2006-01-16
Old school, that's the key word in Pentatrator's debut album, its old school heavy/power metal, with an American feel, but also some NWOBHM touches as well.
The Canadian band features a combination of highly experienced veteran musicians, who manage to create a sold release, that comes off as a true tribute to some of the 80's biggest metal bands.
One of the group's main strengths, is the vocals, which reminded me the most of Metal Church's David Wayne's, though not as high pitched as his were, they manage to bring forth an added strength to the tracks, and several song, such as the excellent Guns And Whisky, come off even better because of the strong vocal delivery.
Sound wise it leaves something to be desired, it is admittedly 80's sounding, which may appeal to hard core 80's metal fans, but though I view myself as such I still prefer the clearer sound that most bands use today.
Another unique moment is Musco In A Bottle, starting off with an acoustic segment, a very different flavor than most stuff in the album, it brings an added diversity to the proceedings.
Mistress is a wild, frenzied metal number, memorable riffs, great vocal lines, one of the album's best cuts.
All In all, this doesn't have anything new, but that's just what they seem to be going for, a good, solid retro metal album, with some considerable talent, and good melodic songs, and it works out great.
Alon Miasnikov
