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Blazon Rite: Endless Halls Of Golden Totem
Blazon Rite - Endless Halls Of Golden Totem Album Art

Blazon Rite: Endless Halls Of Golden Totem

Traditional Heavy Metal
4.0/5.0

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Gates Of Hell Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 05.24.2021 | Released: 28.05.2021

Some 14 months ago, founder, composer, and guitartist James Kirn introduced us to his Blazon Rite project and the debut EP, Dulce Bellum Inexpertis. According to Kirn, he wasn't expecting much; he just wanted to put the music out there and see what reaction it would get. The reaction was largely favorable, enough so that the Philadelphia band and EP was picked up by italy's Cruz Del Sur Records for international distribution in September 2020. In the meantime, pandemic be damned, Kirn and company nestled into his basement to record Blazon Rite's first long player, Endless Halls Of Golden Totem. The album will be distributed by Gates Of Hell Records, a subsidiary of Cruz Del Sur.

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Blazon Rite

Once more Kirn and Blazon Rite stick to their original musical formula: mixing a hybrid of proto metal, NWoBHM, and classic European power metal. The songs are marked by an abundance of sharp and strong riffage and terrific guitar solos. For the new album, Blazon Rite added Kay Hamacher from Lunar Shadow on rhythm guitar. If you count Pierson Roe on bass and synths, but who also plays guitar, you can add a third guitarist. Needless to say, this album is heavily guitar forward. But then there's the sturdy rhythm section for power metal gallop and traditional rock groove. While tempos can be mixed, most songs are fast and heavy. Johnny Halladay returns to add his assertive, yet melodic, traditional metal vocals.

Sampling the songs, you'll hear all these things with the fast and heavy The Executioner's Woe, Legends of Time and Eidolon, and Alchemist's Brute. But with those last two songs, some listeners might hear a fair share of thrash in the riffage. But Alchemist's Brute also finds the band dipping into some more slow and sluggish doom metal nuances, notably after the half. With the title cut, you'll find more heavy steady metal with moments of up tempo swagger, but then an acoustic breakdown after the half arrives to introduce a rousing guitar solo. With The Night Watchmen of Starfall Tower, the drums introduce a heavy marching number with more thick riffage over a thumping rhythm section. But the pace quickens with the later terrific guitar solo. All things considered, Blazon Rite's Endless Halls of Golden Totem is a well-crafted and solid album of very guitar-forward traditional heavy metal. If you dig the same, you will enjoy this album. Recommended.




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The Take Away

Blazon Rite's Endless Halls of Golden Totem is a well-crafted and solid album of very guitar-forward traditional heavy metal. If you dig the same, you will enjoy this album. Recommended.

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