Crusader
Skin Clad ()
Wydane przez Shiver RecordsRok wydania Kraj BelgiumNapisał Wouter7
Belgian heavy metal stalwarts Crusader are already up to their third effort with "Skin Clad". Again as with their previous two albums, 2000's "This Mortal Flesh" and 2004's "Fools" the band makes no mistake about being influenced by the likes of (early) Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon. This 10 track offering once again is filled with catchy traditional heavy metal with great vocal lines, powerful guitar hooks and sing-along choruses. Notable difference and biggest gripe is, however, the production or lack thereof the album comes with. While the vocals and bass are put nicely upfront and feature prominently in the mix, the remaining instruments all lack the necessary punch a record like this needs. The guitars sound thin, trebly and are void of any sort of crunch and heaviness. The drums and keyboards suffer the same fate and instead of providing a solid foundation for the rest of the band, they sound plainly inert and hopelessly powerless. The 10 songs on this record are however strong within the genre and will have fans fist pounding and chanting along in no time. Lay-out and design is crafted with much attention to detail and the artwork is simply astounding. Shiver Records have done a good thing offering Crusader a record deal. Hopefully they'll offer them a decent recording budget next time around, so that they can match the production values with the songwriting prowess they have. A highly recommended album if you can stomach its lack of production values.
crusader.heavymetal.be
