Windhawk Apparently, Swedish outfit WHYTE ASH was formed due to the members discovering that the type of metal they wanted to see live themselves weren't available in their local area, so they might as well provide it themselves. And in what has become a tradition of sorts in Scandinavia in the last few years, another band proudly sporting their retro qualities was born. This time around the era covered is not the 70's though, but the second half of the 1980's.

There were a number of bands exploring the type of metal Whyte Ash explore at this point in time, and stating with confidence what their major influences may be is a guessing game where most will get the result quite wrong I suspect. On a couple of numbers it's obvious they make their homage to Swedish doom giants Candlemass, as for the rest of the songs US act Nasty Savage and Germany's rage are the bands that comes to first to mind for me, with distinct similarities to the slower parts of Metallica's classic output on a few more sophisticated numbers.

Staccato, powerful riffs with elongated drawn out riffs and melodic touches added in for variety is what's up here, powerful vocals in a distinctly 80's power metal tradition soar above with steady rhythms supporting the proceedings. Bass and drum gets to shine now and then, the sticks in particular, but by and large this is a band where vocals and guitars share the limelight. Melodic soloing and shredding share duties in the obligatory instrumental passages, with a few instances of harmony soloing thrown in for good measure.

Those looking for original material will have to look elsewhere, but those who have a desire to revisit the sound of the first generation of power metal bands, this time done with a great deal of charm and a production superior to what most had 25 or so years ago, Whyte Ash supplies a well made and well performed slice of just that.