{"id":50784,"date":"2015-12-22T09:07:25","date_gmt":"2015-12-22T14:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=50784"},"modified":"2015-12-22T09:07:25","modified_gmt":"2015-12-22T14:07:25","slug":"reverence-gods-of-war-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/reverence-gods-of-war-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Reverence | Gods of War<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Sr. Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Reverence\"U.S.-based Heavy\/Power Metal band Reverence returned this year with their second full-length album, titled Gods of War<\/em>. The band, which features vocalist Todd Michael Hall (Riot V, Jack Starr’s Burning Star), guitarists Bryan Holland (ex-Tokyo Blade) and Pete Rossi (Overland), bassist Michael Massie and drummer Steve \u201cDoc\u201d Wacholz (ex-Savatage) made an impact with their 2012 debut When Darkness Calls<\/em>, but with Gods of War<\/em> they’ve taken a big step forward.<\/p>\n

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the artists involved, that Reverence’s sound falls right in that middle ground between classic Heavy Metal and Power Metal. It may come as a surprise just how good Gods of War<\/em> is. When Darkness Calls was a totally solid release, but Gods of War<\/em> just knocks you off your feet from the very start. The riffs are wicked, the rhythms crushing, and the vocals are absolutely fantastic. Hall has won a lot of fans over with his recent work with Riot V, and he’s in top form here, bringing a ton of power to the album.<\/p>\n

Gods of War<\/em> sounds like the love child of Metal Church and Riot, and is loaded with heavy, melodic, anthemic songs. Leadoff single \u201cGods of War\u201d is a prime example, and is all but guaranteed to get fists pumping and heads banging. \u201cTear Down the Mountain\u201d and \u201cBattle Cry\u201d are also high octane anthems, while the melodies on \u201cAngel in Black\u201d and \u201cChoices Made\u201d are unforgettable.<\/p>\n

By and large, it’s the European bands like Masterplan, Pretty Maids and Firewind that dominate the Melodic Metal genre. With Gods of War, Reverence delivers an album worthy of that top tier. This is Melodic\/Heavy\/Power Metal done very, very well, and if you’re a fan of any of the bands listed above, it belongs in your collection. It’s going to be very interesting to see where Reverence goes from here.<\/p>\n

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

Band:
\nTodd Michael Hall (v)
\nBryan Holland (g)
\nSteve Wacholz (d)
\nPete Rossi (g)
\nMichael Massie (b)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tGods of War
\n2.\tHeart of Gold
\n3.\tUntil My Dying Breath
\n4.\tAngel in Black
\n5.\tTear Down the Mountain
\n6.\tBlood of Heroes
\n7.\tBattle Cry
\n8.\tChoices Made
\n9.\tSplinter
\n10.\tCleansed by Fire
\n11.\tRace to Obscene<\/p>\n

Label: Razar Ice Records<\/p>\n

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

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

by Justin Gaines – Sr. Columnist — U.S.-based Heavy\/Power Metal band Reverence returned this year with their second full-length album, titled Gods of War. The band, which features vocalist Todd Michael Hall (Riot V, Jack […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":50785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[5385,2317,11908,2491,3439,1097,5383,3487,10360,4365],"class_list":{"0":"post-50784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-bryan-holland","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-gods-of-war","11":"tag-heavy-metal","12":"tag-melodic-metal","13":"tag-power-metal","14":"tag-razar-ice-records","15":"tag-reverence","16":"tag-todd-michael-hall","17":"tag-when-darkness-calls"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50784","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=50784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}