Review Summary: METAL WILL LIVE ON!
There's nothing like some good, old fashioned, balls to the wall heavy metal. For me personally, the journey through metal music was a bit backwards. I bypassed all the "classic" heavy metal bands and went straight for the extreme stuff. Now 2 decades into my metal fandom, I'm starting to enjoy the traditional heavy metal sound more than ever and Canadian band Traveler's new album
Prequel to Madness popped up at the perfect time.
These guys have a sound that is clearly rooted in traditional 70s/80s heavy metal a la bands such as Priest or Maiden, but they also have a bombastic speed and power metal intensity you'd hear from bands like Mercyful Fate or Helloween. The riffs have tons of melody while maintaining an extremely fun thrashy edge. There's an epic vibe throughout the entirety of
Prequel to Madness, as if you're trekking through time and space to slay the demented octopus type monster depicted in the album art. The vocals are theatric, haunting and operatic cleans that could remind the listener of a cross between Halford and King Diamond.
Metal fans in general can probably agree that we listen to this kind music for the journey it can take us on. Extreme metal is usually for more violent and somber moods. Traveler aren't for any kind of that depressing BS.
Prequel to Madness is all about adventure and passion. It's a theatric adventure to the core of what makes heavy metal so great. It's catchy, it's fun and it is riff-***ing-tastic. As a metal fan, what else can you ask for?
