Stallion
Rise and Ride
High Roller Records
2014
These Germans are back a short while after their first mini album which came out as a re-release through High Roller as well. They are another one of these “traditional” metal bands, but I cannot say that I would be particularly impressed by a band in 2014, that mostly bothers with maintaining an image that’s cliché and full of pyramid spikes THAT interesting, musically.
You will get the typical very simple 80s metal, that bands like Enforcer and Axxion and Skullfist also churn out these days, more or less, with hoarse, pitchy and very treble vocals that are however not too capable or impressive... or commanding and after the initial “good track” ie their “hit” – “Rise and Ride” where the band, feels quite comfortable to “copy” a whole little section of Judas Priest mixing it with a bit of Running Wild and then just to almost rip-off note for note the solo of Metallica's "Creeping Death" @ 3:10, just as tribute most probably and mix it with the usual NWOBHM archetypal riffs…(way to go as far as originality is concerned - at least in terms of WRITTING your own songs and not "borrowing" other people's ideas to write your "anthems") things go quickly to hell and they don’t really come back… they seem to occasionally have a semi decent idea here and there in “Wild Stallions” and their guitarists Axl (really?! – maybe he should try to sing) and Oli G occasionally do come up with some nice riff on later songs and the oft-ok solo, when it doesn’t remind of another band!!!
“Canadian Steel” tries too hard, but ultimately fails to impress and probably suck on the fans of Skullfist and such other bands or even older ones – who knows (!) and even the tracks that follow it, are pretty abysmal mid-tempo muck ups... even “Watch Out” that starts out, rather promising, becomes rather sloppy and boring midway…
“The Right One” is after a long time – the first semi-listenable track, worth a listen and to be taken quite seriously.
“The Devil Never Sleeps” marks a vast improvement, but it’s the bands singer Pauly that’s quite the letdown here… I can’t quite describe his voice... he sounds as bad as when Chris Boltendahl goes intentionally off key when he’s uncontrollably out there on some choruses in some old Grave Digger… but he’s like that almost all of the time... plainly annoying, fingers on the chalkboard, bad faint powerless King Diamond falsetto without any power, but in some sort of real or mixed voice… I just don’t like it... and it’s not that I don’t like similar vocalists that have gruff, gritty vocals... god; I like lots of the!
At least, the final song on the album “Wooden Horse” (probably having something to do with the one of the Trojan variety I imagine?) is a more epic number, with a riff that might feel a bit “familiar” but at least leaves a good overall feeling as a parting statement from the band/album.
Overall, I find the band and the album rather unimpressive and the whole fuss made about them rather unfounded. Bands like them, Bullet and a million of other clones that simply play “like” XXX from the 80s but in reality don’t really have that decent chops or songs as those bands did back in the day, are quite unimpressive… witnessing an old Accept video from one of their early tours, I could actually see a band that back then would play circles, around any of these little bands and had the songs too. These stallions will have to run like hell to reach the level of those “mega” bands at least in my eyes… it will mean that they’ll need to try much harder in writing their songs and maybe getting a better singer and trying a lot harder in their practice rooms. Striking poses in graveyards will only get you as far as the next “CVLT” collectors, who buys only vinyl and the average run of the mill fest that will be recycling the bill forever in years to come to sell some beer… but it will never really make you a “Metal God”.
You will get the typical very simple 80s metal, that bands like Enforcer and Axxion and Skullfist also churn out these days, more or less, with hoarse, pitchy and very treble vocals that are however not too capable or impressive... or commanding and after the initial “good track” ie their “hit” – “Rise and Ride” where the band, feels quite comfortable to “copy” a whole little section of Judas Priest mixing it with a bit of Running Wild and then just to almost rip-off note for note the solo of Metallica's "Creeping Death" @ 3:10, just as tribute most probably and mix it with the usual NWOBHM archetypal riffs…(way to go as far as originality is concerned - at least in terms of WRITTING your own songs and not "borrowing" other people's ideas to write your "anthems") things go quickly to hell and they don’t really come back… they seem to occasionally have a semi decent idea here and there in “Wild Stallions” and their guitarists Axl (really?! – maybe he should try to sing) and Oli G occasionally do come up with some nice riff on later songs and the oft-ok solo, when it doesn’t remind of another band!!!
“Canadian Steel” tries too hard, but ultimately fails to impress and probably suck on the fans of Skullfist and such other bands or even older ones – who knows (!) and even the tracks that follow it, are pretty abysmal mid-tempo muck ups... even “Watch Out” that starts out, rather promising, becomes rather sloppy and boring midway…
“The Right One” is after a long time – the first semi-listenable track, worth a listen and to be taken quite seriously.
“The Devil Never Sleeps” marks a vast improvement, but it’s the bands singer Pauly that’s quite the letdown here… I can’t quite describe his voice... he sounds as bad as when Chris Boltendahl goes intentionally off key when he’s uncontrollably out there on some choruses in some old Grave Digger… but he’s like that almost all of the time... plainly annoying, fingers on the chalkboard, bad faint powerless King Diamond falsetto without any power, but in some sort of real or mixed voice… I just don’t like it... and it’s not that I don’t like similar vocalists that have gruff, gritty vocals... god; I like lots of the!
At least, the final song on the album “Wooden Horse” (probably having something to do with the one of the Trojan variety I imagine?) is a more epic number, with a riff that might feel a bit “familiar” but at least leaves a good overall feeling as a parting statement from the band/album.
Overall, I find the band and the album rather unimpressive and the whole fuss made about them rather unfounded. Bands like them, Bullet and a million of other clones that simply play “like” XXX from the 80s but in reality don’t really have that decent chops or songs as those bands did back in the day, are quite unimpressive… witnessing an old Accept video from one of their early tours, I could actually see a band that back then would play circles, around any of these little bands and had the songs too. These stallions will have to run like hell to reach the level of those “mega” bands at least in my eyes… it will mean that they’ll need to try much harder in writing their songs and maybe getting a better singer and trying a lot harder in their practice rooms. Striking poses in graveyards will only get you as far as the next “CVLT” collectors, who buys only vinyl and the average run of the mill fest that will be recycling the bill forever in years to come to sell some beer… but it will never really make you a “Metal God”.