Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If you have to join a out of the ordinary following, then music has all the power it needs to make that following gather pace in such a way than the rather obtuse word trendy can express. This year has seen the continent of Europe really come of age when it comes to Heavy Metal, outshining almost all, with a couple of notable exceptions, that the natural homes of the U.K. and North America could hope to match and more so in the Scandinavian heartlands. Swedish Heavy Metal group Cult of the Fox greatly add to this growing reputation with their album Angelsbane.

There is a pulsating gnawing, a ravenous hunger that feeds from the energy that seeps out of the album’s core. Musically predatory, Cult of the Fox make Angelsbane strike with metal precision after hunting down the listener’s ears and weak spots for crashing and bombarding guitars and vocals that scream in the night with haunting ambition. Magnus Hultman’s cunning delivery on tracks such as Ready For Eternity, the tremendous Ready For Eternity, the grasping My Wrath and the heavenly The Divine rise through the mists and howl in celebration of another listener transfixed by the grinding rich and image ridden metal sound.

The album also goes in the right direction after the bands initial debut offering A Vow of Vengeance made listeners sit up and listen to the show stopping Swedish quartet. The tracks on this album greatly compliment the past but also show even greater understanding and depth that others might miss when trying to capture a certain sound.

Angelsbane is yet another reason to fully understand that 2013 has really been the year of growing influence from the European continent in the world of Heavy Metal. A tradition of fine music and powerful sentiment that was always there has now born so much abundant fruit taking shape and flowing with seemingly unhindered ease that the twin, once natural homes, of the genre should really take note and learn that great Heavy Metal, of any form is to be fêted, not shunned.

Ian D. Hall