Album Review: Solitary Sabred - Temple of the Serpent
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
The heavy metal scene in Cyprus is not one that is known to me apart from one band who came as a Spotify recommendation earlier in the year and that is true metal warriors Solitary Sabred who are releasing their fourth full length album 'Temple Of The Serpent' right at the end of the year.
If you worship at the altar of true heavy metal then Solitary Sabred are a band that should definitely fall onto your radar as this is proper swords and steel heavy metal with a lyrical theme that leans into historical conflicts and battles with the fall of the Akkadian empire providing the lyrical influence on 'Temple Of The Serpent'. This is a band who have a clear love of the 80’s US power metal movement with bands such as Manowar, Virgin Steele, Manilla Road, Jag Panzer and Helstar providing a clear musical influence with the crunching and powerful riffs and pounding rhythm mixing with melodies, hooks and the over the top vocals of frontman Petros “Asgardlord” Leptos.
There are highlights with songs such as ‘Bound By The Lich’ have that true metal grit with that unmistakable old metal gallop to it whilst ‘Flight Of The Banshee’ has more of a speed metal approach with a relentless riff attack from guitarists Demetris “Spartacus” Demetriou and Nikolas “Sprits” Moutafis whilst 'Gates Of Namtar' is an epic album closer with huge melodies and a right catchy hook to it.
'Temple Of The Serpent' is a solid heavy/power metal album. Some songs do lack the hook factor and are a bit on the unmemorable side but the aforementioned highlights show that this band do have some tricks up their sleeves. The one flaw for me is the vocals from Petros Leptos are very overbearing at times and distract from the music. Way too many high pitched screams and wails which are at times unnecessary but when his vocals are reigned in and he sings in a lower key they sound fantastic. In summary 'emple Of The Serpent' is a mixed bag - when it’s on point it is some excellent heavy metal, when it misses the mark it can be forgettable but the vocals at their most overbearing might put off some listeners.
