Battleroar
Codex Epicus

Roar from the battlefields, Battleroar sounds like a dramatic kind of band, in way it makes me think of bands like Manowar or many power metal guys with silly war themed lyrics and that sort of thing. Not saying anything negative about that in this band’s case, not yet anyway. They are from Greece and this is their fifth album and in the press material it says that they are inspired by Manilla Road, and Mark Shelton of said band is doing a guest appearance on this album. An album with an artwork that isn’t the most exciting I have seen but it is a pretty nice digipak-package, so what about the music?

Overall it is a quite familiar style, power metal, or heavy metal, a bit doomy in style and that might be much thanks to vocalist Mutz whom I have reviewed when writing about Dawn of Winter for this webzine some years ago. We get nine tracks, mostly midtempo, Mutz’s vocals works fine and the sound is a bit less polished than much of what we hear from new releases today. It sounds a little bit dated even though it is a new release, and we are not offered very much in terms of variation but the album is short enough to keep the listener’s attention throughout, even through the CD bonus track that happens to be one of the best tracks of the album.

A pretty good album I think, not very interesting from a creative standpoint but the songs are good and have a fairly enjoyable feel to them. And while the production may feel a bit dated I still think the music is quite enjoyable. Those enjoying bands like Manowar and the other similar bands I have listed for the review will probably find this album quite appealing. I do however fear that it is an album that will be forgotten fairly quickly, it is good but not particularly memorable. They claim that they shall conquer in the second track of the album but I don’t think they really do conquer. Said track We Shall Conquer along with the ending bonus track Stronghold are my two favourite tracks on an album that doesn’t have any tracks that feels terribly weak.

Roars that fade pretty quickly is what we are offered, enjoyable for a while but soon forgotten. Fans of the similar bands might see it differently but I think they offers too little fresh ideas to really make a lasting impression. But as a while of enjoyment it could certainly be an album worth checking out, I know I have enjoyed it even though I had hoped for a slightly more interesting roar. It is not quite the epic that the title suggests.

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