Well, this one's taken me completely by surprise. After two modest albums, White Skull unleash this monster. Focusing on Norse mythology,
Tales From The North has the band finding an epic sound that grabs the listener throughout its nearly-an-hour running time, giving us melodic choruses and dynamic riffing with such songs as "Asgard", "Viking's Tomb", "Sighting And Seasting" and "Here We Are" just some of the highlights. The unmistakeable vocals of Grave Digger's Chris Boltendahl joins Federica De Boni near the beginning and the end, fitting in quite well with her rather raspy voice. Actually, it's the first time I've noticed about De Boni that she really does have terrible diction; it almost sounds like she doesn't want to open her mouth too much, and as a result, it's not always easy to follow what she's singing, even if you read the lyrics as you listen!
But this is not enough to spoil what really is a terrific album; it's taken them a few years, but White Skull has delivered with one of the best power metal albums of 1999.
****1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment