There’ve been a lot of rule books torn up in recent years and even power metal hasn’t been immune to the occasional redraft. Taking those essential ingredients and either amplifying them beyond what any common sense would deem rational or dragging in other wholly incompatible genres and making it all work wonderfully. Bring forth The Archers. No, this is not a tale of everyday country folk told through the medium of power metal and serialised indefinitely on Radio 4. Unleash the Archers is like a coked-up Rhapsody. DragonForce on steroids. Power metal meets metal core in a sound clash that, happily as far as I’m concerned, is won by the sometimes desperately un-fighting fit, bantamweight power metal corner. The result is quite a serious, deadpan delivery of juddering verse followed by dizzying breakdowns and mighty choruses. I like my power metal serious. Or, at least, as serious as you can get when the lead singer has a voice that hits notes so high it can explode lead-lined church windows. And this is a dead-eyed, lean, mean melody machine that could probably do 100 pull-ups with one arm. It’s also so full of tendon-ripping guitar solos and original hooks you might almost be tempted to flick back through those recent power metal years to find the missing link.
Well, a good start would be the aforementioned DragonForce and maybe, for sheer lung power if nothing else, White Skull or the painfully overlooked Ancient Bards – Rhapsody on octane fuel and which has the same boundless energy as ‘The Archers. But what these Canadians bring forth to rain down upon you with Time Stands Still, their third album to date, is perhaps more fresh and varied in its appeal – with shades of Doro (as on the title track) bringing that fist pumping rock element to the powercore thanks to singer Brittney Slayes (also known as Brittney Hayes) who may well have given the young Doro a run for her money. And whereas some great, original ideas for new sounds run out of steam for want of some decent song writing, and vice-versa, the Archers deliver on both counts. Starting with Frozen Steel, a slightly odd ball choice for an opening track but one which helps demonstrate from the outset that this is fiddling with the formulas. The next couple of tracks help further set the parameters of the sound – a mixture of mood from dour death core aggression to high as a kite exuberance. Then, by the second half of the album from Crypt onwards, the band is thoroughly warmed up and in fact to say there is never a dull moment would be an understatement. If anything the pure power metal takes over from the ‘core influences in the latter half of the album but I find it hard to imagine this wouldn’t appeal to both fans of big pipes everywhere and the curious who are normally put off by the standard US and Euro-trash power metal fare.
Picking out the best bits is a hard task. Whether it’s the absolutely killer midrange vocals of Slayes – which provide a welcome break from hearing operatic sopranos every time you read the words ‘female fronted’; the adrenaline-fueled oscillating riffs or the varied and genuinely refreshing melodies. It’s a great package and I can see why this band might actually be breaking through the power metal morass – because it plays every card it has with distinction and total conviction. The extended epic Dreamcrusher, the rousing Going Down Fighting and the fist-pumping finale of the title track are a great end to a fine album. The only danger with a band like Unleash the Archers is that it might even leave large swathes of your power metal collection – which, let’s admit, if you’re like me, most of which you bought in hope rather than firm expectation and could probably be whittled down by half. So it’s time for change. Time to get some toughened glass in those church windows. It’s time to Unleash the Archers.
(8.5/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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