NWOABIHM – New wave of American British-Inspired Have Metal

These American purists come to their fifth release (third full length) bringing nothing less than a torrent of zealot Heavy Metal mania!

No, it’s not speed metal or any variation, it comes directly from the 80’s source. Although being American and not being totally inspired by the Britons, having some influence of their American counterparts (and from other countries for that sake), this is pure Satan with Angel Witch in their British part and totally Cirith Ungol from their American (counter)part.

Okay, it’s being a little bit confused here and let’s take another way: American Heavy Metal from the first 80’s was totally British-inspired and let’s work with the perception that NWOBHM is just a label.

That being said, some claim that the Savage Master sound have something to do with Chastain for example, just because the feminine vocals of Stacey Peak but I beg to differ. The band of Leather Leone and David T. Chastain is much faster, whereas Savage Master is so traditional.

Of course, this is just to put the things in the right place and in the light of that let’s go to the highlights:

The opener which is the title track is overtly strident, ripping the ears apart with simple, but with efficient riffage and mid-tempo drumming, where is not technical (by the way, don’t expect nothing technical for a purist heavy metal band) but with bigger than life choruses and beefy soloing remembering Judas Priest.

One that is my fave is Flyer in the Night with its super singalong bulky chorus, impossible to not assimilate and love. By the way, it’s becoming rare to hear something very cool that is not original in the formula but feasible when listened to. This thing simply works much better than expected!

The doom-laden Warrior vs Dragon makes sense exactly because it remembers some Heavy Load from Sweden, Manilla Road and… Cirith Ungol! The dry organic beatings make this one not just a travel through time but a real epic rocker!

The problem here is: the other songs are not earworms as the aforementioned. No, they are not terrible, they are not a disgrace, they follow the formula all the way but what did I say about the working factor in the song Flyer in the Night? Well it’s not true for the rest of the album.

This is kind of a judge-by-yourself case, however is strongly recommended for the die-hards of this kind of strict heavy metal formula.

Myth, Magic & Steel is out now on CD, LP, TAPE via Shadow Kingdom!

Rating: 7/10