Reverence – When Darkness Calls (2012) album review
Having an inbox the size of Hal’s demented mind means having to wait for some bands. Reverence’s When Darkness Calls the ever reliable (and never wrong) Google tells us was created by former members of Savatage, Tokyo Blade, Crimson Glory and Jack Starr’s Burning Starr. So, a Super group of sorts then.
Experienced and talented. Excellent. But experience and talent are only ingredients that require something else: a little creativity and the retention of youthful vigour. That spark of desire that is at once belligerence, anger, eroticism and discovery. All of which can be heard in the mere single pluck of a string. When Darkness Calls has this and it is what makes it a good album.
The more one listens to this album the more one cannot scrub the thought of early Skid Row from the mind. Conceptually and stylistically everything about Reverence is different but something about the arrangement, the occasional riff and Todd Michael Hall’s screams hint at the influence of one Rock and Metal’s greatest bands. What is undeniable is that When Darkness Calls is American Power Metal: too rough and fast to be hard rock, vocally soaring and lyrically mature.
Todd Michael Hall’s voice is fantastic especially on “After The Leaves Have Fallen” where his controlled screams elevates this Power Metal ballad to the sublime. The only disappointment being the shortness of the song. The expected seven minute epic rather brutally cut short. Tracks of this ilk have always been obligatory ever since the bean-counters at record-companies saw the dollars flowing in during the early eighties. But I digress. Mr Hall’s vocal range is well-known to his fans and it is here displayed to its fullest.
Standout tracks here are definitely the epically-introduced opener “When Darkness Calls” (which end with some quite nice scales), “Bleed For Me” and “Revolution Rising” but this is a rich album, diverse and not a second is wasted or feels like filler for the standout tracks, of which our selection will be argued as being wrong by many.
This is a really good album and if you like Metal, you should buy this album. If you don’t then you should buy this album. If you are indifferent then you should buy this album. Hey, it effect monumental economic or social change if you do, but it will mean the band will make another album.
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Released by: Razar Ice Records
http://reverencemetal.com/2011/index.html
Links: https://www.facebook.com/Reverencemetal
Line Up:
Todd Michael Hall- Vocals
Bryan Holland- Guitar
Frank Kruckel- Bass
Pete Rossi- Guitar
Steve Wacholz- Drums
Tracklist:
1. When Darkness Calls
2. Bleed For Me
3. Phantom Road
4. Devil in Disguise
5. Too Late
6. Gatekeeper
7. The Price You Pay
8. Monster
9. Revolution Rising
10. After The Leaves Have Fallen
11. Vengeance Is Mine
http://suicidescriptures.com/2012/08/reverence-when-darkness-calls-2012-album-review/
