Death Dealer – Hallowed Ground

[nyrating]

2nd October 2015 Reinier de Vries Album Reviews 0

Original, progressive, new paths taken etc. etc. are words and expressions that don’t describe this album. If you are looking for something like that, you can stop reading and wasting your time. But if you like good, plain, true U.S. metal with quite a few cliches, but with the right attitude and performance, you are reading the right review.

With rather known names in the line-up, like Ross the Boss, Stu Marshall, Mike Davis, Steve Bolognese and last but not least Sean Peck, you can expect something heavy and steady. In my humble opionion, everything on this album is done right, the songs are rather catchy, the refrains are easy to sing a long, the riffs are heavy and Sean’s vocals are metal as iron. His voice has the perfect true metal sound, a mix of Rob Halford and James Rivera. After a real metal intro, the first song sets of fast. Sean’s voice is very recognizable and automatically, I have to think of his other band Cage. Certainly, the first song could have been on a Cage album and some faster heavy songs, too, but in general, the music is a little less fast than Cage songs. The solo in the first song has a very recognizable tune and the best song is, in my opinion, the third track. It reminds me of early Vicious Rumors: melodic, aggressive and with the same kind of sound.

Is it then all gold that glitters? No, sometimes I have the feeling that Sean sings a little over the top and a single track is perhaps a bit too cliche (“The Way Of the Gun”). Nevertheless, there are not a lot of albums this year that will be a blue print of what metal stands for. If you think that the new Iron Maiden is true metal, you haven’t listened to this album yet. More metal than this is almost impossible. If you call yourself a true metal music lover, you can’t ignore this album! For fans of Helstar, Vicious Rumors, New Eden, Cage, Destiny’s End, Halford, Agent Steel, Judas Priest and true U.S. (power) metal.

Tracklist:

01. Gunslinger
02. Break the Silence
03. Plan Of Attack
04. Seance
05. Llega El Diablo
06. The Way Of the Gun
07. K.I.L.L.
08. I Am the Revolution
09. Total Devestation
10. The Anthem
11. Corruption Of Blood
12. Skull And Cross Bones
13. U 666

Playing time: 58:00

Release date: 2 October, 2015

Label: Sweden Music Group

Website: www.facebook.com/deathdealerband

About Reinier de Vries 188 Articles

Once a metal head, always a metalhead. My parents thought it would only be a period, but they were wrong. I quit to explain the beauty of metal music to others that are not into metal, because it is something you can't tell in words... It is like explaining to a teetotaller why a cold beer is so nice on a hot day... I started with bands like Accept, Metal Church, Iron Maiden and Metallica in the eighties and I think I will still listen to them when I'm stone deaf and old...