I had no idea what to expect when I put this disc in the player, I ended up playing it three times in a row. I then put on two other newly acquired releases......they didn’t last 5 minutes, and I listened to the Torchbearer two more times. This is a great release, and with hooks like these you’d swear your brain was bleeding from them latching onto your mind.
I was starting to think that some of this was very predictable, which at times can be annoying. Then I realized to my surprise what I was predicting was actually what I was hoping to hear, not dreading. After about 20 seconds of the first song you start to think things like these guys are going to be great, and man the sound is crisp, modern and heavy. There’s so much influence from many genres of metal that it is astounding they could be meshed together in such a great way without anything being overdone, and nothing weak to ruin it.
The guitars are catchy, sometimes a little more melodic than I like to hear but the record in itself is irresistible. I guess you probably figured that out since I listened to it 5 times in a single day. If you read my bio you will know I prefer the harshest heaviest types of metal, and this is not exactly my favorite style. However what makes this band so killer is I could see them opening for some tough crowds with any major death or black metal bands and them being more than tolerated, I can see this appealing to many metal heads regardless of what they prefer to listen to. This record has no boring parts, it is an interesting listen and it astounds me that things so familiar could enter my mind seeming so fresh, as if it is a rejuvenated improved version of more traditional metal gone as heavy as modern metal of this day and age.
I was not a big Testament fan, but I definitely acknowledge Alex Skolnick as one of the most phenomenal guitarist I ever had a chance to see. Some of the soloing on this record reminded me of his style and that is seriously impressive. This band could somewhat be described as a power metal band gone death metal. The drumming is more aggressive and the vocals are much heavier than the overly melodic operatic type power metal that people who listen to much heavier music find annoying. Vocally it is death/ black metal, no actual singing here. These guys are extremely talented. This a well written, great sounding record and this band shows some serious promise. I look forward to hearing more from them and hope you check them out. This is not regurgitated crap, this sounds like a record written by guys who know their metal and found a phenomenal way to manifest their influence into one great record, buy it!
From the Candelight Records site:
The debut album Yersinia Pestis was released by Metalblade under license from Cold Records throughout Europe/US in 2004. The new album Warnaments is, like the debut album, a concept album lyricwise. While the debut dealt with the black plague and its way through medieval Europe, Warnaments deals with two special occations from World War One. Mainly itÌ?'s about the Battle of Jutland, which was a massive naval battle between the British and the Germans. Apart from that, two of the songs concern the sinking of a German submarine outside the coast of Great Britain in 1915.