A couple of months ago at the pub, a friend broke an unwritten rule of the table by pulling out their smart phone to display an online piece they’d seen. Now, had it been some sleepy kitten or puppy falling over video, said person would likely have found themselves punished with at least a very large bar bill, a kicking, being ostracised, or probably all three. Fortunately for the sake of their wallet, shins and social standing, it was to show an incredibly shallow and ill informed article claiming that nobody could name ten rock or metal acts with female members. Naturally enough this lead to a healthy degree of debate, and of the many, many, many acts named in ever more slurred tones that night, one that came up was San Francisco’s own Castle, who I’m glad to say are back with their fourth full length release in the form of ‘Welcome To The Graveyard’.
‘Black Widow’ kicks off the album in fine style, a stomping metal number that could have come straight from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, an era that this track and so many others owe a debt to with its fist in your face swagger, Elizabeth Blackwell’s throaty vocal delivery adding a welcome extra element to the mix, whilst the guitar solo surely needs to be delivered with one hi-top trainer atop the stage monitor. Doom comes to the fore in ‘Hammer and the Cross’ the lead release from the album that sees the band wrap themselves in a Pentagram adorned flag before kicking out at religion. Whilst nothing new or unique, seen from the British view of America being the home of the gun toting Christian Right, the venom displayed has an even sharper edge. Title track ‘Welcome To The Graveyard’ continues the heaviness, mixing darker sounds with a NWOBHM delivery, the track being carried along with a chugging riff that Saxon would be proud of, albeit the vocals are an octave or so deeper that those of Mr Byford.
The occult obsession that was so much part of their debut album ‘In Witch Order’ comes to the fore in ‘Flash of the Pentagram’, the combination of growled male vocals mixed with those of Blackwell and a thudding beat making it sound like HeadGirl had reformed to sing the lyrics of Aleister Crowley, whilst the vocals become lighter and more lilting for ‘Traitor’s Rune’, albeit the lyrical theme remains firmly rooted in the realm of myth and magic. The even more ethereal quality enshrouds ‘Down In The Cauldron Bog’, a track I had convinced myself was entitled ‘..Cauldron Bong’, a title that would have equally suited the trippy quality of the delivery, whilst the album is rounded off nicely by the hard rock of ‘Natural Parallel’, a song that evoked in my mind images of kaftans, flares, and lava lamps, being a track that could have easily been mistaken for a long lost Jefferson Airplane classic from the acid drenched day of yore.
Since their debut in 2011, Castle have continued to pump out quality album after quality album, as well as seeming to live on the road, and ‘Welcome To The Graveyard’ is a fine synthesis of the practice, dedication, and experiences of a hard working band, and one that would make a fine addition to any music collection.
(8/10 Spenny)
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