Defender of the Crown

Here's a fun fact if you want to feel old: Brocas Helm's Defenders of the Crown is currently the same age as <into Battle was when Defenders of the Crown released! That's right, it's the 20th anniversary of Brocas Helm's seminal third "comeback" album, as well as the 40th anniversary of their debut Into Battle, meaning all of their full-lengths are officially old at this point. However, with a 16-year gap between its predecessor Black Death and the subject of today's review, Defenders of the Crown, one would certainly expect some sort of creative or stylistic change, but outside of an updated production that's not really the case, as it seems most or all of the material presented here was written in the late 80s or 90s, with most of the material having already been released on demos, EPs, or singles from the band's 1989-1999 period. That being the case, this serves more as a compilation than a true full-length, and the fact that it's nearly as long as the band's previous two full-lengths combined helps cement this idea, but it's certainly not as if this is a bad thing. The quality here is consistent and so is the style, making this feel more coherent than your average compilation; this is a band that does one thing very well and knows not to ever stray too far from it, to their benefit. That said, 52+ minutes of Brocas Helm's signature "burst of speed and crazy antics" style may be a bit much for some, and I'd say this album can be a better experience in pieces than necessarily experienced all the way through on every single experience.

Unfortunately, the album starts out with quite possibly the weakest track in the band's catalogue, "Cry of the Banshee," which does have a fun opening riff but never really goes anywhere, just kind of noodling around without a true payoff. Thankfully, the band cranks things up to 11 with the title track, the brilliantly succinct "Defender of the Crown," which comes in like a thunderbolt, stays on for its entire 3-minute length, and gets out of there as soon as it's said what it needs to say. This is a fantastic burst of energy akin to something like the title track of Manilla Road's Open the Gates, iconic and epic yet brief enough to feel special and ephemeral. "Skullfucker" is another absolute classic, with some fantastic bass and drum work, propelling the song forward with a mesmerizing militaristic cadence and vocalist Bobbie Wright's iconic delivery of "PAIN! TORTURE! SEX! WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT!" Brocas Helm are great at coming up with incredibly catchy lines that are often NSFW, and I find myself wanting to burst out "SKULLFUCKER I"LL FUCK 'ER IN THE HEAD!" in incredibly inappropriate situations and often have to consciously stop myself from doing so to not get called out as a gross weirdo. This kind of makes it even more hilarious, though, as that's just a hilarious thought to have occur to me.

"Drink and Drive" carries on the tradition of being iconic and catchy while also having lyrics you don't necessarily want to shout out in public, if you don't want all the nearby mothers to get MAD(D). I could definitely see a reasonable person having a problem with some of these lyrics out of context, but if you're familiar with the band you can clearly see it's a very tongue-and-cheek song only ever intended for comedy value, along the lines of something like Wardog's "Bucket O Beer." That said, if you're particularly sensitive to this issue I wouldn't blame you for skipping it, though musically it's an excellent track and it absolutely cracks me up personally. "Blood Machine" is a bit of an odd track here, as the production values are noticeably worse, and it feels like the version from their 1999 single may simple have been lifted, or at least parts of it were, and transposed here without much work done. The robotic-sounding chorus in particular just sounds low and muffled, and the whole thing feels a bit pieced together and unfinished, although it does have some solid songwriting, especially in the guitar solo.

"Ghost Story" presents us with more iconic drum and general rhythm work, and overall I'd say this album perhaps does the best job of showcasing the skills of drummer Jack Hays in particular over their other albums - perhaps bassists Jim Schumacher, too, though his work was always prominent and inventive on all of their material. This track does a great job of showing out what a tight three-piece unit the band is, though, not losing anything over 15-20 years of activity; rather, they seem more comfortable riffing and jamming with each other here than on their first two albums (though they still sound quite good there). They incorporate the rhythm section of the band into their sound more organically to create a larger atmosphere than the vast majority of heavy/power bands in the 80s or now. "Helms Deep" has a NWOBHM-ish naivete and youthfulness to it that makes it feel like it could have been an outtake from <into Battle, which isn't a bad thing at all as it keeps things relatively fresh, feeling less sophisticated than some of the other tracks here yet no less fun and energetic. The chaotic guitar solo towards the end is also an awesome, frantic swirl of insanity that cranks things up nicely.

