Reviews

Along with my brother (AceQ2k) I had the pleasure this weekend of experiencing some of Metal's newest Texas bands performing live here at Sam’s burger joint in San Antonio. For those of you who haven't been down to San Antonio, Sam's is a local diner\bar\club with great local and national acts performing weekly.
We arrived early enough to catch Reverend during their sound check and so we grabbed some nachos and waited for the doors to open. Being early paid off as we were lucky enough to get a free shirt for being one of the firsts to get in. The cover charge was $8 and was more than a great price for all 5 bands billed that night.
The club itself isn't a very large area , probably about a total of 3,000 square feet. The stage is rather small also so it's a very casual environment with lounge couches and circle booths in the back areas. You get a good shot of the stage anywhere you sit.
Ancient Cross opened up the show promptly at 8:30 with their original "Teach the child". And the first thing that I think everyone noticed were the 12” metal spike armbands he was wearing which I might add came courtesy of living for metal's own leather accessories. They looked killer on Michael and were every bit as fitting to Ancient Cross's image as well as their sound. I have to admit singer Michael Lance sounds even better live than he does on the samples found at their site. And Joe and Mike both delivered a great show of guitar playing. Rarely do I find a great guitar duo but with these 2 guys it's obvious they have been playing together for a long time. Each band was asked to cover a song from DAVID WAYNE'S career and almost all the bands chose to do a cover from Metal Church. Ancient Cross did a cover of "Beyond the Black" which sounding amazing with Michael's vocals.
Up next was Ignitor, fronted by Erica Swinnich (Formerly of Autumn Tears) with whom I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with before the show. Also being introduced for the 1st time was Annah the bands latest addition to the lineup. And for it being her 1st show with the band she fit in just perfect. Standing at nearly 6 feet tall she has a dominant presence on stage and can shred with the best of em'. I have always believed that the greatest things in life come in the smallest of packages and that holds true upon your first impression of Erica. She is about 5' tall with a voice that carries stronger than any 6' or 7' Giant could ever have. Live and up front I could see easily why she's been so talked about here on the local scene. The band opened up with "Take to the sky" followed by "Scarlet Enigma" a fairly new tune and kept it going with more off their "Take to the sky" debut. Ignitor chose to play "Metal Church" as their tribute song and while the song went over well with the audience, the set's closer "March to the Gulliotine" was by far the bands crusher. I look forward to hearing that one again on the bands upcoming CD.
Following Ignitor was Azrael's Bane which I had been especially looking forward to seeing live since I had heard so many good things from friends and fellow musicians. I was from start to finish blown away by the bands live show. Great songs and shredding leads is just a small part of the bands live show, throw in the five 5 part vocal harmonies and Rick Wards drumming and its a show of musical showmanship and style. The band opened with "Forbidden" a new tune soon to be released on the new album. They also played 2 other new songs "Save us all" and "Brother". The highlight of the night was when the band performed "Waiting" off their "Wings of innocence" debut CD . This song shreds with one of the most intense solos that I have ever heard and watching them play it live was amazing. They chose Metal Church's "Start the fire" as their tribute to David Wayne. The Band also performed "Diary of a madman" which was a special treat for me since I love RANDY RHOADS ! The band did a great cover of that song and closed the set with their Hit single "Shine" If you haven't checked 'em out do yourself a favor and go to this site at least. You won't be disappointed!
Reverend soon took the stage with not one but 2 singers. As it turns out the band is still undecided as to who will front the band. First up was San Antonio local Rob Steel who dished out David's songs with a new vocal style adding some screams and growls that just were not a part of what I recall in David Wayne's own style. Needless to say I was not that impressed by him as his stage presence was a bit off and at times the vocals sounding a bit too growlish for me. The band did some new songs with Rob on vocals and then came up Erik Wayne (who I was told is NOT David Wayne's brother and just happens to have the same last name) When I first got to the club I had heard him during the sound check (which was kinda' shaky on his part) so I had a good idea of his sound. After several songs the band broke into " Scattered Witts" and it was at this point that Erik fell into his own. Filling the shoes of David Wayne's is no easy task for any one singer, yet after I heard him sing that song then go on to sing (with as much emotion as he could find in his soul) "Gods of Wrath" . I was more than sure that REVEREND, who will have to choose between these 2 guys will make the right choice. Either way Reverend will live on.
As the last band to find their way to the stage, Austin's own DRIFTER plays Iron Maidens tunes as close as you can get to the real band. I had a chance to speak with Bassist Stoney Grantham (who is also the bassist for SHADOWKEEP) before the show. A great guy he was really cool and added that Shadowkeep's new album is done and will hopefully be available for release soon. When a band takes on the challenge of performing a great band such as Iron Maiden you automatically think of Bruce's vocals. And with no exception HOMER SALDANA vocalist for Drifter can hold his own and then some. The guy nailed all his notes and sang his ass off. Covering maidens " The Trooper" with ease and then to top it off breaking into the epic 11 minute "Rhyme of the ancient mariner". Stoney's bass playing was and is by far the best part of Drifters performance. I had to look onstage and make sure Steve Harris wasn't hiding behind a speaker somewhere! "Killers" was also another highlight for me, and done as good as the original. The band chose "Watch the children pray" and absolutely nailed the song.
Over all it was a great night of Metal and for me it had been a long time since I had gone to a show and enjoyed each and every band. I feel lucky to have been there and witnessed this show as it was all for a great cause and I look forward to next years show!
Some new pics will be posted up on my space later today so check back for a link at this Post !

