Lust and War

Fronted by speed metal legend Tanza Speed, Aphrodite were a lesser-known force in the "New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal" movement, releasing two albums before very unfortunately disbanding. Their debut album, Lust and War, is an incredible start to a short career, and is so good that it makes up for the band's overall lack of output, and then some.

While very much drawing from the sound of early eighties bands like Exciter and Anvil, as well as some punk, Lust and War is anything but derivative. It's hard for me to put my finger on, but there is something unique about this album, in the loveliest way possible. While their music can be very easily construed as "speed metal worship", Aphrodite brings their own style into the fold here, almost as if hearkening back to a style that paradoxically never existed until now. Despite the overall style of "retro-speed" being implicitly dated, the band's injection of youthful energy and an ancient Greek artistic motif into their sound brings in a lot of novelty and timelessness.

The defining feature of Lust and War is Tanza Speed's voice. Her melodic vocals take center-stage, being very prominent in the mix. On songs like "Pandora's Box Unleashed", her style works perfectly to create something that's catchy, invigorating, and perhaps most importantly, unique. Most of the songs follow in a similar fashion. Equally formidable is the rhythm section, with Jo Steel and Yan Turbo both providing some awesome riffs of a punky, thrashy speed metal kind, accentuated by some melodic leads. The balance between these two elements is perfection.

I have very little to complain about with Lust and War. It has a decent amount of material, and it all kicks ass. I love this album and see it as a standout among everything "retro" in modern heavy metal.