DESERT – Never Regret review

 DESERT – Never Regret

Raven Music

http://www.desertband.com/

As a wise ancient Greek ancestor said and I can agree with that: you can find quantity only in quality. Now, you may ask, how this fits to this review. Well, let me explain it to you and see if we agree. DESERT come from the country of Israel which is a country that might not have a huge metal scene, but you have to admit they have some high quality metal bands almost in every genre. DESERT now is the first power metal band from that country that I have the chance to present to you and for the first time I had the chance to listen to them when they had released their debut album entitled “Star of Delusive Hopes” through the Greek metal label Sleaszy Rider Records.

THE COVER: On the cover you can see a hooded man dressed in black who holds in his right hand a burning scale and on his left a papyrus on which is written the title of the album. On the background you can see flames on the center, a castle and a modern city destroyed. The cover is open for interpretation, but I think it has messages for the justice in our world and the self destruction of humanity through wars. I like the cover because it doesn’t look digital and that is very rare in our days.

MUSICAL STYLE: As I have mentioned above DESERT is the first power metal band from Israel and in their sophomore album prove themselves as a band that represents its country perfectly in this specific sound. They are influenced by the European power metal sound, but they also use oriental melodies and scales that prove their place of origin. I don’t know if someone can say that their sound is original, but in my opinion it is unique and has personality.

COMPOSITIONS: The new work of DESERT includes 11 compositions and they move somewhere between the European power metal sound and traditional heavy metal. The element that characterizes them is also the use of oriental melodies and the use of violin in the song “Flying Dutchman”. The 11 songs that are included here offer a variety of melodies, musical structures and above all emotions on which the epic dark feeling dominates. I can’t say that they reminded me of something in specific, but you can say that they move on musical paths similar to bands like BLIND GUARDIAN, SABATON and ELVENKING. Also the song “1812” is very good and becomes even better with the participation of Ralf Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR).

CONCLUSION: So, here I can say that DESERT prove that quantity is always in quality, because they might be the only power metal band from Israel that I know, but these guys in their sophomore album have proven that they have the talent and the ability to craft power metal compositions that have character and are highly enjoyable. It is an album where DESERT have put a lot of effort (4 years have passed between this release and their debut album) and they can feel justified for their creation which is by far better than their debut album. I think that the fans of power metal have to put this album in their priority list.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis