Crimson Shadows - Kings Among Men

Published August 30 2014

*=Staff's pick	March Of Victory Rise To Power* Heroes Among Us A Gathering Of Kings Maidens Call Braving The Storm On The Eve Of Battle (Intro) Freedom And Salvation* Dawn Of Vengeance Moonlit Skies And Bloody Tides*

Genre	Melodic Death/Power Metal	Jimi Maltais	Vocals
Tracks	10	Greg Rounding	Guitar
Running time	50 Min.	Ryan Hofing	Guitar
Label	Napalm Records	Morgan Rider	Bass
Release	29 August 2014	Cory Hofing	Drums
Country	Canada	-	Keyboard
Producer	-
Similar artists	DragonForce

This is Crimson Shadows' sophomore full length release, but to me this Canadian outfit is a first time experience. After listening to this brand new record I will however most definitely check out the band's debut album Glory On The Battlefield as well. I generally feel a genuine and fresh attitude in terms of creating really fast, catchy and epic power metal hymns, all with a few elements of melodic death metal involved.

Kings Among Men barely shows any signs of diversity and is comprised of eight real songs and two intros. It's decidedly not innovating or groundbreaking and it might absolutely be seen as somewhat monotonous and repetitive overall with all these constantly attacking speedy approaches. It's like a runaway train without emergency brakes and I believe that they see challenges in each and every moment.

Anyway, I like the youthful presence and the ongoing atmosphere in the band's performance, where perfection hasn't seem to become a strong factor yet. The band has the ability to bring forth awesome melodies in this charging environment and I like the longer bridges with guitar parts that is making them able to stretch the songs into something even more valid.

The vocals contain aggressive and angrier parts without taking this feature near the extreme side of it. Also, without making it too obvious or with the intention to build things inside a significantly melodic framework, it includes clean pieces of vocals as well. Yet with a kind of metallic approach and I don't feel that its sole purpose is to make people pay immediate attention and embrace the songs due to this element.

I really like what I am given and most songs actually have something that speaks to me. Sonically it might not turn out as the greatest experience through all times, but it doesn't bother me much since the actual music grabs me to a point where I without a doubt feel very fortunate.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	5	5	6	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Tobbe