Power from the East

Barrow Wight is a young band from Canada who plays decidedly old school metal. Bringing traditional heavy metal with some burnt and blackened edges and a rollicking ferocity rarely heard in today’s overproduced metal scene. Bringing the vibes of Venom and early Bathory, Barrow Wight’s sound has certainly been done to death, but they bring with it a new sense of youthful energy and a grizzled edge that would make a young Tom G. Warrior proud.

Rather than plaguing your ears with silly lyrics about Satan and evil and goats, Barrow Wight turns to real world sources for inspiration; the likes of Sauron, the Nazgul and Mordor. While the Lord of the Rings has served as lyrical inspiration for tons of bands, the band’s tongue in cheek approach to the world of Mordor is much appreciated; hell, their second demo is even titled In League With Sauron, and who wouldn’t get a chuckle out of that?

Power From the East is the band’s third release, released early in 2014. In July of 2014 Dying Victim productions re-released this as a seven inch. Despite this being a proper EP with five tracks, it’s only twelve minutes long (and one of the tracks is an intro, to boot). Regardless of length, Barrow Wight brings their best foot forward, as this is an enjoyable run through classic traditional metal with touches of gritty proto-black metal thrown in for good measure. The production is certainly rough, but when paying homage to the likes Venom, Motorhead and Hellhammer, production shouldn’t be one of the biggest concerns. The guitar tone is gritty and filthy while the bass and drums are grouped towards the rear, allowing the strong, rollicking riffs to stand front and center. The vocals are gruff, almost like a grizzled shout that just ooze 1980′s vibes.

Despite the innate grittiness to the music, there is a solid amount of melody and hooks strewn throughout each of the tracks. “Rock Into Mordor” focuses on a catchy chorus that just begs to be sung along to, with a groovy and crunchy riff supporting the gruff vocals. “War Rider” brings a fast-paced, Venom inspired riff, yet the guitars are able to break free for a fast and sleazy guitar straight from the book of Fast Eddie Clark. The five tracks fly by, but the catchiness and reckless old school vibes will keep you coming back for more. Fans of the grand revival of traditional metal should definitely check this out. Just remember, these guys are in league with Sauron, not Satan.

Written for The Metal Observer.

This trio from the Canadian capital of Ottawa plays a very old school sort of metal and they do it quite well. Led by a cool dude from Manitoba called Andrew, Antero, Aragorn or something, they're inspired by all the right things. Their music fits the 80s revival that we're living nowadays but it's not as cheesy as other Canadian stuff such as Cauldron. It's sure is sloppy but I like my cheeseburgers with a lot of melted cheese so I'm totally fine with that sort of metal.

I remember getting their latest demo at a Natur gig in Montréal, it was enjoyable but pretty fucking raw so I decided to wait a bit to cover them. Now with their first EP (now released by both Heavy Chains and Dying Victims after an indie tape release) is still raw on the edges but the production is pretty much perfect for their brand of ultra traditional heavy metal mixed with the oldest black metal influences you can find. Think of Venom at their dirtiest, old funny Anvil and Bathory at its formative stage and you're on the right track. Instead of the evil approach of Cronos, Barrow Wight (formidable name) explores the Lord of the Rings lore and even if it's perhaps an overdone subject, it's always a very cool one.

It's gritty but quite melodic too, songs like “Rock into Mordor” (haha!) has a nice sing-along chorus and sweet, simple guitar playing. The band just fucking rocks the Middle-Earth with groovy riffs, semi harsh vocals with a very greasy bacon vibe, it's not quite excellent but it does the job. Nothing is tight because nothing needs to be, it's a crusade against modernity and the saccharine elements it brought to the genre. Fuck modern Septicflesh and its sterilized approach, this is fun, raw and metal as hell.

The five songs, twelve minutes extended play is short and it's easy to just press the repeat button, it starts with this noisy evil intro and extends to this nasty “Anvil of Mordor” affair. The songwriting remains simple, perhaps not yet well refined yet but their goal is clear and quite achieved for a first professional release. Don't expect to be blown away by anything here but it's entertaining and you'll spend a good time with the Wight. The drums are nice, the bass is loud but could be pushed to higher grounds and there's a certain will to push the boundaries of their agenda further in their sound and I'm sure it will be explored.

Garnished by a cool drawing from Ian Miller, an authority in fantasy art (Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons...), Barrow Wight doesn't mess around and release a promising, catchy and metal to the bones EP. Not the most original thing around but check if they care, that's not the point and it shouldn't be enforced!

Metantoine's Magickal Realm