{"id":93393,"date":"2022-05-06T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T23:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=93393"},"modified":"2022-05-10T17:23:59","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T16:23:59","slug":"ep-review-poisoned-chalice-poisoned-chalice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-poisoned-chalice-poisoned-chalice\/","title":{"rendered":"POISONED CHALICE – Poisoned Chalice EP (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

POISONED CHALICE
Poisoned Chalice EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSelf-released (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/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

I don\u2019t know a lot about this California band, but you slip them alongside Knight\u2019s Oath as purveyors of gloomy New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-inspired trad metal.<\/p>\n

This EP is the work of vocalist \/ guitarist Calvin Adrian and drummer Ben Richardson, alongside guest bassist Menno Verbaten, while the four tracks were mastered by multi-instrumentalist Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust).<\/p>\n

If you trawl the depths of the early-to-mid 80s you\u2019ll come across a lot of stuff like this; Euro Goth metal that\u2019s often stark, stripped and doomy as hell. In this case, as opening cut \u2018Death\u2019s Right Hand\u2019 begins its trundle, I\u2019m nodding to the stuffiness and mesmerised by the solid steel framework of guitars and bass. Meanwhile, the drums plod with anthemic quality to the storytelling croons of Calvin Adrian whose tone is far from polished, yet organic and at times slightly tuneless but effectively charming.<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s namesake cut fizzes with a killer groove, struttin\u2019 confidently like early Iron Maiden and lapping at, say, Angel Witch or Diamond Head. But this is where Adrian really comes to the fore with his vocals, owning this little number as his gravelled tones shine amidst a stark percussive bubble and some infectious axe work. It is metal produced to simple effect, but there\u2019s more a hint of unpredictability and progression on this number before it heads off into full metal mode with some axe wizardry and bass \/ percussion marrying.<\/p>\n

\u2018Wastin\u2019 Away\u2019 keeps the ambling grooves going and is another cut that\u2019s easy on the ear. This one is almost soulful with its strut, where smoking cylinders streak with Thin Lizzy nods as Richardson strikes heartily over the merry course. Again, I\u2019m back in that NWOBHM fare; a place of medieval ramblings, smokin\u2019 campfires and wistful storytelling affected by rural pub crawls. The axe work is again impressive, swirling effortlessly to the backing of the juddering bass. <\/p>\n

The fiery chimes of \u2018Sculpted Angels\u2019 closes the affair where there\u2019s flirtations with the likes of Desolation Angels as Poisoned Chalice explores esoteric, whether intentional or not.<\/p>\n

Due to the stripped back nature of this tidy EP one can feel the organic vapours rising from its very core, because while this remains a no frills four-track ensemble, one cannot argue with its grit or storminess as the band, leather-clad and uptight, embarks on another steady rattle of doomy sermons and forlorn fancy. This is good stuff all round and the sort of release that exudes a mystery without trying.<\/p>\n

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

POISONED CHALICEPoisoned Chalice EP Self-released (2022)Rating: 7\/10 I don\u2019t know a lot about this California band, but you slip them alongside Knight\u2019s Oath as purveyors of gloomy New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-inspired trad metal. This EP is the work of vocalist \/ guitarist Calvin Adrian and drummer Ben Richardson, alongside guest bassist Menno Verbaten, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4785],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-poisoned-chalice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93393","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=93393"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93394,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93393\/revisions\/93394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}