Custard - For my king 3.5/5
Reviewed: 8-12-05
Tracklist:
1. Rise
2. Up to the sky
3. I know you
4. Charon's call sky
5. Signs
6. Freedom for all
7. Deliver me
8. Master of the dice
9. Trees of hope
10. Ambrosia
11. For my king
12. Blessed by the light (bonus track)
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Custard's 2nd full–length CD is very good. It has a true metal sound that Manowar would be proud of and they add some of the epic–style songwriting of Helloween. This CD features a new vocalist, Guido Brieke, who replaces Dirk Wierczorek, who is now exclusively the guitar player. This change appears to have solidified the band and should set them in motion to be successful in the future.
Brieke's voice is average in terms of strength, but he has excellent range and is a very enjoyable singer to listen to. The rest of the band is very solid, with a strong bass section and lots of melodic guitars. The songwriting is very good. There are a few low points, namely "Signs" and "Master of the dice", but the rest of the CD varies from good to excellent. The top tracks are epics "Up to the sky" and the fantastic "Freedom for all", which is as good a track as you can hope to hear in this genre. The slower paced rocker “Charon’s call” and the power–ballad "Deliver me" are also standout tracks. While sticking to their basic sound, Custard has a variety of songwriting styles and they also do a nice job of layering the lead vocals.
'For my king' is an excellent CD featuring excellent songs and musicianship. Although this isn’t their first release, it can be considered the beginning of the new band as they have solidified the lineup with this release. The CD will please fans of true metal and should also be very appealing to European metal fans of bands like Helloween and Stratovarius. About the only improvement they could make at this point is to improve the songwriting consistency – and is it too late to change the band’s name? Custard has to be one of metal’s worst band names.
DAVID
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