Yesterday's
Saints - Gates Of Valhalla (song review) |self-released, Yesterday's
Saints EP, 2011| 5/5
If you're hungry for intense thrash metal music, here's an indie band
with all the features necessary to become your next favorite
rockstars. Yesterday's Saints gain their influences from a long list
of amazing, yet highly ranked bands that include classics such as
Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Manowar, Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and
Testament as well as music by Vital Remains, Obituary, Pantera,
Chiamara, Iced Earth, Arch Enemy and Lamb of God. This degree of
heavy influences will undoubtedly draw the interest of many heavy
metal listeners. But wait, there's more... the band has also been
recently promoted through the live circuit, opening shows in support
of Sepultura, Death Angel, Korpiklaani and Moonsorrow.
Yesterday's
Saints are originally from Washington DC. Established in 2008, they
released a two-track demo one year later. A heavy metal CD collection
with tracks compiled by Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed, Kingdom of
Sorrow) helped the band reach out towards a broader number of heavy
music listeners throughout 2010. Their self-titled
EP is their latest release which contains five songs on the
tracklist.
"Gates Of Valhalla" is the first track on this EP and
indeed, it's an in-your-face opening to the album! There are no
mystical intro's or outro's. The song starts and ends with rhythmic
riffs and concrete drum beats. This intense, raging and precise
composition will make you headbang right away.
Professional vocals are at times shouted then growled within a range
of over three octaves. The song contains lyrics that are masterfully
mixed with spinning and chunky guitar riffs that stitch the song
structures together like an overlock. Non-pushy percussive elements
of the drums never predominate the other instruments, which may be a
golden ratio for an intelligent form of metal music.
Finally, great bass lines stand strong to solidify the drums and
accentuate the overall orchestration.
All of these elements are utilized in synchronicity to create a
foundation for the song where the compositional aspect is complete
and the arrangements don't miss a thing. These songwriting techniques
are repetitive, thus you can spot some heavy metal melodies within,
but they don't become at all boring. Additionally, these arrangements
have been preventatively enriched with various matching and powerful
segments which turn the listener's attention to the brute force of
the music in an instant.
“Gates
of Valhalla” was performed by Matt Rice (vocals), Albert Born
(drums), Witt Black (guitar) and Phil
D’Arcangelis (bass) who was replaced by Nick Gosseaux in 2012. The
band has been currently working on a full length release
intent on bringing more of a dark melodic feel that is based on
death, thrash and power metal sub-genres.
Since words are limited and they can't perfectly express every single
tune, you just need to listen to the music of Yesterday's Saints on
your own. The best time would be during one of their live shows.
These guys may be sharing stages with many of the best known metal
acts very soon, so get ready.
(Katarzyna
'NINa' Górnisiewicz, Fabryka Magazine, August 21st, 2012)
This
review on Fabryka Magazine
http://industrialrock.net/php-files_en/articles.php?article_id=445
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Reviewed by Fabryka Music Magazine