DRAKKAR – Cold Winter’s Night EP

DRAKKAR – Cold Winter’s Night EP

My Kingdom Music

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Ok, after SEVENTH SERAPHIM this is another review that takes me for a travel in the memory lane. DRAKKAR from Italy are one of my favorite cult Italian metal bands that started back in the late 90’s and I follow them from their debut release until now. The band as I mentioned started in the late 90’s back then where bands like DOMINE (saw them live recently), DOOMSWORD and RHAPSODY gave us their masterpieces. Maybe this was the reason why “Quest for Glory”, the debut album of the band, passed unnoticed by the fans of the epic metal sound, but the people who discovered them back then can easily tell you that it is as good as the releases of the previous mentioned bands. Besides that, I think that DRAKKAR were one of the first bands that showed their love for RUNNING WILD through their music. Yep, I like the guys a lot, so let us see what they offer us with their new EP entitled “Cold Winter’s Night”.

The EP consists of four songs which are three studio compositions and a live recording of the song “Invincible” which you can find on the latest full length album of the band entitled “Run with the Wolf”. The first track of the EP is the one that gave the title to the album and is the most melodic of the compositions that are included here. The keyboards play a major role to the song and their mixing with the guitars make it a really interesting composition. I think that is the most lyrical and dramatic composition here and it has a memorable melody. Next comes “Black Sails” and yes my friends you have figured out well this one. It shows the love of the band for RUNNING WILD with a strong touch of JUDAS PRIEST too. The third track is “Leviathan Rising (Death from the Depths – Part 1)” that once again moves on the German heavy metal influences but is closer to the GRAVE DIGGER feeling. Also the EP will be released on vinyl too and will include a cover of DIO’s “Rainbow in the Dark”.

I am really happy to see that DRAKKAR have evolved as musicians and although they have matured they still have the same passion for the heavy/power metal sound and above all they can still create compositions that have the epic feeling that has made them noticeable from their debut release. If you are into epic heavy/power metal and you enjoy bands like DOMINE, then DRAKKAR are the thing for you…

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis