Renegades

Some of you may have heard of the British band Monument. If you haven’t, they’re one of newer bands that play traditional heavy metal and I would compare their overall sound to Iron Maiden; among newer bands, I would compare this band to White Wizzard (which shouldn’t be a surprise, since Peter Ellis was a vocalist in White Wizzard for a short time). So, is it worth your time? Peter Ellis more than successfully emulates Bruce Dickinson and the others are truly talented, so the answer would be... definitely yes.

There is only one problem here: many songs have already been released. In fact, four tracks have already appeared on Rock the Night EP (with only Blood Red Sky mising) and two songs (Runaway and Crusaders) appeared as singles. Since this album contains ten tracks, that leaves us with four new tracks. At first glance, that would seem lazy, but here’s the catch: the songs that appeared on Rock the Night EP have been re-recorded and the mixing for the tracks is a bit different compared to the aforementioned EP. For one thing, bass is more audible, especially on Rock the Night (I cannot claim the same for Runaway or Crusaders, as I only know they have been released as singles). The EP was already excellent, but the versions present here will blow your mind.

If you haven’t heard Rock the Night EP, so you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll help you. Rock the Night and Carry On are faster of the four tracks, although Fatal Attack isn’t much slower. Midnight Queen is more of a mid-tempo song, at least compared to the three tracks mentioned before it. In my opinion, all these tracks are excellent in their own right. As for the singles, Runaway is a fun, relatively fast song, while Crusaders is a mid-tempo track. Both tracks are good, with Runaway being a bit better, in my opinion.

What about the new tracks? The album opens with a track called Renegades. It may be one of the best tracks here; full of energy and passion, both instrumentally and vocally and it shows why this band needs more recognition. Red Dragon is a pounding intrumental, a bit in the spirit of White Wizzard’s Forging the Steel, but somewhat faster for the most part. Save Me could be considered a ballad; at any rate, it's the slowest song here. In the end, the closing track, Omega, sounds like one of the longer Iron Maiden tracks, both structurally and soundwise; if you like that type of tracks, this one’s for you.

Production is, as hinted above, very good and really pushes the album up.

Finding favorites is not an easy task here, but if I had to choose, I’d go for Renegades, Red Dragon and Rock the Night; however, there are no bad tracks here, so your favorite track may be, for instance, Omega or Runaway. Overall, this album is a welcome addition to any traditional heavy metal collection, especially if you’re into Iron Maiden and White Wizzard, but any traditional heavy metal fan should find enjoyment in this album.