Visigoth - Conqueror's Oath (Metal Blade Records - 2018)

Utah heavy metal warriors Visigoth returns with the highly awaited follow-up to their 2015 debut, Revenant King, can this sophomore offering live up to the expectations that the debut gave birth to?

A second album, the true ordeal by fire that faces all bands early in their careers! While forging the a debut in the fiery passion of youth one has usually had years to tweak and add/subtract to the formula. Both in the rehearsal room and in the form of demo releases, as well as trying the tracks out in live situations. But when the sun finally dawns upon the time to once again fire up the machinery, and start working on the new material you are faced with a new obstacle: time itself. Take too long crafting you weaponry and you will lose the momentum gained with the previous release, rush your work and you will have forged brittle and inferior steel that will shatter upon the shields of your foes. Oh, when rummaging through the chronicles of old, of how many bands has it not been written that released incredible first offerings only to fall into mediocre depths just years later? I'm glad to see that the lads that make out the band of adventurers in Visigoth has waited the golden amount of time that is three years before swearing the conqueror's oath. Not so long that they begin their plunge into obscurity, yet enough to give me the hope that the material will not feel rushed and not thought through. With fear and excitement I held my breath before carefully placing the stylus of my record player on my newly acquired white/blue splattered vinyl.

"Steel and Silver" pours out of my speakers in a boiling river of melodic riffing that immediately grabs me by surprize, as "melodic" is not the first word I would use to describe the brand of heavy metal that Visigoth dishes out. Rather the more chugging and heavy rolling riffs of the verses that enter the fray not long after the short intro are what makes me feel like I am once again sharing a flagon of ale with an acquaintance of the past at the inn we frequent in-between our separate adventures. It's nice to hear that they are incorporating more of the melodic instrumentation in short bursts here and there, while still staying true to the formula that grabbed me three years ago. Jake Rogers's lyrics are as spot-on as ever, sounding like generic, although extremely well put together, fantasy/sword and sorcery ramblings to most, but for us familiar with the source material the lyrics are nice nods nerdy sub-culture.

Second track "Warrior Queen" is a more hard rocking affair, and while it's a somewhat repetitive track it is easy to understand why it was chosen as the first single to be released prior to the album as it has an infectious chorus and a lot of attitude. Several short twin guitar interludes does their best to break up the repetitiveness, but when the same break leading into the verse riff appears for the third time I can't help to roll my eyes, even if just for a brief moment. The solos are to be commended though, and it's a good thing that Visigoth found the right context to introduce Jake's flute playing capabilities that he has displayed in his previous projects.

The pace picks ups with "Outlive Them All" and drummer Mikey Treseder gets more use of his double kicks. If this track doesn't get your blood pumping you have truly strayed from your intended path and wandered into realms where you have no business of dwelling and should immediately roll a dexterity check to avoid the righteous hammer of the metal gods! The main riff has a jumpy gallop rhythm to it which gets my head nodding approvingly without even breaking a sweat. The verses have a lot air to them while the vocals are delivered, yet pummels forward in-between the vocals lines so the track never looses its drive. Each time I reach the later part of the track where the backing vocals join on "The cosmic fire burning silver and cold" the hairs on my arm stand straight up in attention and salute.

"Hammerforged" manifests the true essence of that which I associate Visigoth with: pummelling riffing on drop/tuned guitars, with a bass that actually is audible (!) chugging along with them and some absolutely epic vocals and lyrics on top of that. When treated to a track that in my opinion just as well would have fitted into the previous album I do notice that the production is strikingly similar to that of "The Revenant King", say for the fact that "Conqueror's Oath" lacks a little in the low-end frequencies when compared to aforementioned album. You won't catch me remastering the album for my own purposes though, which has actually happened in the past, as all instruments fit together very well and the composition of how the instruments interact with each other leaves nothing to want. The conqueror could just have used a little more of the thunderous aspect that the king had. All in all though the track is an extremely good finisher of side A and has me rushing to flip my record over and continue my quest into realms forgotten.

