LostPray-That's Why

Pure Steel Records
2014

LostPray is a relatively new metal band that was formed in Istanbul by childhood friends Tufan Çiğdem (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Burak Gündoğdu (lead guitars, backing vocalists). Independently-recorded, "That's Why" is the band's full-length debut album and with LostPray rocking the thin line between hard & heavy and power metal it's easy enough to see why Pure Steel Records approached this young band to begin with! These days bassist Vyacheslav Babienko and drummer Nikolay Dovdopolov round this quartet out and considering the fact that it started off life as a independent studio product and all the 8-track "That's Why" is a remarkably smooth and consistent affair! For a debut album it not only shows this young band's raw talent, but it also points toward this band's full potential! "That's Why" has a run-time of over 41 minutes release and at the end of the day it should easily help LostPray make a name for itself. Recommended for fans of "Black" and "Load"/"Re-Load"-era Metallica, "That's Why" is a stand out release in a day and age when sadly two many new bands just blur together. Hopefully we'll be hearing more from this Turkish band in the near future.

Vengeful Ghoul-Timeless Warfare

Self-Release/Independent
2014

Site-founder, friend and all around cool guy Metal Mark (who incidentally now runs the most excellent Lasers, monsters and barbarians oh, my!) was kind enough to send me "Timeless Warfare", Vengeful Ghoul's first full-length album. For that I must say Mark, thank you. Thank you so very much my friend! The band, which hails from Istanbul, Turkey and was formed in 2005 by rhythm guitarist Senem Ündemir and lead vocalist Emre Kasapoğlu (also of Electrocute), is self-described as "power/thrash metal with traditional elements". That being the case and all, "Timeless Warfare" is not so much "power/thrash metal with traditional elements" as it is doom-infused thrash with some power metal and eighties metal/N.W.O.B.H.M. elements. And nine times out of ten that combination comes across as magical! For this Turkish outfit, which, it must be said, has a pretty wicked moniker (something that Metal Mark and I most certainly agree on!), "Timeless Warfare" comes some ten years after the band's initial formation and in that amount of time they have obvious fine-tuned their sound and style as evident on this solid debut offering. It's best to picture Vengeful Ghoul as a cross between Iced Earth and Sanctuary/Nevermore (only with a wider array of sub-level influences such as King Diamond/Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest/Iron Maiden-styled eighties metal, Dio and doom metal acts like Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Trouble and Candlemass), but even that (slightly-weird) description merely touches the tip of what Vengeful Ghoul has captured (sound-wise) here on tape with "Timeless Warfare". When you have a lead singer who is capable of sounding like Rob Halford one moment and Warrel Dane the next that's one thing, but when you factor is someone as skillful as lead guitarist Özgür Nair (a killer musician who brings to mind everyone from Tony Iommi to Kirk Hammett!) that takes everything to an entirely new level! Without question "Timeless Warfare" is a fantastic debut from this Turkish five-piece and it is a release that demands a wider-audience. Given the absolutely insane amount of garbage metal out there why has a band like this remained unsigned? It's a absolute scandal that a band like Vengeful Ghoul hasn't been scooped up let by some label!  That kind of shit is frustrating when record stores and online outlets routinely gets filed with truly awful crap mislabeled as "new and exciting" or "the next big thing!" and something as cool as "Timeless Warfare" has to be released independently! Regardless, "Timeless Warfare" is one album worth tracking down and acquiring. It's passes all the tests (professional production, excellent craftsmanship and in-depth and widely varied material that still strikes a familiar cord as "Vengeful Ghoul" material) and it makes you want to hear more out of this heavy thrash/doom/power metal act. Other then maybe the slightly dull artwork there is very little not to like about Vengeful Ghoul's first album. But hey, don't just take my word for it. Head on over to the group's Facebook page and discover for yourself why Vengeful Ghoul has me craving more!   

https://www.facebook.com/vengefulghoul