SCREAM MAKER – BloodKing (Re-issue)

With its old-school heavy metal album cover and artwork, it should come as no surprise that this Polish act named Scream Maker dabbles in blistering metal that owes a lot to Judas Priest, Manowar, Jag Panzer, and the Dio-fronted version of Black Sabbath but without sounding like a cheap clone.

Powerful drums, ear-splitting riffs, solid vocals, and an abundance of thunderous tunes await you, and although BloodKing offers little in terms of originality, it more than makes up for that thanks to its invigorating spirit and inspired take on big, crunchy, and catchy heavy metal that hearkens back to the glory days. It is neither short on atmosphere nor impressive musicianship and given that the production envelops the material in a thick, massive sound that packs a serious punch, I simply fail to see why you should not get a kick out of this opus. A couple of tracks I could have done without, but overall, this is a very enjoyable output whose highlights include ‘End of the World’ and the Iron Maiden-esque ‘Hitting the Wall’. ‘Join the Mob’ and ‘Powerlust’ are excellent and deserve a lot of praise too.