Antedeluvian

There are a few bands that go around calling themselves "traditional" or "old school" metal, but almost all of them still list Lamb of God, Trivium, or Slipknot as influences. Night's Watch, however, does not fall under that category. They are really and truly a true metal band. I got ahold of their self-financed (and I think self-recorded as well) demo via a friend of mine who found their myspace page.

I was skeptical, as I usually am. I'm one of the more picky listeners, maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm the somewhat rare female metal fan. But when I popped this in, my skepticism quickly melted.

The demo starts off with an interesting intro track, using some orchestral samples. It's very nicely composed, and it harkens to heavy prog bands like Symphony X.

As the intro fades out, a clean guitar comes through, signaling the beginning of the absolutely epic opening track "The Prophet". An early Fates Warning-esque riff then comes in, and one of my favorite things in any music I've listened to recently is the bass guitar, drums, and a Dickinson-style scream roar into the mix along with the guitar riff. The bass-lines are intricate, but not over-indulgent. If you listen hard, you can hear the drummer going absolutely wild with rhythmetic bass drum patterns.The song is over eight minutes long and every musician (all of whom are excellent) gets a chance at a solo in the bridge before the last chorus. Fantastic. "The Prophet" gets a 10/10.

The next song is "Epitaph", and it starts off with a quick acoustic guitar intro before hitting into a pounding, bluesy riff. This song has a nice ethnic feel, with the drummer and the bassist never failing to make interesting parts throughout the song. The guitarists also shine when it's time to solo, I believe the singer also plays guitar, so one of those solos is probably his. This song is probably the "hit" out of the batch, as it's catchy and anthemic. From what I can make out, the lyrics are also rather well developed. 9/10.

The next song is entitled "CBRO", can someone enlighten me as to what that means? Anyway, the bassist and the singer really come through on this song. Some interesting riffs (including a Sabbath-like interlude) are worked into this otherwise vocally-driven song. Yngwie's influence on these guys is also pretty prevelent here. I can understand the lyrics on this one, and it seems to be about a man who was wrongfully denied of his throne in some kind of persian kingdom, and makes it his life's goal to gain it back. The solo in this one is also really cool. 9/10.

The demo is brought to a close by the less in-your-face "Unwoken Dream". It's a rather nice change of pace, and the bells in the beginning add a lot to the atmosphere of it. Two nice solos are present as usual, and this song does a nice job of mixing traditional and progressive metal with a touch of thrash. 8/10.

Guys, if you read this, come play in Philadelphia. I'll round up as many people as I can and we'll all go nuts. My older sister and I will sport our soon-to-be-home-made Night's Watch shirts.

Labels, pick these guys up, dammit!