Review: The Keepers of Jericho

Various Artists
“The Keepers of Jericho: “A Tribute to Helloween””
(Arise Records)

The pumpkins are throwing a bloody revolt!  They are trying to send our hellish souls straight to the evil harvest!  What the hell am I talking about?  This new album “The Keepers of Jerico” is a compilation of some really sic European bands.  Soft rock listeners beware: Your soul cannot take this raucous beating.  All these hard rocking bands are at the very least speed metal.  The first cut by Guardians is called “Rhapsody”.  The song represents what speed metal would sound like in the Renaissance period.  Skip a few tracks down to track 4 and you get “Metalium” by Ride The Sky.  Shit man, this elusive metal cut is as about as hard as you would want with the ever-present double bass pedals.  This album has some components of old Metallica, no doubt the influences of many of the bands on this record.  “Mortifide” by Judas and “Brainstorm” by Savage tear the hell out of a pair of weak woofers.  The horrendous guitar work develops the base of each song.  There are two very strange songs, however; “Vision Divine” by Eagles Fly Free and “Dark Moor” by Halloween.  What grade of crack were they smoking when they produced these two wannabe-scary-castle songs.  They don’t work at all, but the rest oft the album redeems itself.  Grab this CD if you want some early Metallica/Megadeath influenced music.  Don’t let the pumpkins get you either.