War Cry

This single, which was released when Outworld was already starting to fall apart, contains two songs. The title track, which appeared on the s/t album, features the new vocalist who took over after Kelly Carpenter’s departure. I had never heard of Carlos Zema before, but holy shit this guy is a fucking beast! He pulls off the incredibly demanding verses flawlessly, and he even adds some frigging death growls to the outro.

Outworld, in case you didn’t know, played power/prog metal of the heavier variety. The title track kicks off with a crushing, mid-paced groove riff before moving onto the verses, which are the highlight of the song. The band conjures up a veritable avalanche of sound while Zema wails away with a range that can shatter glass and a conviction that can move mountains. It must also be mentioned that he’s wailing out some great lyrics. War Cry is an ode to individualism and nonconformity that define the ideals of metal better than your typical “hail metal and death to posers” song ever could. Add to that a blistering minute-long guitar solo and you get one hell of a song.

The other song on here is Polar, the japanese bonus track from the s/t album. This one has Carpenter on vocals, so you get to hear two world class metal vocalists on this single. Carpenter really steals the show on this song with some ridiculously high notes. It’s otherwise a pretty good song, but not as memorable as the title track.

So yeah, this is essentially a great single containing two great songs by a great band. Now someone please find a first rate band for this Carlos Zema dude. Lost Horizon, maybe? Just thinking about what Wojtek Lisicki could do with a talent like Zema makes me drool all over the keyboard.