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BLIZZARD HUNTER
The Path Of Triumph

Inti (2022)
Rating: 5.5/10

Through all their metallic guile and muscular struttin’, it is difficult to look beyond the veil of dripping cheese with these Peruvian warlords. Blizzard Hunter likes to dabble in speeding metal harkening back to the 80s when bands such as Helloween were sharing the same magazine pages as Iron Maiden, and everything had that traditional gallop only with extra vim.

Blizzard Hunter are metal in its purest form; trailblazing, hair-flicking, rollicking straight down the line haste with belting vocals from Sebastián Palma, or as his worshippers call him, “Dragón”. Meanwhile, the band behind him is as tight as a ducks sphincter, spouting out great metallic fumes of majestic, grandiose hellfire. The problem is, of course, that everyone has done it and everyone is still trying to do it, aping that early Maiden warlock whiplash of glinting steel guitars, ballsy bass lines and hurtling percussion.

Admittedly, the cover art is fantastic and draws you into this batch of merry melodies like flickering flames on a cosy night, but for all their talent Blizzard Hunter remains tried and tested formulaic metal. Sure, the leads weave magically through this maze of melodious metal and the melodies throughout are catchy, but there’s an air of the mechanical which I also picked up on their 2015 debut Heavy Metal To The Vein.

It’s okay paying homage to the Gods, but there’s a fine line between cosy nostalgia and trying too hard. And as the bass of Lalo Salas rattles in rather unwelcome fashion to another Maiden-esque gallop I’m somewhat bored, while still appreciating the Queensrÿche-esque technicality at times even as Palma channels his best Geoff Tate-cum-Joey Belladonna (Anthrax) pipes to race through the title track that blends speed metal velocity with standard metal practice.

There are all too many flashes of the familiar, and just too many shades of soulless grey throughout this hour-long (over-long) rush of testosterone. I often struggled with Queensrÿche so this was never going to be the most inviting opus, even with the more evocative judders such as the moshing chugs of ‘Battlefield’, and the solo trajectories offered within the stark yet belligerent ‘Born To Be Free’. Hordes of bands of this ilk have come and gone over the decades so why should I take to Blizzard Hunter and their chest pounding macho expressions?

Blizzard Hunter would benefit from attempting a warmer, more inviting sound because as it stands The Path Of Triumph is an icy slap around the chops which offers no real shining examples from its 11 tracks. It’s a concise, precise and often mechanical opus that promised the lavish and imposing, but remains as appealing as a night stacking shelves in the cold storage area of the local supermarket. It’s metal, but not as I like it.

Neil Arnold

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