CUSTARD
“Imperium Rapax”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Custard are a power metal band from Germany formed in 1987, releasing seven studio albums in their thirty five year career. In terms of sound, the band easily stand alongside the likes of countrymen Blind Guardian, Grave Digger, and Rage, but also English metal legends Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Custard’s latest album (their seventh) ‘Imperium Rapax’ is a weighty fourteen songs over a fifty minute play time…

…all coming to life with the short anticipation filled instrumental ‘Imperium Rapax’, before bursting into a furious frenzy with the blistering ‘Children Of The Wolf’ – a fast paced avalanche of scorching power metal. The head bang ability is off the fucking scale, with Custard emphatically announcing their return to the worldwide metal scene. The sub one minute ‘In Umbra Aquilae’ is an epic and tension filled lead into ‘Res Publica’ a not so fast paced power surge. The electrifying energy oozing from Custard’s new album is phenomenal, ‘Res Publica’ a reined in and bursting at the seams power metal stomp. ‘Blessed By Baal’ mixes traditional metal with the bands root power metal sound, delivering an almighty oomph laden sound – a sound that screams a Judas Priest/Grave Digger blend. And what a fucking a blend that is!

Upping the pace and flying fast, ‘Blood And Sand’ is classic sounding European power metal, full of pomp and power, and that all important melodious intent and infectious nature. The chorus break is highly anthemic and will have fans immediately singing along. The energy level since the album began has been unrelenting, and although there have been plenty of pace changes, the levels remain high, hitting new heights with ‘The First Empore’ – the mid tempo melodic nature as emphatic as ever. The swaggering mid paced march is blended with faster paced passages, making ‘The First Empore’ one of those twisting and turning not knowing where its going kinda romps. ‘Gloria Aegypti’ is another epic and atmospheric sub one minute offering, this time leading into the doom heavy-ish ‘The Goddess Of Magic And Death’. Big and bold ‘The Goddess Of Magic And Death’ is a shuddering swagger of heaviness, portraying a menacing side of the band not heard before.

Another sub one minute intro, ‘Cornua Mortis’, and I get the feeling the band are introducing many of their songs in a theatrical manner. This time it’s a rainfall and thunder effects laden passage leading into the fast and furious ‘Furor Teutonicus’. Displaying a speed not heard since the opening song, the band veer between high and mid pace as ‘Furor Teutonicus’ powers on to a finish. Delivering the albums biggest punch, ‘Ode To The Flames’ is an almighty monstrous swagger – the energy and oomph levels rising to their highest all album. Returning the doom heavy feel of earlier, ‘Morituri Te Salutant’ is a heavy foot stomp of anthemic metal – switching gears across the chorus break to become a full on and brutal power metal rampage. The album comes to a close with the hymn like ‘Quo Vadis’ – for the first minute or so anyways! A blistering change of pace sees ‘Quo Vadis’ become a tempo changing torrent of hymn, anthemic, epic and glory styles of power metal.

Overall, a meaty meander through pace and tempo changes, Custard deliver an album of punchy and melodic power metal.

TRACKLIST

Imperium Rapax
Children Of The Wolf
In Umbra Aquilae
Res Publica
Blessed By Baal
Blood And Sand
The First Empore
Gloria Aegypti
The Goddess Of Magic And Death
Cornua Mortis
Furor Teutonicus
Ode To The Flames
Morituri Te Salutant
Quo Vadis

http://www.custard.de/
https://www.facebook.com/custardband

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