Review Summary: A missing Iron Maiden album!
It's been about half a year since I discovered this short lived group and I gotta say, they really don't age at all. I find myself going back to this EP quite alot and for reasons I revisit most albums. Glacier are yet another one of those unknown metal bands that clearly should've been more popular than they were. I think if you took Omen and smashed them together with Iron Maiden, you might get a good idea for what Glacier sounds like here for the most part. Although this sounds for the most part like the Iron Maiden album that never was, like the Tony Iommi DEP Sessions demo or The Misfits' Static Age.
The first track When Heaven's At Hand although pretty awesome and catchy, doesn't really give off that epic vibe that the rest of the EP does. It's a little more straightfoward, mid paced, with a lot of simpler catchy elements. You'll notice on the album page this short EP has three different vocalists which I'm sure is a fact. Keith Flax sings on the first track here and he somehow reminds me a little bit of Ozzy, though a bit thinner and melodic. Vendetta gallops away really kicking this EP off with some majestic leads which I truly believe is one thing this band excelled at, they've got some amazing leads, melodies, and harmonies float around that are all very original. Rex Macnew does vocals on this track and I easily believe he was their best vocalist, he's the most crystal clear and melodic with some great aggression and screams. He fit their style perfectly, kind of a shame he only appeared on this one. Mike Podrybaou does the vocals for the rest of the tracks, honestly he's certainly not a bad vocalist himself. He sounds quite a bit like Bruce Dickinson, still very melodic and clean. This track pretty much continues the formula of the previous one proudly marching away - unfortunately the mix suffers a bit on this one, the solo's always seem to come out of nowhere and are insanely high pitched overpowering everything else, just gotta quickly turn the volume down for a bit but it's kind of a shame. Devil In Disguise still keeps things up to speed though it's not quite as trampling as the previous two, regardless it's still an incredible song with some definite NWOBHM influences and reminds me a bit of early Liege Lord. The bass really stands out on this one as well and there's tons of epic leads flying around throughout a good chunk of the track. Speak No Evil comes exploding out of nowhere and bleeds pure "classic USPM", sounds like something you could've heard off of Griffin's debut. An incredible finisher.
The entire album does a good job of keeping up the 80's metal vibe alive and juicy. The album also has a strong power metal vibe that often goes into progressive metal as well. It's awesome. This is exactly what 80's metal is about; being awesome. So much emotion in the tracks, particularly the excellently chorused Vendetta that has a fantastical side to it. I would love to hear another full-length from these guys; I’d imagine it to be a damn solid one from start to finish as these guys from Oregon show no sign of slowing down. The melodies are evident throughout, particularly in the closer, that blend awesomely with the aggressiveness of the guitars.
With the comparisons thrown around here I think it should be pretty obvious who's going to enjoy this. Classic US power metal fans should put this on their 'must hear' list if you haven't heard them already. Although the mix has its faults here and there, the production overall is really impressive for an EP. Excellent classic stuff here and like I said above, I find myself going back to this one pretty often.
