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SKULL REVENGE "State Of Oblivion"
SKULL REVENGE "State Of Oblivion"
By Dr. Abner Mality
To get the obvious out of the way first, SKULL REVENGE is a bit of a dorky name for a band. A closer look reveals that "project" is a better description than "band". There are 11 members of SKULL REVENGE and no less than 6 different vocalists, all hailing from Scandinavia. And what kind of music does SKULL REVENGE play, pray tell?
This is classic melodic metal with a Scandinavian flair, very well played and executed. Things get off to a HARD start with the fast paced strike of "A Voice In the Desert". This one will wake you up in a hurry and the voice of Airton Araujo (from AGE OF ARTEMIS and ABOUT 2 CRASH) immediately brings the likes of Dio and Coverdale to mind. Araujo sings three tracks here and in my view emerges as the best of the singers. "A Voice In the Desert" is the heaviest, "Lost In Time" leans more towards hard rock/AOR and "Stardust" really has Dio-era RAINBOW overtones.
"Afterlife" featuring Peter Ostros (JADED HEART) continues with another fast metal ripper. The album is off to a very strong start, but "Beast Turning Human", also featuring Ostros, slows things down and has a very awkward structure. The album cools off for the next three tunes, all played well but sounding like anonymous Scandinavian metal. "Road Of Pain", with the excellent DIO-like vocals of German Pascual (NARNIA) , kicks things up with a mid-paced pounder. The previously mentioned "Stardust" and the super crunchy fist-puncher title track with Frederik Notling of the unknown (to me, at least) M.O.B. turning in a strong vocal performance. The album ends with ex-CANDLEMASS man Thomas Vikstrom belting out "The Once Broken Tree", which comes across like a mix of EUROPE and RAINBOW.
None of this is going to change to the world, but SKULL REVENGE belt out some classy Scandinavian style metal on "State of Oblivion" and should be of interest to true metal fans.
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