{"id":16799,"date":"2014-01-10T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=16799"},"modified":"2014-01-16T17:21:15","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T17:21:15","slug":"album-review-skull-fist-chasing-the-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-skull-fist-chasing-the-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"SKULL FIST – Chasing The Dream (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SKULL FIST
Chasing The Dream<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNoiseArt (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Skull Fist is, as I\u2019m sure you can tell by their moniker, a straight up heavy metal band who hail from Canadian shores. In 2011 they released their debut album, Head \u00d6f The Pack<\/em>, which came a year after their impressive Heavier Than Metal<\/em> EP. And it seems these guys are going to be a prolific act to follow because now they\u2019ve merged with their second full-length outing Chasing The Dream<\/em>, a solid, ballsy heavy metal composition boasting nine top-notch tracks to get that head banging once again.<\/p>\n

The band is still fronted by Jackie Slaughter who seems to get stronger on each release, and those powerful and quite distinctive vocals are backed by the drumming prowess of Chris Steve, the bolshy bass of Casey Slade and the guitar talents of Jonny Nesta, who aids Slaughter on those strings.<\/p>\n

What we have here is a batch of high quality heavy metal tunes that begin with the searing hot \u2018Hour To Live\u2019, which features a killer guitar intro before chugging like a thrash demon. This is clearly antique metal and yet with a distinctly modern edge, particularly in the melodies. The choruses are infectious and the production crisp, enabling the energy of this band to shine through.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bad For Good\u2019 offers a slab of 80s-inspired classic metal as it trudges with intent, showcasing the drumming ability of Chris Steve over those subtle vocal harmonies which you know are just going to explode like fireworks at any moment. The catchy chorus has hair metal glitz written all over it as the band swagger through a dazzling array of solos, hooks and stirring arrangements to keep the listener engulfed by the metal.<\/p>\n

The same can also be said for the enigmatic title track, but more so my two favourite tracks, \u2018Mean Street Rider\u2019 and \u2018Sign Of The Warrior\u2019, the former being a full-blooded power metal workout featuring effortless vocals and a smooth musical delivery aided by inch-perfect percussion. \u2018Sign Of The Warrior\u2019 tumbles in with a fantastic drum sprint and a classy, traditional metal guitar lead before Slaughter\u2019s banshee wail leads us into another fist-pounding piece of work that hints at Iron Maiden melted with Euro power metal.<\/p>\n

There is something so joyous and uplifting about the Skull Fist sound. There is nary a crack in sight as the band delivers hot rocker after hot rocker, and the lyrics of \u2018Mean Street Rider\u2019 seem to say it all as Jackie Slaughter belts out, \u201cMean street rider, it\u2019s the feeling that I\u2019m only getting higher. Mean street rider riding with desire, follow me and I will take you higher\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

These guys are one of the only groups I\u2019ve heard who so masterfully incorporate classic metal into their sound and yet seem to make it their own. There is nothing false or meagre about Chasing The Dream<\/em>, and I can see this release taking them to the top of the mountain because this is high quality metal played at a riveting standard and I can\u2019t see anyone else challenging them for the crown. It\u2019s no wonder there\u2019s a buzz about these guys, so hop on and follow the dream with them.<\/p>\n

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

SKULL FISTChasing The Dream NoiseArt (2014)Rating: 8.5\/10 Skull Fist is, as I\u2019m sure you can tell by their moniker, a straight up heavy metal band who hail from Canadian shores. In 2011 they released their debut album, Head \u00d6f The Pack, which came a year after their impressive Heavier Than Metal EP. And it seems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,981],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-skull-fist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16799","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=16799"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16803,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16799\/revisions\/16803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}