"Juggernaut" is a half-instrumental track that feels more like a jam number with a few vocals added at the last minute, but certainly still holds its own, having some similarities to "Into the Ithilstone" from Into Battle but a bit more experimental and unpolished, not really following the traditional "verse/chorus/verse/chorus" structure but just kind of doing its own thing. "Time of the Dark" goes back to highlighting the rhythm section with some extensive bass and drum riffing that manages to stay surprisingly engaging despite not bringing in any guitar or vocals until the 1:30 mark, almost feeling like something out of a Primus record (though JIm Schumacher has been playing since before Les Claypool formed Primus, so I admit the comparison is somewhat unfair). The song then turns into something that can be favorably compared to "Fly HIgh" from Black Death, which was always one of my favorite tracks from that record and has a more muscular USPM sort of character to it than most of their stuff does. I'd like to mention that this is generally the part of the album where it starts to feel a bit overlong to me - not because the last few tracks are bad or even significantly worse than anything else, just that a one-note, straight-ahead band like this is better with a shorter presentation. Still, as I said, if you split it up or aren't like me and don't feel like you need to "power through" the rest of it, there's still some great material in the last third of the album.

"War Toons" is another track that feels a bit underproduced compared to the rest of the album, and may have simply been lifted from the version on 1994's Ghost Story EP without much work, but it's a solid jam, if a bit underwhelming by the band's standards, feeling more like an homage to 70s rock than a burst of epic metal. "Never Kissed Goodbye" is fantastic, though, playing with rhythm in the rhythm/lead guitar interplay in a way I've rarely heard in metal, almost feeling like something that could have come from Dire Straits in terms of the guitar work and structure. It's certainly a more complex and subtle work than the band's standard fare, and yet it works incredibly well, thankfully providing some more variety towards the end of a longer album. A midpaced, romantic rocker isn't something I would've ever said I wanted from Brocas Helm, but it's a lot more than that when you listen to the guitar work and it works brilliantly. In fact, this is in contention for my favorite song on the album, although "Defender of the Crown" and "Skullfucker" are definitely in contention.

"Persian Gulf" shows the band taking an almost thrashy direction with the speed and aggression of the guitar work, and its uniquely relentless, chaotic nature makes it a pretty memorable instrumental, as it shows a direction the band never really took on any of their full songs; this is the only song I've really heard from the band that has any post-NWOBHM influence, sounding like it could be influenced by Metallica or Slayer while the rest of their songs are firmly rooted in a pre-1982 sound. Finally, we end with two longer tracks, 2 of only 3 tracks on the album that surpass the 5-minute mark (the third being "Time of the Dark," which is only due to the 90-second bass/drum solo). "Children of the Nova Dawn" is a rockin', laid-back anthem that shows the band channeling Manowar in the best way possible, going for a more measure, epic gallop as opposed to their typical speedy romps. While Bobbie Wright is no Eric Adams, his delivery is perfect and he always stays within his range, so that this track can easily go toe-to-toe with something like "Battle Hymns" in terms of atmosphere and catchiness. Of course it's a bit dirtier and more down-to-earth than Manowar, but that's just Brocas Helm's style, and the track doesn't suffer from it in any way, an interpretation of the more epic style rather than an attempt to fully imitate it. Wright's faux-British accent here is a highlight as well, adding to the fun, silly nature of the experience.

Finally, "Drink the Blood of the Priest" closes things out with a fucking organ solo, a first for the band yet something that doesn't feel at all out of character, providing a creepy atmosphere that still manages to never take itself too seriously, like a parody of early horror films. This definitely feels a bit like a multi-part epic more than anything else the band have done, with the intro slowly building up intensity until the verse comes in, and the song stays at a pretty slow pace for its entire duration, making it feel very experimental for the band. It certainly is the best fit for album closer, as its measured stride helps provide a resolution for the intensity of earlier tracks, though I feel that ultimately this song falls a bit short at times, really only feeling like a truly great experience for me in the chorus, but it's nice to see Brocas Helm trying other ideas, and again it provides some variety to this 52-minute album.

Overall, this certainly has some of the band's best material, and anyone who's a fan of the first two albums is likely to enjoy this, but simply due to the sheer number of tracks here there are some (relatively) weaker ones, which wasn't really the case with the first two albums due to their brevity. That's not to say I would have preferred any of these tracks to remain unreleased or that the band did a bad job with the song order - it's actually quite good - but the overall experience isn't quite as consistently magical and energetic as in their other albums. That said, this is more than worthy of being included as part of their classic 3-album run for any prospective listener of the band, and it serves as a testament to the band's legacy of consistency and tightness as an incredible and inimitable three-piece institution. If you're interested in Brocas Helm, this is an absolutely essential inclusion for your listening.

