Saturday, March 1, 2014

Iron Spell - Heavy Metal Witchcraft

"A Chilean Revelation"


Iron Spell is a brand new heavy metal band from Chile. Yeah, I said Chile. Personally I don't got any experiences with bands from that country, other than every time I see a new band from Chile it's most often black or death metal bands. Heavy Metal Witchcraft is the band's debut release and it has been released as a demo for some reason. 

Why do I say "for some reason"? Because the quality of the material is pretty good, and it sounds more like an EP than a demo. However it's just that trend that keeps on living, release it as a demo so you can put it on tape and be old school. When you first look at the band, from their band photo to the demo cover and production, everything is just high quality. Their band photo hasn't just been taking at the nearest scrapyard but in front of some spotlights with a pretty good camera. Together with the quality of this release it is clear to me that Iron Spell is a band that wants to go places and achieve something. But does this demo live up to that?

I would say yes, to a certain point. After all the demo only contains four tracks that spins for fifteen minutes, so don't expect a masterpiece. But as mentioned, this is high quality old school heavy metal. When the title track kicks off, to me it sounded like something Enforcer could have written. Together with the track Revelation, those two are my favourites, but you should go through the demo anyway, because it only lasts for fifteen minutes. However the end of Revelation really bothers me because of the very rapid fade out, which the track definitely doesn't deserve. That is actually the only production grief I got when it comes to the demo. And just take a quick scope at the cover. A woman in leather, spikes and bullet belt. I'm pleased!

The release sounds great, and you're not missing out on any of the instruments, nothing is drowned out. The vocals are not really distinctive, but they're not bad either as they fit the music. Sometimes there's a backing vocal with a more high pitched vocal, but whether that is the voice of lead singer, Merciless K.co or another member, I do not know. About the Enforcer comparison, don't expect a Chilean version of Enforcer. Iron Spell leans more towards traditional heavy metal than speed metal. That being said, this is a really solid piece of material, and it will probably pave way for the band! If you like traditional heavy metal, then you gotta check out Iron Spell, and keep your eyes on them in the future, it definitely smells like something big is cooking in Chile!

Join their masses at Facebook and they've put up the entire demo on Youtube!

Rating

8.2