Guardians

I thought aloud, "Wow, 'Loud Crowd' sounds like an overly-proud, poorly-endowed mound," I frowned, "A bunch of rowdy, mouthy, lousy townies playing glam so devoutly isn't likely to wow me." But it turns out Loud Crowd isn't a glam metal band at all; rather, a remarkable little gem extracted from Finland's largely-untouched epic metal mines. So that conclusion I jumped to earlier was incorrect, and a waste of your time and my own.

Loud Crowd takes its Guardians lunch tray to the NWOBHM table, finding a seat somewhere between Saxon and Angel Witch. The influence it takes from the latter makes itself apparent in tracks like 'No Way Out' - a moderately fast anthem with bouyant bass, harmonizing riffs, and an intriguing mix between eccentric chord progression and facile verses. Despite a blue-collar Saxon approach to riffs and wailing solos, choruses are bright and bubbly, more indicative of classic power metal. Band frontman JP manages a competent and consistent style throughout this album, at his best when the tempo is slower and more deliberate.

Based on metal sensibilities alone, I wouldn't guess this band hails from Finland. I'd be more inclined to guess - and this may come as a shock to you - Japan. I notice some stark similarities with classic Japanese metal, specifically Excuriver and Hellen. My delusions are at their most vivid during the high-energy anthem 'Run Til You're Free', where if I close my eyes whilst listening, I see a Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade AMV. I don't get out much.

Production is pleasant, as courteous as you can expect from the time. Equal preference is given to Pex and Jami's guitars, and while Jycä's bass isn't always as audible as I'd like it to be, he's usually compensated by songs having an advanced song structure that allows for creative bridges and breakdowns. A good example of this is the galloping goodness in 'Goodheart', which would sound right at home in Cloven Hoof's immaculate The Opening Ritüal demo. Drums, too, have a meaty, satisfying quality to them without sounding tinny or fatalistically loud - frankly, I can find nothing to complain about from a technical standpoint.

From a musical standpoint, however, this album is not perfect. A very formulaic and predictable approach to tracks leaves most on the short side, and it took me longer than usual before I could even differentiate them. I like to think if I woke up fettered to a chair in a dark room with a record-player, and the only way I could unlock my bonds was to tell what song was playing after a few seconds, I'd prefer Powerslave instead of the samey tracks of Guardians.

But since most metal reviews don't involve hypothetical Resident Evil puzzles, I suppose I have no choice but to strongly recommend you listen to this hidden gem, if your time or budget allows.

Related listening:
Excuriver - In Hard Time
Martyr - For the Universe

Loud Crowd – Guardians


When I first saw the name of this band, I figured it was some American AOR/glam outfit – I mean come on, that’s pretty typical of said genre. In actuality however, Loud Crowd is a pretty kickass Finnish speed power outfit, (hailing from the tiny town of Akaa, no less) sounding akin to Phantom, Malice or a less polished ‘Fifth Angel’ – we’re off to a pretty good start, right? Loud Crowd’s focus seems to be awesome, heavy and inventive riffing, with the awesome ‘No Way Out’ sounding akin to a good Saxon track – in terms of guitar riffage, and ‘Words’ containing some nice inventive riffs of its own. Anyhow, this is a great album that’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of traditional stuff; heavy, catchy, often fast, and with some real prowess on the riffs – plenty of strong cuts abound!

Favourites for me are the aforementioned ‘No Way Out’ – a fast-paced dominator with an awesome US style feel going on – fast and melodic – with killer chorus vocals. The aggressive ‘Beat the Hell Out of Me’ is a speed metal attack with thundering drums and speed-of-light guitar sections, where the band comes across strong and in control. The band might perhaps be at its best in the more melodic tracks, such as ‘In the Middle of Your Heart’ the band edges closer to power metal, and is perhaps even at its strongest. The riff phrasing and leads around the two thirds mark convey some great emotion – something I’ve noticed a lot of European speed/heavy bands seem unable to do as well as, oh say the US power metal contemporaries of the same time.

It’s hard to indubitably pick out the weaker tracks on this one too – as I mentioned earlier – it’s a pretty solid, and fairly strong album from start to finish. Most songs seem to hover more or less around the same levels of competency, catchiness and songwriting skill. Even ‘Goodheart’ has some nice original touches and great melodies, and in the tail end mid pacer ‘Pick up the Pieces’ Loud Crowd displays some power metal tinges, and emotive riffs – great chorus backup vocals contribute to the power feel of the track. Guitar leads in this one are melodic, and Maiden-esque too. So there you go, not only is it a decent blend of speed/power metal, but it conveys emotion, has inventive riffs, good choruses, and its solid from start to finish. That’s a lot of proverbial boxes ticked, yes?

No I’m not sure what else people want to hear in an album review, but I usually imagine when it comes to bordering-on-obscure bands like Loud Crowd – the type of band you can’t find an online bio of, or a Wikipedia page, or allmusic page – you probably have heard of them and are investigating to see if their material is worthwhile to purchase or download – to get a description of the sound, right? Wrong? I dunno, but that’s usually what I imagine, so I tend to gear reviews toward that hypothesis – thus, hopefully this description has been of use to those of you in this situation. This is a great album that I was pretty surprised by; I acquired the thing months ago, and sort of left it there – I imagined it would sound something like ATC or V2 – good, but pretty straightforward heavy metal. True – this album is straight forward – it lacks the complexity of Heir Apparent, Blind Guardian, Riot or other speed/power pioneers, but it kicks butt and lives large.

-DeathRiderDoom