Curse of Heaven

Al Ravage and co. impress yet again with their latest release "Curse of Heaven". Stunningly produced with a thick drum sound and one damned thick guitar mix the mini-LP strikes out with a certain refined power the band had been missing on previous demos. This is obviously a creation with a great deal of care put into it. The artwork, the songwriting and the musicianship all impress and make you wonder why Metal Blade hasn't come and snatched this persistent young act from the underground yet. Despite not being on a bigger label, these boys put on a label sized show on this mini-LP that cannot be ignored.

The strongest cut on this short release is the swaggering "Terror's Head" with a monster riff and some cool vocals from Al. (Interesting lyric turn as well...so listen closely.) Other cool cuts include the slightly "epic" turns of "Curse of Heaven" and the sliding "The Wicked Way". None of the songs on this six song sample of the bands unique (true) power metal fail though. The lyrics use fantasy as metaphor and not a cop out, the band composes with strength and confidence and the overall feel avoids feeling "retro". It's not their most aggressive writing - but hardly a letdown.

Some may yearn for the more thrash oriented material of the earlier demos but this record is a fine example of where classy power metal can actually stir and inspire the listener instead of boring him to tears with pointless cliches and poor lyrics. Al and his merry band of metal pranksters kick along with vigor to challenge any of the "label brand" power metal bands and shall hopefully find themselves on a quality label soon.

Until then...I say BUY IT...

http://www.665.com/ravage