Right off the bat, with a piercing scream, an explosion and some pulverizing riffs, WARCRY's "Pure Force of Steel" opens up Revenge in Blood 's blackened thrash metal with a fury.
On their second release, the Germans seem to have captured that classic '80s old school metal sound like bands CIRITH UNGOL, VENOM and OMEN. There are also quite a few elements of black metal lurking about in their music.
Vocalist The Almighty's high-pitched wail, mixed with a raspy bark takes a bit of getting used to. It's the latter part where he's at his best. Guitarists The Axeman and Gravewarrior compliment each other with some lightning fast leads. Drummer The Crusher plays some fast double bass and his cymbal techniques sound crystal clear. Bassist Roaring Thunder gets some good licks in as well.
VENOM seems to pop up a lot while listening to Revenge in Blood, especially on "In Battle for Vengeance," you can hear "Countess Bathory" type riffs. Speaking of OMEN, WARCRY's cover version of "Death Rider" from 1984's Battle Cry is a great tribute to an awesome '80s metal band that never really got the recognition they deserved in the States. Joined by current OMEN vocalist George Call, he and The Almighty trade off verse lines and give the classic song an updated sound. "The Revenge (True Heavy Metal Trilogy Part III)" and "Bloody Black Axe" are humorous but heavy. "Awakening the Cemetery" and "Banshee," both with its KING DIAMOND influences, deserves some kudos as well.
WARCRY aren't doing anything new by a long shot, but they are playing metal in the true spirit of bands like SACRED STEEL, VENOM, OMEN, MANOWAR and CELTIC FROST. It's a pretty good album and WARCRY do their best to keep old-school metal alive and relevant.
