War Dogs - Die By My Sword

Labels: Fighter Records/Witchcraft Records

Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital

Release Date: 09 Jan 2020

Tracklist:

1. Die By My Sword

2. Castle Of Pain

3. Wings Of Fire

4. Master Of Revenge

5. Kill The Past

6. Ready To Strike

7. The Shark (feat. Bryan 'Hellroadie' Patrick)

8. The Lights Are On (But Nobody's Home)

9. Gorgon Eyes

10. Wrath Of Theseus

Relief is very much needed this evening. Having said that, it does feel strange talking about a Spanish band given how hard that country has been hit over the last couple of weeks. Valencian heavy/speed metal band War Dogs released their debut album Die By My Sword via Fighter Records back in January on vinyl and cd, while they worked with Witchcraft Records on a tape version. It follows their self-titled debut EP, which came out in 2018. 

If Zorro fronted a band, it’d sound like War Dogs. That’s not being disrespectful, it’s just the image that’s conjured when hearing this album’s title-track ‘Die By My Sword’. It’s melodic, skilfully played speed/traditional heavy metal with cleanly sung vocals that remind you of the character himself. It’s said that War Dogs contain elements of power metal and they may well do, but it’s not that obvious to these ears (maybe I’ve not listened to any power metal in a long time). What is obvious as ‘Castle Of Pain’ plays is that catchy instrumentation is something that this band does very well.

Speed metal is the overriding element throughout this album and ‘Wings Of Fire’ is where it’s at. The exhilarating intro that goes on for over sixty-seconds is perfect and leads to an equally frenetic song as a whole. I do enjoy this form of heavy metal but feel that sometimes albums can become quite staid and boring. So far, that’s not the case here as musically this is top notch. ‘Master Of Revenge’ is so upbeat and enjoyable, it makes you forget about all of the madness going on in the world right now. Even when it’s riffs become more chug-laden mid-way through, they still add to the excellence on show. 

As the metal drowns out the incessant noise made by my neighbours, the galloping tempo of ‘Kill The Past’ takes over. It’s a song that goes by in a flash of razor-sharp riffs and bass-lines, pounding percussion and soaring dual-vocals. Before you know it, you’re in the grips of ‘Ready To Strike’, which is another cleverly titled song as War Dogs really are ready to strike as they truly settle into the record. This is brilliant from start to end. They truly take on another form on ‘The Shark”, which features additional vocals from Bryan ‘Hellroadie’ Patrick of the legendary Manilla Road. It’s much more fantasy based, especially in the lyrical department but it’s also great fun and kind of reminds me of GWAR, maybe!

Things take on an Eastern form thanks to the vocal melodies of ‘the Lights Are On (But Nobody’s Home’). They’re very subtle tones but they work and add an extra element to the heavy metal of War Dogs here. Penultimate track ‘Gorgon Eyes’ picks up the pace again, making great use of the momentum gained throughout the album. It’s the shortest song here, which is the reason for the urgency and it works really well too. 

That momentum flows straight into album closer ‘Wrath Of Theseus’ and it’s the last chance you have to enjoy the pleasing heavy metal of War Dogs. There aren’t many opportunities to indulge in such pleasures at the moment but this is one of them and I’ll be damned if anything’s getting in the way. A great modern heavy metal album that deserves more attention. 

You can stream Die By My Sword and purchase it super cheap digitally below:-

War Dogs - https://www.facebook.com/WarDogsHeavyMetal/

You can buy the album on CD and vinyl from Fighter Records here - http://shop.xtreemmusic.com/ and on tape via Witchcraft Records here - https://witchcraftrecords.bigcartel.com.

Fighter Records - https://www.facebook.com/fighter.records/

Witchcraft Records - https://www.facebook.com/witchcraftrecordshm/

Tytus - Rain After Drought

Labels: Fighter Records

Formats: CD/Digital

Release Date: 08 Jan 2019

Tracklist:

1. Disobey

2. The Invisible

3. The Storm That Kill Us All

4. Our Time Is Now

5. The Dark Wave

6. Death Throes

7. Rain After Drought - Pt.1

8. Rain After Drought - Pt.2

9. Move On Over

10. A Desolate Shell Of A Man

The likes of Khemmis and Haunt have been taking metal in a more traditional direction over the last twelve months; however, they're not the only ones. Europe has it's fair share of traditional heavy metal bands too and one label that's doing their bit to bring these bands to the forefront of people's attention is Spanish label Fighter Records. An imprint of Xtreme Music, Fighter has been working tirelessly since 2017 to do unearth stellar heavy metal bands from their homeland and from further afield, like Italy's Tytus. Tytus are now in their fifth year and having already released a 7" and an album (debut "Rises, released in 2016 via Sliptrick Records), they've now returned with their second album and first for their new label. The press blurb talks about the band being influenced by heavy metal greats including Iron Maiden, Metallica and early-Megadeth. Let's see...

Tytus certainly have been paying attention to their heavy metal forefathers on “Rain After Drought”. Opener Disobey is melodic, majestic and clean sounding. There’s a lot of thrash-like percussive tempos and guitar work that go alongside the twin-melodies and solos. the vocals are also clean, though not too the point of being power metal in style. At times their music brings to mind Death Angel, which is no bad thing. They continue with the up-tempo gallop of The Invisible, which is an outstanding all-round metal song. It certainly seems more focused than the album opener, but not all bands hit their stride straight away. This bodes well for the rest of the record. 

Tytus’s song-writing is more off-kilter on The Storm That Kill Us All, especially in the verses though these make the chorus sections even better. It’s classic in every direction and not too overweight in the playing-time department either, which seems to be a characteristic of their music. It’s over before you know it and is followed immediately by Our Time Is Now. The band’s full-scale attack keeps on coming and with it, more awesome solos and sing-along opportunities. The Dark Wave blurs the lines between heavy metal and punk in subtle ways. The tempos are there and so is the melody (I feel like I’ve been banging on about both of these too much already here). I guess there’s more of a hard rock slant to it. It’s still brilliant.

Old-school thrash elements are the bedrock of Death Throes, which is a meaty song filled with yet more classy riffs. I don’t really know what else to say. By the time you reach this point on the record, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting with Tytus and will no doubt be hooked. If not, you’ve got no soul. Next up is the two-parter, starting with Rain After Drought - pt.1, which is the band’s longest song here and what you get is an instrumental piece that shows a different side to Tytus. There’s an obvious not to the progressive nature of many of their countrymen and women, as Italy is known for it’s theatrical and experimental bands. This is a bit a journey but in a good way.

Rain After Drought - pt.2 is an altogether more bluesy number with superb clean singing. There’s a classic rock/ballad feel to it, which is definitely nostalgic. It’s followed immediately by the furious and urgent Move On Over, that gets the heart racing a bit more. As does album closer A Desolate Shell Of A Man. Tytus has shown that there’s still room for good old heavy metal in 2019 and the genre that was built stronger by Metallica, Megadeth and Iron Maiden is well and truly in safe hands.

You can stream and grab "Rain After Drought" for super cheap digitally below:-

Physical CD copies are available here - http://shop.xtreemmusic.com/

Tytus - https://www.facebook.com/TYTUSBAND/

Fighter Records - https://www.facebook.com/fighter.records/