If you wondering why Royal Anguish is releasing another album after just releasing their fine masterpiece, Mysterion, there not. Well, they are, but it's not a new album. It's actually an album that was recorded back in the mid-90's and never saw the light of day.
Where Royal Anguish is currently a hybrid metal band who mixes all kinds of styles, this version of Royal Anguish is a bit different. While you can see hints here of the hybrid-ness to come, this is more a thrash-styled album.
I'm actually quite surprised that this album never got released, cause it is definitely a worthy recording. Current Royal Anguish fans, and just plain-ol' thrash fans should definitely consider picking this up. Don't let the decade old recording date scare you. This is excellent stuff that has stood the test of time.
Musically, the band dishes out some excellent thrash, with some mixtures of old school death and other styles. Vocally, imagine a mix of the Mexican band, Exousia and maybe a little bit of Brazilian thrashers, Deliver.
Probably one of my favorite cuts on the disc is the song "Land of the Free". It starts out with some acoustic guitar before moving into some brutal and plodding riffs, before picking up the pace to a full gallop. Mixed in with the harsh vocals are some sweet female vocals that fit the song perfectly. They even have a guitar solo near the end of the song that is very high-pitched like Seventh Angel used to do so frequently. The song ends with dueling female vocals and clean male vocals before a couple of harsh screams at the end. Another favorite is the raging, "Tortured Visions".
Two song show up here in different versions than when they later appear on Mysterion. The songs are "Autumn Sorrow" and "Green Pastures Await". The latter of the two is only an instrumental here, where on Mysterion there are vocals. After hearing those two songs, you can help but pull out your Mysterion album and get it ready to pop in right after this disc closes.
The only thing that I don't understand here is that Royal Anguish's website, Bombworks Records website, and even sites like Blastbeats list only 12 songs. However, my CD has a bonus 13th track after the final outro. It's a cool track so I'm not sure why no one else mentions it. The title of it is "Retrospect" and it's a great way to end the disc.
All in all, this is a high-quality album that is definitely worth purchasing. Thanks abound to Bombworks Records for making this available. You can pick this up for $12 off the band's website (they are very reliable). You can also get a band t-shirt and CD for only $22 off the band's site. (Review by Matt)
Well...what are you waiting for?
