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Powerlord – The Awakening (Reissue)

Jul 4 • News, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 2803 Views • No Comments on Powerlord – The Awakening (Reissue)

Jayaprakash Satyamurthy reviews the remastered reissue of Powerlord‘s only album which was first released in 1986 titled The Awakening. The record is now reissued on Shadow Kingdom Records.

Metal is an elephant: it never forgets. Put down something on record, whether it’s in a studio or your rehearsal room, on tape or in some exalted digital format, let at least one person outside the band hear it, play at least one gig, even if it’s in someone’s living room while callow 13-year olds puke out their first shots of neat whisky and pass out on the carpet, and eventually some record company somewhere will want to issue or re-issue your recorded oeuvre.

I don’t mean to imply that Powerlord’s sole album is simply an 80s curiosity that should have stayed in the vaults. Still, it would be going too far that this is a hidden gem finally buffed up and placed in the shop window for the adoring masses to squabble over. It’s a run of the mill album of its time, somewhere between US power metal and thrash. Chuggy riffs abound, the solos are lengthy and showy and the vocals veer between something like an early Rivera and a proto-thrash combination of yells and roars. There are attempts at catchy vocal patterns – bands cared a lot more about that sort of thing in the 80s – and of course a healthy smattering of gang shouts. The singer is pretty good, going from a throaty roar to a high scream in the course of the same song, the lead guitarists have decent chops even if somewhat limited imaginations – although certain solos stand out – and the rhythm section is tight.

<a href="http://shadowkingdomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-awakening">The Awakening by Powerlord</a>

Still, the songs tend to whizz by in a sort of pleasant flurry of Generic Metal Sound without exercising any particular blandishments on this listener’s pleasure centres. One exception would be the more purposefully paced, ominous ‘Silent Terror’ where menacing vocals and relentless riffing interweave with some of the most effective, evocative lead work on the album. I’d place this song alongside anything Helstar or Riot were doing in their early days. And certainly, songs like ‘Malice’ and the piledriving ‘The Invasion of the Lords’ are perfectly acceptable thrashers, great mosh fodder and even contain a few passages that you will want to return to again for the sheer raw energy they display. Nor is this a crude or stumblefooted album; they may never have hit the big time, but Powerlord had ample talent to hold them in good stead when it came to dealing out tight, aggressive metal.

But there lies the rub – most of these songs play the aggression card, living out the band’s title but offering little contrast or mood. There are bands that can convey all the light and shade you need in just such a format, but as ‘Silent Terror’ and even ‘Merciless Terror’ show, Powerlord were more effective in the USPM mould than when they were trying to completely thrash it up. This uncertainty over the ideal idiom to play to their strengths may be one reason why this album gives the impression of a band that doesn’t really establish its own voice. Future albums might have seen Powerlord consolidating their strengths and carving out a clear identity. As it stands, we shall never know. In the meantime, the elephant has spoken, and we must listen.