DEATH DEALER — War Master (review)

DEATH DEALER — War Master album cover Album · 2013 · US Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Time Signature
Hammer down...

Genre: power metal

A supergroup of sorts, Death Dealer released their debut album ”War Master” earlier this year, and we are dealing with hyper-aggressive power metal here, complete with thunderous drums and screaming vocals. Yet there is plenty of melody in the form of, for instance, larger-than-life choruses and twin-guitar leads. The keyword here is simply METAL.

'Death Dealer','Warmaster', 'Heads Spikes Walls' are uptempo tracks with plenty of references to thrash metal and traditional metal. 'Never to Kneel' is a heavier affair, while 'While Children of the Flames' is an atmospheric and quite heavy ballad with an interesting twist in the form of a whistled melody (which for some reason makes me think of spaghetti westerns). The tempo goes back up in 'Curse of the Heretic' which is a lesson in crushing US power metal and features some pretty cool passages, which also applies to 'Liberty or Death'. You may have heard the title 'Hammer Down' before, and if you're thinking Empires of Eden, then you are correct, because this is a version of the song 'Hammer Down' from Empires of Eden's ”Channeling the Infinite” (Stu Marshall is also involved in Empires of Eden). The Death Dealer-version is darker and heavier than the Udo-fronted Empires of Eden version, which in turn is more intense and more epic. I do not know which version I prefer, so I just consider myself lucky that there are two awesome versions of the same awesome song out there. 'The Devils Mile' starts out an atmospheric ballad, but turns into a highway-friendly uptempo rocker, whereas 'Waiths on the Wind' has a heavy and stomping drive to it.

The production is well-defined but not at all polished. The musicianship is top notch, but what else would we expect from a line-up that features the likes of Stu Marshall, Sean Peck, and Ross the Boss? And let us not forget Mike Davis and Rhino. The listener is treated to blazing guitar solos, screaming vocals and booming drums.

In other words: this is METAL!
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