From Utah They Came With Iron And Fire

Visigoth – The Revenant King

Metal Blade Records – 2015

Muthas, have you gotten your fill of music about swords, sorcery, warriors, battles, wizards, mammoths, brotherhood, Hyperborea, necromancers, and vengeance? Of course you haven’t!  Who has?  Well, we are all in luck because Visigoth from Salt Lake City, Utah has delivered an album chock full of epic, glory-filled Metal!  To give you an idea of where they are coming from musically, they did a cover of an Omen song on their 2010 demo, and their new album features a ripping cover of Manilla Road’s “Necropolis!”  They have taken these classic sounds and have built their mighty sonic monolith, The Revenant King, on top of it and the result is a kick-ass masterpiece. 

The album is composed of eight original songs and the aforementioned cover tune with a total running time of just over one hour.  Normally we would complain of a seemingly bloated length, but there are absolutely no boring cuts and, as a result, the album actually feels much shorter.  Every original song is a multi-part epic that takes the listener on a sonic adventure to the mythical realms of yore.  Tracks one through four and nine are all new material, and tracks five through eight are re-recordings of demos or EP cuts and the Manilla Road cover. 

The musicianship is top notch with excellent and tasteful guitar work, crunchy bass, booming drums and the superb vocals of Jake Rogers.  In fact, his vocals are what set this album apart from most other Epic Metal bands. The vocals in many Epic Metal albums are marred in some way - weird sounding, nasal, harsh, etc... and make those albums less enjoyable as a result.  That’s not the case here because Jake’s vocals are powerful and have a nice touch of grit that toughens up the band’s sound.  This isn’t some puffy-shirted, rapier-wielding, foppish warbling.  No sir, these vocals are clad in chainmail and wield a battle axe!  Hail and kill!

The opening track, “The Revenant King,” is excellent and is a perfect showcase of what Visigoth is all about.  It’s over eight minutes of Epic Metal that tells the tale of a king slain by treacherous bastards and how he exacts his revenge from beyond the grave.  Spoiler Alert – their flesh is rended from their bones! The band has released a super-cheesy and, therefore, super-awesome video that fits the music perfectly.  Check it out:

I could detail each track, but there’s really no need because every one of them is excellent - from the kickass opener to the nearly ten minute closer “From The Arcane Mists of Prophecy.”  Are you still not sure you want to buy this?  Check out the track “Mammoth Rider” and admit you need to buy this asap!

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The Bottom Line:  This is a stunning collection of Epic Metal with U.S. Power Metal touches and burly vocals.  Crom’s teeth man! Stop being a treacherous dog, join the Iron Brotherhood and buy the damn thing!  

As always, MAKE MINE METAL!