Released by: High Roller Records
Release date: 30 October 2015
Genre: Heavy Metal
Links: Facebook
Lineup:
Oskar Jacobsson – Vocals
Adam Hagelin – Guitar
Olof Engqvist – Guitar
Ludwig Sjöholm – Bass
Linus Fritzson – Drums
Track Listing:
01. Possessed By Evil
02. Night Of Defilers
03. Desecrator
04. The Chain Reaction
05. Southstreet Brotherhood
06. Rose Of The Dawn
07. Master Of The Seas
08. Faster
09. The Seventh Seal
Sometimes when you hear a band for the first time you just know how you’re going to feel by the end of the album. Every band hopes the listener is left salivating for at least another thousand listens, and will hopefully spend their hard earned money on as much merchandise as possible. The albums I really don’t like I just stop and move on to something else. I try not to waste my time listening to albums I don’t like or writing about them. Not that my silence about an album means I don’t like it; it usually means someone else has reviewed it or I like it but don’t have much else to add to it. I thought Ambush was going to fall into that category. On my first listen I instantly liked it, but wasn’t sure I was going to conjure up much more than, “It’s great! Buy it!”
I missed out on their first album Firestorm, but with their sophomore release Desecrator, they have leaped onto my radar with an instant classic metal album, in the vein of Judas Priest, Riot, and even some Raven, the band are very definitely fans of old school metal. Despite having a throwback sound, what struck me about this album was the fact that they have somehow managed to take a vintage metal sound and bring it into the 21st Century. Ambush could’ve very easily fallen into the trappings and clichés of this style, yet they managed to make a very strong album that sounds fresh and familiar. With songs like “The Chain Reaction,” “Rose of the Dawn,” “Desecrator,” and “The Seventh Seal” band members Oskar Jacobsson on vocals, Adam Hagelin and Olof Engqvist on guitar, Ludwig Sjoholm on bass, and Linus Fritzson on drums, deliver a leather studded fist of metal into the brains of willing listeners.
I’m glad I gave this a few more spins. I was prepared to write it off as a good album, but nothing worth writing about. Some people that are against bands heralding the past into the present and not creating a new sound probably won’t enjoy it, but I found this to be one of the better “throwback” type bands out there in that not only do they pay perfect homage to those who came before, but have also made it sound more current than other bands of this type do. It made me want to check out their first album, so that is a pretty good sign to me. I give it 8 out of 10.
Written by: Chris Martin
Ratings: Chris 8/10
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