By Gruesome Greg
Although the name screams Sabbath, musically speaking, Wall of Sleep sounds a lot more like Manowar than their Hungarian cohorts Magma Rise. On that note, the first song, “Hungry Spirits” would only be more amusing if it were performed by Australian indie rockers Hungry Kids of Hungary. There is a definitely power metal sheen to this one, and a pre-chorus that sounds like their singer is saying “It gets harder” four or five times in a row.
“Receive the Pain,” while slower, still has that 80’s metal vibe to it, a little like Accept, produced by Michael Wagener, with one of those non-talented L.A. hack singers. Ugh, that kinda sounds like Eat the Heat, but I wouldn’t stoop that low. “Hell Sells” (Does it sell bells, by chance?) has the closest thing to a Sabbathian riff, but even then, it just sounds too polished, too clean, with a soaring chorus that does not sound even remotely depressing. “Army of the Dead” also has a couple decent doom riffs as well, but the whole does not equal the sum of its parts. This is half-decent 80’s trad metal, but I wouldn’t call it doom.
Even Dehumanizer was gloomier than this. That being said, if Balls to the Wall/Metal Heart era-Accept or those mid-80’s Scorpions albums are your thing, you might not mind this modern slice of throwback Euro metal.
http://www.myspace.com/wallofsleepdoommusic
(PsycheDOOMelic)
