If you can inject even a smidgen of individual character into the indefatigable power-metal trio format, then you’ll have little difficulty finding an audience eager to nod along vigorously.
Stoke-on-Trent band Red Spektor favour the psychedelic/stoner approach, the album starting with a rising surge of feedback that bursts into an onslaught of wah-wah guitar before settling into a steady crunching groove, while the vocals strive to make themselves heard above the hubbub.
It’s hardly original, but it works because Red Spektor have spent a couple of years brewing their band chemistry and cracking the PIN-code to Tony Iommi’s subconscious for a supply of sturdy riffs, and John Scane’s self-styled vocal/guitar interplay provides the distinctive edge.
They keep it pretty basic for the first four tracks, before the rhythm section start toying with the tempos. They revel in the tensions of Elixir, Into The Maelstrom and the discordant Fields Of Fire. When they get back to basics towards the end of the record, Torpedo Head and Black Moon Rising sound positively catchy, and they close confidently with the droning acoustic Lost Soul.
