Trollheart

Next up we have another short one, an EP this time from our mate Xurtio.

Some Rhetoric – Hymnomancer (Xurtio) – 2016

Xurtio (real name unknown) hails from Canada, from Ontario in fact, and I did previously review one of his albums. He told me the title but it didn't ring a bell – maybe they changed it after I reviewed it – but at any rate, this is the second offering from his four-piece. Makes it difficult right away: file won't play online so I have to download it. Argh. First we have the title track which has a nice rocky feel to it, the singer sounding a little Cave/Eldritch to me. I do dig the guitar, so points for you there Xurtio. Nice solo man, in fact the guitar is pretty much what drives the tune. “Up and down” has a sort of Santana feel to it, a kind of Latin rhythm running through it. I do have to say I can't stand the vocalist, sorry guys. He just doesn't do it for me; his voice doesn't fit with the music. Great guitar work again, saves the song. Liked this one better. The final track then is “Come fear”, which is faster, almost a metal thing going on here. The vocal kind of works with this, but hell, the guy just sounds so boring and listless. Oh, the song has gone into a kind of reggae moment; that was quite unexpected but good. Another fine solo. Is this guy too good for this band or what? Ah, sudden ending. Didn't really like that.

Track listing and Ratings

1. Some rhetoric
2. Up and down
3. Come fear

I must be honest, I'm rating the songs above purely on how good the guitar was. I wasn't overly impressed with the construction of the songs and again, none are in the least memorable, but man can Xurtio kill it on the axe!

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