RAM and PORTRAIT are two bands coming from Sweden, the land that also brought us the mighty Enforcer, to join forces for this split release called “Under Command“.
RAM is the oldest of the two, formed back in 1999 while PORTRAIT is a young and promising band, being around since 2004. The motif behind this release is the following: each band has a personal song, a cover from the other band in the split and a classic metal cover.
So on RAM’s side, we have “Savage Machine”, a song showing influence by Ripper-era-Priest as well as great riffing skills. Up next we have a cover on Portrait’s “Welcome To My Funeral”, which came to show their KING DIAMOND influence in a really haunting track. Finally, they close with the KISS’ classic “Creatures Of The Night” executed to perfection.
PORTRAIT has the more theatrical heavy metal attitude of KING DIAMOND in their original song “Martial Lead”, making it more atmospheric yet reeking of classic heavy metal feeling. A feeling kept intact in the cover of RAM’s “Blessed To Be Cursed”, a mid-tempo headbanging track, enclosing in the essence of heavy metal, the one that makes us shiver with its classic magic. The split ends with PORTRAIT covering “Aggressor”, a song by the speed metal legends EXCITER! The fierce and raw style of Exciter fits the overall PORTRAIT style perfectly, giving us one more reason to headbang like crazy. A sign of the new blood of classic heavy metal while the old school influences are still obvious.
This split could really get a lot of people to know both of these bands. Until the next full length releases of each band, grab a beer, crank this adrenaline shot loud and throw these fuckin horns!
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