Iron Angel – Emerald Eye
Album review by; Myk
These German speed metal merchants are back with surprisingly only their fourth record label release, the second since they reformed in 2014. Kicking off with a number entitled ‘Sacred Slaughter’ I wasn’t expecting subtle and Iron Angel duly obliged taking me back to the early eighties with a ferocious onslaught akin to the big four in their early days. The guitar work is excellent with a vocal delivery similar to that of Anvil. Continuing at breakneck speed they launch into ‘Descend’ and the tone is set for the whole album, a seemingly relentless onslaught of quality speed metal. ‘Sands of Time’ hints at slowing things down before another frenetic riff kicks in but we get the some added vocal harmonies. ‘Demons’ another full steam ahead number with a sing along chorus. ‘What We’re Living For’ starts off with a very Maidenesque riff before hitting full throttle with another sing along chorus. Title track ‘Emerald Eyes’ begins with a nice drum driven intro before reaching full speed. ‘Fiery Winds Of Death’ is a slower number with a great riff again a bit reminiscent of early Maiden but the slow down doesn’t last long as ‘Sacrificed’ ups the speed again. ‘Bridges Are Burning’ is a well crafted number with a good riff a sing a long chorus and some well delivered vocals. For all the relentless speed there is subtlety in the songs from some very competent musicians. ‘Heaven in Red’ seems to be even faster than previous numbers; they will be blindingly good live if they can reproduce this on a stage. ‘Dark Sorcery’ finishes the album where it started with a full on charge of unapologetic speed metal. Where the likes of Metallic, Megadeth and Anthrax have evolved somewhat and moved away from the basic speed metal approach, Iron Angel have very much stuck to their roots. This is a very solid album 3.5/5.
Iron Angel are;
Dirk Schröder - Vocals
Robert Altenbach - Guitars
Nino Helfrich - Guitars
Didy Mackel - Bass
Mäx Behr – Drums
Social Media Links;
https://www.reverbnation.com/ironangel
https://www.facebook.com/IronAngel.hh/
Album ‘Emerald Eyes’ and other releases available at;
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