Gatekeeper - East of Sun

By Calen Henry. East of Sun is Gatekeeper's debut album, following a string of EPs and splits. The Vancouver band plays epic speed metal adding grit and velocity to the grandiosity of bands like Atlantean Kodex and Solstice. They enter a crowded field

By Calen Henry.

Artwork by Duncan Storr.

East of Sun is Gatekeeper's debut album, following a string of EPs and splits. The Vancouver band plays epic speed metal adding grit and velocity to the grandiosity of bands like Atlantean Kodex and Solstice. They enter a crowded field, with traditional and doom metal bands being a dime a dozen right now, but they manage to stand out.

Gatekeeper nail both "epic" and "speed" in their interpretation of metal, the epic side often slowing down into doom territory. The guitars nail double kick backed full tilt riffs and slower drawn out melodic doom with solos to match either style, be it aggressive fret-board pyrotechnics or mournful slow-burn lines. Vocalist Jean-Pierre Abboud is equally well suited to either style balancing technique and feeling. He shows great melodic and emotional range matching the flow of epic metal, but possesses a grit and "close to the edge" quality that's perfect when they speed things up but also works for slower passages backed by harmonized "aahs".

The deft merging of styles is matched by songwriting chops. Gatekeeper doesn't really do anything new but they write such great songs, jammed with sing-along choruses and ripping solos that they don't need to. "Blade of Cimmeria" opens the album with a rousing speed metal scream, immediately gripping the listener, then running through some of the faster material on the album, "North Wolves", and "Warrior without Fear". By the time they slow things down and get really epic on "Ninefold Muse", you're hooked.

The vocals sound great and the guitars have just the right crunch, but the mix robs the band of some of their hard earned epicness. The drums are too far back in the mix, and the master is too compressed to allow cranking it to compensate. The band deserves a better mix to really showcase their excellent material.

Still, it's a great album. Edge of Sun positions Gatekeeper as a strong band and is a hugely impressive debut, not to be missed by any fans of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal.

Root - Hell Symphony

By Andy Curtis-Brignell. Root are one of those bands that never quite seem to get their due. As part of the preternaturally influential but still obscure crop of early Eastern European black/death bands with Master’s Hammer and KAT, the Czech act have their die-hard fans, but in my experience they primarily focus on the band’s debut album Zjeveni and Hell Symphony’s follow-up The Temple in the Underworld

By Andy Curtis-Brignell.


Root are one of those bands that never quite seem to get their due. As part of the preternaturally influential but still obscure crop of early Eastern European black/death bands with Master’s Hammer and KAT, the Czech act have their die-hard fans, but in my experience they primarily focus on the band’s debut album Zjeveni and Hell Symphony’s follow-up The Temple in the Underworld, being the two albums closest to the Venom/Hellhammer/Bathory template. However Root, despite 30+ years of existence, have never made a true misstep and, bucking the trend that saw most 80s survivors churn out either tedious epic metal or AOR crud (hi Metallica) their more recent work was amongst their most creatively fertile - toe to toe, Black Seal and The Book wipe the floor with their late 90s/early 2000s competition.

But this isn’t a career retrospective - I’m here to write about my favourite Root album, Hell Symphony. I could start by talking about how comparatively polished the production is, or how excellently the central concept (a form of sonic grimoire, each song dealing with a particular demon) is executed. Instead, I want to look briefly at how astonishingly varied this album is. Ranging from technically stunning thrash to creeping, chugging death metal via the sonic abjection of early black metal, Hell Symphony is rounded off with a touch of classical clean guitar and the inimitable operatic ‘Attila Csihar sings Verdi’ vocals of band leader Big Boss, Hell Symphony covers more ground in its spare 41 minutes than most bands do in their entire careers, without ever feeling contrived. Indeed, the album as a whole gives the impression of being streamlined and produced with a supernatural level of restraint and economy - dynamically this is one of the most interesting metal records of all time, with nothing ever feeling too saturated or overblown whilst maintaining a consistently high level of engagement and excitement. This relationship between the albums brevity and its dynamic content also keeps the album feeling curiously unresolved, as if it could loop endlessly around some ancient darkened grotto until the demons conjured within are ready to rise. Hell Symphony is exactly that - an orchestrated piece designed to show the listener around the band’s demonic weltanschauung.

