Label: Black Lodge Records
Review by Tony Cannella
The Swedish all Female heavy metal band Hysterica returns with their second album “The Art of Metal”. Their debut “Metalwar” was issued in 2009, with their follow-up, Hysterica has grown so much in the three years from between their first album and this new one. As good as “Metalwar” was/is, “The Art of Metal” is a huge leap forward for this excellent band.
One obvious improvement that Hysterica has made with “The Art of Metal” is the song writing end of things. Lyrically and musically the band has come so far in the last three years between albums and it shows. Hysterica has also shown that they could be extremely melodic whilst still being very heavy. Vocalist Anni De Vil sings in a clean metal voice for the most part but also has moments of extreme death metal singing. The classic metal riff-ing of “Breaking the Walls” begins this 45-minute heavy metal tour de force. The ferocious “Fighters of the Century” is next and is mostly an aggressive song sung in a death metal style, but the chorus is pure classic melodic metal. “Live or Die” is a pounding full-force heavy metal song. “Force of Metal” is a hugely anthemic song which has an Accept influence to it, especially on the chorus. “The Art of Metal” contains two songs featuring lyrics written by author Russel WhItfield, they are “Spirit of the Age” and the closing number “Daughters of Darkness” (with lyrics co-written with Marydeath). “Daughters of Darkness”, in particular stands out as one of my favorite songs.
The CD booklet features some cool artwork from an eclectic array of artists who give their interpretations of various songs through their artwork; I guess that ties in with “The Art of Metal” theme. While “Metalwar” was a good (at times very good) album, “The Art of Metal” is a great one and far exceeds the debut, in my opinion.
Rating – 95/100
Tracklist
- Breaking the Walls
- Fighters of the Century
- Live or Die
- Spirit of the Age
- Message the Dark
- Fear of the Light
- Force of Metal
- Heels of Steel
- Hysterica
- Daughters of the Night
Line Up
- Anni De Vil – Lead Vocals
- Bitchie – Guitar
- Satanica – Bass
- Marydeath – Keyboards
- Hell’n – Drums