{"id":19055,"date":"2014-04-25T00:00:02","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T00:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=19055"},"modified":"2014-06-11T21:06:36","modified_gmt":"2014-06-11T21:06:36","slug":"album-review-existance-steel-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-existance-steel-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"EXISTANCE – Steel Alive (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXISTANCE
Steel Alive<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMausoleum (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/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

French metallers Existance begin their full-length debut opus Steel Alive<\/em> with something akin to an 80s horror film soundtrack of throbbing guitars, pensive drums and a sprinkle of gothic keys, and then it\u2019s onto the usual traditional metal gallop that seems to splatter thousands of heavy metal albums emerging at the moment. But hey, this quartet aren\u2019t too bad at all. <\/p>\n

Existance are bolstered by the vocal quality of guitarist Julian Izard (the son of former H-Bomb frontman Didier Izard) who, alongside bassist Thomas Drouin, has been with the band since their 2008 inception \u2013 drummer Alex Revillon and guitarist Antoine Poiret joined in 2012, meanwhile.<\/p>\n

A formidable line-up, Existance are more than adequate when it comes to spewing out driving powerful metal which \u2013 according to the opus\u2019 press release \u2013 has the aim of \u201ckeeping the musical spirit of 1980s heavy metal alive\u201d. Now, I\u2019ve heard countless bands say that through their press releases, but Steel Alive<\/em> is a decent record; the effort boasts 11 sturdy numbers that showcase the talent of the twin guitar attack specifically, which is often mightier than the blade as Poiret and Izard carve out a grandiose set of melodies that reek of melody and precision.<\/p>\n

Opener \u2018Legends Never Die\u2019 has an epic feel to it, and each instrument is allowed to breath courtesy of the fantastic mastering from Maor Appelbaum. Appelbaum was responsible for mastering albums from various artists such as Halford, Sepultura, Dokken and, notably, Yngwie J. Malmsteen \u2013 the reason I pick this particular guitar wiz\u2019 out is because some of the shredding on this record is something he\u2019d no doubt be proud of. Again, I refer to the opener with its fantastic guitar work and Izard\u2019s classic metal call of the wild.<\/p>\n

This pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album, which has its fires continuously stoked by the brilliant \u2018Black Viper\u2019 \u2013 which again features a killer solo and catchy riff \u2013 and the scintillating echoes of \u2018The Siren\u2019. This isn\u2019t to mention my favourite brace of tracks, those being \u2018Burning Angel\u2019, with its simmering quality and whispered vocal, and the monstrous metallic beast that is \u2018Steel Alive\u2019. <\/p>\n

Strangely, Existance\u2019s debut is one that feels contemporary despite its nod to the good ol\u2019 days, but it hasn\u2019t succumbed to modern dynamics either, having an almost stark, stripped back quality where the guitar is king \u2013 nodding to the more progressive elements of varying bands ranging from Helloween, especially in its lightly salted thrashier elements, particularly on the aforementioned \u2018Steel Alive\u2019 where Izard at times hints at Sebastian Bach with his tone. <\/p>\n

Yep, this is true metal, and this is something the band was aiming for. However cynical you may be regarding a lot of this revival rock, you cannot knock tracks such as the chugging \u2018Get Away\u2019, with its kicking percussion, or the fiery depths of \u2018From Hell\u2019, which comes complete with tolling bell, trotting horses and Jack the Ripper influence. \u201cDon\u2019t close your eyes and never turn your back…\u201d<\/em> warns Izard, and his words ring true when it comes to the band too, because you\u2019d be a fool to ignore this chunk of pure steel.<\/p>\n

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

EXISTANCESteel Alive Mausoleum (2014)Rating: 8\/10 French metallers Existance begin their full-length debut opus Steel Alive with something akin to an 80s horror film soundtrack of throbbing guitars, pensive drums and a sprinkle of gothic keys, and then it\u2019s onto the usual traditional metal gallop that seems to splatter thousands of heavy metal albums emerging at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1239],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-existance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19055","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=19055"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19059,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19055\/revisions\/19059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}