The New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal is alive in well in Raleigh, North Carolina, as evidenced by the fourth studio album from Mega Colossus, titled Showdown. Through six tracks at just under 40 minutes long, Showdown shows the talents of this five-piece band, who include Sean Buchanan (vocals), Bill Fischer (guitar), Chris Millard (guitar), Anthony Micale (bass, vocals), and Doza Hawes (drums). Blending technical/progressive metal, thrash, melodic metal, power metal, and a touch of glam metal, Mega Colossus really touches upon all that was great about heavy music in the '80s and beyond. I dare anyone to listen to the vibrant opener "Fortune and Glory" and not be drawn to hit the replay button repeatedly with that completely addicting chorus and those blazing lead guitars. It's quickly become one of my favorite songs of 2024! From there, headbangers like "Outrun Infinity", "Grab the Sun" and the title track are just around the corner, each one roughly 5-7 minutes of expert, crunchy riff-o-rama and damn near perfect solos, and Sean's upper register voice is the perfect foil for all this guitar mayhem. "Wicked Road" is damn near as catchy as the opener, and parts of "Take to the Skies" hits on so many cool prog-metal tropes, yet still retains that uber-hooky quality that the rest of the album has.
This one has been on a constant rotation of late, and even their previous album Riptime is well worth checking out. Definitely a band to watch, who seemingly have all the tools to break into the big time with their highly accessible sound. Now on Cruz del Sur Music as well!
And, for the record, they call themselves 'Adventure Metal!'!
Track Listing
1)Fortune and Glory
2)Outrun Infinity
3)Grab the Sun
4)Showdown
5)Wicked Road
6)Take to the Skies
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