HOLY FORCE — Holy Force (review)

HOLY FORCE — Holy Force album cover Album · 2011 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
The Block
Holy Force’s debut is easily one of the best power metal releases of 2011. With most of their members originating from progressive and heavy metal backgrounds the music on this album takes the best of both traditional, power, and progressive (albeit not much, though) and blends it into a great album. The power metal sections of the album definitely lean towards European power metal, which immediately indicates epic riffs and catchy choruses, swirled around neoclassical leanings. Another great thing about this album is Mike LePond. If you recognize his name, you should. He’s the bassist of Symphony X, and a great one at that. Besides him there’s Ango Chen, the mastermind behind Holy Force, and Mark Boals, who have both played with Yngwie Malmsteen. Rounding it off is former Manowar drummer Kenny Earl, who definitely makes this a supergroup of sorts.

The music is pretty guitar driven, which is understandable considering the lead man, Ango Chen plays guitar. That being said, everyone gets their chance to shine on this album and overall this album is very balanced. The shredding on this album is absolutely tremendous, and comes in both classic and neoclassical form. Most of the songs are heavy driven, powered by great drumming from Kenny Earl, but there are a select few songs, such as “Sky Etude” which a happy, cheery, and upbeat. One weird thing about “Sky Etude” is that it’s a piano etude, which is very good and all, but no one on this album plays piano, at least it’s not noted anywhere. That brings up the question, did they program it? Hopefully that is not the case, but I don’t know.

Overall the musicianship on this album is top notch, and it’s made all the better by the great compositions that make up the album. Any fan of power metal or heavy metal should definitely look into this great 2011 release, and I’m sure they won’t be let down. 4 stars is surely deserved here.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
J-Man wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Ango Chen is the keyboard player here.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed