Whispers of Lore

Whispers of Lore is the rather surprising debut offering from Receiver, surprising because this group of 5 musicians from Cyprus have little previous recording history (from an MA perspective at least). Their album, however, creaks under the weight of history, from the bygone times hinted at in the lyrics and artwork to the mix of traditional metal with prog and folk that could have come from the ‘70s or ‘80s. This really could go down as a feelgood epic metal effort, since it doesn't test the listener's patience or their reference palette, coming on like a soothing collision of Pagan Altar, Manilla Road, and Powerslave-era Iron Maiden. The songs teeter around the 6 minute mark most of the time, pounding forward with plenty of triplet sequences, and generally sounding like either the end of the beginning of a very long journey. Triumph might be the most persistent mood, but the quintet do subtlety as well.

Receiver also explore their own character in detail, burrowing down into the intricacies of heavy metal and remaining distinctive thanks to the voice of Nikoletta Kyprianou. It's another recent example of heavy/power metal approaching the classic stuff with a lady behind the mic, and frankly she sounds like a dead ringer for a lot of the '80s greats, particularly those with a bit more flavour like Terry Jones of Pagan Altar. She doesn't sing that high, but it certainly has a slightly thin, cutting sound that gets through the clatter of the rhythms and running riffs on 'Raiders of the Night' or 'Unite'. The guitar work itself hits an interesting pocket between heavy and speed metal, with isolated melodies showing up at times, as well as some regular lead guitar and this keeps the album moving along nicely at the quicker moments, offering plenty of detail on the melodic side of things without sounding specifically like one act from the style. It's not strictly fast, but Whispers of Lore will nevertheless get classic hearts beating quicker.


Originally written in edited form for Metalegion #14 - www.metalegion.com