Ancient cross is as band that has endured through thick and thin thru its long lived career with a Classic Metal sound and style that has been sorely missed in the Metal community of today. With influences ranging from Helstar,Fates Warning,Queensryche,And Mercyful Fate to name but a few this band has some even rarer qualities in that they also are heavily Influenced by some of the greatest metal bands from San Antonio to have ever played:Byfist,SA Slayer,Watchtower and many others..Michael Lances vocals are as fresh and new to the bands sound as you can find and while many singers could easily pull off being a moderate to high pitch vocalist in a band like Ancient Cross they could never have the true METAL background that he has portrayed on this sampler. While the sampler I received to review is Short,with only 3 songs its a small peek at what is yet to come on their new release due out soon in the next few months and of what will surely be a Superb METAL album.

..:: Track By Track ::..

"The Queen Is Dead"- The 1st song on the sampler opens up with an addictive riff thats very close to an early mercyful fate and queensryche sound.As the song progressess the vocals and the melody shift in both pitch and harmony as Michael drops from a lower range in his vocal style to a sudden elevation in pitch that is similar to what all the metal greats such as King Diamond ,Geoff Tate and John Arch became famous for in the early era of Metal. On this song he screams and growls and keeps you on the edge. The music keeps a steady pace and the band adds its accents and breaks in all the right places with a slight wah added to the solo that creates an overall wall of sound that is really impressive.

"Hourglass"-Upon hearing the first notes on this song I was taken back to Queensryche's "The lady wore black" there is a very similar pattern that then leads up to the opening guitar solo followed by the songs vocals.The song cotinues with another short solo after the 1st verses followed by a slightly heavier chorus and yet another solo that builds up speed nicely.The bass playing near the end of this track is really excellent with a couple of key notes here and there to keep the song building in dynamics as the song closes out .A nice touch to the ending is the added harmonics on Miguels part,although a bit of an added delay or chorus would help the overall sound on this track immensely.My only complaint would be the guitars overall sound on this track they just sound a bit too raw.

"Forsaken"- The last track here is a really fine Metal tune that opens with JOE on the wah and playing a solo that really fits the song.Coming right out of the solo with a great pounding Power riff that is then followed with some well placed Breaks and accents. If you arent banging your head by now YOU MY FRIEND are with out a pulse .The main melody played by Joe combines a solid riff in which he accents with the WAH pedal very nicely.The vocals follow the main melody and come across just as well.at about the 2:30 mark the guitar solo kicks in with another melody change and this fits the song just as well keeping the same song structure going as the speed builds up and gives the song an added boost.With Fists in the air and Horns saluting there is no other way to jam on this song .