TERMINUS – The Reaper’s Spiral

The Reaper’s Spiral is the debut full length by Ireland’s Terminus. Influences come via Iron Maiden, Slough Feg and Manilla Road. This is anthemic, fist in the air, gird your loins, crack a cask of ale and ready the horses traditional metal. Vocals have a bit of Mark Shelton but remind me sometimes of that other classic northern Irish powerhouse Darkest Era (and if you have heard them then you’ll realise this is high praise). The guitar work is rock solid. Although you have heard most of the chops here before, they are arranged and presented in such a manner as to make them fresh and interesting. The song-writing is good too, with plenty of hooks and catchy choruses.

The only thing I have to do now is explain why, if everything is done so well this only scores a 4.5. I’m not sure to be honest, but I think it could be the production. You know the way Manilla Road often had that kind of cloudy production that felt like the band were playing behind think glass? Well the same thing has happened here. It sounds as if all of the beautiful noise has been compressed and shoved into a little box, with the end result that much of the energy and dynamism has been lost. And this means that no matter how much I respect the band and their efforts here, i don’t feel that I love them as much as I should. I will try and catch these guys live though, and will definitely look out for future releases from them.

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