Label : Napalm Records
Review by Tony Cannella
“Spell Eater” is the debut album from the Los Angeles based outfit Huntress. The band is led by front woman Jill Janus, who attracts a lot of attention based on her looks, image and beliefs (she’s a pagan), but at the end of the day it is all about the music and that is where Janus and the remaining members of Huntress succeed on “Spell Eater”. Imagine a band with the musical intensity of a band like Slayer combined with the vocal ferocity of Jill Janus who reminds me of a cross between Angela Gossow and Leather Leone and you would have Huntress and their debut album “Spell Eater”. In addition to their potent brand of power metal, Huntress also exhibits thrash and even death metal tendencies. Jill is definitely a focal point for Huntress, but in addition to her take-no-prisoners aggressive style she is also a classically trained singer and manages to add that ingredient to the mix as well. The aggression fueled title track gets us started and is followed by the equally bombastic “Senicide”. The duel guitar parts of Blake Meahl and Ian Alden are reminiscent of some classic metal bands like early Judas Priest and early Iron Maiden. “Eight of Swords” – which became the first video track – is simply crushing. The band mixes some cool melodicism with heavy, crunchy guitar riffs on songs like “Sleep and Death”, “Snow Witch” and “Aradia”. Lyrically Jill Janus draws inspiration from themes that deal with the occult and paganism. Huntress was already receiving a lot of press before “Spell Eater” even hit the racks, which is very rare. Whatever you think of their image, it doesn’t take away from the fact that “Spell Eater” is an excellent debut from a band that has got a great future in front of them.
Rating – 85/100
Tracklist
- Spell Eater
- Senicide
- Sleep and Death
- Snow Witch
- Eight of Swords
- Aradia
- Night Rape
- Children
- Terror
- The Tower
- The Dark (Bonus Track)
Line Up
- Jill Janus – Vocals
- Blake Meahl – Lead Guitar
- Ian Alden – Rhythm Guitar
- Carl Wierzbicky –Drums
- Eric Harris – Bass
Links
MySpace * Facebook * Twitter * Site