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Next
time someone asks me how I like my metal I will reply,
‘I like it The Horde style.’ Or ‘I like The
Horde’s kinda metal,’ “The Horde side up’, ‘scrambled
The Horde’, ‘The Horde with a glass of water on the
side’, ‘The Horde low on salt please’, ‘well-done The
Horde’. Something, anything…as absurd as it may be
as long as it has The Horde in it. Because judging by
this devastating six-songer this is the type of band
that embodies everyone’s conception of heavy metal.
They sing about war, they have killer, at times,
dueling guitar riffs, they have a singer who could take
the place of Tom G Warrior in Celtic Frost, the cover of
their album features a sword-wielding half man/half
beast, their songs reek of epic violence and more
importantly they are called The Horde. How metal is that
and how come this moniker wasn’t taken before? Frankly,
I don’t know but this record slays.
What I know
is that From Empire to Ashes got me all Tetsuo. In other
words, while I listened to it I felt like my balls were turning
into metal balls. That’s how great this record is. It will turn
your balls into metal balls. It will bring the Conan out of you.
And if you are fruity, it will set you straight. And that’s
coming from someone who loves heavy metal but has become lactose
intolerant during the last few years. I think that may have
stemmed from listening to too much Manowar as a kid. (and then
once I listened to a Hammerfall song I puked and then my fate
was sealed. I could no longer handle that kinda metal shit.) Not
that this sounds like that. This is rude and raw, powerful metal
with no pinch of power metal. The cover artwork may have the
same fantasy war themes, but this has giant Pluto-size balls.
Plus their song titles scream metal, “Necromancer”, “Dogs of
War”, “Battle Cry”, “Throne of Skulls”, “Curse of the Witch”,
“Bleeding Into Eternity”. How about that, eh?
But the
point is The Horde play the rudest heavy metal possible. They
are like angry and mean grizzly men with a big boner for Iron
Maiden (the production is purely vintage Maiden) and a smaller
stiff for Black Sabbath. So they lace their classic heavy metal
with some really cool stoner passages. The overall vibe of
From Empire to Ashes does not remind me of any bloodshot
eyed stoner band, instead their fighting metal recalls the epic
greatness of the always solid Iron Magus and The Gates of
Slumber.
The songs
are epic in a pure metallic sense. The riff that opens “Dogs of
War” is vintage Maiden, an escalating guitar duo that swiftly
shifts into something far more powerful and aggressive, always
sprinkled with dexterous solos. Before we get to the second
minute the song has already gone through a few phases, each more
powerful than the one before and as engaging as the next.
Duncan, bassist and vocalist, has a bitter angry and crude
voice, his lines carry the band with the right violent tone. And
the songs evolve, the music flows and moves, from what’s so
perfectly crafted as clear as war movie scenes into an effective
storyline. Excellent work. File under Metal That Rules.
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