Band:
James Rivera - Vocals
Jack Frost - Guitars
Michael Lepond - Bass
Taz Marazz - Drums
Diskography:
Second War in Heaven (1999)
City of Lost Souls (2000)
Xiled to Infinity and One (2002)
Passage to the Other Side (2003)
Year of the Witch (2004)
Amped (2005)
Deadly Sins (2007)
Info
Mix by Joey Vera at Bridge Recording, New York
produced by Jack Frost
Released 3/6-2011
Reviewed 27/5-2011
Musically it is like that as well, like we were in 2005 and they were releasing the next album Following Year of the Witch. It is the same american style classic heavy metal with powerfull riffs, classical verse and chorus song structure, they do have some of their own trades in their music though but they are mostly subtle like starting a verse only with the singer doing his part and no other instruments, James Rivera’s strange way of doing the higher notes and his rather characteristic vocal style. That X-factor that makes the sound instantly recognisable as Seven Witches sound. I think they sound like a classical heavy metal band from the states but yet somehow they don’t.
The album is 43 minutes long if you discount the digipack bonus track that feels more like a curiosity thing than something really good. It is three live tracks that has a sound that leave something to be desired and they do feel like they do not have anything to do on a studio album. Still they might be a fun bonus thing for the collector. The production is quite similar to earlier works by the band, meaning that they have the same basic sound and it is quite flawless.
I do really enjoy track five, End of Days, especially the duet parts when James Rivera sings a duet with some female who’s name seem very unimportant. It is a top track for certain. Besides this though I feel like there is just more of the same and it is all stuff that has been on earlier releases by the band and not fashioned together in new and clever ways either, it feels like they have already done it and for me that is a huge letdown.
I think that Call Upon the Wicked is a good album, it has everything that made the earlier albums good, but the thing is that Passage to the Other side felt interesting and like it was stepping on unthreaded paths, the same cannot be said for Call Upon the Wicked which is threaded where others have already threaded before, particularly this band has threaded there.
The fact is that this album is as I have already stated good but it feels like it does not live up to what it could been, instead it seems to want to be one of the albums from the earlier Rivera era. It offers nothing new from the band, it does not really feel like the band has done any evolving either, it feels like they are standing at the same spot as 2005 and still standing there, getting nowhere. I think that is a bit sad since Jack is a really nice guy and they did such great music, they still do but it is the same music.
So in the end I will dig up Passage to the Other Side again and maybe add it to my media player along with track five and then I will have gotten the most out of this album. It is a rather good album but it is not an evolvement, it is like the band was stuck in time somewhere around 2004-05 and still remains there even though they have already released that album.
Good, but with reservations for lack of steps forward, you can say that they copy themselves with this album. They do it in a good way but I would have liked something new and fresh instead.
HHHHHHH
