Review SMOULDER ‘Violent Creed of Vengeance’

Smoulder belongs to the group of exciting hungry epic metal bands. The group started 2013 and has its origins in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The debut was unleashed in 2019 and with ‘Dream Quest Ends, Smoulder launched an EP in early 2020. Also the quintet had to suffer from the pandemic, and everybody remembers Smoulder’s dramatic FB posts about their difficulties to return from Greece to Canada before lockdowns started.

Since then, a few things happened, like Sarah Ann and Vincent moving to Finland. With passion for their music, Smoulder prepared everything in the best fashion before entering the studio in July 2022. The result of all the effort are seven songs that form the tracklist of ‘Violent Creed of Vengeance’.

It’s the epic title track that was placed on pole position. Smoulder immediately clarify that they haven’t lost anything of their fascinating sound. Thundering riffs and Sarah Ann’s excellently vocals are key elements of this sound experience. One gets the impression that nothing is left to chance and still the album has a vivid groove that mesmerizes the listener. With great songwriting skills the opener is a charming treat, and one gets curious about the rest of the album.

A bit faster and with a solid punch, that is the way ‘The Talisman and the Blade’ blasts out of the speakers. ‘Spellforger’ shows a similar approach and is with less than 4-minutes running time the down-to-earth metal anthem on the album. Pure energy, that’s what the song expresses before handing thing over to ‘Dragonslayer’s Doom’. The last track on the album is the opposite of short and crisp. Smoulder reduces speed and enter the realms of doom. A Dio-ish riff in the beginning shows, where some of the inspiration comes from. Still Smoulder isn’t copying any of their idols and the closer shows this in great fashion. With a cinematic approach Smoulder present all they have in their toolkit, and it is a lot. Blazing solo parts, a hypnotic rhythm and with Sarah Ann being singer and storyteller in person, that is how you create nearly ten minutes of pure metal delight.

Smoulder’s debut led to some first attention and the following EP strengthened the bands position in epic metal. Now, with the sophomore album in the starting blocks, the quintet underlines that they belong to the most exciting young bands. ‘Violent Creed of Vengeance’ is a terrific longplayer and once you started to listen to it your record player might be blocked for a while.