Festival Review: Wacken Open Air 2015

It has been three years since I attended Wacken Open Air for the first time. To say it was an incredible experience is an understatement. North America has absolutely nothing on this scale in terms of the number of fans, bands, or quality of organization. Initially I had not intended to return to the festival for a variety of reasons; however, the initial confirmation of a Running Wild reunion show and a Savatage reunion show was enough to convince me to return. As the announcements kept coming, the lineup continued improving, and ended up being considerably stronger than the 2012 lineup was. 

The last trip I did started in Frankfurt, Germany, and worked north until hitting Hamburg. This time, I started in Amsterdam and travelled east on my way to Wacken. In the days preceding the event, it rained a lot (quite a bit more than normal for that time in Amsterdam/Germany). It was clear this was going to be a muddy affair. While arriving on Wednesday (after getting lost in the town of Wacken for about 30 minutes) traffic moved slowly because the campgrounds were already pretty much destroyed and some cars were getting stuck in the mud. Fortunately, however, I made it to the festival and got my wrist band in time in order to see the first band on my list: Vesperia!

Vesperia is a Canadian melodic death metal band that is local to me. They were added to the festival as a result of winning the Canadian Wacken Metal Battle. As with the previous times I've seen them, they absolutely destroyed everything. The audience for this show was really cool because the entire front-row was filled with people from Canada, which I would guess was the case for most countries involved in the Wacken Metal Battle, but it was great to see so many hometown supporters of the band. Though it would not be a little bit later until everyone found out, Vesperia ended up winning the competition, making it two out of three years that Canada has won since they first entered the competition in 2013 (also the second win for Vesperia frontman Morgan Rider, pictured left).

The remainder of my afternoon was spent browsing the Metal Market. Wacken has two Metal Markets: the first one is outside and has plenty of vendors selling patches, t-shirts, and other related metal-styled merch. As my battle jacket is pretty much full at this point, I skipped out on buying patches, but there was a lot of very cool stuff. The other Metal Market has a 2.50 Euro entry fee and contains CD and vinyl sellers. After my luck there last time, I'm convinced that this place is as enjoyable as the rest of the festival itself, and several trips there led to an unbelievably successful haul (pictures are at the end of this post).

As night fell, the rain returned with no real end in sight. Fortunately nearly all of the bands on Wednesday play inside of a tent, so the only effect the rain had was making the grounds worse for the rest of the festival. One of the bands I was most excited about was Grailknights. They play an enjoyable brand of power metal and melodic death metal, but what really makes their shows great is that they dress up as superheroes and fend off a villain throughout the show. Though I'm not too familiar with their music, the set was incredibly entertaining.

One of the main acts for the night, Uli Jon Roth, hit the stage shortly after 10PM. His set had a number of Scorpions songs, and he played them all with ease. Uli is an incredible guitar player, and although I don't really listen to a lot of his material, his set was easy to enjoy as someone who really appreciates great guitar playing.

The other headliner of the night was Europe. Although I have many of their albums, the only one I really love is The Final Countdown. As a result, it was a bit disappointing that they packed the early part of the set with songs from other albums. I ended up taking off relatively early because I was not well prepared for the mud on the first day, and figured it was better to get some rest to prepare for day 2. 

Thursday opened with another trip to the Metal Market, as well as watching a few of the Metal Battle bands. Highlights included China's Dream Spirit, who incorporated traditional Chinese instrumentation alongside a standard metal sound, as well as the UK's Metaprism. As good as those bands were, things really got started on the mainstage, where Skyline kicked things off with a great set of covers including Manowar's "Metal Warriors" (an all-time favourite of mine). The next band was legendary German U.D.O. playing with an orchestra. I stayed for a few songs, but there's only so much non-Accept U.D.O. that I can take.

Returning back to the tent for Dark Tranquility proved to be a great choice. I'm not a big fan of these guys, but my brother is, and so it seemed easier to see them than Rob Zombie, who was playing the mainstage at the time. The band gave an incredible performance, and vocalist Mikael Stanne seemed genuinely amazed at the crowd's reaction. The tent was so packed that it took 10-15 minutes just to leave afterwards. While I didn't know any of the songs Dark Tranquility played, I wouldn't hesitate to see them again, or even buy one of their albums after that set.

