THE CLAYMORE – Damnation Reigns

Is this the new image of Heavy Metal? If it is, you will not get any objections from here. Even though this new release by the German band, The Claymore, is far from being a true 80s oriented Classic Metal album, both in sound and style, yet in the end it is a powerful release. A large part of modern Heavy Metal bands aren’t able to recapture the same quality and form of the true Metal of the 80s. Nonetheless, The Claymore’s third album, Damnation Reigns, is at a higher level of performance.

The Claymore’s brand of Heavy Metal, added with elements of modern Power Metal á la their country peers Brainstorm, is polished, catchy, tasteful, musically heavy and aggressive, and melodic while not giving up on the 80s Metal breeding house. During several sections and passages throughout the album, the music tends to be similar to modern Melodic Death orientations, but when the melodic vocals start spreading, the true sources of the music unfold. The four leading tracks of the album, “Behind Enemy Lines” (high level performance with guest appearance by the ultimate Tim “Ripper” Owens), “Children Of The Nile”, “Return To Zero”, and “Silent Scorn” attract much attention with their diversity between modern Metal to older styles of music. Also, as a bonus filler, there is a great performance of the W.A.S.P classic, “Chainsaw Charlie”.

In order to give you a small example of the band’s quality and rating there is the track “Behind Enemy Lines”. Although Owens is one of the major factors for the success of this track, the band’s vocalist, Andreas Grundmann, still shows great abilities. Moreover, his performance was elevated to higher levels on the others tracks, aside from the hitters. For further proof, check out the other great tracks such as “(e)scapegoat” (Featuring the high power Rage guitarist, Victor Smolski), “Oceans”, “Oblivion”, and the fine opener of “Ashes Of The Wicked”. The music is flowing smoothly as the talented twin axes engulf the experience with attractive Maidenish harmonies and compelling solos. In the end, Damnation Reigns is The Claymore’s finest hour to date and one of the better modern Heavy / Power Metal albums to date. As with most bands, they rely on the past, but on the whole, they made and are still making attempts to make progress both on the production and material.

Check out this wonderful album released under Black Bards Entertainment!

Tracklist

1. Ashes Of The Wicked
2. Oceans
3. Behind Enemy Lines
4. Frozen Voices
5. Return To Zero
6. Silent Scorn
7. Children Of The Nile
8. Oblivion
9. (e)scapegoat
10. As Twilight Falls
11. Chainsaw Charlie (W.A.S.P Cover)

Lineup

Andreas Grundmann – Vocals
Sebastian Busacker – Guitar
Kai Schwittek – Guitar
Christian Köhle – Bass
Hardy Kölzer – Drums