The Path to Valhalla

For those that have followed the recent exploits of NWOBHM stalwarts turned power metal pioneers Cloven Hoof, the name Joe Whelan is a familiar one. His stints on the popular British network singing competition show "The X Factor" might lead some to dismiss his credentials in much the same fashion that Ari Koivunen's were upon his being signed to a label following his victory on Finland's equivalent show "Idols". However, anyone with a keen sense of curiosity and the resourcefulness to track down the sole LP of his now defunct independent project Dementia (which carries the same name as an early 90s Wisconsin thrash metal outfit) might find a fairly different story when considering the elaborate and nuanced beast that is The Path To Valhalla.

It's perhaps a bit fitting that an up and comer like Whelan would jump onto the retro-thrash revival bandwagon given the time period that this project was active. However, the peculiar avenue of thrashing that he and his flock have opted to indulge in definitely involves a lot of elements that are not commonly revisited nowadays, save perhaps by the bands that originally developed it back in the mid to late 80s. There isn't necessarily any one band that can be pointed to as the chief influence as would be the case with a Fueled By Fire or a Lich King, but rather an almost perfect balance of several iconic bands, most of them on the lighter side of the equation. But for the generally melodic and clean approach that has been taken, the epic scope of the songwriting cuts against an attempt at outright mainstream accessibility as well.

It's not difficult to spot the heavily similarities in Whelan's soaring tenor with that of Joey Belladonna, and at times this album does embody elements of Anthrax's final outing with him Persistence Of Time, but musically this is a pretty elaborate mixture of influences. The multifaceted mixture of fast and slow elements that typify Heathen, the consonant melodic contour and fast paced riffing of the first few Annihilator albums, and the technical showmanship of Watchtower and Toxik all pop in and out of this thing at various points, and sometimes the lead work gets so outright shred-happy that it almost wants to shift over into late 80s Voivod territory. In other words, this isn't the sort of stuff that you bring to a pop music singing competition, quite far from it.

This works nicely as an alternative to the frequent orthodox Bay Area and Teutonic thrash worship that's been going on of late, though it's tough to acquire apart from going directly through Whelan. One might even go so far as to put it in similar territory to Toxik's Think This and Heathen's Breaking The Silence, though it does lose some steam given the Jeff Waters steeped balladry of "Hitman" and the first half of "Tree Of Souls" (which is actually an excellent song once it gets going) and finds itself in Set The World On Fire territory, not to mention that the drum production is a bit mechanical sounding. But the bulk of this album is definitely well tailored for someone looking for an elaborate and progressive take on the style, though more so progressive in the context of 1989.