It has been a little difficult for me to find new music lately. Most of those problems have been self-imposed. I have been making a concerted effort to avoid buying much music online and I have not been to my favorite music store in Omaha for some time, due mostly to being too busy to travel there. I do live two hours away after all. So I have been left with Hastings Book Store as the only source of buying music. I can never really count on them to get decent stuff in, so sometimes it comes as a surprise when I find something unexpected.Which brings us to Christian Mistress. I had not heard of the band prior to seeing this CD on the rack but when I read the description touting the band as performing a raw style of NWOBHM, I knew this was speaking to me. The more I look into the NWOBHM style, the more impressed I am. Even groups like Raven who did not grab me at first have been listened to more and more lately and grown on me.
Christian Mistress absolutely capture the spirit and energy of the early years of the NWOBHM, prior to the scene getting watered down by dozens of imitators. If you are looking for something incredibly fast and heavy, look somewhere else. This is just good, old-fashioned riff-driven heavy metal. There are no frills, it is just stripped-down yet powerful.
The band is lead by Christine Davis, whose voice sounds incredible over the classic metal riffing. Her voice soars over the riffs. She has a very unique voice with some impressive dynamics.
I am very impressed with this album. This is Christian Mistress's second album. I am definitely going to keep an eye on them.
I reviewed this one today. I'm calling it the first contender for album-of-the-year. Great, great stuff.
ReplyDeleteBesides NWOBHM, there's also plenty of doom and plain old rock 'n' roll in here, and the vocals remind me of all the turn-of-the-80's hard rocker chicks.