Now that the final winter snow is melting away on the East Coast, you can tell the metal release schedule is much healthier – and this month was quite the tug-of-war to decide the best of the best. Enforcer and From Beyond are the winners – one of the European leaders in a brand of speedy traditional metal that has a lot of old school reference points – adrenaline fueled riffs and tempos plus those melodic twin harmonies we all savor.
An excerpt from Matt Coe’s 9.5/10 review, which posted March 8th, 2015:
We’ve witnessed a resurgence globally of classic heavy metal and its offshoots of the power and speed variety. Maybe these things work cyclically, as younger generations take old school inspiration and desire to establish their own creative output. One trick ponies struggle to keep momentum because when it comes to establishing legacy, bands need to grow in dynamic ability while not forsaking the tools that got them attention in the first place. The lead work grabs your attention in different back and forth phrasing, Olof continues to still shoot for the sky in his naturally high register, while the rhythm section can add a little bit of groove variety to the proceedings. As a result, From Beyond will be another benchmark release for the genre – and ensure Enforcer a long, healthy career even when this wave of popularity fades.
Read the full review here