Canadian Unleash the Archers uses fast old school U.S. (power) metal as a base for their music. Frontwoman Brittney Slayes has a voice you can perhaps best compare to that of Jill Janus (Huntress) or Marta Gabriel (Crystal Viper) in the normal more aggressive parts. However at times she sings so high it is a bit over the top and false, but it has some charm also. The musicians are very skilled and some faster parts do remind me of Dragonforce. Besides the female singing, the band also adds aggressive grunts and screams and I am not yet convinced if that is a surplus for the the whole. Perhaps the band wants to sound heavier by adding this deathgrunts, screams and non functional blastbeats, but they don’t need that in my opinion, Besides that the grunts aren’t strong yet either.
“Test Your Metal” is a rather traditional metal hymne which will certainly do it good at a gig, but one of the less strong songs. After “Crypt”, the song “No More Heroes” has a more progressive touch and the best written and most exciting track “Dreamcrusher” follows. Again a shame that the song is punished with the weak and misplaced harsh/grunting sounds. There is nothing wrong with this album and in general I like grunting and harsh singing, but without it, this album would even be much better.
If you think that a mix of Crimson Glory and Dragonforce sounds interesting and traditional U.S. metal is not a dirty word to you, check them out. Oh, did I already warn you for some harsh grunting parts?
Tracklist:
01. Northern Passage
02. Frozen Steel
03. Hail of the Tide
04. Tonight We Ride
05. Test Your Metal
06. Crypt
07. No More Heroes
08. Dreamcrusher
09. Going down Fighting
10. Time Stands Still
Playing time: 55:00
Release date: 26th of June, 2015
Label: Napalm Records
Website: www.facebook.com/unleashthearchers
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