Canada’s wintry fury continues!

From No Remorse Records, a stalwart of the NWOTHM scene, comes the latest debut release from the Great White North. How does this album stack up in a sea of contemporaries?

TOWER HILL is a traditional heavy metal band from the Canadian Prairies. Founded initially as a one-man project in 2020 by vocalist R.F. Traynor, TOWER HILL surged into a five-man, stage-ready heavy metal force soon after the release of their “Fighting Spirits” demo tape in early 2021.
Inspired by old school heavy and power metal bands like RUNNING WILD, JUDAS PRIEST, RIOT, STORMWITCH, early BLIND GUARDIAN and HELLOWEEN, TOWER HILL delivers fast-paced, hook-driven, and riff-forward heavy metal with soaring solos, dynamic drumming, and lyrical storytelling from high drama to pulp fiction and everything in between.
“Deathstalker” was recorded and engineered by Jeremy Puffer and R.F. Traynor at B.T. Studios. Vocals recorded and engineered by Diego Fernandez at Oracle Studios. Mixed by Diego Fernandez at Oracle Studios. Mastered by Olof Wikstrand at Hvergelmer Studios.
Cover art by Andreas Marschall (RUNNING WILD, BLIND GUARDIAN, HAMMERFALL, KREATOR).
The song “Port Of Saints” is dedicated to Majk Moti (RIP).

REVIEW

Canada’s NWOTHM scene is fast becoming one of the most lively in the entire subgenre, rivaling those of Germany and Sweden. TOWER HILL is the latest in a long line of Canadians metallers, sharing company with ICE WAR, MANACLE, and SMOULDER.

Kicking things off is “Deathstalker”, the title track, which begins with some brief harmonious guitar work, before soon giving way to a banshee cry. Our first taste of R.F. Traynor’s vocals is a sweet one. I enjoy his higher pitch work, and his general singing is aggressive and harsh, but not enough to detract from the lyrics or music. The chorus is catchy and a slight earworm at times. Instruments are solid all around, some nice riffage interspersed in the song, with a nice drumbeat to boot. A gnarly solo nearly bookends things before the chorus reprises to close the title track out. Pretty killer start to a debut album!

Following that is “The Claw is the Law” (no relation to the similarly named track by RAVENOUS). For some reason, the tempo of this track reminded me of Screaming for Vengeance era JUDAS PRIEST, but I couldn’t exactly put my ear as to why. This one hooked me in quite a bit earlier than the title track, which I already loved. Another solid solo and some more great lead work, make this one a must-listen on the album.

“Fighting Spirits” begins with a spoken section that I believe was taken from the 1992 Western film “Tombstone”. The storytelling in the lyrics of this track made me recall IRON MAIDEN and ICED EARTH (before dude tried to overthrow the government). This song is everything that I love about metal, epic lyrics that tell a story, great instrumentation, and some solid vocals. Incredibly hooky chorus too!

“Kings Who Die” followed suit, and with TOWER HILL batting 3 for 3 right now, I assumed that this might be when they begin to take it somewhat slow. I was wrong, as the song begins with the heaviest riff on the album thus far. It’s also the closest to speed metal of any track thus far. Obviously, I loved it.

“In At the Death” starts off with some dueling leads, and then a crushing riff that I couldn’t help but bang my head to. The vocals reminded me of some space rock prog stuff, but I couldn’t quite place exactly who it made me recall. Still it’s great to see some range from Traynor! It’s a slower tempo track from the previous one, but it’s a great change of pace that worked for me.

“All the Little Devils Are Proud of Hell” was next, and the title alone made me sure to like this one. It began with another spoken word/sample sequence, but I wasn’t quite sure where it was from. Though the title was a bit deceiving, as the track seems to be more about beer and partying than it is about devils and Hell. Still though, it’s quite the ripper, and the closest we’ve had to a proper balad thus far.

“How Am I” was next, and had lyrics that evoked the aftermath of a bad breakup, or another sort of loss. There’s some great emotion in Traynor’s voice, and equally so in the instruments, but without losing the tempo or sacrificing the metal qualities of the song. A recurring guitar riff was a treat as well!

Named after the Greek mythological character, who was the daughter of Oedipus, “Antigone”, was next up and began in a way that was reminiscent of power metal. By this point, it dawned on me that TOWER HILL was experimenting a bit with their sound here, and maybe testing if this was more their route. As a fan of power metal, I enjoyed this track, albeit not as much as previous ones.

“Port of Saints” had the tall task of closing out the album, but I believe it did so well enough. There’s some evocative lyrics throughout the track, and some solid riffage. This one did remind me quite a bit of RUNNING WILD, who I will always say is greatly underappreciated.

CONCLUSION

It’s a solid start for these Canadian metallers! While I do think that the back half of the album wasn’t as strong as the front, I still think this is a solid record, and I can’t wait for it’s official release on October the 27th. If there were any major nitpicks, I wish that the bass got a bit more time to shine.

TheNWOTHM: 7/10

TOWER HILL
Bandcamp: https://towerhillmetal.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/towerhillca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/towerhillmetal/