The journey of a heavy metal album reviewer (is there such a word?!) often takes you to wild and uncharted territories of our beloved music universe. And even in the most desperate oceans of pop mediocrity or commercialistic exploit of art, one can find an island of holy heaviness and headbanger bliss. Speaking of islands – this chapter of newcomer exploration lands us on Cyprus, the magnetic mythical place where the local heroes “RECEVIER” stem from. Truth be told neither ever heard of those guys, nor could find even a line for them in the omnipotent The Metal Archives website – a good reason to start feeling kind of a “denim and leather” reincarnation of Indiana Jones, embarking on the next exploration quest.

Turns out, the “5 pieces metal set”, led by the charming front lady by the name of Nikoletta Kyprianou, who is also the artistic creator behind the album cover, formed in 2011 in Nicosia, Cyprus. It must have been quite the journey, patience and persistence and here we find the band in 2024, presenting their first album “Whispers of Lore”, a 9 tracks debut that’s about to see broad daylight on November the 10th. Recorded in Athens, Greece, at Entasis Studios and released by Gates of Hell Records, the recording shall be available on CD, vinyl, and digital formats for all of you metal lovers out there.

Review

Without further ado, the “Unite” springs out a spiral of catchy guitar work, covertly converted into a galloping chase to set the stage for the vox uprising. No letting us down here, the front lady storms into the song with a solid portion of confidence, to deliver a story of battling warriors, fields of honor, camaraderie and unity. After all, isn’t metal brotherhood all about these values? The tempo keeps hammering down our ears, while once more the six strings maestros overtake the bridge between verses to culminate a great opener. From the dust of the battlefield, we raise a sight to the skies to find a “Starchaser” roaming space and time, gazing into eternity. This banger inherits the staccato timing from the previous one, putting more accent on a melodious singing and “DIO”-like chorus to be echoed by an enthusiastic crowd. Definitely the composition style we encounter here is way more sophisticated, at moments mystified to mythological proportions, with later 70ties flavor and sense of completeness every music lover would highly appreciate. At this point, “RECEVIER” start getting my sincere sympathies and sparkling curiosity what the next tunes will whisper…

Mysterious roaring and a gnarly riff pave the way for the “Trespasser” to come along. He clearly loves the speed, so does the band in this one, shifting to top gear from the very beginning of the composition. It’s a lengthy intro and so is the entire song, peaking at astonishing six and a half minutes of awesomeness and artistic self-confidence. As If the sound is bit more vintage and the vocals saturated with dense perplexity relating to distant folklore descendance. This doesn’t put on secondary place the instrumental part, which plays vivid role in building the encaptivating framework of this piece. The grim lyrical sensation is tangible, but not dominant, broken by an invigorating narration to invite a buzzing guitar solo and scale emotion towards the last verse. An apocalyptic endgame gets mixed with a promise of resistance like an incarnation of the eternal good vs. evil stand-off.

“Falling To Dust” starts as a calming pacifier, with romantic balladic intro, gently ending to re- emerge into a rock-and-roll drum beat passage spiced with guitars and topped gracefully with Nikoletta’s magnetic voice. Celestial urges fill the air, catapulting a multifaceted fireworks of variations, sudden changes and atmospheric fine tuning of the musical forms. Hard to ignore the folk-rock gist here, one delicate thread of distant legacy that keeps the genre lineage from past decades and beyond. Deities of ancient, conspiring against the innate human call for divinity, fire fights the darkness, burning barriers to ashes. Halfway through the album, the refreshing instrumental intermission “Wilderness” delivers a couple of minutes mood resetting improvisation, to replenish the listener senses, laying the groundwork for Act Two.

In the very first chords of “Raiders Of The Night” one could spot а compulsive reference to the signature MANILA ROAD genesis, dissolving into thin air once we reach the bridge to the first chorus. Displaced by an extraordinary energetic delivery, a raiding frontal assault towards the misfortunes of the faith, turning the tables and chasing away the darkness into oblivion. The bombarding bass line in the middle of the song, amplified by the hypnotizing chanting contribute to that, building a bastion of hope and salvation for all those deceived by malice and havoc. True to the tradition to nominate a “live performance favorite”, my bet goes to the brave night riders, frantically hailed to charge by the headbanging congregation. “Arrow” reveals the twists and turns of a naval adventure, masterfully instilling nostalgic medieval sentiment, one a mystical old bard will inspire when wandering the realms of lords and kings. Listening to the cymbal strokes causes reminiscence to clashing battle sabres, a sound dear to those revolting the oppression and fighting for justice. The exquisite balanced mixture of female and male vocals in the chorus gives to that track an unique taste of completeness, that perfectly blends with the tender guitar work, praising those ready to struggle and sacrifice. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.

Reaching the epilogue phase “Whispers Of Lore” strikes with thunder and lightning to introduce us in a stormy atmosphere, making us imagine a lonely minstrel poetically stroking the strings of his lute, putting together the final fable of valor , true epitome of a time long gone, not to be forgotten. In all honesty, for being a title track, that one doesn’t stand with anything particular and if I a have to pick a fav tune, it would doubtfully make it in the Top 3. Either way, it’s a beautifully molded piece, fitting perfectly in the conceptual construct of the album, a melancholy elegy to wrap the legend up. “Prowess And Decay” it’s not just another bonus track filler, to bring the song count to the sacral number of nine. In reality it represents one of the most powerful messages of the release and from what I dug out in the web, a frequent live setlist track, cheerfully acclaimed by the audience and who knows, probably fit for a final encore. And why it shouldn’t be? Almost 7 minutes of pure metal power, constructed in the best stylistics of the heavy postulates, pitching another epic chronicle of bravery and wicked decadence. Crafting something of that monumental extravaganza, gets a fist in the air while headbanging and a slow clap of hands when the finishing sustain of the guitars has faded…

CONCLUSION: Looking back on this enchanting musical journey the islanders from RECEIVER deliver, obviously we are dealing with another fine example of the “hidden gem” syndrome. Beautiful surprise is the least you can put as a tag on “Whispers Of Lore” and I am honestly glad to have found such untapped creative potential lurking in Cyprus. By this day those folks were almost unknown and heavily underrated, yet with the artistic ideas and style they manifest, its just a matter of time the world to truly discover and embrace their music. Definitely putting the band on my radar and so should you. The choice is yours and the journey awaits.

TheNWOTHM Score: 8.5/10