Highlord
The Warning After
Punishment 18 Records
2013
Highlord is a known band in the Italian heavy/power metal scene. Four years after their previous album, with new two additions on their line-up, the keyboardist Emanuele Salsa (Evil Bards, ex-Crystal Empire, ex-Egart) & the bassist Daniele Veronese (Dying Awkward Angel, ex-Housebreakers), and under a new label, they’re back with a new work.
While they retain all the heavy/power metal elements of their “old albums” I think the shortage of good & memorable melodies & the generic songwriting are a major downside here. Even though the album was recorded at New Sin Studios (WhiteSkull, Eldritch, Domine, ElvenKing, SecretSphere, Labyrinth, DarkMoor, Arthemis etc.) & was engineered and mastered by Luigi Stefanini, the sound is not as good and full as I would like it to be. It’s OK, but there’s something about the drum sound that I do not fancy that much.
Certainly, there some fine parts on this album, like “No More Heroes”, but I truly hoped for more. The last song “Arcade Warriors” is featuring Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear, ex-Gamma Ray) on vocals… but then again nothing changes on the whole. With so many releases on the pipeline every month, the antagonism has actually become very tough and cruel, so the “old bands” must be more careful from now on…
While they retain all the heavy/power metal elements of their “old albums” I think the shortage of good & memorable melodies & the generic songwriting are a major downside here. Even though the album was recorded at New Sin Studios (WhiteSkull, Eldritch, Domine, ElvenKing, SecretSphere, Labyrinth, DarkMoor, Arthemis etc.) & was engineered and mastered by Luigi Stefanini, the sound is not as good and full as I would like it to be. It’s OK, but there’s something about the drum sound that I do not fancy that much.
Certainly, there some fine parts on this album, like “No More Heroes”, but I truly hoped for more. The last song “Arcade Warriors” is featuring Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear, ex-Gamma Ray) on vocals… but then again nothing changes on the whole. With so many releases on the pipeline every month, the antagonism has actually become very tough and cruel, so the “old bands” must be more careful from now on…