2012
Scorcher is Tex and Tex is Scorcher. Huh? Well, Tex is the man behind this new band and he handles everything here-vocals, bass, guitar and drums. He also produced this 7-track release. Therefore, Scorcher is a one-man project in the truest sense of the word. Granted, this is not the first project for Tex as he had others under his belt. Previously he self-released a demo under the name of Labyrinth and is reported to be an ex-member of Dragon's Lair. At least that is what the press release has to say so I'll take that as gospel even if I couldn't find it on the Metal Archives. Somewhere in between all of that, if all of that wasn't enough, he is credited with playing for Werewolves on their interesting sounding (as in it sounds interesting so I should try to track it down) 2011 single, "Full Moon". So, you could say that Tex has kept himself rather busy. Now, despite what you might think with a name like Tex (cowboy hat and cowboy boots anyone?) this talented musician actually hails from Greece. Scorcher is a new band and, as far as full-length debuts go, "Armageddon From The Sky" is rather good. Actually, it's better then just "good" as it's solid, no-frills traditional heavy metal/power metal. Aimed at fans of Metal Church, Cloven Hoof, Manowar, Cirith Ungol, Warlord and Manilla Road (quit the interesting list if I do say so myself!) this is 38 minutes of pure heavy metal worship from, as previously stated, a talented musician. Along with the above list there's some Savage, Iron Maiden, Cutty Sark, Judas Priest, Armored Saint, Dark Wizard and Saxon appreciation shown, but it's never so obvious as to distract what is simply a fun listen. Often one of the downsides of albums like this, where you have one musician who handles everything, is that the music can sound flat and/or said musician might be overstepping their perceived ability to do everything. Thankfully this isn't the case here as Scorcher sounds like a full-fledged band at work even if it is only Tex. Even though he hails from Greece the metal found within this debut album is not what you might expect. Don't let that power metal tag discourage some of you as this is not European power metal or epic metal. No, this really is American power metal, and early power metal at that, mixed with NWOBHM and traditional heavy metal. Even the album art seems a little misleading and it almost made me hesitate to download the promo material. It just screams European power/epic metal, but this is far from that. Don't get me wrong as it's got it's own kind of style and class to match that album art even if it's not anything flashy or overly melodic. It's simply old-fashioned style metal from someone who is obviously a fan first and foremost. You can tell that much from the way the songs are structured and the way in which the album was produced and mixed. The artwork might throw you off, but that album that plays out just screams metal love! Hopefully Scorcher turns into something full time and Tex continues on with creating music that is real and honest.
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