CLAYMOREAN
“Eulogy For The Gods”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Claymorean are a power metal band from Serbia founded by Vlad Invictus in 1994. Originally named Claymore, the band released two albums – ‘The First Dawn Of Sorrow’ (2003) and ‘Lament Of Victory’ (2013) – changing their name to Claymorean in 2014 and releasing two further albums – ‘Unbroken’ (2015) and ‘Sounds From A Dying World’ (2017). The band has undergone many line-up changes throughout their career, with Vlad the sole remaining founding member.

The band have also remained a female fronted band, and in 2021, released their fifth album ‘Eulogy For The Gods’. Traditional power metal with a touch of the epic and glory styles, perfectly describe the Claymorean sound. Powerful vocals, big bombastic riffs, and huge sing a long style choruses fill the new album – all forty five minutes of it! The bombastic power metal foot stomper ‘Hunter Of The Damned’ gets the album underway. The powerful vocals of lead singer Dejana Garcevic are raspy and full of grit – a perfect match for this style of epic tinged, glorious power metal. Not to mention they have started to tug on my heart strings too! The more mid tempo ‘Battle In The Sky’ follows the anthemic style of metal footprint – in a similar vein to the likes of Sabaton, Powerwolf, and Manowar. Claymorean have shown in just the opening two songs, their approach to diversity, yet remaining fully ensconced in the power metal genre.

And now for one of the albums highlights, a glorious cover of ‘The Burning Of Rome (Cry For Pompeii)’. The band show their love for traditional heavy metal, delivering a cracking take on a classic from American metallers Virgin Steele – ‘The Burning Of Rome (Cry For Pompeii)’ taken from the bands 1988 album ‘Age Of Consent’. Now I know there’s over three decades between these versions, but I’d have to say Claymorean’s is the better version! It’s beefier, has more oomph, and the guitar sound is just sublime. ‘Lords Of Light’ is the heaviest song heard so far, dropping down to an almost doom heavy sound. And that foot stomping attitude is gonna leave a few bruises. Yet somehow the band manages not to lose any of the albums overall addictive nature, keeping you hooked with a seemingly unbreakable force. And Dejana’s vocals are so raspy, so gritty, so intoxicating, I’m actually starting to go a little weak at the knees! ‘In The Tombs Of Atuan’ is a shorter, faster paced gallop that provides a head bang-able opportunity for all the die hard moshers out there. Such breathless variety is awesome, never knowing which direction the band will take you next…

‘Mystical Realm (Deorum In Absentia)’ echoes the anthemic metal footprint once more, the big bold riffing highly majestic and just a tad menacing too. The swagger with which ‘Mystical Realm (Deorum In Absentia)’ is delivered reminds me a little of the legendary Dio too. With a blistering increase in pace, ‘Spirit Of Merciless Time’ shows a clean pair of heels, fairly thundering forth with aplomb. Heads will be banging hard to this one, while my heart strings continue to be tugged gently by Dejana’s voice. The final song on the album ‘Blood Of The Dragon’, was written by Blazon Stone guitarist Cederick Forsberg – who also performs lead guitar. The mighty mid tempo power metal style is rife – mixing anthemic and epic styles to great effect. We also get a clean vocal delivery from Dejana, minus the grit, minus the rasp, yet still so beautiful. ‘Blood Of The Dragon’ is quite simply an epic big finish to an album of heavy hitting, yet infectious, power metal.

Overall, a breathless mix of power metal styles, ‘Eulogy For The Gods’ has swagger, pomp, and a highly majestic edge.

TRACKLIST

Hunter Of The Damned
Battle In The Sky
The Burning Of Rome (Cry For Pompeii)
Lords Of Light
In The Tombs Of Atuan
Mystical Realm (Deorum In Absentia)
Spirit Of Merciless Time
Blood Of The Dragon

https://claymore1.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/claymorean/

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