New Music Review : Stormhold - Salvation : Dangerdog Music Reviews : Craig Hartranft

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Stormhold: Salvation

Traditional Heavy/Power Metal

3.5/5.0

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Pure Steel Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 06.12.2017

Proudly flying the flag of traditional "keep it true" heavy metal is Sweden's Stormhold. On the strength of their first album, 2015's Battle of the Royal Halls, the band toured with both Grave Digger and Hammerfall. Now they drop their sophomore album, Salvation for Germany's Pure Steel Records.

Stormhold

As suggested in the first sentence, Stormhold is another band that revisits traditional heavy metal, essentially a modern version of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWoBHM). The songs have the usual suspects: twin guitars for riffs, rhythm, and leads; a mixture of pacing from moderate to galloping; and clean lead vocals, backed by gang harmony. Regarding the vocals, if there was anything I disliked about Stormhold, it would be Filip Petersson's vocal style. While adequate, I felt that he sounded flat or out of tune throughout the album. His voice is definitely an acquired taste.

Basically, then, the best thing about Salvation is the heavy metal music. The songs have plenty of melody and harmony, gallop and groove, and tons of ambitious soaring guitar solos. Also, the bass line is heard in most every song with nods to The Stranger and the start of We March. Additional solid songs include We'll Never Fall, Black Death, and the intriguing instrumental Exile, but not so much Heart Of A Hero.

Despite slight reservations about the vocals, with Salvation Stormhold delivers well-crafted traditional heavy power metal, and fans of the same should check them out. Recommended.

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