Holy Dragons – Jörmungandr – The Serpent of the World (Pitch Black Records)
Friday, 8th July 2022
Not often do we get metal from Kazakhstan (a former Soviet Republic landlocked in central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe), but that’s the case with long running heavy/power metal group Holy Dragons. Releasing albums since the late 90’s, they’ve gone through a fair share of members as well as alternating between English and Russian-sung records. They’ve been a part of the Pitch Black roster since 2012’s Zerstörer – with this latest record being Jörmungandr – The Serpent of the World, the 16th studio record of their career. It’s definitely a case of ups and downs throughout this twelve-track platter, as the quartet possess specific strengths on the musical front but have slight deficiencies that can impact the overall full enjoyment.
Thora Thorheim and Jurgen Thunderson display exciting main axe duties – capable of throwing down speedy, shred-oriented lead breaks against some old Metallica-like main parts for “The Toothless Wolf” as well as headbanging power riffs straight out of the old Helloween/Iron Maiden camps during “Personages of a Damned Dream”, the latter receiving potent, pumping bass support from Ivan Manchenko. When choosing to broaden the sonic landscape through an epic track like the ten-minute plus “On My Watch”, these musicians display appropriate atmospheric attention to detail – building a theatrical approach through a piano-driven start, ramping up the electric proceedings with some Deep Purple/Rainbow-esque keyboards, then returning to a soothing, tranquil conclusion. The variation of metal anthems with virtuoso-laden twin guitar harmonies keeps the metal horns raised high – although the major deterrent to full approval lies in the hoarse, strained main vocals from Thora. She has a shrieking nature along with accented melodies that is more semi-talk versus totally in key, which can cause ear fatigue by the time track three “Loki” kicks into Priest-like gear (the back-and-forth Jekyll and Hyde tradeoffs more comical than probably intended).
There’s no disputing the obvious skills Holy Dragons have that showcase a well-versed power/heavy metal template for this record. You just wish they could get a premiere voice to elevate the material to that upper tier of influences they wear proudly on their chests.
