So, apparently I am in power metal land with this third album from Canadian metallers Category VI but I’m a little unsure about that if I’m honest. Still, that’s for later. Just to add here that I had no previous knowledge at all of this band formed in 2010 and I did shudder a little when the PR described it as that non-existent genre of ‘female fronted’. Note to PR writers; it’s not a musical description, it’s a physical description. I’m still waiting for ‘balding bassist metal’ or ‘chunky drummer metal’….

I digress….

Ahem.

Anyway, I rather like a bit of power metal and as the guitar on opener and title track gently steps in I’m thinking it is but then Amanda Jackman’s powerful lungs scream in and the heavy traditional very much 80s style heavy metal just steamrollers through which is, in case you wondered, a Very Good Thing. The lass has a great set of pipes and the song is urgent and, ah, full of fire. There is a cool hook to the refrain and the guitar runs kind of harken back to Warlord type stuff. Maybe Chastain. But that definite still full of power yes but a more gnarly thump to the music than air raid siren pseudo symphonic super slick music (which I also don’t mind now and then). It’s a cracking little number no doubt and with some nifty bass work and solid drums all seems to be in place for a cool ride.

Except. By the end of this song something was puzzling me a little and after the very doomy, kind of Solitude Aeturnus opening of Valkyrie let the vocals in I realised it was the voice. Well not the voice, the production. There’s this curious feel to the production; if you isolate the music all seems to be done in an OK if unspectacular production, a little flat maybe for some tastes but not terrible at all. Fine. But the vocals have a weird almost ‘recorded in a tin cubicle’ sound. As I say the voice, the tone and the hitting the notes is very impressive, but the ambience is something I haven’t heard since some limited production value NWOBHM singles I have. It sounds rather ‘live’, which due to the quality of the voice is fine, but it also sounds like it was sung into a large a biscuit tin…. and worse none of the rest of the band have this issue. Were they recorded in different studios? Different producers? Who knows, but it makes the voice track stand out and not feel integrated with the band, almost as though they accidentally added a demo of the vocals. Which is a shame.

‘The Vultures Never Came’ begins with more vocal high wire stuff and a neat surging riff with a nice bit of character added to the voice, a cool snarling edge here and there. My perception of the vocal track not being properly integrated keeps nagging at me. I try and put it aside, I do, as it can’t be a ruinous thing can it? But I kind of feel when both got on I’m constantly flicking between music OR vocals.

‘She Runs With Wolves’ is another cracking little song, and very NWOBHM in a lot of ways too with its chunky chugging riff and a chorus to absolutely die for. There’s an eccentric but all the better for it musical break with a snapping guitar breaking free of the riff in bursts which just adds to the character. ‘Heavy Is the Crown’ and ‘Coven’ and ‘The Cradle Will Fall’ all keep up the standard of songwriting too, lots of individuality to them, and you really can feel the band’s enthusiasm and knack of shifting from the expected with the musical breaks which is great to hear. ‘Burning Bridges’ again form me puts the lie to the power metal tag as this is just classic heavy metal with a fantastic refrain and vocal performance with a perfect lead break.

Then we get the track I was fearing. A cover of Heart’s ‘Barracuda’. Firstly because it’s Heart and they are so difficult to cover well because of the volume of talent encased in the Wilson sisters, but also because of the vocal variation in the song. Well the intro is absolutely perfect…and the voice? Oh wow, Ms Jackman must have listened to it so many times in her life I guess from the superb, spot on expression and change in tone she puts in. Well done, well done indeed people.

So on the one hand we have what is a frankly excellent set of powerful, 80s rooted heavy metal that should really appeal to any fans of the classics from that era; the Chastains, the Warlocks and the Warlords, that kind of thing. On the other hand there’s the weird thing about the vocal production which the OCD part of me finds really difficult to deal with which is just so sad.

I don’t know. If you listen to this (and you definitely, most certainly should!) and have my issues it might niggle. A fair bit. If you don’t then you’ve found an absolute gem and could add another point and a half to the score below.

(7/10 Gizmo)

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