STALLION – From The Dead

From The Dead is the third release from Germany’s Stallion, following 2014’s Rise And Ride and their debut six song EP Mounting The World which came out the year before, a relatively short career and discography for a band displaying the confidence, versatility, and overall prowess they do here. Opener “Underground Society” is a full-on uncompromising Thrash number with a speedy killer riff, a crushing rhythm section, and shrieking vocals that, while possibly off-putting to some listeners, match the tone and content of the song.

The next couple cuts downshift to a more Hair Metal tempo, setting the stage perfectly for one of the best Metal songs of the year in “Waiting For A Sign”. The song comes damn close to Power Ballad territory—there’s even a keyboard wash on the chorus—when out of nowhere the band launches into complete shred mode after the solos, a welding of two completely different styles is completely unexpected and completely spectacular.

Stallion continues to surprise with the title cut, following quiet guitar into with another pounding assault that uses a Maiden-esque gallop during a bridge to provide a solid foundation for a series of solos.  Each of the band’s tunes avoids the riff-chorus-repeat trap with dexterously twisting musical sections that interlock flawlessly without ever letting up on the throttle.  Each track has something to commend it, whether it is the battle sound effects in “Lord Of The Trenches” or the AC/DC “Rocker” quotes in “Blackbox”. Even the seventeen second blast of “Kill Fascists” is brilliant in context. Stallion respects their ancestors but wants to make history, not repeat it. With From The Dead, they succeed.

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