However the concept never overtakes the execution, and whilst the songs benefit from context they also shine individually, "Belial" and "Loki" being particular highlights. There’s an unexpected accessibility to Hell Symphony that belies the overtly dark and satanic imagery and concept, not to mention the band’s relative obscurity. The thundering drums and grooves remind me more of Beneath the Remains era Sepultura than anything being put out by black metal acts at the time, whilst the intertwining guitar melodies and ripping thrash sections resemble nothing less than some kind of Mercyful Fate/RTL-era Metallica collaboration, albeit with vocals from a drunken, phantasm-beset Pavarotti as opposed to some generic leather-clad showman.

There’s a fundamental sincerity to Hell Symphony that I think may be one of the reasons why it has failed to see mainstream success. There are no pyrotechnics to their diabolism, and there’s no sensationalism in their performance. Putting aside the impressive guitar licks and how easy it is to bang your head to it, there’s an almost indefinable humility to the record that makes you feel as though the band aren't simply paying lip service to any aspect of their performance. They believe, so we believe. I think that might be the highest compliment I’m able to pay to such an interesting, varied, dynamic but ultimately restrained piece of metal art.

Atlantean Kodex - The White Goddess

By Zach Duvall. In the interest of wasting very little of your time, we’re going to get right to the main point: Just about exactly two years ago, Germany’s Atlantean Kodex released what can now firmly be called a modern classic in The White Goddess. The album is just about flawless in concept and delivery, and is rich with the kind of nuance that keeps you coming back repeatedly

By Zach Duvall


In the interest of wasting very little of your time, we’re going to get right to the main point: Just about exactly two years ago, Germany’s Atlantean Kodex released what can now firmly be called a modern classic in The White Goddess. The album is just about flawless in concept and delivery, and is rich with the kind of nuance that keeps you coming back repeatedly, but this only begins to scratch the surface. The following will attempt to communicate some of what it is that makes Atlantean Kodex such a special entity within the world of heavy metal and music as a whole. The 900 metric tons of hyperbole is included as a bonus.

The easy part of describing The White Goddess is Atlantean Kodex’s general sound: A doom base with much of the gloom replaced by either haunting sorrow or power metal’s battle-worn triumph, plenty of Bathory bombast, and an unabashed indulgence in all things epic. Add in a progressive mindset, absolutely deliberate and methodic songwriting, and soaring lead vocals lacking in any sense of ego or arrogance, and you’ve got the picture.

But to say that this accurately captures what Atlantean Kodex is all about would be a gross understatement. From note one, The White Goddess is just about more. You may not hear many individual elements or ideas that are innovative in any real way, but make no mistake, this is one ambitious band. Conceptually, emotionally, and from the standpoint of execution, The White Goddess absolutely exudes a kind of regal class. This is a quality that cannot be taught; it must be felt by every musician involved in the process. The vocals alone impart a kind of importance, as if the fate of the world hinges on the events and concepts being described in the words, regardless of what is actually being said. And once this impression comes across, it passes into every monolithic doom riff, every arpeggio lead, and every soft acoustic break.

Of course, good songs help, and The White Goddess is loaded. After a wildly effective album overture – and it is indeed an overture, not an intro – “Sol Invictus (With Faith and Fire)” pretty much reveals the band’s primary goal: The bar of intensity must be raised ever higher, without fail. Beginning with an a cappella singing of the title, everything feels massive. With each monumental landing of the (unthinkably divine) chorus, the listener feels as if the song is spending its last bit of energy, only to be outdone with the next appearance. After the final iteration, you are spent, and the album is only getting started.