Once again the stylus is lowered upon the spinning disc. With the first side of the record having stilled any doubt that lingered in my heart I eagerly awaited what the "Traitor's Gate" had in store for me, which turned out to be a whole lot. The intro features somberly plucked guitars accompanied by Jakes soaring vocals which lead into yet another faster track. This seems like a good point to reveal another fear I had before even giving this album a proper listen, being that from recordings I had come over from the bands recent live shows I felt that Mr. Rodgers had lost some of the rasp and slight growl he had to his voice. A common trait for vocalists that essentially become "better" at singing, but along the way loose some of the aggression they initially possessed. But hearing him sing "brothers no more, in single combat we stand" here it is evident that he still connected to his passionate origins, while still evolving his vocal technique. The track itself is the strongest on the album, alongside "Outlive Them All" and "Hammerforged", and displays many sides of the band.

"Salt City" I can only assume is a fan favourite at local shows, as I know it has been a part of their live sets for quite some time, and if the local hockey team doesn't enter the ice to this tune it is a damned shame. Much in the vein of earlier tracks "Creature of Desire" and "Call of the Road" it is a rockier and more up-beat offering that provides a bit of variation, but on the other hand somewhat breaks the mood set by the rest of the album. The track is however the shortest on the album and provides no long distraction before it's over.

I am re-immersed into mythical worlds with "Blades in the Night", a very catchy number that also feature fantastic solos by guitarists Leeland Campana and Jamison Palmer. Not only does Visigoth know how to use fact that they are blessed with two axemen capable of dishing out fantastic leads by having them share the solos back and forth between them, but they stay true to the ancient (but now almost completely forgotten) tradition of actually noting who of them is currently leading the fray in the booklet. It is a true shame when you want to give credit where credit is due for a fantastic solo, but actually can't find any way to trace the lineage of said solo. Other bands take note!

Lastly we are introduced to the titular "Conqueror's Oath". This is the longest number on the album, a feat rightfully bestowed upon a title track. It closes the album with a regal aura to it and the band does a great job with conveying the epic tone that I can only assume that they were aiming for. Closing a live set with this track I am sure would bring a tear to my eye, and it is no less effective here.

I have already touched upon the production, and there is really not much to add. The sound is warm and pleasant to the ear and I am glad to hear that the bass is clearly audible. That is nothing new to Visigoth, but definitely worth mentioning in this day and age of forgotten bass players. The drums sound honest and are played with precision as well. But when placed back to back with the fullength from 2015 it lacks a bit on the low-end.

Verdict:
I am surprized to find that this time around I seem to enjoy the faster tracks the most, which hasn't necessarily been the case with Visigoth in the past. I am relieved to hear that the fire of heavy metal still burns bright within them, because "Conqueror's Oath" sounds as vital as any debut, and still they have fine-tuned their craft yet a bit more. Clocking in at the perfect runtime of just over forty minutes they seem to have trimmed the fat of each song, as there is really not much filler here. The few qualms I had are really just nitpicking in context of the whole album. The reigning champions of Faerun rolls a their d20 for a score of 8/10.

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Eternal Champion - The Armor of Ire (No Remorse Records - 2016)

"The Armor of Ire" by Texas's Eternal Champion is one of those albums that went completely under my radar during the year that it was released and instead reached me by word of mouth later on. And it's no surprise that word traveled regarding this album, as it is indeed one of the strongest I've come across in quite a while. 

I've only just began to familiarize myself with No Remorse Records, and so far they seem to be churning out a lot of good stuff. I've gotten "The Armor of Ire" on a good looking vinyl release, including a map and description of vocalist Jason Tarpey's fictional universe in which some of the lyrics take place. Now if that isn't delightfully nerdy I don't know what is! In fact, from now on if a band does not include a map of their fictional universe, I will consider it measly and underwhelming.

And army marches out of my speakers as the monumental "I am the Hammer" leads the way into the realms of Arginor and the Western Isles (better get that map out!), all layered under ominous keyboards. Epicnes aside, this one-minute intro is probably the only skipable part of the album, luckily it's the first track and that's easily done without you having to lift and place down the needle on your player in the middle of the sides playing time. Jason's vocals have a cavernous reverb applied to them that adds to his hollow singing style. His voice took some getting used to for me, but my now I wouldn't change it for anything, he even bursts out the occasional high-pitched "Ah!" à la Jon Oliva which is absolutely charming. The song is slow and monumental and rather minimalistic without getting monotonous or boring, in fact it usually requires several listens before I can move onward onto the next track. The lyrics are well-written and the chorus is absolutely fantastic.