Chris Caffery (Savatage)

Up next was the band I was most excited for: Savatage. The details about their set with Trans-Siberian Orchestra were somewhat vague prior to the show. My expectation for the 2 hour and 15 minute set was a 30 minute Savatage performance followed by an hour and 45 minutes of TSO. Fortunately, what the bands delivered was much better: 40 minutes of each band, and then an hour of both bands playing simultaneously (those numbers don't add up, but Savatage started a bit early). Savatage opened the show with "Gutter Ballet" (quite possibly my favourite tune of theirs), and never slowed down. Every single second of their set was incredible. When it was TSO's turn, the excitement definitely dropped a lot, but it was cool to see them play "The Hourglass" with Zak Stevens joining them on vocals. The combined portion of the show was an incredible sight because I really didn't know how they'd be able to coordinate everything and have no issues with sound quality. All things considered, this show went much better than it could have gone. I've read a lot of things after the show suggesting that the pro-shot footage of Savatage won't ever be released and this show existed to gain TSO popularity in Europe while basically burying Savatage. It wouldn't surprise me, and would be incredibly disappointing if true, but at least we got one final show from the band.

Things started early on Friday (11 AM) with Brazilian legends Angra. They had a short, but high energy set. As much as I enjoyed the band (and particularly the older classics like "Nothing To Say" and "Angels Cry"), the real treat for me was getting to see Fabio Lione (Rhapsody of Fire) live. This is a band I've really grown to enjoy recently (as my CD haul will later show), and I think he's easily among the best singers ever. His performance with Angra was incredible, but really, everyone in that band is so talented that it turned out to be one of my favourite sets of the weekend.

After moving back to the mainstage, Ensiferum began their set. The crowd was huge for them, and it's easy to see why they're a mainstage group despite not being around as long as some of the other smaller bands I was watching. Their set was very energetic, and included some of my favourites off of "From Afar", as well as lots of new songs. Following Ensiferum was the only band I would consider disappointing: Falconer. Their set was plagued by tech problems, but the band's lack of stage presence and Mathias Blad's awkward dialogue between songs did not help. It was still great to hear "The Clarion Call", "Mindtraveller", and even a few other songs, but relative to the other bands playing, Falconer came off as less professional.

After a short break (the only one for many hours), Stratovarius took the stage. They have not played North America since I became a fan, so this was my first chance to see them. After watching them, I think Jens Johansson might be the best keyboard player in all of metal. Timo Kotipelto was likewise on fire, as was everyone in the band. The set was a bit on the short side, as they had an extra 5 minutes to spare even after the lengthy version of "Hunting High and Low", but they definitely left everyone in the audience wanting more. This was the best set of the weekend and reinforced my frustration at the fact that European power metal bands never tour over here. Their set also included the single from their new album, which I definitely appreciate more after seeing live. It would have been nice to see some material from "Elysium", but Stratovarius is a band that could songs from about 10 different albums and it would all be great.

Returning to the mainstage again, I saw Queensryche. This was my second time seeing them (though only the first time when I actually knew who they were), and it demonstrated that this is a very well-rehearsed band that has plenty of touring experience. The band was absolutely on-point, even Todd La Torre, who was filling some monstrous shoes. Their performance can best be described as reliable, but not mind-blowing. The best way to improve it would have been a few more songs from "Operation Mindcrime". After them, I saw the second Canadian band of my weekend: Annihilator. Lately I've started to appreciate their post "Never, Neverland" material, and it actually made this set pretty enjoyable. Of course, I would have loved more songs from those first two albums, and the songs that did come from those records were the highlights, but Annihilator has a surprisingly deep and enjoyable back catalogue, and I definitely would not skip them if they play nearby.

It's worth pointing out that Friday was the day when the rain finally cleared up for good, and to this point in the day, it had been incredibly hot. Fortunately, I was making a return to the tent where I could hide from the sun as I watched Death Angel and Armored Saint. Much like Queensryche before them, these are two bands that know what they're doing and they do it well. Unfortunately I was pretty dehydrated for both bands, which diminished my enjoyment of them, but their performances were on point. I took a short break to recharge before one of my favourite thrash groups: Nuclear Assault. Their sound was a bit muffled at the start, but got better as the set went on. John Connelly's voice seems to be more ridiculous over time, but it's still really good. I only watched about 25 minutes of this because I needed to see the headliner of the night, but I wish I could have stayed, as the band was really on fire.

