Holy Grail: Ride the Void

Hmmm.  I remember really enjoying Holy Grail's last album.  But upon hearing this one, I can not really remember much about it.  Easily fixed of course, I just need to go back and listen to it.  This one though does not really do all that much for me and I think I know why.

I actually liked a lot of metalcore bands back when that trend had really gotten going.  I liked Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, and other bands from that scene.  I even kind of liked Avenged Sevenfold at one point.  Here me out.  I had not really gotten into black and death metal yet and my knowledge of metal was mostly mainstream.  I don't make any excuses about that.  Nu metal and metalcore were big and I had not delved terribly deeply into the underground.  I had only a burned copy of Avenged Sevenfold's Waking the Fallen and I kind of liked it.  Some time later I heard City of Evil for the first time and I hated that one and that did it for me with Avenged Sevenfold.  I have never looked back at them.

Now why did I spend an entire paragraph talking about Avenged Sevenfold?  Because Holy Grail singer James Paul Luna sounds an awful lot like Zacky Vengeance on this album, and in particular the second song.  It is so close that it absolutely ruined the first time I heard this album.  It's bad.  I have listened to this album several times now and that is always the first thing I think.  "This reminds me of Avenged Sevenfold" is not the best thought when listening to an album.

Musically of course there is almost no similarity.  Holy Grail is a traditional heavy metal band with speed metal riffs and melodies.  The music is actually quite good.  But man, those vocals really threaten to ruin it all.

I hope some day to be able to block that similarity out of my mind, but so far it keeps coming back.  It makes it real damn hard to listen to.

Initial Impressions: Holy Grail: Crisis in Utopia

One of the most highly anticipated debut albums last year was this one from the traditional metal band Holy Grail. After a critically lauded and successful EP, Improper Burial, the band was set to release their first full-length in 2010. Featuring three former members of trad metal band White Wizzard, Holy Grail had already built up a bit of name recognition and were able to release the aforementioned EP on Prosthetic Records.

Musically, this is is high-speed traditional metal drawing on such influences as Iron Maiden, Jag Panzer, and some other bands of the American power metal scene in the 1980's. Oftentimes the sound does come close to being more of a power metal style, although not the flowery European power metal. The album is somewhat similar to Cauldron, of whose 2009 album I was a big fan.

Holy Grail writes very melodic, but oftentimes powerful, and otherwise very fast songs. The riffs fly by quickly and they also utilize shredding guitar solos. The vocals are done in a typical traditional metal style, clean and soaring over the riffs.

The band often hints at more extreme metal styles, such as in the song "The Blackest Night" during the vocals over the power chords. Holy Grail never quite reaches this more extreme sound, but does throw in a thrashier riff once in awhile.

Holy Grail is lumped in with the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal, and for good reason. This album clearly sounds stuck in the 1980's. It is a a great fast album to listen to, making it a great album to exceed the speed limit to. Do not take that as legal advice, even though I am a lawyer. Just listen to the damn album.