Review: REVERENCE “When Darkness Calls” 2012
Posted by Mohsen Fayyazi on April 15, 2013
Posted in: Reviews.
Tagged: Mohsen fayyazi, Reverence.
Review by Mohsen Fayyazi
Artist – REVERENCE
Album – When Darkness Calls
Label – Razar Ice Records
Year – 2012
“When Darkness Calls” track listing:
1. When Darkness Calls
2. Bleed For Me
3. Phantom Road
4. Devil In Disguise
5. Too Late
6. Gate Keeper
7. The Price You Pay
8. Monster
9. Revolution Rising
10. After The Leaves have Fallen
11. Vengeance Is Mine
REVERENCE is an American Heavy/Power metal band featuring members from TOKYO BLADE, SAVATAGE, CRIMSON GLORY, BURNING STARR and FUNNY MONEY. Well, honestly I only know SAVATAGE from that list. The band formed in 2010 in Detroit, Michigan and they are due to debut their first album, “When Darkness Calls” soon. I’ve got a digital copy of this album (lucky me?!) from the band management and now I am glad to explain my experience of REVERENCE ‘s metal for you. To have a better listen I set the equalizer to ‘Full Bass and Treble’ mode which may melt your eardrums!
REVERENCE ‘s “When Darkness Calls” is a modern power metal album, however I felt a little 80′s –ish during listening. It is not an extraordinary nor exceptional album, but very energetic. The album starts with the self titled track which is a powerful one. However the intro of this track is not impressive, but after one minute, the power metal starts and you will taste the band’s true metal. I must confess that I am impressed by the vocals. Todd ‘s voice has a wonderful wide range to it, which reminds me of John Sykes and Don Dokken. There are some elements which are common between most of the tracks in this album, fast guitar riffs and solos, however they are not always at the same level. For example the third track, ‘Phantom Road’ is pure American power metal, with guitar riffs which remind me of George Lynch. But on the next track, ‘Devil In Disguise’ you will hear some NWOBHM and fast thrash riffs mixed together which create a good heavy metal feeling.
The fifth track, is the best track. It is named ‘Too Late’ and starts with an awesome fiery intro including ICED EARTH-ish guitar arpeggios and a guitar solo which reminds me of IRON MAIDEN, then come the volcanic riffs spurting flames and METAL. The vocals are wonderful again, as well the chorus parts. The song was written, recorded, mixed and mastered at the highest level, in other words, it has the makings of a masterpiece. In the final part, ‘Too Late’ ends at the point where it started, very clever! Another notable track in this album is “Monster” which sounds like STRATOVARIUS trying to play ICED EARTH. It is very melodical powerful metal, however I found some elements of symphonic metal in it as well. In this album you will even find a HELLOWEEN-ish track which is entitled ‘Revolution Rising’. If you love Pumpkin metal like me, you will love this track too.
In my opinion, the weakest point of this album is the tenth track, ‘After The Leaves Have Fallen’. It starts with an electric guitar arpeggio along with a little echo which doesn’t sound good to me as it is too simple and it is just one theme which repeats. However it could be better if they tried to play this arpeggio with a piano, for example as HELLOWEEN did on the track ‘If I Could Fly’. Also I believe it could be better if the track listing was arranged a little differently, for example this song would be good as the fifth or sixth track to balance it in a better way. As I said before good artists always care about everything, even tiny details. By all means, it is not bad music, you still can enjoy the vocals, guitar solos and bass themes in the background.
As the final word, “When The Darkness Calls” by REVERENCE is a good power metal album full of energy and flames. I recommend listening and rocking with this album to all who know and love the power metal music genre. Also I believe that although the band is not well-known now, they have the potential to be a big name in this genre in the near future. I look forward to hearing more Metal from them at a higher level soon. My rating for this album is 8/10 and I was glad to listen to REVERENCE ‘s debut album, “When The Darkness Calls”.
Review: REVERENCE “When Darkness Calls” 2013
