• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

December 2024

• Powell-Payne: Voilá

November 2024

• Sunstorm: Restless Fight
• Storace: Crossfire
• Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
• Lionville: Supernatural
• Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
• Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
• Lonerider: Down In The Dust
• Seventh Crystal: Entity
• Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
• Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
• Impellitteri: War Machine
• Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

October 2024

• Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
• DGM: Endless
• Daytona: Garder la Flamme
• Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
• Frost*: Life In The Wires
• Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
• Fans Of The Dark: Video
• Radioactive: Reset
• House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
• Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire

September 2024

• Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
• Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
• Eclipse: Megalomanium II
• SteelCity: Reverence
• Hydra: ReHydrated
• Heartwind: III
• Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
• Find Me: Nightbound
• The Nail: The Nail
• Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
• Stryper: When We Were Kings
• Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
• Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
• Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly

August 2024

• Siege Perilous: Creation's Call EP
• Paralydium: Universe Calls
• Mike Tramp: Songs Of White Lion Vol. II
• Bite The Bullet: Looking For Paradise
• All For Metal: Gods Of Metal (Year Of The Dragon)
• Hammerfall: Avenge The Fallen
• Jim Peterik & World Stage: Roots & Shoots Vol. 2

[ More Music Reviews ]

Crystal Viper: Possession

Heavy/Power Metal

3.5/5.0

Website Facebook Twitter YouTube
AFM Records
by Craig Hartranft,  10.01.2014

Ditto. Just press repeat. Possession, Crystal Viper's fifth album finds the band still flying the flag of true metal. As usual, they band mix traditional melodic and heavy metal with speed for classic power metal as well. It's their formula, and they're darn good at interpreting this classic genre.

Crystal Viper: good thing spikes are on the outside.

So then we're saying there's nothing new, novel, or different? Yeah, you get the idea. While some songs are better than others, Possession still shows that Crystal Viper can execute a good heavy metal tune, sometimes with some unexpected intrigue, like the instrumental segue with acoustic guitar in the middle of We Are Many. You get something similar near the end of Julia Is Possessed. For pure speed/power metal, the band drops high octane racing fuel in their tanks and blisters through Mark of the Horned One. Another better song is Prophet of the End, where the band goes after a more epic metal sound.

Other songs give mixed feelings. Why Can't You Listen? and You Will Die You Will Burn come off somewhere between heavy and tedious, but have their strong points. In the latter, it's the fiery guitar solo at the end, in the former, it's Marta Gabriel powerful vocal performance. That also is another point worth mentioning. In the past, you often weren't sure what voice Gabriel would bring to an album or song. Will she sing, scream, or shriek? On this album, she shows more balance sticking with traditional metal singing, and that's a good thing. With Possession, Crystal Viper stays the course, churning out more traditional heavy metal, and they're quite good at it, too. Recommended.

Crystal Viper - Prophet of the End (Official)

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

With Possession, Crystal Viper stays the course, churning out more traditional heavy metal, and they're quite good at it, too. Recommended.

Alphabetical Index

Reviewing my archives, I was pleased to find that I have had the privilege to review every Lionville since their self-titled debut in 2011. Formed by Stefano Lionetti, a songwriter, singer and guitarist based in ... [ Read More ]