STALLION
“FROM THE DEAD”
Album Review By Mike Hackenschmidt
7.5/10
Stallion is a speed metal band hailing from Germany. Not to be confused with the 70’s Pop group of the same name, this is a relatively new band presenting to the world their second full-length album From the Dead. With an unmistakable throwback sound, From the Dead has certainly left an impression on me.
The cover has a fantastic red and black colour scheme that I can’t help but like. There’s something very metal about red and black, maybe blood and evil. Whatever. It looks good. The imagery, however, is a bit incomprehensible. The lower half soldiers in gas masks. The upper portion is, I believe, a horse’s head with an eagle for a neck and looky looky what’s hanging from the eagle’s feet. From track 6 (Kill Fascists) I get the sense that this is not a far-right wing band so I think they meant to say something with it mostly worn out but I’m going to admit I really don’t understand what. The area between the head and the soldiers, also, I have no clue what that’s supposed to be. It takes up a large part of the picture so I feel like it should be more obvious. (Edit – that’s the horse’s body. I see the hooves now. The Eagle is separate from the horse, save for the chain from the horse’s mouth to the eagle’s body.)
When I first hit play on the album I immediately found my biggest criticism of it. So I’m just going to lay it on the table and say I hate the way it was recorded. The high end is ridiculous. I probably had a bit of a headache, granted, and maybe I’ve taken a few too many hits in the head moshing but man, it was painful to listen to. I was ready to shut the damned thing off but, give it a zero and move on with my life but I had committed to give For the Dead a fair review and I know these guys put lots of effort into making this thing so the least I could do was give it a listen, right? So I did something I don’t think I’ve ever done in my life. I turned down the treble. A lot. Once I did that, what I heard was pretty good:
After a restart with the new stereo settings, the opening track reminded me immensely of Deathrider, the opening track off Fistful of Metal. Anthrax is great with Joey but I’ve always preferred Fistful with Neil Turbin. There’s something about the echo in the vocals and raw guitar that gives the album a campy feeling. The vocals on From the Dead are very similar; though I’d say the man who simply goes by Pauly is a much better vocalist than old Neil ever was. Underground Society really is a great way to open the album. It’s fast and heavy in the style of early 80’s pre-thrash speed metal. Their previous album had a song called Canadian Steele so I can’t help but think these guys are heavily influenced by Annihilator, Razor and perhaps Anvil.
They also released a pretty cool preview they called “Stallion Drums Making of From the Dead”
This is a fun little piece that samples a bit off the album and gives a taste of a lot more than the drums.
Standout tracks on this album are numerous. Down and Out has a great message and really fun solos. Hold the Line has a great rhythm. Äxxl and Oli cover the guitars with skill. I’m not sure who’s taking the lead here, and the solos are great but this is one of those rare occasions where I think the rhythm guitar is superior. Of course, then they lay a wicked lead break over top and I’m torn.
Waiting for a Sign is probably the closest thing this album has to a ballad. It’s still pretty fast paced but its sooooooooooo fluid. It picks up later in the track only to slip back into the chorus to close out the track.
From the Dead, the title track is phenomenal. It starts out with some flamenco style guitars and soft cymbal taps before getting ripped open with screaming guitars. The chorus on this track gets me every time; I have to stop and drink it in. Then rhythm gallops off, much like their namesake with a solo rider atop before returning to the verse… I’m listening to it now as I’m trying to type and it’s getting difficult. Anyway, they cut this one off just a bit too soon, no doubt inspiring the use of the repeat button.
The album closes with Awaken the Night, which invokes very similar feelings to From the Dead. Awe, freedom, perhaps love?
In summary, this album is a great album despite my early reservations, which I’m very happy I pushed through. Stallion is a relatively new band, with a great throwback sound. It would probably sound great on vinyl, if you’re into that sort of thing. I look forward to future Stallion releases, just please chill out with the high end.
TRACKLIST
Underground Society
Down And Out
Hold The Line
Waiting For A Sign
From The Dead
Kill Fascists
Lord Of The Trenches
Blackbox
Step Aside
Awaken The Night
Released: 30th June 2017 via High Roller Records.
https://www.facebook.com/heavymetalstallion
http://www.hrrecords.de
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