{"id":52329,"date":"2016-07-05T08:11:08","date_gmt":"2016-07-05T13:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=52329"},"modified":"2016-07-05T08:11:08","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T13:11:08","slug":"widow-carved-in-stone-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2016\/widow-carved-in-stone-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Widow | Carved in Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"WidowFive years. That’s how long Widow made us wait for a follow-up to their fantastic 2011 album Life’s Blood<\/em>. The North Carolina-based traditional metal band hasn’t exactly been idle during that time, playing shows all over the world, but that’s still a long wait between albums. Fortunately it becomes apparent very early on that this new album, titled Carved in Stone, is well worth the wait.<\/p>\n

Widow has been carrying the banner for traditional heavy metal for more than 15 years now, but since becoming a three-piece the band seems to have a renewed purpose and a renewed energy. Song for song, Life’s Blood<\/em> was probably the most energetic and enjoyable old school metal album in a decade, and Carved in Stone<\/em> has that same energy. It also has that mix of classic metal influences \u2013 everything from Iron Maiden to Judas Priest to King Diamond \u2013 that makes all of Widow’s albums so much fun.<\/p>\n

Carved in Stone<\/em> kicks things off on a high note, with the headbanging anthem \u201cBurning Star,\u201d and never really lets up from there. \u201cCarved in Stone\u201d and \u201cWisdom\u201d have a great combination of heaviness and melody, and songs like \u201cBorrowed Time,\u201d \u201cLive By the Flame\u201d and \u201cOf the Blood, We Bind\u201d have the same sense of power and glory that those of us raised on ’80s Heavy Metal know so well. The whole album is really strong, full of killer guitar work (great melodies and flashy solos), heavy rhythms and probably the best vocal performance John E. Wooten has recorded. And once again the production job and cover artwork are worthy of the music.<\/p>\n

Time will tell if Carved in Stone<\/em> is a better album than Life’s Blood<\/em>. We’ve had five years to play that one, it’s an album that, for many fans, is never too far from the CD player. Carved in Stone is, however, a very welcome arrival and easily the best traditional metal album 2016 has to offer. Fans of bands like Enforcer, Wolf and Cauldron should especially love this album, but just about anyone who appreciates heavy metal with a strong ’80s influence and a modern energy needs to discover Widow.<\/p>\n

Genre: Heavy Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJohn E. Wooten IV (v) (b)
\nChris Bennett (g) (b)
\nRobbie Mercer (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tBurning Star
\n2.\tCarved in Stone
\n3.\tAnother Time and Place
\n4.\tWisdom
\n5.\tTime on Your Side
\n6.\tBorrowed Time
\n7.\tAnd We Are One
\n8.\tAnomaly
\n9.\tLive By the Flame
\n10.\tOf the Blood, We Bind
\n11.\tNighttime Turn
\n12.\tLet It Burn<\/p>\n

Label: Pure Steel Records<\/p>\n

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

Hardrock Haven rating: 9.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Sr. Columnist — Five years. That’s how long Widow made us wait for a follow-up to their fantastic 2011 album Life’s Blood. The North Carolina-based traditional metal band hasn’t exactly been […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":52330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13652],"tags":[12457,2317,2491,12458,848,12456],"class_list":{"0":"post-52329","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2016","8":"tag-carved-in-stone","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-heavy-metal","11":"tag-lifes-blood","12":"tag-pure-steel-records","13":"tag-widow"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52329","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=52329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}