Klaymore - New Breed (2013) - America's promising new heavy metal breed - 90% (26/05/14)

Klaymore is a young, talented and energizing heavy metal band from Pittsburgh that doesn’t sound like all the boring revival bands that are just copying the sound from their idols of the eighties. The five young men developed their quite own style even though names such as Black Sabbath, Dio, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Megadeth or Helloween may come to your mind while listening to their music. Despite their young age, these musicians are putting out very good records at a very high speed. After two great records entitled “Primed for Destruction” in 2011 and “It’s Alive” 2012, the band put out a few cover songs. Now, they are back with an EP entitled “New Breed” and these guys indeed represent the new breed of heavy metal while already having a very own sound. They sound fresh and modern but stay close to the genre’s trademarks. Every song on here sounds different but one hundred percent like Klaymore and that's how it should be!

The six new songs all sound great. They have some atmospheric parts, especially the haunting keyboard passages in the fittingly entitled “Haunted”. The bass guitar is enjoyably audible and has its shining moments throughout the entire album which is important to me. The guitar riffs are sharp while the melodic solos are emotional and technically stunning. The vocals on this release are melodic and sometimes a little bit nasal but not in a negative way. In some songs, they even remind me of Ozzy Osbourne. At the same time, the vocals are filled with power and also sound aggressive in the right moments. I’m aware of the fact that the vocals are a matter of taste and a make it or break it element but I really like them and find them unique. The only negative aspect I could find is the drum sound that is a little bit thin and canny at some points. I guess this is due to the production as the musician behind the kit actually seems to be quite solid. Add to this that the cool cover artwork is by far the band's best to date as well.

The songs on this EP are all catchy without taking any prisoners or jumping on a bandwagon. The atmospheric and also quite emotional “Haunting” and the dark closing anthem “Home” with its addicting chorus that could even please to fans of King Diamond are my favourites though. The only things these guys need is a professional label deal and your attention to conquer the world. Forget about hyped retro bands like Avenged Sevenfold or Powerwolf, these guys are the real thing. Go and listen to their music on Bandcamp now and thank me later: http://klaymore.bandcamp.com/

Originally written for The Metal Observer