”Heresy defeats the uncrowned king, a saviour peasant girl holds high the Fleur De Lis”. Likewise, “The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships” name checks Achilles, but parallels could easily be drawn with modern day scenarios. One of the more melodic tracks on the album, “The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships”, is a shining example of how a metal band doesn’t need to be going full pelt to make an impact. They do go full pelt on moments like’ Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier’ and ‘Stigmata’, the latter belongs to Jai Patel and his masterful bass drum work. Bet this one leaves him spent after he plays it live! The song writing, and pacing within the songs, have matured immensely. ‘Stigmata’ has a fantastic, mellowed mid-section, which comes as a total surprise. The climax that it builds to is incredible, a maelstrom of swirling guitars and pounding drums. ‘Seventh Heaven’ features a similar mid-section break, along with a head turning military style drum fill from Patel. But all these merely hint at what’s to come on the mesmerising closing track ‘Grave Of The Fireflies’. An eight minute epic that will have Steve Harris looking on with an ear-to-ear grin permanently attached. Damn it, I was aiming to get through this review without mentioning that The Raven Age guitarist and lyricist is George Harris, son of the Maiden main man. But, yeah Harris senior would have buzzing after hearing this one, as he no doubt would have been with the other eleven tracks. Insert line about British Metal having a new saviour, here. Review – Dave UK/EUROPEAN CONSPIRACY TOUR DATES MARCH Wed 20th – Bristol, The Fleece Thu 21st – Manchester, Rebellion Sat 23rd – Newcastle, Think Tank Sun 24th – Glasgow, Attic Tue 26th – Leeds, Key Club Wed 27th – Stoke, Sugarmill Thu 28th – London, Underworld Fri 29th – Southampton, Joiners Sun 31st – Biebob, Vosselaar, BE APRIL Mon 1st – La Boule Noire, Paris, FR Wed 3rd – Backstage Halle, Munich, DE Thu 4th – Colossaal, Aschaffenburg, DE Sat 6th – Luxor, Cologne, DE Sun 7th – Cassiopeia, Berlin, DE Tue 9th – Headcrash, Hamburg, DE Wed 10th – Poppodium W2, Den Bosch, NL Ticketing information here. ]]>
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