LORDS OF THE TRIDENT – Frostburn review

 LORDS OF THE TRIDENT – Frostburn

Killer Metal Records

http://www.lordsofthetrident.com/

Here in Greece most people consider U.S. metal as the best sound in this kind of music, but they base their belief on the glorious bands of the 80’s. The question though is: are there any new bands that continue the legacy of U.S. metal? LORDS OF THE TRIDENT, with their third full length release, come to answer this question.

THE COVER: I am a big fan of the fantasy genre and because of that I like a lot the album cover which is imposing and epic. It is the kind of cover that you can see in a DUNGEON AND DRAGONS game or on the cover of an epic fantasy book. It shows 4 warriors on a land covered with ice and snow heading to a castle. The cover actually fits perfectly with most of the lyrics of the songs that are included here.

MUSICAL STYLE: Things are simple enough here. These guys play traditional heavy metal which is based on the 80’s sound, but they also have a modern production and of course fresh ideas. Actually their sound is a mixture of melody and heavy riffs and of course solos that give to the compositions more depth. Actually we can say that LORDS OF THE TRIDENT sound as an 80’s metal band that started its career in the new millennium.

COMPOSITIONS: “Frostburn” is a full length album that includes 10 songs from which the one under the title “The Cloud Kingdom” is a short instrumental track that works like an intro to the song “Shattered Skies”. Ten compositions that breathe out the essence of traditional 80’s heavy metal. This means in simple words catchy melodies, great riffs and solos that blow your mind. In the vein of their sound run influences from artists like DIO, JUDAS PRIEST, BRUCE DICKINSON, IRON MAIDEN, RIOT, LIZZY BORDEN and KING DIAMOND (just listen to the song “Kill to Die”. Also for the younger fans I can say that the band is close to such groups like WHITE WIZZARD, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, HAMMERFALL and ZANDELLE.

CONCLUSION: LORDS OF THE TRIDENT is the kind of contemporary traditional heavy metal band I like. These guys instead of trying to become copycats of a great band of the 80’s, they fuse their influences and filter them under their own personality and because of that they manage to craft a sound that is old school and yet has fresh ideas and a certain originality. I think that I won’t exaggerate if I say that “Frostburn” is one of the best heavy metal releases of this year that shine because of their maturity, enthusiasm and creativity. Heavy metal music played from the heart can never be wrong…

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis