Exciting things are happening in metal! where once we had jsut a few types of bands with wide bands, we now have a rainbow filtering through into the ears of the unsuspecting. Amongst these are the epic Battleroar, with a mash-up of thrash, power violin, and powermetal vocals that will have you quaffing in the halls of Heroes in no time! Ice Giants be damned!
Battleroar has released an epic symphony this week, for which you should be writing sagas about to spread word across the hamlet’d plains. They have routed themselves in a legendary genre, that of Power Metal, with the likes of Man-O-War, Edguy, Dio (Hate if you must, he had all the marks and power), and, to me, what Kataklysm would sound like as not death metal. What I am saying is, is they have great chops, having been successful for 13 years, and it shows. The new album, Blood of Legends, showcases a dragon’s treasure of technical skill and pure energy, using awesome violin work, shredding guitars, throbbing bass and pounding drums, all of which are guided by some saga worthy vocals, all wrapped up in a glorious trove of fun and adventure.
The album opens with a deep, beautiful violin melody, which is joined later in by the band itself, on “Stormgiven“, and the songs just kind of launch from that shore. “Poisoned Well” is another barn burner, with a palpable sadness wound within it, again, thanks to the classical strings department. They wield their sound like a rapier, hitting straight inside, not splashing everything around like some bands do. It’s a tight album, and won’t be amiss on a casual power fan’s playlists. My personal favorite is the aforementioned “Stormgiven“, but “Blood of Legends” and “Valkyries Above Us” vie for it just as much. It’s hard to pick and choose, especially given the time differences. A lot happens, so you may love a section of song just as much as another song, just because of relative time elapsing. Fun stuff!
Out of the 10 songs on Blood of Legends, you have 4 epics over 7 minutes (Poisoned Well, Immortal Chariot, Valkyries Above Us, and Exile Eternal), with the shortest song going just over 3 (Relentless Waves), so bang for the buck is definitely there. And the cover art is absolutely spot on, recalling Nordic myth, a bit of Tolkien, an da whole bunch of epic daydreaming. Battleroar hails from the home of Democracy, Athens, Greece, and were started in 2000, and have had 7 releases so far, including Blood of Legends on Cruz Del Sur, and seem to have lost no steam so far.
Album is available now, on iTunes, Amazon Music, Bandcamp, and Cruz Del Sur’s website.
Join the Heroes of yore and bang your heads to Battleroar!
