SACRED BLOOD – Argonautica review

 SACRED BLOOD – Argonautica

Pitch Black Records

http://www.sacred-blood.com/sb/

Greek people from the ancient times had a special relation with the sea. We were explorers and sailors and because of that we managed to create a civilization that has influenced everyone around the world. I think in our modern times too, the Greeks carry inside them, at least most of them, the spirit of Odysseus and the Argonauts. SACRED BLOOD draw inspiration from the legend of the Argonauts and have created their third studio full length album which once again is a concept.

THE COVER: It is a beautiful and epic painting that depicts Jason achieving his legendary task.  It shows Jason stealing the Golden Fleece from the sleeping dragon who guards it. You can also see a woman who is no other than Medea who pours a magic potion to the dragon in order to put him to sleep. I think that it is an image full of details and it made me remember one of my beloved ancient Greek myths.  

MUSICAL STYLE: We often like to talk about how a band has progressed or not and even set the question what progress actually is. In my own terminology progress means to enrich your sound without though losing your identity. I had the opportunity to follow the band’s career from the start and I mean from the era that they were called simply SACRED and they released the great demo entitled “Clash of the Titans” (2003). The band back then was playing heavy metal with lots of epic metal elements and they still do in their new album. The comparison though you can make from their start up to know makes it obvious that the band has enriched its sound and added elements that make their music even more narrative and epic. It makes you feel like you are watching an epic history film.

COMPOSITIONS: “Argonautica” includes 11 compositions that musically move on what we call epic heavy/power metal. The band obviously is influenced both by the U.S. and the European metal scene. I think that in their influences there are bands like MANOWAR and BLIND GUARDIAN amongst other, but they have managed to transform all these influences into their own personal style. Besides that, the band also uses folk melodies and keyboards that have a soundtrack feeling. There are moments when they also use female vocals and narrations.  All these elements give to the album a dramatic character and help you to follow the story with even more interest. As I mentioned above the whole album gives you the feeling you get when you watch a great epic movie. This doesn’t mean that you won’t get plenty of time to bang your head.

CONCLUSION: It is ordinary for bands to claim that their latest album is their best, but if SACRED BLOOD say that, then they probably will be right since they have created an epic metal album that combines creativity, imagination, enthusiasm and maturity. The fans of epic metal owe it to themselves to listen to this album.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis