Unleash the Archers is a band we have done a lot of news coverage on, but never thought to review them. After their publicist pointed out what dicks we were being I figured it was time to share this musical find with our loyal readers.
Unleash the Archers is a Vancouver British Columbia based band formed four short years ago in 2007. With a massive female voice on the mic and some growlers behind her, the mix of power metal, melodic death, thrash, and metalcore has been taking the live stage by storm along-side such big acts as 3 Inches of Blood, Dismember, and the always popular Stratovarius.
The big success of the band’s first album “Behold the Devastation” must have placed the pressure of expectations directly on the shoulders of UTA. As a young band the follow up album is often the make or break of a fragile career. What way would the new album “Demons of the Astrowaste” take the band?
The concept of the album is that of a distant future where a mercenary finds an enchanted sword. This sword leads to the corruption of his soul and each song represents a chapter of his life in the fight for morality. This is the last sentiment you will hear from me on the theme because this album absolutely stands on its own musically and although it may have been good inspiration for the band, it’s not needed to realize how gifted Unleash the Archers is at telling an engaging story through a wall of sound.
We start Demons of the Astrowaste with a small intro that contains a windy noise with a simple metallic clang. I’m sure this is a setting for the premise of the theme, but once you hear the first power metal taste of “Dawn of Ages” you forget about the intro and enjoy a band that relies on power metal to display their strengths and obvious love for thrash.
“Realm of Tomorrow” is a notable song for the massive soaring guitars and the technical work Unleash is capable of. We also get our first taste of melodic death metal with some powerful growls that come to the forefront and push the song along. Typically I’m not a big fan of bands trying to be all things to all people with cleans and growls. 9 out of 10 times one of the styles will be treated as an afterthought. I can tell you Unleash is that 1 out of 10 that uses both styles in tandem to make each one more powerful.
More after the warp:
The use of metalcore is brief in “General of the Dark Army” and we see pieces of it again in the primarily melodic death track “Despair.” This is one of my favorite tracks and shows the diversity the band is able to extend. They must be absolute powerhouses live if they can garner this much energy in a studio setting.
The power and thrash comes back in the stellar song “City of Iron.” This head banging friendly song displays expert pacing and the vocals make Unleash true Canadian metal powerhouses. The guitars are allowed to shine as well because of incredible rhythm work by the back end.
Aside from not talking about the theme, I also have purposely not mentioned the individual members. Unleash the Archers is a band! I can’t imagine them losing or gaining members in their intricate mix because the sound created is that of a solid foundation with no member shining bigger than the next.
“Demons of Astrowaste” is a must own not only for Canadian Metal fans, but for anyone that likes to wave your horns and bang your head.
Check out more details and live dates at www.unleashthearchers.com
Show me your horns,
Martell
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Great post. Really enojoy these guys locally.