Mountain Throne - Serpent's Heathland
Mountain Throne from Germany came to me from a friend who said "you want to hear some classic metal, check this out". He was right, this is pure classic and pure old-school traditional Heavy Metal, air-guitars and all. I have not heard of the band before hearing this EP titled "Serpent’s Heathland" and I haven't done research on the band either so I went in fresh with this and me and my turntable are digging it. Mountain Throne play a blend of 70's Hard Rock, 80's Heavy Metal and traditional Doom Metal along the lines of Witchfinder General and Saint Vitus. This 12" is short and sweet but it is a satisfying head banging experience that kicks off with the sinister and ominous riff of "Altar Of Reason". It quickly builds into a melodic, mid-tempo smoking hot metal number with tasty guitar solos and infectious melodies. It is like a long-lost gem from the 80's for the most part but most important it is an exciting slab of good old-fashioned classy Heavy Rock complete with all the musicianship required of such a time-honored tradition.
They raise the tempo for "Endtime", a high-octane busy number with hyperactive riffing and explosive yet controlled vocals. The mixture of raw energy with an element of class and finesse is top-notch throughout the song and while its been done a million times before they still bring a element of freshness to the style. Like the opener, it ends way before it should like they were short on studio time and had to compress the songs somehow. That is most likely wrong but these songs would have benefitted greatly by extending the arrangements just that bit more. The title track is an atmospheric instrumental again cut short in its prime but turn it over and you discover the real goods on side two. These two monsters are the best two tunes on the EP. "The Forest" is seriously old school but fresh in its approach avoiding recycling tired old clichés while still remaining within the realm of traditional metal. This song is like 80's prog-metal colliding head on with raw doom and has a anthemic quality that would have people head-banging madly in a live setting.
The last track with the happy title "The Merry Men" is actually the most doom-driven song on "Serpent’s Heathland". It is a very dark and brooding tune they unleashed here and musically the band always seem to be stretching themselves but still keeping it "total classic". From the sound of the guitar to the vocals, everything sounds like a lost gem from the past and if this had have been released in 83, Mountain Throne would be considered legends of metal by now. Yes, not really original or ground-breaking and they are not the greatest band on earth but this is great metal written and performed by musicians that sound like they truly care about providing the world with quality Heavy Metal. It sounds passionate and honest but this EP is painfully short so I await a full-length album, I hope I don't have to wait too long..
They raise the tempo for "Endtime", a high-octane busy number with hyperactive riffing and explosive yet controlled vocals. The mixture of raw energy with an element of class and finesse is top-notch throughout the song and while its been done a million times before they still bring a element of freshness to the style. Like the opener, it ends way before it should like they were short on studio time and had to compress the songs somehow. That is most likely wrong but these songs would have benefitted greatly by extending the arrangements just that bit more. The title track is an atmospheric instrumental again cut short in its prime but turn it over and you discover the real goods on side two. These two monsters are the best two tunes on the EP. "The Forest" is seriously old school but fresh in its approach avoiding recycling tired old clichés while still remaining within the realm of traditional metal. This song is like 80's prog-metal colliding head on with raw doom and has a anthemic quality that would have people head-banging madly in a live setting.
The last track with the happy title "The Merry Men" is actually the most doom-driven song on "Serpent’s Heathland". It is a very dark and brooding tune they unleashed here and musically the band always seem to be stretching themselves but still keeping it "total classic". From the sound of the guitar to the vocals, everything sounds like a lost gem from the past and if this had have been released in 83, Mountain Throne would be considered legends of metal by now. Yes, not really original or ground-breaking and they are not the greatest band on earth but this is great metal written and performed by musicians that sound like they truly care about providing the world with quality Heavy Metal. It sounds passionate and honest but this EP is painfully short so I await a full-length album, I hope I don't have to wait too long..
1. Altar Of Reason
2. Endtime
3. Serpents Heathland
4. The Forest
5. The Merry Men
2. Endtime
3. Serpents Heathland
4. The Forest
5. The Merry Men
Cyclone Empire Records
Reviewer: Ed
Nov 3, 2010
Nov 3, 2010
Next review:
Electric Wizard - Black Masses
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