Gates of Hell Records

Blazon Rite, Endless Halls Of Golden Totem (Gates Of Hell Records 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Philadelphia metal molders Blazon Rite keep the campaign going with their new long-player, Endless Halls Of Golden Totem.

Last year’s EP Dulce Bellum Inexpertis was filled with portents and promise. It showed an approach to Epic Metal that was solid and expansive, a wall of sound built to the top. The new album not only continues the ideas signaled in the earlier work but also expands on them. Blazon Rite is James Kirn (guitar), Johnny Halladay (vocals), Pierson Roe (bass, synth, and guitar), Kay Hamacher (guitar), and Ryan Haley (drums).

There are eight tracks on the new album, and they display a greater narrative variety compared to the earlier release because Endless Halls Of Golden Totem is not a themed album. “Legends of Time and Eidolon” starts the boulder rolling with a commanding guitar riff that is quickly surrounded by the rhythm section and a synth line. Johnny Halladay’s voice rises, sounding like a traveling mage delivering the harrowing tale from village to village. The lead guitar skips in trippingly with bright colors highlighting the deepening story and completing it.

Every song on the album is constructed with the same thoughtful complexity and earnest roundedness. The styles vary from one to the next offering a rich listening environment. The music has roots in classic metal while pushing grand stories and power metal appreciations. The opening bars of “Put Down Your Steel” reminded me a little of Judas Priest but the rest of the song didn’t. “The Executioner’s Woe” made me instantly – and only for an instant – remember Rainbow’s Long Live Rock ’n’ Roll before moving off in other directions.

The title track alternates between power metal pronouncements and quieter moments while “Alchemist’s Brute” offers a light-hearted eeriness. The final song is “Into Shores Of Blood” and it is somber and sorrowful to begin with but turns up the tension and volume after a couple minutes to deliver a colossal sound. Blazon Rite made a good decision to create this kind of album in all its variety that nevertheless preserves in each song the band’s core principles. Recommended.

Endless Halls Of Golden Totem is out from Gates Of Hell Records this Friday, June 18th, in digital, CD, and vinyl forms.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://blazonrite.bandcamp.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/blazonriteofficial

Gates of Hell Records, http://www.gatesofhellrecords.com/

Review of Dulce Bellum Inexpertis, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2020/09/22/blazon-rite-dulce-bellum-inexpertis-review-gates-of-hell-records-2020/

Blazon Rite, Endless Halls Of Golden Totem (Gates Of Hell Records 2021)

Blazon Rite, Dulce Bellum Inexpertis review (Gates of Hell Records 2020)

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

Philadelphia metalheads Blazon Rite take a big swing with their debut release, Dulce Bellum Inexpertis.

The band carries with them the spirit of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal from the early 1980s in the themes and general sound of their fantasy-based creation. Pierson Roe (bass, keys), Ryan Haley (drums), James Kirn (guitars), and Johnny Halladay (vocals) breathe new life into familiar lines, introducing young fans to what has been solidly established as fundamentally appealing – and bring knowing nods of affirmation from those who have been around a little longer and recognize the sound.

There are four songs on the EP, adding up to a little over twenty minutes of music. “The Warriors Choice” gets things going with beautiful organ notes and layers, giving you a minute or so to gather yourself up for the metal. When the guitars start, you can hear the campaign immediately, the marching army. “Diamond Draggyr” has another quiet start, then kicks in at frantic pace with an homage to Dio on “Neon Knights.” “Into the Expanse” has a more formal and complex musical construction and a blistering lead break. “Udug Hul” begins like an English folk song then drops a heavy riff right on your head, speeding into an all-out assault. The band packs a lot into these four songs.

Blazon Rite is making the most of their initial release. The digital version of Dulce Bellum Inexpertis came out through Bandcamp in March this year, followed by a cassette in April. It was a hit, and drew enough attention to make to make additional releases possible. Alone Records (Greece) published a CD version a couple days ago, and the vinyl comes out from Gates of Hell Records this Friday, September, 25. If you like old school heavy metal, you are going to like this. Recommended.

Links.

https://blazonrite.bandcamp.com/album/dulce-bellum-inexpertis-e-p

https://www.facebook.com/blazonriteofficial/

https://www.facebook.com/gatesofhellrecords/

http://www.gatesofhellrecords.com/

Blazon Rite, Dulce Bellum Inexpertis review (Gates of Hell Records 2020)

Sölicitör, Spectral Devastation Review (Gates of Hell, 2020)

Wayne Edwards, ,

The new Sölicitör album is speed, full speed, all speed. The band’s first full-length set Spectral Devastation never slows down enough to take a deep breath.

Amy Lee Carlson (vocals), Matthew Vogan (guitar), Patrick Fry (guitar), Damon Cleary Erickson (bass), and Johann Waymire (drums) make up the band that leans toward speed and not thrash. The distinction might not be all that important in the grander scheme of things. Sölicitör is definitely metal, and they play really fast.

The vocal front of Amy Lee Carlson is a big voice with a menacing roar, and it puts me in mind of a cross between Noora Louhimo and Doro Pesch in some of the passages. Indeed some of the music on Spectral Devastation is reminiscent of Battle Beast now and then. Still, it is speed that best describes this band if we need to use a one-word label. Whenever there is a brief pause for quiet moment – or even an acoustic one – the music always cracks right back to breakneck rushes toward the end of the world.

“Blood Revelations” is the opener, and it shows you right out of the gate what road you’ve just turned onto. The guitars are like a charging cavalry and Carlson’s voice is an attack on your solitude. The first lead break comes in early with piercing surety, followed by steady rhythm and methodical march and shouts. Then the speed kicks in again, and a second big lead break. “Betrayer” keeps the pace up with a Judas Priest vibe and stomp. The music starts to make a turn on “The Red Queen” by taking the tone a little more clinical and technical and changing the theme medieval, conjuring images of thrones and dungeons. It is here you realize that it is not the blistering speed that will define this album after all, but it is instead the noticeable variegation across the set that marks the band’s unique voice. The passion and power does not wane throughout the album. The final two songs, “Spectres of War” and “Grip of the Fist,” are both big full-throated metal conclaves with solid fast driving spirits and lead peals. I cannot hear any low points on this album.

Sölicitör is easiest to find on Bandcamp (link below). The first two songs from Spectral Devastation are available now, and the full album drops April 24, 2020. You can also get their titular EP at Bandcamp if you want to prep for the new one.

Links.

https://www.facebook.com/solicitor.speedmetal/

https://solicitor-speedmetal.bandcamp.com/

http://www.gatesofhellrecords.com/

Sölicitör, Spectral Devastation Review (Gates of Hell, 2020)