ANGEL7- Last Revolution (English Version)
Ukrainian metal mactepa Angel7 released Last Revolution in 2014, performed entirely in Russian. This is a complete rerecord in English, with 3 of the original Russian versions as bonus tracks. It is something of a concept album, focusing on the "revolution" that Christ does in each of our lives as believers. While Angel7's musical style changes a little with each successive album, this album displays a speedy brand of power metal/ thrash, with deep gutteral death metal vocals. Main man Slava Malinin performs it all on this outing. One wonders if that includes the male bgv's too. Malinin is heavy rhythm player, preferring to use even lead guitar to slap down a rhythm like a pair of railroad tracks.
"Law or Grace" is probably the speediest of these tunes, and displays the most soloing. "What the Lord has Built" is also on the faster side, and offers us these words: "But I see the Groom and the Bride in white go out, and satan has no power to muck these clothes." Songs like "Lions and Jackals," "Prophet of the End Times," and "Holy Oil of my Lord" slow the train down, never sacrificing even an ounce of heaviness, "Holy Oil of my Lord" also featuring a duet between Malinin's harsh growls and Annushka Coverdale's operatic female vocals. "Way to Heaven" and "King of Kings" offer the most diversity within a song, the former starting with a tasty bluesy solo, before tearing into the meat of the song, and the latter displaying the most riff changes within a song. "Freedom in Christ or Death" flies the battle anthem of Last Revolution, with a not so subtle message that hits you right between the eyes. 3 of the Russian versions are added on as bonus tracks. And as much as I like to hear songs in English for my comprehension, I love hearing metal sung in other languages- German and Russian topping that list. The gutteral nature of those 2 languages pairs so well with heavy metal. Angel7 is a seriously underrated metal band that deserves more attention in the Western hemisphere, and it is beyond cool to have both English and Russian versions of this album readily available. However, if you are new to this band, let me heartily recommend their latest cd Hail to the King. Only complaint is the wrong song order reading on your computer or car stereo. (Vision of God Records) 3.5 out of 5 stars
