It’s been a long time since these ears heard such an aggressive sound. If one were to have to pitch this album to a record company, it would have to be something like Metallica meet Queen by way of Guns’n’Roses with a dash of Black Sabbath and Nightwish thrown in for good measure.
The opener, ‘A’, lures you into a false sense of security, almost letting you think that this is going to be some kind of nice welterweight pop album before ‘See You In Another Life’ and ‘Last Man Standing’ really grab you by the throat.
The rest of the album never lets you go and, over the course of 45 minutes, you will feel like you have visited every seedy den of vice and vengeance on this world and the next. Which is presumably what the band want.
What really makes this set gel superbly together is the deeply planned and well thought out bluesy undertone they have going on in between and under all of the songs. This both fuels and complements the speed-and-guitar thing they’ve got going on at the surface. For sure, Zoltar Speaks can be quite grandiose at times but it is truly refreshing to hear a band who both know their strengths and can revel in their talents. They call themselves the Sotuh West melodic metal crew and you better believe it.