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When ex Mercyful
Fate guitarists Michael Denner and Hank Shermann formed a band
around themselves at the beginning of 2004, with mainly ex Mercyful
Fate and King Diamond members, the world meets with another
excellent metal band. They debuted in a promising way and with
‘Black Empire’ they have made a logical successor after one year.
Their first European concert was released on DVD and fans of Judas
Priest, Annihilator and Megadeth should check this out immediately.
A
real metal sound announces ‘Black Empire’, title track and the
powerful opener of the album. Vocalist Martin Steene roams without
any weaker moments in between the skilled twin guitar soloing. His
high pitched vocals are still akin to those of Rob Halford
sometimes. But this time the band has imported some darker elements
in the songs. Vocals harmonize in a sensual way with those low tuned
guitars in ‘Back To Hell’. ‘Death Comes Crawling’ has this
passionate undercurrent too, spoken fragments slowly work their way
to a climax. Very professional indeed. The most epic track is the
eight minutes track ‘Days Of Damien’. It brings out the best in
these musicians. Another highlight is the solid speedy ‘Beyond The
Gates’ which offers us an agreeable solace with skilful twin guitar
soloing. The first surprise may be absent this time, but with ‘Black
Empire’ Force Of Evil has expanded their horizon while every metal
fan will immediately be fond of this Mercyful Fate/Judas Priest
allied album. Another reason to purchase this album is the excellent
sound and the band sounding inspired and modern. |
