REVERENCE – “WHEN DARKNESS CALLS” TMB REVIEW

Band: Reverence
Album: “When Darkness Calls”
RC: Razar Ice Records
Year: 2012
Country: USA
Review: A.Palmieri
Rating: 9,8 /10

After the cool BRYAN HOLLAND interview with TMB, now it’s time for us to review REVERENCE’s new album“When Darkness Calls”. And must we say we’re happy to receive the CD!
REVERENCE, even though being a new band on the metal scenery, has a line up featuring members from SAVATAGE, CRIMSON GLORY, TOKYO BLADE and also JACK STARR’S BURNING STARR, so ll musicians do know exactly what they want to achieve musically speaking, and by listening to the album, you do get it.

Ok, at first you notice the guitars… Not only creative, but also very melodic and powerful sounding. Then they’re followed by powerful vocals, skull crushing drums and also pulsing bass lines. And that’s when you realize you’re indeed listening to a powerful heavy metal album, that is combined with a strong amount of heavy hard 80′s vibe. You have the choruses, the speed and the melodies.

The band press release makes a connection between REVERENCE and bands such as JUDAS PRIEST, DIO, PRIMAL FEAR, SAVATAGE and even QUEENSRYCHE. Well, they do get it right, but do not thing you got the band all figured out. Those are indeed references to be “recognized” during the album play, but they sound pretty much like themselves.

The whole album IS a MUST LISTEN, but we’ve selected some tunes to give you a glimpse of what to expect…. “Phantom Road”, the third on the album, is a good example of how a song punches your ears straight out of the speakers. It’s fast and the guitar solos keeps on flying all around while the drums won’t allow you to rest your neck and head. This is what we call a “must listen while driving” song and became our favorite one on the album pretty fast. And then it is followed by “Devil In Disiguise” which takes you to a slower pace where drums and bass are in control, but since you’re listening to an album where you can expect some cool surprises, the guitars suddenly takes you on a virtuous flight and brings you some harmonic scales for an exotic landing. “Too Late” comes in and it’s time for some Chorus/Reverb combination that is so characteristic to the style… And it’s followed by one of the albums coolest riffs. Vocals are in evidence here reminding us of some good old time House of Spirits and Queensryche. Then we go to “Monster”, entering the room with it’s pulsing fat bass sounds. And then the guitars blast in as if made to serve as some “festival official anthem”, or even a “metal show” opening theme. It sticks to you head just like that.

In resume, and to leave you some room for your own self opinion, we say that “When Darkness Calls” brings you the coolest vibes of the 80′s metal, but it sounds very up to date. Wrap it all up in an amazing casing artwork design and you have REVERENCE debuting in great style and a next album shall bring even more. And if you’re wondering about “tour”, we say they go perfectly well in wide arenas/festivals as well as clubs all over the States and Europe where you’ll be able sweat your sorry black shirt out in the pit!

Tracklist:
01. When Darkness Calls 05:00
02. Bleed For Me 04:10
03. Phantom Road 03:47
04. Devil In Disguise 04:31
05. Too Late 05:16
06. Gatekeeper 03:55
07. The Price You Pay 04:19
08. Monster 04:53
09. Revolution Rising 05:26
10. After The Leaves Have Fallen 03:35
11. Vengeance Is Mine 04:05