BITTER VELVET
“Unleashed Fears”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9.5/10

Bitter Velvet are a heavy metal band from Ecuador formed in 2023 by multi instrumentalist Sage Zavage and singer Malixe, releasing the bands debut album ‘Unleashed Fears’ later the same year via Stormspell Records.

And what a debut album it is – thirty four pulsating minutes of fast paced and infectious heavy metal! The band are in full flight right from the start, ‘A Monster In Disguise’ exploding into life and pounding the ground hard, portraying the iconic “foot on the monitor” feel of old school metal. The band may be six thousand miles and forty years away from where heavy metal began – the UK! But boy oh boy, Bitter Velvet deliver a four decade old sound with energy and panache, standing shoulder to shoulder with many of the pioneering bands from the early eighties. And with powerhouse lead female vocals too, Malixe’s voice full of grit and raspy to the max. What a terrific opening salvo – the band powering on with the faster paced but nonetheless attractive ‘Princess Within’. The classic gallop of legends Iron Maiden comes to the fore, banging heads hard with gusto and force! The first two songs off the album are gonna make metalheads drool and dribble from everywhere, Bitter Velvet setting the bar high for what’s to follow.

And what follows is, the mid tempo thunder of ‘The Long And Lonely Fight’, adopting a stroll rather than the gallop of the two previous songs. Yet the band remain firmly rooted in the heavy metal genre, standing tall and proud with shoulders back and head held high. The level of head bang ability since the album began has been incredible, and when ‘The Long And Lonely Fight’ changes pace after half way, the level goes through the fucking roof! Launching a bomb that every metalhead will await detonation with high anticipation, ‘Heavy Metal Bomb’ is highly reminiscent of early eighties British metallers Rock Goddess – the energy loaded and power driven style of one of metals earliest all-female metal bands simply oozing from ‘Heavy Metal Bomb’. And let’s be honest, when Malixe sings “heavy metal bomb”, she sounds so similar to Rock Goddess singer Jody Turner, especially when Jody sings “heavy metal rock ‘n’ roll” from the bands 1982 single release ‘Heavy Metal Rock ‘N’ Roll’. Spooky eh! And with a wam bam thank you heavy metal, the band firmly press the pedal to the metal, accelerating to top speed for the blistering ‘Whispers Of You’ – and an even higher level of head bang ability than previously. The band are at high velocity here, ignoring speed limits and enforcement cameras to deliver a red hot scorching slab of heavy hitting heavy metal!

The pace of the album has been breathless, every song heard so far clocking in at around four minutes in length, ‘Tangled Web’ taking over the baton and striding on with all the panache of the legendary NWOBHM evolution. The iconic and instantly recognisable guitar tone is a sound that every single metalhead everywhere identifies in a split second, fists rising high in the air to salute an absolute belter of a song! The intensity of ‘Unleashed Fears’ has been phenomenal, Bitter Velvet steam rollering every listener with a crushing blend of old school heavy metal. Which ain’t over yet – still two songs left to go! The first of which ‘Illumination’, sounds like we’re entering ballad territory – for the first twenty five seconds or so! And then boom – highly melodic heavy metal come hard rock rises high into the air, the mix of metal and rock attracting fans of both genres. With ‘Illumination’, the band have just doubled their fanbase, Bitter Velvet bringing their debut album to a close with the hustle and bustle of ‘Bad Girl’ – a barrage of bombastic riffs lacerating the skies! What an impact the band have made in just half an hour, leaving a huge impression on the worlds heavy metal population!

Overall, a relentless march of fast paced melodious heavy metal, one hundred percent infectious and head bang-able to the max.

TRACKLIST

A Monster In Disguise
Princess Within
The Long And Lonely Fight
Heavy Metal Bomb
Whispers Of You
Tangled Web
Illumination
Bad Girl

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