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Heed - The Call
I had high hopes for this album because the frontman is Daniel Heiman, formerly of Lost Horizon. In case you didnt know, Daniel has, what many regard as one of the greatest metal voices in the past decade. His work with Lost Horizon was fantastic, coming up with some really original and powerful vocal lines that just plain kicked ass. He left the band and joined Heed, who just threw out their first full length with Daniel and another LH member (cant remember his name) now in the band.
I am very diappointed with this album. As I expected, the vocals are great...not as great as LH, but still very well done. Some melodies are very catchy, especially song 5 called "Enemy." It's been stuck in my head for a week now. My main gripe with this release is the music itself. It's so bland. I'll even go as far as to call it nu-metal. The riffs are quite simple, comprised of two notes in many songs and just very repetitive overall. There are guitar solos, but nothing impressive there, either. The drumming is typical nu-metal, with little to no use of a double bass. A few triplets here and there, but that is it. A few keyboard attachments find their way into some songs, and actually make some songs better, some worse.
This album really makes me understand how important the other guys in LH were for Daniel. His voice is so good in some parts, you just forget about the band and think that he carries everyone on his shoulders, but that surely isnt the case. I think his voice is much better suited for a band like Lost Horizon even if the music is "cheesier." The strange thing is that everyone said that he left LH because he wanted to do "heavier" music without all the cheese in the lyrics and music. Even tho LH's music has very cheesey themes throughout, the music itself is still twice as heavy as Heed is, with double bass prominent and some shredding guitars and plenty of up tempo moments.
I can say the good news is that Heed can learn from this release. They seem to be a band struggling to find their identity with this album. If the music was heavier, faster and thrashier with better riffs, then they would be a great, great band. Any band with Daniel at the forefront automatically has a strong core. If they can quit with the hard-rock mentality and go to full on metal with their next effort, it should be very good.
Heed - The Call is available in June in the USA. It can be ordered online right now from various distros. Mine came from Amazon, albeit with a month delay because I got the Japanese Import.
Overall, 6.5/10
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