |
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