Year : 2019
Style : Heavy Metal , Power Metal
Country : Kazakhstan
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 117 mb
Bio:
Holy Dragons band was created on the 11th of September in 1992 and till 1997 existed under the name Axcess in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In the beginning Holy Dragons oriented at Metal of the 80-ties and this influence still remains the main principal of the band.The main stylistic direction of the band is in the vein of the traditional German Heavy Metal, including the influence of Speed, Power, Techno-Thrash and other branches of Classic Metal.The first full-length album was recorded in 1998 (Dragon Steel). Since 2003 the band was signed by the label "Metalism Records".We hail all the fucking Great Metal Maniacs of that time, who have set up this flame of Real Metal and this flame is still burning in our hearts and we swear to keep it alive. Greatest respect to Heavy, Speed, Old School Thrash and Guitar Shred bands!We kneel before the Great Hard Rock bands of the 70-ties and also all maniacs, who haven't betrayed True Metal during the 90-ties, very difficult time for it.
Album:
So…Where to begin.As has been the case recently, Holy Dragons are a band that I’d never heard of. However, on doing some research (shout out to Google) it turns out that the band are from Kazakhstan and ‘Unholy and Saints’ is their 18th studio album. That’s a lot.From the very first track on the album it’s clear that this power metal band have been heavily influenced and shaped by NWOBHM. In fact the first track on the album “The Boilerplate'”could’ve been lifted straight from an album by Maiden.Upon checking my notes I discovered that I had three things I liked about the album and three things I didn’t like. So let’s go with the bad news first.Things I don’t like: The drums are loud in the mix on most of the tracks. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, sadly the drums also get a bit generic and after a while they annoyed me and I found I was zoning out of listening to the songs.The solo’s have a feeling about them that seems to be saying “Look how fast I can play!”. This has a tendency to make them boring. As an example, in ‘”Schweigespirale (Spirals of Silence)'”the solo’s sound like the sort of noise I made on my Amiga when I was 12. Have you seen Yngwie Malmsteen‘s youtube video ‘Heavy E Phygian‘? They are like that only not quite as good.Finally, I have to mention it, the vocalist. To be fair she’s singing in English which I guess isn’t her first language, but it all gets a bit whiny at times. In the tune “Pretenders'”she sounds like Cassandra from Wayne’s World. After a while, it all gets a bit much.Things I do like: Overall, the musicianship is very good. These are clearly a band that know how to play and who’ve been doing it for a while. They’ve got some skill.I like fast guitar’s, sadly as mentioned above they have to be interesting to really get me going.If, like me, your musical education started in the 1980’s and you like Priest, Maiden, Purple, Metallica, Saxon, Venom et al then Holy Dragons are a band you should invest some time into. I have faith that there is stuff in their back catalog that I’m going to really like.Conclusion: There are some decent tracks on the album, taken in isolation. For example, “Ravens of Odin'”this clips along at a good pace, also “The Elf” really nice sections to this tune (it’s just the drums that are the problem here). Is there anything that will make my playlist? Not from this album. It’s alright, but nothing more than that. However, I am going to find their back catalog and see if there isn’t something in there that’ll make the list.
Line Up:
Chris "Thorheim" Caine - Guitars - See also: ex-Lamia, ex-GB-5
Jurgen Thunderson - Guitars, Keyboards - See also: ex-Изверг, H-Dragons
Alexander Kuligin - Vocals
Anton Repablo - Drums (2006-present) - See also: ex-Отражение
Ivan Manchenko - Bass (2012-present)
Tracklist:
01. The Boilerplate (The Story of a Victorian Robot) 07:50
02. Ravens of Odin 05:41
03. Through the Dark Sky 01:00
04. Schweigespirale (The Spiral of Silence) 03:50
05. Fly Your Guitar 03:20
06. Ravenmore 01:20
07. The Hall of Shame 04:40
08. Three Greatest Pigs 05:34
09. Fimbulwinter 02:11
10. Pretenders 04:28
11. Beltane Night's Dream 00:58
12. The Elf (Tribute to R.J. Dio) 05:58
13. Unholy and Saints 03:21
14. Free Digital Hell 04:40
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
