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CHAMBER MAGE
By Light Of Emerald Gods

Nameless Grave (2025)
Rating: 7/10

Draw your swords and take to the fens as these Colorado warriors go into battle with their debut full-length album. “I hope the Gods hear my call,” croons Avery Berg, who I’m sure spends many of his singing days atop a misty mountain wailing to the heavens. Yeah, there’s a cheesy coating to such shenanigans of sorcery, but this debut has a skittish charm and playfulness as opener ‘In Battle’ sounds exactly as you’d expect; anthemic, and striding with the same purpose and intensity of a teenager embarking on a new Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

I have to be honest, I’m not really quite sure why or to who this sort of heavy metal appeals to, but then again look at how popular television series Game Of Thrones was! There is still, and amusingly so, a penchant for such battle worn tales and as ‘Blades On The Rampart’ gallops from beneath the portcullis, across the drawbridge and out onto the badlands I’m tapping along like a hypocritical twat, buoyed by the tepid tomfoolery.

There are grand pictures here to be painted as ‘Beyond The Lighthouse’ taps in with a simple, stark beat and lukewarm axe sizzle like it’s 1982 in rainy Britain. Maybe that’s where the charm lies, somewhere betwixt early 80s British mysticism and mid-80s Euro moustache metal epitomised by the doomy and delicious opening plod on ‘To Spires Deep And Caverns High (Riders Of The Iron River)’. It’s a shame then that the clan has to so hastily resort to more generic galloping. Even so, there’s an air of Manilla Road, cool shades of Cirith Ungol, Brocas Helm and that sort of troglodyte metal.

I really think there’s scope here amidst the cheese crust for Chamber Mage to be a real metal force; just listen to the opening of ‘The Length Of The Chain’ or the trudging gloom of ‘The Emerald Tower Revealed’ to understand what this mob can do. My only advice to Chamber Mage would be to not always rely on those nifty formulaic gallops, because there is clearly more to their arsenal than horse riding! The almost thrashy riff and clubhammer drums of ‘Bishop’s Vengeance’ and brooding atmosphere, cello and sizzling lead work on ‘The Silver City Fell’ provide further enjoyment. I’ve shocked myself by liking this so give it a whirl while painting those citadel miniatures.

Neil Arnold

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