Following that ten-pointer of a number is the title-track, "The Armor of Ire", which features melodic riffing in a manner that actually draws my mind to the 8-bit Mega Man games, and I mean that in the absolutely best way possible. The fast riffing and tight drums are glued together by the drawn out vocal melodies, and there is a lot more going on in the background than what you notice at first listen. You hardly notice that five minutes have passed before the song is over, it's just that seamlessly put together.

"The Last King of Pictdom" is a bouncier track that opens with drummer (and multi-instrumentalist) Arthur Rizk pounding a marching beat on the snare before moving into a triplet-riff. The twin guitar melodies and triplet riffing actually makes me think about Thin Lizzy, especially when the lead guitar melodies after the final chorus kicks in. I believe that it also Arthur that deals out a fine guitar solo during the tracks climax.

Lo and behold! I am about to not encourage you to skip an instrumental interlude, which is my typical reaction to these kind of tracks. Instead I must admit that during my first listens to "The Armor of Ire" I wasn't even aware that they were there, because they are actually woven into the tracks as an integral part of the music instead of annoying interruptions. "Blood Ice" is an instrumental interlude done right and doesn't overstay its welcome in any way, and when listening to my vinyl record it serves as the intro to side B. It also features some interesting pieces of music instead of just a carpet of synthesizers that are supposed to "set the mood" before the next track.

The interlude moves into "The Cold Sword" without any interruption, a galloping affair with some Maiden-esque guitar leads, but which manages without becoming some sort of cheap rip-off. This is the song on the album that has the most drive to it, and Jason shows that he can have bit more of a roar to his voice from time to time.

After moving past the greatness of the opening track, "Invoker" quickly became my favorite song on the album. It's a very dynamic number, and I hope a given part of all of Eternal Champions live sets. Once again it has be mentioned that the lyrics are very well-written, as it oh so easy for this type of lyrics to become beyond cheesy. Instead they are captivating and interesting, and nowhere is it better demonstrated than here, where an assassin waits to strike at a summoning ritual before they raise the old gods of H.P. Lovecraft's mythos. It you're a fan of sword and sorcery, this will be right up your alley. The song switches between clean plucking verses and inventive riffing in the more intense parts. The chorus is among the greats, the final guitar solo though sounds like it could use a couple of more takes.

"Sing a Last Song for the Valdese" is the longest of the album, and accordingly epic and worthy of its six minutes. We finally are treated to some flashier bass parts (also performed by Arthur), a thing that I would gladly have heard more of this during the previous songs on the album. There's a lot things going on here. The band seems to have played around a bit with their song formula here instead of going for traditional verses and choruses, but in no way does it sound amiss. The track is in no way a contender to the opening, but no less epic either way and a fitting last song before we move on to the outro.

"Shade Gate" is a short instrumental outro with a simple, repeating, guitar melody and surprisingly features a quite from Skeletor in the Masters of the Universe movie from 1987. It fit's the overall tone of the album, but nothing that I listen to each time I give the album a spin. Instead I'm probably busy flipping the record over to start over from the beginning.

Arthur Rizk seems to be a jack of all trades as I found out that he is also responsible for the engineering, mixing and mastering. He's done a fine job with all of his undertakings here, with the album sounding warm, yet crisp here it needs to and not unnecessarily loud. In my natural fashion I would have liked the bass to be a bit louder in the mix during the regular riffing, but it manages to cut through well enough the times it does something out of the ordinary.

Verdict:
This album has an overall aura of being very honest and genuine. There's a lot of bands doing this style at the moment, but the dedication of Eternal Champion shines through in such a way that you know that they are the real deal. Believe me, I searched hard and long to find something point out that I wasn't entirely satisfied with, but beyond the intro and outro being somewhat skipable there is really nothing to complain about. "The Armor of Ire" feasts upon 8,2/10 nations blood.

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