Shield of Wings - neosymphonic Chicago band returns with lush, elegant heaviness

Shield Of Wings

Unfinished

Elderpath Records

11 February 2022

According to Metal Archives, Shield of Wings made an EP in 2011 and then there was studio silence for ten years. Of course, to us on the outside, it looks like ten years of silence, but once a person hears the album it would be entirely reasonable to assume that there has been years of work going on behind the scenes. For example, only James Gregor (guitar and orchestrations) and Patrick Eulitz (drums) remain from 2005 from when they launched this entity in the Chicagoland area. Can you imagine all the thankless work that has gone into building, and then after things fall apart, rebuilding? Then there is another problem: There may be written a bunch of good songs, but it’s necessary to find the right personnel to make the music come to life. Since 2020-2021, says Metal Archives, Pat and James have found the people they needed: Aliyah Daye (support and harsh vocals, and keys), Alex Luke (bass), and Lara Mordian (lead vocals). Credit to the band for getting all pieces together and giving Shield of Wings another life in another time.

The album is something along the lines of contemporary neosymphonic with elements of extreme metal. It is mostly melodic, lush elegance, but they may throw in some growls and have some more pronounced moments of intensity, when the drumming and guitars launch into more intense speed. There is a component of movie soundtrack, the type that these musicians imagine when they watch the Lord of the Rings or Gladiator and other movies like that. Naturally, they do not have the resources to hire the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, so they do it with computers, software, applications, keyboards and whatever else they can get their hands on to simulate an orchestra. In my opinion, the album shows a serious effort in the songwriting. While it is expected that some songs may seem catchier, depending on the day that one is listening or on one’s mood, I do not get the sense that the album features a bunch of lower-quality filler pieces, but rather a consistent work with individual pieces that can stand on their own if heard by themselves. Readers may like to know that the singing is not operatic, not super high singing. The main singing voice is a pleasant, melodic midrange female voice, sometimes going a bit lower or rising in a noticeable but not irritating manner. The listener gets the feeling of good singing. There are background voices in some places, for that sense of grandiosity, and there is some growling in small doses. If a listener doesn’t like growling in this type of elegant heaviness, they may find the limited quantities of it to be to their satisfaction.

Unfinished by Shield of Wings

https://www.facebook.com/shieldofwings/

out now: Sartori - Dragon's Fire

Sartori

Dragon's Fire

Rockshots Records

28 January 2022

Around the same that I was considering this debut album by Sartori, I had seen that Ted Kirkpatrick, the drummer for Tourniquet, the long-running U.S. band that features drumming prominently, had commented on Facebook: “Drums. When you listen to Tourniquet - any Tourniquet from any era - you never have to wonder whether the drum recording is, in fact, real. Real: as in played by the real drummer, sitting behind a real drum kit, recording the real non-programmed beats and fills at the real speed you are hearing on the final recording. The upcoming new Tourniquet album will be no ex-ception. What you see - and hear - is what you get... I'm continuously honored and humbled by those of you who recognize and appreciate this - rock on!”

I recognized that this Sartori album sounded different, given that, unfortunately, the use of technology to produce recordings with artificial (sampled/programmed) drums and vocals (auto tune, special effects, and other things that are not the work of the vocalist) is very common. With Sartori, the drums do not sound like plastic toys, not lifeless and impotent. That had me wondering and I asked them about it. Guitarist Andy Sartori kindly responded: “The drums are 100% acoustic with no triggers or fixings no programmed drums! No special editings. It's 100% Dino Castano playing his drums that’s all. There are no fixings, just pure playing and a very good equalization. There are no autotuned on the songs; it's just Scott's (Board) voice which is very powerful and the chorus all the harmonies were recorded by Scott's voice, and live me and the other band members do the harmonies. Each song has many harmonies and different guitars doing different things in the background, live I play a little of everything and yet still keep the main characteristic of the song. Basically, I play the whole song and then after that I lay the others, so there's no problem with copying and pasting riffs and other stuff! We do play our instruments, it's that simple!!” The band is hoping that you, the listener, will appreciate the difference on this album.

The bass guitar lines by Rod Viquez are audible and clear, and when they are pair with the big sound of the drums, it makes for an entertaining listening experience. Stylistically, the music is neoclassical shred heavy metal, with melodic singing. There is lots of fast-finger string action. The melodic side of the music comes from the riffs, rhythms and of course the singing. There is also a balance between skill and writing songs, not just shredding for 3-5 minutes straight. Of course, as Sartori himself explained above, in the live setting, the challenge for him is to combine all the guitar work into a live version of the studio recording, and Sartori does not have three guitarists like Iron Maiden, so it must be a creative challenge, the same way that one-guitarist bands like Deep Pur-ple/Rainbow, Led Zeppelin, Dio or UFO had to figure it out. In conclusion, the album may be of interest to fans of guitar-prominent traditional heavy metal and classic rock.

SARTORI - Dragon's Fire (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)

Facebook.com/Sartori-207460432645058/

Veriteras - melodic extreme band streaming single from upcoming album Shadow of Death

Veriteras, a new contender hailing from the state of Washington, entered the ring in 2019 with a single called "Shadow Man." They have two EPs already (!) and are looking to have their full-length in March of 2022 (!). From the looks of it, they were training quietly out of the view of the public eye, laboring in abandoned warehouses and freeway underpasses, improving their classic-style melodic extreme metal. Once they showed up, they are not taking long to get the wheels rolling. Here they are now streaming on Bandcamp a song called "Forever Enslaved" ahead of the album that will be called Shadow of Death. People supportive of the Gothenburg sound and of Finnish melancholy and melody will find in Veriteras a new interpretation of the style. Below is said song, and also their 2021 EP.

