This is one puzzling release. On one hand, this USA metal band sports a sound that harkens back to the glory days of the early 1980's, when bands like Warlock, Anvil, Grim Reaper, and the like were starting to come out of the woodwork. Then, Widow also throws in some cheesy hair metal influences (one look at the cover of the CD and you can expect some of that), as well as some death/black metal references. So, what's the deal? Well, the band, despite some shortcomings, have put together a fun little CD here, one that's not going to be taken too seriously, but they obviously had a good time making it and that comes across in the music. Widow features three lead vocal styles-a female singer who sounds like a combination of Doro Pesch and Amy Lee from Evanescence, a male vocalist who has that 80's hair metal flair, and a scorching death/black metal screecher. Quite the strange combination right? I thought so as well upon first listen, but somehow it works. The guitar work on the album is pretty tasty, as the two players obviously grew up listening to classic NWOBHM bands like Judas Priest, Saxon, Iron Maiden, and Def Leppard, plus shredders like Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, and Tony MacAlpine. There's a mixture of anthems, atmospheric numbers, and all out metal thumpers here, most with laughable titles like "Sinderella", "An American Werewolf in Raleigh", "The Preachers Daughter", and "I'll Bury You Alive", but if you can look past that this is a pretty enjoyable listen. My suggestion to Widow-drop the 80's hair metal stuff, and stick to the aggressive female fronted power metal mixed with black metal vocals. That combination seems to work best for them. It will be interesting to see where they go from here.
Track Listing
1) An American Werewolf in Raleigh
2) The Preacher's Daughter
3) Here to Stay
4) Re-Animate Her
5) Sinderella
6) Not Alone
7) Dead End
8) Misstery
9) Family Affair
10) I'll Bury You Alive
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