At midnight, the German pirates Running Wild took the stage. Looking at the setlist, I can see how a lot of people would be disappointed, but much like with Stratovarius, the great thing about Running Wild's music is you could pick almost any song from most albums and it would be great live. I've never even heard the new albums, but I thought those songs went over decently. Rolf sounded really good, and everyone in the band was giving a good amount of energy. I would have liked to hear some tunes from "Masquerade", but I knew that was wishful thinking. In any case, Running Wild was really good.

This brings us to Saturday, the final day of the festival. The first band on my radar was Powerwolf. Though their music is quite repetitive on record, it is really easy to get into live. Everyone was singing along to pretty much every song, and there was a good stream of crowdsurfers. The best song for me was "We Drink Your Blood", which is definitely the band's most interesting track. After their set, I took a final trip to the Metal Market tent where I found a bunch of great thrash CDs.

Later in the afternoon, Rock Meets Classic played the mainstage. When this got announced, I looked it up and still didn't understand what it was. I thought it would be a bunch of old guys playing Deep Purple covers. In reality, it consisted of Oliver Hartmann and Mat Sinner (ie: gods), with guest singers Dee Snider and MICHAEL KISKE!!!!! among others. I never thought I'd see Michael Kiske live once in my life, let alone a second time (I saw him with Avantasia in 2013), and even rarer that I'd get to hear him sing "I Want Out". I almost skipped this to watch Cryptopsy, and that would have been a huge mistake, as this set was the best surprise of the weekend. Dee Snider was great too. He was really energetic, and clearly just saying whatever he wanted, including a great rant against selfies. "The Price" is one of my favourite Twisted Sister songs, so it was a treat to hear them play that.

The next set was Bloodbath, which admittedly didn't go over well live as I had hoped. It's a bit surprising that these guys were considered a mainstage evening headliner, while the legendary Cannibal Corpse was relegated to a sidestage, and going up against Sabaton (more on them later). Definitely a bit frustrating as I would have preferred to see Cannibal Corpse, but at least Bloodbath was a good rest before a doubleheader of great bands.

Crowdsurfing during Sabaton

Sabaton took the stage at 8:30 and performed the craziest set of the weekend. To this point, Sabaton's audience was bigger than any other band I had seen. I was near the front (as I was with most bands), but the crowd suddenly closed in on me just before they started. There was no getting out of that crowd. I always knew Sabaton was bigger in Europe (I saw them in a bar holding 100 people in 2012), but not this big! The band announced they were filming the show for a live DVD, which naturally only made people more insane. Crowdsurfing was occuring non-stop, and you had to look behind you every 10 seconds to avoid getting hit in the head by a foot. The band's drummer was set up on top of a tank, which was awesome, and they had a lot of great stage banter throughout their set. Though I didn't actually "see" much of this set (because there were so many people), it was another great highlight.

There was really only one band that could have followed Sabaton, and Wacken's organizers must have known that, as Judas Priest was the next band up. Though I was considerably further back for them than any other band (only because I couldn't handle so many crowdsurfers again), this was still awesome. It's great to hear so many of your favourite songs with 70,000 other people, especially as I had never seen Judas Priest before. This was the perfect ending to the best experience of my life. If you're a metal fan, you have to go to Europe for a festival at some point. I obviously cannot speak to all of them, but a festival like Wacken is definitely something you cannot experience in North America. 

CD Haul:

Blame the Metal Market for the lack of reviews; these CDs are keeping me busy!

Vesperia – The Iron Tempests

It has been a couple of years since the last Vesperia release, but the Canadian band has been quite busy since then. In addition to playing plenty of dates across Canada, they were also recently crowned the Canadian Wacken Metal Battle champions, earning them the right to play at Wacken Open Air in Germany (an honour which lead vocalist/bassist Morgan Rider has already experienced when he played with Crimson Shadows). The band’s newest release, “The Iron Tempests”, shows their familiar sound taken in a slightly different, more serious direction.

In the past, it would have been fair to characterize Vesperia as a folky melodic death metal band. It appears that over time, the band has gradually dropped the overt folk elements in favour of more subtle keyboard or piano lines and orchestrations. In addition, while there is still plenty of melody on this EP, Vesperia is at times sounding much more like a traditional death metal band. The riffs are incredibly fast, heavy, and crunchy. None of them might be as catchy as “The Swordsman”, from their last album, but they’re certainly a lot more intense. Likewise, Morgan’s vocals are deeper than ever, and the band’s rhythm section is playing with lots of aggression (including blast beats).

