Seven Kingdoms
In The Walls EP
(Nightmare Records)
Floridian power/thrashers Seven Kingdoms are back with a hard-hitting EP that features four pretty solid and for the most part, memorable cuts. Fans of Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, MindMaze and A Sound Of Thunder will all find something to like here and they’ll like it even more if they’re fans of Game Of Thrones/A Song Of Ice and Fire. The Emmys were on last night and apparently Game Of Thrones walked out with a ton of awards, so we can be assured that Seven Kingdoms will have plenty of material for future outings. Compared to other more commercial female fronted metal acts, Seven Kingdoms are one of those bands who haven’t actually forsaken the metal genre just yet. There are no teary ballads to be found here and even when frontwoman Sabrina Valentine decides to let out a less forceful approach on the vocal end of things, Aaron Sluss still pounds his bass just as heavily as Keith Byrd pounds his drums. Guitarists Kevin Byrd and Camden Cruz unleash dozens of familiar power metal and thrash riffs as well, even though it sometimes feels like they’re in the back a bit sometimes and Valentine’s vocals might have been raised a wee bit higher than the rest of the band. Granted, she bellows out some of the most incredible highs whenever given the chance as the unforgettable title cut and “The Bloody Meadow” showcase, but it’s still a pet peeve of mine when I can’t hear the band as loudly in the mix as I should.
I do like when the whole approach changes to that of something quite resembling early Battlelore on album closer “Stormborn” as death growls are introduced as well as traditional melodic death metal riffs, something I thought I’d never hear from a band like this. In the same song, we also see why the band has two guitarists instead of one, as Seven Kingdoms demonstrates the power of it’s solo work in the same fashion that it does with the title cut. As for that title cut, it’s a definite mainstay for the band and will no doubt be played on future tours – as it should, “In The Walls” is clearly the band at their best and can stand on it’s own without even the other three other tracks attached to it. This cut delivers the exact Blind Guardian style thrash approach that I wanted and remember from their previous work. I never usually mention a title cut as nothing more than that, but here I think such a track is worth mentioning as this is literally the best cut on the EP.
It’s been a long time since 2012’s The Fire Is Mine and it’s great to see them coming out with new material to begin with. I especially like that some experiments (Stormborn) were tried and hopefully what comes next will deliver a good mix of both. In The Walls is exactly what it sounds like, an appetizer before a main banquet. Let’s just hope that the eventual main course doesn’t somehow happen to turn into the kind of banquet that precedes a red wedding.
