Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s High Council formed in 2003 and plays epic heavy metal. After six releases, including one full length album, High Council presents their second album, Cruel and Unusual.

On Cruel and Unusual, High Council draws from the folky power metal of Blind Guardian and Legendry and the epic heavy metal of Megaton Sword and Eternal Champion to craft a compelling but uneven album that is certainly worth giving a spin. The album highlights here are grand, triumphant heavy metal tunes full of ground-shaking guitar riffs, epic twin guitar fireworks, inventive basslines, and tight drumming. Even the weaker tracks on the album showcase something that the band hasn’t revealed yet on the preceding tracks. This is the kind of album that foretells a band’s break out into something more, and I am excited to hear what High Council comes up with next.  

Review

Kicking down the gates with epic twin lead guitars, Cruel and Unusual sets the bar high for the album. Bob Saunders’ and Steve Donahue’s vocals perfectly match the heightened tone of the song, which mixes power metal and traditional heavy metal to achieve the kind of grandeur that will entice epic heavy metal fans. The stately guitars are undergirded by a strong, driving rhythm section that keeps this title track from falling into one of the pitfalls of some epic heavy metal, overlong songs the runtime of which feels padded. Not this tune: even at four and a half minutes, it always feels like its progressing toward some climax. Cruel and Unusual concludes with some pretty acoustic guitars that echo the themes of the song and transitions beautifully into the next track.

Routed in the Wood (By Eldlings and Brackenguard) opens with acoustic guitars and softly sung lyrics that recall Blind Guardian. After a short introduction, the song kicks into gear with burly guitars and some slightly uneven falsetto singing. However, a highlight of this song is the use of crystalline synthesizers in the verses to add some fantastical flair to the mid-tempo riffage. Toward the end of the track, the whole band picks up and pushes this song into epic territory with some excellent guitar leads, compelling drums, and interesting turns of lyrical phrase; I only wish the song got to this epic peak a little faster. Still, the ripping guitar solo at the peak of the song is worth the wait.

To From Whence bursts onto the scene with some chunky guitar riffs that bring a heaviness to balance the lighter acoustic fare of Routed in the Wood. This song manages to brow that epic heavy metal feel through heavier guitar riffage, and I am here for it! Perfectly blending their influences from power metal (namely through gruff but rapturous singing) and epic heavy metal (through the bulldozer guitar riffs), To From Whence is an excellent counterpoint to both tracks that book-end it.

Schwarzschild Radius opens gently, with gingerly plucked acoustic guitar and light drumming and bass playing. It’s on this track and others that the bass really stands out – an excellent balanced tone and some inventive bass lines give the bass character and demonstrates the tight rhythm section of the band. A little shy of halfway through the song, things pick up and the chugging guitar riff plays counter to another great bass line from Lou DiDomenico. While the song runs a little long, these highlights show that High Council is the real deal. With just a little editing, this and other tracks on the album could be real show stoppers. High Council also fills a niche in the epic heavy metal sphere, with power metal influences (like the delicate acoustic guitars and neoclassical guitar solos) that give heft and weight to the more muscular guitar riffing in the verses.

Liberator is another brawler it seems, wasting no time diving into a gargantuan riff before more epic twin guitars enter to give that sense of balance between dark and light that High Council is so good at striking. However, this track does a great job of counterbalancing these hard and heavy riffs with virtuoso guitar leads, tasteful bass playing, and emotive singing. About halfway through the track, an acapella section encapsulates Saunders’ and Donahue’s voices at their best. The song then breaks down into an acoustic bridge that builds with hefty guitars. While a little too long, Liberator shows yet another trick from High Council’s epic heavy metal bag.

Jackal opens with solemn acoustic guitars, lightly plucked bass, and Baroque vocal chanting. Leaning more on doom metal’s funereal grandeur, Jackal proceeds with chunky mid-tempo riffs. The weakest track on the album, this song plods along without the peaks of other tracks. Still, there are some truly compelling and inventive doom metal riffs on this track. I hope in the future High Council can write another doomy song like this one that brings in those flashy moments of excitement from the other tracks on the album.

Plaguebringer 2025 may be another track that opens with gentle acoustic guitars, but the strummed guitars combined with pretty singing give this tune a unique character in the introduction. The longest track on the album, Plaguebringer 2025 takes a long time to build to its climax, and only some of the progression toward the climax is compelling. That being said, the song features some of the best guitar work on the album. The climax comes when the vocals take on a call-and-response quality that, though brief, highlights some of High Council’s stronger instincts. An imperfect but admirable track, Plaguebringer 2025 could probably use some editing down to make those vocal and guitar highlights stand out even more.

An instrumental jam, Wildspace blasts off with some effervescent double bass and chunky guitars before shifting gears into a neoclassical monster of a riff. Legato guitars and the heaviest riff on the album leads the track into more neoclassical guitar leads that keep this tune moving along at a brisk pace. Although chock full of excellent headbanging and air-guitar inducing riffs and one particularly bright synth lead, I wish this song had lyrics to end the album on a truly epic closer. This one feels less like a song and more like an epilogue, which is sad because the building blocks for a triumphant blast of epic power metal are all there, minus the vocals.

Conclusion

Cruel and Unusual has me excited to hear more from High Council. When this album hits its stride at numerous points throughout the album, High Council is in top form. Without question, this band can write great riffs, verses, basslines, and interludes. Some of the songs don’t form cohesive packages, and at 46 minutes the album wears a little long, but I rarely felt bored listening to this album, especially after a few spins, because I knew that another kick ass riff or section was typically coming quickly on the heels of any weaker points. The album is definitely front loaded with the better songs coming towards the beginning of the album, but the whole package is worth a listen. The production does a tremendous job of highlighting the band’s dynamic range, with delicate acoustic guitars leading seamlessly into high energy bursts of low-end pummeling and sizzling twin guitar leads. While not perfect, Cruel and Unusual is a very solid effort from High Council with lots of song worthy of adding to your epic heavy metal playlist.

TheNWOTHM Score: 8.0/10 

Links

Bandcamp: https://highcouncil.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/highcouncilband#

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highcouncilband/?hl=en

Out 11 April 2025

Line-up:
Bob Saunders – Guitars, Vocals
Steve Donahue – Guitars, Vocals
Lou DiDomenico – Bass, Keyboards
Greg “Wolfman Vegas” McKeever – Drums