AZRAEL'S BANE
Wings of Innocence
Chavis Records 2005
www.azraelsbane.com

What’s the 4-1-1?
The Houston, Texas based quintet have re-released their 2003 debut album with new artwork and a bonus song.

Genre
Power Metal / progressive metal / hard rock

The Good
Wow, I am really thrilled with this album. The band combines a progressive metal vocal sound with a more traditional power metal/hard rock musical sensibility and they pull it off. The band’s subject matter in some of their songs is rather typical. “Psycho Serenade” is about a serial killer and “Mercy” deals in S&M imagery, but instead of sounding dated, the songs come off as rather fresh sounding.

The song “Waiting” features a phenomenal guitar solo. The band also adds some audio enhancements to certain tracks. “Foolish Pride” starts off with a rain storm that sets a moody and somber night time feel to the song and the aforementioned “Psycho Serenade” is started with a news report.
The lead track “Shine” is getting the band a lot of notice and is even being featured on an upcoming compilation for a music festival called Prog Power USA VI.

The Bad
There is really nothing wrong with the 12 songs presented on the album. However, the bonus track, the Ozzy Osbourne cover “Diary Of A Madman” is not included on promo copy I received. You can find a 97 second clip of the song online at the record company’s website under the band news section.

Another problem not related to the band’s music itself is that the website information for the record company is not made clear. The promo sheet that came with the CD has the site as Chavis Records.net (which is the correct address), but right on the CD it says Chavis Records.com. I think they need to straighten out that little flaw in their quality control right quick because it makes them look a might bit sloppy.

The Verdict
The press materials for this album cite the band’s influences as being Iron Maiden, Queensryche and Savatage, among others. I’m happy to report that this isn’t just your normal outrageous public relations hyperbole. Azrael’s Bane has put together a CD that would fit in right at home with the classic metal albums of the 1980’s. For my money, this is what metal should aim to be all the time.

Did You Know?
Azrael’s Bane drummer Rick Ward formerly played in the band Distant Thunder. Guitarist Chuck McFadden once performed as Ace Frehley in the Kiss tribute band The Band Not Formerly Known As Kiss.

Rating: out of 5

-- Jay Roberts