Released By : Self Released
Genre : Traditional Heavy Metal
Links : http://www.cultofthefox.com/
Tracklist:
01. I’m Working on That
02. Letters of Fire and Sword
03. Out of Order
04. The Sea Beneath the Sand
Looking at the credentials for Swedish traditional heavy metal act CULT OF THE FOX gives you the idea that they are quickly headed for success, but though it all may look good on the outside I do think they have a ways to go before they are to receive any international recognition. The band released their first demo in 2007 and shortly after played their live debut at Sweden’s ROBSTOCK festival, which is a pretty well respected gig and since then they have also played at some other pretty important places and been picked up to be a part of an upcoming French metal compilation.
A quick glance at their new demo E.P THE SEA BENEATH THE SAND certainly shows why people are interested in this band as they do have some good ideas and are clearly dedicate to the traditional metal sound. The execution however isn’t quite as good as I would have hoped and the fact is they still sound like a band in its early stages. The biggest complaint I have here with the vocals, which just simply sound too raw and under-developed for my ears personally, they do add somewhat of an underground charm to the songs but when compared to the good singers of the genre there is a large gap in quality. Also the backing vocals in the song I’M WORKING ON THAT are not really good.
OUT OF ORDER seems to be the most promising song on offer here and features a real rumbling NWOBHM feel to it and includes some great guitar riffery. Also the vocals on this song seem to be the best of the bunch which probably helped a lot too. I’M WORKING ON THAT interestingly enough adds a tiny stoner rock influence to the sound which almost works but as I said earlier in this review, the vocals on that song are just too hard for me to enjoy.
In their current form I can’t really see enough that would warrant any international attention but I do think what they offer up will make them a pretty successful festival band in their homeland. If CULT OF THE FOX isn’t happy with that status and truly do want to move up in the world, the keyword here would be VOCALS, no they’re not terrible or anything like that, they just need some refining.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 6/10
