Post by thesoundmonitor on Mar 27, 2004 19:18:15 GMT -5
MAPLE CROSS
Next Chapter
(Verikauha)
It appears that the troops of the Northern Brotherhood are massing, readying themselves for an assault on our stereos.
Yep, this is more heavy stuff from the Republic of Finland. Like the Lambs disc, it's released by Verikauha Records, but whereas Lambs' music inhabits an unusual nexus between hard rock and melodic metal, Maple Cross are a more straight-down-the-line metal band.
Their trademarks are clean production, precision riffing, and high pitched, strangulated vocals that will be familiar to anyone who has been exposed to Scandinavian black metal. For those of you who haven't, try to imagine Brian Johnson (AC/DC) singing a death metal song.
The opening few tracks are excellent. The first song, ‘The Spirit of the Northern Brotherhood’, recalls everything that was great about thrash metal. The rocking metal riff of the chorus breaks up the frantic verses nicely.
’Last Steps of Joe’ will have the metalheads of old banging their heads once again. The opening 40 seconds are pure heaven for thrashers worldwide, and the rest of the track builds on this opening beautifully.
Memorable tracks get harder to find as the album rolls on (or maybe it's just that bottle of Finlandia I bought after doing the Lambs review starting to kick in). ‘Nothing Starts From The Beginning’ has an atmospheric acoustic break, but there are a couple of ordinary songs, no question.
The clean production and piercing vocals won't appeal to everyone. However, if you were into the great European thrash bands like Kreator and Sodom, or liked the histrionics of metal warriors such as Iron Maiden, chances are you'll find plenty to like about this too.
By Matt Harris