Release of the Week!
Now this is just my personal opinion and experience but to me it seems like 2025 has been a slow start in terms of stand out metal releases.
There has been a few good albums but nothing much that I anticipate I will be revisiting much over the course of the year and beyond. It will come good though, it always does and this year will be no different.
However, what this slow start does mean is that there has been a shortage of contenders for Release of the Week so far. So much so that I didn’t pick a winner last week, although that was also down to personal circumstances and not being able to devote as much time as usual to the release list.
We are back at it this week though and have been able select a winner. Typically, based on my own tastes, these selections will be more from the extreme end of the metal spectrum but this week I’m going with some solid, old fashioned trad metal.
This week’s selection is Sign of the Storm by Swedish heavy metal band Century. Formed in 2020, this is the bands second full length album. I must admit I did not hear the debut but will make sure I go back to it after this.
Look, I am sorry to trot out a cliche but this isn’t reinventing the wheel, it’s traditional heavy metal after all, where is there to go?
But that being said, the riffs are solid, there’s some good lead guitar backing it up. A nice pounding rhythm section and it’s produced well enough to be completely audible but doesn’t sound overly polished. Hitting that sweet spot. With so many of these types of albums they live and die by whether or not I can tolerate the vocals but this passes the test. I’m not blown away but they’re good, fit the bill well and don’t distract you from the music. Job done.
If you like your heavy metal then it’s worth checking out for sure.
Hails!