Valkyrian Music

Haiduk
Spellbook
Due for release/Released: July 2012
Melodic Death Metal
Released via Label: Self-Released

‘Spellbook’ is the debut album from the Canadian death metal artist Haiduk.

Right from the first riff of the opening track ‘Black Wind’ it’s clear that you’re entering death metal territory. This one-man metal machine sure knows how to produce some quality thrash guitar -infused death metal. Think Vader or early Decapitated with some added melodic elements and it should give you some idea of what this sounds like. Some of the tracks such as ‘Fire Wield’ feature very little vocals but the skilfully executed guitar melodies more than make up for this.

Then there’s the fast and catchy ‘Lich’ which pounds its way through your eardrums. Once again there are some growly vocals on here, (honest!). Right in the middle of the track, sandwiched neatly between the walls of riffage and steady drumming. Similar things can be said for ‘Maelstrom’ which seems to focus on the guitar parts more than anything else. Luckily Mr. Milojica is a highly skilled guitar player so even the instrumental parts of the tracks sound good. Another noteworthy song is ‘Tremor’ which starts off with an excellent guitar solo followed by some of the catchiest guitar structures in the whole album.

Overall this is a very promising debut. The only minor issue I have with it is that the music tends to be slightly one-dimensional with most of the emphasis being placed on the guitar whilst everything else, including the vocals, takes a back seat.

3.5/5

Iza Raittila

This entry was posted on 5th October 2012 at 3:58 pm and is filed under Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.