BLACK HAWK – Soulkeeper

Black Hawk hail from the northern part of Germany and deliver classic old-school heavy metal that recalls Saxon and Accept, and after having listened to it a number of times I must say that I find this output of theirs rather charming, catchy, and entertaining. The production is loud and punchy but in no way is it sterile or stiff; these guys deliver relatively straightforward metal that harkens back to the days of old when the choruses were huge, the songs contained hooks, and the songs were recorded in the studio with the whole band actually playing together. I dig the atmosphere of Soulkeeper, and even though it is not going to win any awards for being innovative, it undoubtedly sounds pure, honest, and passionate. In addition, you can tell that these gentlemen are veterans in that the compositions are overflowing with confidence and display a certain level of experience and expertise. Admittedly, the vocals do not quite complement the music as much as I had hoped they would and they lack range, but those big, crunchy riffs are irresistible and the amount of energy that pours out of the speakers when cranking this opus up loud is pretty damn impressive. I mentioned Accept and Saxon as points of reference earlier on, but I could definitely also see fans of Jag Panzer and Judas Priest getting a kick out of these ten blistering heavy metal workouts. The highlights of the album include ‘Angry Machines’, ‘War Zone’, and ‘Better Times’.