Maybe I’m alone in this, but I want more sword-swinging trve/epic metal in my life. I want more bands sounding like Cirith Ungol, Brocas Helm, and Manilla Road in circulation. I want it to be 1066 A.D. too! I guess I just miss that classic sound and find myself walking among the tombstones of olden albums like King of the Dead and Out of the Gates more and more as I approach extreme ancienthood. This made me an easy mark for England’s Phaëthon who aspire to weld Viking-era Bathory onto the framework established by the 80s epic greats and continued by bands like Doomsword and Argus. On their Wielder of the Steel debut, they mine the depths of the 80s trve metal sound while keeping a foot in NWoBHM and the early Viking metal days. This is a heady combination, but can it be successfully forged into a weapon of might and magic? That’s where the metal meets the anvil, folks.
As soon as the blacksmithy opens for iron business on “Eternal Hammerer” it’s clear these metalworkers love the 80s sound and atmosphere. Shades of Cirith Ungol course through the music along with Witchfinder General and Witchkiller (think “Day of the Saxons” then go spin that lost gem 50 times). It’s big throwback fun delivered with great enthusiasm by the band, especially vocalist S. Vrath who really gets into character. It’s a rousing war chanty and it should get your polearm standing at full attention. Epic and bombastic cut “Vanguard of the Emperor” goes for large bigness at all costs, sounding like Atlantean Kodex smashing headlong into Doomsword’s weakened left flank. This is battle-hungry metal born of strife and struggle and Steel is here for it every damn day. The overly dramatic spoken word section is very gratuitous and pads the song out, but overall this is a successful campaign of conquest. Especially thrilling is the wanton trveness displayed on “For the Greater Good of Evil” which plays out like a violent collision between Megaton Sword, Venom, and Twisted Tower Dire. It’s sloppy, ridiculous, and overwrought, but it’s loads of fun. “Blasphemers” incorporates a quasi-blackened thrash vibe that also works quite well, sounding aggressive and righteous.
Unfortunately, Phaëthon don’t always arrive with the best-laid battle plans. The 7-minutes of “Tolls of Perdition” aim for the sweet spot somewhere between epic-minded Iron Maiden and early Manowar but crash in the adjacent landfill due to WAY too many dramatic spoken word pieces with overly Shakespearian intoning that get tedious quickly (more on this later). The massive 9-plus minute closing title track is all over the map, swinging wildly trying to hit multiple moods and eras, but it’s all sound and fury signifying that it’s not that great of a song. Good bits are present but I really don’t enjoy the long ride aside from the fact that at multiple points it reminded me of this long-lost 80s treasure. The most annoying aspect of the album is the recurring spoken word pieces done in a wildly over-dramatic manner. It’s like the band hired a herald akin to Paul Bettany in A Knight’s Tale to regale you with heroic tales during the song about the very same heroic tales. After a few of these needless interruptions, you want the blustering puffery to cease and desist toot-sweet. The songwriting itself is also quite inconsistent. When it’s good, it’s good. When it’s not, things can get quite ham-fisted and awkward. At 42-plus minutes, the album feels considerably longer than it is with several songs suffering from disabling bouts of mega-bloat.
Another big obstacle to fully enjoying Wielder is vocalist S. Vrath. He’s the ultimate love or loath frontman and his mammothly exaggerated delivery is like Uzzy Unchained from Megaton Sword if he were even MOAR unchained and then mixed with Deathmaster of Doomsword. That’s an ungainly combo no matter how you slice it, and the vocals here will slice your ear canals plenty. Luckily, Vrath is a far better guitarist than vocalist and along with Decado, he harnesses the NWoBHM and trve metal genres to deliver fun moments steeped in the golden age of classy metaldom.
Wielder of the Steel is like a big nostalgia bomb that fails to detonate. There are so many elements here I want to love, but the end product proves tough to cuddle up with. Some streamlining and much more focused writing could bring Phaëthon closer to acts like Megaton Sword but as of now, their hammers are running low on essential glory oil. Back to the war room, boys!
Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Gates of Hell
Websites: phaethon.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/phaethonband | instagram.com/phaethonband
Releases Worldwide: August 30, 2024
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