RAM are no strangers to these pages and after 20 years in the business, they return with a cracking release. This is much more a metal album, their last one “Rod” was a concept album and things are freer flowing on this one entitled ‘The Throne Within’.
‘Blades of Betrayal’ is classic RAM, metal to the bone, melodic, yet dark and aggressive in the places where you want the track to be. ‘Fang and Fur’ comments on a pack of wolves attacking a wedding party, something that happened in Russia apparently. Then you have ‘Violence (is Golden)’. This has a soaring chorus, and immense ability to catch you with its hooks and really shines through in terms of quality, somewhat reminiscent of Helstar vocally. ‘The Trap’ is darker, slower, but them has a momentum change part way through. ‘Spirit Reaper’ again comes across as classic heavy metal. It’s all here, I really like this much more than their previous encounter to be fair. ‘You All Leave’ is pretty much a soft almost ballad track, this shows diversity and range in Oscar Carlquist’s vocal range. Something I noted last time they played in London. The closing track ‘Ravnfell’ features Primordial’s Alan Averill and showcases a duel commanding vocal delivery with a suitable soundtrack to match.
The best advice often handed down to aspiring musicians is to do your own thing, well, RAM certainly do. They always have an art for capturing metal the way we love it. Melody, riffs, chorus’ and some awesome guitar solos. This is not my favourite release by RAM, however, it’s a super high quality effort which gets them back in business. True metal fans will enjoy this.
(8.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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