“The Iron Tempests” offers up two original tracks, as well as a death metal version of “In The Hall of the Mountain King”. Both of the two original compositions are so exceptional that it would be unfair to say that one stands out above the other, but it is worth pointing out that the soloing in “Iron Saga” is absolutely insane. This is another area where the band has stepped things up another notch; their guitar playing is better than ever. In fact, the band could actually benefit from even more soloing, as what is presented here is incredibly well executed. The cover song is in line with the other two tracks in terms of quality, and is an interesting take on a classic. Personally, I prefer Savatage’s version (a band they will soon be sharing the stage with!), but Vesperia’s is quite potent.

On the whole, “The Iron Tempests” is a release that’s only flaw is that it’s too short. Vesperia’s music has evolved significantly over the last two years, despite still being true to the band’s earlier sound. This release is essential for all fans of death metal, melodeath, or even folk metal, despite the fact that the sound cannot be described as just one of those things.

Be sure to check out and like Vesperia on Facebook!

Highlights

All of it

Final Rating

4.6/5 or 92%. 

Written by Scott 

Crimson Shadows – Kings Among Men

“Kings Among Men” is Crimson Shadows’ first release for Napalm Records. While the band has achieved some large milestones in their work already, there is no doubt that this release will be the true stepping stone to building a career out of this music. As a long time fan, this was my most anticipated record in months. Does it live up to the hype? Yes and no. The reason it doesn’t is because, simply put, the band has recorded better songs in their career. Quite a few of their best songs to date show up on this release, but as a whole, it might be the weakest of their four offerings. This is more of a testament to how good their old material was because this album is already amongst my 2014 favourites. 

For those new to the band, they play an epic brand of power-infused death metal. The songs are fast, the riffs are furious, and the solos are truly remarkable. On their first EP, it would have been fair to describe them as “Dragonforce with death metal vocals”. Since that time, the band has slowly started to add clean vocals, courtesy of guitarist Greg Rounding. His singing has improved tremendously over time, and it’s at its best on “Kings Among Men”. Really though, this is the best performance from nearly every member. Primary vocalist Jimi Maltais sounds better than ever, and his range is truly amazing. He can hit the lowest of gutturals up to the highest of screams. Whether it is death metal or black metal styled vocals, his voice is an immediately recognizable presence on the album.

Another area of improvement is the bass playing. While there have been some sections on prior Crimson Shadows releases where the bass playing is noticeable, it was largely absent. Bassist Morgan Rider is not only easy to hear on this release, but he makes his presence known through several bass solos (the one on “Moonlit Skies and Bloody Tides” is the highlight though), as well as through his playing underneath the guitar solos. It cannot be overstated the value he has added to the band since joining. His companion in the rhythm section, Cory Hofing, is beyond remarkable. He’s an absolute rhythm machine. There is no shortage of fills, double bass, or blast beats in his drumming. All of this is done at ridiculous tempos too. He is easily among the most consistent and intense drummers in all of extreme metal.

This brings us to the final, and possibly most important element to the bands sound: the guitars. Sharing lead guitar duties alongside Rounding is Ryan Hofing. Both guitarists deliver an onslaught of technically dazzling solos. Compared to the average band, the sheer amount of time the band spends soloing may seem like overkill, but they actually used to do even more soloing in the past. Nearly every song in the band’s back catalogue prior to the last EP exceeded 6 minutes, and they were all filled with even longer guitar solos. While this more succinct approach is likely appreciated by many, I had no issues with 3-4 minute sections with just guitar solos. Nevertheless, they still do an impressive job here.

The three songs from the aforementioned EP all make an appearance here. While there are some slight differences, “Maiden’s Call” remains relatively similar. By contrast, “Freedom and Salvation” has been sped up considerably. In the history of thrash, death, and black metal, there are few examples where making a song faster has led to it being worse. This is even more obvious here as the newer, speedier version of this song is even better than the original. Maltais’ spits out words with incredible speed, doing his best to match the mind-blowing pulse of the rhythm section underneath. The final track on the album, “Moonlit Skies and Bloody Tides”, is also a re-recording. The primary difference here is the addition of a minute-long synth outro. Another change is that the gang vocals in the chorus have been changed so that Maltais’ is doing multiple layers of harsh vocals instead of the rest of the band. Despite these two changes, the 10-minute opus is largely the same, and yet, it somehow feels much better than the already great original. A lot of bands feel the need to put a longer song last, even if they can't justify writing something so lengthy, but Crimson Shadows truly saved their most epic moments for the finale of the record.

