The cream of British traditional metal in 2016…
https://youtu.be/QQ24aT4h7o4
Battle commenced on 1 July 2016, the war taken on by Ian “the Savage” Savage
Walsall-based; citing Iron Maiden, Anthrax and Judas Priest amongst their influences; releasing their third full-length after over a decade of fighting their way up the unsigned ladder – yep, Disarm Goliath are certainly a band Midlands Rocks readers should be paying attention to. Describing themselves as “simply a hard-hitting, balls-to-the-wall metal band” there’s big shoes that need filling with most of the Black Country’s originators of the genre retired, MIA or past their prime…how close does Wisdom & War get them?
Opener ‘Wrath Of The Gods’ plants a size ten firmly where the sun don’t shine. Packing more guitar and drum histrionics into the intro than some bands have the balls (and the chops) to drop into a whole song, it’s a totally worthy continuation of the regional metal tradition. Familiar but rarely cliché, the first third of the album powers along at a good clip with Anthony Ellis and Steve Beville’s guitar interplay displaying traits of some of the finest six-string partnerships ever to commit to tape [yeah, okay: to hard disk. Doesn’t have the same ring, does it?].
After ’token slow number’ ’Oceans Of Space’ it’s worth singling out the larynx-tearing intro to ‘Old As Sin’, the Maiden-esque-dual-guitar in ‘Descent To Madness’ and the atmospheric closer ‘Two Worlds’ – there’s a few points where the chorus melodies become just a little too obvious (‘Redemption In Blood’, ‘Look Me In The Eye’) but for the most part this ranks amongst the cream of British traditional metal in 2016. Well worth arming yourself with on your next MP3 binge; or even better, catch the band live and sling ‘em a few quid for a CD.
8 out of 10
Track list:
- Wrath Of The Gods
- Look Me In The Eye
- A Good Day For The Crows
- Oceans Of Space
- Old As Sin
- Descent To Madness
- Redemption In Blood
- Two Worlds
