tight, traditional heavy metal: Angels of Babylon: "Thundergod"

tight, traditional heavy metal: Angels of Babylon: "Thundergod"

Evidently, Angels of Babylon's traditional, tight, shredding heavy metal has no triggered drums.

That's what the drummer Kenny Earl says. Mr. Earl in metal circles might be better known as "Rhino," the former drummer for Manowar.

Just the song titles say a lot about the music: "Thungergod," "True Brothers," "King of All Kings," "Queen Warrior," so on and so forth.

Given that Angels of Babylon is 100% traditional heavy metal, let's examine 5 things.

The drumming. Steady, uptempo hitting, that goes very well with the song. It is does not sound like a computer, all polished and plastic, but rather a traditional drumming, that sounds like a human being. Good stuff.

The bass. I have not listened to this with headphones on, only on my old ghetto blaster boombox, so I hear the bass mostly on instances when the guitar is not doing the hard-driving riffs. It's not very upfront, dominant bass-playing like the bass on some Iron Maiden or Manowar albums.

The guitar. Expect fists-in-the-air Priest/Manowar/Accept/U.D.O./Saxon galloping riffs that invite headbanging. Heavy metal crazies will find the riffs both comfortable and welcoming. Of course, there is shredding and soloing and all those things, too. Great vibe.

The singing. The information I have says that Mr. Earl is actually the person doing the singing.

What?

Rhino sings.

What?

Rhino sings!

Is he good?

Would you believe it if I told you that Rhino actually has appropriately fitting vocals? Is this with no autotune or any studio magic?! I do not know, but this sounds good! He can sing pretty high, but retains a gritty style, somewhere around the midrange-upper range, and sounds tough as nails.

Sound pretty awesome, actually.

Finally, let's talk about the fifth matter. The songs. Rocking, uptempo songs that make their impact on a first listen. Repeated listens will not change your mind. It's good the first time around and only gets better with subsequent listens.

Recommended for listeners into true-blue, no-nonsense, hard-driving, traditional heavy metal. www.scarletrecords.it