Formerly known as Stryker from Vancouver (not to be confused with Striker outta Edmonton), heavy power trio Spell strikes again with their second record, For None and All, a bubbling cauldron of witchcraft and scorpions on Bad Omen Records.
“Madame Psychosis” immediately puts us under with its bright, clean riffage of the trad-metal variety, coming off as a cross between vintage Goat Horn and Atlantean Kodex. “Whipping Sigils” is a more up-tempo rocker somewhat akin to labelmates Satan’s Satyrs, with some soaring voice synths on the chorus. The old-school attack of “Too Late” recalls vintage Judas Priest and early Motley Crue, with a nice slow section just shy of the two-minute mark. (It almost sounds like there’s some steel guitar here, but I think that’s a synth.) And while the vocal vibrato of “The Sickness Unto Death” has me thinking Axl Rose, this ain’t no “Sweet Child o’ Mine!”
Instrumental interlude “Séance” sounds like something from a Goblin-penned horror soundtrack, but for the most part this is true traditional metal. “The Veil” wails like Dokken in their prime, while “Vanitas” is slower, almost like an Iron Maiden power ballad. And man, what a majestic chorus!
Released May 13, 2016.
spellofficial.bandcamp.com/album/for-none-and-all
