Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It may not be a music genre that is keenly associated with France but occasionally a band aligned to the Metal brigade bursts through the Euro Tunnel and onto British soil in such a way that makes people sit up and take notice and wonder why the contribution of Karelia to the ever growing list of impressive acts from the continent is over taking the home grown talent from the natural home of the genre.
Such is the raw and ingenious effect of the new album, Golden Decadence, is what makes the band a real find and a joy to listen to, their steering away from the traditional and sometimes cliché ridden metal drive and unrelenting power that a fan of the musical field is used to and regularly and rightly enjoys, instead injects and installs some Gallic charm and discreetly hidden pure vibes which flow as deep and serenely as the Seine and is partly reminiscent of Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album and the harder edge of the Scorpions at their absolute best.
From the splintering and bestial like charge of the opening guitar that leads into the superb Bill For The Ride and War Animal, the five members of the band give a performance that is electrifying and subtle, brutally charming and all the while wrapped up gently in a musical ball of elegance that is so different, so captivating from almost anything else the Gallic arm of Metal has to offer and puts a lot of the bands from this side of the Channel to shame.
The inclusion of guest musician Rudolph Schenker adds to extraordinary sound that Matt Kleiber, Jack Ruetsch, Sam Clauss, Phil Sissier and Fr-edd Seiler have cavorting and combining in a loss of innocence and established thought in the way European Metal should be looked upon.
With tracks such as Housekeeper, The Way Across the Hills and the grinding insatiability of Body’s Fallen Apart included in the album it’s understandable the noise and rebellious shouts coming from across the expanse of water that separates France from England, be happy metal fans, the French are coming…and they sound excellent.
Karelia will join Michael Schenker for part of his tour during April and the new album, Golden Decadence is released by Rocksector Records on April 15th .
Ian D. Hall