Well it’s been a few weeks and I have been sitting on the new ripping pure heavy metal work from the star project that is Reverence, a new outfit brought to you from the blue collar fusion of former members of Savatage, Tokyo Blade, Crimson Glory and Jack Starr’s Burning Starr. I’ve been looking forward to finally digesting what these guys would bring to the table; despite the hype in known circles or the experience factor, you really never can tell if band mates can collaborate with passion and just hit that point where everything just CLICKS……. but the evidence of the formula working isn’t too hard to find on When Darkness Calls.
From the very discovery of the creeping haunting guitar opening in the title track, we kick it into high gear with a devilish groove that sets sail and never looks back. Bringing a mix of trash and classic heavy metal to the table, Reverence endears the listener to just sit back and bang their freaking skull with conviction. Just wait till you hear the sick rhythm and bass work on the tune “Phantom Road”, pure power people! Open up your ears and behold the POWER!!!. Oh, and did I mention that the former Savatage drum legend Steve “Dr Kill Drums” Wacholz does a gaudy job on the drums, you knew that already but you can’t help but get sucked into the maniacal drum work of this underrated and amazing battery operator.
The guitars, courtesy of both Bryan Holland and Pete Rossi, bring a super crunchy and keen sense of direction to each song. It’s one thing to hear a metal song with your basic pounding, repetitive riffs and distortion, but when you add some kick ass melody to the song structure, it just works and makes the listener more in tune; something the guys really tap into. Got an early copy of the track “Too Late” which we have featured on MGM’s music showcase and the haunting Savatage-esque guitar work once more slices things up nicely for yet another cunning guitar job. “Does the good stuff ever end on this album?” I asked myself when I heard it the first time around……no, not even CLOSE!!!!
Let’s give some ear shattering credit to the great vocals of front man Todd Michael Hall who quite possibly may have exploded some kidney stones when singing on this record. The guitar work just leaves traces of memorable ashes in the fall once more with it’s unique tone. The bass and drum don’t stride too far behind as they come together on the heavy heart pounding of “The Price you Pay”, priceless!!!! Finally we get to my favorite tune on the record in my opinion and that is the compelling awesomeness that is “After The Leaves Have Fallen”, not even going to say anything else other then blast this tune and just jam, beautifully and powerfully done.
Anybody that knows our editors, writers, and weekly contributors try to be as objective and honest as we can possibly can with the amount of material we listen to every day and it’s our job as a magazine to inform YOU the reader about bands that need the exposure because their music merits it. Well, Reverence needs the exposure as we all know in today’s music market is extremely hard to sell albums anymore and the only way bands make any profit is by touring, but if you’re not a big shot band then you know the latter is quite tall and climbing the corporate bs latter of today’s rock scene is a daunting task.
In all honesty “When Darkness Calls” is one of the best metal albums I heard in quite a few years, one the hard working musicians involved have put every inch of energy into a full product and you can sense it through each song, they flow perfectly with utter emotion, melody, ear pounding sweat and vocal prowess. An album like this is what we, as an online magazine, envision: a band that needs the attention and deservingly so we give every chance we can to tell our readers to go out and buy this MUST HAVE METAL ALBUM!!!! I don’t give too many perfect scores when I rate records because is hard to listen to albums that I can truly say, it’s mind blowing or impacted me personally on any given level, but I felt that Reverence takes all the elements of the Metal genre and expertly consummates their sound into a melting pot of bombardment that is hard to ignore and that folks is why I listen to this kind of music!!!! BUY NOW HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Line Up:
Todd Michael Hall- Vocals
Bryan Holland- Guitar
Frank Kruckel- Bass
Pete Rossi- Guitar
Steve Wacholz- Drums
Tracklist:
1. When Darkness Calls
2. Bleed For Me
3. Phantom Road
4. Devil in Disguise
5. Too Late
6. Gatekeeper
7. The Price You Pay
8. Monster
9. Revolution Rising
10. After The Leaves Have Fallen
11. Vengeance Is Mine
Reverence – When Darkness Calls 2012
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