Man, this stuff rocks. Brocas Helm have been going for some 29 years now (as apparently, 1981 was a very long time ago); and while their earlier stuff’s outrageous and enjoyable, now they’ve matured into something even better: heavy metal’s dead-beat dads! Yes, while children may need clothing, feeding and protecting from diseases like Rickets - Brocas Helm just have to nail that ripping bass part and lay down another slab of epic, medieval metal. I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t love what this represented: heavy metal, an ultimate expression of freedom, delivered with so much vigour that if you’re not sporting a shit-eating grin from the first seconds of ‘Cry of the Banshee’ you might as well be dead or don’t like metal (in which case you’re probably better off dead). No commerce, no pretentious pandering to the critics, no influences past 1986 - just sword-wielding metal for the die-hard!

Honestly, when first listening to this I was surprised to find it wasn’t a long-lost album that was scrapped due to yuppie-boy-money-grubbing record labels and their lack of interest, but rather that this was actually recorded in the 21st century. It’s difficult to comprehend at first, but Brocas Helm have aged so very little (if at all!) in the gap between this album and Black Death. Apparently releasing death metal that sounds like it came from 1995 can pass for old-fashioned these days, if that’s old-fashioned then this is positively archaic! Defender of the Crown could be easily passed off as “dated” or as a “relic of the time taste forgot” by some, but fuck them. This is timeless! It could have been released in 1982 or yesterday… the quality still stands up. Influences range from Thin Lizzy, to Maiden’s Killers, a smattering of the first Manowar album and maybe even a touch of Cirith Ungol or Anvil, even (though Lips and co wish they had something this good under those belts that barely contain their beer bellies). That’s right, heavy metal from a time before thrash, delivered with so much testosterone that it sounds like it’d kill several lesser bands in an explosion of blood and semen.

Again, it’s just striking to marvel that a band this old, this terminally unappreciated could put out something this powerful. Sure, some of the songs are old ones - which guarantees a certain amount of 80s authenticity - but you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart on a sonic level from any of the ‘newer’ ones. I’m glad Brocas Helm have really gone for a truly old-school sound - not to end up “Pagan Altar syndrome” where you (read: me) feel that the material’s great but could benefit from a rawer, uncluttered sound (let’s say for instance, if Alan Jones stopped dicking around with his Floyd Rose).

While, I do like the band’s 80s output a great deal - I feel this is the best record they’ve ever done. Even through 14 songs it’s just a relentless ball of pent-up energy finally breaking free after all these years: a fantastic release, not unlike some far off volcano that brings Europe’s air traffic to a grinding halt. It commands attention. ‘Cry of the Banshee’ is probably my favourite but it’s not really something worth splitting hairs over. At first I had a problem with the very upfront bass playing - but then again I’m no stranger to having odd first reactions to great bands (I think I sung “Dine well! In Hell!” when I first heard Manilla Road, and then promptly went back to listening to something shite). After all, upfront bass playing is no problem when your bass player is fantastic, and James Schumacher is a killer metal bassist - with his propulsive playing that really drives the songs along giving the band their signature high-energy rocking groove. It’s quite a mysterious, dark song for Brocas Helm - but it still is impossibly forceful… fuck, Brocas Helm must have discovered the Fountain of Youth or something, I’m sure most younger bands would be out of breath trying to keep up with this. It’s just undeniably metal!

The title-track, too, just seethes with excitement and vitality; those signature Brocas Helm melodies flow from your speakers and I’m just absolutely captivated by it all. You could say it’s the archetypal pre-historic heavy metal song; all about sword-fights and crying freedom against some anonymous, secreted bad guys. I really love that about the song; it doesn’t matter who these enemies are - they’re just fucking bad alright. What more do you need? The band runs the gamut from medieval battles to putting one’s penis into the eye’s of Maidens fair on Defender of the Crown, it’s no wonder they need a drink when they’re on the road.

Once more, it’s just the energy that carries this along - it’s the audio equivalent of spinning round too fast until you fall over. Pure, relentless driving metal, and it makes me giddy like a schoolgirl. Let’s hope it’s not the last we’ll hear from the mighty Helm.

Back in 2000, when I was getting into the more underground scene of metal, Baron_Von_K/Lando recommended Brocas Helm’s Black Death to me. I scouted down an actually copy of it for an outrageous amount of money, but luckily, I loved the 20 minute album of total chaos (see my review on Black Death). Recently, I heard they had re-united to create Defender of the Crown, their 2004 release. I was excited to hear this, as it actually had enough songs to be an actual full-length, and I wondered how their song-writing skills had progressed, and feared the decrease of their chaotic thrash sound I loved on BD.

