{"id":104559,"date":"2025-02-20T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T00:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=104559"},"modified":"2025-03-11T11:45:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T11:45:04","slug":"album-review-villain-dont-be-a-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-villain-dont-be-a-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"VILLAIN – Don\u2019t Be A Hero (2025) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

VILLAIN
Don\u2019t Be A Hero<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSelf-released (2025)<\/span>
Rating: 6.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

With their debut full-length album these Canadian rockers sure know how to start a leather waistcoat party! Tidy heavy metal is the name of the game here with ten brisk and beefy choice cuts that have that classic steely gallop which harkens back to the days of vintage Iron Maiden laced with US power metal, as evidenced on the boisterous opening title track.<\/p>\n

Sadly, \u2018Don\u2019t Be A Hero\u2019 is not the heaviest metal song you\u2019ll hear. Vocalist and axeman Caleb Beal \u2013 who also features for Midnight Malice and Breaker \u2013 has a strong traditional metal voice, but at times even his charismatic croons can\u2019t rescue this album from being just another heavy metal platter.<\/p>\n

\u2018Womaneater\u2019 is a gem though, cruising smoothly through the night like a caped crusader and a soundtrack of steady drums thanks to Jake Gracie. However, it is a huge shame that the production doesn\u2019t allow anything here to burst from the speakers.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Ride\u2019 sounds like early Ratt, glam-tinged but weighty and snarling from within its folds, while \u2018Sweet Danger\u2019 is another galloping affair where the Toronto-based band comes into their own more with a piece of pure metal, albeit archaic and typically throwback. Expect plenty of predictable numbers, but you can still soak up the rays cast from the steel even if it\u2019s not quite as glaring as you hoped.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a decent amount of sizzle in Caleb Beal\u2019s axework, with \u2018Venus Mound\u2019 being a good example, but you\u2019ll find a crispness all round before the combo rounds off proceedings with \u2018Razing Hell (Tokyo)\u2019, a streetwise but formulaic rocker that does exactly what it says on the tin.<\/p>\n

Villain offer no real surprises here, but if you\u2019re looking for another solid heavy metal platter to ease the craving then why not snap this one up. Not quite villainous or heroic, this debut may slip under the radar of many.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VILLAINDon\u2019t Be A Hero Self-released (2025)Rating: 6.5\/10 With their debut full-length album these Canadian rockers sure know how to start a leather waistcoat party! Tidy heavy metal is the name of the game here with ten brisk and beefy choice cuts that have that classic steely gallop which harkens back to the days of vintage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5873],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-villain-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104560,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104559\/revisions\/104560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}