Dark Black - The Sellsword

January 8, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

When an album opens with a galloping riff that sounds straight from 1984 it’s usually a sign that the album could either be a major hit or a colossal miss, no in-between likely. Further, when a CD is limited to 500 copies, it usually means it’s going to be one of the great CD’s you’ll never find or…well, a limited release for an obvious reason.

As a fan and lover of the NWOBHM movement of the early 80s it’s a refreshing change to see current bands adopting such a style and actually doing it both correctly and with great care! Dark Black’s The Sellsword does a fine interpretation of a Diamond Head-meets-Boston-vocals-meets-Spider. In layman’s terms, it’s a good album to bang your head to, if even moderately. I happen to like my metal good, be it slower and powerful a la DH, Witchfinder General and Samson, or fast like Slayer; good music is good music.

Oregon’s Dark Black is good, capturing a long-past era of metal music that competes for its own deserved spot in the music kingdom. While you won’t find any Randy Rhoads-esque riffing here, you will hear some true solid power metal that is real power metal, not the jargon and mediocrity that Hammerfall and Dragonforce spit out like wooden nickels. This harkens back to an age that was seemingly passed over once the U.S. grabbed hold of Iron Maiden and began the not-so-capable genre-jumping that still continues to this day. Dark Black makes no conscious effort to reinvent metal as we know it, but it does make a good case for remembering their name for future reference. If you’re not a fan of NWOBHM you might not dig this style, but it’s not to be denied for those of us that appreciate such an important and vital part of metal lore.

The album has very solid production, for what I’m guessing was a tight budget going in, and that makes the subtle imperfections unwavering in your enjoyment of the music. Vocalist Tim sounds like Brad Delp from Boston in spots; so much so that it’s frightening, but that shouldn’t be considered a dig; it’s quite the compliment to the band and its music. For the period that was not only an accepted style, but almost a prerequisite for the solid NWOBHM sounds. Stand-out tracks are “Sword of the Morning” and “With Lightning Speed,” but the rest of the CD is a good mesh of an early Maiden and, say, Kraken or Tyrant - it’s good metal music that can be enjoyed by the most ardent old-schooler like myself or a younger fan interested in what the past sounds like in the modern day!

Release Date: September 9, 2009
Label: Stormspell Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Sword Of The Morning
2.  Icy Tomb Of Time
3.  Down From The Mountain
4.  Sellsword
5.  Dark Apostle
6.  Ancient Stone Sentinel
7.  ...With Lightning Speed
8.  Breath Of Fire
9.  Flame Forest

Total playing time: 41:43

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