Spanish/American collective Frenzy might not quite live up to their name in terms of brute force and ignorance, but they are certainly liable to cause just such a reaction live if the evidence of this excellent album is to be believed.
Resolutely old school, Frenzy rely as much on melody as they do might, with every song here evoking memories of the glory mid-eighties heyday of traditional metal. Much of the praise for this must go to superb vocalist Anthony Stephen (the American part of the equation), whose melodies always augment the superb riffwork and soloing of guitarists Victor Diaz and Luis Pinedo.
Second track, the soaring From Hell, is a case in point; this really is classic metal, with simple yet catchy riffs bolstering a blustering, chest-beating vocal that leaves nothing on the recording studio floor as Stephens belts it out with buckets of conviction and no little skill. A living-room headbanger if ever there was one!
Killing With a Smile carries things along in the same vein – simple, pounding rhythmatics underlaying superb guitarotechnics and that vocal obliterating any stragglers – and, though it’s easy to overstate these matters when presented with something as deliriously righteous as Blind Justice – you’ll find yourself swept up by the sheer joyousness of the whole package.
Save Me is certainly my fave cut on the album – though the lovers of the more fast and furious will probably disagree – being a glorious mix of old names like Coney Hatch, Dokken and Y&T in their pomp. This is the sort of metal bands like Night Demon would give their collective eye teeth to be able to produce – timeless, classy and devilishly well put-together – and Frenzy prove themselves masters of the metal arts on this track. Again, melodic metal bangs heads with an irresistible hard rock sensibility that coats everything in singalong, punch-the-air delirium that’s impossible to resist.
Closing track Shred or Die is another highlight, with Diaz and Pinedo presenting a tour de force of stylish guitar work that clses the album as it started – in a blaze of glory!
Wonderful stuff then, and with quality albums already released by the likes of Tytus and Helevorn it really looks as if Spain is going to stake it’s claim as something of a metal hub this year!
Blind Justice is out now. Make sure you get a copy!
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