Band: Warmaster Album: First War Label: Dutch Metal Records Rating: 8/10 Website: http://www.warmaster.nl BUY NOW!

Death Metal band Warmaster use the rather vague phrase ‘Old School’ to describe the sound on their debut, ‘First War’. This loose categorisation however does not, in my opinion, accurately depict the style of this album to prospective buyers, nor indeed does it do the band the justice they deserve for this marvellously created piece of music…many death metal bands can claim to be classified under the ‘Old School’ faction. No, what Warmaster have dreamt up, and executed to near perfection, is something far more exiting than that. They have ingeniously mixed a classic rock/hair metal style with that of a more traditional heavy approach. Please don’t imagine for a second that the band’s sound is comparable to that of classic groups such as Led Zeppelin or Quiet Riot…because that is simply not the case. However, below the predictable heavy surface, Warmaster have incorporated some of the riff styles of bands such as these, and many others in their respective genres, resulting in something much more interesting to listen to… As a drone begins the first track I find myself scarily reminded of the intro from ‘Bat Country’ from ‘Avenged Sevenfold’! Thankfully, although I was half expecting it, the all too familiar whiney ‘A7X’ vocals never entered the equation and the drone, lasting for the best part of a minute, eventually evaporated, replaced by slow, melodic riff containing many signature elements of a typical classic rock sequence…only slowed down and played with 1000 times more venom! The hellish vocals bare no fresh surprises, however, and are pretty much your average death growls with the occasional hint of something perhaps more commonly associated with Melo-death creeping in through the choruses. The third song, questionably my favourite on the album, called ‘Silent Scream’ is the track, along with ‘Silence’ and ‘Against Heavy Odds’, which probably best illustrates my classic rock influence hypothesis. The opening riff powerfully drives the track through the 1970’s and arrives at another more conventional riff, which, although not as eye catching, is equally powerful and heavy. The final song, ‘1914’, nicely completes the remarkable album with strong lyrics and an even stronger guitar and drum arrangement with a great, if a little simplistic solo midway through. Overall…a truly great success for a small band, with what should hopefully be a great underground future before them. Maybe a little repetitive at times, but by no means in a fashion that really detracts from the album too much. Nonetheless, in their subsequent albums a little more variation would further improve this great achievement. Just to note (so as not to get too many complaints from Deep Purple fans who have taken my ‘classic’ comparisons a little too seriously) however cleverly they have integrated their influences, this is still very much a Death Metal album, not for fans who prefer more of an easy listening quality to their music! Lewis Klein Back to Reviews