Hell to Pay

Spartan Warrior have returned for their second full-length effort since their post-2000 reunion. Like most of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands that have reformed in recent years, their definitive works were released over three decades ago and these efforts rarely pan out as well as the earlier ones. In this case, Spartan Warrior certainly have a lot going for them. This effort shows both a clear effort on their part to keep the classic sound alive as well as a genuinely solid attempt to match their earlier works. Whether or not they entirely succeeded is probably best left to each listener, but I can safely say that even if they did miss the mark, it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

The first thing that I think anybody who hears this record is going to notice is the over-the-top lead guitar. And lest you think this is a complaint, it isn’t. It’s just that this particular album flaunts its guitar mastery from beginning to end. I can see how this might be a turn off for some listeners, but it isn’t so dominant that it drowns out the rest of the good stuff. It’s just that you can’t not notice it, and that’s in spite of the fact that this album is slightly heavier and faster than their previous efforts, giving this quite a busy finish.

But for all the riffs and flowery guitar leads and speedy drumming going on, I found it really tough to find a solidly tasty hook to pull me through. Sure, there are some songs I enjoyed, but nothing really stood out to me. Actually I should rephrase that – this whole album was fun to listen to. I found it to be a wonderfully enjoyable album as long as I wasn’t looking for anything super special. There are some songs with killer opening riffs like “Shadowland” and “In Memorium” and there is a sweet power ballad (“Something to Believe In”) but overall, I just couldn’t really tap into this work as an album and outside of this review, I don’t feel like I’ll be going back to it.

As is the case with all reviews, you’re only getting a singular perspective, so I feel like in order to be fair I can’t really throw this release entirely under the bus. This is primarily the case because in spite of its lack of whatever it is that would have pulled me in, at the end of the day, this isn’t a bad release at all. I think heavy metal listeners at least owe this a few listens and shouldn’t write it off just because I didn’t happen to feel it. As I said, there are plenty of good things going on here – perhaps you will appreciate it more than I could.

Originally written for The Metal Observer.