Overlorde – Awaken The Fury
Overlorde – Awaken The Fury
No Remorse Records
Release Date: 22/12/23
Running Time: 56:16
Review by Simon Black
5/10
Overlorde are one of those bands who have been around for an age without ever really breaking through from the underground. There’s been a lot of releases from acts like this of late – as with the huge developments in music production meaning almost anyone with a decent computer and the right software can do a fairly competent job at recording some product without spending a fortune in a studio in a way that would have been simply unaffordable thirty years ago. In some cases, this has been a case of mining the archives for unreleased material that may have been cut independently, but not mixed and mastered by a label for release as an attempt to revive a career that’s been on hiatus for a few decades. Or, as in this case, a band that has been around on and off for a few decades have pulled their diverse strands back together for another go in the hope that their past efforts are still remembered.
Their first self-titled EP got a bit of traction back in 1987, becoming a cult collectible but the band fizzled out around 1988 as the band members leached out to other projects, until a revival at the end of the millennium eventually saw their first full length album “Return of the Snow Giant” hit the racks in 2004. So, this one has been cooking for a while, but I have to be honest, I really struggled with this one…
Musically this is very NWOBHM influenced US-style Power Metal, so is coming from the same starting point as early Armoured Saint, but with their own edgy East Coast, slightly Doomier feel to it. Another recent fad has been for bands to try and ape the feel of some of those early low-budget analogue albums, and to be honest this really annoys me, as what they should be capturing is the energy and urgency that came from recording under pressure on the night shift on clapped out kit with a producer that didn’t understand Metal, rather than deliberately trying to sound a bit naff, for which there’s really very little excuse given where the technology is at these days.
Unfortunately, this release takes that approach, and despite the fact that I do actually listen to my stuff through an analogue set up that I’ve had for decades (albeit fed from a PC), when the end result sounds like it’s been done on a 4-Track cassette portastudio played through my phone speaker, then I really struggle to move beyond that.
Which is a shame, as these chaps are really competent musicians and have some nicely interesting arrangements and a bass player who takes a huge slice of the song structuring in a completely blatant dose of worship at the altars of the in your faceness in the mix of Steve Harris and the almost jazz-tinged fluidity of Geezer Butler. I’m also struggling with the vocal performance of George Tsalikis, who although he can clearly hit some strong and powerful notes really feels like he is recording this for a demo in his bathroom in the songs where he’s quietly drawing you in for the earlier parts of their songs. When he does let rip along with the band, then things really work, but take just that little too long to get there.
The record has had a long gestation period, but it also really takes it’s time and these meandering 70’s Prog arrangements get wearing after too short a while and I really can’t help but feel that a band who have been around for this long should have done better.
‘Fire In The Sky’ Official Lyric Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Awaken The Fury
02. Fire In The Sky
03. The Madness Within
04. Battle At Marathon
05. Destroy Us All
06. Gargoyles
07. Ashes
08. Hammer Strike
09. Paranoid Delusions
10. Migraine
LINE-UP:
George Tsalikis – Lead and Backing Vocals
Mark “M.E.” Edwards – Flying V and Backing Vocals
John “Kong” Bunucci – Bass and Backing Vocals
George Janeira – Drums and Backing Vocals
LINKS:
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