Blood of Legends

There’s life in the old dog yet, this is a lesson to be learned over and over again, especially when it comes to metal. There may be more than a few people who doubted that Battleroar would be able to form a lineup that would actually be able to do another full length record, since band member turnovers haven’t come to a halt for about five years now. After vocalist Marco Concoreggi and guitarist Manolis Karazeris had left the band back in 2009 (and focused on their new project Dexter Ward), the search for replacements went on quite feverishly, and it really wasn’t that easy. Founding member Kostas Tzortzis confirmed himself, that the greek heavy metalers didn’t take the whole thing easy. It seems that beside the musical abilities it was of utmost importance that the original sound of Battleroar would prevail, and therefore every candidate had to measure up to one decisive factor: subordinate yourself, don’t bring too much of own influences. Sounds strange? Maybe. The concern of the founding members, that after fifteen years of shared history there would be a significant change to the original music, is pretty comprehendible. Only take a look at the die-hard fans, which are often seriously pissed if their heroes push themselves into a new, unfamiliar direction all of a sudden.

So who on earth has the guts and feels like contributing to a grown up project and sacrifice himself for the team’s sake? Hold on lads, after two short and little satisfying episodes with other vocalists, nobody less than Gerrit Mutz hits the microphone, who should be well known by his awful lot of other projects (Sacred Steel, Tragedy Divine, Angel Of Damnation, and so on). Antreas Sotiropoulos (Everdome) provides guitar support, Stavros Aivaliotis (Bloodstained) works the bass, and violinist Alex Papadiamantis (already to be heard on “The Age Of Chaos” and “To Death And Beyond”) is now a permanent addition to the lineup, too. This sextet has packed enough firepower to fire a brand new epic metal record at the stores. So let’s tune in and see if Athens’ sound can knock us out.

The record starts with an instrumental intro named “Stormgiven,” that lasts for almost four minutes. Seriously, this is something only epic metal bands would dare to do. To get this right: I must admit that when I choose a promo for a review, I push my brain's “On/Off” switch quite often and do a shot in the dark, only paying attention to the genre classification. When I picked Battleroar, I only saw the term “heavy metal,” and so I felt more than a little confused after I hit the “Play”-button. Just classifying “Blood Of Legends” as mere “heavy” is like saying “The Lord of The Rings” was a book. No way dudes, epic power metal is the only possible label, anything else is completely out of question. Only take a look at the arrangement of the intro with the introduction of acoustic guitar and strings (Papadiamantis plays the violin and the cello), which later builds up and fades into the stronger distorted guitar. That works really well. Needless to say that on a record like this there has to be a decent outro, and in principle you could say the same about “Relentless Waves” as about “Stormgiven.”

Once having endured the four minute buildup of excitation, one is allowed to enjoy the pure force of exploding sound born deep in the heart of the amp towers and carried by Gerrit’s bright and beautifully measured voice. There may be some who don’t dig Gerrit Mutz, and those are not likely to get a hang of “Blood Of Legends” as well, since his voice has a strong impact on the whole record. If you ask me, there could sometimes be more emphasis in the singing, Gerrit sounds a little thin within low and middle pitches. He just puts tons of feeling into the songs. What is fascinating about this is that he manages to prevent being torn to shreds by the rolling tank of heavy riffing and perish. This tightrope walk is both interesting and well done. A restrained voice contrasting epic metal axe riffing can work out (if you have the skills), and Gerrit’s voice steps up to those who can do the job, like Manilla Road’s Mark Shelton. Also the strings play the gallery in a very beautiful manner. These additional instruments open up a whole new universe of sounds that are placed skillfully and blend marvelously into the crystal clear guitars. Battleroar set a high value to retaining a heavy sound, which is not drifting away into something too symphonic, which is why they set themselves apart from bands like Rhapsody Of Fire. “Valkyries Above Us” is one of the most beautiful examples for this. And even though the track puts some strain on one’s nerves due to its almost nine minutes in length, its rich choir and lots of variety is simply inspiring. Bravo.

Generally it can be said that the songwriting is typical for epic metal. This often makes the tracks sound more or less like a movie soundtrack. The only problem I see there is the lack of really catchy hook lines, of killer songs which would go over the top. There is no outstanding tune, but this isn’t the idea at all. While there are no haunting choruses, you get a whole shitload of neck-breaking guitar riffs. Just listen to the beginning of “The Swords Are Drawn.” Outrageous. See, Battleroar is no chart hit band, they’re epic metal players. Just, you know, soundtrack. And this is a soundtrack worth listening to. It has a lot of exciting stories to tell about ancient, mystical heroes. “The Curse Of Medea” of course deals with Evripides’ legend of the same name, and “Immortal Chariot” is a song about Homer’s “Iliad.” I can very well imagine hearing such a song in an equivalent motion picture, and this is how epic metal works. The only flaw of some tunes is the excessive length, because the songs’ stories could also be told when cutting them by a minute or so. A bit more brevity would sometimes be more pleasing and entertaining. But as it is, at times one’s finger’s about to hit the “Skip”-button.

Listening hints: “The Curse Of Medea”, “Valkyries Above Us”, “Poisoned Well”

Summary

Very proper, straight epic power record done by revived metal-veterans with a new and iconic vocalist. A convenient choice for all friends of strong, protruding riffing and fans of all that’s epic. This opus hits European stores as CD and double LP at the beginning of May, tuning in will also pay off for power and heavy metal fans. One should not underestimate the power metal sector of the Greek metal scene, and Battleroar truly are a prime example for this.

Written for Reaperzine.de