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CHAMBER MAGE “By Light of Emerald Gods”
CHAMBER MAGE “By Light of Emerald Gods”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Ah, the galloping riff! Steve Harris’ pride and joy, it’s become one of the staples of traditional heavy metal, particularly bands dealing with fantasy and medieval themes. That leads us directly to Colorado’s CHAMBER MAGE, who love swords, sorcery and those galloping riffs.
This record oozes both classic metal and high fantasy. Not 100% sure, but I think “By Light of Emerald Gods” is a concept album telling one mighty tale. If you love OMEN, MANILLA ROAD and the horribly overlooked MEDIEVAL STEEL, you’re going to be over the moon with CHAMBER MAGE. Once “In Battle” locks into its patented gallop, it’s time to reach for sword and shield. Avery Berg’s vocals sound like he is the Grand Duke of Westeros or whatever medieval fantasy realm you could imagine...there’s a touch of an aristocratic accent and he generally stays in the lower register, which is a nice change from the soprano screaming you usually find in epic metal. The band keeps the fires burning with a sharpened “Blades On the Rampart”, overflowing with OMENism of the very best kind.
“Bishop’s Vengeance” brings a chunkier, slightly more doom oriented slant to the music, but one that works equally well. I wish I could say the same for “Beyond The Lighthouse”, which is the album’s one dud. This is more melodic and in the vein of Euro power metal, but it just doesn’t work. The vocal lines don’t seem right and the song doesn’t flow well. Fortunately, things leap back to the attack with more fleet fingered galloping “To Spires Deep and Caverns High”. This continues until the album ends with the 10 minute plus “The Silver City Fell”, which takes some time to get where it’s going. But when it gets there, it’s worth it. A really nice build and a strong climax, here.
If you find European power metal to be too fruity and keyboard-injected, CHAMBER MAGE is a great alternative. This gets back to the glorious American power metal of 80’s Metal Blade records!
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