Shadow of Death by Veriteras

Citadel EP by Veriteras

https://www.facebook.com/VeriterasMetal/

Sölicitör - heavy metal speed dealers in Washington state, USA

The heavy metal dictators Sölicitör have new music in 2022. Here in Washington state they are known for traditional fast heavy metal, the type of band that champions the genre with their screaming, shredding headbanging tunes. Below is the official propaganda. Usually, with their propaganda bands use the informationa to brag about themselves and whatnot. It turns out that the heavy metal dictators were not pleased with some aspects of their previous recording and are using these two new songs to test the waters for their future music. It looks like they are want less fake elements in the music, and more real, less false, if you will. Who is not in favor of that, right? They say they want less effects and things like that. Let's hope they keep going in this direction! Will we get live, real, non-sampled drums on the next album?!

Shortly after the release of 2020’s Spectral Devastation, the members of Pacific Northwest speed metallers Sölicitör took a long, hard look at the process that went into the album’s creation. The band raced to finish Spectral Devastation with an eye toward their first-ever appearance at the legendary Keep it True festival in Germany and European dates that would follow, shows, that, unfortunately, were canceled due to the global pandemic. In doing so, Sölicitör felt they rushed some of the key elements of the album’s songwriting, even though the reaction to the songs was almost universally positive. Going into 2021, Sölicitör decided to push themselves to write songs that were even more aggressive and formidable. Enter the searing two-song All Debts on Death 7-inch.

All Debts on Death was recorded in late February 2021 at Sentinel Studios with producer/engineer Detto, who has recently gained attention for his organic production jobs for death metal bands Cerebral Rot, Mortiferum and Oxygen Destroyer. Detto tracked the band on half-inch tape, then recorded the tape to a digital program where guitars and vocals were laid down, ensuring a full and heavy sound.

As a natural function of their collaboration with Detto, Sölicitör ventured into new territory regarding production values. The two songs are devoid of effects, albeit some minor reverb on the chorus on the vocals, although vocalist Amy Lee Carlson opted to completely forego doubled harmonies. However, the “less is more” approach for studio production doesn’t hinder the two songs. “Killer for Hire” is a classic Sölicitör speed-burner, complete with a fist-bumping chorus, while “Megalomaniac” ventures into new territory, including riffs that bring to mind legendary Norwegian black metallers Darkthrone, topped off by Carlson’s soaring vocals.

As positive signs gradually start to emerge from the pandemic, Sölicitör is chomping at the bit to return to the live stage. In the meantime, the band is slowly assembling the pieces for their next studio album — due sometime in 2022. Consider All Debts on Death a sign of what’s to come!

All Debts On Death by Solicitor

Tourniquet and the drumming

Recently the drummer for long-running band Tourniquet (1989-present; U.S.), Ted Kirkpatrick, posted this explanation about his drumming. Interesting, right?!

"Drums. When you listen to Tourniquet - any Tourniquet from any era - you never have to wonder whether the drum recording is, in fact, real. Real: as in played by the real drummer, sitting behind a real drum kit, recording the real non-programmed beats and fills at the real speed you are hearing on the final recording. The upcoming new Tourniquet album will be no exception. What you see - and hear - is what you get... I'm continuously honored and humbled by those of you who recognize and appreciate this - rock on!" - Ted

Tourniquet - TEARS OF KORAH - from Stop the Bleeding

STOP THE BLEEDING COLLECTOR'S EDITION by Tourniquet

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044529305855

Verikalpa - party folk extreme metal from Finland

Verikalpa

Tunturihauta

Scarlet Records

21 January 2022

The third album (11 songs in 47 minutes) by the Finns converts uptempo folk melodies into in a headbanging and rocking form of extreme metal, a lot more fun that listeners might expect. Contrary to what one may be thinking when they imagine the Verikalpa combination of styles, this is a rather consistent identity, not a genre-salad type of proposition. On this particular work, there is a considerable portion of black metal in the vocals, guitar work and tempos of the songs, and a feel of extreme metal in general, of the headbanging type. Compact and efficient, they arrive quickly at their party extreme metal, and without much in the way of extra things; no wandering off into experimentation, no tangents, no long intros and intermissions, just song after song of big-fun, big-party folk melodies of extreme metal joviality. Is it “party folk extreme metal” then? That’s probably a rather accurate description. They also have a keyboard player that uses keyboard sounds, but also other sounds like accordion (?) and who knows what else is sampled, or whatever it is that’s making accordion sounds come out of a keyboard. Folk and extreme metal have met before in other bands in other times, but they usually never have this much fun together.

It looks like once again all the lyrics are in Finnish. If I recall correctly, in the past the band has said that some of their lyrics are based on stories. Anyway, the lyrics, you could say, are meant to be in the folk genre. In terms of production, the sound is clear, and sometimes the guitars recede to make room for the keyboards, and vice versa, given that it is not pure folk nor pure extreme metal but rather a combination. Die-hard folk fans may prefer to hear an accordion player, which does not seem to be the case here, and die-hard black metal fans may prefer to hear live drums, but this sounds like programmed or sampled drums. The recording sounds good in the car or on a tiny phone. Overall, it is an entertaining recording that emphasizes melodies and fun in a headbanging way. Those German and other European summer festival audiences could take this band to a higher level of fame, possibly surprising the band themselves. It's all because the songs are pretty catchy.

Tunturihauta by Verikalpa

https://www.facebook.com/Verikalpa/