Thunder Tribe: War Chant

"Originating from Kentucky;" one doesn't get to use that phrase often when describing new heavy metal music. War Chant features the vibrato-heavy vocals of Michael Duncan, dual guitars of Ronnie Duncan and Rick Sargent, bass of Tom Dawson and drums of Chad Osborne.

A strong '90s vibe resonates throughout these songs. Track 3 "Say Goodbye" has some serious Alice in Chains instrumentation, especially the guitar harmonies. Track 4 begs for the raised-lighter treatment as it begins sounding like a ballad then breaks into an Iron Maiden/Led Zepplin section and back again. A nice B section with acoustic and slide guitar keeps things interesting.

Going back to track one "More Wicked Than Not" I hear the Maiden influence again with guitar harmonies and galloping rhythm. I hear a Russell Allen-esque performance from Michael Duncan, along with Dio and Geoff Tate as well.

The title track, with lyrics about arrows and horses and wounded warriors, is pretty cheesy to be brutally honest. I don't think anyone is going to turn to Thunder Tribe for deep lyrical topics or introspection.

Wailing '80s metal shows up on "Believe" and I detect a King Diamond vocal-influence. "Above the Blue" could be mistaken as a love child of "Black Velvet" and "Children of the Damned."

"Echoes of a New Day" is the most original track on War Chant. Not sounding like any other influence and combining many tempos, this is the best out of all 11 tracks.

The production lacks nothing; the bass is plenty audible and the dual guitars are balanced well. Perhaps less reverb on the vocals but that's nit-picking, innit?

Reviewing something to which I wouldn't necessarily listen is one of the challenges I encounter. Do I give it 2 stars because it's just a melting-pot of heavy metal from the '80s and '90s? That would be the easy way out. There's no pointless guitar-solo indulgence and the songs are well-composed and trimmed from being too long. There is a whole generation that would thoroughly enjoy Thunder Tribe.

Tracklist:
01. More Wicked Than Not
02. Part of the Black
03. Say Goodbye
04. The Light
05. War Chant
06. Believe
07. Watching It Burn
08. Above The Blue
09. Echos of a New Day
10. Fly
11. It's A Lie

Added: October 8th 2013
Reviewer: Ryan Good
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1862
Language: english

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