CRIMSON GLORY — Crimson Glory (review)

CRIMSON GLORY — Crimson Glory album cover Album · 1986 · US Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Stephen
Crimson Glory came to the scene offering a heavy metal sound with a handful of progressive element. Many compared them to Queensryche and Fates Warning, and I did smell a similar scent between them, only Crimson Glory's riffage was adapted from Iron Maiden's twin harmonic rhythm style. The singer Midnight's vocal also on the same level as Geoff Tate, especially on the screeching aspect. You can find out how crazy he wails on "Mayday", defeating the high frequency of Drenning's shredding guitar sound. For an 1986 release, the sound production is highly applauding and that's a rewarding value of the album.

Several standout tracks here are the opener, "Valhalla", flowing in a midtempo groove and packed with a thick Maiden-esque riffs; the rushing "Dragon Lady" with a beautiful harmonic chorus and Midnight's windows-cracking scream; the melodic heavy metal track "Azrael" which is my best pick of the album; and the gloomy epilogue of "Lost Reflections" that was driven by a sorrowful acoustic guitar before exploded big at 3.10 and faded out with Midnight's wicked laugh, a truly spine-chilling moment.

Tracks like "Heart of Steel" also can be considered a good one with many acrobatic fill and commercial bite, or "Angels of War" that has a large melodic proportion but unfortunately the overkill scream somewhat ruined the song. For an eight-tracks album, Crimson Glory's debut luckily didn't contain any filler though couple of songs aren't that great either, but the annoying problem is Midnight's scream galore that's a bit too much here and there. I know that he's one of rare singer with stretchy pipes and high range, but he should just put that shriek once in a while and I'll be okay with that. However, Crimson Glory's eponymous debut deserved to be heard and appraised as they're one of the pioneers of prog/heavy metal, and they do have some amazing tracks here.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Le bannissement Atmospheric Black Metal
CANTIQUE LÉPREUX
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tarantula Heart Sludge Metal
MELVINS
Buy this album from MMA partners
God Damned You To Hell Traditional Doom Metal
FRIENDS OF HELL
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Absence Melodic Death Metal
THE ABSENCE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Unextinct Technical Death Metal
HIDEOUS DIVINITY
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Fallen Ashes - Wage War (Official Lyric Video)
FALLEN ASHES
Bosh66· 8 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Unreality (Single) 2024
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 8 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Cold Hands
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 8 days ago
IRON MONKEY - Misanthropizer (Official Music Video)
IRON MONKEY
Bosh66· 10 days ago
??? (Losing ART) - "????" (Official Music Video) [HD]
漂浮者樂團
Bosh66· 11 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed