Avenford – New Beginning – Power Of Metal.dk

“Courage”, “face your fears”, “keep on fighting” are all tropes that you see a lot in all Metal genres and not just in Power Metal. The only difference is that Power Metal embraces these tropes much more than other subgenres and since Avenford is a Power Metal band you get a pretty good idea as to what you can expect. And Avenford’s album “New Beginning” does not disappoint there. You get all sorts of songs that cater to the aforementioned tropes both in their lyrics, but also in the actual music. The pace is mostly mid-tempo, the vocals are clear and there and the instruments evoke the same feelings as the lyrics.

This interaction already starts with the first song “Dead or Alive”. It might start a bit slow for the first song of an album, but don’t allow yourselves to be fooled! This is a trick, a nice one at that! So yes, the proverbial “kick in the butt” comes only moments later when the song picks up in speed starting with its driving drums and a nice riff. So yes, screaming guitars, riffs, drums, nice solos), clean vocals… pretty much what a Power Metal wants to hear to feel that certain, that special energy for which Heavy Metal as a whole is so much praised by its fans.

Just do not expect for Avenford to dangle much into Speed Metal territory. Like most other Metal bands they dangle into that territory here and there, but they rely mostly on midtempo songs and their lyrics to weave their certain brand of heaviness. Avenford really seems to have understood that you do not necessarily need to play at a speed that could very well end up giving your guitarist a heart attack. You can, of course, but it is not a necessity to create that certain feeling that the fans like to describe as “heavy”.

Yes, sometimes they come across as a bit cheesy when they use battlefield sound effects (“Overlord”), but so what? This particular neckbreaking cheese is tasty! Also, life is tough enough as it is which is why Avenford’s attitude to face one’s fears head on and how the band encourages and energises its listeners to keep on fighting is so uplifting. So yes, Judas Priest’s statement that “It [Heavy Metal] is therapeutic healing” holds a lot of truth which can be found throughout the entire album.

If you are into Power Metal and want to loose yourself for a little while in order to refill your inner batteries then this album is absolutely for you! 8 devils!