Aside from an intro and an interlude, there are 5 new tracks here. “Braving The Storm” is the highlight of these 5, primarily because it features the best clean vocal melodies from Rounding, as well as some of the more memorable parts of the album. “A Gathering of Kings” and “Dawn of Vengeance” are also impactful, largely for the same reasons. It is actually the two opening songs that were most surprising. They are by no means weak songs, but in the context of the album, they are both unexpected choices to kick things off with compared to, say, a re-invigorated “Freedom and Salvation”. The most puzzling bit of the song selection is that the band has an un-recorded song in their arsenal that is among their best work: “Ruler of Mankind” (for those interested, there’s a video of them playing the song live on YouTube; there also used to be a recorded version on MySpace that never appeared on a release). Nevertheless, this is somewhat of an unfair criticism, largely because what the band provides on “Kings Among Men” is more than satisfactory.

In the end, “Kings Among Men” is an album that is going to make waves in the metal scene. There are a lot of interesting extreme metal hybrids out there today, but none more potent than Crimson Shadows. The band delivers absolutely everything one could want in a metal release: crushing riffs, spectacular melodic leads, and a mix of both insanely brutal vocals and cleaner singing. These elements are all bundled together in one epic package of glory-filled metal. “Kings Among Men” is among the most essential records of 2014, so you don’t want to put off hearing this album!

Be sure to check out and like Crimson Shadows on Facebook!

Highlights

"A Gathering of Kings"

"Maiden's Call"

"Braving The Storm"

"Freedom and Salvation"

"Moonlit Skies and Bloody Tides"

Final Rating

4.75/5 or 95%. 

Written by Scott

Circle II Circle – Live At Wacken

After over 10 years, Circle II Circle is finally putting together a live album, and it features exactly 0 Circle II Circle classics. Instead, the band crams as much of Savatage’s “The Wake of Magellan” into 45 minutes as is humanly possible. To be fair to Circle II Circle, they are certainly a great band, but Savatage’s music is incredibly special to a lot of people, myself included. Zak Stevens even says it at one point “we're still doing what you want to hear”. What makes this particular release even more enjoyable to me is that I was at this show; I went to Wacken 2 years ago and was right up front while Circle II Circle rocked this album. For that reason, I knew this would be a great release before even listening to it, and after hearing it a few more times, I’m still convinced it’s a superb performance.

As with anything Zak Stevens has been involved with, he is a huge draw to this relase. His singing is still astonishing. Even 14 years after the release of “The Wake of Magellan”, he is able to deliver the songs just as convincingly. “The Ocean/Welcome” is an incredibly bombastic intro in which he sets the tone for the entire night. Some of his lead vocal lines also have some backing vocals underneath, and they bring even greater justice to the original songs, as they sound more powerful. There are just as many emotional twists in turns in the live versions of these songs as there were in the original, aided in part by Savatage’s ability to switch between more mellow, cleaner sections, and incredibly heavy, riff-infested moments. The triple combination of “The Wake of Magellan”, “Anymore”, and “The Hourglass” is the highlight here. These are probably the 3 strongest tracks on the original album, and, for the most part, the band does great justice to them. One of the points of interest for me back in 2012 was seeing how they would replicate the part in the title track with 4 separate vocal lines. They were able to get 2 going at the same time, with Zak Stevens cycling through the latter three parts while the backing vocals stuck with the original line. While I would have loved to hear and see all 4 of them being done simultaneously, it’s better the band does a good job with this section than risk it sounding wrong, since they don’t have the benefit of having Zak Stevens sing 4 parts at the same time.

Regardless of that one issue, “Live At Wacken” is still a stellar performance. Stevens sounds enthusiastic about this. Savatage fans are amongst the most rabid in existence; they worship the band like few others I’ve seen, and for good reason. This collection of songs, while perhaps not the strongest in Stevens’ era (that honour goes to “Edge of Thorns” and “Handful of Rain”), is an incredibly intense rollercoaster of emotions. There are few singers more equipped than Stevens to deliver this. Beyond his performance, however, the band also sounds good. They present the songs faithfully to the originals, including some of the shreddier solos like on “Morning Sun” and “The Wake of Magellan”. 

