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HEATHEN FORAY
Into Battle

Massacre (2015)
Rating: 8/10

Into Battle is the fourth outing from Austria’s Heathen Foray, a band which some will love and others will hate. The combo has been existence since 2005, churning out solid and often majestic power metal since the 2009 debut The Passage. However, as soon as you dive into the opening track ‘Fight’, you’ll recognise the pros and cons of this sort of heavy metal.

Firstly, let’s concentrate on the positives, Heathen Foray being an intelligent bunch big on melodies but not afraid to add the weight also. I’m a big fan of the growling vocals which most certainly border on death metal utterances, and these work well as the band speeds with elegance before interrupting the metallic proceedings with almost serene passages of solitary solos and majestic, anthemic rhythm sections.

For me though, the downside is one which riddles too much of this metal, and it’s the bloody hideous clean vocals. Now, I can see why so many people like that crystal, almost bombastic approach – one can almost imagine some Viking commander ordering his ships to take a certain land – but I just hate the way they malodorously worm their way between the weightier segments. ‘Fight’ is a really good track offering so much variety but I just cannot help but cringe when that almost innocent and tepid croon interjects, and you know it’s coming every time.

The finest example of how the positives and negatives collide is with the trudging ‘Silence’. Initially, it’s a truly fantastic track featuring weighty guitars and that guttural tone; the track picks up pace without effort and the guitars cut deep, but those cleaner vocal twists do nothing for me and so Heathen Foray seem to become like so many other bands of this melodic metal ilk. Okay, so of all the tracks, ‘Silence’ is probably the least affected by that tone, as is the epic sounding ‘Wofür Ich Streit’ with its nourishing guitar tone which puts extra meat on the bones. However, I can’t help but feel that Heathen Foray would be a far greater force without those irritating vocal croons.

In my opinion, to sound epic doesn’t necessarily mean one has to inject everything with a seemingly commanding vocal cry. The other slight issue is the formulaic marching strains of the guitar at times; ‘Tír na nÓg’ sounds like a soundtrack to some fantasy computer game but is saved by the gruff vocal delivery. It’s still a very solid and often rewarding heavy metal album; the progressive passages of intelligent guitar work evoke images of misty landscapes, and yet a track such as ‘Unthinking’ promises so much but is tarnished by those clear vocal strikes which litter it.

Throughout the record, we are treated to some really moody passages of traditional metal which work time and time again; the crushing ‘Knüppeltroll’ harbours an almost industrial and distinctly European trudge, bringing with it a powerful hammer blow via the pounding drums of Markus “Puma” Kügerl. And one cannot argue with the guitar work on the record; both Zhuan and Alex Wildinger do an incredible job of wielding the whole sound together, with the result being bombastic and almost arrogant grinds of splendour – apparent on the brooding ‘Freundschaft’ with its, dare I say it, black metal leanings and then eventual marriages with contemporary metal divisions.

The vocals here take on extra snarls too, the track being a slow-building act of menace and leaving me craving more of this sort of simmering, ominous storminess. ‘Wigrid’ closes the platter as a mere orchestral soundtrack; one can imagine vast steaming fjords and soldiers on horseback rushing across the silky fens, and it’s an ideal way to close this opus save for a hidden acoustic track called ‘Winterking’, which is a nice touch too.

And so, Into Battle does what you’d expect when it comes to this style of music, and I guess the cleaner vocal strains will always be part and parcel of such a genre. For me though, Heathen Foray is a far classier beast without resorting to such harmonious licks, because these are often better represented in the music. I still enjoyed the album, though. If you like your music heavy and battle scarred, then Heathen Foray is a clan worth joining.

Neil Arnold

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