Holy Grail is a traditional Heavy Metal act that formed in 2008 in Pasadena, California. This five-piece act may be somewhat familiar for Metal fans, as it features three formewr members from the traditional Heavy Metal act White Wizzard, being James Paul Luna on vocals, James J LaRue on guitar, and Tyler Meahl on Drums. With that simple statement, probably more then half the people who started reading this review just wet themselves and ran out to buy the CD. This collection of artists received a lot of praise for their debut EP, Improper Burial, and this debut full-length, Crisis in Utopia, is an exceptionally strong release as well. It's just odd that this straight forward Metal act was signed to Prosthetic Records for both releases, as well as the CD single of "My Last Attack". However, one listen to some of the music on here, and it becomes pretty obvious.
While not really a rip-off in any way, the album open with the track "My Last Attack", which boasts a heavy similarity to the kind of performance on the past three Avenged Sevenfold CDs, especially City of Evil. The only difference is that the music here is far more impressive and technical, and the vocals are much stronger, fit the music nicely, and greatly varied while still being clear and not whiny or mumbled. Sadly, there is no denying this similarity, and that this is what City of Evil should have been in the first place, but there's also no denying that this song is infectious with it's fast paced music and galloping chorus with vocals that are powerful and ranged perfectly to give it that extra kick. The guitar solo on this track is also fantastic. There's some great technicality in it, it matches the harmony and speed perfectly, and just goes on for a good while with enough going on to keep the listener happily attentive and in awe the entire time. This song is the perfect introduction to the album, though having it fade out at the end instead of reaching some kind of climactic end was a slightly poor decision since it's so strong and clearly has a little life left to it since it fades during the chorus.
Outside that track, the other similarity one could argue happens during "Fight to Kill" with it's guitar solo. Of course, it's clearly just a classic guitar solo for the style that is utilized to add a nice hint of melody, but there are some that may look at it and find it to be rather close to some of the Heavy Metal inspired guitar solos by the Adult Swim cartoon band Dethklok, actually sounding somewhat reminiscent of the solo in the "Duncan Hills" jingle, especially with the pitch the guitar is giving off during the solo, which doesn't really hit that specific note again in any other song on the release. Either way, it works perfectly with the song, and of course, you can't fault this ban for that, as there are other similarities you could say came from other bands, such as a certain higher pitched guitar chord in "Call of Valhalla" that sounds close to the same kind of chord that Faith or Fear used through their album Punishment Area, but just isn't an obvious rip-off.
Outside those two tracks, the album is simply a monster of a Heavy Metal release. Every song on here either has that classic old-school Heavy Metal lighthearted feeling to it, utilizing speed and rather complex riffs to aid to the atmosphere of the more fantastical battle-ready lyrical content. One of the moments on the album that really stands out is the instrumental track "Nocturne in D Minor", which is a classical song, just performed by the band utilizing their already present instruments, which acts as a strong lead in to the slower "The Blackest Night", setting the mood for this darker track very well. This one is perhaps one of the heaviest tracks on the recording as well, taking advantage of the slower pace by going even slower, but during these moments it's as if the music is literally slamming against you, or something nearby, with the vocalist hitting very impressive higher notes, almost commanding it as if it were lightning striking the ground, or an army preparing to go to combat and, in unison, striking their weapon against something, or someone. Then there's the classic sounding "Chase the Wind", which takes a strong NWOBHM approach to the music, not really getting too intense or too fast, and having more of a laid back feel to it, at times focusing strongly on the bass to push the song along.
Despite the clearly coincidental similarities, Crisis in utopia by Holy Grail is a fantastic album with energetic, heavy songs that pretty much bleeds Heavy Metal. From start to finish, this album will captivate the listener with fantastic harmonies and driving riffs that really make this Heavy Metal act stand out. While an odd recording to be found on Prosthetic Records, it's great to see an album of this caliber be recorded in the first place. Regardless of your personal tastes, this album glorifies the foundation of all Metal styles out there, and even the most elite in the style can't deny how well done this release is, akk if wgucg makes it a very important album to get your grubby little mits on as soon as possible.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
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