Pure Steel Records
2006
1. Alpha And Omega
2. Sworn To Avenge
3. Nightmare Terror
4. Rock Survivors
5. Master Of Deception
6. Megas Alexandros
7. Stealer Of Minds
8. When The Night Is Cold
9. And The Arrows Fall
10. Legends Never Die
Crystal Tears are a new one to me and I pretty much just got this release because I saw the promo and figured why not. Really didn't know anything about the band going in and on a guess of female vocalist + name I figured this would probably be standard female sung goth or something. Well that's not at all what I got.
Crystal Tears have a very no frills approach to metal with a straight up traditional sound. The vocals immediately reminded me of Leather Leone of Chastain when I was listening and wouldn't you know it... on their website the singer, Natasha, lists her as one of her influences. Basically she sounds semi-gruff and quite metal. I know some are turned off by melodic female vocals in this sort of band but I don't think that will be an issue here as, for lack of a better term, they're quite ballsy. The guitar sound reminds me a bit of Grave Digger circa Excalibur and the music varies from a mic paced traditional feel to blasts of speed which are quite aggressive and have some resemblance to the German school of heavy power metal. At times I get a bit of a Manowar vibe from the music as well and with titles like And The Arrows Fall, Sword To Avenge, and Legends Never Die that comes to mind at time in the lyrics as well. What strikes me the most about this band though is just damn good songwriting. The guitar hooks and choruses definitely grabbed my attention and made the songs pretty damn memorable. The only real negative with this album is that it's pretty short at a mere 35 minutes and change.
Really solid release and though they've been through a number of vocalists and I have yet to hear the others... I hope they hang onto this girl. This is her first release with the band and I really think she's perfect for their sound and just brings a certain heaviness to the music. Recommended to any fans of no frills traditional metal with a slight epic/warrior feel but especially to fans of bands like Chastain, White Skull, and earlier Warlock.
Highlights: Sworn To Avenge, Master Of Deception, And The Arrows Fall, Megas Alexandros
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Sworn To Avenge
3. Nightmare Terror
4. Rock Survivors
5. Master Of Deception
6. Megas Alexandros
7. Stealer Of Minds
8. When The Night Is Cold
9. And The Arrows Fall
10. Legends Never Die
Crystal Tears are a new one to me and I pretty much just got this release because I saw the promo and figured why not. Really didn't know anything about the band going in and on a guess of female vocalist + name I figured this would probably be standard female sung goth or something. Well that's not at all what I got.
Crystal Tears have a very no frills approach to metal with a straight up traditional sound. The vocals immediately reminded me of Leather Leone of Chastain when I was listening and wouldn't you know it... on their website the singer, Natasha, lists her as one of her influences. Basically she sounds semi-gruff and quite metal. I know some are turned off by melodic female vocals in this sort of band but I don't think that will be an issue here as, for lack of a better term, they're quite ballsy. The guitar sound reminds me a bit of Grave Digger circa Excalibur and the music varies from a mic paced traditional feel to blasts of speed which are quite aggressive and have some resemblance to the German school of heavy power metal. At times I get a bit of a Manowar vibe from the music as well and with titles like And The Arrows Fall, Sword To Avenge, and Legends Never Die that comes to mind at time in the lyrics as well. What strikes me the most about this band though is just damn good songwriting. The guitar hooks and choruses definitely grabbed my attention and made the songs pretty damn memorable. The only real negative with this album is that it's pretty short at a mere 35 minutes and change.
Really solid release and though they've been through a number of vocalists and I have yet to hear the others... I hope they hang onto this girl. This is her first release with the band and I really think she's perfect for their sound and just brings a certain heaviness to the music. Recommended to any fans of no frills traditional metal with a slight epic/warrior feel but especially to fans of bands like Chastain, White Skull, and earlier Warlock.
Highlights: Sworn To Avenge, Master Of Deception, And The Arrows Fall, Megas Alexandros
Rating - 3.5/5
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