That the rest of the album manages to hold up after these nearly 11 perfect minutes is a testament to Atlantean Kodex’s confidence in not only the quality of the subsequent songs, but also their overall album flow and concept. The following acoustic break is necessary, as is the doom balladry of “Heresiarch (Thousandfaced Moon)” – which features yet another unforgettable chorus – before “Twelve Stars and an Azure Gown (An Anthem for Europa)” is able to deliver a bit more in the traditional heavy metal department. Pacing is key, as are songs that fit perfectly together despite sounding more and more unique with each spin of the album.

The most unique of these, and by far the heaviest from a pure feeling standpoint, is “Enthroned in Clouds and Fire (The Great Cleansing).” Absolutely overflowing with Bathory charm (and chants, and rhythms), it initially feels a bit derivative, but Atlantean Kodex brings a melodic ability to their vocals that Quorthon obviously never did, and this track is their peak in that department. The melodies are generally simple, and slowly developing, but when delivered over that bombastic base, each is more magical and heart wrenching than the last. For not the first time on the album, the listener is spent, but the return of a feeling of triumph and majesty on the closing title track offers deliverance, and one final leg of Atlantean Kodex’s journey. They even toss in some tasty Iron Maiden-esque harmonies for good measure.

To put it lightly, The White Goddess is quite a thing. More accurately, it is a singular experience, a truth that is only growing more firm with the passing of time. There is a divinity, a holiness to Atlantean Kodex’s music that can only be appreciated when heard, and only truly felt after The White Goddess has been given ample time to completely worm its way into your subconscious. That, I assure you, will be time well spent.

Manilla Road - Crystal Logic

Guest review by Richard Street-Jammer.


Four albums into their career, only three of which had been released, and Manilla Road's sound was finally established. They'd etched away still more of the prog rock influences of their debut, but they kept the prog rock ambitions and sense of scale. Then and now, they had few peers in style, and fewer still in quality.

Crystal Logic opens with a minute and a half track of narration, and then the band rips into their best song, "Necropolis." It's a compact song, up tempo and to the point, with just a few riffs, a huge chorus, and a mid song tempo shift and guitar solo.

"Feeling Free Again" is another demonstration of the band's ability to write a killer three minute-ish tune. It's a playful celebration of being in love. Hop in your car, put the windows down, crank the stereo, and serenade your lover with the song while driving too fast. Trust me, it'll make sense.

Photos by Distortionplus.

The title track starts off as fast as "Feeling Free..." and "Necropolis," but it soon settles into Manilla Road's trademark groove. Elsewhere, it's business as usual for Manilla Road, but the business is stronger than ever. Manilla Road gets tagged as "epic metal," and no wonder: their core sound is expansive, but they're here to tell you a story, to make a point. Meandering serves them no purpose.

"The Ram," "The Riddle Master," and "The Veils of Negative Existence" live up to the epic metal tag. The riffs are a study in almost: almost hard rock, but too slow. Almost doom, but cut with too much speed. Almost progressive, but too direct and too forceful, and always excellent. "Dreams of Eschaton" lives up to its name, offering a foreboding series of riffs while Mark Shelton narrates the apocalypse.

Underneath the riffing, the rhythm section is adroit and nimble. Shelton's guitar solos belie his age at the time of recording. Send him forward in time, park him in front of a laptop cam, and he'd be a YouTube hotshot playing lead for a tech death outfit.

Photo by Distortionplus.

The Shadow Kingdom reissue features an extra track, "Flaming Metal System," that was originally released on a compilation album in the '80s. Other than some deranged vocals from Shelton, it fits right in with the album proper.

Thirty years and twelve albums later, Manilla Road still haven't topped Crystal Logic. They've only come close, perhaps because Crystal Logic is just that good. Perhaps it is something else? Perhaps it is age. Rare are the things that get better with age; number Crystal Logic among them.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Reflection - When Shadows Fall

Reflection's When Shadows Fall from 2008 was added to the Cruz Del Sur Bandcamp. They play epic metal, the doomy version of Heavy Metal. It is a little plodding but AllMusic quite fairly described it as a "nicely crafted and enjoyable outing" by a band who "hold on to their love of metal from the 1970s and 1980s."

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]