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If you happen to’ve by no means listened to Megaton Sword earlier than, you may must assuage just a few preconceptions. Based mostly on the identify and the title of their second full-length, Would possibly and Energy, there’s just a little credence to the idea that that is an all out energy steel affair – raging keytars and the like. Not so; Megaton Sword stay on the heavy finish of the spectrum, a 70s-style throwback the place the sword and sorcery is backed up by some critical conventional steel firepower.
If you happen to did hearken to their glorious debut, 2018s Blood Hails Metal, Metal Hails Fireplace, you may nonetheless be in for a little bit of shock. Blood Hails Metal felt like a hyper-focused assault on the a part of the mind that offers with audio processing, a heavy steel delight from a band who had been solely two years outdated on the time.
Would possibly and Energy, then again, runs up and down a broader band by means of its 40-ish minutes. That is to not say that’s missing something, removed from it. The album packs extra into that point than there appears to be area for; wild instrument assaults and kitschy thrives colliding with down-tempo, doom-adjacent numbers workshopped inside an inch of their life to get your head bobbing.
A couple of examples; opener “The Raving Light of Day” takes its time to get to what heavy steel lovers could be conversant in, a thudding name to conflict that opens up right into a guitar-fuelled stomper (with a decidedly eclectic vocal efficiency that fortunately improves as time goes on). “Iron Plains,” nevertheless, then instantly switches issues up with a pacy intro into what can solely be described as a Black Sabbath tribute, replete with full Ozzy impression. It is utterly sudden, nevertheless it’s so effectively carried out and so completely pleasing that the 2 do not feel at odds within the slightest.
Then, it occurs once more – “Power” enters with a dirty riff earlier than launching right into a cheese-laden euro-metal repertoire, giving strategy to the distortion-fest “Cowards Remain,” whose easy drum beat and harmonies really feel nearer to one thing like Everlasting Champion than Manowar. It looks like 4 or 5 completely different bands are enjoying at instances, however the core heavy streak and the sheer expertise of the band carry it splendidly with out it sounding dissonant.
The second half of the album kicks off with a way more restrained and constant ebb and circulate; “Raikaszi” is a drifting piece of melody-heavy lightness, earlier than cranking out the low and sluggish guitars to nice impact into the slow-burning “All Wicked Schemes Unite”. However then, simply as you assume issues could be winding down, “Might” comes alongside to blow off heads in a furiously swaggering Iron Maiden type, full with a crushing breakdown. The playbook right here is past daring – lure the followers in with a heavy steel debut to recollect, then break all the foundations once they come again for extra – however there may be merely no denying that the gameplan is a successful one.
Equal elements conventional and playful, Would possibly and Energy is an astoundingly assured effort from a band who’ve taken the to grasp the weather of their style. A band much less proficient than this may need pushed off extra folks than they drew with the fixed shifts and genre-dabblings, however Megaton Sword are already ridiculously completed for his or her tender years and this shines by means of with minimal missteps. It is a step up in just about each means and, on this proof and assuming maintained trajectory, there are large issues on the horizon for this rolling Swiss steamroller.
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