Released by: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: Out Now!!!
Genre: Metal
Links: https://www.facebook.com/visigothofficial/
Line Up:
Tracklist:
Steel and Silver
Warrior Queen
Outlive Them All
Hammerforged
Traitor’s Gate
Salt City
Blades in the Night
The Conqueror’s Oath
One of my favorite pastimes is to scour the Internet looking for new bands to check out. I wish I had more time for it, because when I happen across one that exemplifies all that I love about Metal I get an excitement like you wouldn’t believe. It’s like a musical boner. If I don’t get to actually surf places like Bandcamp I rely on things like Spotify (I know boo hiss, the scourge of society) and sometimes satellite radio (in particular, in this case, Ian Christie’s brilliant show Bloody Roots on Liquid Metal Sirius XM.) In the progress of one week (no lie) I saw a friend post about the band Visigoth on Facebook from his Bandcamp account, had a track pop up on my Friday Spotify mix of New Releases, heard a track on Bloody Roots, then the promo popped up in my email. Apparently, I was destined to discover this band one way or another… or in this case every way. Of course, I figured out on the first spin that this was precisely what I needed in my life right now.
With their second release “Conquerors Oath” Visigoth create a sound that is equal parts NWOBHM and USPM, creating a sound that is powerful, intense, and guaranteed to invoke in the listener the feeling that they are being enlightened by the trust of the true. Unabashedly they bask in the glory that is all things old school and lay forth a collection of songs glorious enough to guide the worthy into the halls of Valhalla or something. Tracks like “Outlive Them All” (pretty sure this was the one I was inundated with,) “Steel and Silver” and “Blades In the Night” are rife with crunchy and fast-paced riffs, driving power rhythms, and glorious vocals (sometimes even group vocals) that demand you to raise your glass of ale to the glories of the metal warriors past and present carrying on the tradition of face-melting metal.
If you love traditional metal, Visigoth’s Conquerors Oath is the album for you. Who knew that Salt Lake City, Utah was one of the promise lands of brilliant heavy metal? Posers that can’t appreciate the power of this band and album will be escorted from the hall with extreme prejudice. Silly Manowar references aside, this is a kick-ass album and if this is your cup of tea, er I mean mead, then this is one that you need to own.
Written by: Chris Martin
Ratings: 9/10
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