Wow, this is fucking great epic metal. With epic metal, most people envision bands that actually take themselves serious like Bal Sagoth or Rhapsody, creating mounds of cheese, but Brocas Helm doesn’t pretend to be serious music with songs like Skullfucker and Drink and Drive. The first song RIPS through your head with a blazing (slightly sloppy) bass intro, reminding me of a tapping intro by Steve DiGiorgio on his Dark Hall project (although not even close as technical). These guys have definitely improved the song structures of their songs, but the organized chaos is still very evident. It is clear these guys have a serious punk influence and don’t shy away from using very clear hooks to catch your ear. The bass is loud, the guitar mid-ranged and biting. The drummer must be on speed on EVERY SONG, because he fills in almost every measure, but not annoy-ingly so, because it adds to the chaos that you grow to love throughout the album. There is always one instrument playing something weird. In the song Juggernaut for example, during the chorus, the guitars may play a straight power chord scheme, with particularly easy drums behind it, but the bass goes all over the place. Another beautiful bass intro shines in the next song, Time of the Dark, with silent bass and pounding drums, building tension for the galloping middle section of the song. Yeah, I might focus a lot on the bass in this album, but it is so evident, it cannot be ignored. The vocals are slightly distorted with a delay effect, giving it a slightly underwater feel to it, fitting perfectly in the slightly wavery music. Folk influences are also all over this album, especially near the end of Time of The Dark.

These guys have learned in the years of their absence, and created a hilarious under-ground metal masterpiece, fusing thrash, NWOBHM, punk, chaos and alcohol in a blend of awesomeness.

Brocas Helm has been around for over twenty years, and this is only their third album. The fact that they're still unsigned while countless lesser metal acts are being snapped up and marketted as if they were the next best thing since poutine seems almost criminal. "Defender of the Crown" actually consists of material that spans the years of Brocas Helm's career: material that has only seen the light of day on demos and various 7 inch vinyls until this year.

I actually think this band has improved a hell of a lot since "Into Battle". I like that album, as my review I wrote of it here will testify, but there were certain elements that I felt didn't quite jell with the band's over all sound. The vocals seemed a bit weak to me, and some of the more "rock n' roll" tracks felt rather uninspired. However, even back then the true atmosphere and sound of the band: grand, somewhat folk inspired metal that somehow managed to be epic without containing any lengthy songs, shone through. This is all even more evident on their latest opus. The folk-isms are stronger, the songs are huge, epic and intricate, yet surprisingly the longest track on here is less than five and a half minutes long! I'd say it's remarkable that Brocas Helm has managed to achieve this level of complexity and scope of songwriting without even touching the sprawling lengths of some of their contemporaries' tracks. The key here is, I think, that the band's songs are so involved and there's so much going on that it's almost as if the listener completely loses track of time. At the end of each song, you'll probably be saying to yourself, "damn, that was only four minutes of music?" Sometimes I do wish the band would play around with ideas a little more though. For example, the title track is a highlight, but it just seems so short that one can't help but want more! It's a minor quibble, though, all the same.

The rock n' rollisms from "Into Battle" are still somewhat present, but they're handled better, and the stronger vocals of Bobby Wright certainly help out a great deal. The vocals are all over the place on many of these songs, and often multi-tracked at various unexpected points within each song. They're not really spectacular as such, but they have personality to them and help the songs gain some much needed catchiness. There's even several slightly processed deep spoken parts, that remind me of Byron Roberts from Bal-Sagoth. no moreso is this evident than on the absolutely mighty "Ghost Story", where the celtic folk influences this band has always subtly wore on their sleeves make their presence most felt. This track is far superior to anything I've heard from so-called folk metal bands, and thankfully, it doesn't have fiddles! Yet, it will have you prancing madly around to the Irish-sounding syncopated rhythm and the complex and intricate melodies weaved by Wright's guitar. There's even a nice, vaguely waltzy sounding organ intro to this one.

Other highlights include the opening cut "Cry of the Banshee"< which is played so fast it will take your breath away. Seriously, this is a heavy metal song with the intricacy of the most complex of Iron Maiden tracks but played at near thrash speed and with dizzying, trebbly, quick-fingered bass taking the lead through much of the song's length. Then there's the nasty "Skullfucker", which is just one of the most fun songs I've heard in a long time. "Children of the Nova Dawn" is slow and pounding, and features some of the album's catchiest vocal melodies and a strong chorus. Then there's "Defender of the crown", which is just barely three minutes of furious riffing and is guaranteed to have you headbanging like a maniac.

If you can't tell, I really like this. It's probably not for everyone, as it frankly doesn't have the catchiness and easy hooks that makes heavy metal accessible to "the masses". However, if you can digest Brocas Helm's intricate and frantic style of playing, and like your metal delivered with 100% conviction and integrity, you simply must have this in your collection.