The only true disappointment of this release is that the band didn’t play the album in its entirety. This was not their fault though. Wacken announced they’d play the entire album, and then only gave them 45 minutes to do so. Given this, the song selection is almost ideal. “Complaint In The System” is probably my least favourite track from the original album, so they could have chosen “Paragons of Innocence” or “Another Way”, but this was likely a timing issue. Nevertheless, if you are a fan of Savatage or Circle II Circle, you owe it to yourself to hear this album. Being able to experience it firsthand was incredible, and likely lifts my opinion of this release, but it is still one of the better live albums I’ve come across. While it is unclear if Zak Stevens will join Savatage at the Wacken 2015 reunion, I certainly hope he will as I will be returning to Germany to see that set as well!

Be sure to check out and like Circle II Circle on Facebook!

Highlights

"The Ocean/Welcome"

"The Wake of Magellan"

"The Hourglass"

Final Rating

4.4/5 or 88%. 

Written by Scott

Crimson Shadows - Sails of Destiny

Full disclosure: I’m a huge Crimson Shadows fanboy. I’ve seen them live more than any other band, and I’ve been listening to them pretty much non-stop since 2008. It was no surprise to me that they won the Wacken Metal Battle Canada this year because they have an extremely unique sound that has yet to be done by another band. Combine that killer musicianship and a great live performance, and you have one of the best bands around today. As you might expect, I’ve been anticipating their newest EP, “Sails of Destiny”, for quite a while now, and it does not disappoint!

Musically, “Sails of Destiny” retains all of the bands hallmarks. Every track features plenty of harmonized leads and shredding from Greg Rounding and Ryan Hofing. Though the amount of shredding might have declined (two of these tracks are sub-6 minutes), the quality has not. Jimi Maltais’ growls are somehow even deeper than before, yet he still manages to hit high screams. The clean vocals of Rounding have returned, but they have improved substantially. His singing is at the point where he could easily front a power metal band and it would be completely brilliant. In fact, I would say the improvement in his vocals is the highlight of the EP for me. Given the speed and intensity of the music, some serious drumming is required, and Cory Hofing more than delivers. You would expect a death metal band to utilize double bass and blast beats, which Crimson Shadows does, but it is the variation in the drumming that makes Hofing’s work more interesting than other drummers’ playing. Finally, I have to credit Morgan Rider for making me notice the bass playing for the first time in this band. There is a bass solo in “Moonlit Skies and Bloody Tides” that will blow your mind, especially once you realize that he plays with his fingers, rather than a pick.

The three songs on “Sails of Destiny” are a different beast from the preceding album and EP. For one thing, there’s a nine-minute epic here. “Moonlit Skies and Bloody Tides” takes you on a serious journey, before an ending lead fades out the song and the EP. This was the most difficult track for me to get into, not because of the length, but because of the chorus. The clean vocal melodies used, combined with the gang vocals that show up were a bit different for the band, but after several listens, this section reveals that it has a lot of emotion in it. The gang vocals make it sound like a band united, ready to fight against some sort of demonic foe. The single, “Maiden’s Call”, is the most standard song for the band on this release, but that is not a bad thing, as they have pretty much perfected their sound at this point. There are no real surprises on this song, except for one incredibly heavy section towards the end of each verse. Calling it a breakdown would be a misnomer, but the entire feel of the music changes for this short moment that causes unavoidable headbanging. Finally, there is the opener, “Freedom and Salvation”, which is my favourite song. The first melody that hits you in this song is likely to become stuck in your head for days, and is the driving force behind this great song. At 5 minutes, it is one of the shortest songs the band has recorded, but it gets its point across quite quickly, before leading you into the rest of this brilliant EP. 

If you haven’t heard Crimson Shadows before, “Sails of Destiny” is a great place to start. It is a succinct summary of the band’s work (though no replacement for hearing the debut album or first EP) that shows them continuing to evolve and develop as both musicians and songwriters. This EP should appeal to fans of both power and death metal, and even if melody in metal isn’t your thing, I would still give this a shot anyways, as it is one of the best and most unique releases I have heard.

Be sure to check out and like Crimson Shadows on Facebook!

Highlights

"Freedom And Salvation"

"Maiden's Call"

"Moonlit Skies and Bloody Tides"

Final Rating

4.7/5 or 94%. 

Written by Scott