Rosslyn – Totentanz (Sliptrick Records)
Wednesday, 12th April 2023
Hailing from Spain, Rosslyn lives for traditional heavy metal and themes of a historical, legendary nature on this second full-length Totentanz (German for ‘the dance of Death’). The four-piece came together in 2015, releasing their debut demo Day of Eternal Faith in 2016, signing with Sliptrick Records soon thereafter as the first album Soul in Sanctuary hit the market in September of 2018. Based on initial playbacks, there are mixed feelings regarding the overall performance plus sound qualities that could affect long-term engagement from even the most curious of followers.
To the good, the musicians have strong components when they choose to flex some progressive instrumental chops – very 80’s Maiden-esque (think “Running Free”) between the riffs, lead break, and drum passages during “The Eighteen Charms” especially. Cultural elements spring to life for “To Hamburg”, the gang background chorus voices equally Teutonic in spirit, as guitarist Jorge Martinez carefully executes another emotive solo. Saving the longest song “Black Sails to the Wind” for the finale, it’s eight-minute plus arrangement contains a calmer, storytelling start before kicking into Maiden-like electric higher gear, only to have the serene/progressive see-saw dynamics battle into a bombastic end. Where Rosslyn may lose a lot of interest lies in the dramatic ‘over-delivery’ vocals from Borja Callejas – as he reaches notes not quite in his natural register, right away apparent on “By the Sword (The Monk)”, consistent throughout all the tracks. Also, the drum tones at times are a little too ‘boom/clack’ in nature that may overpower the other musical proceedings – check into “The Martyr and the Myriad” for this aspect. Maybe this is a case where the songs come to life better on stage, but many won’t give the band that second chance if they don’t feel what they hear on record is worthy of more than a cursory glance.
Epic heavy metal full of medieval tales, mythological stories, and historical context, Rosslyn with Totentanz need to shore up a few loose ends if they hope to make more of an international splash through their output.
