Sevdah Metal

This album ostensibly is a combination of metal (in this case, mostly classic, NWOBHM-style, with tinges of power/symphonic) with Bosnian sevdah music (hence the title). Make no mistake, though--it's really just a metal album. The accordions, occasional nylon and 12-string guitars, and vaguely Eastern sounding melodies that constitute the sevdah elements are mostly just used as window dressing on the metal template, popping up every now and again to give these tracks' instrumental sections a slightly different flavor. It's different and works reasonably well (it's not really as cartoonish as you'd think once you've been exposed to it for 15 seconds), and doesn't really come up that much, so it just serves to give this disc a bit of a distinguishing sound from its competitors.

With that uniqueness out of the way, we can turn to the meat of the album, which is the metal components. Emir Hot proves himself to be a well-rounded guitarist on this album, cranking out solid riffs and solos of both the traditional and Eastern-tinged variety. But this album is not just a showcase for the Bosnian axeman. There are real, fully-formed songs on here.

With the exception of the mammoth "Sevdah Metal Rhapsody" (we'll double back to that one later), Hot pens a startlingly consistent set. "Devils in Disguise" charges out of the gate on a Michael Romeo-esque riff that moves seamlessly into a surprisingly sweeping chorus, "World Set on Fire" creates a heavy atmosphere out of some surging Eastern riffing, and "Endless Pain" has a frenzied energy, while "Stand and Fight" peels back for some quieter verses leading to an slower, anthemic chorus. Closer "You" is a progressive metal epic, moving between soft acoustic sections and high bombast quite a few times in its eight-minute runtime, with strong melody throughout.

Melody is the uniting feature of this album, and it's maximized by vocalist John West. This was West's first album after departing Royal Hunt, and while it might seem like an odd project for him to attach himself to in that context, it really suits him well. Hot's written a strong set of hooky verses and choruses that call for precise, soaring execution in the medium-high register, and that's West's biggest strength. West's approach on this album is very consistent with his approach on his last Royal Hunt effort, Paper Blood, with a reasonable helping of gritty vocals in verses combined with the usual silky approach he had come to favor by the 2000s. Hot gives West a fair amount of big high notes to go for, too, which is kind of fun, even though that really wasn't West's strength by this point. He nails the climactic note of "You," though, so points for that one.

The album's one big flaw is "Sevdah Metal Rhapsody." It's twelve minutes long, and it includes an instrumental section that lasts for over half of that (approximately 2:40 to 9:05). And man, it shouldn't be anywhere near that long. There's a long accordion solo, seemingly endless riffs and leads, then a wandering clean guitar solo, and most ridiculously an extended Mike Terrana drum solo accompanied by only faint string pads. There are a couple of good ideas in there, and the vocal sections in the track are fine (if far from the best on the album), but the track completely collapses under its own weight. Also, the verses of "Skies and Oceans" pretty much rip off Racer X's "Loud and Clear," if you're one to care about that sort of thing.

Other than that, though, this a rock-solid album that has surprising replay value. Hot and West make a dynamic front-and-center team, and veteran Terrana is no slouch on the kit, either, keeping up with them at every turn and integrating himself well into the intricacies of the music. Hot also plays bass on the album and largely follows his guitar lines, though the bass is clearly audible and tonally pleasant. Production is generally high-quality, though there are a couple of (insignificant, really) spots where some additional vocal quality control would've been nice (largely with harmonies/backing vocals).

Sevdah metal is kind of an odd concept, but Sevdah Metal gets some interesting quirks from the former while excelling at the latter. It's highly recommended for West and Terrana fans and for those who like their power metal anthemic but not overwrought.