Vhäldemar They are a band that does not need any introduction for fans of national Heavy Metal. Their more than twenty years of unwavering career are enough guarantee that anyone in the world has heard of them time after time. A story of struggle and determination that most Hispanic groups have not been able to emulate, since, to reach the happy chapters of the story, in this country at least, you have to spend too many years sowing in the shadows.
After presenting his previous “Straight To Hell”, and having spent almost three years touring almost every corner of the peninsula, even performing in Japan, those from Barakaldo publish a new sample of what they know how to do best. Very fast and furious Power Metal that, without being surprising, reaffirms them as national pillars of the genre.
Opening at a gallop with “Devil’s Child”, Vhäldemar They already expose in the first hand, which are the cards with which they intend to knock out the listener. Measured rhythm, a powerful chorus that the best Gamma Ray could have signed and a stratospheric solo by maestro Pedro J. Monge. The same formula that they have been polishing for years and that is undoubtedly attached to their own essence as a band. One of those cuts that will be revered by its faithful.
In a very similar vein, but allowing Cribas to shine a little more in his vocals, “Dreambreaker” will be another of the mainstays of his future live performances. Another furious song ideal for singing between twinned metalheads, which is once again capable of standing up to the great totems of international Power Metal. A new anthem that can be classified as the absolute jewel of the entire work.
Changing registration, Vhäldemar They lower the revs and offer a pounding Heavy Metal lesson called “Deathwalker”. A consistent lesson that leaves the way skillfully paved for the title track of the entire album, “Sanctuary Of Death”, to once again show all the power that these people from Baracaldes possess. Here we should stop to mention the great solo duel that Jonkol and Pedro fight from their respective tools.
Leaving aside the solemn epic that “Forevermore” contains, we find in the right center of the album a cut so undeniably heavy that the band itself has baptized it “Heavy Metal”. The instant classic aftertaste that it gives off takes us by the hand to another of the album’s high points. An “Old King’s Visions (Pt VII)” in which the band moves like a fish in water and once again nails the aforementioned winning formula.
Almost without realizing it, we come across the great surprise that this sanctuary of death contains, a “Brothers” in which Cribas gives his voice to Raul and Vhäldemar They seem to mutate into the Rising Force of Joe Lynn Turner’s time. An amazing cut that, while still being pure heavy metal, shows a completely opposite side to what the band usually shows off. After the change of third, “The Rebel’s Law” suddenly returns us to that “to death” philosophy that Vhäldemar so proudly honda.
The work says goodbye with an instrumental sense that leaves time to reflect on what we have chewed and in which maestro Monge demonstrates that his mastery over the six strings goes far beyond the speed on the neck. It is a very nice way to end an album that leaves an incredible taste in the mouth and that cements, a little more, the important role that Vhäldemar in the history of the state panorama. A story forged by determination, quality and Heavy Metal.
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