REVIEW: BLAZON RITE – WILD RITES AND ANCIENT SONGS

BLAZON RITE – “Wild Rites and Ancient Songs”
Label: Gates Of Hell Records
Release date: 14.04.2023
Formats: CD / LP / Digital
Distribution: Soulfood (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), Code 7 / PHD (UK), Audioglobe (Italy), Sonic Rendezvous (Benelux), MVD (USA, Canada), Soulfood (Rest of Europe)

The highly-anticipated sophomore album from Philadelphia true metal warriors! BLAZON RITE returns with “Wild Rites and Ancient Songs”, a highly memorable, melody-laden, anthem-rousing display of classic metal!
The dust hadn’t even settled on the recording process for BLAZON RITE’s “Endless Halls of Golden Totem” debut album when the band decided to keep writing. The reasoning was simple: Founding member and guitarist James Kirn obsesses over song ideas. Once an idea is formulated in his head, seeing it all the way through is paramount, no matter the proximity to completing a previous studio album. Therefore, the ideas came quickly and fast for Kirn and lead guitarist Pierson Roe for what eventually became their sophomore full-length, “Wild Rites and Ancient Songs”. But make no mistake — this is not “Endless Halls” redux, but a more direct and catchy offering of classic metal.

Kirn wanted to write a more concise album to balance something new while maintaining the sonic trademarks that won so many over on “Endless Halls”. The ultimate goal, Kirn explains, is to “produce an album that stands the test of time.” “Wild Rites and Ancient Songs” should do just that. It’s buoyed by the band’s now-patented array of twin guitar harmonies and the identifiable vocals of Johnny Halladay. This recipe reaps immediate rewards, whether on the boundless opener “Autumn Fear Brings Winter Doom,” the soft touch employed on “The Fall of a Once Great House” or the speedy “Troubadours of the Final Quarter”.
While a staple of BLAZON RITE’s sound, the dueling guitar harmonies are used tastefully across “Wild Rites and Ancient Songs”. Kirn says the band is always mindful of the matter and is often tempted to overdo them, but common sense usually prevails. On the same level, Halladay’s emergence as a singular vocal force couldn’t be more evident. Halladay isn’t a basic run-of-the-mill classic metal vocalist. His personality and swagger — best exemplified on “Salvage What You Can of the Night” and “Mark of the Stormborn Riders” — is yet another identifier for BLAZON RITE that sets the band apart.

The lyrical themes on “Wild Rites and Ancient Songs” provide an escape from the real world. For the second consecutive album, BLAZON RITE has created moods and landscapes that the listener can use to their imagination. (The band even did their own rendition of a Christmas song, “The Coming Tide of Yule.”) And BLAZON RITE again tapped Matt Stikker for the cover art to properly visualize their world.
Whatever expectations heaped upon BLAZON RITE after the success of “Endless Halls” are boiled down to the main reason why Kirn and his bandmates write and record heavy metal music. There are no ulterior motives, just allowing listeners to bask in the time-honored tradition of listening to a killer metal album, something Kirn stridently believes in: “We want people to drop the needle, head-bang, look at the cool artwork and be immersed in a metal fantasy for the duration of the record. People should be able to listen to this album again and again, knowing we tried our best to defend the faith.”

Gates of Hell Records

Review

The first track of the album is Autumn Fear Brings Winter Doom and being unfamiliar with the band I am soon pleasantly surprised. This track is mostly uptempo and full of bright harmonised guitar melodies delivered by the talented Pierson Roe and James Kirn. The booming bass lines of Devin and thumping drums of Ryan provide a solid backbone to the track. A great start to the album!

Next up is Salvage What You Can of the Night and it already clear that the guitar work is a strong focus point of Blazon Rites music. The fuzzy riffs are velvety and like a vibrant glow over a glistening lake. Up front is Johnny Halliday and his vocals are are like a gloss to the music providing a warm and inviting tone.It is hard not to join is on the chorus with the shouts of the word Salvage. The is a belter of a track combining epic guitars, big shouts and the ability to power forward with out letting anything get in its way!

The Fall of a Once Great House changes mood by opening with a sweet and soft acoustic section. Electrified guitars that shine through the acoustic rings and bass notes that push the music forward. Johnny sails in and out with dynamic vocal lines before the music explodes and gives us some super charged guitar work. The Fall of a Once Great House has a great mix of tempo changes, variety in structure ideas and of course plenty of excitement and energy throughout the music itself.

Mark of the Stormborn Raiders intro builds up to the stomping of a kick drum. Layered with plenty of delicious guitar ideas before hurtling into the main body of the track. Once again theres plenty of variety in tempo being used perfectly for each section. Johnny Hallidays chorus delivery will capture your attention and make you want to join in on the singing! From intricate musical play to a moments of pure force in the speeding guitar Blazon Rite deliver another storming track.

Imagine sitting peacefully in a beautiful valley overlooking the countryside backed by distant mountains and sweet chirps of birds in the air and you have the intro of Wild Rites and Ancient Songs. Again, a loving acoustic guitar melody gently sends its notes into the winds before the song properly comes alive. The meat of this track is mostly fast and pounding ideas woven with bright and beautiful guitar licks that come and go at moments. Some of the big riffs in this song feel uplifting and will put you in a great mood!

Troubadours of the Final Quarrel hits your ears like a tornado trying a rip a hole through your ear drums. Even more harmonised guitar work comes in and out to say hello while the choruses hit hard with a 4/4 drum beats and guitar work that hammers and shreds. My remarks of the great guitar work I mentioned earlier by Pierson and James still stands strong! This is another great example of solid song writing by Blazon Rite!

We come to the end of the album with the last track The Coming Tide of Yule. It mixes jolliness and moody ideas through acoustic picking and pumped up by electrified and crushing guitar work. This is probably the track that gives of the most feeling and emotion on the album and I love it. Johnny adds his magic touches to a song that feels like a ship moving gracefully through the vast ocean before being violently thrashed at by big waves. A killer ending to a killer album!

Conclusion

Wild Rites and Ancient Songs is easily a killer album. If you are someone who wants to raise a sword up high and take full charge into battle than this album is for you. The band is exceptionally talented and know how to write interesting and compelling music that will capture the attention of listeners without any problems. From beautiful acoustic moments to guitar work that will speed past you in an instant, Blazon Rite deliver!

THENWOTHM SCORE: 8.5/10