{"id":34820,"date":"2015-04-24T00:00:48","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T00:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=34820"},"modified":"2015-08-12T21:31:06","modified_gmt":"2015-08-12T21:31:06","slug":"album-review-nomans-land-last-crusade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-nomans-land-last-crusade\/","title":{"rendered":"NOMANS LAND – Last Crusade (2015) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOMANS LAND
Last Crusade<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMassacre (2015)<\/span>
Rating: 5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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As soon as you push the \u201cplay\u201d button on Last Crusade<\/em> \u2013 the fifth album from Russia\u2019s Nomans Land \u2013 you know what you\u2019re in for. <\/p>\n

Nomans Land deserves to be put into the same category as label mates Heathen Foray, although for me these guys are just not my cup of tea. From the galloping yet formulaic Viking melodies to the clean vocal choruses, this is very much run of the mill yet catchy \u201cepic\u201d metal, evoking images of warring armies, mythical landscapes, glistening ruins and Norse heroism. Nomans Land occupies the more tepid end of the spectrum, however, opposite to Heathen Foray\u2019s heavier strains. <\/p>\n

With opener \u2018Right To Luck\u2019, the Nomans Land sound is summed up; although less dramatic than certain bands, there\u2019s just no real oomph to proceedings except within the occasional vocal sneers, which all too often make way for those predictable booming choruses where the main vocal sounds as if it\u2019s been puked out by some choir of soldiers. It just sounds all too camp and cheesy for my liking, particularly on \u2018Sons Of The Nord\u2019. The track meanders with no real menace or grit, but this is traditional Viking metal played safely and given extra bite with Hjervard\u2019s snarl \u2013 with Sigurd\u2019s injection of crooning though, I\u2019m just repulsed to my very core, exhausted by such dire bellows. <\/p>\n

And the album follows that premise throughout, probably because that\u2019s what people expect from such a caper. Although the general sound is one rather lightweight, the solos are a tad lofty and yet have no ability to cut deep \u2013 the seemingly medieval jigs of \u2018Victory Horns\u2019 better suited to a night in with Game Of Thrones<\/em> \u2013 although I\u2019m certainly not deterred by the beefier vocal menace which seems to suit the music better, especially when the drums, bass and guitars unite to produce added flair. <\/p>\n

\u2018Strain At The Oars\u2019 is a half decent track, hinting at some mid-to-late 80s menace with a steely riff and rattling drum, and yet I\u2019m sat there praying that the clean vocal does not interrupt. When it does though, it\u2019s actually not as grating as other segments of the album. Indeed, one can imagine muscle-bound soldiers pounding the waves and so this track is proof that at times the defter vocal touches can work, but what I don\u2019t want is a blinding glean. <\/p>\n

\u2018Dragons\u2019 follows a similar path to \u2018Strain At The Oars\u2019 although is less potent, but \u2018Last Crusade\u2019 just resorts to type and I just wonder how many bands of this ilk have come up with such similar routes. \u2018Warrior\u2019s Path\u2019 picks up the pace, the guitars worming their way nicely but offering no malice whatsoever, and the closing \u2018Bereza\u2019 is again typical; boasting that choir of booming voices to the point of hilarity. <\/p>\n

I just can\u2019t take it seriously, and yet I realise just how passionate these sorts of bands are about mythology and the likes. If I wanted such mystical prowess though, I\u2019d slap on Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol or Quorthon Seth (Bathory). And so, Nomans Land just isn\u2019t my thing. They could take a few lessons from Heathen Foray, although with a career spanning almost 20 years I don\u2019t think this Russian troop is going to be interested in what I\u2019ve got to say. So it\u2019s best I left them to their own devices as they enrol on another course of role-playing tomfoolery.<\/p>\n

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

NOMANS LANDLast Crusade Massacre (2015)Rating: 5\/10 As soon as you push the \u201cplay\u201d button on Last Crusade \u2013 the fifth album from Russia\u2019s Nomans Land \u2013 you know what you\u2019re in for. Nomans Land deserves to be put into the same category as label mates Heathen Foray, although for me these guys are just not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-nomans-land"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34820","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34820"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34832,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34820\/revisions\/34832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}