Filthy Music Review - 'Holy Grail: Ride the Void'

Holy Grail – Ride the Void (2013)

Prosthetic Records

Review by Jude Felton

With so many sub-genres within sub-genres in modern Metal music it is easy to get lost. Quite frankly I have given up with trying to work out what is what, as I am sure there will be another one along soon enough. With Californian band Holy Grail though, this is not an issue; they deliver good old fashioned Heavy Metal, albeit with a modern twist. Ride the Void, which is their second full-length album, delivers everything you could want from a classic Metal album, with no frills, just great tunes.

Opening with the two minute instrumental Archeus, the album soon explodes into Bestia Triumphans; all dueling guitars and thumping drums, with James Paul Luna letting rip in the vocal department. Ride the Void is a flat-out wonderful album, and even though Holy Grail’s influences are there for all to hear (DragonForce, Judas Priest, Avenged Sevenfold and even Slayer), they deliver a sound that is theirs. It’s old school in its soul, yet at the same time 100% modern in execution and style.

The musicianship is terrific, and throughout all of the 13 songs, which all average out at around 4 minutes, except for the two instrumentals, they maintain the quality songwriting. This is not an album you’ll get bored of, as it thunders along; in fact I have had it on repeat for the past couple of weeks and am still discovering new things about it.

Ride the Void is an album that delivers from a band that is definitely going places. Full on Metal that blends catchy tunes with depth to the music. Play this album loud and bask in its glory!

Track listing:

1. Archeus
2. Bestia Triumphans
3. Dark Passenger
4. Bleeding Stone
5. Ride The Void
6. Too Decayed To Wait
7. Crosswinds
8. Take It To The Grave
9. Sleep Of Virtue
10. Silence the Scream
11. The Great Artifice
12. Wake Me When It's Over
13. Rains of Sorrow

Ride the Void is released by Prosthetic Records on January 22nd.