Germany’s Tension came out with their debut EP some 5 years ago. They are a heavy metal band that sound very classic Swedish metal (Jonah Quizz, Heavy Load, Parasite etc.) mixed with The Scorpions and flourishes of the original NWoBHM scene. Their music is laden with an infectious amount of melody, this debut album is a perfect continuation of their debut EP material.
The darker maturity in the sound is passionate consistent and positive decisive. The album gels, delivers and provides classic metal memories that will be retained. This is not a play once and put down release, its works many times over. Getting onto the bones of the tracks, ‘Black Knights’ hits hard and is instantly favourable. Other tracks like ‘Higher Power’ add the melody. ‘Hellfight’ rips into the guitar work in my find and kicking you up the rear is ‘Mooncrusher’ with it darker sound. ‘Age of the Stars’ has many textures, this reminds me of the UK band Amulet in places, similar in style to the UK scene of recent times. By the time you get to closing the release with ‘Earth Crisis’, its actually feels like you have witnessed a live show. It has that expansive sound, its raw, almost live and a perfect slab of metal that is going to keep the underground very happy indeed. The artwork is a very nice piece, the vibrancy a colours used is pretty good. I’d love to see this on a vinyl cover.
‘Decay’ is by no means a nostalgic release, its vibrant, yes there is a style presented that is similar to past musical scenes, but Tension have their own ideas and produce a very consistent release overall. What a fantastic start to the year.
(8.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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