adg211288 War Chant (2013) is the debut full-length album by US heavy metal act Thunder Tribe. The band is mostly made of up members of the heavy metal act Pownd while vocalist Michael Duncan is also the voice of power-thrashers Shatter Messiah. This a debut effort which comes bundled in a lot of promises due to the diversity of the band's credited influences, ranging from the obvious big guns of traditional heavy metal like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden to other not metal but no less influential acts like The Beatles and Pink Floyd.

While I could never claim to be an expert on acts like The Beatles and Pink Floyd (far from it, even), it's pretty clear that War Chant is something more than the average heavy metal or hard rock album. Those may be the two genres it mostly operates within, often blurring the line between the two within the same song, but the thing is during the album you'll find everything from blues to progressive metal. It's old school in sound, but forward thinking in that genre hopping way. It's especially praiseworthy because of the way Thunder Tribe make it all seem so natural and seamless. The vocals of Michael Duncan are also a key selling point to take note of, equally suited to the lighter acoustic passages to classic heavy metal singing.

This is a glowing write up so far, so would it surprise you that at first I completely misjudged this album? Well, that happened. And on two counts at that. This was always a good album to me, but it was only really after three listens that I began to realise that War Chant was more than simply good. It also seemed more straight forward than it's press release led me to believe, but again, with further listens the album opened up to me and I started to notice the subtleties and even the glaringly obvious that I had somehow not picked up on. Above the Blue is a pure blues track rather than the obligatory ballad while Believe introduces a power metal edge to the proceedings.

War Chant required perseverance to appreciate but has ultimately proved rewarding beyond my expectations. There's not a track here that falls below an exceptional grade and the performance is excellent from all involved. I'm a metal guy but in a way this is even more rewarding for those influences of Thunder Tribe's that come from beyond the metal spectrum. Who'd have thought an acoustic led blues track like Above the Blue would fit so well here? An exceptional grade rating is easily deserved.

90/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/thunder-tribe-war-chant-t3264.html)