People say that the first real love you never forget. Well, my first passion in music was the so-called NWOBHM. I do remember with colorful facts all the albums and bands I used to listent back then. To a person like I am, it makes me real proud to see that many bands are keeping the sonority alive and producing efforts that are really great gems of the style. Stallion with “Slaves of Time” are one of those bands which made a pristine to job to recreate the special and magical sonance of the time. With a plus, Stallion captured perfectly the essence of the era before radicalism and the so-called trve-metalism almost killed our beloved style. In “Slaves of Time” it’s possible to see hand by hand, as it was in the pre-radicalism era, pre-thrash tracks as “Merchants of Fear” and Dokken inspired “Time to Reload” and Kiss’s “Lick It Up” era as “All in” or Motörhead’s sonant “Dynamiter” with no shame at all. A lesson to many bands out there.
It’s always great to hear hammering riffs in songs as “No Mercy” with its mesmerizing and epic guitar riff – this song should win a award – and the vibrant and high-adrenalized “Kill the Beast.” “Slaves of Time” dare to join in one album what many metalheads though it would be impossible back then. The hard’n’heavy mix found here proves that a band can be at the same time powerful and mighty but never losing the fun. Even back then very few bands could walk in the same of the road. It’s true that Pauly’s vocals help a lot the task. The man could perfectly recreate the voice that could fit the complex mix of songs in the album. Guitar duo Äxxl and Clode also work wonders using the aforementioned hammering and the chorus effect that many used in the past but no one today – what a pity. The effect it creates it is amazing. The way they share the solos in “Waking the Demon” is just fantastic.
It’s true that an album opened by a track as “Waking the Demon” and its headbanging main guitar riff only could be right. “Slaves of Time” is spotless in what it came for which is recreating the best Metal era of all. Stallion did it with flying colors.
Stallion “Slaves of Time” will be released on February 28th via High Roller Records.
Track Listing:
- Waking the Demons
- No Mercy
- Time to Reload
- All In
- Brain Dead
- Die with Me
- Merchants of Fear
- Dynamiter
- Kill the Beast
- Meltdown
Watch “All in” official music video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!