Twilight of the Gods
Fire on the Mountain
Season of Mist
2013
Twilight of the Gods is a metal “supergroup”, which started out in 2010 in order to pay tribute to Bathory. The tag “supergroup” is quite precise as the band consists of: Alan Averill (Primordial, Blood Revolt, Dread Sovereign, etc.) on vocals, Nick Barker (Ancient, Lock Up, ex-Cradle of Filth, ex-Dimmu Borgir, etc.) on drums, Rune Eriksen (Aura Noir, Nader Sadek, ex-Mayhem, etc.) on guitars, Patrik Lindgren (Thyrfing, ex-Pantheon) on guitars & Frode Glesnes (Battered, Einherjer, ex-Beelzebub) on bass. None can say that this ain’t an impressive line-up huh?!
So, after touring around as a Bathory tribute band, they were asked to re-record some Bathory classics, and for their own sake, they decided not to go that way. Most would have chosen the easy (money maker) way but they decided they wanted their own stuff. All the musicians here have an “extreme metal” background so it was quite challenging to play classic heavy metal music. Mainly, influenced by Bathory, Manowar, Judas Priest, Virgin Steele, Manilla Road, Heavy Load, Black Sabbath (Dio era) & Dio among others, they embellish their heavy/power metal with various epic & Viking metal elements. The production, neither very loud nor heavy or punchy, is good overall even though it does bring a bit of the 80s/90s productions on mind.
Following the classic heavy metal era, “Fire on the Mountain” doesn’t claim a credit for its originality or it’s groundbreakin’ metal approach. It’s just a classic heavy metal album with all its clichés, its platitudes and drawbacks. It can surely strike you like a lightning if you have never listened to heavy metal music and none of the abovementioned bands before… otherwise, it will keep you cool company and that’s all. I cannot understand the excessive praise by the press about this album. OK it’s a solid release but there’s nothing more than that. We have heard of this stuff hundreds of times before and way better so what’s all this buzz for? If the band didn’t consist of the specific known members then be sure that they could hardly get any high scores or any further acclaim…
So, after touring around as a Bathory tribute band, they were asked to re-record some Bathory classics, and for their own sake, they decided not to go that way. Most would have chosen the easy (money maker) way but they decided they wanted their own stuff. All the musicians here have an “extreme metal” background so it was quite challenging to play classic heavy metal music. Mainly, influenced by Bathory, Manowar, Judas Priest, Virgin Steele, Manilla Road, Heavy Load, Black Sabbath (Dio era) & Dio among others, they embellish their heavy/power metal with various epic & Viking metal elements. The production, neither very loud nor heavy or punchy, is good overall even though it does bring a bit of the 80s/90s productions on mind.
Following the classic heavy metal era, “Fire on the Mountain” doesn’t claim a credit for its originality or it’s groundbreakin’ metal approach. It’s just a classic heavy metal album with all its clichés, its platitudes and drawbacks. It can surely strike you like a lightning if you have never listened to heavy metal music and none of the abovementioned bands before… otherwise, it will keep you cool company and that’s all. I cannot understand the excessive praise by the press about this album. OK it’s a solid release but there’s nothing more than that. We have heard of this stuff hundreds of times before and way better so what’s all this buzz for? If the band didn’t consist of the specific known members then be sure that they could hardly get any high scores or any further acclaim…