{"id":25901,"date":"2013-01-29T17:32:14","date_gmt":"2013-01-29T22:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=25901"},"modified":"2014-02-16T09:08:23","modified_gmt":"2014-02-16T14:08:23","slug":"vanlade-iron-age-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/vanlade-iron-age-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanlade | Iron Age<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– News Editor\/Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Vanlade\"They say you should never judge a book (or in this case, album) by its cover, but man is that hard not to do when you\u2019ve got a cover like the one adorning Iron Age<\/em>, the debut full-length from Kansas City traditional metallers Vanlade. Let\u2019s see, we\u2019ve got a buff metal dude raising a Flying V (and grabbing his crotch), a subservient (and buck naked) mermaid wench offering what one can only assume is a magic sword, and ominous storm clouds in the background. It\u2019s a cover that might make the guys in Manowar blush, and sure enough it tells you exactly what kind of metal you\u2019re getting with this one!<\/p>\n

In case the message hadn\u2019t quite sunk in, the brief introductory track warns listeners that there be metal ahead, and once the anthemic title track kicks in you know it for sure. Vanlade plays old school traditional heavy metal like it\u2019s 1984 all over again. Vanlade obviously takes their inspiration from bands like Manowar, early Helloween, Helstar and Grim Reaper. There\u2019s an uncanny resemblance to cult Canadian metal act Witchkiller, and at times you get a 3 Inches of Blood vibe. High-speed riffs, high-pitched vocals, heavy crunching rhythms and lyrics straight from sci-fi and fantasy are in abundance here, as are traces of thrash and power metal. The title track is an obvious highlight, as is the blistering metal assault of \u201cWings of Fire,\u201d and closing track \u201cLife By the Blade\u201d offers a hidden surprise after the song ends. The only downside is that the production seems off, with the guitars and vocals sounding a bit thin at times.<\/p>\n

Vanlade is traveling down a well-worn path here, but they do it well. Besides, if you\u2019re into traditional heavy metal you probably aren\u2019t looking for innovation. You\u2019re looking for songs to bang your head to (and maybe to slay a dragon in the name of metal), and you\u2019ll definitely get your share on Iron Age<\/em>. Vanlade is a welcome addition to the growing worldwide revival of traditional heavy metal bands.<\/p>\n

Genre: Heavy Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nCody Campbell (d)
\nBrett Scott (v)
\nZach Coffey (g) (v)
\nNick Poffenbarger (b)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:<\/p>\n

1.\tIntro
\n2.\tIron Age
\n3.\tEvil\u2019s Bane
\n4.\tBlood Eagle
\n5.\tHypernova
\n6.\tWings of Fire
\n7.\tBound by Fate (the Rising Dragon)
\n8.\tLife by the Blade<\/p>\n

Label: Stormspell<\/p>\n

Website: www.facebook.com\/vanlade<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – News Editor\/Senior Columnist — They say you should never judge a book (or in this case, album) by its cover, but man is that hard not to do when you\u2019ve got […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,2491,334,5294],"class_list":{"0":"post-25901","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2013","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-heavy-metal","9":"tag-review","10":"tag-stormspell"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}