Having originally emerged from NWOBHM-esque LA metallers White Wizzard, Holy Grail are focused not so much on 80s Britain as further north.
Times Of Pride And Peril sounds far more Scandinavian – early Yngwie J Malmsteen and Silver Mountain’s neo-classical Bach’n’roll take on metal features large in their metal DNA. That’s not to say that they sound retro; album number three features a modern, super-saturated guitar sound that lends itself more to modern power metal’s leather trousers and big boots more than the old school’s stripey tops and tight jeans. Descent Into The Maelstrom boasts some impressive guitar work while at times Apotheosis sounds like an even more melodic take on the Gothenburg sound.
Psychomachia suggests they’ve been listening to Bay Area thrash and Dio – like one should.
Times Of Pride And Peril is perhaps too modern to appeal to NWOBHM traditionalists, but with big hooks and impressive shredding HG are exactly the sort of band Bloodstock regulars would take to their hearts. The New Wave Of, er, Power Metal?
