It’s been a long time coming but the return of traditional heavy metal is well and truly implanted in the heavy music landscape. We have a few bands to be thankful for this, but mostly non-English speaking countries are driving this very much-loved genre forward.
Keeping its flame alight Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the South American countries are at the forefront of this. Draconian Remains are from Germany and the Germans have produced some cracking music over the years Kreator, The Scorpions and Helloween to name but a few. I’m not saying that Draconian Remains have the speed of Kreator or the majesty of Helloween but I feel they do have the balls to the wall rock n roll of The Scorpions. This first full-length record The First Crusade released on Housemaster Records is a follow up to The Start Of The Journey an EP put out by the boys in 2017.
Right from track one The Hunt I am spirited away to a happy place where the trills and thrills from the hands of guitarists Davin Wolfer and Manuel Rothmund abound. There is something very wonderful about twin guitar attacks.
Some miss steps on the way to greatness though, such as a questionable vocal overlay on When He Awakes but this is only minor as the Bass rumble by Marcel Willkommen makes up for it in so many delicious ways. None of the songs outstays their welcome (there could have been one or two more epic tracks in the mix.) 10 tracks at a 43 min running time gives little time for this. On reflection, these guys are only trying to make punchy traditional heavy metal and I applaud them for it.
If your one for the overall sound of a record, this could be for you it’s mixed with a very intelligent ear. There are beautiful duelling guitars that fight for your attention and paint a fierce and heavy picture.
You will have to listen more than once to get it all in, the drums by Benni Drumbledore Antolovic keep the band in order well. His cymbal work is deft and shows a sign of a drummer that has a very intelligent ear. Vocalist Alexander Thalmaier’s work on Purgatory and Hangman my favourites on the record are more considered and slower than a few of the other tracks that at times get away from him. It’s a good record, not groundbreaking but then those sort of records come but once a lifetime. For now, it’s good just to enjoy some throwaway Rock n Roll.
Release Year: 2020
Label: self-released
Category: Album
Country: Germany
Reviewed by Tony Evans
