Coven-Worship new gods

Shadow Kingdom
2012/1987

Not to be confused with the Seattle based thrash act or any of the other Covens this Michigan based act (AKA as Coven 13) self-released this album back in 1987. This is the first time it has been issued on CD. It's certainly a product of it's time or even earlier as incorporate sounds from bands from the ealry 70's un through the mid-80's. Tracks like "Riddle of steel" and "General's Eye" remind me of bands like Cirith Ungol and Manilla Road with a dash of Mercyful Fate."Wicked Day" is far more mellow affair with a slight NWOBHM influence."Ruler" is as close as Coven get to a classic metal anthem. "Burial Ground" calls upon early Candlemass only not quite as tight. "General's Eye" comes charging on and has an early Mercyful Fate feel. "Jail house" goes back even further sounding like very early NWOBHM with some early doom elements mixed in. "Threshold of the new" is rough and unfortunately a bit clunky with the music not quite on track and much of the vocals seem like the singer was trying to squeeze in as many words as he could. "Loki" kind of has odd off beat feel sort of like Brocas Helm, but towards the end it's like they just seem to be out of ideas and just let it fall apart. These guys had some real potential and I loved that they chose to follow bands they liked even if it wasn't in fashion at the time. At times they really capture a spontaneous feel in their sound that I love. However at other times like towards the end of this album they don't quite have their ideas fleshed out and they just come across as being sloppy. Mostly this is a decent outing even if it's not a real treasure. glad Shadow Kingdom gave us a chance to hear it.