{"id":44381,"date":"2014-08-25T19:08:54","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T00:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=44381"},"modified":"2014-08-25T19:10:22","modified_gmt":"2014-08-26T00:10:22","slug":"sultan-check-mate-deluxe-edition-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/sultan-check-mate-deluxe-edition-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Sultan | Check & Mate (Deluxe Edition)<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"SultanOriginally released in 1990, Check & Mate<\/em> was the debut (and only) full-length album from Swiss heavy metal band Sultan. Switzerland wasn\u2019t exactly a hotbed of heavy metal back in the late \u201880s, and aside from a pair of notable exceptions in Celtic Frost and Coroner, not many bands from that era are remembered today. Sultan is one of those overlooked bands, which is a real shame given just how much they had to offer.<\/p>\n

Like a lot of bands towards the end of the decade, Sultan hit that sweet spot between the more traditional heavy metal sound of Dio and Iron Maiden and the emerging European power metal scene led by Helloween. The result was an album that covered the traditional metal bases and had precision, power and melody. Think Iron Maiden plus Treat plus Helloween plus Fifth Angel and you\u2019ll get a good rough sketch of the Sultan sound.<\/p>\n

Check & Mate<\/em> is totally dated, but totally killer at the same time. Sultan was so earnest and dramatic that even a basic love song like \u201cMary\u201d ends up sounding powerful. A lot of that is due to Dragi Majstorovic\u2019s vocal delivery. He really had the perfect voice for European power metal at that time, and he gives added power and atmosphere to already killer metal anthems like \u201cDarkness,\u201d \u201cFalcon\u201d and the laughably-titled (but completely awesome) \u201cNight Knights.\u201d The blazing technical guitar work and captivating melodies also make these songs hit home.<\/p>\n

As impressive as it is, Check & Mate<\/em> obviously didn\u2019t break Sultan to the wider audience their music deserved, and the band went their separate ways not long after its release. It\u2019s a shame, but at least fans of classic metal can discover the band now since the album has been reissued.<\/p>\n

Edition Notes: Divebomb\u2019s deluxe edition reissue puts this long out of print gem back in fans hands after many years, and of course it\u2019s more than just your basic reissue. The album has been brilliantly remastered, includes the rare 2-song Rebel Fire single from 1986 as bonus tracks, and features a booklet that\u2019s loaded with vintage photos and a new interview with founding drummer Fabian Ranzoni. It\u2019s a fantastic reissue of an already terrific album, and one that any serious fan and collector of \u201880s heavy metal, particularly the European variety, will want to own.<\/p>\n

Genre: Heavy Metal, Power Metal<\/p>\n

Lineup:
\nAndy Pasker (b)
\nFabian Ranzoni (d) (k)
\nDavid Pariat (g)
\nMarc Bugnard (g)
\nDragi Majstorovic (v)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tFalcon
\n2.\tPictures of Heidi
\n3.\tFor the Light
\n4.\tWhizzing
\n5.\tMary
\n6.\tDarkness
\n7.\tNight Knights
\n8.\tHard Nights, Heavy Pleasures
\n9.\tJingle
\n10.\tShout in the Fight
\n11.\tRebel Clever
\n12.\tPower of Fire<\/p>\n

Label: Divebomb Records <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist\/News Editor — Originally released in 1990, Check & Mate was the debut (and only) full-length album from Swiss heavy metal band Sultan. Switzerland wasn\u2019t exactly a hotbed of heavy […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":44382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,9886,6906,923,2491,1097,9050],"class_list":{"0":"post-44381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-check-mate","10":"tag-deluxe-edition","11":"tag-divebomb-records","12":"tag-heavy-metal","13":"tag-power-metal","14":"tag-sultan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44381","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=44381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}